Las Vegas is doing everything it can to get major sports teams to move there. Players like Avery Bradley, Isaiah Thomas, Zach LaVine and Jamal Crawford all come from the playgrounds of the Emerald City. The Heat control much of the Southeast, as well as southwest Ohio. That's less true in the N.B.A, and Indiana is a good example. San Diego already has a history of being an NBA team. Do they have a rich NBA history? Don’t read too much into the Lakers' lead in northern Canada: Almost no one actually lives there. Three NBA teams have evened the … As you were browsing Vivid Seats something about your browser made us think you were a bot. Inglewood Basketball and Entertainment Center, Sheboygan Municipal Auditorium and Armory, List of American Basketball Association arenas, List of current Major League Baseball stadiums, List of current National Football League stadiums, List of NCAA Division I basketball arenas, "Future Warriors arena to be named Chase Center", "Warriors' new Chase Center the key to Golden State's budding dynasty", "Here's What the Renovated Madison Square Garden Looks Like", "Take a behind-the-scenes tour of the Q renovation", "2014–15 New Orleans Pelicans Media Guide", "Hawks, State Farm reach agreement to rename arena", "LHM Sports & Entertainment Introduces Vivint Smart Home Arena for the Utah Jazz", "2018-2019 Philadelphia 76ers Media Guide", "Inglewood, Clippers enter into negotiating agreement for new arena", "New details of Clippers' proposed Inglewood arena complex revealed", "Clippers unveil renderings of proposed arena", "After Long Wait, New Boston Garden Planned", "NJ Nets will move to Prudential Center in Newark", "Hockey; Brendan Byrne Arena Goes Continental", "Nets Dangle $10 Ticket Lure, but Fans Don't Bite", "At Island Garden, New Life for Old Arena", "Sports of The Times; For Coleman's Nets, the Eyes Have It", "Twenty-five years later, Boe makes up for mistake", "A Place For Troops, Troupes, Hoops – Teaneck Armory Still Vital", "76ers close Spectrum with win over Bulls", "Syracuse Nationals basketball court to find new home at Hotel Syracuse", "New arena unlikely venue for Raptors' second home", "Lookback to '95: Raptors at Copps not a honey and roses deal", "Wharton Field House, Browning Field history recounted in new book", "Last of its kind: Charlotte Coliseum to be demolished Sunday", "When can you see the Miami Heat play in their new Miami Vice jerseys? While there are 30 NBA teams, there are currently only 29 full-time arenas, as both Los Angeles teams, the Lakers and Clippers, share Staples Center.The United Center has the highest capacity of any current NBA … A third-party browser plugin, such as Ghostery or NoScript, is preventing JavaScript from running. This is part of the problem with having NBA ready cities—like when the Thunder ownership group moved the then SuperSonics to the new stadium in OKC. St. Louis, Louisville, Des Moines, Kanas City—all without an NBA team. In their wake, Seattleites appear to have continued their friendly rivalry with the Portland Trail Blazers by ignoring them, at least in the Seattle area, preferring instead the country's two most popular teams, the Lakers and the Heat. 6. To be honest, I was one of the doubters, but boy was I wrong. An N.B.A. When owner Herb Kohl sold the franchise several years ago, one of the deals of the sale was that the Bucks not be relocated. But as we've noted before, Facebook likes show broadly similar patterns as polls do. Mexico City is the largest market in North America, it's no surprise that Adam Silver is highly interested in bringing a team there. And the Pacers are not the favorite team anywhere outside the Midwest. Perhaps worse, they also lost a fan battle for their state: The Bulls received more “likes” than the Bucks in many areas of Wisconsin, including parts of Madison. We’re also able to answer what may have been the second-most common question about the baseball maps: What about Canada? (To make these four maps, we removed all other teams from the equation.) Rumors have been circulating about a potential NBA expansion for years, but they have been just that—rumors. Rumors have always linked the city with a potential NBA team, whether it's a result of relocation or expansion. When the controversial HB2 law was enacted in NC, Jordan threatened to move the team if the law wasn’t revoked, meaning the possibility of him moving the Hornets isn’t out of the possibility. Underwent extensive renovations from 2010 to 2013, resulting in a completely new arena bowl and concourses within the original structure. It's good to be a fan, but it's better being one in fair weather. Orange County already boasts a baseball and hockey team. What is the largest state (in terms of population) without an NBA team? When the new ownership group decided to build a new stadium, they demanded over $250 million in taxpayer money and threatened to relocate to either Seattle or Las Vegas, if they didn’t get it. If you see something you think other people might enjoy, get in touch on Twitter or our Facebook page. Facebook “likes” are an imperfect measure. The mid-west has a huge college basketball following, but it is surprising to see so many cities without an NBA team. Sacrificing their future assets to Boston for the trade of Garnett, Pierce and Jason Terry, the Nets have plummeted to the bottom of the NBA food chain. "Get a life! Not surprisingly, Facebook users in Toronto and across much of Canada have thrown in with the Raptors. Notably, the Celtics have a fan base into New York State, well west of the Yankees-Red Sox border. They missed the playoffs, and Coach Mike D'Antoni resigned. Absolutely not. However, the Hornets have not been a true contender under Jordan’s ownership. With a love for basketball already instilled in the area—look how many college march madness games have taken place there—and a market that could hold onto a team, not to mention a government that is friendly towards offering tax dollars for stadiums, Kansas City is poised for an NBA team. Team: New York Knicks Country: USA City: New York, New York Sport: Basketball League: NBA Arena: Madison Square Garden Capacity:18200 Address: 4 