NBA Development League hosts open house at Mass Mutual Center

Date: 6/15/2009

By Rick Sobey, Staff Intern

SPRINGFIELD During a basketball game, there is usually only one or two lucky individuals who are selected to take a shot from half-court. Diehard basketball fans might go through their entire lives without this exciting opportunity.

However, on June 10, anyone could go to the Mass Mutual Center and shoot from half-court to win season tickets for the new National Basketball Association (NBA) Development League team. This half-court shot was a part of NBA Springfield's Arena Open House.

At the open house, Dave LaBrie and K.C. Jones III won season tickets by making the half-court shot. Other fans had the chance to "test drive" seats throughout the arena, and many in attendance purchased season tickets.

About 800 season tickets have already been purchased, and Michael Keegan believes that is an excellent sign for the city. "This will bring more revenue for Springfield," Keegan, account executive for the basketball team, said. "More people will come to Springfield because of this new organization."

There have been professional basketball teams in the city before, but they have not stayed around for a long time. Keegan hopes that history does not repeat itself in the current situation. "It's up to the city and the people to buy tickets and keep us here," he said.

According to Alex Schwerin, both individuals and businesses have been buying season tickets. "There really isn't a bad seat here," Schwerin, general manager of the basketball team, said, "and we have priced tickets affordably."

Season tickets start at $91. With 24 games being played at home, tickets are less than $4 if someone chooses the $91 package.

There are also courtside suites and baseline suites. Both of these suites have six seats, and season tickets for an entire suite cost $6,500 and $6,000, respectively.

The team's name will be announced on June 30 at the Mass Mutual Center. The team has looked at established and experienced coaches, but the public will not know the coaches and players until early November.

Throughout the season, fans can watch all NBA D-League games on NBA Futurecast, the free live Web-streaming initiative, found at nba.com/futurecast.

In order to purchase season tickets, call 746-3263 or log on to www.nba.com/dleague/springfield.

The NBA Development League is the NBA's official minor league and features 16 teams with direct affiliations to NBA teams. The league produced 15 percent of the players on 2007-08 NBA rosters and continues to develop current NBA coaches and referees.