List of NBA G League champions

The NBA G League Finals is the championship game or series for the NBA G League and the conclusion of the league's postseason. The league was previously known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005 and the National Basketball Association Development League (NBA D-League) from 2005 to 2017.

Since the league's inception in 2001–02, a variety of formats has been used to determine the champion. From the inaugural postseason in 2002 through 2006, the four teams with the best records advanced to the postseason because there were no division or conference splits to divide the eight teams.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} The first two seasons, both semi-finals and the Finals series were in a best-of-three format, whereby a team must win two of the three games to advance or win the championship.^[1][2] Then, between 2004 and 2007, the playoffs used a single-elimination tournament among the four teams, with two semi-final games and one winner-takes-all championship match.^[3][4][5][6]

In 2007, the league had expanded to 12 teams and was divided into Eastern and Western Conferences, comprising six teams apiece.^[6] The playoffs pitted each conference's winner against one another, with the Eastern Conference's Dakota Wizards winning the championship 129–121 in overtime against the Colorado 14ers.^[6] The best-of-three format returned in 2008.^[6][7][8][9] With the league's continued expansion to 14 teams in 2008 and 16 teams in 2009, the two-conference format was replaced with a three-division format consisting of Western, Southwestern and Central Divisions.^[7][8] Both the 2008 and 2009 NBADL championship series were between teams representing the Western and Southwestern Divisions, with no Central teams making it to the finals.^[7][8] Since 2010, the league has re-formatted to the Eastern and Western Conferences. Due to there being two more teams in the Western Conference (nine) than the Eastern Conference (seven), and because the top eight teams with the best regular season records qualified for the postseason irrespective of conference, the 2010 and 2012 NBADL Finals consisted of two Western Conference teams.^[9] The 2021 edition was a one-game match, which equaled the amount of games played for the other playoff rounds; it returned to the best-of-three format in 2022.

The Rio Grande Valley Vipers lead the league in championship appearances (seven) and championships (four).

Key

Bold	Winning team of the Finals
^†	Had or tied for the best regular season record for that season
Team (X)	Denotes the number of times the team has won (also includes past names of franchise, if applicable)

Champions

Year	Champion	Division	Coach	Result	Runner-up	Division	Coach
2002^[1]	Greenville Groove^†	—	Milton Barnes	2–0	North Charleston Lowgators^†	—	Alex English
2003^[2]	Mobile Revelers	Sam Vincent	2–1	Fayetteville Patriots^†	Jeff Capel II
2004^[3]	Asheville Altitude^†	Joey Meyer	108–106 (OT)^[a]	Huntsville Flight	Ralph Lewis
2005^[4]	Asheville Altitude (2)	Joey Meyer	90–67^[b]	Columbus Riverdragons^†	Jeff Malone
2006^[5]	Albuquerque Thunderbirds	Michael Cooper	119–108^[c]	Fort Worth Flyers^†	Sam Vincent
2007^[6]	Dakota Wizards^†	Eastern	Dave Joerger	129–121 (OT)^[d]	Colorado 14ers	Western	Joe Wolf
2008^[7]	Idaho Stampede^†	Western	Bryan Gates	2–1	Austin Toros	Southwest	Quin Snyder
2009^[8]	Colorado 14ers^†	Southwest	Bob MacKinnon Jr	2–0	Utah Flash	Western	Brad Jones
Year	Champion	Conference	Coach	Result	Runner-up	Conference	Coach
2010^[9]	Rio Grande Valley Vipers	Western	Chris Finch	2–0	Oklahoma City Blue	Western	Nate Tibbetts
2011^[10]	Iowa Energy^†	Eastern	Nick Nurse	2–1	Rio Grande Valley Vipers	Western	Chris Finch
2012^[11]	Austin Toros	Western	Brad Jones	2–1	Los Angeles D-Fenders^†	Western	Eric Musselman
2013^[12]	Rio Grande Valley Vipers (2)	Central	Nick Nurse	2–0	Santa Cruz Warriors	Western	Nate Bjorkgren
2014^[13]	Fort Wayne Mad Ants^†	Eastern	Conner Henry	2–0	Santa Cruz Warriors	Western	Casey Hill
2015^[14]	Santa Cruz Warriors^† (2)	Western	Casey Hill	2–0	Fort Wayne Mad Ants	Eastern	Conner Henry
2016^[15]	Sioux Falls Skyforce^†	Eastern	Dan Craig	2–1	Los Angeles D-Fenders	Western	Casey Owens
2017^[16]	Raptors 905^†	Eastern	Jerry Stackhouse	2–1	Rio Grande Valley Vipers	Western	Matt Brase
2018^[17]	Austin Spurs^† (2)	Western	Blake Ahearn	2–0	Raptors 905	Eastern	Jerry Stackhouse
2019	Rio Grande Valley Vipers^† (3)	Western	Joseph Blair	2–1	Long Island Nets^†	Eastern	Will Weaver
2020	No NBA G League playoffs due to the COVID-19 pandemic^[18]
2021	Lakeland Magic	—	Stan Heath	97–78^[e]	Delaware Blue Coats	—	Connor Johnson
2022	Rio Grande Valley Vipers (4)	Western	Mahmoud Abdelfattah	2–0	Delaware Blue Coats	Eastern	Coby Karl
2023	Delaware Blue Coats	Eastern	Coby Karl	2–0	Rio Grande Valley Vipers	Western	Kevin Burleson

