Cities That Should Have an NBA Team

Expansion in the NBA is inevitable, and these cities are best equipped to host new franchises.

Cities That Should Have an NBA Team

In terms of popularity, only soccer and cricket have more worldwide fans than basketball. The game is a global sport, and in North America, only American football is more popular. The NBA has grown from a regional sports league centered in the Northeast to one that stretches all over North America, but it wouldn’t be a bad thing if it stretched over more parts of North America.

Even the worst NBA franchises do well financially, so there are no talks of relocating teams anytime soon. But expansion seems like a distinct possibility in the near future, with the pool of qualified players for the NBA only getting bigger. That means more cities will be on the league’s horizon for possible destinations for new franchises.

These are the best North American cities that future NBA franchises could call home, in alphabetical order.

Baltimore

State: Maryland

Population: 602,495

Most popular sports teams nearby: Washington Redskins, Baltimore Ravens, Washington Wizards

Major industries: Service economy, cargo

Bottom line: Before the Washington Wizards, there were the Washington Bullets. And before the Washington Bullets, there were the Baltimore Bullets.

The team played in Baltimore from 1963 to 1973 before moving 30 miles to Washington, D.C., and the DMV area (D.C., Maryland and Virginia) can handle a second NBA franchise. They have two in the NFL and two in MLB so why not reward Baltimore, which has been a hotbed of basketball talent, with over 40 players from the city playing in the NBA?

The Bullets/Wizards routinely played a couple of home games in Baltimore each year until 1997, and it’s time to stop teasing the city and give Baltimoreans their own team.

Birmingham

State: Alabama

Population: 209,880

Most popular sports teams nearby: None within a 100-mile radius of the city

Major industries: Steel production, banking, biotechnology

Bottom line: Birmingham has two major draws for an NBA team.

The first has to do with the G-League. Starting in 2022, the Erie BayHawks will relocate to Birmingham and play in a renovated arena that holds over 17,000 people. That will make it the largest G-League arena, and it will have a greater capacity than a handful of NBA arenas, showing the city’s ability to handle a large basketball crowd.

The other draw to Birmingham is the fact that the renowned Dr. James Andrews’ American Sports Medicine Institute is in the city. NBA organizations have put an increased emphasis on sports medicine in recent years, and they could have a leading research and educational institute in their backyard.

Buffalo

State: New York

Population: 256,304

Most popular sports teams nearby: Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres, Toronto Raptors

Major industries: Light manufacturing, life sciences, banking

Bottom line: The Los Angeles Clippers franchise started out as the Buffalo Braves from 1970 to 1978 until the owner decided he’d rather have a team in Southern California than Western New York.

That’s a tough way to lose a franchise, especially since sports fans in Buffalo are some of the most loyal around. They always brave the elements to support the Bills despite that team being moribund for the last 25 years.

Those same fans also must feel a little bittersweet at watching the nearby Raptors win a title for another country. Toronto doesn’t want to share the Raptors with Buffalo, or any U.S. city, and Buffalo shouldn’t have to latch on to another city’s team.

Instead, the "City of Light" (Buffalo was the first U.S. city to have widespread electrified lighting) should have its own.

Cincinnati

State: Ohio

Population: 302,605

Most popular sports teams nearby: Cincinnati Bengals, Cincinnati Reds, FC Cincinnati

Major industries: Banking, food and beverage

Bottom line: Cincy once was home to the Sacramento Kings, when they were known as the Cincinnati Royals from 1957 to 1972. However, after they started playing neutral-site games in Cleveland and traded away star Oscar Robertson, the fan base reacted negatively and led to the team relocating.

The moral of this story is don’t piss off your fans.

Cincinnati would be a great host for an NBA team again because the area is full of rabid basketball fans. Both Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky are home to such college programs as Xavier, Cincinnati and Louisville, which all have passionately supported their basketball teams.

As long as Cincinnati doesn’t alienate its fans again, the city could be a long-term home for an NBA team.

Colorado Springs

State: Colorado

Population: 472,688

Most popular sports teams nearby: Denver Broncos, Colorado Avalanche, Denver Nuggets

Major industries: Military/defense, high-tech, tourism

Bottom line: Colorado Springs is just 60 miles from Denver, but Colorado Springs has become more of a home for elite athletes than the "Mile High City" in recent years.

Colorado Springs is home to several national governing bodies, including USA Basketball, the U.S. Olympic Committee and the U.S. Olympic Training Center. Thus, the city already has world-class facilities for performance, training, medical treatment and health services.

Colorado Springs sits at an even higher sea level than Denver does so the home team could use the thin air as an extra home-court advantage just as the Nuggets do.

