Anaheim Arena Getting Chance to Court the NBA : Sports: Exhibition basketball game is ‘one-shot deal’ to show league the county can support permanent team.

The 1993-94 National Basketball Assn. season begins and ends Saturday in the county with an exhibition game at the Anaheim Arena between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Golden State Warriors.

And although the preseason contest is meaningless in league standings, to city and arena officials it might as well be the seventh game of the National Basketball Championship.

“This is Orange County’s chance to prove it wants an NBA team,” said John Nicoletti, the arena spokesman. “It’s key that we show the league there is enough interest in the county to support a team here. That’s what makes this game so important. It’s a one-shot deal.”

Ogden Corp., the arena managers, and the city of Anaheim have been trying for several years to lure an NBA franchise into the building. Such a team would add to the profitability of the arena and eliminate as much as $7.5 million that the city is obligated to pay Ogden by the year 2001 if no NBA team becomes a tenant.

But the prospects of bringing a basketball club to Anaheim are not very good. Anaheim is not high on the NBA’s list to get an expansion team, league officials say, and that will be true for at least the next several years.

As a result, arena negotiators are looking to attract an existing franchise to the $121-million facility. The most likely candidate: the Clippers.

Clippers owner Donald T. Sterling has apparently grown weary of Los Angeles Sports Arena, which he views as inferior. He either wants to move or have the Sports Arena renovated.

Sterling, however has shown little interest in relocating to Orange County, maintaining that the Clippers are a Los Angeles organization.

Ogden is paying an undisclosed sum to bring the Clippers here for the game. It is the most positive sign that has occurred after years of off-and-on discussions.

Arena and Anaheim city officials seem determined to make every effort to get Sterling’s attention. At the Mighty Ducks opening last week, Sterling was a guest of the Walt Disney Co. along with Bruce McNall, the owner of the Los Angeles Kings.

Although arena officials declined to discuss current negotiations involving the Clippers or any other basketball team, city officials said they are trying to arrange a meeting with Sterling.

Joe Safety, Clipper vice president of communications, declined to comment Wednesday about the possibility of any such meeting but indicated that the organization has not ruled out a move to Orange County.

“All our doors are open,” he said. “We’re investigating all possibilities.”

He added that the team was excited about playing the exhibition game in the Anaheim Arena, which he called “a beautiful facility.”

City and arena officials said they too are looking forward to Saturday’s game.

Unlike the Ducks’ opener, which was a sellout, arena officials are expecting about 14,500 at the game, about 3,500 short of capacity.

Nicoletti said that would be a good turnout since this is only an exhibition game, the baseball World Series begins that day, and sports fans are currently spending their money on football and hockey tickets.

“People are being inundated with sports right now,” he said.

Anaheim Mayor Tom Daly called Saturday’s contest “an important game because it’s the first professional basketball game in the arena.”

Daly, however, said the importance of securing a basketball tenant has diminished somewhat because of fan support for the Mighty Ducks organization.

Under its contract with Ogden, the city is liable for up to $1.5 million annually during years three through eight of the arena’s operations if there is no professional basketball team in the building.

“While we believe it (getting a basketball tenant) will happen some day, it is no longer as critical to the success of the arena,” he said.