The Greensboro Swarm are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Greensboro, North Carolina. They are affiliated with the Charlotte Hornets, and play their home games at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex. The team became the eleventh Development League team to be owned by an NBA team when it was announced in 2015.
History In May 2015, the Charlotte Hornets announced that they planned to bring an NBA D-League team to the Carolinas in 2016. After considering several cities and arenas, the Hornets settled on Greensboro, North Carolina, with its home to be at the Pavilion at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex. On December 29, the name and logo of the Swarm was unveiled during an intermission between the women's and men's championship games of the 40th anniversary of HAECO Invitational presented by NewBridge Bank at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex Special Events Center and featured Charlotte Hornets players and executives, Hugo the Hornet, the Honey Bees (cheerleading for the Hornets), Swarm Squad, and special guests.
On July 25, 2016, the Charlotte Hornets hired Denver Nuggets assistant Noel Gillespie to be the head coach of the Swarm. After two seasons and no appearances in the playoffs, Gillespie's contract was not renewed and he was replaced by Joe Wolf. Hornets assistant coach Jay Hernandez was named the head coach of the Swarm for the abbreviated 2020–21 bubble season in Orlando. Hornets head video coordinator Jordan Surenkamp was then named the head coach for the 2021–22 season.
On August 3, 2023, Michael Jordan sold the majority stake in Hornets Sports & Entertainment (HSE) to a group led by Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin. HSE ownership includes the Charlotte Hornets and the Greensboro Swarm, as well as Hornets Venom GT (NBA 2K League) and managing/operating Spectrum Center.
Following Jordan Surenkamp's departure, Milwaukee Bucks assistant coach D.J. Bakker was hired as head coach of the Swarm on August 27, 2024. Bakker led the team to their first playoff appearance in 2025 and first championship in 2026. Following this success, Bakker accepted a position with the Orlando Magic in July 2026.
Zach Peterson was named head coach of the Swarm on September 1, 2026.
2024–2025 season The 2024-25 season was the most successful for the Swarm to date. Led by new head coach D.J. Bakker, the team recorded a 20-14 regular season record and finished 5th in the Eastern conference. On April 1, 2025 the Swarm lost to the Indiana Mad Ants in the first round of the playoffs with a final score of 110-120. This would mark the Greensboro Swarm's first winning season and first postseason appearance in franchise history.
Jaylen Sims became the Swarm's all-time leading scorer during the 2024–25 season with 2,216 points.
2025–2026: First NBA G-League title
The Swarm posted a 10-4 record in the Tip-Off Tournament and clinched a berth in the Showcase Cup playoffs for the first time. They lost to the Grand Rapids Gold in the first round.https://greensboro.gleague.nba.com/news/swarm-falls-to-gold-to-open-winter-showcase-tournament-119-106 On February 6, 2026, the Hornets waived KJ Simpson and signed Tosan Evbuomwan the same day.https://www.nba.com/hornets/news/hornets-waive-kj-simpson https://www.nba.com/hornets/news/hornets-sign-tosan-evbuomwan Tosan would go on to become the G league finals MVP later in the season.
They finished 2nd in the Eastern conference for the 2025-26 season and recorded the best regular season record in franchise history with 24 wins and 12 losses. The Swarm went undefeated in the postseason and secured the G League championship on April 10, 2026, defeating the Stockton Kings in two games.https://www.espn.com/nba-g-league/recap?gameId=401867657
Season-by-season results SeasonDivisionRegular SeasonPostseasonFinish Wins Losses Win %ResultScore Greensboro Swarm2016–17 Atlantic 4th 19 31 Did not qualify2017–18 Southeast 3rd 16 34 Did not qualify2018–19 Southeast 3rd 24 26 Did not qualify2019–20 Southeast 5th 9 34 Season cancelled by COVID-19 pandemic2020–21 — 15th 5 10 Did not qualify2021–22 Eastern 13th 9 24 Did not qualify2022–23 Eastern 12th 11 21 Did not qualify2023–24 Eastern 12th 15 19 Did not qualify2024–25 Eastern 5th 20 14 Lost First Round (Indiana)110-1202025–26 Eastern 2nd 24 12 Won First Round (Maine)112-90Won Semifinal (Capital City)118-108Won Eastern Conference Finals (Osceola)134-121Won Championship Finals (Stockton)111-107119-104 Regular season record 152 225 2016-present Playoff record 5 1 2016-present
Tip-Off Tournament Season Division Finish Wins Losses Win% Showcase Cup Playoffs ResultScoreGreensboro Swarm2021 South 8th 4 10 Did not qualify 2022 East 7th 7 11 Did not qualify 2023 East 7th 4 12 Did not qualify2024 East 3rd 11 5 Did not qualify 2025 East 2nd 10 4 Lost quarterfinal (Grand Rapids) 106-119 Tip-Off Tournament 36 42 2021-present Showcase Cup playoffs 0 1 2021-present Totals 36 43 2021-present
Current roster
Head coaches #Head coachTermRegular seasonPlayoffsAchievements G W L Win% G W L Win% 1 100 35 65 — — — — 2 93 33 60 — — — — 3 15 5 10 — — — — 3 99 35 64 — — — — 4 70 44 26 6 5 1 Eastern Conference Title (2026) NBA G League Championship (2026) 1 0 0 0 — — — —
NBA affiliates Charlotte Hornets (2016–present)
References
External links