Columbia out of running to have NBA D-League team

Scratch Columbia from the list of cities vying to be the home of the Charlotte Hornets’ D-League team for the 2016-17 season.

That leaves Greenville and Charleston in South Carolina and Fayetteville, Raleigh, Greensboro and Asheville in North Carolina as potential locations.

Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin told the Free Times that the city decided to “take a pass” on the D-League operation.

The D-League is the NBA’s minor league and will have 19 teams next season.

Earlier Benjamin said he hoped to construct a new facility in which the D-League squad would play.

This story was originally published July 2, 2015 at 11:41 AM.