Noblesville Boom

The Noblesville Boom are an American professional basketball team based in Noblesville, Indiana that competes in the NBA G League. The Boom are the affiliate team of the NBA's Indiana Pacers and, since 2025, they have played their home games at The Arena at Innovation Mile. In September 2015, Pacers Sports & Entertainment, parent company of the Indiana Pacers, purchased the franchise.
From 2007 to 2023, the team played in Fort Wayne at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum and was known as the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. From 2023 to 2025, the team played in Indianapolis at Gainbridge Fieldhouse and was known as the Indiana Mad Ants. Beginning in 2025, the team currently plays in Noblesville at The Arena at Innovation Mile and are known as the Noblesville Boom. Since the team's inception, the franchise has accumulated one finals championship, two conference titles, two division titles, a finals loss in the Showcase Cup, and has retired two jersey numbers.
During the 2013–14 season, the franchise won their first and only championship after obtaining the 1st seed in the playoffs with a league-best 34–16 record. The Mad Ants swept the Santa Cruz Warriors in the franchise's first finals appearance, becoming the third team to ever go undefeated in the playoffs. During the 2014–15 season, the franchise returned to the finals in a rematch the year prior; however, the Mad Ants were swept by the Santa Cruz Warriors. In the 2023–24 season, the Mad Ants earned a 15–2 record, and the 1st seed in the 2023 Showcase Cup, before losing in the finals to the Westchester Knicks 107–99. Notable Mad Ants alumni include Ron Howard, Walker Russell Jr., Tony Mitchell, Dahntay Jones, Khris Middleton, Miles Plumlee, Tyler Hansbrough, Georges Niang, Andrew Rowsey, Hasheem Thabeet, Stephan Hicks, David Stockton, Elfrid Payton, Oscar Tshiebwe and Jahlil Okafor.

Team history

2007–2023: Fort Wayne Mad Ants

In April 2007, the NBA Development 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, Ron Howard & Rob Kurz, Walker Russell Jr. and Darnell Lazare. Chris Hunter and Rob Kurz 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. 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 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

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: Rebranding

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.

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. and Keifer Sykes also played for Fort Wayne this season.