NBA Commissioner David Stern was in Memphis on Monday to christen the new Grizzlies ownership. Stern, who announced last month plans to retire in 2014, helped welcome 34-year-old Grizzlies owner Robert Pera to the NBA>
It was Memphis' night, but the Jazz did come up. Stern, in talking about the growth potential for Memphis, included the Jazz in a list of teams the small-market Grizzlies could emulate.
"Let's keep the momentum going with this group and this team," Stern said. "There's no reason why Memphis couldn't be both successful on the court but as succcesfsul as a team, as a business, as an NBA franchise in a similarly sized market. ... Oklahoma City as the comparabale, but if I needed to I would move up to San Antonio, Utah, Portland. You get the drift. I take a great deal of pride that the NBA can not only surive but can thrive under our current system in a market where there is the coprporate base that memphis has and there's a population base like Memphis' and to have the ability for salary cap and revenue sharing to ensure that if a team is well managed, the team can compete and do well financially."
— Bill Oram
