How The Vancouver Grizzlies Were Set Up To FAIL

How The Vancouver Grizzlies Were Set Up To FAIL

[Music] by joining basketball Canada there’s a potential there to truly have a mutually beneficial relationship for the good of all both organizations and basketball across the country we’re not saying we’re going to go out and set the world on fire but we just want people to know every night they take the court against the Grizzlies they’re going to be in for tusca 6 seconds Byron Scott 2 seconds yes first game has won it for the Grizzlies the coua Grizzly select ryant Reeves from Oklahoma State University you think he’s going to be a factor right away it’s going to take him a couple years well with big people it takes time and you have to be willing to wait on them and let allow them to develop and as an expansion franchise I can’t think of a better place for uh BC Big Country Brian Reeves to be the Vancouver Grizzlies select Steve Francis from the University of Maryland I intend to do everything in my power to make this franchise a success in Vancouver the founds have been really supportive of the team and the owners are falsely accusing them of not being supportive of the team so come on save our Grizzlies I would say one of the biggest disappointments in my life has been not being able to make the thing go in Canada nobody nobody likes going through what we’re going through with this relocation [Music] 1994 a late season player strike upends Major League Baseball leading to the cancellation of the World Series for the first time in 90 years Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain’s death by Suicide rocks the music world and the NBA with its Global popularity skyrocketing doubles down on its recent decision to expand into Canada that April less than 7 months after granting an expansion franchise to Toronto the NBA’s of Governors agreed to award a team to Vancouver British Columbia with both teams slated to begin play for the 1995 96 season it’s a great day for for basketball Canada as an organization in that we’re bringing two very uh key members of the basketball Community uh uh into the organization as uh as contributing members Toronto made sense it’s the biggest city in Canada the country’s cultural and financial center and home to the NHL’s most visible franchise and a major league baseball team that was Fresh Off consecutive World Series titles plus Toronto was a basketball town back in the day the short-lived Toronto huskys were one of the original franchises in the Basketball Association of America which was a 4Runner to the NBA it figured that pro basketball would eventually return to Toronto but Vancouver different story Vancouver is by no means a small town it has over half a million people and it actually boasts the fourth highest population density of any city in North America but by NBA standards it was a small Market a small Market with with no real basketball tradition or Affinity either Vancouver loves ity and British Columbia is a big baseball Province generally but basketball not really a thing there however Vancouver had two things that made it extremely attractive to the NBA a willingness to Fork over $15 million expansion fee and a brand new Arena see when the NBA agreed to Grant a franchise to Vancouver the team’s original owner Arthur Griffiths already had plans in place to have a new Arena built for his hockey team the Vancouver Canucks and this new new 20,000 seat arena in downtown Vancouver which would eventually be called General Motors Place ultimately became a multi-purpose facility that Griffiths used to house both of his franchises the Canucks and the Vancouver Grizzlies a nickname that was finalized in the summer of ’95 were it not for the objections of the Canadian Royal Mounted Police by the way the team would have been called the mounties instead however they chose a nod to The Majestic and ferocious bear that roams the Pacific Northwest so who was put in charge of stewarding and shaping these Grizzlies that was put on the shoulders of Stu Jackson the former New York Knicks head coach who had spent the previous few years on the sidelines at the University of Wisconsin this however would be his first go at running a team Jackson had no prior executive experience when the Grizzlies named him president and general manager by joining basetball Canada there’s a potential there to truly have a mutually beneficial relationship uh for the good of all both organizations in basketball across the country and it was a decision that many in Vancouver would come to lament with Jackson eventually coming to embody the Grizzlies failures but the truth is the Grizzlies were never given a real chance to succeed and their extremely brief extremely in glorious run in the NBA is ultimately reflective of how many obstacles the league put in their way from day one naturally the Grizzlies ended up with little more than scraps in the 95 expansion draft the only All-Star taken in the entire draft was BJ Armstrong and he went first overall to the Raptors before refusing to report to Toronto and getting traded to Golden State as for the biggest names the Grizzlies ended up with Greg Anthony a 34-year-old Byron Scott a 30-year-old blue Edwards a 31-year-old Beno Benjamin that inaugural roster was not good but that wasn’t the problem expansion teams aren’t supposed to be good the problem was the barriers the NBA implemented to effectively stunt the Grizzlies growth see for the 95 expansion the NBA decided to make up some new rules for its two new franchises first and foremost neither Toronto nor Vancouver would be given a top five pick in the 95 entry draft and get this neither team would be eligible to pick first overall in the 96 97 or 98 NBA drafts no matter how bad they were in their first few seasons why because the