NBA basketball is an exciting sports spectacle full of drama and passion, mixed with fast paced action, tremendous skill, and incredible athleticism. The NBA is a constant series of majestic performances that dazzle spectators and turn the league’s players into heroes that garner adoration and near worship from fiercely loyal fans. But underneath the persona of all this majesty, passion and athleticism, lies another truth about the NBA. It is not all about the sport, or the competition, it isn’t about the players, or even the fans, it is all about making a buck or two.

It is for the all-mighty dollar that the NBA world keeps spinning, and often enough that goal can conflict with what might be best for the fans, and for the sport. The most recent example of business sense overriding basketball sense comes in the owners’ newest favourite negotiating tactic, hostage taking, in the hopes of finding greener pastures in the form of new markets and arenas.

Unless you have been living in a cave for the past year, fearfully hiding from the light of day and all human contact, you have heard about the owners of the Charlotte Hornets’ plans to head south for the bright lights and wild nights of the Big Easy. Currently the NBA has postponed its announcement on whether or not the preliminary ticket sales have satisfied the league’s concern about New Orleans being an economically viable market, (having already failed once in the past, you didn’t really think Utah was world renowned for its “Jazz” did you?), the final step in their ultimately approving the franchise’s relocation.

The fans in Charlotte are understandably upset about the move. Anytime a professional sports franchise leaves, it means a loss of jobs, tourism dollars, as well as huge amounts of tax revenues besides the obvious entertainment and pride that accompany a local team. The team’s owners have done everything wrong in Charlotte, from angering the North Carolina fan base by lying about the commitment of the team to the area to trying to strong arm the community into a new arena, only adding to the disappointment the bitter taste of abandonment.

"Due to the positive turn of events over the past few weeks, my partner, Ray Wooldridge and I are withdrawing our application to the NBA for relocation to Memphis. As much as the Hornets are an asset to the community, this community has been an asset to the Hornets and this team belongs to the fans of Charlotte.”
- George Shinn, Charlotte Hornets co-owner.

This statement from Shinn came less than a year ago, while at the same time co-owner Ray Wooldrige was in New Orleans testing the waters to assess what kind of returns a season ticket drive would bring in, and what corporate support could be garnered.

Shinn and Wooldridge unfortunately do not seem to be an anomaly in the NBA. Grizzlies owner Micheal Heisley was clearly reading from the same playbook when he bought the team before last season stating, “I intend to do everything in my power to make this franchise a success in Vancouver. Having an owner that is committed to this market is an important part.” One year later after making zero significant personnel changes, and absolutely no attempt to put any fans in the seats, he declared the financial loses to be too much to bear and relocation the only cure.

Again, just like in Charlotte one can not help but feel that bitter taste start rising up in the back your throat. You can’t really blame owners like Heisley, Shinn and Wooldridge for being concerned with the bottom line; after all the NBA is a business. But the lying, backstabbing and manipulation are too much for a league in which the integrity of the sport is its major commodity. Fans everywhere have to see these poor faith dealings with cynicism, losing trust in every facet of the league and feeling a growing fear that their team could be next.

The Houston Rockets have parlayed that fear of losing a franchise into a new arena set to open in September of 2003. There have already been rumours of another current team’s relocation to North Carolina to fill the void in America’s basketball Mecca. The explanation for both incidents surely will involve the same double talk and misrepresentation of the Charlotte/Vancouver screw jobs; this is not a trend that will just go away.

Don’t think it could happen to you? Yeah, but the Hornets and Grizzlies are losers right? Look at it like this, Charlotte is a basketball city, a team in the Eastern Conference that is bound for the playoffs this year, almost half the teams in the NBA are in weaker markets with worse teams. Any glimmer of success could have made Vancouver a mint for the NBA.

What does it mean for Seattle? On the Sonics’ front I am afraid there is both good and bad news. First the bad, so what if Schultz is saying the right things now, the whole point is that they all say the right things in the beginning. The right hand dazzles the eye with magical fantasies while the left slips your wallet out of your pocket. And Schultz has already brought up the dreaded subject of a new arena; a concept many laughed at as the lease for the Key Arena still has plenty of time on it. But it is a subject that -- if not dealt with quickly -- can turn ugly, having been the cause for more than one NBA divorce.

As for the good news, Howard Schultz genuinely seems dedicated to Seattle, and to the Sonics. He has ties to the community and a dedicated fan base to help keep the Sonics right where they are. Also a positive sign is the fact that of all the owners in the league, Schultz has been the most vocal about the need to keep the Hornets in Charlotte. Any indication that relocation in general is a bad idea in the mind of Schultz will surely help Sonics fans sleep better.

All you need to do is watch a close hard fought NBA game and one can see the majesty, drama, and passion of the sport, still visible despite the tarnish owners like Heisley, Shinn and Wooldridge bring to the sport. Fans everywhere are the ones footing the bill for owners like these who look to abuse the system, placing profits over performance. These owners are taking advantage of all of those who still look up to the stars that shine in the NBA and dream a little each night about having the ball in their hands with the clock running out.

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