Results by teams

Teams	Finals appearances	Championships	Runners-up	Years won	Years runners-up	Playoff appearances
Rio Grande Valley Vipers	7	4	3	2010, 2013, 2019, 2022	2011, 2017, 2023	11
Dakota Wizards / Santa Cruz Warriors^[f]	4	2	2	2007, 2015	2013, 2014	12
Columbus Riverdragons / Austin Toros^[b] / Austin Spurs	4	2	2	2012, 2018	2005, 2008	11
Asheville Altitude / Tulsa 66ers^[a] / Oklahoma City Blue	3	2	1	2004, 2005	2010	9
Utah Flash / Delaware 87ers / Delaware Blue Coats	4	1	3	2023	2009, 2021, 2022	6
Huntsville Flight / Albuquerque Thunderbirds / New Mexico Thunderbirds / Canton Charge / Cleveland Charge^[d]	2	1	1	2006	2004	11
Colorado 14ers / Texas Legends^[c]	2	1	1	2009	2007	6
Fort Wayne Mad Ants	2	1	1	2014	2015	6
Raptors 905	2	1	1	2017	2018	5
Greenville Groove	1	1	0	2002	—	1
Mobile Revelers	1	1	0	2003	—	2
Idaho Stampede / Salt Lake City Stars	1	1	0	2008	—	5
Iowa Energy / Iowa Wolves	1	1	0	2011	—	5
Sioux Falls Skyforce	1	1	0	2016	—	7
Erie BayHawks / Lakeland Magic	1	1	0	2021	—	6
Los Angeles D-Fenders / South Bay Lakers	2	0	2	—	2012, 2016	8
North Charleston Lowgators / Charleston Lowgators / Florida Flame^[e]	1	0	1	—	2002	4
Fayetteville Patriots	1	0	1	—	2003	2
Fort Worth Flyers	1	0	1	—	2006	2
Long Island Nets	1	0	1	—	2019	3
Agua Caliente Clippers	—	—	—	—	—	1
Bakersfield Jam / Northern Arizona Suns / Motor City Cruise	—	—	—	—	—	6
Capital City Go-Go	—	—	—	—	—	2
Erie BayHawks / College Park Skyhawks	—	—	—	—	—	2
Erie BayHawks / Birmingham Squadron	—	—	—	—	—	2
Grand Rapids Drive	—	—	—	—	—	3
Greensboro Swarm	—	—	—	—	—	0
Maine Celtics	—	—	—	—	—	5
Memphis Hustle	—	—	—	—	—	2
Reno Bighorns / Stockton Kings	—	—	—	—	—	7
Westchester Knicks	—	—	—	—	—	3
Windy City Bulls	—	—	—	—	—	1
Wisconsin Herd	—	—	—	—	—	0

See also

• List of NBA champions
•   Basketball portal

Notes

1. One-game championship
2. One-game championship
3. One-game championship
4. One-game championship
5. One-game championship

• ^a The Asheville Altitude relocated and became the Tulsa 66ers in 2005–06.^[19]
• ^b The Columbus Riverdragons relocated and became the Austin Toros in 2005–06.^[19]
• ^c The Colorado 14ers went on hiatus in 2009–10 and returned as the Texas Legends in 2010–11 after a relocation.^[20]
• ^d The Huntsville Flight relocated and became the Albuquerque Thunderbirds in 2005–06, then the franchise renamed itself to the New Mexico Thunderbirds in 2010–11. The franchise was then purchased and relocated in 2011–12 and became known as the Canton Charge and then the Cleveland Charge in 2021–22.^[19][21]
• ^e After two years as the North Charleston Lowgators, the franchise became known as the Charleston Lowgators for one season prior to their relocation. The franchise was known as the Florida Flame for the 2004 through 2006 seasons.^[19]
• ^f The Dakota Wizards relocated and became the Santa Cruz Warriors in 2012–13.^[19]

References

1. "2001–02 NBDL season summary". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
2. "2002–03 NBDL season summary". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
3. "2003–04 NBDL season summary". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
4. "2004–05 NBDL season summary". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
5. "2005–06 NBA Development League season summary". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
6. "2006–07 NBA Development League season summary". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
7. "2007–08 NBA Development League season summary". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
8. "2008–09 NBA Development League season summary". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
9. "2009–10 NBA Development League season summary". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
10. Emmert, Mark (April 29, 2011). "Iowa Energy Win NBA D-League Championship". Des Moines Register. Retrieved May 2, 2011.^{[permanent dead link]}
11. "Dentmon, Austin top Los Angeles for D-League crown". Fox News. April 29, 2012. Retrieved April 29, 2012.
12. . NBA.com. April 27, 2013. Archived from the original on April 27, 2013. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
13. . NBA.com. April 26, 2014. Archived from the original on April 29, 2014. Retrieved April 26, 2014.
14. "Title Wave: Santa Cruz Wins NBA D-League Championship". NBA.com. April 26, 2015. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
15. "Sioux Falls Skyforce Cap Historic Season with First NBA D-League". NBA.com. April 27, 2016. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
16. "One For the 905! Raptors Affiliate Takes Home Title". NBA.com. April 27, 2017. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
17. "Austin Spurs Win 2018 NBA G League Championship". NBA.com. April 10, 2018. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
18. "NBA G League Cancels Remainder of 2019-20 Season". NBA G League. 2020-06-04. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
19. "National Basketball Development League Facts: NBDL Membership Chronology 2002–2007". apbr.org. Association for Professional Basketball Research. 2008. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
20. . ci.frisco.tx.us. June 18, 2009. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
21. Hubert, Matt (August 18, 2010). "D-League 101: D-League Franchise History". D-League Digest. dleaguedigest.com. Retrieved November 13, 2010.