League’s owners were salty that the Orlando Magic who joined the league in ‘ 89 had ridden a string of first overall bonanzas to some very quick dominance with the number one overall pick in 92 Orlando drafted Shaquille O’Neal and with the number one overall pick in 93 the magic selected Chris Weber whom they immediately dealt to Golden State for Penny Hardaway by by 9394 the magic were a 50- win team in just their Fifth Season the rest of the NBA didn’t want to see the same thing happen with its new Canadian teams so they hamstrung Toronto and Vancouver in a big way but that wasn’t all on top of that for their first couple Seasons the Grizzlies and Raptors were only allowed to spend a maximum of 2third of the lead salary cap seriously so just to summarize for multiple years out of the gate the Grizzlies weren’t allowed to pick first overall in the NBA draft and they were limited in how much they could offer for free agents many of whom were already reticent about coming to play in a rainy and remote Canadian city with a heavy tax rate that’s what being setup to fail looks like but Vancouver’s basketball operations team didn’t do themselves any favors either days after filling out the bulk of their roster via the expansion draft the Grizzlies held the sixth overall pick in the 95 entry draft and while the true difference makers were gone by the time they selected including a teenage Phenom named Kevin Garnett who went fifth overall to Minnesota the Grizzlies could have taken Damon stmy the event ual 9596 Rookie of the Year and an integral piece in the Raptor’s early years future All Stars like Michael Finley and Theo Ratliff were also on the board instead however the Grizzlies ended up taking Bryant Reeves aka Big Country a bruising 7ft Center out of Oklahoma State Stu you said you wanted a big man and you got one with a lot of beef yeah we got one of the biggest uh obviously we’re extremely excited to uh get big country in our fold and uh you know he’s a guy that we feel will really endure the NBA ba season he’s got an excellent offensive game great size which is at a premium in this league and he plays bigger in the bigger games he too would eventually come to embody the Grizzlies failures at the time though both in the Grizzlies front office and throughout Vancouver anticipation abounded they had their team they had their brand new Arena and they were ready to make NBA basketball thrive in Van City only it never did look as excited as Vancouver was everybody knew that the the 9596 campaign wasn’t going to be a banner year for the Grizzlies whose championship odds for their inaugural season were a cool plus 75,000 still nobody could have anticipated just how Dreadful that first season would be especially considering that it started on an incredible and unexpected higho in their first ever regular season game on the road in Portland the Grizzlies were winners riding a strong fourth quarter and a 29o double double from Benjamin to a 9280 Victory and two days later in their first game at General Motors place the Grizzlies introduced themselves to their home fans in storybook fashion Big Night Big Night firstever Grizz program it’s game time time to get serious okay guys this is our home court we got a nice big crowd in here let’s have some fun with it play hard for the second game in a row the Grizzlies showed impressive fight erasing a 14-point fourth quarter deficit to force overtime against the Timberwolves and with time expiring in the extra frame Chris King produced a core memory for Grizzlies fans it’s going to be Byron Scott all the way to fler In and Out it in this playing vanc is two and0 amazing right well from there things got real in a hurry following their improbable 2 and0 start the Grizzlies didn’t win their next game until mid December slogging through a stretch of 19 consecutive losses but here’s the craziest part that wasn’t even their longest losing streak of the season from mid-February through early April Vancouver suffered 23 straight losses an NBA record at the time this team wasn’t just bad they were atrocious and by Seasons end those initial highs were a distant memory all told the Grizzlies won just 15 games in 9596 finishing with the worst record in the NBA and six fewer wins than the Raptors and while there was no facet of the game in which this rag tag Bunch excelled their offense was historically Ina the inaugural Grizzlies were the first team in more than 40 years to average less than 90 points per game now for his part Reeves the team’s most important building block turned in solid numbers as a rookie averaging more than 13 points and seven rebounds per game it was abundantly clear though that at the NBA level big country was more of a contributor than a star this was the kind of team in other words that desperately needed a first overall pick a franchise Cornerstone player to build around and by right having managed the worst record in the league the Grizzlies should have had the best odds at winning the lottery for the 96 entry draft except as I mentioned they weren’t allowed to win the lottery instead Vancouver ended up with a third overall pick after the 76ers and the Raptors and watched the draft’s consensus top player a Phenom out of Georgetown named alen Iverson go first overall to Philadelphia ouch with their third pick the Grizzlies drafted A Gifted big man in Sher Abdul Rahim who averaged more than 21 points and eight rebounds per game and earned pack 10 Player of the Year honors in his lone season at Cal and while Reef went on to become an All-Star and the most accomplished player in Vancouver history that’s undoubtedly a pick that Jackson would like to have back a selection that contributed to the franchise’s Doom trajectory because you know who else was available at number three Stefan Marbury