2007–2023: Fort Wayne Mad Ants 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. 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.
2007–08 season: Inaugural season 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.
2008–12 seasons: Early years The Mad Ants added the
Milwaukee Bucks as their third affiliate for the
2008–09 season, ending the year with a 19–31 record. The franchise posted three more sub-.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.
2012–13 season: First playoff appearance 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.
2013–14 season: Finals championship 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. The Mad Ants defeated the
Santa Cruz Warriors in two games in the Finals to claim their first D-League title, becoming the third team to go undefeated in the playoffs (6–0). The finals runner-up Warriors roster included both
Seth Curry and
Mychel Thompson, emulating their respective brothers
Stephen Curry and
Klay Thompson on the
Golden State Warriors known as the
Splash Brothers. 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 5 in
most points scored in D-League history with 4,325 career points.
2014–15 season: Finals loss 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.
2015–16 season: Pacers ownership 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. 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. 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.
2016–17 season: Return to playoffs 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.
2017–18 season: Division title & rebrand 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.
2018–19 season 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.
2019–20 season: Cancelled 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.
2020–21 season: League-shortened year 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.
Cassius Stanley,
Jalen Lecque and
Amida Brimah all suited up for the Mad Ants during the shortened season.
2021–22 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.,
Keifer Sykes and
Andrew Rowsey also played for Fort Wayne this season.
2022–23 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.
2023–2025: Indiana Mad Ants 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. Upon their move to Indianapolis, the Mad Ants rebranded as the
Indiana Mad Ants. The name was meant to last until their move to Noblesville, which would be accompanied by a new name, color scheme and mascot.
2023–24 season 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.
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." This season also featured
Jarace Walker,
Ben Sheppard,
Quenton Jackson,
Jordan Bell,
Kendall Brown and
Mojave King.
2024–25 season 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. 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. The Mad Ants earned a 7–9 record during the 2024 Winter Showcase, failing to make the Tip-Off Tournament playoffs.
Jahlil Okafor was selected to the 2024 All Showcase team. Furthermore, Okafor and
Keisei Tominaga were both selected to the 2025 Up Next Game while
RayJ Dennis was selected 2025 All-Rookie Team. On March 6, 2025, the Mad Ants acquired
Boogie Ellis from the
Stockton Kings in a three-team trade, sending
Kyle Mangas to the
Austin Spurs. On March 24, 2025, the Mad Ants officially retired number 17 in honor of
Stephan Hicks before a game against the
Windy City Bulls who retired following the season. The Mad Ants finished the regular season with a 20–14 record, claiming the 4th seed in the playoffs, where they defeated the
Greensboro Swarm 120–110 in the quarterfinals before losing the semifinals 129–114 to the
Osceola Magic. Additional players who joined the Mad Ants for their final season in Indianapolis included
Johnny Furphy,
Tristen Newton,
Enrique Freeman and
Dakota Mathias.
2025–present: Noblesville Boom On April 16, 2025, the franchise officially rebranded as the
Noblesville Boom, adopting a navy, cyan, gold and white color scheme with a new mascot debuting at
Riverview Health Arena at Innovation Mile. The rebranded name is a tribute to the iconic, "Boom, Baby!" phrase tied to the Pacers and made famous 50 years ago by legendary Pacers coach and commentator
Bobby "Slick" Leonard, while also reflecting the loud, fast-paced style the team brings to the court as well as the energy and growth of the Noblesville community. The name of the mascot for the Boom, Bobby the
Bobcat, is also a tribute to Leonard. The name further complements the Pacers mascot,
Boomer. On November 4, 2025, the Boom held their first
scrimmage where the new mascot for the team, Bobby the Bobcat, was unveiled. On August 29, the Boom acquired
Jalen Slawson from the
Osceola Magic in exchange for the player rights to
Garrison Brooks. On October 2, the franchise acquired
Ray Spalding from the
Rio Grande Valley Vipers in exchange for the Boom's 2026 first-round draft pick. On October 3, the Boom acquired DaJuan Gordon from the
South Bay Lakers in exchange for the Boom's 2025 and 2026 second-round draft picks and the Boom's first-round pick in the 2026 NBA G League International Draft. Their first season in Noblesville, the Boom earned a 5–9 record during the 2025 Winter Showcase, failing to make the Tip-Off Tournament playoffs.
Ethan Thompson was selected to the 2026 NBA G League Next Up Game and Three-Point Contest while
Gabe McGlothan was selected to the 2026 NBA G League Dunk Contest. Other notable players this season included
Cody Martin,
Kam Jones,
Taelon Peter, and
Kyle Guy. ==Season-by-season results==