The Wondering of What Could Have Been if The Grizzlies Stayed in Vancouver

On Sunday afternoon the Memphis Grizzlies hosted their first Game 7 in franchise history.  The Grizzlies were flat the whole game and the Clippers won 82-72. It wasn’t the result the Memphis fans were looking for. A sell out crowd was in attendance at the FedEx Forum with everyone in white T-Shirts. It was a disappointing ending to the season with a team with so much hope.

One part of North America that had no symphony for the upset fans is in Vancouver, British Columbia. Ironically, Vancouverites are still feeling the pain from their five game defeat from another team that calls the Staples Centre home. The L.A. Kings quick work of the Vancouver Canucks was quite shocking.

The irony would have had a deeper hole if the Memphis Grizzlies never left Vancouver. The Grizzlies called Vancouver home from 1995 until 2001. During that time the Grizzlies experienced six losing seasons and some very complicated issues off the court. The Grizzlies were dealt no favors when crybaby Steve Francis demanded a trade after being the second overall pick in the 1999 NBA entry draft. The Grizzlies also were victims to the 1998 NBA lockout that shortened the season to fifty games and maybe the worst factor of all was the Canadian dollar.

Quite possibly if a few off court issues in the late 90’s went the Grizzlies way the Grizzlies would still be in Vancouver. If that were the case it would have been Rogers Arena hosting the Game 7. Who knows if there would be the same passion for the Grizzlies there is for the Canucks? Nevertheless, with the Canucks being eliminated it would have been a perfect chance for the Grizzlies to grab some attention of a city. Whether the NBA would have been able to thrive in the long term is impossible to tell and something that could be explored at a later date..

Currently in the NBA right now there are a lot of franchises losing money. Buildings are half full and hope of one day competing with top tier teams from a finical standpoint is next to nothing. Not surprisingly, Memphis is one of those cities. Even though the crowd had a playoff atmosphere for all for games. Memphis is not a great sports town. They were twentieth in NBA attendance in a thirty-team league. Memphis is a college basketball town that isn’t really suited for Professional sports.

On the other hand Vancouver is a world-class city that has proved they are not the city they were when the Grizzlies left. When the Grizzlies left in 2001 the Canadian dollar was very weak. Right now however, the Canadian dollar has sky rocketed to where it would be easier for the NBA to succeed in Canada. Vancouver has shown it can support major events. The 2010 Winter Olympics were a great success and so are the Vancouver Whitecaps who are in their second year of Major League Soccer (MLS) competition.

At the end of the day, whenever the Grizzlies are on TV it is always bittersweet. I really have no time to curse Michel Heisley’s name around the living room wishing that the Grizzlies were still in Vancouver. They left cause no one attended the games. It’s hard to blame the team for moving when the team is terrible and isn’t supported by their city.