Indiana Mad Ants

Indiana Mad Ants
Conference	Eastern
League	NBA G League
Founded	2007
History	Fort Wayne Mad Ants 2007-2023 Indiana Mad Ants 2023-present
Arena	Gainbridge Fieldhouse
Location	Indianapolis, Indiana
Team colors	Navy blue, gold, cool gray[1][2][3]
General manager	Chris Taylor[4]
Head coach	Tom Hankins
Ownership	Pacers Sports and Entertainment (PS&E)
Affiliation(s)	Indiana Pacers
Championships	1 (2014)
Conference titles	2 (2014, 2015)
Division titles	2 (2014, 2018)
Showcase Cup titles	0
Retired numbers	1 (19)
Website	fortwayne.gleague.nba.com

The Indiana Mad Ants are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana that competes in the NBA G League. The Mad Ants are the affiliate team of the NBA's Indiana Pacers and, since 2023, they have played their home games at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, which they share with the Pacers.

From 2007 to 2023, the team played in Fort Wayne's Allen County War Memorial Coliseum and was known as the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. Following the 2024–25 season, the team will move to Noblesville and play their games at the Noblesville Event Center.

The franchise won their first and only championship in 2013–14, and lost in the 2014–15 finals, when the G League was known as the NBA D-League. In September 2015, Pacers Sports & Entertainment (PS&E), parent company of the Indiana Pacers, purchased the Mad Ants.^[5]

In April 2007, the NBA Development League (D–League) announced it was expanding to Fort Wayne for the 2007–08 season, with former AT&T President John Zeglis as the team's president and part owner.^[6] The team was poised to be the first minor league basketball franchise to play in Fort Wayne since the Fort Wayne Fury were disbanded after the folding of the Continental Basketball Association in 2001. The franchise held a team-naming contest on their website where fans could vote on one of the four finalists: Lightning, Fire, Coyotes, and Mad Ants, the latter name being a tribute to the city's namesake "Mad" Anthony Wayne.^[7]

At the team's inception, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants were affiliated with the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers, while debuting their maroon, gold, and black colors. During the 2007 NBA D–League Draft, the Mad Ants notably selected Ron Howard, Larry Turner, and Lukasz Obrzut. They finished the 2007–08 season, their first in the D-League, with a 17–33 record that put them in last place in the Central Division. Jeremy Richardson was selected to the 2008 All–Star Game, and was awarded the 2008 All-Star Game MVP Award. Their inaugural season also included players Dahntay Jones, Walker Russell Jr., Sammy Mejía, and Earl Calloway.

The Mad Ants added the Milwaukee Bucks as their third affiliate for the 2008–09 season, ending that season with a 19–31 record. The franchise posted three more under-.500 records in the next three years, in 2009–10, 2010–11, and 2011–12, failing to make the playoffs in their first five years of competition. Across these seasons, the franchise had numerous players selected to the All–Star Game: Chris Hunter (2009), Ron Howard & Rob Kurz (2010), Walker Russell Jr. (2009, 2011, 2012), and Darnell Lazare (2012). Chris Hunter (2009) and Rob Kurz (2010) were selected to the All-NBA D League Second Team. The franchise also featured players Alex Acker, Oliver Lafayette, Joe Alexander, Larry Sanders, Chris Kramer, Marvin Phillips, Corey Allmond, Vernon Macklin, Stephen Graham, and Travis Walton.

The Mad Ants added the Charlotte Bobcats as their fourth NBA affiliate before in the 2012–13 season. In the 2012 D–League Draft, the Mad Ants selected JaJuan Johnson first overall. This season saw assignments from NBA players Khris Middleton, Miles Plumlee, Orlando Johnson, Kim English, and Luke Harangody. Tony Mitchell earned 2013 Rookie of the Year, 2013 Slam Dunk Champion, 2013 All-NBA D League First Team, and 2013 All-NBA D League Rookie Team. They made the D–League playoffs for the first time in 2013, losing to the Santa Cruz Warriors in the quarterfinals after a 27–23 regular season.

The next year, in the 2013–14 season, the Mad Ants won their division and conference with a 34–16 record and made it to the 2014 D–League Finals for the first time after beating the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the semifinals and the Reno Bighorns in the quarterfinals.^[8] The Mad Ants defeated the Santa Cruz Warriors in two games in the Finals to claim their first D–League title, becoming the first franchise to go undefeated in the playoffs (6–0).^[9] In back–to–back seasons, Tony Mitchell won the 2014 Slam Dunk Contest while being selected 2014 All-NBA D League Third Team. Solomon Hill, Adreian Payne, and Sadiel Rojas all appeared for the Mad Ants this year. Ron Howard won back–to–back Sportsmanship Awards in 2013 and 2014, before his D–League retirement, finishing top 10 in most points scored in D-League history with 4,325 career points.

