Canton Charge

American professional basketball team of the NBA G League

Canton Charge
League	NBA G League
Founded	2001
History	Huntsville Flight 2001–2005 Albuquerque Thunderbirds 2005–2010 New Mexico Thunderbirds 2010–2011 Canton Charge 2011–present
Arena	Canton Memorial Civic Center
Location	Canton, Ohio
Team colors	Wine, gold, white[1][2][3]
Team manager	Mike Gansey
Head coach	Nate Reinking
Ownership	Cleveland Cavaliers
Affiliation(s)	Cleveland Cavaliers
Championships	1 (2006)
Division/Conference titles	1 (2013)
Website	canton.gleague.nba.com

The Canton Charge are an American professional basketball team based in Canton, Ohio, that competes in the NBA G League. The Charge are owned by and are also the minor league affiliate of the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Its home games are held at the Canton Memorial Civic Center.

The franchise was founded in 2001 as the Huntsville Flight, based in Huntsville, Alabama, before moving to Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2005, where they were known as the Albuquerque Thunderbirds until 2010. After playing the 2010–11 season in suburban Rio Rancho as the New Mexico Thunderbirds, the franchise was purchased by the Cavaliers and moved to Canton.

The team won the 2006 NBA D-League championship while playing in Albuquerque. The team lost the 2003–04 NBA D-League Finals, and reached the semifinals in 2004–05, 2006–07, 2011–12, 2014–15 and 2015–16.

Contents

• 
  1 History
  
  
  
  • 
    1.1 Huntsville Flight
    
  
  
  • 
    1.2 Albuquerque/New Mexico Thunderbirds
    
  
  
  • 
    1.3 Canton Charge
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  2 Logos and uniforms
  
  
  
  • 
    2.1 Huntsville Flight (2001–2005)
    
  
  
  • 
    2.2 Albuquerque/New Mexico Thunderbirds (2005–2011)
    
  
  
  • 
    2.3 Canton Charge (2011–present)
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  3 Home arenas
  


• 
  4 Season-by-season
  


• 
  5 Current roster
  


• 
  6 Head coaches
  


• 
  7 NBA affiliates
  
  
  
  • 
    7.1 Canton Charge
    
  
  
  • 
    7.2 New Mexico Thunderbirds
    
  
  
  • 
    7.3 Albuquerque Thunderbirds
    
  
  
  • 
    7.4 Huntsville Flight
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  8 References
  


• 
  9 External links
  

History

Huntsville Flight

The team was formed in 2001 as the Huntsville Flight based in Huntsville, Alabama, as a founding member of the NBA Development League, the affiliate minor league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). They played home games at the Von Braun Center. In their first two seasons, they failed to make the playoffs, but in their third they reached the NBA D-League Finals, losing to the Asheville Altitude. The team ended its tenure in Alabama at the conclusion of the 2004–05 season after finishing third in the league and making the playoffs. The Flight were not affiliated with an NBA team.

Albuquerque/New Mexico Thunderbirds

The team moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and became the Albuquerque Thunderbirds beginning in the 2005–06 season.^[4] They played home games at Tingley Coliseum. In their first season in New Mexico, the team won the 2006 NBA D-League Championship by defeating the Fort Worth Flyers in the championship game. In the 2006–07 season, they again made the playoffs, but were defeated by the Colorado 14ers. The Thunderbirds moved in 2010 to the Santa Ana Star Center in suburban Rio Rancho and were re-branded as the New Mexico Thunderbirds. They played just one season in Rio Rancho, finishing ninth and failing to make the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. The Thunderbirds were affiliates of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat, New Orleans Hornets, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings, Seattle SuperSonics and Utah Jazz.^[5][6][7]

Canton Charge

It was announced on July 7, 2011 the Thunderbirds had been purchased by the Cleveland Cavaliers and were moving to Canton, Ohio, for the 2011–12 season.^[4]Alex Jensen was named the first head coach of the Charge on October 11. On October 13, the Canton Charge name, logo, colors, and court design were unveiled.^[1] On October 20, the team announced the first two players of the new team: Keith McLeod and Jamine Peterson.^[8] On October 25, the new uniforms were released.^[9] In the 2011 NBA D-League Draft, the Canton Charge selected Tyrell Biggs in the first round.^[10] In their first game as the Canton Charge, they were defeated by the 2010-11 champions Iowa Energy in an 82-100 game at home.^[11] Their first win came against the Texas Legends in their third game, which they won by 108-87.^[12]

Steve Hetzel was named head coach on September 11, 2013, for 2013–14.^[13]

Logos and uniforms

Huntsville Flight (2001–2005)

The first logo of the team, when it still was the Huntsville Flight, consisted of a yellow basketball with a red fighter aircraft flying around the ball, and below it was written "Huntsville" in blue and "Flight" in yellow. Their colors were red, yellow, navy and white. The home uniform was white with "Huntsville" and the numbers written in red, near the arm and in the neck there were black and navy little lines. Their away uniform was similar, but it was red instead of white and the numbers in yellow.

