I didn't know about the Las Vegas Bighorns, so I learned something new from your QoD on it yesterday. But wasn't there a Reno Bighorns team back in the day? I believe it was a basketball team.
The Reno Bighorns’ inaugural season was launched on November 29, 2008, at the Reno Events Center downtown in front of a nearly sellout crowd of 4,300. The Bighorns were an expansion team in the NBA-affiliated Developmental League, also known as the D-League.
The D-League dated back to 2001, when the NBA established it to replace the old Continental Basketball Association, the long-time unofficial basketball minor league, which folded. Starting with the 2017 season, the D League was rebranded as the G League, thanks to the NBA's partnership with Gatorade. Whatever it's called, it remains the official minor league of the NBA, serving as a talent- development organization for players, coaches, and staff.
The Reno Bighorns were associated with the Sacramento Kings, which made sense, Reno being only 130 miles away. Also, the owner of the Bighorns liked Reno and was attempting to capitalize on the enthusiastic market for the Reno Aces, the Biggest Little City's first-ever Triple-A baseball team (affiliated with the Arizona Diamondbacks), whose inaugural season launched in April 2009 in a brand new $40 million 10,000-seat stadium in downtown Reno.
The Bighorns were considered successful, particularly in player development and on-court competition. They achieved a 254–246 record, making the playoffs five times, winning three division titles, and boasting a franchise-record 34-16 season in 2010-11. The team also produced numerous NBA-bound players, such as Jeremy Lin (nine seasons), Danny Green (14 seasons), and Hassan Whiteside (13 seasons). They were known for an incredibly fast-paced high-scoring offense, averaging up to 141 points per game.
In 2016, the Bighorns were purchased by the Sacramento Kings and following the 2017–18 season, the franchise moved from Reno to Stockton, becoming the Stockton Kings, which they remain.
