2006–2009: Anaheim Arsenal The franchise began in 2006 as the Anaheim Arsenal as an expansion team in the
NBA Development League (NBA D-League). Based in
Anaheim, California, and playing at the
Anaheim Convention Center, the Arsenal were an affiliate of the
Atlanta Hawks,
Los Angeles Clippers,
Orlando Magic and
Portland Trail Blazers. However, the Arsenal era was mainly marked by futility, never having a winning season or a playoff berth. On March 31, 2009, the Arsenal announced that they would relocate to
Springfield, Massachusetts.
2009–2014: Springfield Armor On July 29, 2009, it was announced that
Dee Brown would become the head coach. On September 2, the Armor picked first in the
2009 NBA Development League expansion draft, selecting center
Marcus Campbell. The team ended their inaugural
2009–10 season with a record of 7–43 (.140), the worst record in D-League history. They also became the first (and so far only) team to lose every road game, as they went 0–25. No team won less than 20% of their games until the
2019-20 Northern Arizona Suns (.190); the
2020-21 Iowa Wolves broke the dubious record by going 2–13 for a percentage of .133 before the
2023-24 G League Ignite went 2–32 to set a new mark for futility. During the 2010–11 season, the Armor started by picking fifth in the
D-League Draft, and selected La Salle's
Vernon Goodridge. The Armor would end up finishing with a record of 13–37, sixth in the seven-team Eastern Conference. After the season, head coach Dee Brown opted to leave the team to join the Detroit Pistons. Brown was replaced soon after by
Bob MacKinnon Jr. During the 2010–11 season, the team was an affiliate of the
New Jersey Nets,
New York Knicks and
Philadelphia 76ers. For the 2011–12 season, the Armor entered into a single affiliation partnership with the
Brooklyn Nets, giving the Nets full control over the basketball operations of and making them the sole affiliate for the Armor. The Nets became the second NBA team to enter into a single affiliation with an NBA D-League team, joining the
Houston Rockets and the
Rio Grande Valley Vipers.
2014–2021: Grand Rapids Drive On April 15, 2014, it was announced that the SSJ Group purchased the Springfield Armor and would relocate the team to
Grand Rapids, Michigan for the
2014–15 season. The Grand Rapids franchise would be locally owned and established a single-franchise "hybrid" affiliation with the
Detroit Pistons. The affiliation between the Pistons and the Drive was the third between the two cities as the
Detroit Red Wings of the
National Hockey League and the
Grand Rapids Griffins of the
American Hockey League also share an affiliation, as do the
Detroit Tigers of the
American League and the
West Michigan Whitecaps of the
Midwest League. The team launched a name-the-team contest shortly after the formal announcement. The contest produced four finalists:
Drive,
Chairmen,
Horsepower, and
Blue Racers. The community was encouraged to vote online in order to determine which of the four names would become the official team name. Out of those names, the Grand Rapids Drive was selected. On July 29, 2020, the Pistons announced that the organization had officially purchased the
Northern Arizona Suns from the
Phoenix Suns and were relocating the franchise to
Detroit for the 2021–22 season. It was also announced that the affiliation between the Pistons and Drive would end after the 2020–21 season. The ownership of the Drive were stated as looking for an option to continue operations once the affiliation was set to end of after the
2020–21 season. The Drive would be one of several G League teams to opt out of the single-site shortened season held in Orlando. On January 8, 2021, the Drive stated they were negotiating with a new affiliate and could include a new name and logo.
2021–present: Grand Rapids Gold On April 27, 2021, the Drive announced a new affiliation agreement with the
Denver Nuggets. As part of the new affiliation, the Drive were rebranded as the Grand Rapids Gold, with the name, logo and color scheme announced on July 7. On August 19, the Gold named
Jason Terry as its new head coach. With the
DeltaPlex Arena set to close before the start of the 2022–23 season, the Gold announced on June 2, 2022, that they had signed a five-year lease with
Van Andel Arena to serve as their new home. ==Season-by-season==