Tulsa 66ers
The Tulsa 66ers are an NBA Development League team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma and the minor league affiliate of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Their logo design is a basketball behind mountains with a road leading up to them, all on a U.S. Highway shield.
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Franchise history
The 66ers are named for the famous US Highway 66 ("Route 66"), which runs through Tulsa and once played a pivotal role in its economy. The team has one affiliate club in the NBA: the Oklahoma City Thunder. The New York Knicks were formerly an affiliate through the end of the 2007•08 season. Prior to the 2005•06 season, the team was the Asheville Altitude and played in the Asheville Civic Center in Asheville, North Carolina, where they won two NBDL championships. The teams named was in reference to the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains. Upon moving, all of the team's hard assets were then sold to former Tulsa 66ers owner Southwest Basketball, LLC, which also owns the Albuquerque Thunderbirds and the Reno Bighorns. The Asheville Altitude were a founding team of the NBDL in 2001.
On July 31, 2008, the 66ers announced that Clayton Bennett of the Professional Basketball Club LLC (owner of the Oklahoma City Thunder), had agreed in principle to purchase the 66ers; marking the third D-League team to be owned by an NBA team (the other two are the Los Angeles D-Fenders and the Austin Toros, owned by the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs, respectively).[1] Under terms of that deal, they will be the OKC team's sole affiliate; former co-parent club the Milwaukee Bucks will now be affiliated with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.[2]
For the 2008•09 season, the team moved to the brand-new SpiritBank Event Center in nearby Bixby, but retained the Tulsa 66ers name.[3] After the 2008•09 season, however, the team announced it would seek another venue for the next season, and it filed a lawsuit against the owner of the arena.[4] On August 13, 2009, it was announced that the 66ers would play home games for the 2009/2010 season at the Tulsa Convention Center in downtown Tulsa.[5]
Season-by-season
| Season | Division | Regular Season | Playoffs | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | Wins | Losses | Pct. | ||||||
| Asheville Altitude | |||||||||
| 2001•02 | 6th | 26 | 30 | .460 | |||||
| 2002•03 | 5th | 23 | 27 | .460 | |||||
| 2003•04 | 1st | 28 | 18 | .609 | Won Semifinals (Fayetteville) 116-111 Won D-League Finals (Huntsville) 108-106 | ||||
| 2004•05 | 2nd | 27 | 21 | .563 | Won Semifinals (Huntsville) 90-86 Won D-League Finals (Columbus) 90-67 | ||||
| Tulsa 66ers | |||||||||
| 2005•06 | 7th | 24 | 24 | .500 | |||||
| 2006•07 | Eastern | 4th | 21 | 29 | .420 | ||||
| 2007•08 | Southwestern | 3rd | 26 | 24 | .520 | ||||
| 2008•09 | Southwestern | 5th | 15 | 35 | .300 | ||||
| Tulsa 66ers | |||||||||
| 2009•10 | Western | 5th | 27 | 23 | .540 | Won Round 1 (Sioux Falls) 2-1 Won Semifinals (Iowa) 2-1 Lost D-League Finals (Rio Grande Valley) 2-0 | |||
| Regular Season Record | 217 | 231 | .484 | 2001•2010 | |||||
| Playoff Record | 8 | 4 | .667 | 2001•2010 | |||||
2009•2010 roster
| Tulsa 66ers Current Roster | |||||
| Head Coach: Nate Tibbetts | |||||
| Associate Head Coach: Dale Osbourne | |||||
| Athletic Trainer: Anthony Aldridge | |||||
| 11 | G | 6'4 | Cecil Brown | (UC-Santa Barbara) | |
| 7 | G | 6'3 | Zabian Dowdell | (Virginia Tech) | |
| 17 | G | 6'6 | Moses Ehambe | (Oral Roberts) | |
| 44 | C | 6'11 | DeVon Hardin | (California) | |
| 99 | F | 6'8 | Marcus Lewis | (Oral Roberts) | |
| 23 | F | 6'7 | Larry Owens | (Oral Roberts) | |
| N/A | F | 6'8 | Chris Richard | (Florida) | |
| 22 | G | 6'3 | Mustafa Shakur | (Arizona) | |
| 41 | F | 6'7 | Deron Washington | (Virginia Tech) | |
As of June 24, 2010 (NBA) - Assigned by Oklahoma City Thunder
Former stars
- Maurice Ager
- Sean Banks
- Derrick Dial
- Ersan İlyasova
- Nick Fazekas
- Joe Forte
- Shaun Livingston
- John Lucas III
- Ramon Sessions
- Brandon Kurtz
- Mike Hall
- David Noel
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Asheville Altitude logo (2001•2005) |
Tulsa 66ers logo (2005•2007) |
Tulsa 66ers logo (2007•2009) |
Tulsa 66ers logo (2009•present) |
References
- ^ http://www.nba.com/dleague/tulsa/tulsa_okc_080731.html
- ^ http://newsok.com/okcs-nba-franchise-buys-tulsas-d-league-team/article/3277505/?tm=1217566194
- ^ Glenn Hibdon, "Tulsa 66ers pro basketball team moving to Bixby", Tulsa World, February 12, 2008.
- ^ Mike Strain, "66ers' owners sue Bixby arena's owners", Tulsa World, May 31, 2009.
- ^ "66ers will move to Convention Center", Tulsa World, August 13, 2009.
External links
| v • d • NBA Development League | |
|---|---|
| Eastern Conference | Western Conference |
| Dakota Wizards | Austin Toros |
| Erie BayHawks | Bakersfield Jam |
| Fort Wayne Mad Ants | Idaho Stampede |
| Iowa Energy | Los Angeles D-Fenders |
| Maine Red Claws | New Mexico Thunderbirds |
| Sioux Falls Skyforce | Reno Bighorns |
| Springfield Armor | Rio Grande Valley Vipers |
| Tulsa 66ers | |
| Utah Flash | |
| 2010 Expansion/Relocation | |
| Texas Legends | |
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Categories: NBA Development League teams | Oklahoma City Thunder | Sports in Tulsa, Oklahoma | Basketball teams in Oklahoma | Sports clubs established in 2001
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