Discogod Posted March 2, 2017 Share Posted March 2, 2017 Been doing some digging myself - after he sold the Cavs, Stepien bought a CBA expansion team in Toronto and named them the Tornados. They played 2-and-a-bit seasons from 1983-85, and their logo was very similar to that proposed Towers logo: 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leopard88 Posted March 2, 2017 Share Posted March 2, 2017 They're both bad logos, but at least the Tornados logos reads as Tornados. The W completely disappears on the Towers logo. Quote Most Liked Content of the Day -- February 15, 2017, August 21, 2017, August 22, 2017 ///// Proud Winner of the CCSLC Post of the Day Award -- April 8, 2008 Originator of the Upside Down Sarcasm Smilie -- November 1, 2005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panthers_2012 Posted March 2, 2017 Share Posted March 2, 2017 7 hours ago, Discogod said: Incredible find! I love anything like that related to the late 70s/early 80s NBA, when it seemed like teams were going to relocate, merge or just go out of business every week. I wish I could find an article I had from c.1982 which detailed the NBA's tentative plans around that time - amongst other things, it had the Nuggets & Jazz merging, Spurs moving to Miami and Cleveland, Indiana & Kansas City folding outright! Now look at the Spurs and Cavs!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimball Posted March 2, 2017 Share Posted March 2, 2017 8 hours ago, Discogod said: Incredible find! I love anything like that related to the late 70s/early 80s NBA, when it seemed like teams were going to relocate, merge or just go out of business every week. I wish I could find an article I had from c.1982 which detailed the NBA's tentative plans around that time - amongst other things, it had the Nuggets & Jazz merging, Spurs moving to Miami and Cleveland, Indiana & Kansas City folding outright! I'm in that same boat. There's some golden info in "In the Hornets' Nest" chronicling the Charlotte Hornets' first season. Before being awarded a team David Stern directed George Shinn to a couple of troubled franchises including the Jazz and the Clippers among other teams. I remember reading rumors of the Jazz and Nuggets merging, the group that bought the Kings to move them to Sacramento almost bought the Pacers in 1982 and the Kings almost moving to Dallas or Minneapolis back in the late 70s. I love all that 'What If' history. OH ... and then there was the NBA Expansion team awarded to Toronto in 1975, but there wasn't a group that could come up with the franchise fee so expansion was cancelled. Quote "I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific." Lily Tomlin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimball Posted March 2, 2017 Share Posted March 2, 2017 1 hour ago, Discogod said: Been doing some digging myself - after he sold the Cavs, Stepien bought a CBA expansion team in Toronto and named them the Tornados. They played 2-and-a-bit seasons from 1983-85, and their logo was very similar to that proposed Towers logo: That's fascinating. Awesome find! 1 Quote "I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific." Lily Tomlin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gothamite Posted March 2, 2017 Share Posted March 2, 2017 2 hours ago, leopard88 said: They're both bad logos, but at least the Tornados logos reads as Tornados. The W completely disappears on the Towers logo. Yeah, it's too clever by half. 1 Quote The Green Bay Packers Uniform Database! Now in a handy blog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Discogod Posted March 2, 2017 Share Posted March 2, 2017 4 hours ago, kimball said: I'm in that same boat. There's some golden info in "In the Hornets' Nest" chronicling the Charlotte Hornets' first season. Before being awarded a team David Stern directed George Shinn to a couple of troubled franchises including the Jazz and the Clippers among other teams. I remember reading rumors of the Jazz and Nuggets merging, the group that bought the Kings to move them to Sacramento almost bought the Pacers in 1982 and the Kings almost moving to Dallas or Minneapolis back in the late 70s. I love all that 'What If' history. OH ... and then there was the NBA Expansion team awarded to Toronto in 1975, but there wasn't a group that could come up with the franchise fee so expansion was cancelled. Funnily enough, I bought that book a couple of weeks ago. I'm just waiting for it to arrive (currently chugging through Terry Pluto's "Tall Tales"). Half the teams in the league had relocation threats in the 70s & 80s. The ABA kicked a