In 2014, as most NBA teams began exclusively partnering with or acquiring their own D–League teams, the Mad Ants made affiliate partnerships with the rest of the teams that did not have exclusive affiliates: the Atlanta Hawks, the Chicago Bulls, the Brooklyn Nets, the Denver Nuggets, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the New Orleans Pelicans, the Portland Trail Blazers, the Toronto Raptors, and the Washington Wizards. This put the Mad Ants' total number of NBA affiliates at 14 for the 2014–15 season. As a result, the Mad Ants earned the 2015 NBA D League Development Champion Award for developing players such as Jordan Crawford, Noah Vonleh, Mike Muscala, Russ Smith, John Jenkins, Bruno Caboclo, Glen Rice Jr., and C.J. Wilcox. The Mad Ants reached the D–League Finals again in 2015, but lost the championship series to the Santa Cruz Warriors in two games.

By 2015, the Mad Ants were the only remaining independently owned team in the D-League, as the rest were owned and operated by an NBA team or a common parent organization.^[10] However, in September 2015, Pacers Sports & Entertainment (PS&E) purchased the Mad Ants from owner and president John Zeglis and made the team the Indiana Pacers' one-to-one D-League affiliate, dropping the rest of the Mad Ants' partnerships. Brian Levy was named general manager by PS&E.^[11] The team acquired Walter Lemon Jr. and Stephan Hicks in the 2015 D–League Draft before the 2015–16 season. The team missed the playoffs, finishing with a 20–30 record. Rakeem Christmas was selected to the 2016 All–Star Game. Glenn Robinson III, Joe Young, Shayne Whittington, and Terran Petteway also made appearances this season.

During the 2016–17 season, the franchise qualified for the playoffs with a 30–20 record, losing in three games to the Maine Red Claws in the semifinals. Alex Poythress was selected to the 2017 All–NBA D–League Second Team and All–NBA D–League Rookie Team. Tyler Hansbrough, Georges Niang, Marquis Teague, John Lucas III, Christian Watford, and Jarrod Uthoff all made appearances for the Mad Ants during this season.

Before the 2017–18 season, the Mad Ants rebranded and changed their colors to match the Pacers: navy blue, gold, cool gray and white. The NBA Development League was rebranded as the NBA G League this season following a sponsorship deal with Gatorade and the NBA. They finished the season 29–21, winning the Central Division, and qualifying for the playoffs where they lost in the semifinals to the Erie BayHawks. DeQuan Jones earned the 2018 Most Improved Player Award and won the 2018 Slam Dunk Contest. Walter Lemon Jr. also earned 2018 All–NBA G League Third Team honors. Edmond Sumner, T. J. Leaf, Ike Anigbogu, and Ben Moore all debuted for the Mad Ants this year.

The Mad Ants compiled a 23–27 record in the 2018–19 season, failing to make the playoffs. Alize Johnson and Davon Reed both played for the team this season. The next year, the Mad Ants held a 21–22 record before the 2019–20 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hasheem Thabeet, Goga Bitadze, JaKarr Sampson, Naz Mitrou-Long, and Brian Bowen II all played during the cancelled season.

The Mad Ants spent the 2020–21 season at the G League single site in Orlando, Florida during the COVID-19 pandemic, posting a 6–9 record, missing the playoffs. The Mad Ants selected Oshae Brissett 21st overall in the 2021 NBA G League Draft and later earned 2021 All–NBA G League Second Team.^[12] Cassius Stanley, Jalen Lecque, and Amida Brimah all suited up for the Mad Ants during the shortened season.

For the 2021–22 season, the franchise returned to their home court at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum on November 6, 2021, playing their first home game in the venue in 608 days against the Windy City Bulls. This game also marked the start of the Mad Ants' 15th Anniversary season. The Mad Ants missed the playoffs with a 17–17 record. Justin Anderson was named to the 2022 All–NBA G League First Team. Terry Taylor, Duane Washington Jr., and Keifer Sykes also played for Fort Wayne this season.

