Does Charlotte really deserve another NBA franchise after letting the last one go to New Orleans? I understand that the citizens of Charlotte had issues with the management of the Hornets, and the Hornets did set attendance records for several years before that, but come on. Is there no more-deserving metropolitan area available?
Steph
I'm going twenty-four hours a day...I can't seem to stop - "Turn Up The Radio", Autograph
Since 1980 (when Dallas joined the league to become their 23rd team), the NBA has always expanded in groups of two. 1988 saw the birth of the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat, and the Minnesota Timberwolves and Orlando Magic joined in 1989. The Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies joined in 1995.
So it's certainly reasonable that if Charlotte is awarded an NBA expansion franchise (and right now, it looks likely), that another city will also get one-- if there's a potential ownership group willing to bring one to a new city.
I'm thinking St. Louis, myself.
“I've been waiting long for one of us to say, ‘Save the darkness, and let it never fade away.’” --a-ha, “The Living Daylights”, theme from The Living Daylights
Two-Time, Two-Time Randomly Selected Weiner of the Day, 5/27/02 and 7/3/02
Doesn't the NBA have enough teams already? How much more watered down is the product going to get?
These commercials are superfine because they pay for the production costs of putting CHRIS MOTHERFUCKING BENOIT on my GODDAMN TV SCREEN! I will GO GREYHOUND! I am thinking OUTSIDE THE BUN! – Dean Rasmussen 8/1/2002 Smackdown Workrate Report
From the desk of Swordsman Yen With Minnesota and Memphis wanting to transfer to the Eastern Conference (and rightfully so for geographic reasons), adding a Charlotte franchise is going to either make for a crowded conference or a big headache when/if they decide to do realignment down the road.
Cowboys 2-3-0. Ummm..well...at least they're in the NFC East.
Well, Memphis should really move. It's like the Arizona Cardinals playing in the NFC East.
As for the Hornets, the fans didn't ditch the team. They told Shinnridge to get the hell out of there. They have a fairly new arena, and Shinnridge wanted another one. Shinnridge never really recovered from the sexual harassment scandal, though. That's what turned the city off. Keep in mind that for the first 8 or 9 years of their existence, they led the league in attendance. Charlotte's an extremely loyal city. Give them a pretty good team and owners that aren't worthless sacks of protoplasm, and they will support a team.
30 teams makes sense anyway, regardless of where you go. But Charlotte is the logical choice. The only other contenders you might be able to consider would be San Diego, Las Vegas, Oklahoma City, St. Louis, Columbus....man I'm streching it here.
David Stern also pointed out that none of this will deter his plans to expand to (drumroll)Europe by the end of the decade.
I believe the DMA includes the suburban areas as well. Not a whole lot of suburbs in Texas.
Hey, Wilkes-Barre-Scranton, my hometown area, is 53. Just below Las Vegas. Weird.
These commercials are superfine because they pay for the production costs of putting CHRIS MOTHERFUCKING BENOIT on my GODDAMN TV SCREEN! I will GO GREYHOUND! I am thinking OUTSIDE THE BUN! – Dean Rasmussen 8/1/2002 Smackdown Workrate Report
Well, looking at those numbers, there aren't very many reasonable U.S. cities into which the NBA could still expand. The NBA has a team in 22 of the top 25-populated cities in the U.S..
I'm not convinced that Florida needs yet another sports team, so I'm kinda blah on seeing an NBA team in Tampa. As I said earlier, St. Louis might be a good idea... and it's far enough away from other NBA cities that it won't eat into anyone else's revenue too badly (while still being reasonably close for travel purposes).
Baltimore? The Wizards are already awfully close to them. San Diego? Heck, no, not a fifth NBA team for California. Maybe the Clippers ought to move back there, because they get no respect in Los Angeles. (And I suppose there's a reason for that, but they're actually fun to watch.)
Looking further down the list... Kansas City looks like an interesting choice. You notice I'm trying to dismiss states that already have an NBA team. Having an NBA team in Virginia would be beyond awesome-- I visit there about once a year to see my grandfather, and it's a beautiful place.
Beyond that, it looks like Stern should work on his plan of expanding into Europe. Or how about trying to re-expand into Canada? Sure, Vancouver was pretty much an unmitigated failure, but there are plenty of other cities in Canada.
I would like to know how the heck Stern plans on handling travel concerns (not to mention jet lag) for NBA teams who have to visit, say, Berlin or London on a regular basis. Not to mention the problems inherent in having European teams in the NBA to begin with. If you have a Berlin team, they might play a few games at home before going on a massive road trip... say to New York, Chicago, Memphis, San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles and then they might have to go all the way back to Berlin. Everyone would have to take a couple of days just to re-adjust their sleep schedule!
“I've been waiting long for one of us to say, ‘Save the darkness, and let it never fade away.’” --a-ha, “The Living Daylights”, theme from The Living Daylights
Two-Time, Two-Time Randomly Selected Weiner of the Day, 5/27/02 and 7/3/02
Originally posted by ekedolphin...Or how about trying to re-expand into Canada? Sure, Vancouver was pretty much an unmitigated failure, but there are plenty of other cities in Canada...
I like that idea...I really do, but where in Canada would the NBA go to? By exxpanding to Vancouver and Toronto, the NBA hit the two largest cities and populations in Canada.
I know for certain that Calgary wouldn't be able to sustain an NBA team. We're having a hell of a hard time keeping the fucking Flames. Pardon my French, but I'm not a happy camper when the Premier himself isn't doing jack shit to help save our team.
Oh well, I digress.
A Canadian expansion may not work, but what about somewhere like Buffalo, NY? There's a great population there, and for people who live in and around there (like Niagara Falls, Rochester, etc.), it would work. If anything, the Raptors need a new rival.
Just the two cents from someone who rarely watches basketball.
From the desk of Swordsman Yen Expanding into Vancouver was a failure largely because the team itself was/is a failure. In each of the seasons they spent there, the Grizzlies had one of the worst records in the league. Why would residents of any city on either side of the border want to shell out hard-earned cash to watch a bad team get waxed night after night? Even moving into Memphis didn't help attendance much. Bad teams are not good draws, pure and simple. Whether or not the interest in basketball exists in Vancouver, I really don't know, but having a joke of a team like the Grizzlies didn't give us much chance to find out.
Cowboys 2-3-0. Ummm..well...at least they're in the NFC East.
Thread ahead: Bibby out 6-8 Weeks Next thread: Shaq continues his war of words against Sacramento... Previous thread: "Which team is most capable of dethroning the Lakers in 2003"?
So it's....one teenager? At least that'd explain why the "Official Studios' website" is on freewebs - also, that the site isn't Y2K compliant (unless the year 19105 means FUTURISTIC!)
Pages: 1
#
#