The NBA should expand the league and give Calgary a basketball team.
Calgary has quickly built a sports atmosphere that can support multiple teams instead of just the Calgary Flames and Stampeders.
In 2016, The Toronto Raptors played the Denver Nuggets at the Scotiabank Saddledome. As somebody who went to that game, I can say that the atmosphere was great as the Raptors jumped on the microphone after the game to talk about how great the fans were. The game was a big success as it started the growth of basketball in Calgary as leagues like the Calgary Minor Basketball association had an increase in players by 15 per cent the next year.
As somebody who has played basketball for the last 15 years, I watched as the number of players at tryouts for the CMBA grew more and more as I went up the ranks. The Raptors influence on basketball in Calgary was huge as kids wanted to be the next Vince Carter or Canadian legend Steve Nash.
Fast Forward to 2019 and the Toronto Raptors were in the NBA finals as fans in Calgary flooded to watch the team in the East Village, including myself. As a spectator during the moment that the Raptors won the NBA Trophy on June 13, the people were electric and were shown on popular sports stations like TSN and ESPN as all of Canada celebrated the historic win.
But this wasn’t the first time in the in the last 20 years that the cities fans got noticed by the world.
In 2004, the Calgary Flames made a historic run to the Stanley Cup finals. Though they lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning after an unforgettable, and for some unforgivable, no goal call from the refs. Although the Flames got robbed of their second Stanley cup in the team’s history, the fans cheered loud and proud, and showed the world that Calgary has some of the best supporters in the world.
In conclusion, the rise of the Toronto Raptors has had helped skyrocket the popularity of basketball in Calgary, which already has an intense fan base when it comes to watching the Flames and the Stampeders. As basketball blows up in Calgary, I think the NBA should bring a team to Calgary and continue to expand into the west.
My idea for the team name? The Calgary Cows.