History
After the finish of the 2007 season, the D-League expanded to Hidalgo, Texas. They announced the team there would be named the "Vipers". In their debut, they finished with a 21–29 record, failing to qualify for the playoffs. In 2008–09, they finished with the same record, failing to advance to the playoffs for the second year in a row.
In 2009, the Vipers and the Houston Rockets entered into a single affiliation partnership in which the Rockets controlled the Vipers' basketball operations while the franchise remains under local ownership by Alonzo Cantu. The result paid immediate dividends in the 2009–10 season, as the Vipers enjoyed their most successful season. Led by league MVP Mike Harris, and coach of the year Chris Finch, the Vipers went 34–16, tops in the Western Conference, and earned the franchise's first playoff berth. In the playoffs, the Vipers beat both Reno and Austin in 3 games, and swept Tulsa in the Finals to earn the franchise's first championship.
In 2013, the Vipers won their second title over the Santa Cruz Warriors. Andrew Goudelock won the NBA Development League Most Valuable Player Award and got called up by the Los Angeles Lakers.
Read more about this topic: Rio Grande Valley Vipers
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—Noam Chomsky (b. 1928)
“Properly speaking, history is nothing but the crimes and misfortunes of the human race.”
—Pierre Bayle (1647–1706)
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—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)