Noteworthy Statistics:
- The NBA D-League tips off it’s 12th season on Friday, 11/23 with a four-game slate
- The NBA D-League plays a 50-game season that concludes in April
- The NBA D-League is the NBA’s official minor league and has 16 teams with direct affiliations to the NBA
- 20% of players on 2012 NBA start of season rosters had NBA D-League experience
- 27% of players on 2012 NBA end of season rosters had NBA D-League experience
- 50% of 2012 NBA training camp cuts signed on to play in the NBA D-League for the 2012-13 season
- Almost 40 NBA D-League coaches have gone on to coach in the NBA
Off The Court:
- Four NBA D-League teams have jersey sponsorships:
- Springfield – MGM Springfield
- Erie – LECOM
- Rio Grande Valley – Lone Star National Bank
- Texas – Chocotow Casino Resorts
- New arena being built in Santa Cruz for the Warriors; new buildings in Maine, Sioux Falls and Rio Grande Valley in the coming seasons
- Partnership with CBS Sports Network to air 12 regular season games plus post season action
- New partnership with YouTube to broadcast NBA D-League games live on YouTube
Coaches of note:
- Eduardo Najera – Texas Legends … first Mexican-born head coach in the NBA family
- Darko Rajakovic – Tulsa 66ers … first European-born (he’s from Serbia) head coach in the NBA family
- Reggie Theus – Los Angeles D-Fenders … makes his return to the sidelines having not coached since his one-year tenure in Sacramento from 2007-2008.
Call-Ups:
- The 2011-12 season was record-breaking for GATORADE Call-Ups with 43 individual players earning 60 calls to the NBA. Here’s a fun fact: Those 43 players earned more than $11 Million combined in NBA salaries following their call-ups last season alone.
- So far this season, there have been two GATORADE Call-Ups – Daniel Orton got signed by the Oklahoma City Thunder from the 66ers training camp, while James Anderson was signed from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers to the San Antonio Spurs yesterday.
Assignments:
- The CBA now allows for players in the first three years of their NBA careers to be assigned to an NBA D-League affiliate an unlimited amount of times (it used to be players in the first TWO years of their careers with THREE assignments only).
- So far this season, the NBA D-League has seen 10 players assigned a total of 12 times.
Affiliation:
- An all-time high 11 NBA teams have one-to-one affiliations with their NBA D-League team, including two new single-affiliations for the 2012-13 season
- 5 NBA-Owned NBA D-League teams: Austin (San Antonio), Canton (Cleveland), Los Angeles (L.A. Lakers), Tulsa (Oklahoma City) and Santa Cruz (Golden State) – moved from Dakota during off season to be closer to Warriors
- 5 Hybrid teams: Erie (New York), Idaho (Portland) – New for 12-13, Maine (Boston) – New for 12-13, Rio Grande Valley (Houston), Springfield (Brooklyn)
- 1 Uniquely singly affiliated team – Texas (Dallas) – Legends are owned by Mavs’ GM Donnie Nelson
- 5 Independent teams – Bakersfield, Fort Wayne, Iowa, Reno, Sioux Falls
League Format:
- The NBA D-League will play in three conferences for the 2012-13 season
- East – Canton, Erie, Fort Wayne, Maine, Springfield
- Central – Austin, Iowa, Rio Grande Valley, Sioux Falls, Texas, Tulsa
- West – Bakersfield, Los Angeles, Idaho, Reno, Santa Cruz
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