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| The Nets need to look for a new D-League affiliate now, and won’t have this great mascot to root for in Springfield |
The Nets end a quick three-game road trip tonight in Charlotte against the soon-to-be-formerly Bobcats, who will become the Charlotte Hornets yet again next season. Now, for some interesting news tidbits:
The Barclays Center, with some marquee regular season and postseason (conference tournaments) the past few seasons, has attempted to assert itself not only as a NBA arena, but also as a NCAA arena as well.
Now, it will get its first major conference tournament as the ACC will be moving its tournament to Brooklyn for the 2017 and 2018 seasons. For the past few years, the tournament has been in Greensboro, NC and at other venues throughout the South in seasons prior. The Barclays move will give the ACC its northernmost site since it was held in Maryland a few times in the 1970s and 80s.
Also, the Nets’ D-League affiliate in the birthplace of the sport of basketball, Springfield, Mass., has been bought by the Detroit Pistons and will move to the Grand Rapids, Mich. area. This means the end of nearly six years of Nets-Armor affiliation, and now Brooklyn will have to find another D-League franchise to either buy or just link up with in a partnership, possibly along with another NBA team as well.
The Armor are already eliminated from the playoff race, meaning their time in Springfield–which began in 2009–will have only resulted in one playoff appearance, when they lost in the 1st round to the Canton Charge. Maybe a change of scenery could help this franchise, which surprisingly wasn’t able to garner much support in the Western Massachusetts area, notable for being where Dr. James A. Naismith invented basketball in 1891.
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