G-League Logo Rank, Part 3

Over the past two weeks, I've posted 16/26ths of my G-League logo rank (or 8/13ths if you prefer to reduce fractions). Now it's time for the grand finale, the exalted top 10 of the NBA's minor league. Read on. There are some good looking logos on this list.

10. Northern Arizona Suns

The Phoenix Suns began play in the NBA way back in 1968. When they did, they rolled out a secondary logo that to me is still one of the best logos ever used by an NBA franchise. Yes, it was extremely simple, just a cartoon-like sun blazing away that would look at home in a Hanna-Barbera cartoon of that era. The Suns kept that logo, which also featured the word "Suns" across the center, until 1992. A piece of classic NBA logo history died for me the day they retired it.

The simplicity of that original logo has been recreated in large part in the Northern Arizona Suns' branding. It's the resurrection of that long dead motif that lands the Suns' G-League offering at number 10 on this countdown. Admittedly, there are issues with the re-use that are lost in translation. I'm OK with the basketball at the center of the logo (so it's really a basketball shining like the sun I guess) and I don't mind the compass point pointing north at the top of the sun. But I'm not such a fan of the wordmark below the logo and I hate the NAZ abbreviation. Nonetheless, I still like this one. It's simple enough to capture something that I really like.

9. Agua Caliente Clippers

For the first time maybe since the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons (named after the Zollner piston manufacturing company) dropped the Zollner in 1948, corporate sponsorship returns to an NBA-affiliated team in the form of the Agua Caliente casino sponsored Los Angeles Clippers G-League team. The name's not really the point of this post I guess.

The parent Clippers team in my humble opinion have the absolute worst branding in the NBA, a videogame logo inspired mess of way too simple Ls, As and Cs put together in awkward combinations. I have to say they did way way better with their G-League branding. There's nothing too complicated going on here which is refreshing. They are still using the same boxy C as they are at the NBA level, but the abstract basketball with the color swirls (or whatever else you want to call those things) and the circular text ring at the perimeter for me come together in a coherent and pleasing logo. Thumbs up! Good job!

8. Canton Charge

I despise putting anything associated with the Cleveland Cavaliers this high in any ranking I'm responsible for but let's face it, when compared to the competition logo-wise in the G-League, the Canton Charge deserve a top 10 spot.

The Charge's primary logo features a cavalier (I'm assuming) thrusting a decidedly non-elegant sword towards the viewer. Other than the blade looking way clumsier that I would imagine a swashbuckler wielding, the logo is well designed and uses color as shadow to make it simple but not simplistic. There's movement and force in this design.

I'm not thrilled with the secondary logo, which looks like a chunkier, squarer version of the Cavs' cocktail onion on a sword toothpick logo but the primary logo is good enough to carry the day here.

7. Delaware 87ers

Yes, the 87ers logo is pretty much an exact copy of the Philadelphia 76ers 2009 logo recreate featuring the classic 1977 Sixers logo with "87" placed where "76" was on the original logo. On the one hand, there's nothing wrong with this; this logo is one of the most beloved (by me) NBA logos of all time.

On the other hand, they got one thing very wrong. In the original logo, the top of the "7" is curved, which creates a perfect negative for the circle of the 13 stars from the first Stars and Stripes flag to sit. In the 87ers logo, the same curve is applied to the "7" but the circle of stars sits awkwardly above the top of the "8" and not nested in the dip like on the original logo. Who knows, maybe they tried moving it over and it looked out of place in the middle of the logo. I still say they should have done it. Good, not great, here.

6. Raptors 905

I didn't particularly know what it was quite about the Raptors 905 logo that appealed to me until I wrote this piece. Let's face it, I couldn't state "yep I like this for no particular reason" and put them in the 6 spot. It's the details for me. I love the simple symmetry of the logo, right down to an attempt to make "9" and "5" mirror images of one another (they are decidedly not in real life). I also LOVE (yes, LOVE) the raptor claw marks on the top of the ball where the seams are on the bottom. As much as I hate the Raptors' name, I am almost giddy about this design.

