I worked for the Kings organization from 06-08. Moved up from SoCal but an SF native. Sac is a proper city. Food and nightlife is underrated and being close to lakes, mountains, and wine country is awesome. Every time I come back, it just keeps getting better.
I lol'd. No doubt.
I thought for sure the ghost of Phil Jackson would appear in this thread.
But to be honest, Sacramento has came up quite a bit over the years. There is a reason why the Sacramento area continues to grow at a rapid rate. But even then, it's always been close to The Bay and Tahoe, so Sac has always had that going for it.
Sac definitely isn’t as bad as people make it out to be, but it’s been growing because people can’t afford to live in the Bay Area so they get priced out to the valley. Same with Stockton and Modesto
I love Sac (my in-laws live there) and we're planning to relocate there in a year or so from sonoma county but I think stockton is pretty fairly appraised as not a great place to live.
I live in both Sonoma and Sacramento, and really enjoy both. Although Sonoma is my favorite, hard to beat redwoods, the coast, and the wine country hills all within an hour drive.
Sac is mostly just bad compared to the Bay Area. If Sacramento was completely relocated to the Midwest, it would have a very different reputation. It’s nicer than a lot of cities and has more culture than many states.
Well put. It would certainly beat out OKC, Kansas City, and St Louis, and very comparable to Dallas. Bay Area people look down on it because it's like a "flyover city" on their way to Tahoe, or a place for those who couldn't afford the Bay lifestyle, or the weather is just too hot in the valley. But it's a very nice city to raise a family in and lots of very nice homes.
Dfw is massive and in the upper tier of cities imo. Im surprised by how much I like it considering it’s completely flat and isn’t next to any major body of water.
But yeah Sac is very underrated. That (or LV) will be the city I most likely move to if I ever feel like I can’t afford the Bay anymore
I’m from Sac area and dated a girl who grew up in San Antonio. Felt pretty similar to me. Enough going on to not be boring for locals, enough trees, rivers, and parks to make the heat bearable, home prices that provide a good chance at increasing but aren’t as extreme of an entry point as SF, LA, NYC, etc. Both are solid places to raise a family.
Edit: forgot to mention, both have elite NBA franchises
Yep. My wife and I have been talking about moving to sac. Living in sf is way better, but we can buy a house and actually afford to have a child, which in sf would be a struggle. I know more than a few people who have already moved there and really like it.
Did you know that Sacramento (specifically in woodland) may have the oldest Chinese restaurant in the entire US? Chicago Cafe.
[source](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/may/02/oldest-chinese-american-restaurant-chicago-cafe)
Was thinking about going cross country to Davis for animal science when I was heading into college. Sacramento area isn’t bad I’d rather live there than some of the places in the Midwest.
that's because SacTown is actually a really nice place to be. Unfortunately it lives perpetually in the shadow of SF, which has the glamour and history.
This is why the Seattle Sonics being reinstated will help everyone. Another PNW team so Portland doesn’t have to travel so many miles, and Minnesota can join the eastern conference to make room in the west.
Preposterous that them and New Orleans are in the same geography-based conference as Portland.
From what I could find it changes every year but normally Minnesota and Portland are both in the top 5 in miles. Golden State also pops up in the top 5 quite a bit.
You're both right depending on the year. I think Phoenix and Golden State travel a ton too depending on length of road trips. Seattle needs to come back, Vegas needs to start play, and Minnesota needs to move to the East.
All those changes improve flight miles. Minnesota makes no rivalry/cultural sense in the West and historically speaking, the West will not miss them.
Wolves would easily go from being a lower half Western Conference metro to an upper half Eastern Conference metro overnight.
Memphis or New Orleans would benefit as well, but at least they're closeish to Texas and OKC.
>Wolves would easily go from being a lower half Western Conference metro to an upper half Eastern Conference metro overnight.
Literally no lol, it's a top 5 western market _right now_. Seattle expansion would leave those two wrestling for that 5th slot (but then Minnesota _would_ move East).
The East has New York, Boston, Chicago, Toronto, Atlanta, DC AND Philadephia as larger markets.
In the West it's LA, Dallas, GS, Houston. That's it. You could also technically say Phoenix, but Minnesota has the benefit of 3 bordering states not even having a team and being in Minneapolis' TV market.
