Grand Rapids Drive

Grand Rapids Drive
League NBA G League
Founded 2006
History Anaheim Arsenal
2006–2009
Springfield Armor
2009–2014
Grand Rapids Drive
2014–present
Arena DeltaPlex Arena
Location Walker, Michigan
Team colors Red, blue, white[1]
              
President Ben Wallace
Head coach Robert Werdann
Ownership SSJ Group
Affiliation(s) Detroit Pistons
Championships 0
Division/Conference titles 0
Website grandrapids.dleague.nba.com

The Grand Rapids Drive are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League and is an affiliate of the Detroit Pistons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The franchise began as the Anaheim Arsenal in 2006, before relocating to Springfield, Massachusetts, in 2009 and becoming the Springfield Armor. After five seasons in Springfield, the franchise was moved to Grand Rapids in 2014 and subsequently renamed the Grand Rapids Drive. They play their home games at the DeltaPlex Arena in Walker, Michigan.

Franchise history

2006–2009: Anaheim Arsenal

The franchise began in 2006 as the Anaheim Arsenal as an expansion team in the NBA Development League (NBA D-League). Based in Anaheim, California, and playing at the Anaheim Convention Center, the Arsenal was the first professional basketball team to call the city home since the Los Angeles Clippers played occasional games there in the 1990s. However, the Arsenal era was mainly marked by futility, never having a winning season or a playoff berth. On March 31, 2009, the Arsenal announced that they would relocate to Springfield, Massachusetts.[2]

2009–2014: Springfield Armor

On July 29, 2009, it was announced that Dee Brown would become the head coach.[3] On September 2, the Armor picked first in the 2009 NBA Development League Expansion Draft, selecting center Marcus Campbell.[4] The team ended their inaugural 2009–10 season with a record of 7–43, the worst record in D-League history.

During the 2010–11 season, the Armor started by picking fifth in the D-League Draft, and selected La Salle's Vernon Goodridge.[5] The Armor would end up finishing with a record of 13–37, sixth in the seven-team Eastern Conference. After the season, head coach Dee Brown opted to leave the team to join the Detroit Pistons.[6] Brown was replaced soon after by Bob MacKinnon, Jr.[7]

For the 2011–12 season, the Armor entered into a single affiliation partnership with the Brooklyn Nets, giving the Nets full control over the basketball operations of and making them the sole affiliate for the Armor. The Nets became the second NBA team to enter into a single affiliation with an NBA D-League team, joining the Houston Rockets and the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.[8][9]

2014–present: A new beginning in Grand Rapids

On April 15, 2014, it was announced that the SSJ Group purchased the Springfield Armor and would relocate the team to Grand Rapids, Michigan, for the 2014–15 season. The Grand Rapids franchise would be locally owned and established a single-franchise "hybrid" affiliation with the Detroit Pistons. The affiliation between the Pistons and the Drive is the third between the two cities as the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League and the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League also share an affiliation, as do the Detroit Tigers of the American League and the West Michigan Whitecaps of the Midwest League.

The team launched a name-the-team contest shortly after the formal announcement. The contest produced four finalists: Drive, Chairmen, Horsepower, and Blue Racers. The community was encouraged to vote online in order to determine which of the four names would become the official team name.[10] Out of those names, the Grand Rapids Drive was selected.[11][12]

Season-by-season

Season Division Regular season Postseason results
Finish Wins Losses Pct.
Anaheim Arsenal
2006–07Western4th2327.460
2007–08Western4th2327.460
2008–09Western6th1535.300
Springfield Armor
2009–10Eastern7th743.140
2010–11Eastern6th1337.260
2011–12Eastern1st2921.580Lost First Round (Canton) 1–2
2012–13Eastern5th1832.360
2013–14Eastern3rd2228.440
Grand Rapids Drive
2014–15Central4th2327.460
2015–16Central4th2129.420
2016–17Central4th2624.520
2017–18Central2nd2921.580Lost First Round (Raptors) 88–92
Regular season record249351.4152006–present
Playoff record13.2502006–present

Current roster

Grand Rapids Drive roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOB (YYYY-MM-DD)From
G – Evans, Keenan (TW) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1996–08–23 Texas Tech
C 22 Horford, Jon 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1991–10–16 Florida
G – Lofton, Zach (TW) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1992–11–18 New Mexico State
G 6 Simmons, Marcus 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1988–01–28 Southern California
G 4 Smith, Speedy 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1993–01–28 Louisiana Tech
Head coach
  • Ryan Krueger
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • (NBA) On assignment from NBA affiliate
  • (TW) Two-way affiliate player
  • (I) Inactive
  • Injured

Roster
Last transaction: 2018–07–30

Head coaches

# Head coach Term Regular season Playoffs Achievements
GWLWin%GWLWin%
1Reggie Geary2006–081004654.460————
2Sam Vincent2008–09501535.300————
3Dee Brown2009–111002080.200————
4Bob MacKinnon Jr.2011–131004753.470312.333
5Doug Overton2013–14502228.440————
6Otis Smith2014–161004456.440————
7Rex Walters2016–17502624.520————
8Robert Werdann2017–present502921.580101.000

References

  1. ↑ "Grand Rapids Drive Reproduction Guideline Sheet". NBA Properties, Inc. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
  2. ↑ NBA Development League Team Comes To Springfield, Massachusetts Archived 2014-04-20 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ "Springfield Armor of NBA D-League name former Boston Celtics player Dee Brown head coach". masslive.com. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
  4. ↑ "NBA Development League: 2009 Expansion Draft Board". Nba.com. Archived from the original on November 18, 2010. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
  5. ↑ Thomas, Jeff (November 2, 2010). "Armor select La Salle's Goodridge with first pick in D-League Draft". Springfield Republican. Retrieved September 23, 2011.
  6. ↑ Thomas, Jeff (September 12, 2011). "Dee Brown out as Springfield Armor coach; Bob MacKinnon in?". Springfield Republican. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  7. ↑ Thomas, Jeff (September 14, 2011). "Springfield Armor introduce Bob MacKinnon, Jr. as their new head coach". Springfield Republican. Retrieved September 23, 2011.
  8. ↑ New Jersey Nets To Run Basketball Operations Of Springfield Armor In 2011-12 Archived 2016-06-10 at the Wayback Machine.
  9. ↑ Nets to Run Basketball Ops of D-League's Springfield Armor
  10. ↑ Wallner, Peter (May 1, 2014). "Grand Rapids NBA D-League team announces four name finalists". Mlive.com. Archived from the original on May 2, 2014. Retrieved Mar 1, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Detroit Pistons NBA D-League Affiliate Reveals Name: Grand Rapids Drive". June 17, 2014. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
  12. ↑ Wallner, Peter (June 17, 2014). "Grand Rapids NBA D-League team gets a nickname, and vote wasn't even close". Mlive.com. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
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