Northern Arizona Suns
| Northern Arizona Suns | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| League | NBA Development League |
| Founded | 2003 |
| History |
Long Beach Jam ABA: 2003–2005 Bakersfield Jam D-League: 2006–2016 Northern Arizona Suns 2016–present |
| Arena | Prescott Valley Event Center |
| Location | Prescott Valley, Arizona |
| Team colors | Orange, purple, gray, black, white |
| President | Chris Presson |
| General manager | Bubba Barrage |
| Head coach | Tyrone Ellis |
| Ownership | Phoenix Suns |
| Affiliation(s) | Phoenix Suns |
| Championships |
ABA: 1 (2004) D-League: 0 |
| Division / Conference titles |
ABA: 1 (2004) D-League 1 (2013) |
| Website | nazsuns.com |
The Northern Arizona Suns are an NBA Development League team based in Prescott Valley, Arizona and the minor league affiliate of the Phoenix Suns. The franchise began as the Long Beach Jam in 2003 under the revived American Basketball Association and moved to Bakersfield in the D-League in 2006 as the Bakersfield Jam; after 10 years in Bakersfield, California, the franchise was moved to Prescott Valley in 2016 by the Phoenix Suns and were subsequently renamed the Northern Arizona Suns.
During the year-long hiatus that the American Basketball Association had in the 2002–03 season, one of the teams the league approved of would be the Long Beach Jam. In the team's inaugural season, the Jam managed to procure NBA Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman and Japanese point guard Yuta Tabuse on their squad. They also got former NBA Finals winning head coach Paul Westhead during the start of the season, but he managed to procure himself an assistant coach gig with the Orlando Magic during the season. Nevertheless, with the presence of Rodman and Tabuse, the Jam would hold a 24–7 record, which was not only considered the best record of the league that season, but also gave the Jam a bye all the way into the Finals, where they competed against the winner of the Kansas City Knights and the Juárez Gallos. In the championship round, the Jam barely escaped against the Knights to win the ABA Championship with a final score of 126–123.
In their second and final season under the Long Beach name, the Jam had former player and future head coach of the Phoenix Mercury, Corey Gaines, coach them during the second half of their season. In that season, they managed to produce an 18–10 record in a greatly expanded ABA, which produced them with the second-best record in the Red Division. The Jam competed in the playoffs and made it to the quarterfinals, where they lost 130–115 to the Utah Snowbears (who produced a 25–1 that season), who would surprisingly end up forfeiting their last match to the Bellevue Blackhawks (potentially due to sunk costs with the team) since the Snowbears folded soon afterwards, while Bellevue lost the championship match to the Arkansas RimRockers. After the end of that season, the Jam would withdraw themselves from the 2005-06 ABA season to move to the NBA Development League next season, with the intent to also move to Bakersfield soon afterwards.
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