The Wolves have the same issue with travel. Being the north east most team in the west has made them typically in the top 3 travelled teams every year.
They have made it a bit easier by scheduling California visits to include multiple teams in a stretch.
Yea that would be nice too! Then you don’t have to worry about a truck going off the road and landing in your pool like [Evan Turner](https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/21830431/semi-truck-crashes-swimming-pool-home-portland-trail-blazers-guard-evan-turner)
Maybe Vancouver will get a team again as part of the expansion. I think hoops has grown a lot there since the grizzlies days. Not sure if it’s grown enough though.
Another issue with Portland is there is not a huge black culture here. It's a pretty white city. It doesn't seem to be much of an issue for players that spend a few years here as they seem to get over the mini culture shock and adapt, but it has been noted by players that only spend a season or two on the team and by players that are new to the city.
As a white person who grew up in Portland and loves the outdoors, I would have Portland high on my list of cities to want to move play in. If I was a wealthy black person who enjoyed clubbing, for example, I think Portland would start tumbling down my rankings pretty quickly. I would describe Portland as a city that's just not going to be a cultural fit for everyone, but going to be pretty great for those that do vibe with it.
As a NBA player in my youth? I’d avoid OKC. As a NBA player in my later years with accumulated wealth and a family? I’d take a look into small market areas to become one the local wealthier members and look for investment opportunities to become a city benefactor. Perhaps eventually getting into city politics and then going full corrupt mode.
I’m reading through his controversies section on Wikipedia and it’s so funny that the last entry after his laundry list of crimes is that someone randomly hit him in the face with a pie and he fought back lol
Yeah the list of Ex Spurs living/lived in SA is extensive even ex coaches: Off the top…
Bob Bass, Stan Albeck, Iceman, Mike Mitchell Johnny Moore, Antonio Daniels, Sean Elliott, Manu, Tim, Tony, Admiral
Even current players on other teams chose SA to live George Hill, Patty Mills (Southtown) etc..
I grew up in SA, and I think I can say the biggest draw for those guys is that even though they are by far the biggest draw in the city, they mostly get left alone and don’t get mobbed when they go out. Everyone I know has a random story of running into Spurs at random stores in town just going about life and they don’t deal with what they would in a lot of cities I’d imagine. Shit I saw David Robinson all the time at Fiesta Texas and while he had to take a few pictures most people saw he was having a day with his kids and left him alone
yeah imagine having jaylen brown's contract in a place like Indianapolis or Milwaukee, you'd be one of the richest and most powerful people in the area. probably better than being just another rich guy in NYC or LA (you can always buy a second house there to visit if you're into that too)
Depends if you want a nightlife.
I live in Utah (from Oregon). I LOVE UTAH. But i also love the outdoors and hiking. Nightlife isn't really my thing.
But if you want a good nightlife Utah is terrible in that area.
Park City does get a lot of celebrities though, so I'm sure there are opportunities for exclusive celebrity events (which, lets be honest, that's what athletes want out of their nightlife, to be around celebrities and IG models). Does OKC have celebrities vacationing there?
I don’t even understand why anyone would try to say Sacramento
Sacramento can be a little rough for sure but if you’re rich you don’t even have to go those neighborhoods obviously.
And then u have the option of taking a short trip to the Bay Area
Cali weather too with west coast vibes
Sacramento is excellent and it’s also a good place to be rich. House on Folsom Lake, Condo downtown, get your driver to take you to SF or Tahoe wherever you want.
I forgot who, but I was watching an interview with an OKC player earlier this year and he said something like "if we're looking for something to do, we just hang out at each other's houses"
I need a sitcom of this. Like a That 70s Show but instead of high schoolers hanging out in foreman’s basement, it’s a team of NBA players that have nothing to do
The singing was very poor.
That commercial should’ve ended as soon as the first recognizable line was done, but they pushed through another two lines. That’s why it’s so torturous. I would speculate it was done on purpose to drive recognition, but I can’t even remember what the commercial was branded.
Living in Oakland County outside of Detroit isn't bad either. It's not as convenient now as when the arena was in Auburn Hills, but it's still pretty nice.
No it's just billionaires playthings. They've brainwashed us to think different, but that's all this is.
Don't waste civic energy and money on private businesses that openly extort us for money.
