The London Lions

The capital’s premier league basketball team

The London Lions started out in 1977 as the Hemel Hempstead Lakers. Located about 24 miles northwest of the capital, their name and team colours were inspired by the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the NBA’s most famous teams.

Over the next 35 years, they would go through rebrandings and relocations – becoming the Watford Royals and then the Milton Keynes Lions.

For the 2012-13 season, the team moved to London and took up residence at the Copper Box arena, which had been built as a venue in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park for the 2012 London Olympics.

Now known as the London Lions, they joined the British Basketball League the following year, becoming the only professional basketball club in the capital. That season saw them finish sixth, losing out to the Worcester Wolves in the BBL Quarter Finals.

The London Lions have made the BBL Play-Offs every year since their founding and won the inaugural British Basketball All Stars trophy in 2017.