The news lately has been about Seattle and the possibility of them constructing a new arena. The purpose of the new arena of course is to get the NBA back in town. Although I don’t know the specific details of what is going on such as hoops (no pun intended) they need to jump through just to get arena approval, I wonder how this situation might impact Vancouver and getting the NBA back.
When I think of building a new arena, I’m thinking time. As in that would take a while wouldn’t it? The NBA teams, such as the New Orleans Hornets for example, are almost in crisis mode now. There have been one or two other NBA franchises that a certainly not doing well. So timing wise I think Vancouver is still a top contender. Seattle is simply not in a position to take one of the floundering franchises that need help in a year or two.
Let’s assume there is more than one team that the NBA is considering as a moveable franchise. Vancouver could very well end up with the most immediate franchise and the less critical franchise(s) could wait for Seattle.
I’m sure the NBA knows that the Northwest is missing a big chunk with both Seattle and Vancouver gone. The rivalry between the two cities was almost no contest, but that’s because the Vancouver Grizzlies sucked. With a more level competition, the rivalry could flourish.
On a side note I’m expecting something to happen soon regarding Vancouver and the NBA. Think about it. We’ve been there, done that. We’ve done it with hockey already in the same building. There isn’t a lot of hoops to jump through from Vancouver’s end to make this happen. I’ve listened to our local sports Vancouver station and the hosts still suggest that Vancouver is miffed at the NBA and it would be a tough sell. No, that’s wrong. It’s not going to be a tough sell. The people still crying about it likely aren’t the real audience and therefore wouldn’t be the ones to buy the tickets. The sports journalists in Vancouver are biased because they had to deal with spoiled cranky NBA stars and as a result, they are soured on the NBA. Too bad. I want it and I have company with that sediment.