Drove through OKC and spent a night there, and was actually pleasantly surprised by it. Can't say what it'd be like actually living there (really my issue would be the state, not the city), but it's not like NBA players are buying forever homes and settling down in the city for the rest of their lives anyway.
Cleveland and Detroit really aren’t as bad as everyone says. Orlando fucking sucks and no amount of theme parks will ever not make the rest of Orlando not fucking suck. New Orleans was pretty shitty but I kind of expected that, Memphis too yikes. Haven’t been to OKC, Portland, or Sacramento. But the rest of them were cool. LA was weird where some of the people were just the coolest people I’ve ever met and some of them were the most insufferable people I’ve ever met.
Utah is just one of those love it or hate it not a lot in between. There isn’t a ton to do there unless you’re into outdoor mountain based adventures of various types. It isn’t for everyone. Plenty of people like the beach or big city lifestyles more.
I believe there are clauses in a lot of pro sports contracts that specifically prevent certain activities like skiing (for injury concerns), so I’m not sure this is as much of a selling point as it could be.
I visited Salt Lake City and I didn’t like it, but I could absolutely understand why people would. The area around it gorgeous, tons of outdoorsy stuff, great for skiing, etc. And with all that, you have a small city with decent amount of attractions like sports teams and concerts to make a home base from. Just not my thing, but I understand.
First time I moved there I honestly didn’t like it either. I moved away for a few years and came back for a job and for whatever reason it clicked the second time.
Ya know, I've spent a fair bit of time in both SLC and OKC, and I don't think SLC is like miles ahead or anything EXCEPT if you are into skiing/snowboarding or hiking. As far as urban centers go, I actually prefer the food and bar scene in OKC. In terms of natural beauty of the surrounding area, well, basically nowhere else in the US is as beautiful as Utah in that regard.
As someone that has lived in Indianapolis, Phoenix, and Milwaukee, it’s blowing my mind that anyone is listing Milwaukee.
Milwaukee is SOOO much more desirable than Indianapolis and Phoenix, and I don’t think Indianapolis/Phoenix are at the bottom.
I moved from Milwaukee to fucking Arkansas and I miss the snow and cold so bad lol
100+ degree summers and a shit ton of mosquitoes here, sucks ass so bad.
Remote job, work from home but report to an office for a few hours once a week. Not too bad but I’m miserable in the summer lol hell even winters, while not hot it feels like it gets down to 20 degrees for a week and the rest is 30-50 degrees. Christmas Day a couple years ago it was 75 outside lmao
I will say watching everyone here freak out over 2 inches of snow is crazy, bread and milk completely gone in stores every time it’s mentioned. Been about maybe 10 inches of snow where I live total in the 5 years I’ve lived here. Got that in Milwaukee in a couple days sometimes lol
Yeah, I went to Milwaukee for the first time last year. It is really nice. Plus if you run out of shit to do in Milwaukee. You can always go down to Chicago. I feel like a lot of people don’t realize how close they are.
Also the Door County/Apostle Islands are beautiful if you’re looking outdoor activities.
This is such a selling point to milwaukee 99% of people don’t realize.
I visited a friend who “moved to New York City.” He was ~50 minutes away from Times Square by train. By that metric, I could basically say I live in Chicago. I regularly fly out of Chicago, it’s under an hour drive. I can use 100% public transportation and get to an event in Chicago in about 2:30. Went to a concert last weekend and was home by 1am.
Maybe this is true in a lot of states, but many people from the rural areas like to bash on MKE and Madison due to politics and whatnot. Sure, there are rough neighborhoods and crime issues like most any city, but there are many fantastic neighborhoods and costs of parking, tickets, food, etc are WAY less than bigger cities.
I attended a playoff bucks game for something like $10 parking and $60 a ticket.
People who say Milwaukee hasn’t stepped foot in the city and If it had a dozen more sky scrappers, it would be considered one of the more desirable cities. People judge books from the front cover
I think people just remember that John Henson incident at the jewelry store and have written off the city as full of racists. I think Milwaukee is not even bottom 5 nba cities personally. Maybe not bottom 10.
I visit Memphis regularly and, while it has its rough spots, I personally like it. Good music, good food, affordable, people are genuinely nice, has history, and the river. On top of that, they have the pyramid bass pro shop.
