Vancouver Grizzlies relocation to Memphis

The Vancouver Grizzlies relocation to Memphis was a successful effort by the ownership group of the Vancouver Grizzlies to move the basketball team from the Canadian city of Vancouver, British Columbia, to the United States city of Memphis, Tennessee. The team began play as the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2001–02 season. It was the first of three National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise moves between 2001 and 2008, and the third of four major league teams to relocate from Canada to the United States between 1995 and 2005.

The Grizzlies had been created as an expansion team along with the Toronto Raptors in 1995. For the six seasons in Vancouver, the Grizzlies performed poorly; they only once finished better than last in the Midwest Division and never reached the playoffs. The Grizzlies were owned by Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment, who also owned the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). In 1999, Bill Laurie, owner of the NHL's St. Louis Blues, attempted to buy the Grizzlies, with the intent to move it to St. Louis. After interference by the NBA, the Grizzlies were sold to Michael Heisley. He immediately started the process to relocate the team, and seven U.S. cities were candidates for the team—Anaheim, California, Buffalo, New York, Memphis, Tennessee, New Orleans, Louisiana, Louisville, Kentucky, Las Vegas, Nevada, and San Diego, California—before settling on the move to Memphis at the end of the season.

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