Texas Legends

"Colorado 14ers" redirects here. For the type of mountains in Colorado, see List of Colorado fourteeners.

Texas Legends
Conference	Western
League	NBA G League
Founded	2006
History	Colorado 14ers 2006–2009 Texas Legends 2010–present
Arena	Comerica Center
Location	Frisco, Texas
Team colors	Royal blue, navy blue, silver, white
General manager	Terry Sullivan
Head coach	Jordan Sears
Ownership	Texas D-League Management, LLC
Affiliation(s)	Dallas Mavericks
Championships	1 (2009)
Conference titles	1 (2009)
Division titles	1 (2009)
Website	texas.gleague.nba.com

The Texas Legends are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Frisco, Texas, and are affiliated with the Dallas Mavericks. The Legends play their home games at the Comerica Center. The team began as the Colorado 14ers in 2006, before relocating to Frisco in 2009 and becoming the Texas Legends for the 2010–11 season.

Franchise history

Colorado 14ers

In 2006, Colorado businessmen Tim Wiens and John Frew, who were building the Broomfield Event Center at the Arista development in Broomfield, Colorado, acquired a new minor league basketball team to attract fans in the northwest Denver-Boulder region. In February, they formed two teams, the minor league hockey team Rocky Mountain Rage, and the Colorado 14ers, originally a Continental Basketball Association club. In April, the 14ers entered the NBA Development League and began their first season. The team was named after Colorado's 14,000-foot mountain peaks.

2006–07 season

Joe Wolf, who played with the Denver Nuggets in the 1990s, was the 14ers' first coach, and put together the roster. The team won 28–22 in its first season, and broke various records for Colorado minor league basketball, from scoring to attendance. The team's leaders included Von Wafer and Louis Amundson, who joined the NBA by the end of the season. Despite losing streaks and roster reorganizations, the team qualified for the playoffs. The 14ers won the Western Division before losing the championship in overtime to the Dakota Wizards.

2007–08 season

The 14ers' second season began with an almost new roster, with only Elton Brown and Eric Osmundson staying. New players included Kaniel Dickens, a top player on the team. Eddie Gill was selected in the draft, joined the NBA before the first game, and returned to the team later. Kevin Hill, the only Canadian, was drafted. Five others joined the NBA, including the simultaneous call-ups of Dickens and Billy Thomas on February 22, 2008, by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Despite turnover, the 14ers played well, finishing with one more win than the prior season. The 14ers' six consecutive wins at the end of the season put them in the playoffs as a wild card, but they lost in the first round to the Los Angeles D-Fenders.

2008–09 season

The 14ers' third season had the most consecutive seasons played by any minor league basketball franchise in Colorado. The season began with financial issues for the owners and a new coach, Robert MacKinnon. Joe Wolf had moved to the NBA. The new roster included Eddie Gill, Billy Thomas, and Jamar Brown, who had played for the Colorado Crossover. New players, Dominique Coleman and Josh Davis, played well, as did Sonny Weems, assigned from the Denver Nuggets three times to play during the regular season and playoffs. Early in the season, the 14ers led the D-League in wins and set the D-League record for points in a single game with a 147–119 win over the Rio Grande Valley Vipers on March 10. The 14ers later broke that record with a 155–127 win over the Albuquerque Thunderbirds on April 8. Finishing with a record of 34 wins, the 14ers played at home for the playoffs, and defeated the Erie BayHawks, Austin Toros, and Utah Flash to become the D-League champions.

Texas Legends

On June 18, 2009, a Dallas Mavericks executive, Donnie Nelson, purchased the 14ers, and moved the team to Frisco, Texas. They played in 2010–11 with a new nickname, color, and logo. On November 5, 2009, women's basketball pioneer Nancy Lieberman became the Legends' head coach, the first woman to lead a men's professional basketball team. The team played in the 2010–11 season out of the Comerica Center. The Legends hired other notable basketball professionals for their front office, including 1986 Slam Dunk Champion Spud Webb as president of basketball operations and 1995 NBA Coach of the Year Del Harris as general manager.

Televised games introduced the Legends to fans of the 16-team league. They were on national TV during Versus three times, and appeared twice on Fox Sports Southwest. The game against the Rio Grande Valley Vipers on Versus was their first TV appearance. After dropping the opener, the Legends had their first win on November 26 against the Idaho Stampede, scoring 108–100. The Legends' first game in Frisco was on November 30. The Legends scored a league record of 84 points in the first half, and a 135–112 win over the Austin Toros. They began the season with a 5–1 record, the best six-game start for an expansion team in the league's history. They finished the regular season with a 24–26 record, and went to the playoffs. They were the third expansion team to play in the postseason, but were eliminated in the first round by the Tulsa 66ers.

After Nancy Lieberman, Del Harris was the head coach, starting October 4, 2011. He coached the Legends for one season, had a 24–26 record for the second consecutive year, but did not make the playoffs. Between 2012 and 2015, the Legends' head coach was former NBA player Eduardo Nájera. The team did not make the playoffs while he was head coach. On July 8, 2015, the Legends hired Nick Van Exel as the head coach. After one season, in June 2016, Exel left to be an assistant coach for the Memphis Grizzlies. He was replaced by Bob MacKinnon Jr., who had previously been the head coach when the 14ers won a D-League championship in Colorado.