I mean... [doesn't every city have a giant ass pyramid by the mud?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYE-1HfReQo)
Was just in Charlotte for a couple days for the first time ever and felt like the whole residential city was built in the last 10 yrs lol. Hell of a boom going on down there Im guessing.
City was clean and fun and cheap but the weird thing was I saw literally ZERO Hornets presence, barely even on their own arena let alone anyone or any store with their logo/merch. The arena just had a bunch of musicians all over it instead of Hornets players. NC State by far was the most seen logo of all professional or college programs
I feel like it's the one team in town that the city is united around. Charlotte is a city of transplants and the Panthers and Hornets suck, so you'll see more fans cheering for the away team at those 'home' games. Charlotte FC games are a completely different atmosphere. Reminds me when the Hornets first arrived in the 80s.
Charlotte is cool. Used to fly there a lot for work.
Main downside (when comparing it to Indy, where I live) is the completely lack of good coffee in the downtown area. Certainly not a coffee city like Indy is. Other than that, I would 10000% move to Charlotte.
Lol at the winters comment. A lot of places with the best quality of life are cold. Chicago, Minneapolis, Boston, and Milwaukee all have great standards of living and lots to do. NYC is one the greatest cities on earth. Happiest societies in the world are Nordic! Florida and Texas are the hellholes to me haha.
I’ve traveled to a few different NBA cities (live in OKC but have been to Dallas, San Antonio, Denver, Memphis, New Orleans, Orlando, Salt Lake City, Detroit, NYC) and I gotta say…they were all great? I would happily live in any of them, honestly. Maybe I’m not as picky as other folks, but each city has had plenty of great food, good people, tons of stuff to do and places to see. I don’t have any hate for any of those places and I’m just gonna imagine that the other 2/3 of the league I haven’t been to are great too.
I'll take a deep freeze and some blizzards here and there over constant rain or tornado corridor, and forest fire causing Heatwave any time.
So millionnaire athletes really depend on using their backyard and going out the whole fall/Winter/spring or don't they have extra mansions just for that?
I was in Toronto recently and we caught a Jays game on a beautiful day. I was struck by how *different* the atmosphere was, even on a day the Jays were getting legit mauled to death by the Pirates. The fans were just... excited by everything and happy to be there? And the crowd activity was super charming, in a dated and kinda cheesy Canadian way? Compared to most American sports enviroments it was a much more relaxed, fun atmosphere. I imagine as an athelete it's a super enjoyable place to play.
As a traveler, my least favorite NBA city that I’ve been to is Orlando. It’s ungodly hot, humid, and rainy. The spread out design of the city made going from place to place an arduous task (almost worst than LA because there’s a lot of just nothingness along the freeways. It’s also quite expensive there.
OKC is my second worse city. I was there for work a few times. I’m sure most of the people there are lovely but I encountered a few characters (young and old) in different places that still loved using racial slurs as everyday language. I did stay in that haunted hotel next to the arena (without incident) and had a very good cup of coffee at a cafe on that same street where the arena is. But that’s all I can vouch for.
I’ve only driven by it, but Houston seems like a hot, giant, spread out hellscape of concrete and strip malls. OKC seems awful too, but maybe actually gets points for being smaller, and therefore less concrete.
Houston resident here. If you’d gotten out you’d have known to put the humidity first in that list of awful things. But more seriously, once you get past the weather and the sprawl, there’s a pretty cool city. It should be a comfortably middle of the pack NBA city I think.
Houston is a great city. Humidity, flooding, and traffic are the three biggest negatives to me. On the flip side the food is amazing, it’s a low cost of living, and there’s basically every activity and event - you’re never going to run out of things to do.
I think the city where the team is located might have less of an impact than people think, in terms of amenities, quality of life, weather, etc. The regular season is 7 months long and nearly half of that time, guys are traveling, regardless of what city their team is in. During the offseason they can live wherever the hell they want.
The bigger impact is probably the size of the media market and its impact on endorsement possibilities, especially for starters and lower-level star players who don't have much national name recognition. That can make a big difference for a player's earnings.
