5 players who you never knew played in the NBA G-League
The G League is officially considered the developmental league for the NBA which came to fruition in 2001. The league was known as National Basketball Development League (NBDL) till 2005 and was later called NBA Development League (NBA D-League) from 2005 to 2017.
The tournament started with eight teams and was eventually expanded to 28 teams which will be 29 from the 2020-21 season onwards. Ahead of the 2017-18 season, it was renamed to NBA G League and was the official minor league basketball organization.
With the league known for grooming talents, it comes as no surprise that lots of players were discovered through the tournament. Players have come up through the competition and went on to influence the NBA in major ways.
Now, we look at five players who have gone on to play for major franchises in the NBA.
#1 Spencer Dinwiddie
Spencer Dinwiddie was the 38th overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft by the Detroit Pistons. Dinwiddie started just one game for the Pistons was assigned to their D League affiliate Grand Rapids Drive. He averaged 12.5 points and, 5 assists in the six games he played for the team while shooting over 43% from beyond the arc.
The guard was soon traded to the Chicago Bulls and went on to represent their D League affiliate Windy City Bulls, where he was averaging 19.4 points, 8.1 assists, and 3.7 rebounds while shooting 41.4% from the range. He featured nine times for the team and was soon waived by the team to Brooklyn Nets without playing an official game for the franchise.
#2 Clint Capela
Clint Capela was the 25th overall pick by the Houston Rockets in the 2014 NBA draft. He began his career in a very impressive fashion was soon given multiple assignments with their D League affiliate Rio Grande Valley Vipers. He played in 38 games for the Vipers and averaged 16 points, and 9.7 rebounds while shooting 60% from the field as well as recording nearly 3 blocks per game.
Capela appeared for the Rockets in patches but saw considerably more playing time during the postseason with an injury to Donatas Motiejunas. In fact, he had more game time during the playoffs than in the regular season for Houston.
After being one of the main men for the franchise, the center was traded to the Atlanta Hawks in February 2020.