MiamiDAP, the National Basketball Association awarded expansion franchises to Toronto and Vancouver back in the 1990s. There was a pro team in Toronto in the 1940s in the league that was a forerunner of the NBA. Obviously, that team didn’t last (like a lot of NBA teams). By the 1990s, Toronto was again a viable place for a franchise and the Raptors have been financially stable since their inception. Vancouver, on the other hand, was problematic from the start. A potential rivalry with the Seattle SuperSonics (about 1.5 hours south down the highway) never really got the fans interested in Vancouver and the team’s poor on-court performance didn’t help matters. Within a few short years the owners of the Vancouver Grizzlies were virtually trying to sprint out of town and no one in Canada really cared. Therefore, you now have ‘the Memphis’ Grizzlies.
Thank you very much, LakeWashington for interesting facts.
Wow, who would have thought that the Warriors would be down 3-1 to the Thunder and that the Raptors would be tied 2-2 with the Cavs?
Super-happy for OKC, my second-favorite team.
It is crazy! More like college where anything can happen.