The secondary logo for me is OK. It's (I guess) a map of Ontario (didn't really know the shape of Ontario) with a plan white "M" for Mississauga, the town where the team plays. This looks either like a saddle with an M on it or an old college blanket of a school beginning with M draped over the back of a couch. Or both. I know, I said I love map-themed logos. I don't love this one. It's good at best. It's the primary logo that lands Raptors 905 in sixth.

5. Fort Wayne Mad Ants

Yes, it's already obvious I have a soft spot for teams that pre-date the NBA's true takeover of the G-League, especially when they have kept their names and logos intact. The Mad Ants are the first of three consecutive in that camp, although the Ants have surrendered their red and yellow color scheme for a more Indiana Pacers-themed blue and yellow package.

The Mad Ants' (named after General "Mad" Anthony Wayne who was also whom Fort Wayne was named after) logo is fairly simple: an ant head in a circle with a triangle beneath, if that makes sense from the picture above. It's the words more than anything else that get me liking this one. I love this font. It reinforces the name more than the voracious ant with mandibles ready to chomp into anyone who opposes him.

4. Reno Bighorns

The Mad Ants predate the Pacers' takeover. Out west in Reno, the Bighorns are the last of the original west coast franchises. The Idaho Stampede are gone; the Bakersfield Jam are gone; but the Bighorns remain in Reno. And just like the Mad Ants, the Bighorns have allowed the now-parent Sacramento Kings to change their green and gold colors for the Kings' purple and silver.

If I've got a soft spot in my heart for the classic NBDL (and before) franchises, I've also got a huge spot there for bighorn sheep. I've looked for these things in the Black Hills of South Dakota; Yellowstone National Park; the stretch of Nevada between Las Vegas and the Hoover Dam; and Zion National Park in Utah (saw one far far away) before finally laying eyes on a whole herd in Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico. The image presented by the Bighorns' logo is simple and strong and shows one of these gorgeous animals in a classic pose seen from below. I'm in full support of this logo. I even like the insertion of the Kings' crown from their logo into the wordmark.

Now about that secondary logo...I'm just ignoring this thing. I don't like it at all. It's not as bad as the Legends' "TL" or the Drive's "GR" but it's not adding anything. The good outweighs the bad here by a long shot.

3. Maine Red Claws

I'm just going to throw this out there: the top three logos in the G-League are better than the top three logos in the NBA. There! I said it! And that's including the homer pick Washington Wizards being in my NBA top three. Let me prove I'm right.

Sitting at number three on my G-League logo rank is the Maine Red Claws and their lobster logo  that looks like he's about to put a beating on some dude that owes him some serious money. Huge powerful claws draped either side of the Red Claws' wordmark are intimidating, especially when combined with that facial expression that says to me "you better not drop me in no boiling water or else." He also looks none too pleased by the cute little basketballs someone has glued on to his antennae or whatever they call those things on lobsters.

Unfortunately for this crustacean, he's red, which means he's already cooked (and yes still somehow alive). But we can suspend disbelief here a little right? The secondary logo's not quite as good but if it were the only logo rolled out by this team, I still think it would get a top 10 nod. Bravo, Maine. You finally found something for me to like about your state.

2. Memphis Hustle

If you know anything about my love of logos (or if you've ready past posts from me about NBA logos and haven't just dismissed the information like you probably should have), you'll know I think the Memphis Grizzlies' bear head logo is the best in the NBA hands down. Well, I got some news: the Grizz outdid themselves with their G-League branding because this stuff is even better than the original.

The look for the brand new Hustle team set to start play in a few months consists of three logos: a bear head silhouette with Memphis Hustle written in font eerily similar to the old 1970s pump triline font (pretty much anything from the 70s makes anything more awesome) complete with a finishing star on the "e"; a stylized "mh" using a similar font to the one in the bear head; and a circular "grit & grind" logo (again with the star). I love the colors here, I love the fonts and I love the callbacks to a bygone era when Memphis was cranking out some of the funkiest music around over at the old Stax Records studio. Thumbs way up all around. They might just be the best in the G-League if only...

1. Santa Cruz Warriors

Let's gloss over the alternate logos (and their variants) that make up the Santa Cruz Warriors' branding package just for a moment shall we? These things are good but not great. I'm even not upset about the "SC" logo and we know how I feel about jumbo initial logos by now. These secondary designs are not why the Dubs are number one in this countdown.

