Texas Legends

Franchise history

Colorado 14ers

In 2006, Colorado businessmen Tim Wiens and John Frew, who were building the Broomfield Event Center at the Arista development in Broomfield, Colorado, acquired a new minor league basketball team to attract fans in the northwest Denver-Boulder region. In February, they formed two teams, the minor league hockey team Rocky Mountain Rage, and the Colorado 14ers, originally a Continental Basketball Association club. In April, the 14ers entered the NBA Development League and began their first season. The team was named after Colorado's 14,000-foot mountain peaks.

2006–07 season

Joe Wolf, who played with the Denver Nuggets in the 1990s, was the 14ers' first coach, and put together the roster. The team won 28–22 in its first season, and broke various records for Colorado minor league basketball, from scoring to attendance. The team's leaders included Von Wafer and Louis Amundson, who joined the NBA by the end of the season. Despite losing streaks and roster reorganizations, the team qualified for the playoffs. The 14ers won the Western Division before losing the championship in overtime to the Dakota Wizards.

2007–08 season

The 14ers' second season began with an almost new roster, with only Elton Brown and Eric Osmundson staying. New players included Kaniel Dickens, a top player on the team. Eddie Gill was selected in the draft, joined the NBA before the first game, and returned to the team later. Kevin Hill, the only Canadian, was drafted. Five others joined the NBA, including the simultaneous call-ups of Dickens and Billy Thomas on February 22, 2008, by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Despite turnover, the 14ers played well, finishing with one more win than the prior season. The 14ers' six consecutive wins at the end of the season put them in the playoffs as a wild card, but they lost in the first round to the Los Angeles D-Fenders.

2008–09 season

The 14ers' third season had the most consecutive seasons played by any minor league basketball franchise in Colorado. The season began with financial issues for the owners and a new coach, Robert MacKinnon. Joe Wolf had moved to the NBA. The new roster included Eddie Gill, Billy Thomas, and Jamar Brown, who had played for the Colorado Crossover. New players, Dominique Coleman and Josh Davis, played well, as did Sonny Weems, assigned from the Denver Nuggets three times to play during the regular season and playoffs. Early in the season, the 14ers led the D-League in wins and set the D-League record for points in a single game with a 147–119 win over the Rio Grande Valley Vipers on March 10. The 14ers later broke that record with a 155–127 win over the Albuquerque Thunderbirds on April 8. Finishing with a record of 34 wins, the 14ers played at home for the playoffs, and defeated the Erie BayHawks, Austin Toros, and Utah Flash to become the D-League champions.

Texas Legends

On June 18, 2009, a Dallas Mavericks executive, Donnie Nelson, purchased the 14ers, and moved the team to Frisco, Texas. They played in 2010–11 with a new nickname, color, and logo. On November 5, 2009, women's basketball pioneer Nancy Lieberman became the Legends' head coach, the first woman to lead a men's professional basketball team. The team played in the 2010–11 season out of the Comerica Center. The Legends hired other notable basketball professionals for their front office, including 1986 Slam Dunk Champion Spud Webb as president of basketball operations and 1995 NBA Coach of the Year Del Harris as general manager.

Televised games introduced the Legends to fans of the 16-team league. They were on national TV during Versus three times, and appeared twice on Fox Sports Southwest. The game against the Rio Grande Valley Vipers on Versus was their first TV appearance. After dropping the opener, the Legends had their first win on November 26 against the Idaho Stampede, scoring 108–100. The Legends' first game in Frisco was on November 30. The Legends scored a league record of 84 points in the first half, and a 135–112 win over the Austin Toros. They began the season with a 5–1 record, the best six-game start for an expansion team in the league's history. They finished the regular season with a 24–26 record, and went to the playoffs. They were the third expansion team to play in the postseason, but were eliminated in the first round by the Tulsa 66ers.

After Nancy Lieberman, Del Harris was the head coach, starting October 4, 2011. He coached the Legends for one season, had a 24–26 record for the second consecutive year, but did not make the playoffs. Between 2012 and 2015, the Legends' head coach was former NBA player Eduardo Nájera. The team did not make the playoffs while he was head coach. On July 8, 2015, the Legends hired Nick Van Exel as the head coach. After one season, in June 2016, Exel left to be an assistant coach for the Memphis Grizzlies. He was replaced by Bob MacKinnon Jr., who had previously been the head coach when the 14ers won a D-League championship in Colorado.

Ownership

At first, the team was owned by Texas D-League Management, LLC, which was principally owned by Donnie Nelson, former general manager and President of Basketball Operations for the Dallas Mavericks and son of former NBA head coach Don Nelson. The ownership group also included Evan Wyly, Barry Aycock and Eduardo Nájera. Currently, the team is owned and operated by the Dallas Mavericks.

Season by season

Players

Current roster

Awards

Impact Player of the Year

• Eddie Gill – 2009

Rookie of the Year

• Lou Amundson – 2007

Sportsmanship Award

• Billy Thomas – 2008

All-D-League First Team

• Lou Amundson – 2007
• Elton Brown – 2007
• Von Wafer – 2007
• Eddie Gill – 2008
• Joe Alexander – 2011

All-D-League Second Team

• Kaniel Dickens – 2008
• Josh Davis – 2009
• James Nunnally – 2014

All-D-League Third Team

• Billy Thomas (2008)
• Eddie Gill (2009)
• Antonio Daniels (2011)
• Sean Williams – 2011, 2012
• Eric Griffin – 2015

Coaches

NBA affiliates

Texas Legends

• Dallas Mavericks (2010–present)

Colorado 14ers

• Denver Nuggets (2006–2009)
• New Jersey Nets (2006–2009)
• Toronto Raptors (2006–2008)

References

References

1. "Court Design". NBA Media Ventures, LLC.
2. "Texas Legends Reproduction Guideline Sheet". NBA Properties, Inc..
3. Wynn, Britney. (July 25, 2023). "Legends Announce New General Manager and Head Coach".
4. Cook, Sara. (February 27, 2006). "Tabor {{as written". MennoWorld.org.
5. (April 6, 2006). "NBA Development League Expands To Four Cities". NBA.com.
6. (June 18, 2009). "NBA Development League Team Comes to Frisco, Texas". NBA.com.
7. (June 18, 2009). "NBA D-League team moving to Frisco". USAToday.com.
8. "Meet Nancy Lieberman". NBA.com.
9. Wigglesworth, Valerie. (June 20, 2010). "Frisco's new D-League basketball team starts full-court press months before first game". DallasNews.com.
10. (April 19, 2011). "TEXAS LEGENDS 2010-11 END OF SEASON RECAP". NBA.com.
11. (October 4, 2011). "Texas Legends Name Del Harris Head Coach". NBA.com.
12. (July 5, 2015). "Texas Legends Name Nick Van Exel Head Coach". NBA.com.
13. (June 8, 2016). "Grizzlies announce additions to Coaching Staff". NBA.com.
14. (June 8, 2016). "Getting to Know... Assistant Coach Nick Van Exel". NBA.com.
15. (2016-06-28). "Texas Legends to hire longtime coach Bob MacKinnon to replace Nick Van Exel".
16. (17 November 2017). "Report: Mark Cuban in process to buy Mavericks' G-League team".
17. "Frequently Asked Questions: NBA G League".