| Grand Rapids Gold | |
|---|---|
 2024–25 NBA G League season | |
 | |
| Conference | Eastern |
| League | NBA G League |
| Founded | 2006 |
| History | Anaheim Arsenal 2006–2009 Springfield Armor 2009–2014 Grand Rapids Drive 2014–2021 Grand Rapids Gold 2021–present |
| Arena | Van Andel Arena |
| Location | Grand Rapids, Michigan |
| Team colors | Midnight blue, sunshine yellow,Flatirons red, white[1][2][3] |
| President | Steve Jbara |
| Head coach | Andre Miller |
| Ownership | SSJ Group |
| Affiliation(s) | Denver Nuggets |
| Championships | 0 |
| Conference titles | 0 |
| Division titles | 2 (2012,2019) |
| Website | grandrapids |
TheGrand Rapids Gold are an American professional basketball team in theNBA G League based inGrand Rapids, Michigan, and are affiliated with theDenver Nuggets. The Gold play their home games atVan Andel Arena. They began play as theAnaheim Arsenal in 2006, before relocating toSpringfield, Massachusetts, in 2009, becoming theSpringfield Armor. After five seasons in Springfield, the franchise moved to Grand Rapids in 2014 and were subsequently renamed theGrand Rapids Drive, before changing their name again to the Gold in 2021.
The franchise began in 2006 as the Anaheim Arsenal as an expansion team in theNBA Development League (NBA D-League). Based inAnaheim, California, and playing at theAnaheim Convention Center, the Arsenal were an affiliate of theAtlanta Hawks,Los Angeles Clippers,Orlando Magic andPortland Trail Blazers.[4][5][6] However, the Arsenal era was mainly marked by futility, never having a winning season or a playoff berth. On March 31, 2009, the Arsenal announced that they would relocate toSpringfield, Massachusetts.[5][7]
On July 29, 2009, it was announced thatDee Brown would become the head coach.[8] On September 2, the Armor picked first in the2009 NBA Development League expansion draft, selecting centerMarcus Campbell.[9] The team ended their inaugural2009–10 season with a record of 7–43 (.140), the worst record in D-League history. They also became the first (and so far only) team to lose every road game, as they went 0–25. No team won less than 20% of their games until the2019-20Northern Arizona Suns (.190); the2020-21Iowa Wolves broke the dubious record by going 2–13 for a percentage of .133 before the2023-24G League Ignite went 2–32 to set a new mark for futility.
During the 2010–11 season, the Armor started by picking fifth in theD-League Draft, and selected La Salle'sVernon Goodridge.[10] The Armor would end up finishing with a record of 13–37, sixth in the seven-team Eastern Conference. After the season, head coach Dee Brown opted to leave the team to join the Detroit Pistons.[11] Brown was replaced soon after byBob MacKinnon Jr.[12] During the 2010–11 season, the team was an affiliate of theNew Jersey Nets,New York Knicks andPhiladelphia 76ers.[13]
For the 2011–12 season, the Armor entered into a single affiliation partnership with theBrooklyn Nets, giving the Nets full control over the basketball operations of and making them the sole affiliate for the Armor. The Nets became the second NBA team to enter into a single affiliation with an NBA D-League team, joining theHouston Rockets and theRio Grande Valley Vipers.[14][15]
On April 15, 2014, it was announced that the SSJ Group purchased the Springfield Armor and would relocate the team toGrand Rapids, Michigan for the2014–15 season. The Grand Rapids franchise would be locally owned and established a single-franchise "hybrid" affiliation with theDetroit Pistons.[16] The affiliation between the Pistons and the Drive was the third between the two cities as theDetroit Red Wings of theNational Hockey League and theGrand Rapids Griffins of theAmerican Hockey League also share an affiliation, as do theDetroit Tigers of theAmerican League and theWest Michigan Whitecaps of theMidwest League.[17]
The team launched a name-the-team contest shortly after the formal announcement. The contest produced four finalists:Drive,Chairmen,Horsepower, andBlue Racers. The community was encouraged to vote online in order to determine which of the four names would become the official team name.[18] Out of those names, the Grand Rapids Drive was selected.[19][20]
