Northern Arizona Suns

Northern Arizona Suns
League	NBA G League
Founded	2003
History	Long Beach Jam ABA: 2003–2005 Bakersfield Jam D-League: 2006–2016 Northern Arizona Suns 2016–present
Arena	Prescott Valley Event Center
Location	Prescott Valley, Arizona
Team colors	Orange, purple, gray, black, white[1]
President	Chris Presson
General manager	Bubba Barrage
Head coach	Tyrone Ellis
Ownership	Phoenix Suns
Affiliation(s)	Phoenix Suns
Championships	ABA: 1 (2004) D-League/G League: 0
Division / Conference titles	ABA: 1 (2004) D-League/G League 1 (2013)
Website	nazsuns.com

The Northern Arizona Suns are an NBA G League team based in Prescott Valley, Arizona and the minor league affiliate of the Phoenix Suns. The franchise began as the Long Beach Jam in 2003 under the revived American Basketball Association and moved to Bakersfield in the D-League in 2006 as the Bakersfield Jam; after 10 years in Bakersfield, California, the franchise was moved to Prescott Valley in 2016 by the Phoenix Suns and were subsequently renamed the Northern Arizona Suns.

History

Long Beach Jam (2003–2005)

During the year-long hiatus that the American Basketball Association had in the 2002–03 season, one of the teams the league approved of would be the Long Beach Jam. In the team's inaugural season, the Jam managed to procure NBA Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman, fellow veteran Corey Gaines, up-and-coming player Matt Barnes, and Japanese point guard Yuta Tabuse on their squad. They also got former NBA Finals winning head coach Paul Westhead during the start of the season, but he managed to procure himself an assistant coach gig with the Orlando Magic after their first game of the season. Nevertheless, with the presence of players like Rodman, Gaines and Tabuse under new head coach Earl Cureton, the Jam would hold a 24–7 record. It was not only considered the best record of the league that season, but also gave the Jam a bye all the way into the Finals, where they competed against the winner of the Kansas City Knights (the previous champions of the ABA) and the Juárez Gallos. In the championship round, the Jam barely escaped against the Knights to win the ABA Championship with a final score of 126–123.

In their second and final season under the Long Beach name, the Jam began their season under a pedestrian 8-6 record with another NBA Hall of Famer, this time Nate "Tiny" Archibald, leading the way as head coach during the first half of the 2004-05 season. On January 17, 2005, Archibald resigned from his position as head coach and had former player and future head coach of the Phoenix Mercury, Corey Gaines, assigned as their new head coach during the second half of their season. In that season, they managed to produce an 18–10 record in a greatly expanded ABA, with Gaines improving the team with a 10-4 second half during that season, which produced them with the second-best record in the Red Division. The Jam competed in the playoffs and made it to the quarterfinals, where they lost 130–115 to the Utah Snowbears (who produced a 25–1 that season), who would surprisingly end up forfeiting their last match to the Bellevue Blackhawks (potentially due to sunk costs with the team) since the Snowbears folded soon afterwards, while Bellevue lost the championship match to the Arkansas RimRockers. After the end of that season, the Jam withdrew from the 2005-06 ABA season to move to the NBA Development League the following season, with the intent to also move to Bakersfield soon afterwards.^[2]

Bakersfield Jam (2006–2016)

After their first season in Bakersfield ended in 2007, there was a contest where the fans could decide on a new name for the team. The choices were to rename the team Desperados, Roughnecks, Oilers, or keep the name Jam. On Thursday, May 17, the team announced that the team will remain the Bakersfield Jam, as that name won the poll in a landslide vote.^[3]

The team played at Rabobank Arena until 2009 and later at the Jam Events Center.

On April 29, 2009, it was reported that the Jam had ceased operations, citing lack of sufficient fan attendance. However, on June 18, the Jam announced that they had not shut down and plan to play in the 2009–10 season, with further details to come the following day.^[4]

On April 30, 2014, it was reported that the Jam would enter a hybrid operation with the Phoenix Suns. Not only would that lead to the Suns having exclusive collaborations with the team, but it would also allow the Jam to operate under their own management in the process. On May 9, it was confirmed that the Suns and the Jam would agree to working under a hybrid affiliation.^[5] Four days later, the Jam completed their transition by allowing Suns scout Bubba Barrage to be the team's newest general manager and letting Nate Bjorkgren coach the Jam in place of Will Voigt.^[6] Since the Dignity Health Event Center seated only 500, the team did not sell individual general admission tickets and were sold to season ticket holders only.

