Washington’s newest professional sports team plays its first game Saturday. And if you thought its choice of nickname came out of nowhere, then you aren’t familiar with the District’s famous mix of funk and hip-hop called “go-go.”
The Capital City Go-Go will make its NBA G League debut when they play the Greensboro Swarm, Saturday at 7 p.m. at the new Entertainment and Sports Arena in Ward 8’s Congress Heights neighborhood.
The G League used to be D-League — the D standing for “Development” — before Gatorade bought naming rights. The Washington Wizards became the 27th of 30 NBA teams to announce plans to add a franchise in the league, which is becoming a more viable minor league for pro basketball.
Before introducing the Go-Go, the Wizards could still own the rights of players in the G League, but they would play on the Philadelphia 76ers’ affiliate in Delaware. It’s not common for a G League affiliate to be located so close to its NBA franchise, let alone in the same city, but Monumental Sports and Entertainment owner Ted Leonsis has said he wanted it that way.
Coach Jarell Christian said being in Ward 8 “means the world to us,” and wants the team to bring a unique brand of basketball not unlike the unique subgenre of music they’re named after.
“I think what we’re able to bring to the community — and also what they’re able to bring to us — it’s a sense of community, it’s a sense of family and we want to make sure that everybody in this area feels like this is home,” Christian said. “It’s not just for the Go-Go players, but everybody’s welcome.”
Speaking to reporters in July, Leonsis said he envisions synergy between the Wizards and the Go-Go to be the same as with the Capitals and their top minor-league affiliate, the Hershey Bears.
“They use the same playbook. They use the same vernacular and nomenclature. They travel the same hours and they practice at the same time,” Leonsis said. “We do that mostly because it’s a developmental league, and then when those players do get called up or coaches get called up, they hit the ground running. I see that the G League will start to become more strategic to teams.”
“There’s got to be a lot of connectivity between the two staffs of the Wizards and the Go-Go, but it also has to be consistency in what we’re preaching, what we’re teaching and the messages that those guys are hearing on a daily basis,” added Christian, who previously was an assistant coach in the G League for the Oklahoma City Blue.
General manager Pops Mensah-Bonsu, the former George Washington basketball star from England, put together a roster from an expansion draft, October’s G League Draft and local tryouts. There are also two players on two-way contracts between the Wizards and Go-Go: forward Devin Robinson and guard Jordan McRae. These are players who can be called up and sent down according to the Wizards’ needs; McRae, for example, was part of the Wizards’ opening night roster.
A Denver Nuggets center on a two-way contract, Thomas Welsh, will also play for Capital City as the Nuggets do not have their own affiliate.
Last month, the G League announced a new “professional path” that essentially allows certain elite high school prospects to skip the “one-and-done” NCAA route and make $125,000 for one season before being NBA Draft-eligible.
While the details of that have not been ironed out, it opens the possibility that the Go-Go could be scouting local talent at public and private high schools this winter alongside scouts from Maryland, Georgetown and other Division I programs.
“The good thing about this situation is we’re part of Monumental and part of the Wizards,” Mensah-Bonsu said. “They have scouts. They’ll go out and recognize the talent. If there’s talent that they see can develop into something down the line, and these kids are intending to not go to college, then that’s on us to make sure we do our due diligence and see who can potentially help us out, or who we can potentially help out.”
The city cut the ribbon on the Entertainment and Sports Arena in September, the culmination of an effort that Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office has said is meant to “transform an underserved neighborhood.” Mary J. Blige gave a concert at the arena Oct. 6, marking the first major event there. The Washington Mystics will also play their home games at the arena starting next year.
• Adam Zielonka can be reached at azielonka@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.