The Tulsa 66ers
are an NBA Development League team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma and the minor league affliate of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Their logo design is a basketball behind mountains with a road leading up to them, all on a U.S. Highway shield.
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TULSA 66ERS TICKETS
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Franchise history
The 66ers are named for the famous
US Highway 66 ("
Route 66"), which runs through Tulsa and once played a pivotal role in its economy. The team has one affiliate club in the
NBA: the
Oklahoma City Thunder. The
New York Knicks were formerly an affiliate through the end of the 2007–08 season. Prior to the 2005–06 season, the team was the
Asheville Altitude
and played in the
Asheville Civic Center in
Asheville, North Carolina, where they won two NBDL championships. The teams named was in reference to the nearby
Blue Ridge Mountains. Upon moving, all of the team's hard assets were then sold to former Tulsa 66ers owner
Southwest Basketball, LLC, which also owns the
Albuquerque Thunderbirds and the
Reno Bighorns. The Asheville Altitude were a founding team of the NBDL in 2001.
On July 31, 2008, the 66ers announced that
Clayton Bennett of the
Professional Basketball Club LLC (owner of the
Oklahoma City Thunder), had agreed in principle to purchase the 66ers; marking the third D-League team to be owned by an NBA team (the other two are the
Los Angeles D-Fenders and the
Austin Toros, owned by the
Los Angeles Lakers and
San Antonio Spurs, respectively).
[1]
Under terms of that deal, they will be the OKC team's sole affiliate; former co-parent club the
Milwaukee Bucks will now be affiliated with the
Fort Wayne Mad Ants.
[2]
For the 2008–09 season, the team moved to the brand-new
SpiritBank Event Center in nearby
Bixby, but retained the Tulsa 66ers name.
[3] After the 2008–09 season, however, the team announced it would seek another venue for the next season, and it filed a lawsuit against the owner of the arena.
[4] On August 13, 2009, it was announced that the 66ers would play home games for the 2009/2010 season at the Tulsa Convention Center in downtown Tulsa.
[5]
Season-by-season
Note:
W = Wins, L = Losses, % = Win–Loss %''
| Season
| W
| L
| %
| Playoffs
| Results}
|
| Asheville Altitude
|
| 2001–02
| 26
| 30
| .464
|
|
|
| 2002–03
| 23
| 27
| .460
|
|
|
| 2003–04
| 28
| 18
| .609
| Won Semifinals
Won D-League Finals
| Asheville 116, Fayetteville 111
Asheville 108, Huntsville 106
|
| 2004–05
| 27
| 21
| .563
| Won Semifinals
'''Won D-League Finals
| Asheville 90, Huntsville 86
Asheville 90, Columbus 67
|
| Tulsa 66ers
|
| 2005–06
| 24
| 24
| .500
|
|
|
| 2006–07
| 21
| 29
| .420
|
|
|
| 2007–08
| 26
| 24
| .520
|
|
|
| 2008–09
| 15
| 35
| .300
|
|
|
| 2009–10
| 0
| 0
| .000
|
|
|
| Totals
| 190
| 208
| .477
|
|
2008–2009 roster
Tulsa 66ers
Current Roster
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| Head Coach: Nate Tibbetts
|
| Associate Head Coach: Greg Minor
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| Athletic Trainer: Anthony Aldridge
|
| 41
| F
| 6'8
|
| Keith Clark
| (Oklahoma)
|
| 10
| G
| 6'4
|
| Derrick Dial
| (Eastern Michigan)
|
| 17
| F
| 6'6
|
| Moses Ehambe
| (Oral Roberts)
|
| 15
| G
| 6'0
|
| Gary Ervin
| (Arkansas)
|
| 22
| F
| 6'7
|
| Gary Forbes
| (Massachusetts)
|
| 99
| C
| 7'0
|
| Steven Hill
| (Arkansas)
|
| 44
| F
| 6'8
|
| Ryan Humphrey
| (Notre Dame)
|
| 23
| G
| 6'5
|
| Jeremy Kelly
| (UT-Martin)
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| 33
| F
| 6'9
|
| Yemi Ogunoye
| (Oral Roberts)
|
| 32
| F-C
| 6'8
|
| Chris Richard
| (Florida)
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Former stars
- Maurice Ager
- Sean Banks
- Derrick Dial
- Ersan Ilyasova
- Nick Fazekas
- Joe Forte
- Shaun Livingston
- John Lucas III
- Ramon Sessions
- Brandon Kurtz
References
- http://www.nba.com/dleague/tulsa/tulsa_okc_080731.html
- http://newsok.com/okcs-nba-franchise-buys-tulsas-d-league-team/article/3277505/?tm=1217566194
- Glenn Hibdon, "Tulsa 66ers pro basketball team moving to Bixby", ''Tulsa World'', February 12, 2008.
- Mike Strain, "66ers' owners sue Bixby arena's owners", ''Tulsa World'', May 31, 2009.
- "66ers will move to Convention Center", ''Tulsa World'', August 13, 2009.