American minor league basketball team of the NBA G League
The Oklahoma City Blue are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City and are affiliated with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Blue compete in the NBA G League as members of the Western Conference. The Blue play their home games at Paycom Center, an arena shared with the Thunder.
The franchise began as the Asheville Altitude in 2001 playing in Asheville, North Carolina for four seasons. They won the 2004 and 2005 NBDL championship, becoming the first (and so far only) team to win consecutive league championships. After struggling with poor attendance, the franchise relocated to Tulsa, Oklahoma and played nine seasons as the Tulsa 66ers. Before the 2014–15 season, the franchise relocated again to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, becoming the Oklahoma City Blue. One of three teams still playing from the first league season, they are the oldest surviving NBA G League champion to play in the league.
History
Asheville Altitude (2001–2005)
The franchise began in 2001 when NBA Commissioner David Stern and deputy commissioner Russ Granik formed the National Basketball Development League. Asheville, North Carolina was chosen to one of the first eight franchises located in the southeastern United States. The franchise hired Joey Meyer and began their inaugural season in the 2001–02 season.
In its inaugural season, the Altitude had a 26–30 record, finishing sixth in the league. Center Paul Grant was named to the league's inaugural All-NBDL Second Team. After accumulating a 49–57 record after two seasons, the Altitude won back-to-back championships in its final two seasons in Asheville. Despite the Altitude's recent success, the franchise experienced poor attendance with fans often numbering in the dozens despite a 5,000 seat capacity. In its first four seasons, the Altitude averaged 788 fans a game and suffered at least $100,000 in losses.[3]
After the 2004–05 season, team president Rudy Bourg announced the Altitude had been sold to an independent ownership group and would relocate prior to the start of next season.[4]
Tulsa 66ers (2005–2014)
Before the start of the 2005–06 season, the league announced expansion to the southwest United States with Tulsa, Oklahoma being chosen as a host city. Initially planned to being independently owned and operated by the league, Southwest Basketball, LLC, operated by owner David Kahn, purchased the Altitude and relocated the franchise to Tulsa. The franchise also rebranded and was renamed to the Tulsa 66ers, in honor of the U.S. Route 66 which runs through the city and the state of Oklahoma.[5] Starting in 2005, the National Basketball Association announced an affiliation and assignment system for the league. Under the system, the 66ers were directly affiliated with the Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks and the New Orleans Hornets.[6] Prior to the start of the 2006–07 season, the franchise's affiliation with the Bulls and Pacers ended with the addition of the New York Knicks.[7] Before the relocation of the Oklahoma City Thunder, the franchise had its final affiliations with the Bucks, Knicks, and the Dallas Mavericks during the 2007–08 season.[8]
On August 1, 2008, the newly relocated Oklahoma City Thunder agreed to purchase the 66ers for $2.25 million, becoming only the third NBA franchise to own a D-League team. In the agreement, the Thunder owned full control of the team's business and basketball operations and became the sole affiliate of the Thunder.[9]
Oklahoma City Blue (2014–present)
After getting offers from four venues, Professional Basketball Club felt none were suitable and announced the 66ers would move to Oklahoma City and play in the Cox Convention Center across the street from the Chesapeake Energy Arena where the parent club Oklahoma City Thunder plays starting with the 2014–15 season. The team's front offices are located in the Chesapeake Energy Arena along with the rest of the front office staff of the parent club Oklahoma City Thunder.[10] With the move, the team was rebranded from the 66ers to the Blue.[11][12] In the 2016–17 season, the team was the regular season Western Conference champion with 34 wins, a franchise record.[13]
In 2021, the Cox Convention Center was leased to a film production company and the arena was closed to become Prairie Surf Studios.[14] The Blue then moved into their parent team's home arena, the Paycom Center (then recently renamed from Chesapeake Energy Arena) in 2021.[15]
