Grizzlies Sold To Billionaire

September 23, 1999 / 2:56 PM EDT / CBS/AP

The NBA league meetings opened Thursday with the host city in shock after the Vancouver Grizzlies were sold to an owner who could try to move the team to St. Louis.

Bill and Nancy Laurie, heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune, agreed to pay John McCaw about $200 million for the Grizzlies, who entered the NBA four years ago when the league expanded into Canada.

The Lauries, who earlier this year tried to purchase the Denver Nuggets, own the NHL Blues and the new Kiel Center arena in downtown St. Louis.

"We have no current plan to move the Grizzlies," said Laurie, who nonetheless refused to give any assurances to Grizzlies fans that he won't try to move the team in the next year or two.

Franchises wanting to relocate must submit a petition to the league before March 1 in order to move for the following season. The Grizzlies are prohibited by their expansion agreement from making such an application before May 15, 2000 a rule that would seem to ensure they will continue to be based in Vancouver for the next two seasons.

St. Louis hasn't had an NBA team since the Atlanta Hawks left in 1968.

Commissioner David Stern voiced his personal opposition to a relocation, citing the league's record of not having any franchise migrations since the Clippers moved from San Diego to Los Angeles in 1984.

"It's my goal to see the Grizzlies stay and succeed in Vancouver," he said.

The decision on whether to allow the team to move, however, would ultimately be made by the league's Board of Governors. Of the league's 29 owners, only 15 would be needed to approve a relocation. A three-quarters majority would be needed to approve the sale.

"It's not unprecedented for an NBA team to move, but on the other hand when you place a franchise someplace you ask the fans to make a certain commitment to the team," Stern said. "And it's not inappropriate for the fans to expect the team to have some commitment to them."

Laurie, asked repeatedly if he would give the fans of Vancouver some kind of commitment or reassurance, refused to say anything of substance regarding his long-term plans for the team.

"I really feel uncomfortable with the skepticism, only because this is a big day for our family," Laurie said. "This is a big step for us, and somehow some of the excitement and fun is being taken away by the cloud hanging over us."

McCaw also owns the NHL Vancouver Canucks and GM Place, the team's 19,000-seat arena. Both had been for sale, but McCaw said they are now off the market.

The purchase price of $200 million was confirmed to The Associaed Press by two league sources speaking on condition of anonymity.

Laurie, an avid basketball fan and a former point guard for Memphis State, agreed in April to buy the Colorado Avalanche of the NHL, the Denver Nuggets of the NBA and Denver's new Pepsi Center for $400 million. But the Lauries, of Columbia, Mo., lost out when a rival group, given a second chance to bid, offered $461 million.

Speculation has swirled about the future of the Grizzlies franchise since McCaw said last month he was willing to sell part or all of his Orca Bay sports empire.

The Grizzlies have met with limited success since joining the NBA, never winning more than 19 games. Vancouver was 8-42 in the lockout-shortened 1999 season, the worst record in the 29-team league.

Shareef Abdur-Rahim, the Grizzlies' best player, reacted cautiously to the sale announcement.

"With everything happening as fast as it has, the reassuring thing is that the people I trust and the people I believe in are still there," Abdur-Rahim said. "I believe in (general manager) Stu (Jackson) and the people up there, and as long as that situation is the same, it's cool. That was the determining factor in me signing (a contract extension last season) Stu being there and making me believe in his vision of what we need to do."

Jackson has one year remaining on his contract as general manager of the Grizzlies.