Ray Allen Steve Nash and a fellow by the name of Kobe Bryant ouch now of course in the moment nobody knew that Kobe would become Kobe and that Allen and asash would become Hall of Famers so the Grizzlies and the broader basketball world were a buzz about Abdul raheim and were optimistic that he would be an integral piece in Vancouver’s likely lengthy quest for respectability you’ve got your legitimate Center you’ve got your power po who could also swing it to three so you’ve got a great start for the Vancouver Grizzlies short term though Vancouver figured to at least take a step forward in their second season they clearly weren’t a winning team yet but with Abdul raheim and Reeves comprising their front Court they weren’t going to be an absolute disaster again right wrong amazingly despite Abdul rahee making the all rookie first team and an even better soft more season from Reeves the Grizzlies were worse in 9697 than they were the year prior for a second straight season they finished with the League’s worst offensive rating while their defensive rating ranked 27th among the NBA’s 29 teams they won consecutive games only once the entire season and endured four separate losing streaks of at least seven games their longest being a 15 game skin not surprisingly their mid-season coaching change didn’t reverse their fortunes actually the team was slightly better under original head coach Brian wyers than they were under Stu Jackson who named himself as head coach in January all told the Grizzlies ended up 14 and 68 finishing with the League’s worst record for a second straight season and cementing their dubious place in NBA history since the league adopted an 82 game schedule in 1967 only one other team had gone consecutive Seasons with 15 or fewer wins again though they were denied the number one pick in the ensuing draft despite their League worst record and once again they missed out on a future Hall of Famer instead of taking Tim dunan first overall in 97 or even Chanty bips who went third the Grizzlies picking fourth took Antonio Daniels the Bowling Green point guard who lasted one season in Vancouver before getting shipped out five picks later by the way the Raptors selected Tracy McGrady but that miscalculation wasn’t the Grizzlies lone blunder that off season a couple weeks after the draft Jackson signed the first major contract of his tenure inking Reeves to a six-year extension worth a reported $65 million that deal would Age like milk still by 9798 three of Vancouver starters were recent top six draft picks no they weren’t Iverson or Duncan but you’d think that some of that pedigree and talent would start to translate into more wins you’d think in reality though the Grizzlies continued to stink they won only 19 games in their third season as Daniels was a huge disappointment hence the offseason trade though new head coach Brian Hill managed to get their offense into respectable territory their defense remained a complete disaster with the Grizzlies finishing 28th in the league in points allowed per game and defensive rating it was one of those nights where uh you know couldn’t buy a whole lot you know I think the first half we shot 35% we got a lot of good looks but uh you know we just didn’t get anything to fall and it was a tough night all night for me it just wasn’t working and their continued struggles were followed by yet another draft blunder on Jackson’s part in ’98 the Grizzlies ended up with the second overall pick their highest draft pick yet but instead of taking Vince Carter or Dirk Nowitzki or Paul Pierce or even Anton Jameson Vancouver selected Mike bbby a solid player for sure but not the kind of transformative talent that the Grizzlies need and that was readily available and shocker when the lockout shorten 9899 campaign got underway the Grizzlies were still bad terrible in fact and that’s when the wheels really started to come off first Steve Francis there would be Savior and an eventual three-time NBA All-Star refused to report to Vancouver after the Grizzlies took him second overall in the 99 draft which frankly remains a shock because he looked elated after his name was called on draft night with the second pick in the 1999 NBA draft the Vancouver Grizzlies select Steve Francis from the University of [Applause] Maryland Steve Francis 300 for your extended family here tonight the draft in your hometown what has it been like these past couple of days uh it’s been really exciting for me you know leading up to the draft I’ve always wanted to be a professional basketball player and I’m just glad that I’m selected to to be involved in the yeah he wouldn’t even say Vancouver or Grizzlies after getting picked epic anyway an obstinate Francis was eventually shipped to houon in a three- team Mega deal in the process he became Persona known grada in Vancouver and grizzli fans did everything in their power to make his life miserable when Francis came back to Vancouver as a member of the Rockets but by 1999 2000 booing Steve Francis was just about the only thing that could compel vancouverites to go watch the Grizzlies after four miserable seasons and with no SA in sight the fan base’s interest had waned that year as the Grizzlies stumbled to 22 wins less than 600,000 fans came through the turn Styles giving Vancouver the third lowest attendance figure in the league and oh yeah remember how I said Reeves’s contract aged like milk well that year after dropping off in a big Way the season prior he averaged less than nine points per game amid increasing concern over his weight athleticism and durability he’d play only one more season in the NBA after that but by that point the Vancouver Grizzlies had bigger problems see by 1999 even though they weren’t even a half decade removed from their founding John Macau who had bought the