It's been suggested here before that the NBA D-League needs to change it's name to more accurately reflect the nature and talent level of the league. With an abundance of misconceptions out there, it's no surprise to followers of the D-League that player assignments tend to drawn some fire from sports beat writers across the nation, but a recent article out of Houston took the NBA D-League haterade to a new level.

The author contends that the D-League is not nearly as mature as MLB’s farm system and that an assignment to the D-League is a demotion. These points are certainly open for discussion, however; when he labeled all NBA D-League players as ‘scrubs’ he showed his unfamiliarity with the D-League and its current level of play.

Continue reading this post »

This story isn't about "Linsanity".

This isn't about Jeremy Lin going undrafted out of Harvard, signing with the Golden State Warriors, being waived twice over by the Warriors and Houston Rockets, claimed by the New York Knicks and surviving another cut four days before transforming into the Messiah of Madison Square Garden.

This isn't about Lin becoming the Knicks' first player (along with center Jerome Jordan) to be assigned to their D-League affiliate, the Erie Bayhawks, last month or entering the league as the NBA's first American-born player of Taiwanese or Chinese descent or his open devout Christian faith.

This story isn't even about Lin blowing up this past week by scoring 89 points in his first three starts with the Knicks, featuring his latest miracle on Friday night in New York against the Los Angeles Lakers: a career-high 38 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and shooting 56.5% from the field.

Instead, the feel-good story of this NBA season is a testament to a young player's overall development in the D-League, deeply rooted in two stints during the 2010-11 season with the Reno Bighorns.

Continue reading this post »

The NBA Development League has found more than its fair share of players looking for an NBA comeback this season as everyone from Greg Ostertag to Ricky Davis to Rafer Alston to Jerome James have decided playing in the D-League would give them the best chance to make it back to the big leagues.

The newest player to decide to give the D-League a shot, Kareem Rush, is another name people should recognize. The 31-year-old shooter was given solid role player minutes with the Los Angeles Lakers, Charlotte Bobcats and Indiana Pacers in between an otherwise injury-riddled career that seemingly ended when he tore his ACL in 2009.

It looked like that would probably be it for Rush's basketball career as he ventured into R&B singing, even getting National Anthem honors at a recent Lakers-Pacers game, but the older brother of Brandon Rush announced on Twitter Thursday night that he plans to enter the D-League.

Continue reading this post »

Usually when a series happens in professional sports, it takes place in baseball. However, as Iowa Energy and Dakota Wizards fans have experienced this past week, the D-League has scheduling quirks of its own.

The two teams have done battle twice already this week ... and they're not done yet. Dakota and Iowa have thus far split the series at one game apiece with one more coming up on Friday night in Des Moines. Here's a recap of what happened last weekend.

Continue reading this post »

Five questions.

That's how long it took before Michael Stockton was forced to talk about his old man.

Honestly, I hated to go there. You know he gets "that" all of the time.

When Germany's Pro-A second division -- a 15-team league also known as the "AG 2, Bundesliga" and perceived little brother to Germany's premiere Beko BBL -- season started and Stockton's name stood out on BG Karlsruhe's roster as a must-get interview, inquiring about anything other than his Hall of Fame dad and Utah Jazz legend John Stockton was part of the plan.

Continue reading this post »