Iowa Wolves Honored by NBA G League with Pair of Awards

NEW YORK – The NBA G League announced today that the Iowa Wolves are the recipients of the 2022-23 President’s Choice Award, and Iowa Wolves President Ryan Grant was selected as the Team Executive of the Year for the 2022-23 NBA G League season. 

Iowa is the second NBA G League franchise to earn the President’s Choice Award, which is chosen by NBA G League President Shareef Abdur-Rahim. Established prior to the 2021-22 NBA G League season, the honor recognizes the franchise that embodies and demonstrates excellence in business performance across key areas of focus. The Team Executive of the Year was selected by a vote of the league’s team presidents.

Iowa set its franchise single season attendance record this past season, averaging 4,148 fans per game over 24 games, drawing nearly 100,000 fans to Wells Fargo Arena with a total attendance of 99,552 fans. The previous single season mark was set in 2017-18, the first year of the Iowa Wolves franchise.

The Wolves, with the assistance of their corporate partners welcomed numerous large crowds throughout the season, including two of their highest crowds inside Wells Fargo Arena for Iowa State Fair Day presented by Landus on Jan. 15 and Education Day presented by IMT Insurance on Feb. 7. In addition, Landus sponsored the Wolves’ Community Ticket Program that distributed complimentary tickets throughout the season in the community and statewide.

Grant and his team, with help from Landus and the fair staff created the first-ever Iowa State Fair Day that celebrated the iconic state fair held every August. The day brought a taste of the Iowa State Fair to the middle of winter for fans with many fun activities and specials pregame, in game and postgame inside Wells Fargo Arena.

Wolves partner, Athene, sponsored Iowa’s Read to Achieve program that helped thousands of students attend games as a reward for hitting their reading goals. Principal^®  Financial Group and the Wolves partnered again for their Community Celebration Games series that welcomed large crowds and featured specially designed player jerseys for each game that later were auctioned off to benefit several non-profits. The efforts of the community celebration series amplified the great efforts of many organizations in the central Iowa community.

Iowa played a significant role in the inaugural 2023 NBA G League Next Up Game that took place at 2023 NBA All-Star Week in Salt Lake City, Utah. The team’s social media efforts helped lead to Wolves Two-Way center Luka Garza garnering the most fan votes and being named a team captain for the event.

Honored by his peers, Grant has served as Iowa’s Team President since 2017, the year the team was purchased by the Minnesota Timberwolves. His leadership played a large role in the franchise winning this year’s President’s Choice Award.

Under Grant’s leadership this past season, the Wolves set the previously mentioned franchise-record for total attendance in a single season. The 2022-23 attendance total eclipsed their previous high mark from the 2017-18 (84,729 fans) season by nearly 15,000 fans. 

Grant was recognized for his efforts related to those previously mentioned significant partnerships for Iowa this past season. In addition, to Iowa State Fair Day and Education Day Game, the Wolves joined forces with the Kinship Brewing Company for the team’s annual cancer awareness game with proceeds from special ticket packages benefitting Can Do Cancer and several other local cancer awareness groups. The partnership with IMT Insurance for Education Day allowed IMT to cover the costs of tickets for schools and their students to attend the game.

Along with the pair of awards for the Wolves, the Wisconsin Herd was selected as the Franchise of the Year. Abdur-Rahim presented the awards during the league’s annual Sales & Marketing Meetings. Complete list of NBA G League 2022-23 season award winners here.