Quote:
Originally Posted by Chase Unperson
SB-Riverside is not part of Los Angeles Metro. San Jose is not part of the San Francisco metro. San Francisco doesn't have a basketball team in the city.
I am sorry maybe I am wrong but I thought you wrote that Seattle is the biggest city without an NBA team. City size is based on population. There are about a half dozen cities bigger than Seattle that don't have an NBA team. There is at least one metropolitan area much bigger than Seattle metro that doesn't have one.
Seattle had a team but the city did such a bad job of supporting it it moved to the greener pastures of Oklahoma. I would rather see SB-Riverside, San Diego, Austin or Colombus get one first as they are larger metros or larger cities that have never had a team and deserve a change to support one (although didn't the Clippers used to be in San Diego?, not sure but the San Diego Clippers has a ring to it).
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Your so wrong on this. I am a Sonics fan the issue was not fan support or sponsorship money. The issue was an Arena. The City felt no reason to build an Arena for a billionaire (rightfully so) the NBA called its bluff and moved it to the middle of nowhere in OKC.
Seattle is a corporate hub and in a large media market that stretches into Canada. Stern was to impatient with Vancouver and to harsh on Seatlle. In the end the league will have to return, for the Sonics flat history it was in that City first before the hawks or Mariners and had/has a loyal fan base. If the NBA never planned to return then it would of not let Seattle keep the trademark for the Sonics and all the records. Ussually these leave with the team.
Pro sports is not charity. No City holds weight over another simply due to population numbers. Leagues go into Cities where they think they can
make good money with the availability of new facilities. Of course it's not always perfect (NFL in Jacksonville, NHL Sunbelt strategy, NBA moving to quickly to smaller markets) but in time they learn and correct the mistakes only now a lot more lawyers are involved versus in decades past.