If there's a simple more elegant logo in professional basketball in the United States, I'm not aware of it. This thing is awesome. The Warriors have taken their own color scheme and circular motif and blown the doors off Santa Cruz with this baby, a trident in the shape of a capital W that simultaneously identifies the franchise and their coastal location. I also love the way it is not constrained by the circle but instead breaks through to stand on its own. This is an A+ design. If I lived in Santa Cruz, I'd have all sorts of swag with this look on it.

So that's it! 26 down, four to go (sort of). I'm expecting at this time next year we'll at least have a 27th team in the mix in the form of my very own Washington Wizards as yet unnamed G-League team so I'll need to spend a few days at least digesting how that look shakes up this countdown. In the meantime, that's all I have on this subject. Opening night at this point is just a bit more than two months away. Can't wait!

At Sixers And Sevens

During each of the last two NBA seasons, I've managed to take a break when the Wizards were on a west coast road trip and get away to watch some games in the NBDL, the league which is quickly morphing towards becoming a sort of NBA farm system the likes of which is used by the National Hockey League or Major League Baseball. Two years ago, I took a week long trip to Texas to see games in Frisco, Hidalgo and Austin; last year, I got away for a long weekend in New England to see my first hoops in Springfield, Massachusetts and Portland, Maine.

I love attending D-League games. There's something about pro hoops below the NBA level that appeals to me, at least once a year, anyway. I love seeing how different the environment is, watching guys play for a spot in the show and very often seeing a small town side of America. Sure, some of these games aren't exactly played in small towns, but they are smaller than Washington, D.C. so they are small to me.

I still want to take a D-League trip to the midwest to catch games in Erie, Canton and Fort Wayne and a California trip to see games in Los Angeles, Bakersfield and Santa Cruz. But this year, my NBA travel budget and schedule appeared to be too overbooked for a trip to the minor leagues. I've already made a trip to Toronto to see the Wizards play in Canada in November and before Christmas I was down in Miami to see us take on the Heat in an all too close game. Those trips, combined with an All-Star Weekend in New York, seemed to preclude any NBDL games this season.

But where there's a will, there's a way and a little more digging this season revealed an opening in the Wizards schedule this past weekend to allow me to squeeze a game in. With the Wizards having played Chicago this past Friday at Verizon Center (an awesome statement victory) and a matinee game in Atlanta on Sunday (a game which showed just how far we have to go), Saturday night was open and it just so happened the Delaware 87ers (or the Sevens as they are called) were at home in Newark, Delaware, for a game against the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, who just happen to be the Wizards D-League affiliate this season. It was just too close and too tempting to pass up.

Second quarter action from the Bob.

The Sevens have been playing ball in Newark for a little more than a season now. Their debut season was last year as the wholly owned affiliate of the nearby Philadelphia 76ers (insert joke here about the Sixers being about as good as a D-League team). The team struggled in their first year in Delaware posting a 12-38 record, good for last in the East Division. As of Saturday's game time this year, the team is doing a little better, sitting third in the brand new five team Atlantic Division with a 7-10 mark. When the Sixers bought the Sevens (don't think about that too hard), they were actually a dormant franchise. The 87ers began life as the Utah Flash in Orem, Utah who played in that city from 2007 to 2011 but folded after the 2010-2011 season. I have no idea how buying a dormant franchise differs from an actual expansion franchise, but that's how the team got to Newark.

The 87ers name is a reference to the year Delaware ratified the United States Constitution, the first state to do so. Since Delaware was one of the original 13 British colonies, it is pretty likely that the area in and around Newark has a pretty substantial history. And I guess that's true. Being around for a while builds history, I guess. The town was established in 1694 and officially recognized by the British government and King George II in 1758. Since 1833, the town has been home to the school that would ultimately become the University of Delaware in 1921, although it took about 11 years off for a stretch before re-opening. The enrollment at the University is about 20,000; the population of Newark stands at about 32,000. It's no surprise therefore that the town and the University are pretty much one and the same.

