Delaware 87ers | |
---|---|
League | NBA Development League |
Founded | 2007 |
History |
Utah Flash 2007–2011 Delaware 87ers 2013–present |
Arena | Bob Carpenter Center |
Location | Newark, Delaware |
Team colors | Red, blue, silver, white |
Team manager | Brandon Williams |
Head coach | Eugene Burroughs |
Ownership | Philadelphia 76ers |
Affiliation(s) | Philadelphia 76ers |
Championships | 0 |
Division / Conference titles | 1 (2009) |
Website | delaware |
The Delaware 87ers (nicknamed the Sevens) are an American professional basketball team of the NBA Development League. It is an affiliate of the Philadelphia 76ers in the National Basketball Association. The home games are played at the Bob Carpenter Center on the campus of University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware. The team was founded in 2007 as the Utah Flash and served as an affiliate to the Utah Jazz. In April 2013, the 76ers acquired the team and relocated it to Delaware.
In 2004, Utah entrepreneur Brandt Andersen heard the NBA was expanding operations to include a development league. Eventually Andersen got a new team to start play in 2007, based in Orem, Utah, playing at the McKay Events Center.
The Flash nickname was chosen by a name-the-team contest, in which over 21,000 votes were cast. The team was established with a close help from its NBA affiliate Utah Jazz, who indicated to the general manager job David Fredman – who was an assistant coach and director of scouting for the Jazz for 28 years, and also the assistant general manager for the Denver Nuggets – and as a coach Brad Jones, a regional scout who was the nephew of long time Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. Also as an NBA affiliate were the Boston Celtics. In the first season for the Flash on December 21, 2007 guard Morris Almond (who had been sent down to the D league by the Jazz) tied an NBA Development League record with 51 points in a 118–116 victory over the Austin Toros later in that season Almond broke the record with a 53-point performance in the 102–87 blowout win against the Bakersfield Jam, Almond also led the league in scoring averaging 25.6 points a game. In July 2008, Fredman was called back by the Jazz to work as a scout, and coach Jones ended up pulling double duty as general manager as well. In 2009, the Celtics changed affiliations to the new team Maine Red Claws, leading the Atlanta Hawks to join forces with the Flash.