Columbus

State: Ohio

Population: 892,533

Most popular sports teams nearby: Columbus Blue Jackets, Columbus Crew

Major industries: Education, insurance, fashion

Bottom line: After Austin, Texas, Columbus is the largest state capital without an NBA team. It is home to Ohio State University but is over 140 miles away from both Cleveland and Indianapolis.

A city so large and so abundant should be home to an NBA franchise, and Columbus always has been highly ranked in terms of places to live. Forbes gave it a grade of "A" as one of the top cities for business, and Money Magazine called it the best city in the Midwest,, citing an educated workforce and wage growth.

Columbus may be a college town but it operates like a city tailor-made for pro sports.

Des Moines

State: Iowa

Population: 216,853

Most popular sports teams nearby: None within a 100-mile radius of the city

Major industries: Insurance, financial services

Bottom line: Who pegged Des Moines, Iowa, as being home to the most popular team in the G-League?

The Iowa Wolves have set many G-League attendance records thanks to playing in the Wells Fargo Arena, which holds over 16,000 people. But besides the arena’s size, there is a clamoring for the NBA from these Midwestern fans, who are a good 250 miles away from any other NBA city.

Iowa may be forever associated with baseball thanks to "Field of Dreams," but don’t rule out the NBA exploring Des Moines if and when expansion talks take place.

Fort Wayne

State: Indiana

Population: 267,633

Most popular sports teams nearby: None within a 100-mile radius of the city

Major industries: Manufacturing, health care, retail trade

Bottom line: Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of the game of basketball, once said, "Basketball really had its origin in Indiana, which remains the center of the sport."

For a state with such a rich basketball heritage, Indiana has kind of gotten the short end of the stick with just one NBA team. The Pacers are a solid franchise, but the only reason the NBA landed them was due to the ABA merging into the NBA.

Fort Wayne is the state’s second-biggest city, and it already houses a G-League team, The Mad Ants, so giving them an NBA team would be an homage to the entire state for furthering the game of basketball.

Hartford

State: Connecticut

Population: 122,587

Most popular sports teams nearby: None within a 100-mile radius of city

Major industries: Medical research, insurance, education

Bottom line: For 20 years, Hartford served as a part-time home for the Boston Celtics, and they played a handful of home games at the Hartford Civic Center from 1975 to 1995. But since then the NHL's Hartford Whalers, are the only major sports team to call the city home and that needs to change.

New England always has been a hotbed for basketball talent, which means it’s big enough for both Boston and Hartford to have NBA teams. For a city as rich in history as Hartford is, a franchise name could easily play off its past, just as the 76ers do with Philadelphia.

Last but not least, middle Connecticut has done very well with college basketball thanks to UConn, so the residents clearly have an appetite for the sport.

Jacksonville

State: Florida

Population: 903,889

Most popular sports teams nearby: Jacksonville Jaguars

Major industries: Automobile imports, dairy farms, biomedical technology

Bottom line: If there’s one thing that all NBA players can agree on, it’s that they hate paying state taxes. That makes Jacksonville such an appealing destination. There is no personal income tax in Florida.

And out of all Florida cities, Jacksonville is both the largest in terms of area and the biggest in terms of population. Being adjacent to the Atlantic Coast beaches also make it attractive.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have proven that the city isn’t filled with football diehards, so maybe the next most popular sport in America is exactly what Duval County needs.

Las Vegas

State: Nevada

Population: 644,644

Most popular sports teams nearby: Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders

Major industries: Tourism, gaming, casinos

Bottom line: Las Vegas is the new "it" city in pro sports with the NHL and NFL putting teams there in back-to-back years. But Vegas is more of a basketball city than any other sport.

The NBA has had its presence in the desert since 2004 with the NBA Summer League. Additionally, in 2007, the NBA All-Star Game was in Las Vegas, which made it the first city without a franchise to host the All-Star Game.

It’s time to bring things full circle and stop teasing Las Vegas residents with exhibitions and add a full-time NBA team. Adam Silver has openly welcomed the league working with sports betting, so there are no roadblocks on that front. If you're into the rumor mill, Las Vegas has long been talked about as a city that might be prime for expansion once NBA career leading scorer LeBron James decides to hang it up — his net worth has already passed $1 billion.

Lincoln

State: Nebraska

Population: 287,401

Most popular sports teams nearby: None within a 100-mile radius of the city

Major industries: Service and manufacturing, telecommunications

Bottom line: Since Omaha is the biggest city in Nebraska and already home to the College World Series, Lincoln should get some love with its own sporting attraction.

The Great Plains are virtually ignored when it comes to major sports franchises, so an NBA team in Lincoln wouldn’t just represent the city or the state. It would represent all of The Great Plains, just as Toronto represents all of Canada.

The University of Nebraska campus resides in Lincoln and means that the facilities, even if they are temporary, are already there as Pinnacle Bank Arena houses nearly 16,000 people.