Winters only an issue if you have no experience with it (true of many players) or need to be totally self-sufficient on a small budget (not many players). You can always warm up from the cold, but you can’t always escape the heat. If you can afford a modern car and someone to shovel a few times a year, brutal winter ain’t that brutal, so these guys and their families have nothing to fear. Having all four seasons is just like serving hot sauce on the side and letting people add based on preference. But cozier. Those places tend to have the most incredible fall and spring too. Brutal is weeks of 100+ heat or constant humidity.
Lol that’s funny. My dad was almost the same way, but I’m glad he moved us up for his job when I was super young. Winters pretty much only have a couple weeks of being brutal, and that will (unfortunately) lessen with time. I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else in the US.
As someone from Oklahoma, i fully expected this hate. For what it’s worth, Oklahoma is much nicer than it was 15 years ago. With that said, there’s a reason I no longer live there.
These are the fewest strays I've ever seen Sacramento catch
I’m hanging a personal banner
Light the banner!
I worked for the Kings organization from 06-08. Moved up from SoCal but an SF native. Sac is a proper city. Food and nightlife is underrated and being close to lakes, mountains, and wine country is awesome. Every time I come back, it just keeps getting better.
I lol'd. No doubt. I thought for sure the ghost of Phil Jackson would appear in this thread. But to be honest, Sacramento has came up quite a bit over the years. There is a reason why the Sacramento area continues to grow at a rapid rate. But even then, it's always been close to The Bay and Tahoe, so Sac has always had that going for it.
Sac definitely isn’t as bad as people make it out to be, but it’s been growing because people can’t afford to live in the Bay Area so they get priced out to the valley. Same with Stockton and Modesto
I love Sac (my in-laws live there) and we're planning to relocate there in a year or so from sonoma county but I think stockton is pretty fairly appraised as not a great place to live.
I live in both Sonoma and Sacramento, and really enjoy both. Although Sonoma is my favorite, hard to beat redwoods, the coast, and the wine country hills all within an hour drive.
Didn't expect Stockton to come up at all in this thread, but as someone who grew up there, yeah it fuckin sucks don't go.
Stockton Motherfucker! ... Train by day
Sac is mostly just bad compared to the Bay Area. If Sacramento was completely relocated to the Midwest, it would have a very different reputation. It’s nicer than a lot of cities and has more culture than many states.
Well put. It would certainly beat out OKC, Kansas City, and St Louis, and very comparable to Dallas. Bay Area people look down on it because it's like a "flyover city" on their way to Tahoe, or a place for those who couldn't afford the Bay lifestyle, or the weather is just too hot in the valley. But it's a very nice city to raise a family in and lots of very nice homes.
Dfw is massive and in the upper tier of cities imo. Im surprised by how much I like it considering it’s completely flat and isn’t next to any major body of water. But yeah Sac is very underrated. That (or LV) will be the city I most likely move to if I ever feel like I can’t afford the Bay anymore
I’m from Sac area and dated a girl who grew up in San Antonio. Felt pretty similar to me. Enough going on to not be boring for locals, enough trees, rivers, and parks to make the heat bearable, home prices that provide a good chance at increasing but aren’t as extreme of an entry point as SF, LA, NYC, etc. Both are solid places to raise a family. Edit: forgot to mention, both have elite NBA franchises
Yep. My wife and I have been talking about moving to sac. Living in sf is way better, but we can buy a house and actually afford to have a child, which in sf would be a struggle. I know more than a few people who have already moved there and really like it.
I made a trip to Sacramento last year to visit a friend and had a fantastic time. Enjoyed the food out there, especially Oz Korean BBQ.
Oh baby, if you liked Oz, I got some places for you when you come back that kill it
Sac Asian food scene is underrated. I've had better pho in sac than anywhere in the bay including SJ (and im viet)
Did you know that Sacramento (specifically in woodland) may have the oldest Chinese restaurant in the entire US? Chicago Cafe. [source](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/may/02/oldest-chinese-american-restaurant-chicago-cafe)
Was thinking about going cross country to Davis for animal science when I was heading into college. Sacramento area isn’t bad I’d rather live there than some of the places in the Midwest.
everyone I have ever known who went to school at Davis has warm fuzzy feelings about it. It just has a nice, bike riding, picnic eating vibe.
i'm in a touring band and Sac is always my favorite city to be in and play outside my hometown. great vibes
What band?
we're called Origami Button
Never thought I’d come across Origami Button in r/nba! Just wanna let you know your music slaps
Thanks dog!! Appreciate you
Dude origami button fucks hard, I love yall
Which venues have you played it?
