5 NBA Expansion Cities

        The NHL is considering adding two expansion teams in Quebec City and Las Vegas. Hockey in Quebec City makes perfect sense right? However, hockey is much bigger in Canada than it is in the Sin City. I question what kind of fan base a Las Vegas team would have. I’m not saying it wouldn’t work, but hockey in the Southwest can be tricky, just look at Phoenix. While there could be worse places to put a hockey team (anywhere in Florida), this got me thinking about the NBA. The NBA has no plans to expand anytime soon. If anything, there is talk of a team eventually re-locating to Seattle, which desperately wants a team to get over the nasty Supersonics divorce. If the NBA were to expand, which cities would be best?

Before I start I’ll quickly cover which cities would probably not work out (reasoning in parenthesis):

Winnipeg (hockey), Vancouver (tried it), Columbus (another Ohio team?), Cincinnati (another Ohio team?), Dayton(you get the point), Provo (two Utah teams would be funny though), Queens (see Nets), and Omaha (college baseball and steak).

Now the top five cities that could house an NBA team (honorable mentions: Louisville, Austin or El Paso, Nashville, Albuquerque, St Louis, Richmond) :

5. Honolulu, Hawaii: 

Take a deep breath and let it sink in.  Logistically yes, this would be a pain, but it would be less of a pain than having a team in say, London.  The biggest concern would be similar to Vegas, as Honolulu has a tourist driven economy, and tourists aren’t a reliable fan base.  Yes there are obviously people who live there, but the tourist vibe could be a negative. The positives: 

• beautiful location 
• expanding the NBA market to Hawaii and possibly getting interest in Alaska 
• getting a more global reach in the Pacific islands
• isn’t it about time Hawaii or Alaska gets a pro team? 

This is more of a pipe dream, but I just wanted to see how this looks on paper (web paper!). Team name ideas: Hawaii Warriors (yeah like the university), Hawaii 5-0’s, Hawaii Volcanoes, Hawaii Ash, or Hawaii Magma. I really don’t think Honolulu works as well for a team name as Hawaii. This team would obviously represent the whole state. Population: 374,658 (2009).

4. San Diego, California: 

 This beautiful city did have the Clippers from '78-'84. Their first year in San Diego was their only winning season at 43-39. You could see why support wasn’t pouring in, as the more established Chargers made the playoffs four times in that stretch. I really think a team would get more support now. Yeah, there are already four other California teams, but what’s one more? This would also create some potentially great rivalries, especially against the Clippers, who left years ago.  It’s not like the market isn’t big enough to support it. With the Chargers having one foot out the door, San Diegans need something to help them cope.  The market is huge, the city is great, and I think they could definitely support a team.  Team names: San Diego Wave, San Diego Compadres, San Diego Midshipmen, San Diego anchors, San Diego Sailors, San Diego Mastheads, San Diego any seafaring name. Population: 1.356 million (2013).

3. Kansas City, Missouri:

Kansas (don't pull the: Kansas City is in Missouri card, you know what I mean) has always been a hotbed of college basketball; why not add a pro team? Kansas City is a great city with a lot of history and culture. The fan following would most likely be as passionate as Thunder fans are. The team would get support from Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, and maybe even St Louis. That’s a lot of potential fans. They have had exhibitions is years past which draw good crowds, and they have the Sprint Center which is without a pro team. I would love to see a team here. Team names: Kansas City Hogs, Kansas City Jazz (change Utah’s name already!), Kansas City Rhythm, Kansas City JayCats (a stretch but could rep both main colleges), Kansas City Spirit, or Kansas City Plainsmen. Population: 467,007 (2013).

2. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania:

I never understood why Pittsburgh doesn’t have all four major sports. There’s a really interesting dynamic in the Steel City, as fans of basketball don’t want to root for a team from Philly or Cleveland, so they are kind of left without any logical option. I really think this would work. They have had a few teams before, the Ironmen and the ABA’s Condors, which didn’t work out. I found an interesting article on why it wouldn’t work. The reasons are mostly money and market. I would argue the market is big enough to support four sports, when you consider all of the suburbs. Of course if they got a team, the colors would have to be black and yellow. Names: Pittsburgh Ironmen (maybe some copy write problems with Disney), Pittsburgh Bridges, Pittsburgh Rivers, Pittsburgh Knights (third Bale Batman was filmed there, and it works in general), or Pittsburgh Pandas (you know, to keep the PP thing going with the Pirates and Penguins, and the non-indigenous animal thing going). Population: 305,841 (2013)

1. Seattle, Washington

Yes this answer is a cop out and is really boring and is the most likely to happen. There just really is not a better number one. Seattle fans, like them or not, are some of the most loyal and passionate fans out there. We all know about the 12^th man, but the Mariners have had fairly good support through some losing seasons, and the Sounders have great support. This city loved the Supersonics, and the team was practically stolen from them. There isn’t even a need to list possible names as they would undoubtedly go back to being the Sonics. Not really much to discuss here. Population: 652, 405.

 Most NBA fans want to see them get a team; they just don’t want it to be their team that moves there.