Before he led Boston Celtics to NBA Finals, Ime Udoka was top pick of Fort Worth’s pro team
Fort Worth’s impact in the history of professional basketball is almost as distinguished as its influence on snow removal.
Just a hair less than “not much.”
For those of you who desire to impress your friends with RUK (random useful knowledge): Funkytown “made” an NBA Finals head coach.
Not Steve Kerr.
The other one.
The one who is engaged to a grade A Hollywood talent.
The Boston Celtics are in the NBA Finals, and are led by first-year coach Ime Udoka, whose résumé features the odd bullet point of having been first ever draft pick by the Fort Worth Flyers.
Just a few more people, however, know that he’s engaged to actress Nia Long rather than about his playing career in the NBA D League, when it actually had a pro team that played for two seasons at the Fort Worth Convention Center.
Most people have no clue Fort Worth actually once had a pro basketball team, much less who played for it.
In 2005, the NBA’s relatively new Development League (NBA D-League) expanded to eight franchises, including one in downtown Fort Worth.
It was the NBA’s attempt to create a minor leagues where it could tap into smaller markets while developing players, akin to Major League Baseball. In 2017, the D-League was re-named the G-League.
Former Indiana Pacers executive David Khan was part of a group that owned four teams in the D-League, including the one in Fort Worth.
“We actually had a hell of a team,” Khan said in a phone interview on Tuesday morning. Kahn lives in Paris, France, where he serves as the co-owner and president of Paris Basketball.
Fort Worth’s Flyers lasted two seasons before it folded. The Flyers averaged fewer the 800 fans per home game, and never created any traction in the city. It’s a common tale in minor league sports, especially Fort Worth.
Although its time was brief, it actually has a legacy in Udoka, and a few others.
Aside from Udoka, the players who played for the Flyers include former Kansas guard Aaron Miles, who now serves an assistant on the Celtics’ coaching staff.
Future Dallas Mavericks guard J.J. Barea played briefly for the Flyers.
Keith Langford, who starred at North Crowley and at Kansas, played for the Flyers before he went on to have a long career overseas.
The Flyers were coached Sam Vincent, who went on to become the head coach of the Charlotte Bobcats (now Hornets) for one season in 2007-08.
Kahn went on to serve as the president of basketball operations for the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2009 to 2013.
Udoka grew up in Portland, and played his college ball at Portland State. He played in Europe before the Flyers made him the third overall pick in the 2005 NBA D-League.
He was a solid player for a solid team.
The Flyers made the playoffs in both of its seasons, and reached the championship game in 2006, where they lost to Albuquerque. The title game was played at the Fort Worth Convention Center.
“We were operating three other teams at that time so it would be a stretch to say I had a real opportunity to get to know all of the players that well,” Khan said. “I knew him because we both had backgrounds in Portland.
“I do recall in my conversations with Sam Vincent that year that Ime was a real professional with a lot of upside who could make the NBA because he was just so darn persistent.”
Udoka did make the NBA.
Between 2003 and 2011, Udoka played in 316 games in seven NBA seasons for three teams; his longest run was with the San Antonio Spurs.
Immediately after his playing career ended, Udoka landed one of the most coveted assistant jobs in basketball when San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich added him to his staff.
Udoka was on that staff for seven seasons before he went to Brooklyn for one year; in June of 2021, Udoka was hired as the 18th head coach in the history of the Boston Celtics.
Now Udoka has the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals.
“I have communicated with Ime during the year and I am really proud of him and what he has accomplished,” Khan said. “It’s really remarkable.”
Almost as remarkable that a No. 1 draft pick from the Fort Worth Flyers is in the NBA Finals.