On July 29, 2020, the Pistons announced that the organization had officially purchased theNorthern Arizona Suns from thePhoenix Suns and were relocating the franchise toDetroit for the 2021–22 season. It was also announced that the affiliation between the Pistons and Drive would end after the 2020–21 season. The ownership of the Drive were stated as looking for an option to continue operations once the affiliation was set to end of after the2020–21 season.[21] The Drive would be one of several G League teams to opt out of the single-site shortened season held in Orlando. On January 8, 2021, the Drive stated they were negotiating with a new affiliate and could include a new name and logo.[22]
On April 27, 2021, the Drive announced a new affiliation agreement with theDenver Nuggets.[23] As part of the new affiliation, the Drive were rebranded as the Grand Rapids Gold, with the name, logo and color scheme announced on July 7.[1] The organization operates under a hybrid model with the Nuggets controlling the basketball operations and SSJ Group, with Steve Jbara as owner and president and Nate Quicke as Vice president, controlling the team's business operations and community engagement.[24] On August 19, the Gold namedJason Terry as its new head coach.[25]
With theDeltaPlex Arena set to close before the start of the 2022–23 season, the Gold announced on June 2, 2022, that they had signed a five-year lease withVan Andel Arena to serve as their new home.[26]
| Season | Division | Regular season | Postseason results | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | Wins | Losses | Pct. | ||||||
| Anaheim Arsenal | |||||||||
| 2006–07 | Western | 4th | 23 | 27 | .460 | ||||
| 2007–08 | Western | 4th | 23 | 27 | .460 | ||||
| 2008–09 | Western | 6th | 15 | 35 | .300 | ||||
| Springfield Armor | |||||||||
| 2009–10 | Eastern | 7th | 7 | 43 | .140 | ||||
| 2010–11 | Eastern | 6th | 13 | 37 | .260 | ||||
| 2011–12 | Eastern | 1st | 29 | 21 | .580 | Lost First Round (Canton) 1–2 | |||
| 2012–13 | Eastern | 5th | 18 | 32 | .360 | ||||
| 2013–14 | Eastern | 3rd | 22 | 28 | .440 | ||||
| Grand Rapids Drive | |||||||||
| 2014–15 | Central | 4th | 23 | 27 | .460 | ||||
| 2015–16 | Central | 4th | 21 | 29 | .420 | ||||
| 2016–17 | Central | 4th | 26 | 24 | .520 | ||||
| 2017–18 | Central | 2nd | 29 | 21 | .580 | Lost First Round (Raptors) 88–92 | |||
| 2018–19 | Central | 1st | 28 | 22 | .560 | Lost First Round (Raptors) 90–91 | |||
| 2019–20 | Central | 3rd | 25 | 18 | .581 | Season cancelled byCOVID-19 pandemic | |||
| 2020–21 | Opted out of single-site season | ||||||||
| Grand Rapids Gold | |||||||||
| 2021–22 | Eastern | 7th | 17 | 15 | .531 | ||||
| 2022–23 | Eastern | 14th | 9 | 23 | .281 | ||||
| 2023–24 | Eastern | 16th | 11 | 23 | .324 | ||||
| 2024–25 | Eastern | 12th | 15 | 19 | .441 | ||||
| Regular season record | 354 | 471 | .429 | 2006–present | |||||
| Playoff record | 1 | 4 | .200 | 2006–present | |||||
| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Head coach Assistant(s)
Legend
Roster |
| # | Head coach | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Achievements | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | L | Win% | G | W | L | Win% | ||||
| 1 | Reggie Geary | 2006–2008 | 100 | 46 | 54 | .460 | — | — | — | — | |
| 2 | Sam Vincent | 2008–2009 | 50 | 15 | 35 | .300 | — | — | — | — | |
| 3 | Dee Brown | 2009–2011 | 100 | 20 | 80 | .200 | — | — | — | — | |
| 4 | Bob MacKinnon Jr. | 2011–2013 | 100 | 47 | 53 | .470 | 3 | 1 | 2 | .333 | |
| 5 | Doug Overton | 2013–2014 | 50 | 22 | 28 | .440 | — | — | — | — | |
| 6 | Otis Smith | 2014–2016 | 100 | 44 | 56 | .440 | — | — | — | — | |
| 7 | Rex Walters | 2016–2017 | 50 | 26 | 24 | .520 | — | — | — | — | |
| 8 | Robert Werdann | 2017 | 12 | 4 | 8 | .333 | — | — | — | — | |
| 9 | Ryan Krueger | 2017–2019 | 88 | 53 | 35 | .602 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .000 | |
| 10 | Donnie Tyndall | 2019–2020 | 43 | 25 | 18 | .581 | — | — | — | — | |
| 11 | Jason Terry | 2021–2022 | 32 | 17 | 15 | .531 | — | — | — | – | |
| 12 | Andre Miller | 2022–present | 100 | 35 | 65 | .350 | — | — | — | ||
Home jerseys are navy with yellow lettering and burgundy trim. Away jerseys are white with blue numbers, yellow lettering, and burgundy trim.
| Eastern Conference | |
|---|---|
| Western Conference | |
