6:56pm: The Nuggets have officially hired Terry as the Grand Rapids Gold head coach, according to a team press release.
2:39pm: Former NBA guard Jason Terry is finalizing a deal to coach the Nuggets‘ new G League affiliate, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Terry, a former NBA champion and Sixth Man of the Year winner, last played in the NBA in 2018. He joined the Texas Legends – Dallas’ G League affiliate – as an assistant general manager in 2019, then left the team to become an assistant coach at his alma mater of Arizona for the 2020/21 season.
Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News, who reported in June that Terry was in the mix for an assistant role on Jason Kidd‘s coaching staff, tweets that Terry spent some time in Las Vegas observing the Mavericks’ coaches and weighing the possibility of joining the team as an assistant. However, it seems Terry determined that becoming a head coach at the G League level will move him closer to his goal of eventually coaching an NBA team, notes Townsend.
The Nuggets, who had previously been one of the only NBA teams without an NBAGL affiliate, entered a partnership with the Grand Rapids Drive earlier in 2021 and rebranded the franchise, which will now be known as the Grand Rapids Gold.
Since the Gold are based in Michigan, it won’t be easy for the Nuggets to quickly shuttle players back and forth between Denver and Grand Rapids. But it will give the franchise an opportunity to assign players to the G League without having to worry about how another team’s affiliate will use and develop them.
Good for him
The start of a hof caliber coaching career
indiana is doing the best at maximizing the production of their gl club while everyone else is playing checkers.
Read the title and for a brief moment thought Jason Terry got to name the Nugget’s G League affiliate team name lol.
Lol I read it as the the G league affiliate team was called the Jason Terry.
Caption needs review!
They’re no longer the Grand Rapids Gold, they’re the Jason Terry. (Please don’t change the headline, I enjoy it.)
Jason Terry is going to be the best affiliate ever.
Terry should of been a part of Kidd staff in Dallas
I think the most important question is will he be wearing a headband lol
Good for Jason, hopefully the start of a long coaching career