The Fort Wayne Mad Ants are an American professional basketball team of the
NBA G League
The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...
based in
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...
, and are affiliated with the
Indiana Pacers. The team plays their home games at the
Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. The Mad Ants won their first and only championship in 2014, when the G League was known as the NBA D-League. In September 2015, the Indiana Pacers purchased the Mad Ants.
Team history
2007-12: Early years
In April 2007, the
NBA Development League (D-League) announced it was expanding to Fort Wayne for the 2007–08 season, with former
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile te ...
President
John Zeglis as the team's president and part owner. The team was poised to be the first minor league basketball franchise to play in Fort Wayne since the
Fort Wayne Fury
The Fort Wayne Fury was a professional basketball team in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) from 1991 through the cessation of the CBA on February 8, 2001.
History
The team played at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayn ...
were disbanded after the folding of the
Continental Basketball Association in 2001. The franchise held a team-naming contest on their website where fans could vote on one of the four finalists: ''Lightning'', ''Fire'', ''Coyotes'', and ''Mad Ants'', a salute to the city's namesake
General "Mad" Anthony Wayne
Anthony Wayne (January 1, 1745 – December 15, 1796) was an American soldier, officer, statesman, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He adopted a military career at the outset of the American Revolutionary War, where his mil ...
.
At the team's inception, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants were affiliated with the
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...
and
Indiana Pacers. They finished the 2007-18 season, their first in the D-League, with a 17-33 record that put them in last place in the Central Division.
The Mad Ants added the
Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...
as their third affiliate for the 2008–09 season. They ended that season with a 19-31 record and posted three more under-.500 records in the next three years, failing to make the playoffs in their first five years of competition.
2012-15: Playoff success
The Mad Ants added the
Charlotte Bobcats
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populou ...
, now the Hornets, as their fourth NBA affiliate before in the 2012-13 season. They made the D-League playoffs for the first time in 2013, losing to the
Santa Cruz Warriors
The Santa Cruz Warriors are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Santa Cruz, California, and are affiliated with the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors play their home games at Kaiser Permanente Arena. Prior t ...
in the first round after going 27-23 in the regular season.
The next year, the Mad Ants won their division with a 34-16 record and made it to the D-League Finals for the first time after beating the
Sioux Falls Skyforce
The Sioux Falls Skyforce are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and are affiliated with the Miami Heat. The team plays their home games in the Sanford Pentagon, a place they have call ...
in the semifinal series. The Mad Ants defeated the
Santa Cruz Warriors
The Santa Cruz Warriors are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Santa Cruz, California, and are affiliated with the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors play their home games at Kaiser Permanente Arena. Prior t ...
2–0 in the Finals to claim their first D-League title.
In 2014, as most NBA teams began exclusively partnering with or acquiring their own D-League teams, the Mad Ants made affiliate partnerships with the rest of the teams that did not have exclusive affiliates: the
Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...
, the
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January ...
, the
Brooklyn Nets
The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The ...
, the
Denver Nuggets, the
Los Angeles Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...
, the
Minnesota Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...
, the
New Orleans Pelicans, the
Portland Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...
, the
Toronto Raptors
The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...
, and the
Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...
. This put the Mad Ants' total number of NBA affiliates at 14 for the 2014-15 season. The Mad Ants made it to the D-League Finals again in 2015, but lost the championship series to the
Santa Cruz Warriors
The Santa Cruz Warriors are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Santa Cruz, California, and are affiliated with the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors play their home games at Kaiser Permanente Arena. Prior t ...
in two games. By 2015, the Mad Ants were the only remaining independently owned team in the D-League, as the rest were owned and operated by an NBA team or a common parent organization.
2015-present: Pacers era
In September 2015,
Pacers Sports & Entertainment (PS&E) purchased the Mad Ants from owner and president
John Zeglis and made the team the
Indiana Pacers' one-to-one D-League affiliate, dropping the rest of the Mad Ants' partnerships. Brian Levy was named general manager by PS&E.
In 2017, the Mad Ants rebranded and changed their colors to the same colors as the Pacers: navy blue, gold, cool gray and white. This was the same year that the NBA Development League was rebranded as the
NBA G League
The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...
following a sponsorship deal with
Gatorade and the NBA.
After spending the
2020-21 season at the NBA G League single site in Orlando, Florida during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, the Mad Ants returned to their home court at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum on November 6, 2021, playing their first home game in the venue in 608 days against the
Windy City Bulls
The Windy City Bulls are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, and are affiliated with the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls play their home games at Now Arena, from Chicago. It became the thir ...
. This game also marked the start of the Mad Ants' 15th Anniversary season.
The Mad Ants are one of the three G League teams not to not undergo a name change since the team's inception in 2007, the others being the
Rio Grande Valley Vipers
The Rio Grande Valley Vipers are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Edinburg, Texas, and are affiliated with the Houston Rockets. The Vipers play their home games at the Bert Ogden Arena. The Vipers have won fo ...
and the
Sioux Falls Skyforce
The Sioux Falls Skyforce are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and are affiliated with the Miami Heat. The team plays their home games in the Sanford Pentagon, a place they have call ...
.
Season-by-season results
Players
Current roster
Notable former players
*
Isaiah Jackson
Isaiah Allen Jackson (born 22 January 1945) is an American conductor who served a seven-year term as conductor of the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston, of which he has been named Conductor Emeritus. He was the first African-American to be a ...
