The internet is swirling with speculation that, for the first time since 2001, Vancouver could once again be home to an NBA basketball team.
An American sports website has reported that Vancouver Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini has expressed interest in buying the Indiana Pacers in order to bring the team home to British Columbia.
The Pacers ownership group is working on a new arena deal in Indianapolis, and that the Pacers could be using Aquilini as leverage in the negotiation, the website added in its story.
Aquilini denied the charge in a statement to CTV, saying he has "no immediate interest in purchasing an NBA basketball team."
Tom Mayenknecht, who helped launch the Vancouver Grizzlies franchise in 1995, says the speculation is improbable at best.
"It would be a real long shot, and I mean longer than a [three pointer] from your own zone," Mayenknecht said. "Maybe even from under your own basket to the other one. That's the kind of long shot it is."
The Grizzlies dribbled their way through six disappointing seasons in Vancouver before re-locating to Memphis, Tennessee.
To read the original web story, click here.
With a report by CTV British Columbia's Mike Killeen.