Albuquerque/New Mexico Thunderbirds (2005–2011)

Their logo as Albuquerque and New Mexico was the same, with just one difference, the name written below the logo. The logo consisted on a bird black head, with a basketball in its claw. Their colors were dark yellow, black, white and orange. As New Mexico, they removed the orange color and replaced with grey. Their home uniform was white, with "Thunderbirds" and the numbers written in orange, and black details on the side of the jersey. The away uniform was orange, with black details, and letters ("Albuquerque") in white. As New Mexico, it had a little change, the away uniform used "T-Birds" instead of "New Mexico".

Canton Charge (2011–present)

Under the Cleveland Cavaliers ownership, the Charge adopted a similar style. The logo consists of a musketeer style soldier, with his sword pointing forward, and below him there is written "Canton Charge" in gold and white. The musketeer hat is wine and his clothes are gold. Their colors are wine, gold and white. They have an alternate logo, similar to the "C Sword Logo" from the Cavaliers, with a sword crossing a "C". Their home uniform is gold with details, "Charge" and the numbers written in wine. The away uniform is the same, only with the colors swapped.

Home arenas

• 
  Von Braun Center (2001–2005)


• 
  Tingley Coliseum (2005–2010)


• 
  Santa Ana Star Center (2010–2011)


• 
  Canton Memorial Civic Center (2011–present)

Season-by-season

Season	Division	Regular season				Playoffs
		Finish	Wins	Losses	Pct.
Huntsville Flight
2001–02		5th	26	30	.464
2002–03		8th	22	28	.440
2003–04		3rd	24	22	.522	Won Semifinals (Charleston) 108–100 Lost D-League Finals (Asheville) 106–108
2004–05		3rd	27	21	.563	Lost Semifinals (Asheville) 86–90
Albuquerque Thunderbirds
2005–06		2nd	26	22	.542	Won Semifinals (Florida) 80–71 Won D-League Finals (Fort Worth) 119–108
2006–07	Western	3rd	24	26	.480	Lost Semifinals (Colorado) 100–130
2007–08	Southwestern	4th	22	28	.440
2008–09	Southwestern	3rd	24	26	.480
2009–10	Western	7th	18	32	.360
New Mexico Thunderbirds
2010–11	Western	9th	20	30	.400
Canton Charge
2011–12	Eastern	4th	27	23	.540	Won First Round (Springfield) 2–1 Lost Semifinals (Austin) 1–2
2012–13	Eastern	1st	30	20	.600	Lost First Round (Tulsa) 1–2
2013–14	Eastern	2nd	28	22	.560	Lost First Round (Sioux Falls) 1–2
2014–15	Atlantic	2nd	31	19	.620	Won First Round (Sioux Falls) 2–1 Lost Semifinals (Fort Wayne) 0–2
2015–16	Central	2nd	31	19	.620	Won First Round (Maine) 2–0 Lost Semifinals (Sioux Falls) 0–2
2016–17	Central	3rd	29	21	.580	Lost First Round (Raptors) 0–2
2017–18	Central	4th	22	28	.440
2018–19	Central	4th	22	28	.440
Regular season			453	455	.499	2001–2019
Playoffs			12	17	.414	2001–2019

Current roster

Canton Charge roster v t e
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY-MM-DD) From G 5 Abdur-Rahkman, Muhammad-Ali 7000193040000000000♠6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1994–09–01 Michigan F 12 Adel, Deng (TW) 7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1997–02–01 Louisville F 3 Blossomgame, Jaron (TW) 7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1993–09–16 Clemson F 20 Carr, Phillip 7000203200000000000♠6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1995–10–20 Morgan State C 21 Comanche, Chance 7000208279999999999♠6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1996–04–14 Arizona G 10 Hamilton, Isaac 7000193040000000000♠6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1994–05–14 UCLA G 2 Johnson, Nigel 7000185420000000000♠6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 182 lb (83 kg) 1995–01–20 Virginia G 7 Newman, Malik 7000190500000000000♠6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1997–02–21 Kansas G 6 Randolph, Levi 7000195580000000000♠6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 208 lb (94 kg) 1992–10–03 Alabama G 33 Richardson, Malachi 7000193040000000000♠6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1996–01–05 Syracuse G 11 Smith, Scoochie 7000187960000000000♠6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1994–11–11 Dayton G 22 Williams, JaCorey 7000203200000000000♠6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1994–06–12 Middle Tennessee	Head coach Nate Reinking Assistant coach(es) Melvin Ely (Associate Coach) Sam Jones Tyler Neal (Basketball Operations Liaison) Austin Peterson (Coaching Assistant/Video Coordinator) Josh Wiemels (Athletic Trainer) Brandon Joyner (Strength & Conditioning Coach) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended (NBA) On assignment from NBA affiliate (TW) Two-way affiliate player (I) Inactive Injured Roster Last transaction: 2019–01–17