Louisville

State: Kentucky

Population: 620,118

Most popular sports teams nearby: Cincinnati Bengals, Cincinnati Reds

Major industries: Shipping and logistics, manufacturing

Bottom line: Of all of the states lacking an NBA franchise, Kentucky is by far the biggest diehard basketball state. You can see it in high school basketball as well as with The University of Kentucky and Louisville. Perhaps the state should be rewarded with a professional team of its own

Louisville makes the best option. The city already has a ready-made arena in Freedom Hall, which is looking for a tenant after UofL left in 2010.

That arena is also just two miles away from Churchill Downs, which is home to the Kentucky Derby and provides another tourist destination.

Mexico City

Country: Mexico

Population: 8,918,653

Most popular sports teams nearby: Club América, Cruz Azul

Major industries: Construction, iron and steel production

Bottom line: Mexico seems like the next destination for the NBA after successfully establishing a team in Canada. Adam Silver has talked about wanting to put a G-League team south of the border first, and Mexico City has hosted regular-season games every year since 2014.

With more people in Mexico City than New York City and Atlanta combined, filling the seats won’t be an issue, and basketball already has eclipsed every other sport in the city except soccer.

The biggest issue keeping a team from Mexico City is not that it's a new country but might be the altitude. Players often complain about the thin air of Denver, and Mexico City sits at 7,000 feet above sea level, which is 2,000 feet higher than Denver.

On the other hand, that would provide a true home-court advantage for Mexico City.

Montreal

Country: Canada

Population: 1,704,694

Most popular sports teams nearby: Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Impact

Major industries: Artificial intelligence, electronic goods, aerospace

Bottom line: After Toronto, no Canadian city has produced more NBA players than Montreal. The city also has nearly three times as many people in it than Vancouver, so some of the low attendance issues that the Grizzlies suffered shouldn’t affect a Montreal franchise, in theory.

Montreal is a little more out of the way in terms of location compared to all of the other NBA teams, but the Montreal Expos showed that the logistics would work provided the city has a competitive team.

The city certainly has an interest in the NBA. The last five preseason contests to be held at Montreal’s Bell Centre have been sellouts.

Oakland

State: California

Population: 428,827

Most popular sports teams nearby: Golden State Warriors, Oakland Raiders, San Francisco 49ers

Major industries: Marine cargo, green energy

Bottom line: Not too ago, Oakland had the most successful NBA team of this era with the Golden State Warriors. But a move across the bay to San Francisco changed everything, and now Oakland is poised to lose two pro sports teams within a matter of months.

The Warriors are in San Francisco, and the Raiders are headed to Las Vegas, leaving just the Oakland Athletics in the city, and they could bolt to a new place any second now.

Rechristen the Warriors as the San Francisco Warriors, just as they were originally when they moved from Philadelphia, and give Oakland its own team. That way, both Northern and Southern California can have its own dueling NBA teams.

How cool would that be?

Pittsburgh

State: Pennsylvania

Population: 301,048

Most popular sports teams nearby: Pittsburgh Steelers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Pittsburgh Pirates

Major industries: Steel, health care, education

Bottom line: Nearly 20 people born in Pittsburgh have made their way to the NBA, making it one of the best cities at producing NBA talent.

Pittsburgh already has three major sports teams, and they all have passionate fan bases, so finding a following for an NBA team would not be a problem.

The climate of Pittsburgh also plays into having indoor sports teams since the city averages over 150 rainy days a year. That’s even more than Seattle as only Portland and Cleveland have more rainy days among NBA cities.

With the structure to support multiple sports franchises and a climate conducive to basketball, Pittsburgh is a great option to land an NBA team.

Raleigh

State: North Carolina

Population: 469,298

Most popular sports teams nearby: Carolina Hurricanes

Major industries: Telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, food processing

Bottom line: Two sports stand head and shoulders above all others in North Carolina: auto racing and basketball. Amateur hoops always has been strong in the state, and Raleigh has been a part of that in relation to the Tobacco Road rivalry.

It just makes sense for an NBA team to come to the area. Why wouldn’t fans who passionately support college basketball not do the same for professional basketball?

The NHL's Carolina Hurricanes have experienced success in Raleigh, which is not thought of as a hockey market, so the city would be better served with an NBA team.

Round Rock

State: Texas

Population: 128,739

Most popular sports teams nearby: San Antonio Spurs

Major industries: Software development, clean energy

Bottom line: Round Rock is a suburb of Austin, Texas, and while Austin itself could be deserving of an NBA team, Round Rock is even more deserving simply because of the city’s name.

Round Rock could be a synonym for a basketball, which is obviously round and is frequently called "the rock" in slang. Think of all of the ways a marketing department could promote an NBA team playing in Round Rock and all of the different in-game promotions that could play off the city’s name.

