| League: | ABA 2015–2017 NABL 2019 |
| History: | Buffalo Blue Hawks 2015–2019 Buff City Braves 2019 |
| Division: | Northeast |
| Arena: | Bishop Timon – St. Jude 2015–2017 Delavan Grider Community Center 2019 |
| Colors: | Blue, blue, white |
| City: | Buffalo, New York |
| Owner: | Franklin Jackson 2015–2019 Robert Cornelius 2019 |
| Coach: | Franklin Jackson 2015–2017 Darel Goodwin 2019 Robert Cornelius 2019 |
| Captain: | Prince Knight 2019 |
| Record: | 3–15 |
| Playoff Berths: | 1 (2019) |
The Buffalo Blue Hawks were a basketball team based in Buffalo, New York. The team was a member of the American Basketball Association from 2015 to 2017, and later the North American Basketball League in 2019.
The Buffalo Stampede played their final season in 2010–11 as part of the American Professional Basketball League (ACPBL) before folding, leaving the city without a professional team.[1]
Franklin Jackson founded a new ACPBL franchise called the Buffalo Warriors, but his team folded midway through the 2011–12 season.[2]
Jackson then partnered with Tawan Slaughter to purchase an American Basketball Association (ABA) franchise for the city in November 2012.[3] Slaughter went on to found the Buffalo 716ers in the Premier Basketball League after Jackson left the partnership.[3]
Amateur teams were fielded by Jackson under the Buffalo Blue Hawks name beginning in 2013, and in December 2015 the club joined the American Basketball Association's Northeast D2 Division.[4] It was the second ABA franchise in city history, following the Buffalo Sharks.
Home games were to be played at Bishop Timon – St. Jude High School.
In its inaugural game of the 2015–16 ABA season, the team lost on the road to the Steel City Yellow Jackets by a score of 61–147 on December 12, 2015.[5] Franklin Jackson coached the team to a 0–2 record, at which point their season ended prematurely in January 2016.[5]
The team played in the Northeast Division for the 2016–17 ABA season, and in January 2017 their campaign once again ended early after an 0–7 start.[6]
The team was awarded entry into the North American Basketball League (NABL) in January 2018, and began play in the Northeast Division of the East Conference for the 2019 NABL season.[7] Darel Goodwin was hired as head coach, and Delavan Grider Community Center was named as their new home venue.
Franklin Jackson sold the club mid-season to Robert Cornelius in April 2019 after the team started 0–4, leading to Cornelius taking over as head coach and changing the roster.[8]
Lovell Smith was named NABL Player of the Week after scoring a triple-double in the team's 113–106 victory over the Lancaster Thunder on May 18, 2019.[9] Smith was again named NABL Player of the Week after scoring 38 points, 20 rebounds, and 7 assists in the team's 135–102 victory over the Detroit Cobras on June 1, 2019.[10]
The team's late-season success led them to qualify for the playoffs with a 3–5 record, where they were eliminated in the quarterfinal round by the Lancaster Thunder.[11]
Dialo Rivera-Stevens was named to the 2009 All-NABL Team for his performance during the season.[12]
Robert Cornelius announced in October 2019 that the franchise would rebrand as the Buff City Braves and once again join the American Basketball Association (ABA), but instead the team was folded.[13] Lovell Smith and Jamaal Carter would go on to play for the Buffalo eXtreme, an ABA team that formed in 2023.[14]
| League champions | Conference champions | Division champions | Playoff berth |
| Season | Conference | Finish | Division | Finish | Wins | Losses | Win% | GB | Playoffs | Awards | Head coach | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-16 | — | — | Northeast D2 | 3rd | 0 | 2 | — | Did not qualify. | Franklin Jackson | ||||
| 2016-17 | — | — | Northeast | 11th | 0 | 7 | — | Did not qualify. | Franklin Jackson | ||||
| 2019 | East | 6th | Northeast | 4th | 3 | 5 | — | Lost quarterfinal (Thunder) 99–121 | Dialo Rivera-Stevens (All-NABL) | Darel Goodwin Robert Cornelius |
|- style="background:#fcc"| 1| December 12| @ Steel City| L 61–147| | | | Greentree Sportsplex| 0–1|- style="background:#fcc"| 2| January 9| Bronx| L 111–113| | | | Bishop Timon – St. Jude High School| 0–2
|- style="background:#fcc"| 1| November 5| @ Rochester| L 132–139| | || Thomas P. Ryan, Jr. Community Center| 0–1|- style="background:#fcc"| 2| November 19| Rochester| L 85–115| | | | Bishop Timon – St. Jude High School| 0–2|- style="background:#fcc"| 3| December 3| Western New York| L 101–110| | | | Bishop Timon – St. Jude High School| 0–3|- style="background:#fcc"| 4| December 10| @ Elmira| L 112–155| | | | Family Fitness Center| 0–4|- style="background:#fcc"| 5| December 11| @ Western New York| L 107–126| | | | Niagara Catholic High School| 0–5|- style="background:#fcc"| 6| January 15| Elmira| L 113–128| | | | Bishop Timon – St. Jude High School| 0–6|- style="background:#fcc"| 7| January 28| Atlantic Coast| L 116–123| | | | Bishop Timon – St. Jude High School| 0–7
|- style="background:#fcc"| 1| March 9| @ DuBois| L 59–137| ||| Central Catholic High School| 0–1|- style="background:#fcc"| 2| March 16| @ Kentucky| L 59–143| | | | Thomas More University| 0–2|- style="background:#fcc"| 3| March 23| Chautauqua| L 76–138| | | | Delavan Grider Community Center| 0–3|- style="background:#fcc"| 4| April 6| @ Chautauqua| L 84–104| | | | Brocton Central School| 0–4|- style="background:#fcc"| 5| April 27| @ DuBois| L 84–104| | | | Central Catholic High School| 0–5|- style="background:#cfc"| 6| May 4| DuBois| W 103–100| Lovell Smith (23)| Lovell Smith (10)| | Delavan Grider Community Center| 1–5|- style="background:#cfc"| 7| May 18| Lancaster| W 113–106| Lovell Smith (33)| Lovell Smith (15)| Lovell Smith (10)| Delavan Grider Community Center| 2–5|- style="background:#cfc"| 8| June 1| Detroit| W 135–102| Lovell Smith (39)| Lovell Smith (16)| Jamaal Carter (12)| Delavan Grider Community Center| 3–5
|-style="background:#fcc;"| 1| June 22| @ Lancaster| L 99–121| | | | Lancaster High School| 0–1