I am a huge NBA 2K fan so when I heard that in 2K16 one would be able to relocate teams, I was elated. If you are familiar with me you would know that I live in Topeka, Kansas. This basically means that I really don’t have my own hometown team. I cheer for the Oklahoma City Thunder a lot because they are technically my local team and I am able to watch their games every day. The problem is that no one in Kansas really associates the Thunder as their local NBA team. While I enjoy watching and going to Thunder games, I would much rather have them in Kansas City to go along with the Royals, Chiefs and Sporting KC. So with this feature in NBA 2K16 coming it got me thinking about what if a team relocated? Even better, what if the NBA just added a couple more teams? I mean two more teams really couldn’t hurt right?

As of now I am certain that no teams will be relocating so all I can hope for is league expansion. Realistically I think this can very well happen. There are so many cities that would gladly host an NBA team. Whether it be Seattle, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Las Vegas or even Cincinnati.  Below are reasons as to why the NBA should expand.

Reason 1: Depth Of Talent Around The World

Basketball isn’t what it used to be. It is one of the most popular sports globally and is still growing. It isn’t just the US and Europe anymore. Now basketball is popular in Africa, Asia, Australia and South America. The NBA is being filled with more and more foreign talent. For example, the 2013-14 San Antonio Spurs were mostly made up of international players. They had players from France, Spain, Australia, Brazil and so on. These foreign players weren’t just bench players either. They were key parts of San Antonio defeating the then two-time defending NBA Champion Miami Heat.

Don’t get me wrong, the United States is still the superior for producing basketball talent. There are so many great players in here in the US that could turn out to be phenomenal NBA players. I see many players in that leave the league to go overseas but they could still contribute in the NBA. If the NBA ever used the excuse of “watering down the league” it would be totally wrong. The league never has a problem finding new players to fill the rosters.

Reason 2: More Money, Less Problems

At the end of the day, money is the center of everything, If you haven’t figured that out yet, you need to wake up! With the new TV deal, the NBA is in for the biggest check they have ever received. All of this money means more cap room too. This then means that player contracts are going to be at an all time high. Even this year, some of the contracts players signed just seem outrageous. It is definitely a good time to be an NBA player, with all the cap room. Players will more than likely sign with different teams because just about everyone has the space. This would make it a little bit easier for the newly expanded teams to sign players and become relevant NBA teams. Having this combination of extra cap space and a couple new teams could create a parity in the league that we haven’t seen before. It would spread out the talent a tad bit, but the rosters would still be strong with all of the new and exciting players that would be able to finally make an NBA roster and prove their self-worth playing at the highest level.

The NBA is one of the biggest businesses in the world. NBA basketball is one of the most popular forms of entertainment in this country and even the world. Having a couple more teams would only add to that power, money and number of games to show on TV.

Reason 3: Loyal Fans, Loyal Cities

If I were to have it my way, the NBA would expand to Seattle and Kansas City. Those cities have two of the most loyal and passionate fan bases. Seattle is still torn from the loss of the Sonics to OKC. The city would do anything to bring an NBA team back. They felt cheated, and rightfully so, by Clayton Bennett. If you don’t know, Clayton Bennett and his other group of owners bought the Sonics and told everyone that he wouldn’t move them to Oklahoma despite rumors. Obviously he lied about it and so many Seattle fans can’t stand the Thunder. Even though I’m a fan of the Thunder, I still recognize that the Thunder coming to OKC pretty much screwed over a city.

To make a case for Kansas City look at the recent success of the Royals, Chiefs and Sporting KC. The Chiefs are poised to have a big season and currently hold the world record for the loudest outdoor stadium which was previously held by the Seattle Seahawks. Another Kansas City success story is the Royals. They suffered through so many bad seasons (as did the Chiefs) and fans still supported. Now they are the best team in the American League and are the defending ALCS champions. Kauffmann Stadium aka “The K” where the Royals play is pretty much sold out every single night. This example alone should prove to Adam Silver and Co. that KC is ready to have an NBA team again.

Reason 4: State-Of-The-Art Facilities

One of the biggest reasons why an NBA team wouldn’t come to a new city is because they don’t have new state-of-the-art facilities. Well I know for a fact that Kansas City and many other cities do actually have the arenas to fill an NBA team. Seattle has a pretty new arena and they even have a WNBA team that plays there. Kansas City has the Sprint Center which is in downtown KC in the middle of just about everything. It plays host to the University Of Kansas basketball games, Big 12 tournament, NCAA Tournament and preseason NBA games. It is bigger than many current NBA arenas actually (18,972).

Final Analysis 

The NBA would benefit tremendously by expanding the league. I know so many people would love it too. I think when it’s all said and done they will, but it could be awhile as Adam Silver made it clear last season that he wasn’t planning on expanding. You never know though, something could come up and he might change his mind. If Adam Silver were to expand the league, he would add to his already young and great legacy as a commissioner of a major sports league. It will be fun to live out this dream while I play NBA 2K15 so religiously come September.