Head coaches

#	Head coach	Term	Regular season				Playoffs				Achievements
			G	W	L	Win%	G	W	L	Win%
1	John Coffino	2007–10	150	64	86	.427	—	—	—	—
2	Darvin Ham	2010–11	50	20	30	.400	—	—	—	—
3	Alex Jensen	2011–13	100	57	43	.570	9	4	5	.444
4	Steve Hetzel	2013–14	50	28	22	.560	3	1	2	.333
5	Jordi Fernández	2014–16	100	62	38	.620	10	5	5	.500
6	Nate Reinking	2016–present	150	73	77	.487	2	0	2	.000

NBA affiliates

Canton Charge

• 
  Cleveland Cavaliers (2011–present)

New Mexico Thunderbirds

• 
  New Orleans Hornets (2010–2011)


• 
  Orlando Magic (2010–2011)

Albuquerque Thunderbirds

• 
  Cleveland Cavaliers (2006–2007)


• 
  Dallas Mavericks (2008–2010)


• 
  Indiana Pacers (2006–2007)


• 
  Miami Heat (2008–2009)


• 
  New Orleans Hornets (2009–2010)


• 
  Philadelphia 76ers (2007–2008)


• 
  Phoenix Suns (2005–2008)


• 
  Sacramento Kings (2005–2006)


• 
  Seattle SuperSonics (2005–2006)


• 
  Utah Jazz (2005–2006)

Huntsville Flight

• None

References

1. 
   ^ ^ab "Powered by the Cleveland Cavaliers, Canton's new NBA D-League Team announces and unveils name, colors, logo and court design" (Press release). NBA Media Ventures, LLC. October 13, 2011. Archived from the original on October 15, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2018..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
   


2. 
   ^ "Charge Reveal Nike Uniforms" (Press release). NBA Media Ventures, LLC. October 16, 2017. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
   


3. 
   ^ "Canton Charge Reproduction Guideline Sheet". NBA Properties, Inc. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
   


4. 
   ^ ^ab "T-Birds Sold, Moving to Ohio". Albuquerque Journal. July 8, 2011.
   


5. 
   ^ "Albuquerque Thunderbirds Welcom 2008-2009 NBA Parent Clubs". visitalbuquerque.org. March 30, 2019.
   


6. 
   ^ "Meet the New Mexico Thunderbirds". bizjournals.com. March 30, 2019.
   


7. 
   ^ "What G-League franchise in Birmingham means for New Orleans Pelicans". nola.com. March 30, 2019.
   


8. 
   ^ Canton Native Keith McLeod and Jamine Peterson Sign with Canton Charge
   


9. 
   ^ "Canton CHARGE to Suit Up in Wine & Gold". NBA Media Ventures, LLC. October 25, 2011. Archived from the original on October 29, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
   


10. 
    ^ Charge Select Tyrell Biggs With the 15th Overall Pick in the 2011 NBA Development League Draft
    


11. 
    ^ Iowa Spoils Canton's Inaugural Opener
    


12. 
    ^ Biggs Lead Charge to First-Ever Win
    


13. 
    ^ "Steve Hetzel Named Head Coach of the Canton Charge".
    

External links

• Canton Charge homepage


• Official NBA Development League website

v t e NBA G League
Seasons Team rosters Champions Awards 2018–19 season
Eastern Conference	Atlantic Delaware Blue Coats Long Island Nets Maine Red Claws Raptors 905 Westchester Knicks Central Canton Charge Fort Wayne Mad Ants Grand Rapids Drive Windy City Bulls Wisconsin Herd Southeast Capital City Go-Go Erie BayHawks Greensboro Swarm Lakeland Magic
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Category Basketball Portal

v t e NBA G League champions

2002: Greenville Groove 2003: Mobile Revelers 2004: Asheville Altitude 2005: Asheville Altitude 2006: Albuquerque Thunderbirds 2007: Dakota Wizards 2008: Idaho Stampede 2009: Colorado 14ers 2010: Rio Grande Valley Vipers 2011: Iowa Energy 2012: Austin Toros 2013: Rio Grande Valley Vipers 2014: Fort Wayne Mad Ants 2015: Santa Cruz Warriors 2016: Sioux Falls Skyforce 2017: Raptors 905 2018: Austin Spurs

v t e Cleveland Cavaliers
Founded in 1970 Based in Cleveland, Ohio
Franchise	History All-time roster Draft history 1970 Head coaches Seasons Current season
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Personnel	Owner(s) Dan Gilbert (majority) Gordon Gund (minority) Usher (minority) General manager Koby Altman Head coach Larry Drew (interim)
G League affiliate	Canton Charge
Retired numbers	7 11 22 25 34 42 43
NBA Championships	2016
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