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I definitely understand the balance needed in professional leagues. That is a no-brainer. My main point is the NBA is itching to get back to Seattle, as it is the largest market without an NBA team. The days of "Seattle doesn't deserve an NBA team" are gone. Yes, there were mistakes made on both sides of the Sonics demise, from Seattle, and from the NBA. But that is now ancient history. The NBA needs Seattle, there is little doubt.
Seattle will NOT get a team without a team on the east coast. Yes of course Seattle will get a team first, but remember Louisville is the 35th largest CSA in a state with almost 4.5 million people and not a single pro team. Anyone with even a remedial understanding of the NBA knows this. You cannot have an odd number of teams.
Add to that 2+ million on the Ohio side of Cincy and another 300K in Louisville's immediate Indiana burbs, and this is one of the highest population centers per capita without a team in any pro sport.
LOL, you are talking about a total area of over 45,000 SQUARE MILES!!! How can anyone make ridiculous statements like this and expect to be taken seriously. That is a large area the same size as the entire state of Pennsylvania, which BTW has about 13 million people. If you include the very nearby suburban areas of NJ and Baltimore, it would be about 19 million +. (you did this with kentucky and its neighboring population areas).
Sports teams are about metro areas not states. Louisville just doesn't have quite enough, and the competition with college would be a big problem. And your comment about the east coast, you're not seriously trying to say the Louisville is east coast... are you??
David Stern... I'm pretty sure that most, if not EVERYONE (except for maybe people in Oklahoma) have never once believed in any way that "Seattle doesn't deserve a team".
David Stern... I'm pretty sure that most, if not EVERYONE (except for maybe people in Oklahoma) have never once believed in any way that "Seattle doesn't deserve a team".
Did you read the entire linked article from SI? It is pretty clear what he was implying, and he was the leader of the NBA at the time. I think your summary of what happened in Seattle is a bit lacking in facts. Beyond Bennett (the OKC owner who once said they had no intention of moving the franchise, haha), Stern was almost equally to blame.
Did you read the entire linked article from SI? It is pretty clear what he was implying, and he was the leader of the NBA at the time. I think your summary of what happened in Seattle is a bit lacking in facts. Beyond Bennett (the OKC owner who once said they had no intention of moving the franchise, haha), Stern was almost equally to blame.
I think you missed why I singled David Stern out before I said what I said...
LOL, you are talking about a total area of over 45,000 SQUARE MILES!!! How can anyone make ridiculous statements like this and expect to be taken seriously. That is a large area the same size as the entire state of Pennsylvania, which BTW has about 13 million people. If you include the very nearby suburban areas of NJ and Baltimore, it would be about 19 million +. (you did this with kentucky and its neighboring population areas).
Sports teams are about metro areas not states. Louisville just doesn't have quite enough, and the competition with college would be a big problem. And your comment about the east coast, you're not seriously trying to say the Louisville is east coast... are you??
I mean "Boston" teams are New England teams. The Red Sox have Vermont, Maine and NH days at the ballpark, and the Bruins like weekend matinees so people from Northwrn New England can drive down for a game and get home at a decent hour. So it's not utterly absurd to think it would become a regional team.
Also East coast in this context probably means eastern time zone.
I mean "Boston" teams are New England teams. The Red Sox have Vermont, Maine and NH days at the ballpark, and the Bruins like weekend matinees so people from Northwrn New England can drive down for a game and get home at a decent hour. So it's not utterly absurd to think it would become a regional team.
Also East coast in this context probably means eastern time zone.
Ok but that wasn't really the point, the point was that most of the fanbase comes from the core metro area which is why, except for a few historical/traditional outliers, the pro teams are almost all based in the largest metros areas. The franchise location decisions don't anything to do really with the people who live hundreds of miles away but happen to be in the same state.
I mean "Boston" teams are New England teams. The Red Sox have Vermont, Maine and NH days at the ballpark, and the Bruins like weekend matinees so people from Northwrn New England can drive down for a game and get home at a decent hour. So it's not utterly absurd to think it would become a regional team.
Also East coast in this context probably means eastern time zone.
Louisville is not TECHINIALLY east coast but its in the eastern time zone, so its a clear eastern conference team.
How people think that the largest metro without a team after Austin (maybe if you count VA tidewater as one) cannot support a team is literally beyond belief. These people have NO IDEA how big bball is in KY. They've never seen the Yum, which beats NBA arenas in 80% of all cities....bigger, nicer, sleeker, more bars, etc.
And YES, teams are regional. The Indiana Pacers are a great example and why they take the name of the state.
A team with a KY name, particular if they have a couple UofK players will draw from hundreds of miles, especially for Cavs, Lakers, Spurs, etc. Also for any games featuring players from UofL, UofK. And just like a couple thousand fans drive up for Cincinnati Reds for big games, the same amount will come from Lexington, and NKY if not Cincinnati itself.
Buster also didn't mention that Louisville is the 35th largest CSA and has 28 hotels under construction at present. We have built more tourist attractions with bourbon in the last 3 years than any city outside the coasts. If you haven't been to Louisville or it's been awhile, it will shock you with its vitality all around the core.
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