Rio Grande Valley Vipers
| Rio Grande Valley Vipers | ||
|---|---|---|
| founding | 2007 | |
| history |
Rio Grande Valley Vipers since 2007 |
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| Stadion | Bert Ogden Arena | |
| Location | Edinburgh , Texas | |
| Club colors | Red, black, dark gray, gray, white | |
| league | NBA G-League | |
| Head coach | Nevada Smith | |
| owner | RGV Basketball, LLC | |
| Championships | 2010, 2013 in the D-League , 2019 in the G-League | |
| Conference title | 2010 in the D-League , 2019 in the G-League | |
| Division title | 2010 in the D-League , 2019 in the G-League | |
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The Rio Grande Valley Vipers are an American basketball team in the NBA G-League based in Edinburgh , Texas .
history
After the end of the 2007 season, the G-League expanded further into Texas to Hidalgo, Texas . They announced that the team would be called "Vipers". In their debut season, they ended the season with 21 won and 29 lost games and could not qualify for the playoffs. In the next season they finished the season with exactly the same statistics as a year before with 21 wins and 29 losses and failed at their goal of getting into the playoffs.
In 2009, the Vipers and Houston Rockets formed a partnership in which the Rockets controlled and regulated the Vipers' basketball affairs while the franchise continued to be owned by the local owner. This had a huge impact this season as the Vipers won 34 of their 50 games. Led by league MVP Mike Harris and coach of the year Chris Finch , they finished first in the Western Conference and entered the playoffs for the first time. In the playoffs, the Vipers beat both Reno and Austin in 3 games, and won the finals against Tulsa with a sweep . The next year the Vipers came back to the finals, but were defeated there in 3 games by Iowa .
In 2012/2013, the Vipers made it to the final of the championship, defeating the Santa Cruz Warriors 2-0 and securing the 2013 title.
After the 2017/2018 season, the Vipers moved from Hidalgo to Edinburgh, where the new Bert Ogden Arena opened in 2018.
Well-known former and current players
- Patrick Beverley
- Aaron Brooks
- Shannon Brown
- Isaiah Hartenstein
- Vernon Macklin
- Rich Melzer
- Marcus Morris
- Steve Novak
- Tim Ohlbrecht
- Patrick Patterson
- Cedric Simmons
Web links
- Official website of the Vipers
- Rio Grande Valley Vipers - player profile on basketball-reference.com