1996–97 British Basketball League season a bye into Quarter-finals. Birmingham Bullets vs. Leicester Riders Leopards vs. London Towers Thames Valley Tigers vs. Chester Jets Worthing Bears vs. Sheffield Sharks Chester Jets vs. Leicester Riders Sheffield Sharks vs. London Towers 1996–97 British Basketball League season The 1996–1997 BBL season was known as the Budweiser League for sponsorship reasons. The league retained a total of 13 teams, playing 36 games each. The main change featured the long-awaited return of Crystal Palace after several seasons of rejected applications. Palace replaced Doncaster Panthers following the liquidation of the South Yorkshire club. The League's two London-based teams dominated throughout the
Julius Joseph (basketball) Julius Joseph (basketball) Julius Joseph (born 16 November 1975 in London, England) is a British professional basketball player, and currently plays for the Westminster Warriors in the English Basketball League. Educated at Georgia College & State University (1997–2000), 6 ft 4 in Joseph was a member of the British student team that competed at the World Student Games in 1997, 1999 and 2001; he has played as a forward in both senior rosters of the England national team and the Great Britain team. Joseph began his playing career in 1996 at Westminster Warriors of the UK National Basketball League, this