The Grizzlies’ lack of success is no secret, but there’s a surprising dearth of positivity to mention here.
The Vancouver Grizzlies entered the NBA a decade and a half ago, at the same time as the Toronto Raptors. In that time, the Raptors have parlayed moderate, but by no means spectacular, team success into an immensely loyal fan base and an enduring relationship with the city of Toronto.
Vancouver on the other hand, received the same treatment that Seattle was forced to endure seven years later with Clay Bennett and the Supersonics—the fact that no one really cared about them.
The team survived just six seasons before lackluster attendance made keeping the team in Vancouver financially unviable. Waning attendance across the league thanks to the 1998 lockout certainly played a role, but it’s safe to assume the Grizzlies’ inability to win more than 28% of their games in a season was also a key driver.
Although they kicked off the 1995-96 season by winning the first two games in franchise history, the Grizzlies won just 13 of their next 80 games- including a record-tying 23-game losing streak, and finishe ...
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Article written by Emile Avanessian
Vancouver/Memphis Grizzlies: NBA All-Time Starting Fives
August 16th, 2010 by Emile Avanessian Leave a reply »
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