List of NBA Development League champions

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

Teams	Finals appearances	Championships	Runners-up	Years won	Years runners-up
Dakota Wizards / Santa Cruz Warriors^[f]	4	2	2	2007, 2015	2013, 2014
Asheville Altitude / Tulsa 66ers^[a] / Oklahoma City Blue	3	2	1	2004, 2005	2010
Rio Grande Valley Vipers	3	2	1	2010, 2013	2011
Columbus Riverdragons / Austin Toros^[b] / Austin Spurs	3	1	2	2012	2005, 2008
Colorado 14ers / Texas Legends^[c]	2	1	1	2009	2007
Huntsville Flight / Albuquerque Thunderbirds / New Mexico Thunderbirds / Canton Charge^[d]	2	1	1	2006	2004
Fort Wayne Mad Ants	2	1	1	2014	2015
Greenville Groove	1	1	0	2002	—
Idaho Stampede / Salt Lake City Stars	1	1	0	2008	—
Iowa Energy	1	1	0	2011	—
Mobile Revelers	1	1	0	2003	—
Sioux Falls Skyforce	1	1	0	2016	—
Los Angeles D-Fenders	2	0	2	—	2012, 2016
Fayetteville Patriots	1	0	1	—	2003
Fort Worth Flyers	1	0	1	—	2006
North Charleston Lowgators / Charleston Lowgators / Florida Flame^[e]	1	0	1	—	2002
Utah Flash / Delaware 87ers	1	0	1	—	2009

See also

• List of NBA champions

Notes

• ^a The Asheville Altitude relocated and became the Tulsa 66ers in 2005–06.^[16]
• ^b The Columbus Riverdragons relocated and became the Austin Toros in 2005–06.^[16]
• ^c The Colorado 14ers went on hiatus in 2009–10 and returned as the Texas Legends in 2010–11 after a relocation.^[17]
• ^d The Huntsville Flight relocated and became the Albuquerque Thunderbirds in 2005–06, then the franchise simply renamed itself to the New Mexico Thunderbirds in 2010–11. The franchise was then purchased and relocated in 2011–12 and became known as the Canton Charge.^[16][18]
• ^e After two years as the North Charleston Lowgators, the franchise became known as the Charleston Lowgators for one season prior to their relocation. The franchise was known as the Florida Flame for the 2004 through 2006 seasons.^[16]
• ^f The Dakota Wizards relocated and became the Santa Cruz Warriors in 2012–13.^[16]

References

1. "2001–02 NBDL season summary". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
2. "2002–03 NBDL season summary". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
3. "2003–04 NBDL season summary". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
4. "2004–05 NBDL season summary". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
5. "2005–06 NBA Development League season summary". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
6. "2006–07 NBA Development League season summary". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
7. "2007–08 NBA Development League season summary". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
8. "2008–09 NBA Development League season summary". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
9. "2009–10 NBA Development League season summary". basketball-reference.com. 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. "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.