D-League Success Stories

Many current successful NBA players today have gotten their start in the d-League over the past few years. Matthew Brennan of d-League.com recently published an article detailing some potential call-ups for the remainder of this season. Dan Reed, the d-League president, has his own blog and recently talked not only about the number of d-League players that are called up, but also the number of NBA players that are assigned to the d-League over the course of the season.

By the way, we just hit a major milestone with regards to NBA assignments. Today we'll announce that the Miami Heat sent two players to the Iowa Energy, including their 1st round draft pick Daequan Cook. With those two assignments, 30 NBA players have now spent time improving their games in the D-League this year, which breaks the previous record of 29 set in '05-06, and is a testament to the belief that NBA GMs, coaches, and players have in our system.

Since 2001 there have been 105 d-League players called up to the NBA (view the complete list) and you might recognize some of the names detailed below.

Jose Juan Barea: Regional fans may remember Barea from his days at Northeastern University where he was nominated in his junior and senior seasons for the Bob Cousy Award, given to the nation's top collegiate level point guard. He finished his career as the school's second all-time leading scorer with 2,209 points behind Reggie Lewis. Barea went undrafted and found his way to the Dallas Mavericks who assigned him to the d-League in January of 2007. Barea is the first NBA-assigned player to be named the D-League Performer of the Week.

Kelenna Azubuike: Azubuike also went undrafted and played his first season as a pro in the d-League where he excelled as an All d-League Player and led his team to the championship. He was called up by the Golden State Warriors last January and has remained with the team ever since. This season he is averaging 8.7 PPG and 3.8 RPG with the Warriors.

Matt Carroll: Matt was the d-League MVP in '04-'05 and is finished sixth on Notre Dame’s all-time leading scoring list with 1,850 points. He is currently averaging 8.2 PPG and 2.4 RPG for the Charlotte Bobcats. On Friday night he scored 16 points in a losing effort to the Boston Celtics 108-100.

Jamario Moon: Jamario was one of four contestants in this year's Slam Dunk Contest and lost out to Dwight Howard who put on quite a show when the event needed it the most. Jamario is a 27 year old rookie with the Toronto Raptors and and has posted 8.5 PPG and 6.2 RPG on the season. This past January he was named the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month and is also famous for this youtube video capturing dunks in practice as he prepares for the contest at All Star Weekend.

Bobby Simmons: Bobby spent some time in the '02-'03 season with the Mobile Revelers, a season which saw them victorious in the d-League championship. Bobby is currently with the Milwaukee Bucks averaging 7.3 PPG and 3.4 RPG. After the '04-'05 season Bobby was named the NBA's Most Improved Player when he played for the LA Clippers and had his breakout season averaging 16.4 PPG.