NEW YORK -- It's official: The Vancouver Grizzlies are
moving to Memphis.
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NBA Franchise Moves
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1951: Tri-Cities Blackhawks became Milwaukee Hawks
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'55: Milwaukee Hawks moved to St. Louis
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'57: Rochester Royals moved to Cincinnati
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'58: Fort Wayne Pistons moved to Detroit
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'60: Minneapolis Lakers moved to Los Angeles
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'62: Philadelphia Warriors move to San Francisco
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'63: Chicago Zephyrs became Baltimore Bullets
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'63: Syracuse Nationals became the Philadelphia 76ers
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'68: St. Louis Hawks moved to Atlanta
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'71: San Diego Rockets moved to Houston
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'71: San Francisco Warriors moved to Oakland
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'72: Cincinnati Royals became the Kansas City-Omaha Kings
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'73: Baltimore Bullets moved to Washington
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'77: New York Nets moved to New Jersey
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'78: Buffalo Braves became the San Diego Clippers
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'79: New Orleans Jazz move to Utah
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'84: San Diego Clippers moved to Los Angeles
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'85: Kansas City Kings moved to Sacramento
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2001: Vancouver Grizzlies moved to Memphis
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NBA owners gave unanimous approval to the move Tuesday, clearing
the way for the Grizzlies to play in Tennessee next season. It is
the league's first franchise relocation since the Kings moved from
Kansas City to Sacramento in 1985.
The league's Board of Governors also approved the sale of a
minority interest in the team to a group of Memphis-based investors
led by J.R. "Pitt" Hyde III and his wife, Barbara. Hyde is
founder of AutoZone, an auto parts company.
"We are gratified by the community's enthusiasm and remarkable
level of support for the Grizzlies," NBA commissioner David Stern
said. "The city of Memphis, Shelby County, the NBA pursuit team,
the business community and the local investors have come together
with (owner) Michael Heisley and the Grizzlies organization to
assure that a successful NBA franchise in Memphis will be a
reality."
Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton said the city was elated.
"A number of citizens, as well as elected officials, have
worked very hard to make this dream of an NBA franchise for Memphis
a reality," he said.
The Grizzlies were added to the NBA as an expansion team April
27, 1994 and began play in 1995, winning their first game at
Portland 92-80 with a roster that included Benoit Benjamin, Kenny
Gattison and Blue Edwards.
That was one of just 15 victories in the franchise's first
season, and the team continued to struggle after that, winning just
14 the next season, then going 19-63 in its third year. Vancouver
won just eight of 50 games in the lockout season of 1998-99. They
improved to 22-60 in 1999-2000 and 23-59 last season.
Vancouver never made it to the playoffs and used lottery draft
picks for Bryant Reeves, Shareef Abdul-Rahim, Antonio Daniels, Mike
Bibby, Steve Francis and Stromile Swift. Francis was immediately
traded to Houston after the 1999 draft in a three-way trade that
involved 10 players.
Last week, Bibby was traded to Sacramento for Jason Williams.
Also, the Grizzlies reached agreement with the Hawks on a trade
sending Abdur-Rahim to Atlanta for Lorenzen Wright, Brevin Knight
and the third choice in the draft -- F.C. Barcelona forward Pau
Gasol.
"This is an exciting day for the people of Memphis," Hyde
said. "It's time now to turn our focus to building a competitive
basketball team that will be a positive force in the city."
Heisley purchased the Grizzlies from John McCaw for $160 million
on April 11, 2000.
In Heisley's first season as owner, he projected losses of about
$46 million. The team averaged just over 13,000 fans per game, down
2 percent from the previous year, playing to 70 percent of
capacity.
Heisley began shopping for a new home for his franchise and
early in the process said he was looking at six cities: Las Vegas;
Anaheim, Calif.; St. Louis; New Orleans; Louisville, Ky.; and "to
a certain extent, Memphis."
With Hyde leading local corporate efforts to attract the team,
which has lost four of every five games during its six seasons,
Memphis quickly emerged as the favorite.
FedEx, headquartered in the city, joined the effort and backers
said they expected major state support for an area that will cost
$200 million to $250 million.
Memphis will be the smallest market in the NBA and the Grizzlies
will play temporarily in The Pyramid, a $65 million arena opened in
1991, until a new arena is built. The Pyramid seats 19,000 for
basketball.
The decision ends years of searching for a major league sports
franchise for Memphis.
In 1974 and 1993, the city was a finalist for NFL expansion
teams, but lost out both times. The former Houston Oilers used
Memphis as a temporary home in 1997 before moving in 1998 to
Nashville, where they became the Titans.
Over the years, Memphis has had minor league teams in baseball,
basketball and football.
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