to find a new owner for the league abandons its efforts, and the league has over $2 million in debts. The teams are offered back to their original owners for a $1 simple consideration, and several owners accept the offer. Many more refuse, and their clubs go under. February 24, 2001: The CBA declares bankruptcy. Five former CBA team owners repurchase their franchises and join the rival International Basketball League (IBL) to finish the season. Other owners choose to allow their franchises to fail, rather than cover debts that were not theirs originally. Summer 2001: The IBL folds. November 2001: The CBA reorganizes for the 2001–02 season as former CBA franchises in Rockford, Gary, Grand Rapids and Sioux Falls merge with the smaller International Basketball Association (IBA), which has franchises in Bismarck (Dakota Wizards), Fargo (Fargo-Moorhead Beez) and Saskatoon (Saskatchewan Hawks). The Flint (Michigan) Fuze join as an expansion team. November 16, 2001: The first game in the history of the National Basketball Developmental League is played. In fall 2001, CBA and IBL teams merged with the International Basketball Association and purchased the assets of the defunct CBA (including its name, logo and records) from the bankruptcy trustee and resumed operations as the CBA, assuming the former league's identity and history. The league obtained eight new franchises (for a total of ten) for the 2006 season. The Atlanta Krunk Wolverines and Vancouver Dragons deferred their participation until the 2007–2008 season and the Utah Eagles folded on January 25, 2007. The CBA's 2007–08 season began with 10 franchises, the greatest number of teams to start a CBA season since the 2000–01 season. In addition to six returning franchises the CBA added three expansion teams – the Oklahoma Cavalry, the Rio Grande Valley Silverados and East Kentucky Miners; the Atlanta Krunk joined the league after sitting out the 2006–07 season. The 2008–2009 season began with only four teams, instead of the expected five. The Pittsburgh Xplosion folded under unclear circumstances, and the league scheduled games against American Basketball Association (ABA) teams for the first month of the season in an attempt to stay solvent. The maneuver was not enough. On February 2, 2009, the league announced a halt to operations, turning a scheduled series between the Albany Patroons and Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry into the league-championship series. Integration During the 1946–47 Eastern League season, the Hazleton Mountaineers had three African-American players on their