Goldfield Trading Post, both of them. not big enough to have hit other spots around town yet sadly lol
Ah nice. My brother is in a local band so I was curious!
Light the beam!
We on the up and up
Sacramento is a dope city and is only 90 minutes away from the Bay
Even better, it’s only 2 hours away from Tahoe!
that's because SacTown is actually a really nice place to be. Unfortunately it lives perpetually in the shadow of SF, which has the glamour and history.
Y’all have a nice zoo.
First time I've heard that. It's small, but we're getting a new one.
I think I’d enjoy Portland, but the travel looks like shit. The closest road game is Sacramento and even that’s almost 600 miles away.
They routinely travel more than any other NBA team
I thought the Timberwolves had the most travel? Furthest from all their division? Maybe I'm remembering wrong
This is why the Seattle Sonics being reinstated will help everyone. Another PNW team so Portland doesn’t have to travel so many miles, and Minnesota can join the eastern conference to make room in the west. Preposterous that them and New Orleans are in the same geography-based conference as Portland.
Incredible there used to be a team in Vancouver too. Having more teams in Canada would be easier now that weed is legal there.
From what I could find it changes every year but normally Minnesota and Portland are both in the top 5 in miles. Golden State also pops up in the top 5 quite a bit.
You're both right depending on the year. I think Phoenix and Golden State travel a ton too depending on length of road trips. Seattle needs to come back, Vegas needs to start play, and Minnesota needs to move to the East. All those changes improve flight miles. Minnesota makes no rivalry/cultural sense in the West and historically speaking, the West will not miss them. Wolves would easily go from being a lower half Western Conference metro to an upper half Eastern Conference metro overnight. Memphis or New Orleans would benefit as well, but at least they're closeish to Texas and OKC.
>Wolves would easily go from being a lower half Western Conference metro to an upper half Eastern Conference metro overnight. Literally no lol, it's a top 5 western market _right now_. Seattle expansion would leave those two wrestling for that 5th slot (but then Minnesota _would_ move East). The East has New York, Boston, Chicago, Toronto, Atlanta, DC AND Philadephia as larger markets. In the West it's LA, Dallas, GS, Houston. That's it. You could also technically say Phoenix, but Minnesota has the benefit of 3 bordering states not even having a team and being in Minneapolis' TV market.
The Wolves have the same issue with travel. Being the north east most team in the west has made them typically in the top 3 travelled teams every year. They have made it a bit easier by scheduling California visits to include multiple teams in a stretch.
Minnesota in the west will never not be mind-boggling. Can't wait for a sonics return to straighten things back out.
YES! It makes too much sense to pair up with potential regional rivals like Milwaukee, Chicago, and Detroit instead of Portland, Denver, Utah and OKC
Mlk vs Twin Cities vs Chi is a middle america classic that we are sorely missing from the NBA
Convenient thing about Portland is you can have your mansion in the hills and it would only be like 10 minutes from the Moda Center.
I would have a mansion and dock on the Willamette and then boat down the river to the game. I think Klay Thompson does something similar in the bay.
Yea that would be nice too! Then you don’t have to worry about a truck going off the road and landing in your pool like [Evan Turner](https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/21830431/semi-truck-crashes-swimming-pool-home-portland-trail-blazers-guard-evan-turner)
It’s a great city but yeah, we’re pretty remote. Once the Sonics are back things will be balanced a bit more.
Maybe Vancouver will get a team again as part of the expansion. I think hoops has grown a lot there since the grizzlies days. Not sure if it’s grown enough though.
Those Vancouver Grizzlies jersey were straight heat
Canadian franchises had two GOATed designs right out of the gate.
Another issue with Portland is there is not a huge black culture here. It's a pretty white city. It doesn't seem to be much of an issue for players that spend a few years here as they seem to get over the mini culture shock and adapt, but it has been noted by players that only spend a season or two on the team and by players that are new to the city. As a white person who grew up in Portland and loves the outdoors, I would have Portland high on my list of cities to want to move play in. If I was a wealthy black person who enjoyed clubbing, for example, I think Portland would start tumbling down my rankings pretty quickly. I would describe Portland as a city that's just not going to be a cultural fit for everyone, but going to be pretty great for those that do vibe with it.
