Grand Rapids Announces Name And Logo For D-League Team

Back in April, the expansion Grand Rapids, Michigan NBA D-League team held a fan vote to decide what the new name of the team would be. The fans voted overwhelmingly for the nickname “Drive,” and today, the logo was officially unveiled and as far as the relation to their parent club, the Detroit Pistons, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Indeed, the logo makes it clear that this team is affiliated with the Pistons (as a lot of D-League teams have been doing as of late, the Delaware 87ers being a prime example of this) by modernizing the classic Detroit Pistons logo that is best known for being the team’s logo during the “Bad Boys” era of Detroit basketball.

According to mlive.com, the nickname “Drive” won the fan vote with 78% of the vote, so the vote wasn’t even close and the fans knew exactly what they wanted. The logo looking similar to the Pistons’ logo is not an accident, as mlive.com also reported that the Drive’s logo was designed by a creative team with the Pistons. So clearly, the Pistons identity is all over this, from the colors to the logo and all the way down to the wordmark and font. As evidenced by the fan vote, it’s clear that the fanbase in Grand Rapids (and Michigan in general) wouldn’t have it any other way.