Distinctly Montana Magazine

40 D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R 2 0 2 6 dance was still down and the NBA had declined to renew its development contract. The Billings Volcanos folded in July of 1983. The Golden Nuggets followed suit on August 1st, selling the franchise to the league for a reported $180,000 to be reissued in Puerto Rico. Just as they had come to Montana together, the two teams left together. Most Golden Nuggets and Volcanos players eventually joined other franchises. U.S. Reed moved on to the Wisconsin Flyers. Carl Nicks made another jump to the NBA before return- ing to the CBA to play for the new Toronto franchise. Following his run at glory, Clay Johnson eventually returned to the CBA, playing for both the Sarasota Stingers and Evansville Thunder. Even George Karl, after stints with Cleveland and Golden State in the NBA, returned to coach the Eastern Division's Albany Patroons for the 1988-1989 and 1990-1991 seasons. In 2000, after decades of both official and loose affiliation with the CBA, the NBA started its own developmental league in the National Basketball Developmental League—now known as the G-League. In 2006, four of the CBA's eight teams left to join the NBDL. California-based Apex Sportstainment tried to fill the void with two new Montana-based clubs: the Butte Daredevils and the Great Falls Explorers. Interest was low, and both teams folded in 2008. The entire CBA ceased operations a year later. In the summer of 2015, for the first time since he was called up by the Lakers, Clay John- son returned to Billings to help put on a youth basketball camp. The city population had nearly doubled. The First Interstate Center, the state's tallest building, now loomed over downtown. Even the Metra arena looked different due to the remodeling required after the devastating 2010 tornado. For Johnson, the change was neither disheartening nor exciting. If anything, it barely reg- istered. He couldn't recall a restaurant he wanted to return to or even where his old apartment was. He felt nostalgia but it wasn't tied to the cityscape. "I remembered the people," he recalls. "I remembered all the people." He took out his phone and called his best friend, Rickey Green. Like Johnson, Green played in the NBA and was even named to the league's 1984 All-Star game. They had taken different routes to the peak of their sport, but their friendship was formed playing for the Volcanos, both in Hawaii and then Bill- ings. Green answered the phone. "You'll never guess where I am," said Johnson.

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