“D” League Plays for a Shot

NBA Development League begins season this month

With the NBA locked out, the league's developmental teams are the only game in town.

“We’re in business,” said Del Harris, head coach and general manager of Frisco's Texas Legends.

The Legends are one of the NBA Development League's 16 teams. The D League is the NBA's minor league organization, but it's not locked out.

“We’ve got a good game going on here in town,” Harris said.

The Legends, which lead the league in season ticket sales, have been fielding constant questions about if they’re playing a season. And with no NBA games in sight, the Legends say eyes are on them.

“Without an NBA league, there will be more attention paid to our league by the NBA scouts,” Harris said.

But the D League is still affected by the lockout. Teams can't have players who played in the NBA last season or who were drafted by the NBA in June.

Harris said the lockout made things hard from the start, especially when sorting through hundreds of potential draftees.

“There were no films of preseason games to look at," he said. "Thank you very much for that, lock out."

The players aren’t through training camp yet, but say they’re glad to be in the game.

“Basketball is a game of rhythm,” said Alando Tucker, who is looking to join the squad this year.

Unlike many, he opted out of heading to Europe for a payday, because he believes NBA will be back, and the best opportunity to get scouted is on this side of the pond.

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