The 2017–18 NBA G League season was the 17th season of the
NBA G League
The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...
(formerly the NBA D-League), the minor league for the
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
(NBA). It is the first season after the league rebranded to become the NBA G League as part of multi-year partnership with
Gatorade
Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. The drink is owned and manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was develope ...
.
The
Austin Spurs
The Austin Spurs are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Cedar Park, Texas, and are affiliated with the San Antonio Spurs. The team plays their home games at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park. The team has made the po ...
won the league title, sweeping
Raptors 905 in the NBA G League Finals.
League changes
The league expanded to a record 26 teams from 22 teams during the 2016–17 season. There was one relocation (
Erie BayHawks to
Lakeland, Florida
Lakeland is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. Located along Interstate 4, I-4 east of Tampa and southwest of Orlando, Florida, Orlando, it is the List of municipalities in Florida, most populous city in Polk County. As of the 2020 ...
to become the
Lakeland Magic) and four
expansion team
An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...
s introduced this season (the
Agua Caliente Clippers,
a new Erie BayHawks, the
Memphis Hustle, and the
Wisconsin Herd
The Wisconsin Herd are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and are affiliated with the Milwaukee Bucks. The Herd play their home games at Oshkosh Arena.
History
On June 29, 2016, it was anno ...
), each owned and affiliated with an NBA team. The
Iowa Energy were purchased by the
Minnesota Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...
at the end of the previous season and rebranded as the
Iowa Wolves
The Iowa Wolves are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Des Moines, Iowa, and are affiliated with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Wolves play their home games at the Wells Fargo Arena and compete in the Western ...
. The
Miami Heat
The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...
purchased the controlling interest in the
Sioux Falls Skyforce, their affiliate since 2013. The Los Angeles D-Fenders also relocated to a new facility within
El Segundo and were rebranded as the
South Bay Lakers. The purchases and expansion of these teams by individual NBA teams left just four NBA teams without a developmental affiliate, down from eight the previous season. It also decreased the number of independently owned D-League/G League teams from seven to four. Meanwhile, the NBA also started using
two-way contract
A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless o ...
s for their team rosters, allowing players to be more easily called up or sent down.
The league retained its Eastern and Western Conferences, but realigned each conference into three divisions each. Along with the league expansion, the league also expanded its playoff field from eight teams to twelve. Each of the division winners and three wild cards per conference qualify. The top two seeds in each conference earn a bye over the first round.
The NBA announced a
title sponsorship deal with
Gatorade
Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. The drink is owned and manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was develope ...
prior to the season, under which it has been renamed the NBA G League.
The G League also experimented with new broadcast arrangements, including airing 120 games on
Eleven Sports, and streaming games on the typically video game-oriented live streaming service
Twitch, which included interactive stats, and commentary provided by prominent Twitch personalities.
Regular season
Finals standings.
x – qualified for playoffs; y – Division champion; z – Conference champion
Eastern Conference
;Atlantic Division
;Central Division
;Southeast Division
Western Conference
;Midwest Division
;Pacific Division
;Southwest Division
Playoffs
For the fourth time ever and first time since the
2014 playoffs, a team went undefeated in postseason play to win the championship. The
Austin Spurs
The Austin Spurs are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Cedar Park, Texas, and are affiliated with the San Antonio Spurs. The team plays their home games at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park. The team has made the po ...
won the G League Finals over
Raptors 905 by scores of 105-93 and 98–76 to win the title.
Finals boxscore
Statistics
Individual statistic leaders
Individual game highs
Team statistic leaders
Player death
On March 24, 2018,
Grand Rapids Drive player
Zeke Upshaw collapsed on-court during the final minute of the team's regular season finale. Two days later, Upshaw died at the age of 26. Autopsy reports indicated that Upshaw had died from a sudden
cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...
. The start of the NBA G League playoffs were delayed out of respect for Upshaw's death, and the NBA's Detroit Pistons gave Upshaw an honorary call-up to their roster.
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:NBA G