Pennsylvania Plaza, New York, New York 10001 SuperSonics country. An expansion is unlikely at the moment, but he would certainly welcome a relocation in the near future. The basis for our baseball post was to revisit the line between the Red Sox and the Yankees, who have a storied rivalry and deeply entrenched fan bases. While the city of Seattle still owns the history and name of the SuperSonics, should a team choose to move their (or an expansion is voted on) Seattle is perhaps the most deserving and ready for an NBA team. And we could get names like the Disney Deathstars, or the Anaheim Sith (or Jedi). They have even hosted two regular season games in 2016-17, as the Phoenix Suns took on the Dallas Mavericks and the San Antonio Spurs. When Charlotte’s Bobcats owner Robert L. Johnson decided to sell the team, there was a possibility of new ownership buying and relocating the team again. At one point the League owned the team—and at the time nixed the deal which sent Chris Paul to the Lakers. Two years later, they were in the finals, beating a Jordan Bulls team, the year Jordan returned from minor league baseball. The Mets, like the A’s, had the sad distinction of being the favorite team in not a single ZIP code. The most LOL-worthy things the Internet has to offer. In recent years, the NBA has held several pre-season games in Mexico City. This is easiest to see in four Southern teams: the Pelicans, the Grizzlies, the Bobcats and the Magic. Another Southern team with limited support, the Hawks, has been around longer and have a bigger market. While there are 30 NBA teams, there are currently only 29 full-time arenas, as both Los Angeles teams, the Lakers and Clippers, share Staples Center. While it's unlikely that Vancouver would ever get a team while there is one in Seattle—that’s just it—there isn’t one in Seattle. (Don’t count on visiting a Lakers bar on your trip to the Arctic Circle.) Many cities deserve an NBA team but Seattle tops the list. 3. Those teams don't have a long history, so it makes sense that they don't have established fan bases yet. DAVID LEONHARDT and Please upgrade your browser. However, they have two NBA franchises in the past, the San Diego Rockets and the Buffalo Braves, which were relocated to Houston and Los Angeles. NYTimes.com no longer supports Internet Explorer 9 or earlier. We begin with head-to-head matchups of the four playoff series in progress. The Kings have been a laughing stock since owner Vivek Ranadive took over. And a team could move to Vancouver instead of Seattle if they wanted to tap into the fan base, but had disagreements with the city or state government. You can measure distance between two teams on a map. Jordan may sell the team, leading to a relocation—or move it himself. A: Utah. The Boston Celtics, Quebec's favorite local sports team, I like that a part of northern Ontario's team is the pistons when it looks like they'd have to swim across a lake, I'm actually really curious which nba team most people in quebec habs fans root for. With stars like Anthony Davis, John Wall, Karl-Anthony Towns, DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe, Nerlens Noel, etc. title and the team has struggled in recent seasons. When the next round begins, we’ll add more. The Magic could certainly be a heavy favorite for relocation if Richard Devos sells the team. So I grew up a Celtics fan, early 2000s Pierce was a killer. In more recent years, we have seen the Vancouver lose the Grizzlies to Memphis, while Seattle lost the Supersonics to Oklahoma City. The SupersSonics were taken away from Seattle in 2008, and relocated to Oklahoma City. Sports and Racing - NBA This is a split board - You can return to the Split List for other boards. While it’s cheap to have a team in Phoenix, when compared with the New York or Los Angeles teams, if the Suns continue to have a lacklustre team—as they have since the 2010-11 season—the Suns could be in the position the Seattle SuperSonics were before they moved to Oklahoma. Of course, fans will never accept losing the team that they love, but it has been happening for decades. The Kings wouldn't be moving too far away from home. Below, 10 maps of fan support (and the lack of it) across the country. Madison Square Garden is the only current arena not to be named after a corporate sponsor. If you see something you’d like us to add, find us on Twitter or Facebook and we’ll update. They’re old and hobbled. Arizona; Phoenix-Phoenix Suns(NBA), Phoenix Murcury(WNBA) Prescott Valley- Northern Arizona Suns (G-League) While the NHL has already awarded Las Vegas a franchise, the NFL is having hiccups while trying to move the Oakland Raiders to the City of Sin. There are a few reasons this might happen: You reached this page when attempting to access https://www.vividseats.com/blog/most-popular-nba-teams-by-us-state from 51.255.155.115 on 2020-10-17 21:03:59 UTC. Created as an expansion team before the 1989-90 season, the Magic were terrible until they drafted someone named Shaquille O’Neal in the 1992 draft. We then applied an algorithm to deal with statistical noisiness and to fill in gaps where data was missing. Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Every 'Rookie Of The Year' From The 2010s: Where Are They Now? The Suns have been stuck in the mediocre world of the NBA—not bad enough to get a top-3 pick—and using any high picks they’ve had to get big men, when the all the NBA is moving towards smaller skilled players. Though a new stadium has just been built in Sac-Town, the idea of Ranadive selling the team is a dream for local Sacramento fans, though it may result in moving the team. The Nets were the New Jersey Nets first—a longtime staple in the ABA and NBA, but moved to Brooklyn before the 2012-13 season. 5. Instead of focusing on rivalries here, we want to highlight a handful of patterns we noticed. It’s just that we happen to love maps, and Upshot readers seem to as well. After completing the captcha below, you will immediately regain access to the site. The NBA's G League has already added the Capitanes, the 29th team in the league that will play next season at the Gimnasio Juan de la Barrera in Mexico City.