NBA Votes to Expand, but It’s Not Certain Where and When

The NBA’s Board of Governors voted Tuesday to expand by one to three teams, but not for two years at the earliest.

NBA Commissioner David Stern said a five-member expansion committee would be formed and would decide on the locations and timetable for expansion. The results will be announced next April in New York.

The new teams would be added between the 1988-89 and 1990-91 seasons.

The 23-member league hasn’t added a team since Dallas joined in 1980.

“The NBA has reached a point in strength where the next logical step for us is to expand,” Stern said. “The vote was unanimous, 23-0. The collective force of the presentations given by six cities here this week put away any doubts that we should not be moving aggressively forward.”

Representatives from six cities--Anaheim, Toronto, Minneapolis, Miami, Orlando, Fla., and Charlotte, N.C.--delivered 30-minute presentations to the board on Monday.

Stern said the expansion committee “will meet with each of the six applicants again and with any more (cities) that come forward. I would not be surprised that in the next 60 days, there are not more applicants.”

Named as chairman of the expansion committee was Richard Bloch, president of the Phoenix Suns. Stern said the other committee members are William Davidson of the Detroit Pistons, Herb Simon of the Indiana Pacers, Norm Sonju of the Dallas Mavericks and Charlie Thomas of the Houston Rockets.

Miami, Orlando and Minneapolis are reportedly the front-runners.

Miami already has a nickname (Heat), has started construction on a 15,300-seat arena and has sold 8,000 season tickets.

Orlando’s nickname is Magic, and the group has down payments on about 14,000 season tickets. Construction is scheduled to begin on a 16,930-seat facility.

Minneapolis hopes to have an 18,000-seat downtown arena built in two years while its team plays in the Metrodome.

Nick Mileti, who owned the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers from 1970-80, heads the Orange County group that hopes to build a 20,000-seat arena in Anaheim. However, league officials say they are hesitant to add a third NBA team to the Southern California area.

The Toronto Huskies held Canada’s first NBA game in 1946, but its franchise folded after the 1946-47 season and some NBA officials are skeptical about competing again against hockey, Canada’s national sport.