During the 2022–23 season, the team's last in Fort Wayne, the Mad Ants returned to the playoffs with an 18–14 record, losing in the quarterfinals to Capital City Go-Go. Trevelin Queen and Gabe York were both selected to the 2023 Next Up Game while Justin Anderson was appointed 2023 All–NBA G League Third Team. Other players this season included Chris Duarte, Isaiah Jackson, David Stockton, Pedro Bradshaw, and Norvel Pelle.

On May 8, 2023, the Indiana Pacers announced that they were moving the Mad Ants to Indianapolis in preparation for construction of the Noblesville Event Center, a new 3,400–seat venue, in Noblesville, Indiana.^[13] Upon their move to Indianapolis, the Mad Ants rebranded as the Indiana Mad Ants. The name is meant to last until their move to Noblesville, which will be accompanied by a new name, color scheme, and mascot.^[14]

During the 2023–24 season, their first season playing at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the Mad Ants finished with a 21–13 regular season record, claiming the 3rd seed in the playoffs where they were defeated by the Delaware Blue Coats. They also earned a 15–2 record and the 1st seed in the 2023 Showcase Cup, though they ultimately lost in the finals to the Westchester Knicks. Oscar Tshiebwe was selected 2024 Rookie of the Year, 2024 All–NBA G League First Team, as well as 2024 All–NBA G League Rookie Team, after leading the league in rebounding and set a new G League single–season rebounding record with 16.2 rebounds per game.^[15] Elfrid Payton was selected 2024 All–NBA G League Third Team after leading the league in assists at 9.1 per game. Furthermore, Tshiebwe, Isaiah Wong, and Kyle Mangas were all selected to the 2024 Next Up Game, while Tshiebwe participated in the 2024 NBA Rising Stars Challenge at All-Star Weekend. Stephan Hicks was named the inaugural winner of the "Ron Howard Mr. Mad Ant Award."^[16] This season also featured Jarace Walker, Ben Sheppard, Quenton Jackson, Jordan Bell, Kendall Brown, and Mojave King.

Before the 2024–25 season, the NBA's G League Ignite folded, resulting in David Stockton's player defer rights being transferred back to the Mad Ants. On September 26, 2024, Stockton's returning player rights were traded to the Valley Suns expansion team in exchange for the returning player rights of Jahlil Okafor and Garrison Brooks from the 2024 Expansion Draft.^[17] On October 3, 2024, as a result of Elfrid Payton signing a training camp deal with the New Orleans Pelicans, the Mad Ants traded him to the Birmingham Squadron for the rights to Landers Nolley II.^[18] Additional players who joined the Mad Ants for their final season in Indianapolis included James Wiseman, Johnny Furphy, Tristen Newton, Enrique Freeman, Keisei Tominaga, and Kris Wilkes.

Current

• Indiana Pacers (2007–present)

Former

• Detroit Pistons (2007–2015)
• Milwaukee Bucks (2008–2015)
• Charlotte Bobcats/Hornets (2012–2015)
• Atlanta Hawks (2014–2015)
• Brooklyn Nets (2014–2015)
• Chicago Bulls (2014–2015)
• Denver Nuggets (2014–2015)
• Los Angeles Clippers (2014–2015)
• Minnesota Timberwolves (2014–2015)
• New Orleans Pelicans (2014–2015)
• Portland Trail Blazers (2014–2015)
• Toronto Raptors (2014–2015)
• Washington Wizards (2014–2015)

Established in 2023–24, the award honors Ron Howard and will be "presented to an active player at the end of the regular season."^[19]

• In the television series One Tree Hill, James Lafferty's character Nathan receives an offer to coach the Mad Ants in the episode "You've Dug Your Own Grave, Now Lie In It". The episode originally aired September 29, 2008 on The CW Network.^[20]
• The Mad Ants developed an external team called the "Ants Alumni" who competed in The Basketball Tournament's 2015 season, against 96 national teams for the $1,000,000 prize money.^[21] The team included 2014 D-League Champion Mad Ants, as they won the Midwest Regional Final in Chicago, Illinois, making it to the Final Four Semifinals in New York City, losing to Team 23.^[22]
• The Mad Ants were featured in the 'MyCareer' mode in NBA 2K19, a basketball game released on September 11, 2018, developed by Visual Concepts, and published by 2K Sports.
• The Mad Ants were featured in the "Destination NBA: A G League Odyssey" feature-length documentary which originally premiered August 8, 2023 on Prime Video.^[23][24]

• History of sports in Fort Wayne, Indiana

• Official website
• Allen County War Memorial Coliseum website