List of NBA Development League champions

NBA Development League awards and honors
Championship
Individual awards

Honors

The National Basketball Association Development League (NBADL) (or National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001–05) Finals is the championship game or series for the NBADL and the conclusion of the sport's postseason. Since the league's inception in 2001–02, a variety of formats has been used to determine the champion. From the inaugural postseason in 2002 through 2006, the four teams with the best records advanced to the postseason because there were no division or conference splits to divide the eight teams.[1][2][3][4][5] The first two seasons, both semi-finals and the Finals series were in a best-of-three format, whereby a team must win two of the three games to advance or win the championship[1][2] (the best-of-three would resume again in 2008 and is still used today).[6][7][8][9] Then, between 2004 and 2007, the playoffs used a single-elimination tournament among the four teams, with two semi-final games and one winner-takes-all championship match.[3][4][5][6]

In 2007, the league had expanded to 12 teams and was divided into Eastern and Western Conferences, comprising six teams apiece.[6] The playoffs pitted each conference's winner against one another, with the Eastern Conference's Dakota Wizards winning the championship 129–121 in overtime against the Colorado 14ers.[6] With the league's continued expansion to 14 and 16 teams over the next two years, respectively, the two-conference format was replaced with a three-division format consisting of Western, Southwestern and Central Divisions.[7][8] Both the 2008 and 2009 NBADL championship series were between teams representing the Western and Southwestern Divisions, with no Central teams ever making it to the finals.[7][8] These divisions split, with the Idaho Stampede of the Western Division winning in 2008, while the Colorado 14ers of the Southwestern Division won in 2009. Since 2010, the league has re-formatted to the Eastern and Western Conferences. Due to there being two more teams in the Western Conference (9) than the Eastern Conference (7), and because the top eight teams with the best regular season records qualify for the postseason irrespective of conference, the 2010 NBADL Finals consisted of two Western Conference teams.[9] No teams from the east had advanced beyond the first two rounds, and the NBADL champion that season was the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.[9]

Key

Bold Winning team of the NBADL Finals
Had or tied for the best regular season record for that season
Team (X) Denotes the number of times the team has won
(also includes past names of franchise, if applicable)

Champions

2002 to 2006

Year Champion Result Runner-up Reference
2002 Greenville Groove 2–0 North Charleston Lowgators [1]
2003 Mobile Revelers 2–1 Fayetteville Patriots [2]
2004 Asheville Altitude 1–0 Huntsville Flight [3]
2005 Asheville Altitude (2) 1–0 Columbus Riverdragons [4]
2006 Albuquerque Thunderbirds 1–0 Fort Worth Flyers [5]

2007

Year Western Division Champion Result Eastern Division Champion Reference
2007 Colorado 14ers 0–1 Dakota Wizards [6]

2008 to 2009

Year Champion Division Result Runner-up Division Reference
2008 Idaho Stampede Western 2–1 Austin Toros Southwest [7]
2009 Colorado 14ers Southwest 2–0 Utah Flash Western [8]

2010 to present

Year Champion Conference Result Runner-up Conference Reference
2010 Rio Grande Valley Vipers Western 2–0 Tulsa 66ers Western [9]
2011 Iowa Energy Eastern 2–1 Rio Grande Valley Vipers Western [10]
2012 Austin Toros Western 2–1 Los Angeles D-Fenders Western [11]
2013 Rio Grande Valley Vipers (2) Central 2–0 Santa Cruz Warriors Western [12]
2014 Fort Wayne Mad Ants Eastern 2–0 Santa Cruz Warriors Western [13]
2015 Santa Cruz Warriors (2) Western 2–0 Fort Wayne Mad Ants Central [14]
2016 Sioux Falls Skyforce Central 2–1 Los Angeles D-Fenders Western [15]

Results by teams

TeamsFinals
appearances
ChampionshipsRunners-upYears wonYears runners-up
Dakota Wizards / Santa Cruz Warriors[f] 4222007, 20152013, 2014
Asheville Altitude / Tulsa 66ers[a] / Oklahoma City Blue 3212004, 2005 2010
Rio Grande Valley Vipers 3212010, 20132011
Columbus Riverdragons / Austin Toros[b] / Austin Spurs 312 20122005, 2008
Colorado 14ers / Texas Legends[c] 21120092007
Huntsville Flight / Albuquerque Thunderbirds /
New Mexico Thunderbirds / Canton Charge[d]
2112006 2004
Fort Wayne Mad Ants 21120142015
Greenville Groove 1102002
Idaho Stampede / Salt Lake City Stars 1102008
Iowa Energy 1102011
Mobile Revelers 1102003
Sioux Falls Skyforce 1102016
Los Angeles D-Fenders 2022012, 2016
Fayetteville Patriots 1012003
Fort Worth Flyers 1012006
North Charleston Lowgators / Charleston Lowgators / Florida Flame[e] 1012002
Utah Flash / Delaware 87ers 1012009

Notes

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "2001–02 NBDL season summary". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 "2002–03 NBDL season summary". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 "2003–04 NBDL season summary". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 "2004–05 NBDL season summary". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
  5. 1 2 3 "2005–06 NBA Development League season summary". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "2006–07 NBA Development League season summary". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "2007–08 NBA Development League season summary". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "2008–09 NBA Development League season summary". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "2009–10 NBA Development League season summary". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
  10. Emmert, Mark (April 29, 2011). "Iowa Energy Win NBA D-League Championship". Des Moines Register. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
  11. "Dentmon, Austin top Los Angeles for D-League crown". Fox News. April 29, 2012. Retrieved April 29, 2012.
  12. "Warriors Fall to Rio Grande Vipers in NBA D-League Finals". NBA.com. April 27, 2013. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
  13. "Fort Wayne Mad Ants Capture 2014 NBA Development League Title". NBA.com. April 26, 2014. Retrieved April 26, 2014.
  14. "Title Wave: Santa Cruz Wins NBA D-League Championship". NBA.com. April 26, 2015. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
  15. "Sioux Falls Skyforce Cap Historic Season with First NBA D-League". NBA.com. April 27, 2016. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 "National Basketball Development League Facts: NBDL Membership Chronology 2002–2007". apbr.org. Association for Professional Basketball Research. 2008. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
  17. "NBA League Development Team Comes to Frisco; Colorado 14ers to Move Operations". ci.frisco.tx.us. June 18, 2009. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
  18. Hubert, Matt (August 18, 2010). "D-League 101: D-League Franchise History". D-League Digest. dleaguedigest.com. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
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