Don't count the NBA out of St. Louis
By D.J. Wilson
In the surreal world of professional sports, what happens seldom depends on logic or the tenets of Economics 101. Some National Hockey League owners claimed that by not playing any games this season, they actually saved money. So why not get out of the racket altogether?
Because sports owners are not in it just for the money. There’s ego, fame, theatrics and the chance a winning season will trigger a communal buzz not possible from owning, say, a widget factory. And, of course, some owners do make money and don’t have to tell anyone about it. It’s a proprietary business performed in a public arena. The books, cooked or uncooked, are closed.
So before anyone spouts off about why St. Louis could or couldn’t, should or shouldn’t support a professional basketball team, consider this: The protestations don’t matter. If a prospective owner steps forward willing to buy a team, that team’s owner is willing to sell and the National Basketball Association approves, the deal is done.
St. Louis is in the mix. The demographics are there, an interested buyer with sufficient funds exists. Sooner or later, some NBA owner is bound to get happy feet, or an itchy palm, and want to sell his team.
The interested buyer in this equation is St. Louis Blues owner Bill Laurie. He tried to bring the Grizzlies to town back in 1999. Two years later, he met with Charlotte Hornets’ owner Ray Woolridge before that team moved to New Orleans. Despite recent mild denials, there is no evidence Laurie has been cured of his basketball jones. He was the point guard on the Memphis State team that played UCLA in the 1973 NCAA title game, and he donated $25 million to build Mizzou’s basketball arena. (Yes, yes, the one briefly named for his daughter.)
What makes economic sense for this billionaire is that he already has the long-term lease on the Savvis Center and owns the St. Louis Blues, so adding an NBA team would, once hockey resumes, book his venue for at least 41 more nights a year. Controlling two pro sports teams and the place they play opens all sorts of scheduling, accounting and marketing options. And it’s not like the source of Laurie’s dinero—his interest in Wal-Mart through his wife’s Walton DNA—is going to explode like Enron.
Of course, there are variables. Discussions in this funky city usually end up mired in terminal nostalgia and real or imagined racial implications. Pro basketball, alas, is no different.
The St. Louis Hawks, who played here from 1955 through 1968, did something the NHL Blues never did: They won a championship, beating the dynastic Boston Celtics in 1958. In their last year downtown, the Hawks compiled a 56-26 record, their best. The Hawks’ starting five and their sixth man were black. Lenny Wilkens (pictured at right), Zelmo Beaty, Bill Bridges, Paul Silas, Lou Hudson and Joe Caldwell won games, though attention and attendance lagged. The Post-Dispatch didn’t even send a reporter to their last playoff game in San Francisco.
West on Highway 40 at the Arena, the NHL expansion Blues were news. Hockey was three things the NBA at that time wasn’t—new, violent and white. It packed them in. Then, in a move that had everything to do with money and little to do with anything else, Ben Kerner sold the Hawks to owners in Atlanta. Wilkens would go on to have a Hall of Fame career and record more wins as an NBA coach than anyone else.
Race, and race as a marker for class, still fester beneath the surface in this residentially segregated metro area. But if sports is anything, it’s a DMZ for the border wars of race. In ’99, more than 17,000 showed up at Savvis Center for an exhibition game that featured Allen Iverson and hometowner Larry Hughes, who both have sub-Saharan roots. Other NBA stars, from LeBron James to Shaquille O’Neal to Kobe Bryant, draw fans from across the spectrum. An influx of international players such as Dirk Nowitzki, Manu Ginobili and Steve Nash keep hope alive for the white man. And the NBA is on the uptick, with more scoring, increased attendance and better TV ratings.
Mark Sauer, Blues president, says the NBA won’t be on his mind until “hockey gets fixed” and the city’s taxes on sports are lightened. So if hockey gets fixed and the city waives the amusement tax for the Blues and the NBA like it did for the Cardinals, we can look for action.
Watch for smoke signals from cities where NBA teams are frustrated with their request for a new arena—for now, that’s Orlando, with Kansas City in the hunt—and watch that Wal-Mart stock. Your chance to see LeBron up close may depend on it.
