The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a men's professional basketball league in North America; composed of 30 teams. It is widely considered to be the premier men's professional basketball league in the world. The NBA is an active member of USA Basketball (USAB), which is recognized by FIBA as the national governing body for basketball in the United States. The NBA is one of the four major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. NBA players are the world's best paid athletes by average annual salary per player.
The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA Development League from 2005 until 2017. The league started with eight teams until NBA commissioner David Stern announced a plan to expand the NBA D-League to fifteen teams and develop it into a true minor league farm system, with each NBA D-League team affiliated with one or more NBA teams in March 2005. At the conclusion of the 2013–14 NBA season, 33% of NBA players had spent time in the NBA D-League, up from 23% in 2011. As of the 2018–19 season, the league consists of 27 teams, all of which are either single-affiliated or owned by an NBA team.
The National Basketball Association's Rookie of the Year Award is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given to the top rookie(s) of the regular season. Initiated following the 1952–53 NBA season, it confers the Eddie Gottlieb Trophy, named after the former Philadelphia Warriors head coach.
The NBA's Defensive Player of the Year Award is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1982–83 NBA season to the best defensive player of the regular season. The winner is selected by a panel of 124 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada, each of whom casts a vote for first, second and third place selections. Each first-place vote is worth five points, second-place voted are worth three points, and a third-place vote is worth one. The player with the highest point total, regardless of the number of first-place votes, wins the award.
The Delaware Blue Coats are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League. It is an affiliate of the Philadelphia 76ers in the National Basketball Association. The home games were most recently played at the Bob Carpenter Center on the campus of University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware. The team was founded in 2007 as the Utah Flash and served as an affiliate to the Utah Jazz. In April 2013, the 76ers acquired the team and relocated it to Delaware, where it played as the Delaware 87ers until 2018.
The Iowa Wolves are an American professional basketball team based in Des Moines, Iowa. It is owned by and affiliated with the Minnesota Timberwolves as of the 2017–18 season. They play in the Western Conference in the NBA G League, a minor league basketball organization run by the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Wolves play their home games at the Wells Fargo Arena. From 2007 to 2017, the team was known as the Iowa Energy in the NBA Development League (D-League) until being purchased and renamed by the Timberwolves. They broke the D-league attendance record on their first ever home game with 8,842 fans. They later set the record again in game two of the 2011 D-League Finals with an attendance of 14,036 fans. They won the 2011 D-League Finals, defeating the Rio Grande Valley Vipers two-games-to-one.
Morris Almond is an American former professional basketball player. Almond is the founder of Almond Athletics. His last professional appearance would be for the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA Development League (D-League).
The NBA Development League Most Valuable Player (MVP) is an annual NBA Development League (D-League) award given since the league's inaugural season to the best performing player of the regular season. The league's head coaches determine the award by voting and it is usually presented to the honoree during the D-League playoffs.
Darius Aaron Morris is an American professional basketball player for the Santa Cruz Warriors of the NBA G League. Morris was selected as the 41st pick in the 2011 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers and plays the point guard position. He has also played for the Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Clippers and Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA as well as the Los Angeles D-Fenders and Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA D-League. With the Vipers, he established a D-League playoff single-game assists record in 2014.
The NBA G League Rookie of the Year is an annual NBA G League award given since the league's inaugural season to the top rookie of the regular season. The league's head coaches determine the award by voting and it is usually presented to the honoree during the playoffs.
The NBA G League Most Improved Player is an annual NBA G League award given since the 2009–10 season. The award honors the player who demonstrated the most significant improvement over the course of the regular season. The league's head coaches determine the award by voting and it is usually presented to the honoree during the playoffs.
The NBA Development Defensive Player of the Year is an annual NBA Development League (D-League) award given since the league's inaugural season to the best defensive player of the regular season. The league's head coaches determine the award by voting and it is usually presented to the honoree during the D-League playoffs.
Ian Patrick Clark is an American professional basketball player for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball at Belmont University. As a senior, he was the 2012–13 Ohio Valley Conference Co-Player of the Year with Murray State's Isaiah Canaan. Clark was third in the nation in three-point field goal shooting percentage and led the Bruins to the conference championship in the school's first year as an OVC member. In July 2013, Clark signed a two-year contract with the Jazz after his performance at the Las Vegas Summer League impressed numerous teams. Clark won an NBA Championship with the Warriors in 2017.
The Twyman–Stokes Teammate of the Year Award is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award that recognizes the league's "ideal teammate" who exemplifies "selfless play and commitment and dedication to his team." The award is named after Jack Twyman and Maurice Stokes. The two played together on the Rochester/Cincinnati Royals from 1955 to 1958 until Stokes' career was cut short after he suffered a head injury from a fall during a game against the Minneapolis Lakers. Stokes would later become paralyzed due to post-traumatic encephalopathy; a brain injury that damages the motor-control center. Twyman then became Stokes' legal guardian and advocate until Stokes died in 1970.
The NBA Development League All-Star Game Most Valuable Player (MVP) is an annual NBA Development League (D-League) award given since the 2006–07 season to the player voted best of the annual All-Star Game. The inaugural D-League All-Star Game was held in February 2007, and the inaugural All-Star Game MVP was Fort Worth Flyers forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu of the East team. By position, guards have dominated the award with five winners, followed by forwards and centers with three each.
The NBA G League Coach of the Year is an annual NBA G League award given since the 2006–07 season to the best head coach of the regular season. The league's head coaches determine the award by voting and it is usually presented to the honoree during the G League playoffs. The winner receives the Dennis Johnson Trophy, which is named in honor of Hall of Fame player Dennis Johnson, a star NBA guard who died in 2007 while serving as head coach of the Austin Toros, in what was then known as the NBA Development League.
The NBA Development League Team Executive of the Year is an annual NBA Development League (D-League) award given since the 2009–10 season to the top front office executive involved in team operations. The award is determined by peer voting and teams are not allowed to vote for themselves. Jon Jennings, the President and General Manager of the Maine Red Claws, was the inaugural winner. He was recognized for leading a team that sold out its inaugural season, led the league in merchandise sales and ticket revenue, and was among the top teams in sponsorship revenue.
The Raptors 905 are a Canadian professional basketball team in the NBA G League. The team is based in Mississauga, Ontario, and began play in the 2015–16 season. The club, which is the G League affiliate of the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association, plays their home games at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre, replacing the Centre's former basketball tenant, the Mississauga Power of the National Basketball League of Canada. The team also plays occasional home games at the Scotiabank Arena, the home of their parent club. Raptors 905 were the eighth D-League team to be owned by an NBA team and the first to be based outside the United States.
The NBA G League Finals Most Valuable Player is an annual award given by the NBA G League since 2015, when the competition was known as the NBA Development League (D-League), to the best performing player of the championship series. Elliot Williams of the Santa Cruz Warriors was named the inaugural winner of the award after leading the Warriors to a 2–0 Finals series victory over the Fort Wayne Mad Ants in 2015.