Ownership

The team is owned by Texas D-League Management, LLC, which is principally owned by Donnie Nelson, former general manager and President of Basketball Operations for the Dallas Mavericks and son of former NBA head coach Don Nelson. The ownership group also includes Evan Wyly, Barry Aycock and Eduardo Nájera.

Season by season

Season	Division / Conference	Finish	Wins	Losses	Win%	Playoffs
Colorado 14ers
2006–07	Western	2nd	28	22	.560	Won First Round (Albuquerque) 130–100 Won Second Round (Idaho) 94–91 (OT) Lost D-League Finals (Dakota) 121–129 (OT)
2007–08	Southwest	2nd	29	21	.580	Lost Semifinals (Los Angeles) 95–102
2008–09	Southwest	1st	34	16	.680	Won First Round (Erie) 129–108 Won Second Round (Austin) 114–111 Won D-League Finals (Utah) 2–0
Texas Legends
2009–10	Did not play
2010–11	Western	6th	24	26	.480	Lost First Round (Tulsa) 1–2
2011–12	Western	4th	24	26	.480
2012–13	Central	5th	21	29	.420
2013–14	Central	4th	24	26	.480
2014–15	Southwest	4th	22	28	.440
2015–16	Southwest	3rd	23	27	.460
2016–17	Southwest	5th	25	25	.500
2017–18	Southwest	3rd	29	21	.580	Lost First Round (Rio Grande Valley) 100–107
2018–19	Southwest	4th	16	34	.320
2019–20	Southwest	3rd	24	19	.558	Season cancelled by COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21	Opted out of single-site season
2021–22	Western	5th	19	15	.559	Won Conference Quarterfinal (Birmingham) 115–110 Lost Conference Semifinal (Rio Grande Valley) 103–120
2022–23	Western	15th	7	25	.219
Regular season			349	360	.492
Playoffs			7	5	.583

Players

See also: Category:Texas Legends players

Current roster

Texas Legends roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From F 15 Akingbola, Babatunde 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1999-10-25 George Washington F 55 Alatishe, Warith 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 2000-01-22 Oregon State F 20 Edwards, Kessler (TW) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 203 lb (92 kg) 2000-08-09 Pepperdine G 00 Gortman, Jazian (TW) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 184 lb (83 kg) 2003-03-14 W. J. Keenan HS (SC) G/F 4 Henderson, Jordan 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1999-06-18 Canisius F 6 Lenard, Teafale 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 2002-07-21 Middle Tennessee G 12 Lucas, Jarod 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1999-12-07 Nevada G 22 Menifield, Keyon (P) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 150 lb (68 kg) 2003-02-23 Arkansas F 3 Miller, Emanuel 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 2000-06-19 TCU F 9 Rivers, Dakota 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 208 lb (94 kg) 2001-06-21 Florida Gulf Coast C 33 Sharp, Jamarion 7 ft 5 in (2.26 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 2001-08-26 Mississippi G 14 Walker, Tyson 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 2000-09-18 Michigan State F 23 Wheeler, Phillip 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2002-04-23 Ranney School (NJ) G 10 Williams, Brandon (TW) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1999-11-22 Arizona

Head coach Jordan Sears Assistant coach(es) Cam Black Tevin Brown Kaleb Canales (associate HC) Parker Hines Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended (P) Prospects (NBA) On assignment from NBA affiliate (TW) Two-way affiliate player Injured Roster Last transaction: November 11, 2024

Awards

Impact Player of the Year

• Eddie Gill – 2009

Rookie of the Year

• Lou Amundson – 2007

Sportsmanship Award

• Billy Thomas – 2008

All-D-League First Team

• Lou Amundson – 2007
• Elton Brown – 2007
• Von Wafer – 2007
• Eddie Gill – 2008
• Joe Alexander – 2011

All-D-League Second Team

• Kaniel Dickens – 2008
• Josh Davis – 2009
• James Nunnally – 2014

All-D-League Third Team

• Billy Thomas (2008)
• Eddie Gill (2009)
• Antonio Daniels (2011)
• Sean Williams – 2011, 2012
• Eric Griffin – 2015

Coaches

#	Head coach	Term	Regular season				Playoffs				Achievements
			G	W	L	Win%	G	W	L	Win%
1	Joe Wolf	2006–2008	100	57	43	.570	4	2	2	.500
2	Bob MacKinnon Jr.	2008–2009 2016–2019	200	104	96	.520	5	4	1	.800	D-League Championship: 2009
3	Nancy Lieberman	2010–2011	50	24	26	.480	3	1	2	.333	First woman to head coach a professional men's basketball team.
4	Del Harris	2011–2012	50	24	26	.480	—	—	—	—
5	Eduardo Nájera	2012–2015	150	67	83	.447	—	—	—	—	First Mexican-born head coach in the NBA system.
6	Nick Van Exel	2015–2016	50	23	27	.460	—	—	—	—
7	George Galanopoulos	2019–2023	109	50	59	.459	1	1	1	.500
8	Jordan Sears	2023–present	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–

NBA affiliates

Texas Legends

• Dallas Mavericks (2010–present)

Colorado 14ers

• Denver Nuggets (2006–2009)
• New Jersey Nets (2006–2009)
• Toronto Raptors (2006–2008)

External links

• Texas Legends official website