ESPN Rates KC’s Chances of Landing an NBA Team
ESPN asked 25 writers, editors and contributors which city would have an NBA franchise by 2018. The hoops experts give us as much hope as Berlin.
Each member of ESPN’s team could vote for up to five cities. Kansas City received only three votes (the same as Berlin).
“The shiny Sprint Center opened in October 2007, with 18,000 capacity — the door’s open,” ESPN says.
But don’t get too excited. Among the factors working against KC: A metro area of only 2 million people, a small television market and competition with college hoops (stupid Jayhawks).
Here are the top vote getters:
1. Seattle (14 votes)
2. Las Vegas (9 votes)
3. London (4 votes)
4 (tie). Kansas City and Berlin (3 votes)
And thanks ESPN, for this: KC is “the only market in the U.S. that had both the NBA and NHL over the last 35 years but now has neither.”
Ouch.
Looks like the October 10 Atlanta Hawks-Portland Trailblazers game — great seats are still available! — might be the closest Kansas City gets to pro hoops.