lot of the established teams square in the nuts, and a lot of them found it hard to keep going. Combine that with escalating salaries, half-empty arenas and a negligible TV deal and it was a recipe for disaster. It wasn't until Stern became the Commissioner that the league found some stability (and of course Jordan, Magic & Bird didn't hurt). A lot of people have no idea how unsteady the NBA was back then, and how close it came to losing a good chunk of teams. This is a pretty good article about the late 80s expansion: http://articles.latimes.com/1987-04-19/sports/sp-2064_1_expansion-team 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimball Posted March 2, 2017 Share Posted March 2, 2017 1 hour ago, Discogod said: Funnily enough, I bought that book a couple of weeks ago. I'm just waiting for it to arrive (currently chugging through Terry Pluto's "Tall Tales"). Half the teams in the league had relocation threats in the 70s & 80s. The ABA kicked a lot of the established teams square in the nuts, and a lot of them found it hard to keep going. Combine that with escalating salaries, half-empty arenas and a negligible TV deal and it was a recipe for disaster. It wasn't until Stern became the Commissioner that the league found some stability (and of course Jordan, Magic & Bird didn't hurt). A lot of people have no idea how unsteady the NBA was back then, and how close it came to losing a good chunk of teams. This is a pretty good article about the late 80s expansion: http://articles.latimes.com/1987-04-19/sports/sp-2064_1_expansion-team Two things from that ... 1) I am sooooooo glad that Shinn didn't go with the Charlotte Spirit. 2) If the NBA picked only one team from Florida and it was the Heat -- do you think it would be the Florida Heat? Quote "I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific." Lily Tomlin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerseyJosh Posted March 2, 2017 Share Posted March 2, 2017 I just learned so much, thank you guys! All of that is fascinating to me. Any Nets almost moving/folding stories (other than the BKLYN stuff during the '00's? I'm such a homer, forgive me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Discogod Posted March 2, 2017 Share Posted March 2, 2017 I think it's a safe bet that the Heat would have gone with "Florida" over "Miami" had they been the only team in that state. I'm still of the belief that the only reason the NBA expanded by 4 teams instead of 2 was to prevent existing teams relocating to either Minneapolis or Miami. They were always top of the list when relocation seemed on the cards in the 80s. JerseyJosh, the Nets moved a few times - they started as the New Jersey Americans, moved to New York after a season and became the Nets and then moved back to Jersey in 1977. Other than that, there's only really the time they almost changed their name to the Swamp Dragons: http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/15155466/once-nets-seriously-considered-becoming-swamp-dragons 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Posted March 2, 2017 Share Posted March 2, 2017 15 hours ago, Discogod said: Incredible find! I love anything like that related to the late 70s/early 80s NBA, when it seemed like teams were going to relocate, merge or just go out of business every week. I wish I could find an article I had from c.1982 which detailed the NBA's tentative plans around that time - amongst other things, it had the Nuggets & Jazz merging, Spurs moving to Miami and Cleveland, Indiana & Kansas City folding outright! The Cavs obviously stayed in Cleveland, so how was it a possible destination for the Spurs franchise? Or was it because of the potential Toronto move? Quote http://www.derekyoder.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceCap Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 2 hours ago, Discogod said: I think it's a safe bet that the Heat would have gone with "Florida" over "Miami" had they been the only team in that state. I'm still of the belief that the only reason the NBA expanded by 4 teams instead of 2 was to prevent existing teams relocating to either Minneapolis or Miami. They were always top of the list when relocation seemed on the cards in the 80s. JerseyJosh, the Nets moved a few times - they started as the New Jersey Americans, moved to New York after a season and became the Nets and then moved back to Jersey in 1977. Other than that, there's only really the time they almost changed their name to the Swamp Dragons: http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/15155466/once-nets-seriously-considered-becoming-swamp-dragons I love that story. Only one team voted against the name change, and it was the Nets. Amazing. 