Lakeland Royals Basketball plays its first home game on April 2 at Kathleen High School.
Tickets are $15 and $10 for military with ID at the door Game tips off at 7 pm against Winter Park Storm.
Who are the Lakeland Royals?
we are a new men’s semi-pro basketball team coming to Lakeland Florida.
We are associated with the Florida Basketball Association (FBA) under the direction of Mark King (owner of the Florida Flight) and Greg Kite (two-time NBA Champion and Commissioner of the FBA).
Much like the FBA, we believe in providing an opportunity for young men to continue to build their platform as professional athletes and excel in their basketball careers. We believe in building, guiding, and developing our athletes to be more than just athletes but to be leaders in their communities. As a team we are more than just another basketball team, we are a team of professionals, entrepreneurs, and leaders. Together we will make history as not only a new team but as the first female-owned basketball team in the FBA.
Meet Our Owner and Our Coaching Staff
Lakeland Royals has the honor of being the first female-owned team in the FBA.
It is under the direction of Amy Rhodes that we have this opportunity to be a part of history. Ms. Rhodes is a former pro athlete herself and has since gone on to coach basketball at both the middle and high school levels. She believes in providing opportunities to athletes who have been looked over by other coaches and programs. She believes it is necessary to build up, guide, mentor, and lead the future athletes of tomorrow to be more than just athletes but as individuals who are leading and impacting their communities.
Lakeland Royals is being lead by Head Coach David Thornton. Thornton was a military brat but call Atlanta, Ga, and New York home. Thornton has an incredible basketball history his freshman year in high school he played with NBA veteran Josh Powell and won a state championship before moving to Hoover, Al. There he honed his skills and lead the Bucs in assists and steals. Thornton went on to receive his B.S. in Business at Penn State University. He then pursued playing professionally overseas but that soon came to an end after tearing his Achilles, but his journey didn’t end there, Thornton went on to go to law school at Emory University and it was at Emory that he tapped into his training abilities and began to develop young athletes. Thornton has always had a passion for coaching and now we welcome him to the Lakeland Royals team as our assistant coach. Coach Thornton welcome to the Royals family we are excited to watch you take our athletes to the next level.