Springfield Armor
| File:Grand Rapids Gold logo.svg Logo of the Grand Rapids Gold | |
| Company type | Professional basketball team |
|---|---|
| Industry | Sports |
| Founded | 2006 |
| Headquarters | Grand Rapids, Michigan , United States |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Steve Jbara (owner and president), Nate Quicke (vice president), Jason Terry (head coach) |
| Products | Basketball team |
| Owner | SSJ Group (Steve Jbara) |
| Website | grandrapids |
The Grand Rapids Gold represent a professional basketball team competing in the NBA G League, situated in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and maintain an affiliation with the Denver Nuggets. Their home fixtures take place at Van Andel Arena. The franchise originated as the Anaheim Arsenal in 2006, transitioned to Springfield, Massachusetts in 2009 under the name Springfield Armor, relocated to Grand Rapids in 2014 becoming the Grand Rapids Drive, and underwent a rebranding to become the Gold in 2021.
2006–2009: Anaheim Arsenal
Established in 2006 as an expansion team within the NBA Development League, the Anaheim Arsenal were based out of Anaheim, California and held their home games at the Anaheim Convention Center. They functioned as affiliates for multiple NBA teams, including the Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Clippers, Orlando Magic, and Portland Trail Blazers. The Arsenal faced challenges on the court, never securing a winning record nor qualifying for postseason play. On March 31, 2009, it was announced that the franchise would relocate to Springfield, Massachusetts.
2009–2014: Springfield Armor
Dee Brown was appointed head coach on July 29, 2009. Shortly thereafter, on September 2, the Armor selected center Marcus Campbell with the first pick in the 2009 NBA Development League expansion draft. Their debut season (2009–10) concluded with a disappointing 7–43 (.140) record—the poorest in D-League history—and a winless 0–25 record on the road, setting a futility benchmark only later exceeded by a few teams.
During the 2010–11 campaign, Springfield held the fifth selection in the D-League Draft and chose La Salle’s Vernon Goodridge. The Armor finished sixth in the Eastern Conference with a 13–37 record. After this season, Dee Brown departed to join the Detroit Pistons’ staff and was succeeded by Bob MacKinnon Jr.. At this time, Springfield maintained affiliations with the New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, and Philadelphia 76ers.
For the 2011–12 season, Springfield entered into an exclusive single-affiliation agreement with the Brooklyn Nets, granting them complete authority over basketball operations and designating Springfield as their sole D-League affiliate. This arrangement made the Nets only the second NBA franchise to establish an exclusive D-League partnership following the Houston Rockets’ relationship with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.
2014–2021: Grand Rapids Drive
On April 15, 2014, ownership group SSJ acquired the Springfield Armor and moved the franchise to Grand Rapids, Michigan for participation in the 2014–15 season. The Grand Rapids team was locally owned and engaged in a single-franchise "hybrid" affiliation with the Detroit Pistons. This partnership aligned well with existing Detroit-Grand Rapids sports connections involving teams such as the Detroit Red Wings and Grand Rapids Griffins, alongside affiliations between the Detroit Tigers and West Michigan Whitecaps.
Following this relocation announcement, a community-driven naming contest yielded four finalist options: Drive, Chairmen, Horsepower, and Blue Racers. The public voted online, ultimately selecting Grand Rapids Drive as the official team name.
On July 29, 2020, it was revealed that the Pistons had purchased the Northern Arizona Suns from the Phoenix Suns and planned to relocate that franchise to Detroit for the 2021–22 season. As a result, their affiliation with Grand Rapids Drive concluded after the 2020–21 season. The Drive’s ownership began exploring alternatives to sustain operations beyond this partnership. Opting out of the condensed 2021 G League season hosted in Orlando, they announced on January 8, 2021, that discussions were underway for securing a new affiliate arrangement potentially involving changes to both team name and logo.
2021–present: Grand Rapids Gold
On April 27, 2021, the Drive revealed a new partnership with the Denver Nuggets. This collaboration led to the franchise being renamed the Grand Rapids Gold, with the updated branding—including name, logo, and colors—introduced on July 7. The team functions under a hybrid operational structure: basketball decisions are directed by the Nuggets, while business affairs and community relations are overseen by SSJ Group, headed by owner and president Steve Jbara alongside Vice President Nate Quicke. Jason Terry was appointed head coach on August 19.
