Professional sports franchises come and go in Hawaii.

And, considering the lack of success for nearly all of them, you wonder why they keep coming at all.

This is especially true for basketball, and namely the American Basketball Association.

The first thing to know is this is not your retired doctor’s ABA, the domain of Julius Erving and Rick Barry. In some ways this one’s got more in common with a rec league than the NBA. The old ABA actually competed for stars, fans and status from 1967 to 1976, before merging with the NBA.

To get an audition for a franchise in this 76-team league, it seems you don’t need much more than a hoop dream and a quirky name for your squad.

In recent years, we’ve seen (or most likely not seen, sometimes because they never even go to the point of playing a game) the Hawaii Hurricanes, the Pacific Rim Rockers and the Honolulu Pegasus.

Then there was the Mega Farce … sorry Mega Force … which made the mistake of promising the players they’d get paid.

None of them made it beyond a couple of games, if that.

But now what we have is the Hawaii Swish, and now maybe — just maybe — this time it’s different.

Why?

Because Geremy Robinson is no carpetbagger.

No one is coming and going — they’re already here. Hawaii is Robinson’s home, as it is for coach Artie Wilson and all of the Swish players.

You already know a lot of the names: Miah Ostrowski, Pi’i Minns, JC Carter.

This is no fly-by-night operation. Actually, the Swish aren’t flying anywhere at all. No road games, not until next year.

Robinson, 38, doesn’t only own the Swish. After one game, he is its leading scorer. A crowd of somewhere between 600 and 1,200, depending on who you talk to, saw him score 24 points as the Swish beat the Yuba City Goldminers 99-84 at the Blaisdell Arena on Feb. 10.

The Swish’s second game is Tuesday against the Tucson Buckets.

Robinson is a former University of Hawaii player originally from Louisiana who completed a pro playing career with its final stop in the Philippines in 2011. Since then, he’s lived in Hawaii Kai and also owns homes in Mililani. He is raising three kids here and “building relationships.”

His ventures include popular youth clinics and the Senior Classic high school all-star game — the fourth annual of which will be played March 11 before a Swish game.

Robinson has put in the time and effort to become a prominent member of Hawaii’s basketball community. That’s not something that can be said for those who previously tried to start ABA teams here.

“It was tough for those guys because they were coming from another place,” Robinson said. “They thought it was simple here, the people were simple. Coming from the mainland, they thought they could get over on them. The last guy who came, he told me I’m the one who should be doing this. It’s about having relationships and people trusting you.”

To that end, Robinson isn’t over-promising. No one’s getting paid yet.

This “season” is basically a six-game trial balloon. At first, it sounds ludicrous. But it makes sense.

“This year is mostly a lot of loose ends, a lot of people said ‘I don’t know,’ (when asked to be involved). This year is more show and prove,” Robinson said. “I knew that it had to be done that way, knew there’s going to be some obstacles. People got tired of (failed franchises).”

Robinson declined to discuss financial specifics, but said he is working on airline and hotel deals for next season. The ABA will expect the Swish to play at least 25 games next year, with 10 of them on the road.

In the meanwhile, the Swish can market themselves and try to build a fan base.

“Geremy has come up with a real nice concept of free clinics for kids prior to all our games,” said Wilson, the former UH player who is now a TV analyst for Rainbow Warrior games. “It’s important to build an understanding that with this abbreviated schedule we will improve and next year have a much longer schedule. I think it’s going to happen. I’m pretty confident after I see the commitment from the young guys to be a real team.”

All of the Swish players live in Hawaii and fans remember many as former island college standouts. Then there’s Navy Lt. Mark Veazey, a 6-foot-11 center who played at Annapolis and is now stationed here.

“We didn’t know what to expect, but we’ve meshed after a few months of practice. We played pretty well as a team (in the opener) and had a lot of fun,” Veazey said. “I’ll keep playing until it interferes with my (Navy) career. To be a part of the first professional team that actually makes it would be pretty cool, maybe build something for the next guys coming up.”

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads Opens in a new tab.