The are a Japanese professional basketball team based in Kōriyama, Fukushima Prefecture. The team competes in the B.League One, the second division of the B.League, as a member of the Northern Conference.
History In May 2013 Fukushima Prefecture was announced as the successful bidder for an expansion franchise to enter the 2014–15 season of the bj-league. The league management included the region's recovery from the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and the long-term feasibility of the bidding company, Fukushima Sports Entertainment, as reasons for the successful bid.
In June 2014, the team announced Hiroki Fujita as the inaugural head coach.
As an expansion team, the Firebonds received the first pick in the 2014–15 rookie draft, selecting forward Shota Kanno, a Fukushima Prefecture native. Takumi Masuko was selected in the second round. In July 2014 the team signed American players James Hughes and Nick Thompson as their two foreign players.
2014–15 season The team commenced play in the bj-league in October 2014 and had their first regular-season win in a match against the Aomori Wat's on 5 October 2015. The team finished the season with a 21–31 record, securing a playoff berth in the second-last game of the regular season. They were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs 0–2 by the Iwate Big Bulls.
2015–16 season During the off-season, the team renewed the contract of Fujita as head coach and signed Le'Bryan Nash, Joseph Taylor and Stephan Van Treese as import players. Masaya Karimata was named team captain and Kenya Tomori was named vice-captain.
Current roster
Notable players Solomon Alabi Deon Jones Cedric Bozeman Shaheed Davis Verdell Jones Bingo Merriex Alex Murphy Le'Bryan Nash Tshilidzi Nephawe Evan Ravenel Nigel Spikes
Coaches Ryan Marchand Enrique Zúñiga Hiroki Fujita Tomohiro Moriyama Kimitoshi Sano
Results by year Bj-League SeasonRegular seasonHead coachNotesWinsLossesWin %Placing2014–15 2131 .404 7th (East)Hiroki FujitaEliminated in first round of playoffs2015–16 3022 .577 6th (East)Eliminated in first round of playoffs
B2 League SeasonRegular seasonHead coachNotesWinsLossesWin %Placing2016–17 3030 .500 3rd (East)Tomohiro Moriyama2017–18 3822 .633 2nd (East)2018–19 2733 .450 4th (East)2019–20 1631 .340 5th (East)2020–21 2731 .466 6th (East)2021–22 3418 .654 3rd (East)Eliminated in first round of playoffs2022–23 2832 .467 4th (East)Sano KintoshiEliminated in first round of playoffs2023–24 2436 .400 5th (East)Eric WeisslingTakahiro Kurihara (from December)2024–25 1545 .250 7th (East)Takahiro Kurihara2025-26 4218 .700 2nd (East)Ryan MarchandFinals Runner-Up
Arenas Koriyama General Gymnasium Fukushima Toyota Crown Arena Iwaki General Gymnasium Tamura City General Gymnasium Aizu General Gymnasium Shirakawa City Central Gymnasium Inawashiro Town General Gymnasium
References
External links