A truck stop electrification company and a defunct pro basketball league have nothing in common, except that they just merged.

Driving the news: Shorepower, an Oregon-based firm founded in 2004, has gone public via a reverse merger with the United States Basketball League, which operated between 1985 and 2008. Semi Trailer Suspension Assembly

Background: Other than having a few recognizable NBA names like Manute Bol and Hot Rod Williams — and, of course, the three-time champion Atlantic City Seagulls — the USBL was best known for offering public stock in 1996.

What they're saying: "We got our start in truck stop electrification," says Shorepower president and CEO Jeff Kim. "Generally at an RV park, no one's running their engines. You go to a truck stop, the majority of them are running the engine simply to keep comfortable [and] they consume about a gallon of diesel fuel per hour."

Look ahead: Shorepower, which previously raised around $16 million (mostly via grants), plans to use the merger proceeds to upgrade stations at its 60 or so locations, plus expand its network of conventional EV chargers.

Wheel Studs For Semi Truck The bottom line: This is hardly the first reverse merger with the shell of a dead company, but such deals became less popular than their SPAC cousins. Perhaps a revival is at hand, given SPAC market struggles, but this pairing may remain the strangest.