Following the closure of DeltaPlex Arena prior to the 2022–23 season, the Gold secured a five-year agreement to make Van Andel Arena their home venue starting in 2022.
Season-by-season
| Season | Division | Regular season | Postseason results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | Wins | Losses | Pct. | ||||
| colspan="10" style="Template:NBA color cell;"|Anaheim Arsenal | |||||||
| 2006–07 | Western | 4th | 23 | 27 | .460 | ||
| 2007–08 | Western | 4th | 23 | 27 | .460 | ||
| 2008–09 | Western | 6th | 15 | 35 | .300 | ||
| colspan="10" style="text-align:center; Template:NBA color cell;"|Springfield Armor | |||||||
| 2009–10 | Eastern | 7th | 7 | 43 | .140 | ||
| 2010–11 | Eastern | 6th | 13 | 37 | .260 | ||
| 2011–12 | Eastern | 1st | 29 | 21 | .580 | Lost First Round (Canton) 1–2 | |
| 2012–13 | Eastern | 5th | 18 | 32 | .360 | ||
| 2013–14 | Eastern | 3rd | 22 | 28 | .440 | ||
| colspan="10" style="text-align:center; Template:NBA color cell;"|Grand Rapids Drive | |||||||
| 2014–15 | Central | 4th | 23 | 27 | .460 | ||
| 2015–16 | Central | 4th | 21 | 29 | .420 | ||
| 2016–17 | Central | 4th | 26 | 24 | .520 | ||
| 2017–18 | Central | 2nd | 29 | 21 | Template:Winpct | Lost First Round (Raptors 905) 88–92 | |
| 2018–19 | Central | 1st | 28 | 22 | Template:Winpct | Lost First Round (Raptors 905) 90–91 | |
| 2019–20 | Central | 3rd | 25 | 18 | Template:Winpct | 'Season cancelled by COVID-19 pandemic' | |
| 2020–21 | Opted out of single-site season | ||||||
| colspan="10" style="text-align:center; Template:NBA color cell;"|Grand Rapids Gold | |||||||
| 2021–22 | Eastern | 7th | 17 | 15 | Template:Winpct | ||
| 2022–23 | Eastern | 14th | 9 | 23 | Template:Winpct | ||
|- !colspan=3 |Regular season record||354||471||.429|| colspan="2"|2006–present |- !colspan=3 |Playoff record||1||4|||| colspan="2"|2006–present |-
Head coaches
5||Template:Sortname||2013–2014||50||22||28||Template:Winpct||—||—||—||—|| 6||Template:Sortname||2014–2016||100||44||56||Template:Winpct||—||—||—||—|| 7||Template:Sortname||2016–2017||50||26||24||||—||||—||||—|| 8|||Template:Sortname|||2017|||12|||4|||8|||Template:Winpct|||—|||—|||—|||—|| 9|||Template:Sortname|||2017–2019|||88|||53|||35|||Template:Winpct|||2|||0|||2|||Template:Winpct|| 10|||Template:Sortname|||2019–2020|||43|||25|||18|||Template:Winpct|||—|||—|||—|||—|| 11|||Template:Sortname|||2021–2022|||32|||17|||15|||Template:Winpct|||—|||—|||—|||—|| 12|||Template:Sortname|||2022–present|||100|||35|||65|||Template:Winpct|||—|||—|||—|||—||| # | Head coach | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Achievements | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | L | Win% | G | W | L | Win% | ||||
| 1 | Template:Sortname | 2006–2008 | 100 | 46 | 54 | Template:Winpct | — | — | — | — | |
| 2 | Template:Sortname | 2008–2009 | 50 | 15 | 35 | Template:Winpct | — | — | — | — | |
| 3 | Template:Sortname | 2009–2011 | 100 | 20 | 80 | Template:Winpct | — | — | — | — | |
| 4 | Template:Sortname | 2011–2013 | 100 | 47 | 53 | Template:Winpct | 3 | 1 | 2 | Template:Winpct | |
Anaheim Arsenal
- Atlanta Hawks (2006–2009)
- Los Angeles Clippers (2006–2009)
- Orlando Magic (2006–2008)
- Portland Trail Blazers (2006–2007)
Springfield Armor
- Brooklyn Nets (2009–2014)
- New York Knicks (2009–2011)
- Philadelphia 76ers (2009–2011)
Grand Rapids Drive
- Detroit Pistons (2014–2021)
Grand Rapids Gold
- Denver Nuggets (2021–present)