Canada might be known as primarily hockey crazed, but they certainly appreciate their basketball as well.
The Raptors have always had a frenzied fan base, but British Columbia is pretty far away from Ontario.
Call it national pride or simply a passion for the game that Canadian born James Naismith created, but the Warriors vs. Raptors preseason game set for October 1st in Vancouver sold out ridiculously fast.
Within minutes of the tickets being made available to the public, there were no more seats available for what will be Kevin Durant’s first official game in a Warriors jersey.
Vancouver was the home of the Grizzlies before their relocation to Memphis in 2001. For 6 seasons, the Grizzlies gave the western half of Canada an alternative to the Raptors.
A weak Canadian dollar coincided with low attendance figures to make operating a team in Vancouver increasingly difficult.
It didn’t help matters when Steve Francis refused to play in Vancouver when he was drafted by them 2nd overall in 1999.
Vancouver is a beautiful city, so any resistance to playing there is pretty misguided. The popularity of this preseason game makes it somewhat strange that the city lost an NBA franchise as quickly as it did.
Of course, this specific showdown features Canada’s only basketball team, possibly the best team in the Eastern Conference besides the Cavaliers.
Their opponents might be the most anticipated team in recent memory, with Durant joining a Warriors squad that won 73 games last season.
The Grizzlies were never very good when playing there, and it isn’t easy to draw up consistent support for a lackluster product.
Had the Grizzlies been winning games while in Vancouver, maybe things would have ended differently.
The Grizzlies never won more than 23 games in a season while in Vancouver. They won 50 games in just their third season in Memphis.
Combined with the limited opportunities to see professional basketball in person in Vancouver, it makes sense that demand for these tickets would be high.
This certainly proves that Vancouver has an appetite for high quality basketball, which unfortunately is something they rarely got in 6 seasons of hosting the Grizzlies.
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