Fans Are Rallying In The Streets This Week To Bring The NBA Back To Vancouver

Do you remember Vancouver’s NBA team? The Vancouver Grizzlies were not around for all that long, but they sure gained themselves some super-fans in the city. On Thursday, October 17, local Grizzlies fans will be gathering for a Vancouver NBA rally to show the league that Vancouverites want their beloved Grizzlies back.

Kat Jamye, the rally’s organizer, told Narcity in an interview that there is quite the underground community of Grizzlies fans in Vancouver. "This is a way to get all NBA and Grizzlies fans together to show the league and hopefully potential investors that Vancouver has the fanbase, the community, and the support for a second chance at the NBA," she told us.

Jayme is also the director of a documentary called Finding Big Country which is all about the Vancouver Grizzlies. As you can tell, she's a pretty huge fan.

A website dedicated to the cause called NBA to Vancouver explains that the rally will be taking place before the L.A. Clippers and Dallas Mavericks face-off in a preseason game in Vancouver at Rogers Arena.

Fans are encouraged to show up at 4:30 p.m. on October 17 dressed in their Grizzlies gear to show support. People will congregate by the Nielsen Statue at Rogers Arena to “let it be known that we want an NBA team back,” says the NBA to Vancouver website. "We need you to start making noise with us, and sustain it, if we want this to happen. This is the first step. Take it with us," the webpage continues.

If you're wondering who the Grizzlies were, here's the scoop. According to Bleacher Report, the Vancouver Grizzles came about at the same time as the Toronto Raptors in 1995. Unfortunately, the Grizzles did not enjoy the success of the Raptors. “The Grizzlies ended up going 101-359 from 1995-2001, the worst record in the NBA during that 6-year span,” said the Bleacher Report.

Before the 2001-2002 season kicked off, the Grizzlies movies to Memphis and that was the end of that. Or was it? Grizzlies fans like Kat Jamye are still as loyal as ever, even 18 years after the team left Vancity. 

Fans are fired up, posters are appearing around the city, and another Finding Big Country film called We the West is dropping today, October 15, 2019.

If the thought of Vancouver getting an NBA team isn't exciting enough, there's another big detail you may have forgotten about this Thursday's preseason game. Kawhi Leonard will be in Vancouver with his new team, the L.A. Clippers.

Regardless of what happens, Thursday will be a big day for basketball in Vancouver. If you want to see an NBA team in Vancouver again, you know where you need to be. "It’s a fun, positive, peaceful event. I’m excited to see how many Grizzlies fans still exist out there!” Kat Jamye told Narcity.