The Canton Charge Is What The Cleveland Cavaliers Chose To Name Their NBA D-League Team

by Scott Schroeder on Oct 13, 2025 2:46 PM EDT in Ridiculous-osity

Yep, the Canton Charge is the name of the newest team in the NBA Development League. Following a long line of tradition that began with names like the Sioux Falls Skyforce and evolved into the Fort Wayne Mad Ants and Texas Legends, the Cleveland Cavaliers have decided to name their D-League team after an offensive foul call.

Actually, according to the press release posted on the team's website, the Cavs named their D-League team the "Charge" to reflect the attitude of the Canton, Ohio, community.

"We're very excited about this and we think Charge is not only a great name for the team, but it can also help reflect an attitude and mindset for our entire community. Canton is charging ahead in multiple ways, and we're working hard to make our future better and better," Canton Mayor William J. Healy II said in the release.

For what it's worth, the court the team will play on at the Canton Memorial Civic Center actually looks nice and it's easy to tell that the team is affiliated with the Cavs. Still, I think I have to agree with Terry Vandrovec that naming a team Charge is kind of silly -- unless of course it was an homage to friend of the blog Brian Cardinal, that is:

If that's the case, new D-League franchise, Charge away I say!

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I love this headline

But no Springfield Armor mention?

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by Jon L on Oct 13, 2025 3:42 PM EDT reply actions

Looking back

I decided the Legends were a worse name for a minor league basketball team than the Armor … and the Mad Ants were grandfathered in due to them being mainstream.

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by Scott Schroeder on Oct 13, 2025 4:37 PM EDT up reply actions

I like the logo

I guess the Cleveland ownership group is a fan of alliteration,

"I could never be a thug, they don't dress this well." - Malice

by Julius Coxswain on Oct 14, 2025 11:05 AM EDT reply actions

Doesn’t every new team name sound terrible? It just takes a while to get used to the name, and then you forget about how horrible the name actually is.

Go Suns, Packers, Jays, and Huskers!

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by Omaha Sun on Oct 14, 2025 11:46 AM EDT reply actions