NEW YORK – The NBA Development League and Pacers Sports & Entertainment, the parent organization of the Indiana Pacers, today announced that the team has acquired the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, becoming the 10^th NBA team to fully own and operate an NBA D-League team.  With the purchase, all 19 NBA D-League teams are singly affiliated with NBA franchises.

“We are proud to extend the Pacers’ brand into Northeast Indiana and excited about continuing the tradition of professional basketball in Fort Wayne,” said Pacers Sports & Entertainment owner Herb Simon.  “We will work closely with the Mad Ants’ staff to provide support and expertise on both the business and basketball sides, and we hope to build on their enthusiastic fan base.”

The Mad Ants will continue to play their 24 home games at Fort Wayne’s Allen County War Memorial Coliseum for the 2015-16 season.  Longtime Mad Ants president Jeff Potter will remain with the team as its president of business operations.

With the acquisition, the NBA D-League’s flexible assignment system – which was instituted prior to the 2014-15 season – will continue to enable the 11 independent NBA teams to assign players to the NBA D-League for development or rehabilitation from injury.  Upon receipt of an assignment from an independent NBA team, the NBA D-League will identify any NBA D-League team willing to accept the assigned player.  The assigning independent NBA team will then choose the destination for assignment between those teams.  If no NBA D-League team is willing to accept the assigned player, he will be assigned to one of the hybrid affiliate teams pursuant to a lottery.  The 19 NBA teams with single affiliations will be able to assign players to their NBA D-League partners.

“Indiana’s purchase of the Mad Ants signals an important milestone for the NBA D-League, as all 19 of the league’s teams are now owned by, or in hybrid partnerships with, their NBA parent clubs,” said Malcolm Turner, NBA D-League President.  “I’m excited to welcome Herb Simon and the Pacers’ front office into the NBA D-League family.  I also extend my thanks to outgoing Mad Ants owners John Zeglis and Jeff Potter, whose commitment to excellence on and off the court helped shape the NBA D-League.”

Located 125 miles northeast of Indianapolis, Fort Wayne has been Indiana’s NBA D-League affiliate since the 2007-08 season.  During the eight years the clubs have been affiliated, the Pacers have assigned four players to Fort Wayne for development, including current Pacers forward-center Shayne Whittington, who appeared in six regular and postseason games for the Mad Ants last season.  Whittington joins Indiana teammates Solomon Hill, Ian Mahinmi, and C.J. Miles as current Pacers with NBA D-League experience.

“Owning the Mad Ants will be integral to developing our young talent,” said Pacers Basketball President Larry Bird.  “We’ll have the ability to institute the same offensive and defensive systems as the Pacers run and create a winning basketball culture across the state of Indiana.  We are excited to build on the team’s success in Fort Wayne while using it as a training ground for players, coaches and front-office personnel.”

On the court, the Mad Ants captured the 2014 NBA D-League Championship and returned to the NBA D-League Finals in 2015.  Seven Mad Ants have earned GATORADE Call-Ups to the NBA and 25 prospects spent time in Fort Wayne on assignment from their NBA teams.  The Mad Ants have served as the affiliate of multiple NBA teams in each season since their inception in 2007, including 12 NBA teams in 2014-15.

“The last eight years with the Mad Ants have brought our investors tremendous joy and a whole lot of fun,” said Potter, who served as the franchise’s president from 2007 to 2015.  “Our goal in starting the Ants was to bring Fort Wayne something fun and exciting for families and basketball fans to enjoy, and we are so thankful to the city and our fans for how they received us and supported us.  Although our run with the team is ending, we are so pleased to see our team placed in such great hands, and we wish the Pacers nothing but the best as they move forward with the Mad Ants.”

The Pacers join the Cleveland Cavaliers (Canton Charge), Golden State Warriors (Santa Cruz Warriors), Los Angeles Lakers (L.A. D-Fenders), New York Knicks (Westchester Knicks), Oklahoma City Thunder (Oklahoma City Blue), Philadelphia 76ers (Delaware 87ers), San Antonio Spurs (Austin Spurs), Utah Jazz (Idaho Stampede) and Toronto Raptors (Raptors 905) as NBA teams who own their NBA D-League affiliate.

An additional eight NBA teams have hybrid affiliation agreements: the Boston Celtics (Maine Red Claws), Detroit Pistons (Grand Rapids Drive), Houston Rockets (Rio Grande Valley Vipers), Memphis Grizzlies (Iowa Energy), Miami Heat (Sioux Falls Skyforce), Orlando Magic (Erie BayHawks), Phoenix Suns (Bakersfield Jam) and Sacramento Kings (Reno Bighorns).  The Dallas Mavericks and Texas Legends have a one-to-one affiliation.  A hybrid agreement allows an NBA team to control (and fund) an NBA D-League team’s basketball operations, while local ownership is responsible for the team’s business and community efforts.