The NBDL Expands
NBA Commissioner David Stern Expands the NBDL into four new markets in the Old West with the aim of making farm basketball a major part of his legacy.

JonathanRoybal
Associate Editor
Minor League News

April 19, 2005 - NBA Commissioner David Stern is finally ready to build on the foundation that he established, creating the National Basketball Development League in 2001 as the first fully-affiliated development system for basketball.

With the recent announcement of four new franchises, Stern has taken another step towards turning the NBDL into a real minor league farm system, one that will have actual affiliations with NBA parent-clubs.

Albuquerque, New Mexico, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Austin and Fort Worth, Texas, were each awarded new NBDL franchises on March 21, thus expanding the league from six to 10 teams for the 2005-06 season. While the NBA kept the NBDL expansion plans tight to the vest, it was clear, from the various groups in cities like Albuquerque proposing new mixed-use indoor arenas that included hockey and arena football programs that the biggest point in the indoor triple crown, basketball, had to figure into the mix.

Mini-Major Markets

The NBA's expansion into the three fastest-growing sports markets in the West acknowledges these cities"mini-major" status. Albuquerque's baseball club, the Isotopes, often outseats its major league parent club, the Florida Marlins. Their Scorpions hockey franchise has thrived even in a substandard arena. Austin's baseball club, the Round Rock Express, moved up to the Class AAA level this season (MLN's Business of the Year 2004). The Austin Ice Bats of the CHL are a fixture of the city now. Tulsa is now a four sport minor league city.

The Legacy

"The absence of a firm-footed, successful development league is something that has gnawed at me over the years," Stern said.

In past years he has said that there has to be a place for players with the skills to play make it to the NBA, who don't have the academic skills to play in the NCAA. Others in the league and in the college ranks have pointed to the many players who just miss the NBA draft who, with a year or two of seasoning, usually in a foreign league, become ready for a major league career.

It is clear Stern would like the development of a viable farm system to be one of his great legacies as commissioner.

The Grand Experiment

The expansion comes on the heels of critics looking at the small number of teams in the Southeast as nothing more than a novel experiment going nowhere.

Some pundits perceived a lack of interest from the owners. There is obvious market pressure on NBDL teams from the NCAA schools, who earn millions from their amateur games.

Motivation within the NBA organization is also a problem as some staff sent to the NBDL have privately viewed the assignment, away from the power center of New York, like exile in Siberia.

“We are taking an important step to place the development league on a national footprint and continue the success that it has had," said Stern.

As a development system, the NBDL has been a technical success story. The league promotes players to NBA benches annually, and provides some excellent coaching and instruction.

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