Grizzlies from their original owners years prior was looking to sell after all the Canadian dollar was weak the taxes were high and the franchise’s Outlook was Bleak both shortterm on the court and long-term financially given Vancouver’s relatively small corporate base in 1999 in fact maau actually reached an agreement to sell the Grizzlies to billionaire and Missouri native Bill Lori but the deal collapsed after the league made it clear that it wouldn’t allow him to relocate the team to St Louis still the writing was on the wall and believe it or not only days after Lor’s deal fell through Macau agreed to terms with another buyer Chicago based billionaire Michael Heisley who comparatively seemed more inclined to try to make the Grizzlies work in Vancouver I intend to do everything in my power to make this franchise a success in Vancouver nice words unfortunately for Vancouver fans they weren’t true by the start of the 2201 season after an offseason of turnover that most notably saw Jackson resign as president in GM Heisley was already laying the groundwork for relocation that October Heisley claimed that his new team would lose a record amount of money over the coming season and pointedly said that he wasn’t willing to eat significant losses for an extended time and sure enough later that season as the Grizzlies continue to languish in the Western Conference basement and struggle at the box office Heisley received permission from the NBA to start exploring relocation options among the those cities that lobbied the hardest Louisville Kentucky Anaheim California and New Orleans Louisiana which actually did land an NBA team shortly thereafter when the Charlotte Hornets moved to the Big Easy in the end though the city that managed to snag the Grizzlies was Memphis Tennessee Bluff City which isn’t a significantly larger market than Vancouver but it did have a couple key elements going for it a a promise of a new publicly funded Downtown Arena that would eventually be called the FedEx forum with naming rights purchased by one of memphis’s biggest corporate powers and B a much stronger basketball tradition than Vancouver Memphis is a football Town first and foremost but the basketball program at the University of Memphis is an unmistakable point of Pride and the city actually had a pro basketball team for a brief moment in the 70s prior to the NBA’s merger with the American Basketball Association Memphis had an ABA team and that was enough for Heisley he decided on Memphis and in the summer of 2001 the NBA unanimously approved the Grizzlies move to Tennessee marking the League’s first relocation since the king’s move from KC to Sacramento in 1985 I would say one of the biggest disappointments in my life has been not being able to make the thing go Canada the Memphis Grizzlies would begin play at the start of the 20012 2002 campaign incidentally ahead of their Fresh Start in Memphis the Grizzlies effectively blew up their roster trading away Abdul Raheem the franchise’s all-time leader in points and rebounds and BBY the franchise’s all-time leader in assists in exchange for Abdul Rahim the Grizzlies acquired the rights to Atlanta’s thirdd overall pick in the 2001 draft a 21-year-old Spaniard named Pal Gasol just like that though as quickly as they had arrived the Vancouver Grizzlies were gone and while their time in the NBA was extremely brief their incredible ineptitude makes them impossible to forget in six seasons in Vancouver the Grizzlies compiled a record of 101 and 359 their high water mark for wins in a season was 23 only once did they finish higher than last place in their division and they put together the League’s worst record three times at no no point were they anything but terrible however with the benefit of hindsight it’s undeniable that this team was destined to fail sure mismanagement played apart and Vancouver’s draft record was particularly abysmal but the NBA simply placed too many structural barriers for the Grizzlies to overcome as a pro basketball team in a remote Canadian city the Grizzlies were already facing an uphill battle yet the NBA still went out of its way to make life harder on them but in spite of the Grizzlies profound struggles their six-year run left an indelible mark on Van and ultimately helped turn the hockey Haven into a basketball town today more than 20 years removed from the Grizzlies last game in Vancouver the city still Longs for NBA basketball a 2024 poll showed that three and five BC residents were very much in favor of Vancouver getting an NBA team back and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged the city’s ongoing interest back in 2023 maybe one day Vancouver will get another shot at an NBA franchise and hopefully the second time around they’ll get a fairer Shake [Music]

In 1994, the ever-popular NBA made its boldest expansion gambit yet, establishing a presence in Canada with two new franchises: one in Toronto, and another in Vancouver. Yep, Vancouver. The remote and rainy centre of British Columbia, Canada’s westernmost province — a place with virtually no basketball tradition to speak of. But while NBA basketball may never have thrived in B.C. like it eventually did in Toronto, the Vancouver Grizzlies were essentially set up to fail by the NBA, their growth stunted by a series of policy choices that prevented the team from ever becoming respectable and ultimately forced the organization to find a new home after only six seasons in Vancouver.

Written & Narrated by: Jonah Birenbaum (@Birenball | X)
Produced & Edited by: James Balutan (@jamesbalutan | Instagram)
Filmed by: Zack Underhill (@ZackUnderhill | Instagram)
Thumbnail Design by: Justin Shipley (@shipleysportstudio | Instagram)

Courtesy List: https://pastebin.com/bpYwaBUR

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