HARD No & ee ela ghee acelin ate ncaa Rca ae The Other Press on facebook ee eo mk te Ct eee Cer Ce mi em td on Facebook instead! PUR CM i emer ED td LETTITOR the Dniginal y Percents vd $50 or more ation of this coupon coupon expires Dec 31, 2011 www.capsbicycleshop.com $10 off an upon presen 424k est aonb phones 604-5245 eon s2a 3611 Believe it or not, the NBA could work in Vancouver (seriously) », Garth McLennan Editor in Chiet hanks to comments made by NBA ; commissioner David Stern when asked about the possibility of new pro basketball franchises, Vancouver has been buzzing for most of the last week or so about the potential return of the NBA to the city. Now as most folks can probably recall, Vancouver endured a previous fling with the NBA during the tumultuous era of the Grizzlies, where the problem-ridden club never posted a season with more than 23 wins in their six year existence and subsequently uprooted and moves to Memphis, Tennessee (where, believe it or not, they’re actually doing worse). Stern hinted in his words that he has had ongoing discussions with parties in several cities, and that included Vancouver. It isn’t hard to believe that the Aquilini family, which owns the Vancouver Canucks, has an active interest in acquiring an NBA squad, and the possibility of it actually happening is, while not great, certainly there. If a team was to re-locate to Vancouver, there’s a ready-made building for them to play in and solid, local ownership to support them (something that the Grizzlies never enjoyed). Right now, the NBA is a complete mess, which is why this is even being discussed. On the brink of a prolonged labour war similar in scope to what the NHL mired through back in 2004-05, the NBA, despite a one billion dollar television contract that is split evenly between every team in the league, is bleeding money. For the most part however, the public doesn’t see it because the glitz and glamour clubs like the Lakers and the Heat hide the problem. There are an abundance of clubs throughout the circuit that are all but finished in their current locations (New Orleans is the first one that springs to mind), and if everything falls into place, that could pave the way for rapid relocation by the NBA, with Vancouver quite possibly leading the charge. The NBA is a broken league with only five or six teams possessing a truly legitimate shot at winning every year. If that problem is corrected with the passing of a new collective bargaining agreement, with or without a work stoppage, the league becomes much more attractive to potential investors like the Aquilini’s. Now, the question must also be posed: Can, and more importantly will, Vancouver support a new NBA franchise after the debacle that was the Grizzlies? Management and ownership that seemed to be conspiring against the city, players that point-blank refused to come here, and whined non-stop about it, being totally ignored by the league as a whole, and of course, the complete and utter lack of any kind of success all soured a lot of people on basketball in Vancouver. Plain and simple, there’s a lot to forgive. But it could work here; it really, really could. The:Canucks, who are one of the best run organizations in sport anywhere, have captivated the city and if you think that’s purely a hockey thing, look back to the mid-late 90’s, when the Canucks struggled to draw 9, 000 fans to home games. It’s only been in the last decade or so, when the team, first under Brian Burke and continued through to Mike Gillis and the Aquilini’s today, really made community engagement the top priority for the Canucks. With that type of management in place, a basketball team, with the might of the NBA name behind them, could work in B.C. That kind of team professionalism, from the top down, combined with winning games, makes just about any city an attractive destination for players. That was lacking the last time around. That time could really be different. WRITE FOR US!