With the backing of Austin and its nearly one million residents, Round Rock would not struggle to fill the seats of an NBA arena.

San Diego

State: California

Population: 1,425,976

Most popular sports teams nearby: San Diego Padres

Major industries: Defense/military, international trade

Bottom line: In 1984, the Clippers relocated from San Diego to Los Angeles without league approval. When you find out that the person responsible for that unlawful move was owner Donald Sterling, then you can see why San Diego should get an NBA team back.

The Clippers struggled while in San Diego but that was just par for the course for the franchise. They made some bad personnel moves such as trading away MVP Bob McAdoo when he was 25 years old and then signing a broken-down Bill Walton, who couldn’t stay on the court.

With the Chargers now 120 miles north in Los Angeles, there is less competition among local teams, and just as NBA players love the locale of Los Angeles, the same would apply for San Diego.

Seattle

State: Washington

Population: 744,955

Most popular sports teams nearby: Seattle Seahawks, Seattle Mariners, Seattle Sounders

Major industries: Internet retail, clean technology

Bottom line: When you take into account cities with rich basketball histories and fan bases deserving of NBA teams, no city should have an NBA team more so than Seattle. The SuperSonics' move from Seattle to Oklahoma City is still talked about today, and Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr called the demise of the Sonics "a real black mark on the NBA."

Kerr also accurately compared the Sonics' fan base to that of the Warriors, noting their passion for supporting the home team even when things weren’t going so well. There is hope that a team could return to "The Emerald City," but it would be through expansion rather than relocation.

Seattle won’t get back the OKC Thunder, but there is the possibility the city gets an entirely new franchise that they could call the SuperSonics, similar to how the Charlotte Hornets regained a team after their team departed for New Orleans.

St. Louis

State: Missouri

Population: 302,838

Most popular sports teams nearby: St. Louis Cardinals, St. Louis Blues

Major industries: Manufacturing, trade, transportation

Bottom line: For 13 years in the 1950s and 1960s, the Hawks were the St. Louis Hawks, but they left after the city refused to build a new arena. A similar situation also led to the Rams leaving town. Provided the city can get those issues rectified, a sports town as great as St. Louis deserves an NBA team.

The Cardinals have one of the most fervent fan bases in all of Major League Baseball, and one that rivals many of the big-market teams. The Blues also have shown that the city will support winners even in a city that isn’t a traditional hockey town.

St. Louis is more of a basketball town than a hockey town so a successful NBA team would be well-received in the city, just as the Hawks were when they won the NBA championship in 1958.

Vancouver

Country: Canada

Population: 631,486

Most popular sports teams nearby: Vancouver Canucks, Vancouver Whitecaps

Major industries: Film and television, international commerce, technology

Bottom line: Whenever you saw Vancouver, you likely thought of the Vancouver Grizzlies, who were a colossal failure. The Grizzlies lasted just six seasons there before heading to a place without many grizzly bears in Memphis.

But what if the Grizzlies had landed Vince Carter in 1998 instead of the Toronto Raptors. Would the success of the two NBA Canadian teams have been flipped? It’s likely as Carter was as popular as any player of his era.

Vancouver deserves a second chance to right its wrongs, especially since the popularity of basketball has exploded in Canada over the last two decades.

Virginia Beach

State: Virginia

Population: 450,189

Most popular sports teams nearby: None within a 100-mile radius of the city

Major industries: Tourism, agribusiness

Bottom line: Virginia is the most populous state without a major pro sports team, and Virginia Beach is the biggest city in the state. Don’t tell us about Virginia getting to share the D.C. teams. All of those teams are more Maryland than Virginia, such as the Redskins, whose stadium resides in Maryland.

As the name indicates, Virginia Beach is home to hundreds of miles of beaches, which would make it attractive to top players, and the presence of top players inevitably leads to fans showing up.

The Virginia fans are dying for an NBA team more so than any other sport. Their last taste of pro basketball was the Virginia Squires folding along with the rest of the ABA in the 1970s.

Wichita

State: Kansas

Population: 389,255

Most popular sports teams nearby: None within a 100-mile radius of the city

Major industries: Manufacturing, health care, aviation

Bottom line: From Kansas University to Wichita State to Kansas State, "The Sunflower State" always has been an avid fan of amateur basketball. So why not give professional basketball a shot?

Wichita is the largest city in the state and a good 200 miles away from Kansas City, which many people forget is actually half in Missouri and have in Kansas, with the two pro sports teams that call Kansas City home on the Missouri side. Having a team in Kansas also would add a pro franchise to the Great Plains, which is grossly underrepresented in major professional sports.

Additionally, the game of basketball was invented by Dr. James Naismith, who was Canadian but whose only coaching job was at KU. Bringing a pro team to the state would be an homage to the man who made basketball and the NBA possible.