It's sometimes hard to remember, but NBA franchises are about more than just the product that's put out onto the hardwood.
Professional basketball is a business, after all.
It's about winning, sure. But it's also about appealing to fans, drawing big crowds, making money and building a valuable brand. And that's why the on-court product is only a part of these preseason power rankings for the NBA's big-market teams, the first piece in a three-part series that will also focus on the medium-sized and small-market teams.
So, how do we determine the 10 franchises that qualify as "big-market teams?"
It's all about the population in the cities they call home, which you can view here (the data is aggregated by the United States Census Bureau). The teams with the 10 largest hometown populations are considered the big-market teams for the purpose of this article.
Below are the squads we're dealing with, sorted by estimated 2012 population:
New York Knicks
Brooklyn Nets
Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles Clippers
Chicago Bulls
Toronto Raptors
Houston Rockets
Philadelphia 76ers
Phoenix Suns
San A ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Adam Fromal
Preseason Power Rankings for the NBA’s Big-Market Teams
October 18th, 2013 by Adam Fromal Leave a reply »
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