4 Quote PotD 26/2/12 1/7/15 2020 BASS Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal Regular Season Champion 2021 BASS NFL Pick'em Regular Season Champion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Bear Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 Swamp Dragons > Nets Unpopular opinion, probably. But that logo would have been a classic 90s. Better than the hoop logo of the New Jersey Nets. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Giant Pacific Octopus Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 Despite the stupid logo, the name Toronto Towers is alot better than Toronto Raptors. No-one knew what a raptor was until Jurassic Park, and the winning entry was sent in by a little girl! 1 Quote The Catch of the Day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimball Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 15 minutes ago, The Giant Pacific Octopus said: Despite the stupid logo, the name Toronto Towers is alot better than Toronto Raptors. No-one knew what a raptor was until Jurassic Park, and the winning entry was sent in by a little girl! I'm not sure what being a little girl has to do with the winning entry? But, I'm not sure if Towers is better than Raptors? Sure, Raptors is very niche and aged. But, Towers is just kinda ... boring? Like, really boring. Huskies,Grizzlies, Mounties, Beavers, Moose, Hosers or something more Canadian-ish, in my opinion, would be better. 5 Quote "I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific." Lily Tomlin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lights Out Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 A few more Reebok Edge prototypes have shown up on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/TORONTO-MAPLE-LEAFS-PROTOTYPE-AUTHENTIC-HOME-REEBOK-JERSEY-SIZE-56-DAMAGED-/292043551594?hash=item43ff26f36a:g:dJgAAOSwax5YuKfT (I posted the white version of this sweater back in September 2015.) http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-YORK-ISLANDERS-PROTOTYPE-AUTHENTIC-HOME-REEBOK-JERSEY-SIZE-56-DAMAGED-/112321883815?hash=item1a26e7eea7:g:AlkAAOSwax5YuKu3 http://www.ebay.com/itm/OTTAWA-SENATORS-PROTOTYPE-AUTHENTIC-AWAY-REEBOK-JERSEY-SIZE-56-DAMAGED-/292043574462?hash=item43ff274cbe:g:fk4AAOSwuxFYuLAE http://www.ebay.com/itm/DALLAS-STARS-PROTOTYPE-AUTHENTIC-HOME-REEBOK-JERSEY-SIZE-56-DAMAGED-/112321992224?hash=item1a26e99620:g:6bgAAOSwB-1YuMYZ Quote POTD: 2/4/12 3/4/12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lights Out Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 A Knicks Rev30 prototype has also popped up on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Adidas-Authentic-New-York-Knicks-NBA-Jersey-Size-XL-2-Sample-Pro-Cut-Team-Game-/262844402743?hash=item3d32bf4c37:g:v1gAAOSw~AVYm~0y 1 Quote POTD: 2/4/12 3/4/12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroCree Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 2 minutes ago, Lights Out said: A Knicks Rev30 prototype has also popped up on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Adidas-Authentic-New-York-Knicks-NBA-Jersey-Size-XL-2-Sample-Pro-Cut-Team-Game-/262844402743?hash=item3d32bf4c37:g:v1gAAOSw~AVYm~0y It's just like before only new font, grey stripe and no v-neck. If they didn't look half finished, I would prefer these over what they wear now. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Giant Pacific Octopus Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 42 minutes ago, kimball said: I'm not sure what being a little girl has to do with the winning entry The fact that they listened to a little kid who liked Jurassic Park. They name a professional sports team Raptors because some kid loved a movie. Quote The Catch of the Day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFGiants58 Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 6 minutes ago, The Giant Pacific Octopus said: The fact that they listened to a little kid who liked Jurassic Park. They name a professional sports team Raptors because some kid loved a movie. A citation for that would be nice. It could be a simple link, a page from a book, etc. Speaking of unused uniforms, we have some interesting concepts about what a "baseball uniform of the future" looked like to 1968 conceptual artists: Here's the source, and the referral point to source. 2 Quote MLB: Project 32 (Complete), MLB: The Defunct Saga (Complete) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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