History
The league began play as the NBDL in the 2001–2002 season; the original eight franchises were all located in the southeastern United States (specifically in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, and Georgia). Some of these teams were purchased by private owners and relocated—at the same time the league's name was changed—in the summer of 2005, in a bid to appeal to more fans nationwide. As a result, franchises were established in or moved to Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, Florida and Oklahoma. In February 2006, the D-League expanded to California for the first time with the addition of the Bakersfield Jam. Two months later, the league announced that four teams from the Continental Basketball Association were joining the league: the Dakota Wizards, Sioux Falls Skyforce, Idaho Stampede, and a team originally slated for CBA expansion, the Colorado 14ers. A few days after that, the league announced that Anaheim, California, would be getting a team. One week after that, they announced that the Los Angeles Lakers have purchased a team, making them the first NBA team to own a D-League team. The westward expansion contributed to the contraction of the NBA-owned Roanoke Dazzle and Fayetteville Patriots. The Florida Flame have suspended operations due to arena scheduling difficulties. Today, no NBA D-League teams remain in the league's original Southeastern footprint. On November 5, 2009, the Texas Legends made history by hiring Nancy Lieberman as head coach, the first female head coach to lead an NBA or NBA D-League team.
On January 4, 2010, the league announced its first national television agreement with Versus. Versus is slated to carry 10 regular season games and 6 playoff games throughout 2010, airing on Saturday nights beginning January 16. The league will have a new national broadcast partner in the CBS Sports Network, starting with the 2012–13 season.
Read more about this topic: NBA Development League
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“The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)
“the future is simply nothing at all. Nothing has happened to the present by becoming past except that fresh slices of existence have been added to the total history of the world. The past is thus as real as the present.”
—Charlie Dunbar Broad (1887–1971)
“When the coherence of the parts of a stone, or even that composition of parts which renders it extended; when these familiar objects, I say, are so inexplicable, and contain circumstances so repugnant and contradictory; with what assurance can we decide concerning the origin of worlds, or trace their history from eternity to eternity?”
—David Hume (1711–1776)