Oklahoma City Blue

Oklahoma City Blue
League NBA Development League
Founded 2001
History Asheville Altitude
2001–2005
Tulsa 66ers
2005–2014
Oklahoma City Blue
2014–present
Arena Cox Convention Center
Arena Capacity 2,610
Location Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Team colors Dark blue, blue, red, yellow
                   
Head coach Jarell Christian
Ownership Professional Basketball Club LLC
Affiliation(s) Oklahoma City Thunder
Championships 2 (2003, 2004)
Website www.nba.com/dleague/oklahomacity/

The Oklahoma City Blue is an NBA Development League team based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and the minor league affiliate of the Oklahoma City Thunder. The franchise began as the Asheville Altitude in 2001, before relocating to Tulsa, Oklahoma in 2005 and becoming the Tulsa 66ers. After nine seasons in Tulsa, the franchise were moved to Oklahoma City in 2014 by the Oklahoma City Thunder and were subsequently renamed the Oklahoma City Blue.

Franchise history

The Asheville Altitude were a founding team of the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) in 2001. They played at the Asheville Civic Center in Asheville, North Carolina, where they won back-to-back championships in 2004 and 2005.

Following the 2004–05 season, the Asheville Altitude were purchased by Southwest Basketball, LLC. The group moved the franchise to Tulsa, Oklahoma and were renamed the 66ers in honor of U.S. Route 66, which runs through Tulsa and the state of Oklahoma. For their inaugural season, the 66ers were directly affiliated with four NBA teams: the Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks and New Orleans Hornets.[1]

On July 31, 2008, the 66ers announced that Clayton Bennett of the Professional Basketball Club LLC (owner of the Oklahoma City Thunder) had agreed in principle to purchase the 66ers, marking the third D-League team to be owned by an NBA team (the first two were the Los Angeles D-Fenders and the Austin Toros, owned by the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs, respectively).[2]

After three seasons of playing at the Expo Square Pavilion in Tulsa, for the 2008–09 season, the team moved to the brand-new SpiritBank Event Center in nearby Bixby, but retained the Tulsa 66ers name. The one-season relationship with the arena ended with a lawsuit regarding more than $100,000 the team claimed it owed. The 66ers filed a lawsuit seeking more than $200,000 in compensatory damages from SpiritBank Center's ownership group. The team subsequently moved to the Tulsa Convention Center in downtown Tulsa for the 2009–10 season.[3]

In May 2012, the 66ers announced that they would return to the SpiritBank Event Center for the 2012–13 season.[4] However, in June 2014, SpiritBank announced that it would no longer seek bookings or lease the arena space.[5]

In July 2014, the the 66ers relocated to the Oklahoma City,[6] and in September 2014, they were renamed the Oklahoma City Blue for the 2014–15 season.[7]

Season-by-season

Season Division Regular season Playoffs
Finish Wins Losses Pct.
Asheville Altitude
2001–02 6th 26 30 .464
2002–03 7th 22 28 .440
2003–04 1st 28 18 .609 Won Semifinals (Fayetteville) 116–111
Won NBDL Finals (Huntsville) 108–106
2004–05 2nd 27 21 .563 Won Semifinals (Huntsville) 90–86
Won NBDL Finals (Columbus) 90–67
Tulsa 66ers
2005–06 7th 24 24 .500
2006–07 Eastern 4th 21 29 .420
2007–08 Southwestern 3rd 26 24 .520
2008–09 Southwestern 5th 15 35 .300
Tulsa 66ers
2009–10 Western 5th 27 23 .540 Won First Round (Sioux Falls) 2–1
Won Semifinals (Iowa) 2–1
Lost D-League Finals (Rio Grande Valley) 0–2
2010–11 Western 3rd 33 17 .660 Won First Round (Texas) 2–1
Lost Semifinals (Iowa) 0–2
2011–12 Western 6th 23 27 .460
2012–13 Central 3rd 27 23 .540 Won First Round (Canton) 2–1
Lost Semifinals (Rio Grande Valley) 0–2
2013–14 Central 5th 24 26 .480
Oklahoma City Blue
2014–15 Southwest 2nd 28 22 .560 Lost First Round (Santa Cruz) 0–2
2015–16 Southwest 4th 19 31 .380
Regular season 371 377 .496 2001–2016
Playoffs 12 8 .600 2001–2016

Current roster

Oklahoma City Blue roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From
G 23 Buycks, Dwight 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1989–03–06 Marquette
F 25 Carlton, James 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1992–10–19 Howard
F 20 Cobbins, Michael 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1992–08–09 Oklahoma State
C 44 Johnson, Dakari 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 255 lb (116 kg) 1995–09–22 Kentucky
F 13 Miller, Dane 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1990–05–10 Rutgers
G/F 1 Moungoro, Boubacar 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1994–09–20 IMG Academy HS (FL)
G 2 Pargo, Jannero 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1979–02–22 Arkansas
G 10 Teague, Marquis 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1993–02–28 Kentucky
G 5 Tokoto, J. P. 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1993–09–15 North Carolina
F 31 Woods, Kameron 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1993–04–22 Butler
F 7 Zanna, Talib 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1990–01–10 Pittsburgh
F/C 4 Zubčić, Tomislav 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1990–01–17 Croatia
Head coach
  • Jarell Christian
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • (NBA) On assignment from NBA affiliate
  • (I) Inactive
  • Injured

Roster • Transactions
Last transaction: 2016–04–02

Affiliates

References

  1. ↑ Tulsa 66ers announce NBA affiliations
  2. ↑ "Oklahoma City Franchise To Purchase Tulsa 66ers Of NBA D-League". NBA.com. July 31, 2008. Archived from the original on August 5, 2008. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
  3. ↑ 66ers moving to Convention Center
  4. ↑ "Tulsa 66ers Returning to Bixby’s SpiritBank Event Center". NBA.com. May 14, 2012. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  5. ↑ Big events no longer scheduled at SpiritBank Event Center in Bixby
  6. ↑ Thunder NBA Development League Team to Relocate to Oklahoma City
  7. ↑ Oklahoma City Blue begins its 2014-15 season in mid-November

External links

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