The Winnipeg Cyclone was a professional basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 club based in Winnipeg

Winnipeg

Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...

, Manitoba

Manitoba

Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

 that competed in the International Basketball Association

International Basketball Association

The International Basketball Association was founded by Alexandria, Minnesota entrepreneur Thomas Anderson in 1995. Anderson traveled the Upper Midwest searching for franchise owners for a couple of years before the league began play with five teams in the 1995-1996 season...

 beginning in the 1995-1996 season. The Cyclone played its home games at the Winnipeg Convention Centre

Winnipeg Convention Centre

The Winnipeg Convention Centre is a major meeting and convention facility located in downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.The publicly-owned facility was built in 1975, and was among the first such facilities built in Canada...

 (dubbed the "Wind Tunnel").

The Cyclone had several recognizable names on the coaching and playing rosters including former NBA star Darryl Dawkins

Darryl Dawkins

Darryl Dawkins is a retired American professional basketball player, most noted for his days with the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets, although he also played briefly for the Detroit Pistons and Utah Jazz late in his career...

 as coach, "Hoop Dreams

Hoop Dreams

Hoop Dreams is a 1994 documentary film directed by Steve James, with Kartemquin Films. It follows the story of two African-American high school students in Chicago and their dream of becoming professional basketball players....

" subject Arthur Agee

Arthur Agee

Arthur "Man" Agee, Jr. is one of two Chicago-area high school basketball players whose lives were chronicled in the 1994 Kartemquin Films documentary, Hoop Dreams.-Early life:...

, and Andrell Hoard. However, the Cyclone did not enjoy significant popularity, usually playing before sparse crowds. The club was backed largely by Earl Barish

Earl Barish

Earl Barish is a businessman from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. His family developed the Dickie Dee ice cream brand.He was also behind the IBA team, the Winnipeg Cyclone....

.