The team was brought to San Diego in 1995 after their predecessor the Mexico City Aztecas folded. In September 1995 it was announced that the team's nickname would be the "Wildcards". The name came from the franchise's principal sponsor Viejas Casino. who had their name on the team's jersey. At a press conference announcing the sponsorship, team owner Doug Logan wore multi-colored glasses with bells attached, resembling a joker, the team's mascot. A Wildcards radio advertisement that aired in 1995 excoriated college basketball and the Los Angeles Clippers while touting the CBA. During broadcasts of the Los Angeles Lakers games on KSWB-TV the Wildcards hosted "one-minute ticket telethons" hosted by broadcaster Chris Ello. Mauro Panaggio was hired as the team's head coach. Panaggio, who had coached in the CBA for 14 seasons and had more wins than any coach in league history, warned the media that the team may have trouble catching on, stating, "No one should get too comfortable here. If they aren't producing, they will have a short stay in San Diego." Panaggio was originally hired for a front office position, but he stepped into the head coaching role after being told by Logan that he could not find anyone to fill the vacancy. Jarvis Basnigh was selected by San Diego during the 1995 CBA dispersal draft. The Wildcards chose three players during the 1995 CBA draft: Dwight Stewart out of Arkansas, Mike Williams from UMass, and Brian Fair from UConn.
1995-96 season
The Wildcards first game was at the San Diego Sports Arena on November 17, 1995 against the Chicago Rockers; the Wildcards won, 108-106, on guard Kareem Townes' game-winning bucket with six seconds left. Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union-Tribune wrote, "They had a professional basketball game last night at the Sports Arena and — here's the weird part — people were actually standing and cheering. For the home team." But attendance that first night was only 3,310, in the 14,800-seat San Diego Sports Arena. Veteran NBA and CBA guard Greg Grant, who had been with the franchise in Mexico, played only one game with the Wildcards before being snapped up by the Philadelphia 76ers on November 21, 1995. Unfortunately, the 'Cards were decked on a regular basis after that first win: after losing ten of their next eleven games, attendance remained low, causing concern that the team would have to fold. San Diego's general managerJeff Quinn told The San Diego Union-Tribune, "We're substantially less than I would have thought we would be right now. I would have thought we'd have been drawing somewhere around 3,000. I'm a little mystified. I don't know the answer right now." On January 5, 1996, the San Diego Wildcards officially ceased operations, with owner Doug Logan claiming the team was losing $35,000 a week. The team's final record was 4–17.