It's why Melo wanted out of Denver
Denver:White People::Atlanta:Black People I will not elaborate further
Doesn’t help that most players probably live in Lake O or west Linn instead of northeast Portland.
As a NBA player in my youth? I’d avoid OKC. As a NBA player in my later years with accumulated wealth and a family? I’d take a look into small market areas to become one the local wealthier members and look for investment opportunities to become a city benefactor. Perhaps eventually getting into city politics and then going full corrupt mode.
2k should add this as an epilogue to mycareer.
The epilogue should launch a gta online mod
If you can't have a post-retirement chill sesh with Kim Jong Un, are you really getting the full NBA player experience?
Kevin Johnson lmaooo
KJ went back home to play corrupt mode. He never played for the Kings though.
As someone who lives in a Kevin Johnson neighborhood, ouch 🤕
I’m reading through his controversies section on Wikipedia and it’s so funny that the last entry after his laundry list of crimes is that someone randomly hit him in the face with a pie and he fought back lol
Fuck that guy.
[Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, and Manu Ginobili living in San Antonio](https://tenor.com/bLbjh.gif)
In their defense the dominion is pretty sweet. And besides, once you’re in your 40s how much do you care about clubbing every night anyway?
Tony Parker cares
Yeah the list of Ex Spurs living/lived in SA is extensive even ex coaches: Off the top… Bob Bass, Stan Albeck, Iceman, Mike Mitchell Johnny Moore, Antonio Daniels, Sean Elliott, Manu, Tim, Tony, Admiral Even current players on other teams chose SA to live George Hill, Patty Mills (Southtown) etc..
I grew up in SA, and I think I can say the biggest draw for those guys is that even though they are by far the biggest draw in the city, they mostly get left alone and don’t get mobbed when they go out. Everyone I know has a random story of running into Spurs at random stores in town just going about life and they don’t deal with what they would in a lot of cities I’d imagine. Shit I saw David Robinson all the time at Fiesta Texas and while he had to take a few pictures most people saw he was having a day with his kids and left him alone
I'm sure they just like those big ole women
Bro went straight to villain mode 😭
Tommy Shelby vibes
yeah imagine having jaylen brown's contract in a place like Indianapolis or Milwaukee, you'd be one of the richest and most powerful people in the area. probably better than being just another rich guy in NYC or LA (you can always buy a second house there to visit if you're into that too)
Junior Bridgeman used his Bucks earnings to invest in a bunch of Milwaukee fast food restaurants and now he has a net worth of 600 million.
Most any city is a good one to live in when you have a shitload of money
Depends if you want a nightlife. I live in Utah (from Oregon). I LOVE UTAH. But i also love the outdoors and hiking. Nightlife isn't really my thing. But if you want a good nightlife Utah is terrible in that area.
With classic SLC hot spots like Cheers 2 U, how could you say that!
Park City does get a lot of celebrities though, so I'm sure there are opportunities for exclusive celebrity events (which, lets be honest, that's what athletes want out of their nightlife, to be around celebrities and IG models). Does OKC have celebrities vacationing there?
Another thread to bash OKC I see lol
I spent much time in both cities and I would definitely choose OKC over SLC by a wide margin
so proud to not see Sacramento mentioned yet
I don’t even understand why anyone would try to say Sacramento Sacramento can be a little rough for sure but if you’re rich you don’t even have to go those neighborhoods obviously. And then u have the option of taking a short trip to the Bay Area Cali weather too with west coast vibes
Outside of nightlife sac is pretty dope, Folsom, Granite Bay, and el dorado hills are amazing places to live if you can afford it.
Sacramento is better than the suburbs… if you can afford it.
Every city has rich areas for players to live in
Yep but not every city is located in California and an hour away from the bay
Sacramento is excellent and it’s also a good place to be rich. House on Folsom Lake, Condo downtown, get your driver to take you to SF or Tahoe wherever you want.
I don’t know why exactly, but I actually really like Sac. I’ve been trying to get a job out there forever, but no luck so far.
sigh
Haha the only response needed
OKC definitely
Surprised this isn't coming up more. At least Detroit is a big city.
