Back in 1995, the NBA was looking to expand the league outside of America, and into Canada. The two cities they decided on were Toronto and Vancouver, two of the most populated cities in Canada. The former got the Raptors, with the latter receiving the Grizzlies.
While both franchises started off really bad, losing a lot of games, the Raptors were always a step ahead of the Grizzlies when it came to the basketball influence in their area.
Vince Carter catapulted the Raptors into fame and fortune, as he helped the team lead the NBA in attendance for three straight seasons in the early 2000s. Unfortunately, that has not been the case with the Grizzlies.
John McCaw Jr. was the owner of the team from 1995-1999, as well as the Vancouver Canucks. However, the operating costs were way too high, and the Canadian dollar was pretty weak so it just wasn’t profitable for him to own a team in that area, so he was forced to sell both the Grizzlies and Canucks.
The fact that McCaw was based on Seattle, did not help his situation. A lot of local businesses in Vancouver did not want to support the Grizzlies because it wasn’t owned by someone local. McCaw ended up selling the team to Chicago businessman Michael Heisley for $160 million in January of 2000.
The Grizzlies under Heisley’s ownership have not done any better so far. In 2000 and 2001, the Grizzlies saw their attendance drop significantly and continued to lose games. According to Dick Versace, the president of basketball operations for the Grizzlies, the team reportedly lost about $80 million in two years. That figure seemed ridiculous, but if you look at the bigger picture, it could be possible.
In the franchise’s first four seasons, the team actually had a decent attendance record. Not as good as Toronto’s obviously, but they were around the middle of the pack. But in the 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 seasons, the last two seasons, they have been the third worst in attendance for both years, averaging about 13,000 fans every game.
Of course the low attendance rates translated to lower revenue, but I mean, that’s not a huge deal. There’s been a lot of teams over the years that saw their attendance plummet if their team is losing a lot. But the thing is, with the Vancouver Grizzlies, the revenue loss has extended beyond just the lower fan attendance.
The team has struggled to get corporate sponsors and when they did, they weren’t worth that much anyway because the team has been losing a lot and had no All-Stars either. The NBA didn’t really promote basketball in Vancouver as much as they should have, as well.
Granted, the team itself has some solid players, like Big Country Bryant Reeves and Mike Bibby, and I guess Shareef Abdur-Rahim is their best player, but he was obviously not a household name. They have not had a single member of their team make an All-Star game in the six seasons in Vancouver.
Additionally, very few players have actually wanted to move to Vancouver in the first place. The most prominent example was Steve Francis. The Grizzlies drafted him with the 2nd overall pick in the 1999 NBA draft, but he did not want to play in Vancouver. Francis publicly stated that he did not like the city and did not want to move to Canada.
So now we are at a Crossroads in Vancouver. Heisley has applied to the NBA Board of Governors to move the franchise to Memphis for the 2001-02 Season. Many speculated that this was his goal from the moment he bought the Grizzlies from McCaw. We pick up the story here in April of 2001, right before the Board of Governors meeting to decide the fate of the Grizzlies..
Storyline:
NBA HQ April 2001
NBA Board of Governors Reject Grizzlies Relocation
Grizzlies staying put, Heisley to sell team.
Grizzlies sale to Aquilini and Johnson approved by NBA Owners
Grizzlies Front Office Handed Walking Papers
Grizzlies make Front Office moves.
Grizzlies Send Bibby to Kings for Williams
Wizards grab #1 Pick in NBA Draft
Kurt Rambis Hired as Grizzlies Assistant Coach
NBA Draft 2001
Grizzlies Trade Abdur Rahim to Hawks for #3 Pick