On May 29, 2015, it was announced that Nate Bjorkgren would leave the Jam to take part in the Suns' organization as a leading player development and assistant coach.^[7] Three months later, former NBA coach Chris Jent would be the newest head coach for the Jam.

Move to Prescott Valley

On April 12, 2016, the Phoenix Suns announced that the organization had officially purchased the Jam and were relocating the franchise to the town of Prescott Valley, Arizona for the 2016–17 season, where the team would be known as the Northern Arizona Suns.^[8] In response, the previous owners of the Jam franchise, Stan Ellis and David Higdon, announced that they have been working with the D-League in securing a new franchise and affiliation before the 2016–17 season.^[9] On May 2, it was announced that former Arizona Sundogs and current Arizona Rattlers president, Chris Presson, would become the new team president for the Suns. The new team logo and jerseys for Northern Arizona would be officially unveiled on May 11, 2016.^[10][11] The new front office personnel and coaching staff would officially be unveiled on August 16, 2016.^[12] During their first season as the Northern Arizona Suns, the team started out the season strong, entering with a 10-1 record at one point. However, the Suns would enter a major losing streak after having Tyler Ulis and Alan Williams briefly play for them via assignment, and would ultimately not recover from it afterwards.

Season-by-season record

Current roster

Former players

Players assigned by NBA teams

• Derrick Jones Jr. was the first player assigned to the Northern Arizona Suns through the Phoenix Suns practice squad. He would be assigned to the squad on November 3, 2016, November 25, 2016, December 23, 2016, January 4, 2017, January 9, 2017, and February 22, 2017.
• Tyler Ulis – Assigned by the Phoenix Suns on December 14, 2016.
• Alan Williams – Assigned by the Phoenix Suns on December 14, 2016.
• Chris McCullough was the first player assigned to the Northern Arizona Suns via a different franchise besides the Phoenix Suns. He was assigned by the Washington Wizards on March 3, 2017.

Players recalled by NBA teams

• Derrick Jones Jr. was recalled by the affiliate Phoenix Suns on November 19, 2016, December 15, 2016, December 31, 2016, January 7, 2017, January 21, 2017, and February 23, 2017.
• Tyler Ulis – Recalled by the Phoenix Suns on December 15, 2016.
• Alan Williams – Recalled by the Phoenix Suns on December 15, 2016.
• Chris McCullough – Recalled by the Washington Wizards after their only D-League season ended on April 2, 2017.

Players called up by NBA teams

• Johnny O'Bryant III was the first player from the Northern Arizona Suns to be called up to an NBA team. He was first called up by the Denver Nuggets on January 26, 2017 for two 10-day contracts.
• Johnny O'Bryant III was later called up by the Charlotte Hornets on February 24, 2017 before signing a multi-year deal on March 16, 2017.
• Elijah Millsap was the first player from the Northern Arizona Suns to be called up to the Phoenix Suns. He was called up on a multi-year deal on April 9, 2017.

Players returned to the Suns

• Johnny O'Bryant III was the first player to return to the Northern Arizona Suns after an NBA stint was concluded. He briefly returned to Northern Arizona on February 16, 2017.

Two-way players

• Mike James became the first Suns player to hold a two-way affiliate contract to play in both the NBA and G League. James would sign his two-way contract with Phoenix on July 3, 2017.

Head coaches

Affiliates

Current

• Phoenix Suns (2011–present)

Former

• Atlanta Hawks (2012–2014)
• Golden State Warriors (2006–2010)
• Los Angeles Clippers (2009–2014)
• Los Angeles Lakers (2010–2011)
• Orlando Magic (2008–2009)
• Sacramento Kings (2006–2008)
• Toronto Raptors (2011–2014)
• Utah Jazz (2013–2014)

References

External links

• Northern Arizona Suns Website