By Steve Marshall and Kim Mendez
When you looked at the full house during the NBA preseason game played at Rogers Arena with the Raptors playing the Clippers this past October 4th, you have to wonder: what if? What if the Vancouver Grizzlies did things differently back in the 90’s? How would things be now?
Was Vancouver setup to fail in the NBA? Let’s take a look at what the Grizzlies had to face while entering the NBA as an expansion team against other established NBA teams who have been together for years.
For Vancouver to have enough players for their team, the NBA allowed them to pick players from all the other NBA teams. Except, of course, for each team’s protected top 8 players. Which meant, Vancouver had their pick of bench warmers.
The NBA then chose to deny the Grizzlies one of the top 5 picks in the draft for 3 years, even if they won the lottery. The Vancouver Grizzlies were doomed for the most important first 4 years of their existence.
To add to the league’s restrictions, there were the questionable NBA draft picks by then Grizzlies General Manager, Stu Jackson.
First, was the 6th overall draft pick bust, Bryant “Big Country” Reeves, in 1995. Then came 3rd overall draft pick Shareef Abdur-Rahim in 1996, where the Grizzlies organization chose Abdur-Rahim over other draft picks such as Ray Allen, Antoine Walker, Kobe Bryant, Peja Stojakovic, Steve Nash and Derek Fisher.
Then in 1997, the Grizzlies used their 4th draft pick for Antonio Daniels. Number 2 draft pick Mike Bibby was chosen in 1998 over Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce. Then, of course, came the beginning to the end, number 2 draft pick, Steve Francis, in 1999.
Remember Steve Francis? He did not want to play in Vancouver at all. He even publicly announced it. Francis was visibly upset and disappointed when his name was called by the Vancouver Grizzlies during the draft. Why would a team choose a player who didn’t want to play for them? Did the Vancouver Grizzlies even speak with Steve Francis prior to the draft? Either way, he was soon traded to the Houston Rockets where he went on to win NBA Rookie of the Year honors along with Elton Brand who played for the Chicago Bulls.
The year 2000 was the last draft for the Vancouver Grizzlies. The Grizzlies chose Stromile Swift. Now, you really can’t say much about the 2000 NBA draft, other than it being viewed as the worst draft year in the history of the NBA. From the 2000 draft, only 3 players made All-Star appearances and only 15 of the 58 players in the draft went on to play in the NBA for at least ten years.
What else could go wrong? How about the fact the Canadian dollar was low against the US, which made it hard for the franchise to make money.
With the franchise losing on and off the court, the Vancouver Grizzlies was eventually sold to Memphis. The Memphis Grizzlies then went on to spark the Pau Gasol era for the team.
Looking at the Memphis Grizzlies’ playoff stints in the past 8 seasons, you just can’t help but ask yourself, what if Vancouver found a way to struggle past 2000? Could the Memphis Grizzlies’ success have been ours?
Did Michael Heisley even have any intentions of keeping the team in Vancouver? During the first 4 years, the Vancouver Grizzlies team averaged 17,183 spectators per game, which was 14th in the league and is actually a great statistic for a losing team. Attendance wasn’t an issue.
All in all, and if you add it all up, the Vancouver Grizzlies was doomed right from the start. But, what if?
