National Basketball Association Commissioner David Stern announced this week that he had given Vancouver Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley the green light to relocate his franchise at the end of the season if needed.
An early list of possible cities includes Anaheim, Louisville, St. Louis, New Orleans, San Diego, Las Vegas, Nashville and Memphis.
The Grizzlies, who joined the league in the mid-90s, have seen a decline in attendance each of the past three seasons.
Vancouver is currently 14-36 and in the basement of the Western Conference's Midwest Division. The Grizzlies are averaging 13,497 fans per game, which ranks them 27th out of 29 NBA teams.
They are hoping to avoid a repeat of the 1999-2000 season when they finished in last place in the conference with a 22-60 record.
Vancouver's average attendance last season was 13,899, which was well below the league's average attendance of 16,311.
If Memphis is being considered for an NBA franchise, the Pyramid would be its home, But is the arena equipped to house an NBA team and how would it conflict with the University of Memphis men's basketball team?
With more than 20,000 seats The Pyramid can hold 4,000 more fans than the league's average attendance.
U of M Associate Athletic Director Bill Lofton believes the arena has its positives and negatives.
"The Pyramid is better than some NBA arenas, but it is not as modern as some," Lofton said.
Lofton said he thinks an NBA team might be better off with other options.
"Is it the best situation for an NBA team? No," Lofton said.
Lofton also said the team would have to share time with the U of M.
"The two major conflicts would be involving the suiteholders and the scheduling of events and practice times," Lofton said. "Since we have The Finch Center now we do not practice there as much as we used to, but an NBA team would create problems."
The other problem that might arise would be community support. Do Memphians want to pay high prices for tickets for a family of four throughout a 41-game season?
These questions are interesting, but with the recent resurgence of Tiger basketball many Memphians might not even worry about the potential chance of losing another professional franchise to rival Nashville.
