Ex-KU forward bringing pro team to KC; home games set for Municipal Auditorium

The new North American Premier Basketball League will have a team based in Kansas City in its inaugural season.

League president and chief operating officer David Magley, a former University of Kansas forward, has invited media and “potential fans” to a news conference at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Municipal Auditorium, where the new team will play its home games this season.

“It is a huge day for our league. I know better than anybody how great this market is,” Magley said.

He said the team, which will be named by fans via an upcoming contest, would likely include players from KU, Kansas State and Missouri, as well other pro players from around the country.

“The thing people will learn the most is our desire to be involved in the community,” Magley added.

The NAPB is a league founded by Magley, former commissioner of the NBL of Canada, as well as Sev Hrywnak, owner of the PBL. So far the league has announced there will be teams in Albany, N.Y.; Rochester, N.Y.; Seattle; Owensboro, Ky.; and now Kansas City. The plan is to have between eight and 12 teams in the league the first year.

According to Magley, the purpose of the NAPB is “to bring franchises to many of the 60 cities across the U.S. and Canada that once had pro basketball teams in either the NBA, ABA, CBA or NBA D-League, which has moved out of some markets the last few years.”

The new KC team is expected to play a 32-game schedule starting Jan. 1, 2018.

Magley said there would be three salary scales for players: C players earning $1,500 per month, B players receiving $3,000 a month and A players earning $5,000 a month.

He said an ownership group must have a net worth of $2.5 million. He told Fanragsports.com that the franchise fee is $200,000, with $50,000 to be held as a deposit and returned after two years.