The 87ers play ball in the Bob Carpenter Center (or the Bob), which serves as the home for the University of Delaware's men's and women's basketball teams and the UD women's volleyball team. The arena sits approximately 5,000 people for a basketball game, although only about half those seats are available for a D-League game. With the reduced seating availability, it ends up being the smallest arena I've visited in my six NBDL games seen to date, coming in at even smaller than the tiny Portland Expo Center I visited last year, which seats a little more than 3,000 in bleachers. The Bob opened in 1992, which means by now it's starting to age a little.

Dahntay Jones and Will Frisby discussing strategy on the bench.

One of the main reasons I rushed to attend this particular game was that the Wizards' Glen Rice, Jr. had been assigned to the visiting Mad Ants in mid-November and I hadn't seen or heard much about his game since he was sent there. I figured this would be a great chance to not only check another site off my years long D-League tour, but also catch up with one of our own players. Unfortunately, as I figured out last weekend, Rice was waived by the Wizards this past week pretty much as a cost saving measure. Let's face it, Glen wasn't playing with the team anytime soon based on his pecking order in the lineup; his poor shooting percentage when he did play in the big leagues; and his on court verbal exchange with head coach Randy Wittman during the November 7 game in Toronto. Saving $400K plus by waiving him might come in handy later on this year.

Rice's D-League story is an interesting one, as I wrote last week. But if there's one thing about the D-League, it's that it's not short on interesting stories. A couple of years ago, the Wizards own Rasual Butler was playing in the NBDL at the age of 33, trying to convince clubs that he still had a part to play in this league. I actually caught Butler playing for the Tulsa 66ers on my Texas swing two years ago. Last year, it paid off for Rasual as he played 50 games for the Indiana Pacers, even though he only saw the court for a bit more than seven minutes per game. Whether his stint in the D-League allowed the Pacers to notice him or the Wizards to sign him this year, where he is averaging double digits in scoring and shooting in the top five in three point percentage, can be debated. But there's no doubt his story is a compelling one. Without the D-League he may not have had any place to play at all.

So sure enough, there's a guy playing for Fort Wayne this year with a story very similar to Rasual's a couple of years ago. Dahntay Jones was selected 20th overall by the Boston Celtics in the 2003 NBA Draft. He's played 589 regular season and 38 postseason games in the NBA over 10 seasons with six different teams, although the Celtics weren't one of those. He's 34 years old and most definitely the elder statesman on the Mad Ants team this year. The last time I ran into Dahntay in this noticeable a way was during the Barack Obama fundraiser I attended a couple of years ago. He's trying to do this year what Rasual was trying to do two years ago: prove he's still got something to offer an NBA squad.  He's only two years removed from action in the parent league, so maybe he's got a shot of getting picked up by a team who needs someone reliable on a 10 day contract between now and the end of the regular season. I'm hoping he does.

Dahntay poured in a team high 26 points (tied with Andre Emmett) in the Mad Ants 114-103 victory over the home Sevens Saturday night. He shot an impressive 10 of 14 from the field including hitting on half of his six three point attempts. Along with Emmett, he was clearly the best player on the court for the Mad Ants, who have now won five straight games after struggling with a .500 record earlier in the year. But more notable than his output on the court for me was the leadership he provided on the bench, talking to guys on the team during time outs and offering comments from the bench during the game when he was resting.

The best example of what a guy like Dahntay brings to a team like the Mad Ants was a first half exchange he had with starting center Will Frisby who picked up two quick fouls and was pulled from the game early. I have no idea how talented Frisby is but I know he's never seen a minute of NBA action so he's a long ways behind Jones in my book. At first didn't want any part of Jones talking to him before eventually settling down and appearing to listen for a few minutes. I suppose some guys wouldn't chew out their teammates in the name of making someone else better, preferring to focus on their game so they stand out to NBA scouts. Here's hoping Dahntay makes it back to the show this year.

The Kreston Wine and Spirits Beer Garden.

For me, the game on the court was well played. I happened to be rooting for the Mad Ants (although they really have no significant tie to the Wizards and I know it) so I was pleased when they overcame their early deficit to the Sevens and pulled away for the 11 point win. It was clear on this night that while Delaware's starters were more than capable of playing with Fort Wayne, their bench was no match for the visitors, getting outscored 34-16. So while the game started out in Delaware's favor, once the starters rested, the tide quickly turned and ultimately the Mad Ants left with the W despite the Sevens' Victor Rudd pouring in 29.

