But what if there were a real Harlem franchise, giving a nod to a lineage circa the 1920s, that played the likes of the Lakers and Knicks?
The Harlem Globetrotters are perhaps the most famous travel team of all time. Sure, they're showman, but wouldn't it be awesome to have a Harlem squad in the NBA? The Knicks, Nets and Harlem's Globetrotters? What if there was an A-Team and a B-Team, kind of like varsity and JV? A third of a million people live in this neighborhood. NYC could even have another MLB team with numbers the area touts and I'm not going to lie. Even baseball in Harlem would be awesome
I would love Diamondtrotters or Harlem Trollyhoppers baseball but the market could definitely hold a team. Right now of course, the NBA cannot though. There are plenty of big league cities without a franchise on the hardwood. Take a look at who has MLB and not NBA. Hell, even Louisville and Seattle deserve it first.
So what I'm saying is this is certainly a pipe dream. And too many hits from the pipe can be bad in so many ways.
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Die-hard, lifelong Knicks fan, here.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I would L-O-V-E to see the NBA expand to include a franchise in Harlem. I've felt so for quite some time.
I think it's an inspired idea, with a classy nod to the history and tradition of the game.
Moreover, Harlem (and the wider City of New York) is an area blessed with a population large enough to instantly support a new professional sports franchise.
To me, the only question is whether you call the club the "Globetrotters"?
Once again, it's the history behind the name which appeals to me. I think that if any legalities over the use of the name could be resolved, it would be a wonderful gesture to call an NBA team the Harlem Globetrotters.
What I have to wonder, though, is whether there is any kind of organized support for an NBA franchise in Harlem, or if it is just the pipe dream of a few folks, here and there?
Love what you're saying. I bet the exhibition squad of the Globetrotters would be all aboard for a name-share, if the business of continued exhibition, autonomy or sale were settled and if even only their marketing cost were bolstered and footed by the franchise. The grit of basketball at the ground level and big time around the boroughs has little if anything comparable to its buzz.
DeleteBut just like all the business leagues, they will likely look to spread to new turf in Vegas and Louisville or even London or Paris first. Even Chicago. They always have the NY market as a no-doubt for a relocation option and crowds. If Brooklyn gets more and more good buzz, it bolsters the argument for more in Jersey or Harlem.
Aside from Louisville's absence, I see Harlem as the best fit, even though the market saturation is envied by the rest of the country. In the meantime I like out-of-box thinking like the Harlem-London Globetrotters spending a quarter of its home games overseas camping along the likes of a Toronto-Paris Raptors team (even if nothing other than the Union Jack flies in the arena to reflect "London" while playing in Harlem). Building could be had on either end, including playing time at Barclay or the Gardens. In this tag team fashion, attendance figures could be a litmus test for questionable markets as the association dips its toes into untapped waters. The Kansas-City Omaha Kings existed in this fashion after a relocation and spent a lot of games in St. Louis before they settled on the west coast.