2015 NBL Canada Finals brawl
"[1] After the Rainmen reached the site of the game hours early and began warming up, they were discovered by Express assistant coach Gerry Brumpton.
Windsor head coach Bill Jones later entered the room to retrieve a ball and violence erupted between him and Halifax center Liam McMorrow.
The Halifax Rainmen appeared in the 2012 Finals, which was played in a best-of-five format, but dropped three games and lost to the London Lightning.
The Rainmen reached the 2015 finals via wins over the Moncton Miracles and Island Storm, 3–1 and 4–1 respectively; Windsor's route was through victories over Mississauga Power, by 3–1, and the Brampton A's, by 4–3.
By the end of the game, seven Rainmen players had committed over three personal fouls and the team totaled for 48, allowing Windsor to get 55 free throw attempts.
In turn, both teams often exchanged trash-talk and officials were forced to separate members of the opposing sides on multiple occasions.
[11][12] Halifax started off Game 5 at home on a low note, with Liam McMorrow committing four personal fouls in the first three minutes.
[16] After the game, Rainmen head coach Josep Clarós expressed his unhappiness with the calls made by the referees against his team.
"[18] The deciding Game 7 of the 2015 Finals was scheduled to be played at 7:00 pm on April 30, 2015, at the WFCU Centre in Windsor, Ontario.
Windsor's Bill Jones then attempted to take a ball from Halifax center Liam McMorrow, but the player "flinched," pretending to throw a punch.
Part way there, they crossed paths with Vito Frijia, London Lightning owner and a member of the NBL Canada executive committee, who persuaded Levingston to have the bus pulled over.
Despite Frijia spending a good hour attempting to convince the Rainmen's coaches to return to the WFCU Centre and play the game, they refused.
"[23]The start time of Game 7 of the series was postponed from 8:00 to 8:30 pm AST, but it was cancelled once the Express were informed that the Rainmen had left the city.
[26] In the weeks after the forfeit, Rainmen guard Joey Haywood recounted that the team had been approached by an unknown man at their hotel following the brawl.
[27] On the morning of May 2, two days after the brawl, Rainmen guard Forrest Fisher wrote on Twitter that he had been kicked out of his apartment without warning.
He said, "We were in Toronto Friday morning, and I get a message from the landlord at the apartment I stay at, telling me that my bags have been packed and all of my stuff has been moved to storage.
"[30] Levingston, on the other hand, slammed Clarós, saying that "instead of leading our team to the championship, he led a group of talented players to broken contracts and a lifetime of controversy.
[32] He took full responsibility for leading the Rainmen into the WFCU Centre ahead of schedule but believed that the two teams could have negotiated to avoid conflict.
"[34] In the day after the forfeit, the NBL Canada announced, "The league takes this incident very seriously and we are working to address the matter to ensure it never happens in the future, and so that those who were responsible are held accountable.
"[2] On May 5, 2015, Dave Magley, head coach and general manager of the Brampton A's during the season, was appointed by the league's Board of Governors to lead the investigation.
[35] Magley also said that he would consider assuming the position of commissioner if he was approached, succeeding Paul Riley, who was fired in January 2015.
[36] A $5,000 fine was imposed on every player on the team's roster, excluding Douglas Appiah Jr. who was injured at the time of the brawl.
[38] In a statement on May 11, he said, "I am looking for help to fight these unjust sanctions and fines so I can continue to work and be able to support my family.
"[39] For the Express, head coach Bill Jones faced a one-year suspension that would bar him from directing his team in the 2015–16 season.
"[42] However, Express owner Dartis Willis claimed that the investigation was "botched,"[40] because Magley was an NBL Canada coach that had faced Jones in previous games.
A new ownership group, led by former Rainmen advisor and CEO of Corporate Research Associates in Don Mills, soon confirmed that the defunct team's reincarnation would compete for the next season.
[37] Mills expected a group of 25 shareholders to help start up the organization, many of whom personally paid for the Rainmen's flights and hotels in the last season.
He chose to not include Levingston in the ownership group but allowed him to assume the position as the team's general manager.
"[44] The Hurricanes also signed Cliff Clinkscales and Mike Glover as its first players and hired Hugo López as head coach.
[48] On March 11, 2016, Rainmen player Tyrone Watson was also reinstated to the league after paying his $5,000 fine and receiving a unanimous vote.