(2021-22),
Indiana Pacers center
*
Goga Bitadze (2019-21),
Indiana Pacers center
*
Jakarr Sampson (2019-20),
Liaoning Flying Leopards
The Liaoning Flying Leopards (), also known as the Liaoning Shenyang Sansheng Flying Leopard Club or Liaoning Bengang ( simplified Chinese: 辽宁本钢), are a Chinese professional basketball team based in Hunnan District, Shenyang, Liaoning ...
forward
*
Hasheem Thabeet
Hasheem Thabeet (born Hashim Thabit Manka on 16 February 1987) is a Tanzanian professional basketball player for the Sichuan Blue Whales of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball for UConn before being drafted sec ...
(2019-2020), former
NBA center, second-overall pick in the
2009 NBA Draft
The 2009 NBA draft was held on June 25, 2009, at the WaMu Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In this draft, the National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other e ...
*
Georges Niang
Georges Niang (born June 17, 1993), nicknamed "The Minivan", is a Senegalese-American professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was an All-American college player for Iowa State U ...
(2016-17),
Philadelphia 76ers forward
*
Mike Muscala
Michael Peter Muscala (/muˈSKĂ luh/; born July 1, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Early life
Muscala was born on July 1, 1991, in St. Louis Park, Minnes ...
(2014-15),
Oklahoma City Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays i ...
center
*
Noah Vonleh
Noah Vonleh (born August 24, 1995) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Indiana Hoosiers.
High school career
Vonl ...
(2014),
Boston Celtics forward
*
Khris Middleton
James Khristian Middleton (born August 12, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a three-time NBA All-Star and won an NBA championship with the Bucks in ...
(2012-13),
Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...
forward,
2021 NBA Champion,
Olympic gold medalist
*
Terran Petteway
Terran Petteway (born October 8, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for Hapoel Eilat of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. He played college basketball for Texas Tech University and the University of Nebraska. Petteway led ...
(born 1992), basketball player in the
Israeli Basketball Premier League
*
Ben Moore (born 1995), basketball player in the
Israeli Basketball Premier League
*
Miles Plumlee (2012-13), former
NBA center, first-round pick in the
2012 NBA Draft
The 2012 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2012, at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The draft started at 7:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time (2300 UTC), and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, National Basketball Asso ...
, Fort Wayne native
*
Ron Howard
Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He first came to prominence as a child actor, guest-starring in several television series, including an episode of ''The Twilight Zone''. He ...
(2007-10, 2011-14), 2014
NBA D-League MVP and "Mr. Mad Ant"
*
Russ Smith, former NBA player, currently plays in the
Israeli Basketball Premier League
Head coaching history
Current and former NBA affiliates
*
Indiana Pacers (2007–present)
*
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...
(2007–2015)
*
Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...
(2008–2015)
*
Charlotte Bobcats/Hornets (2012–2015)
*
Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...
(2014–2015)
*
Brooklyn Nets
The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The ...
(2014–2015)
*
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January ...
(2014–2015)
*
Denver Nuggets (2014–2015)
*
Los Angeles Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...
(2014–2015)
*
Minnesota Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...
(2014–2015)
*
New Orleans Pelicans (2014–2015)
*
Portland Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...
(2014–2015)
*
Toronto Raptors
The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...
(2014–2015)
*
Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...
(2014–2015)
In popular culture
*In the television series ''
One Tree Hill One Tree Hill may refer to:
* "One Tree Hill" (song), a 1987 song by U2 referencing One Tree Hill, New Zealand volcanic peak
* ''One Tree Hill'' (TV series), a 2003–2012 American drama series named for the U2 song
** ''One Tree Hill'' (soundtr ...
,''
James Lafferty
James Martin Lafferty (born July 25, 1985) is an American actor, director, and producer. He is best known for his portrayal of Nathan Scott on The WB/ CW teen drama television series ''One Tree Hill'' (2003–2012).
Early life
Lafferty was born ...
's character
Nathan
Nathan or Natan may refer to:
People
*Nathan (given name), including a list of people and characters with this name
*Nathan (surname)
*Nathan (prophet), a person in the Hebrew Bible
* Nathan (son of David), biblical figure, son of King David an ...
receives an offer to coach the Mad Ants in the episode "You've Dug Your Own Grave, Now Lie In It". The episode originally aired September 29, 2008 on
The CW Network
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
.
*The Mad Ants were featured in the 'MyCareer' mode in
NBA 2K19, a basketball game developed by
Visual Concepts
Visual Concepts Entertainment is an American video game developer based in Novato, California. Founded in May 1988, the company is best known for developing sports games in the ''2K'' franchise, most recently ''NBA 2K'' and '' WWE 2K'', and pr ...
and published by
2K Sports
2K is an American video game publisher based in Novato, California. 2K was founded under Take-Two Interactive in January 2005 through the 2K Games and 2K Sports labels, following Take-Two Interactive's acquisition of Visual Concepts that same ...
.
See also
*
History of sports in Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne, Indiana, is home to several sports teams. These include the NBA's Fort Wayne Pistons (now in Detroit), the Fort Wayne Daisies of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, and the Fort Wayne Kekiongas of the National Associ ...
References
External links
Official websiteAllen County War Memorial Coliseum website
{{Fort Wayne, Indiana
Basketball teams in Indiana
2007 establishments in Indiana
Basketball teams established in 2007