NBA commissioner David Stern likes the Sprint Center. A lot. Pro basketball's head honcho loves new buildings -- that's part of the reason that the Seattle SuperSonics are just a memory and Sacramento Kings fans sweat at the thought of moving vans rolling out of town.
In Stern's annual chat with ESPN's basketball fanatic Bill Simmons, Stern didn't hesitate to name-drop Kansas City when asked about cities with "NBA-ready buildings."
"Well, for sure Kansas City. ... There's a brand-new building in Pittsburgh, there's a good building in St. Louis, there's a good building in Tampa/St. Pete. ... I know [Anaheim's Honda Center has] got some years on it, but I'm told it's a serviceable building."Exciting news, right? Not if you believe the second part of Stern's answer.
All of this doesn't mean much without an owner willing to bring a franchise to Kansas City. Stern didn't mention KC as one of the cities with groups interested in bringing in a team."So there are lots of potential cities, but our goal here is to keep all of our teams where they are ... but recognizing that that hasn't been a goal that we have successfully achieved in the past."
"I think maybe or maybe not on my watch, when Seattle has plans for a new building, I think it's a very prime city for an NBA franchise. We've been visited or contacted by three different groups that are putting up a building in Las Vegas. ... We've had visits from Anaheim. We've had visits from, believe it or not, Vancouver."Vancouver? Ownership is the key. Stern told Pitch editor Joe Tone as much in an e-mail earlier this year.
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