Oklahoma City Blue | |
---|---|
League | NBA Development League |
Founded | 2001 |
History |
Asheville Altitude 2001–2005 Tulsa 66ers 2005–2014 Oklahoma City Blue 2014–present |
Arena | Cox Convention Center |
Capacity | 2,610 |
Location | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
Team colors | Blue, sunset, yellow, dark blue |
Head coach | Mark Daigneault |
Ownership | Professional Basketball Club LLC |
Affiliation(s) | Oklahoma City Thunder |
Championships | 2 (2003, 2004) |
Website | www.nba.com/dleague/oklahomacity/ |
The Oklahoma City Blue is an NBA Development League team based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and the minor league affiliate of the Oklahoma City Thunder. The franchise began as the Asheville Altitude in 2001, before moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2005 and becoming the Tulsa 66ers. After nine seasons in Tulsa, the franchise moved to Oklahoma City in 2014 and were subsequently renamed the Oklahoma City Blue.
The Asheville Altitude were a founding team of the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) in 2001. They played at the Asheville Civic Center in Asheville, North Carolina, where they won back-to-back championships in 2004 and 2005.
Following the 2004–05 season, the Asheville Altitude were purchased by Southwest Basketball, LLC. The group moved the franchise to Tulsa, Oklahoma and were renamed the 66ers in honor of U.S. Route 66, which runs through Tulsa and the state of Oklahoma. For their inaugural season, the 66ers were directly affiliated with four NBA teams: the Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks and New Orleans Hornets.
On July 31, 2008, the 66ers announced that Clay 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 first two were the Los Angeles D-Fenders and the Austin Toros, owned by the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs, respectively).