The story of D-League games for me though is not completely about what happens on the hardwood. I find differences between the NBA experience and the NBDL experience to be striking, strange or amusing. Whether it's the bouncy playthings and mechanical bull in Frisco, the fan in Austin with a giant Shelvin Mack head on a stick to taunt the opposition's best player, or the Kora Shriners presenting the colors in Portland, there's always something besides the game action which is notable. Sure enough, the same thing happened in Delaware.

Before heading to the arena Saturday night, I knocked back a couple of beers with dinner at the nearby T.G.I.Friday's. I'm sure I could have found somewhere better, but it was close to my hotel and it was really really cold in Newark Saturday night so I didn't bother searching. Now I like to have a beer at a game, even though I'd had a couple before we entered the building and so after getting my bearings, I checked out one of the concession stands and found no beer. Uh oh. Maybe because it's a college campus, they don't serve beer?

I kept going, hoping I was wrong, and sure enough when I got to the end zone, I noticed the Kreston Wine and Spirits Beer Garden signs on the concourse level opposite where our seats were located. The Beer Garden at the Bob is the strangest one I have ever been to. It's an area about 25 feet by 50 feet defined by TensaBarriers with a gap where you enter. At the entrance is a dude checking IDs, collecting the cover charge ($1) and handing out the wristbands which grant you exclusive access to the entire Beer Garden. Once you are in, you can come and go at will and choose from the three beers on offer there: 16 oz Coors Light ($5); 12 oz Keystone Light in the exclusive limited edition (I'm assuming here) Hunting Season Camo Can ($2!); and 16 oz Blue Moon (price unknown - I'm not drinking that stuff).

This is far and away the cheapest beer I've had at a ballgame in a long time, even ignoring the price of the Keystone Light which tasted, well, like nothing and had about zero alcohol in it. But despite it's obvious hokey appearance and the what had to been teenage bartenders in tuxedo bow ties, the Beer Garden was actually a great place to watch the game. The view was perfect and unobstructed and the guardrail side seats overlooking the court offered an ideal spot to take in all the action. We actually spent the second half watching from there. If I attended more Sevens games, I'd just sit here every game. Two thumbs way up!

Third quarter action viewed from the Beer Garden. We abandoned our fourth row seats for this.

Of course, no D-League trip is complete without seeing what the town or area has to offer. Last year it was the Basketball Hall of Fame (Springfield) and a series of breweries (Portland) that kept me occupied during the day. The year before that, it was a cattle drive sculpture series, a giant killer bee sculpture and some of the best blues in the country that satisfied my tourist yen. This year? Ummm…

So I really tried hard to find something interesting to do in Newark. Honestly. But there's just not much here. The best I could come up with was the Battle of Cooch's Bridge Battlefield. The Battlefield, which is just a collection of interpretive signage with an adjacent visitor's center which is open on the first and third Saturdays of the month (I was there on the second Saturday), kills about maybe fifteen minutes of time.

The Colonial position, Battle of Cooch's Bridge.

Cooch's Bridge today. This one was erected in 1922. I imagine the view is not much different than 1777.

The battle, between the British forces and the revolutionary Colonial militia, took place in 1777 and was more a skirmish than a battle, although the estimated 25 dead on each side probably would disagree with me. The conflict was an engagement started by the revolutionaries to bother the British forces who were trying to maintain control over the main road from Virginia to Philadelphia which ran just south of Cooch's Bridge. The conflict was short and ultimately the Colonials were forced to withdraw against superior British numbers. I guess the most notable distinction that the battle holds today is that it is the first time the Stars and Stripes were ever flown in combat, although the signage at the site casts some doubt on that fact, referring to the source of this information as "local tradition".

I'll have to be satisfied with my trip the past weekend as my only NBDL action this year. I want to see more, I just don't have the time or the time off. So I'll have to wait until next year. Maybe my midwest swing will work out perfectly when the schedule is released this fall. One final note: while I didn't see Glen Rice, Jr. play, the Mad Ants or Sevens or someone hasn't forgotten him. He's listed right between Marcus Simmons and Ramon Harris in the free program handed out at the door. These things are essential at this level, because rosters can change day to day, just like it did for Glen.

In memory of Glen Rice, Jr.