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The City of Birmingham Rockets are an English basketball club, based in the city of Birmingham, West Midlands.

History

The club was formed in 2003 as the City of Birmingham Basketball Club.

The founders of the club were looking to provide regular opportunities and a clear pathway for young people from Birmingham and the surrounding areas to play basketball. The club runs representative teams at various age levels from Under-11s through to seniors, based in one of the most deprived wards in the country, with participants drawn from all parts of the city.

The senior men's team entered the English Basketball League in 2014. The volunteer-led organisation's name was then changed to the City of Birmingham Rockets in August 2017 to recognise a partnership set up with Houston Rockets and NBA legend Hakeem Olajuwon.

Despite spending most of their existence with a focus on youth development and competing in the lower divisions of the English Basketball League, with new backing it has been mooted that the Rockets could join the British Basketball League in the near future; however, these plans appear to be hold at least for the 2019–20 season.

The Rockets' home venue was refurbished in 2021 with funding from 2K, the American video game company behind the NBA 2K game series.

Players

City Of Birmingham Rockets 23-24 roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. G 0 Mughal, Faaris 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) F 1 Toluwase, Samuel 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) G 8 Gayle, Martyn (C) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) F 9 Papadopoulos, Nekatarios 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) F 10 Hayden, CJ 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) F 11 Noel, Levi 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) F 13 Jackman, Orlan 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) G 14 Powell, Zack 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) G 15 McGregor, Lucas 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) G 16 Davoodi, Aryan 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) F 21 Okosieme, Luke 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) G 23 Henry, Leon 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	Head coach Charles Smith Legend (C) Team captain Injured

Notable former players

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

• Myles Hesson
• Kofi Josephs

Season-by-season records

Honours

• NBL Division 2 Playoffs (1): 2022-23

References

1. Amardeep Bassey (25 August 2018). "NBA Legend Hakeem Olajuwon on Why He's Made Birmingham His Home – and What He Thinks of Trump". Huffington Post.
2. Mark Woods. "BBL Shake Up Format". MVP247.
3. Mark Woods. "Hope Remains for Leeds Franchise". MVP247.
4. Sam Neter (10 March 2023). "Troy Deeney throws hat into ring for Birmingham BBL franchise". Hoopsfix.
5. Sam Neter (27 January 2022). "Investment group looking to establish BBL franchise in Birmingham". Hoopsfix.
6. Sam Neter (23 November 2020). "2K to fund court refurb in conjunction with City of Birmingham Rockets". Hoopsfix.
7. Sam Neter (22 April 2022). "City of Birmingham Rockets take NBL D2 Playoff crown". Hoopsfix. Retrieved 26 April 2023.

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Division 1 2020-21
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Seasons	2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22
Competitions	League Championship (Play-off Finals) National Cup National Trophy Patrons Cup National Shield Founders Cup
Related	British Basketball League Women's British Basketball League Scottish Basketball Championship Women's National Basketball League (England)

• Basketball teams in England