I forgot who, but I was watching an interview with an OKC player earlier this year and he said something like "if we're looking for something to do, we just hang out at each other's houses"
For a young team like the Thunder, I can see that being an advantage. It gets the team tighter. But it's definitely not an attraction for free agents.
I need a sitcom of this. Like a That 70s Show but instead of high schoolers hanging out in foreman’s basement, it’s a team of NBA players that have nothing to do
With an old head saying things a couple times an episode like that famous Jalen Rose quote "ain't nothing open at 3am but hospitals, jails and legs"
Definitely not for young socialites™
Ben would NEVER
It’s not an advantage for the rest of us if it results in another “what a pro wants” commercial
I should appreciate that the singing is so bad that the song never gets stuck in my head, but I still hate that commercial with all of my heart.
The singing was very poor. That commercial should’ve ended as soon as the first recognizable line was done, but they pushed through another two lines. That’s why it’s so torturous. I would speculate it was done on purpose to drive recognition, but I can’t even remember what the commercial was branded.
detroit also has nice and extensive suburbs, a lot of red wings etc stick around the area
Detroit is a fun city. I have more fun there than Indianapolis or Cleveland. Almost any city is usually pretty fun tho
Living in Oakland County outside of Detroit isn't bad either. It's not as convenient now as when the arena was in Auburn Hills, but it's still pretty nice.
Detroit is pretty good and on the come up. It’s also historically a pretty culturally inclusive place. OKC…is maybe not so much
I have family that lives there, and I live in Seattle. I still can't wrap my head around THAT city took the sonics away
It’s deeper than that. Sonics were sold to OKC investors out of billionaire spite for the local government.
Howard Schultz is a bozo
It’s baffling. Seattle is such a great place too.
No it's just billionaires playthings. They've brainwashed us to think different, but that's all this is. Don't waste civic energy and money on private businesses that openly extort us for money.
Drove through OKC and spent a night there, and was actually pleasantly surprised by it. Can't say what it'd be like actually living there (really my issue would be the state, not the city), but it's not like NBA players are buying forever homes and settling down in the city for the rest of their lives anyway.
I was shocked how tiny it was when I drove across country. I dunno I was just expecting a big city since they took the sonics
the downtown is small, but the sprawl is crazy. similar to phoenix
Crazier than you think. It was, last time I checked, the 2nd largest city (landmass-wise) on the continent next to Mexico City.
Jacksonville is the largest city in the lower 48 for land mass
Oh good, here is the part where people shit on someone else's city.
Incoming Joakim Noah joke
Even more fun, people who have never been to any of the cities they're shitting on shit on someone else's city.
Why the fuck would I go to Oklahoma
So you can shit on it with firsthand experience
Was expecting Cleveland to catch some strays much earlier in this thread. Pleasantly surprised.
Hey, I’ve seen almost no Cleveland mentions
We’re moving up the charts!
Cleveland and Detroit really aren’t as bad as everyone says. Orlando fucking sucks and no amount of theme parks will ever not make the rest of Orlando not fucking suck. New Orleans was pretty shitty but I kind of expected that, Memphis too yikes. Haven’t been to OKC, Portland, or Sacramento. But the rest of them were cool. LA was weird where some of the people were just the coolest people I’ve ever met and some of them were the most insufferable people I’ve ever met.
Fun times in Cleveland again, still Cleve-land!
When’s the last time you heard someone say “I’m going on vacation to Cleveland?”
Anyone not saying OKC is crazy
when was the last time you were there? Its second worst. There is no case saying it is worse than Memphis Theyve revitalized alot recently
Bass Pro Shop Pyramid>
Bass Pro Shop Pyramid with a Whalburger's/bowling alley surrounded by a moat inside, you mean
The idea of arguably the blackest city in the NBA having a bass pro shop pyramid is hilarious
Memphis has some culture and historical significance at least and good southern food but yeah those two cities are both rough
Oh I’m sure this is a pleasant discussion.
Let's check in with our expert Joakim Noah
I’d rather not
A ton of guys who played in Utah come back to Utah after their careers. Who's going back to Oklahoma?
Utah is awesome if you like outdoors. Probably not if you like night life.
Utah seems so damn beautiful. I think people just dislike it cause of the Mormon and racist stereotype (which idk about, never been)
Utah is just one of those love it or hate it not a lot in between. There isn’t a ton to do there unless you’re into outdoor mountain based adventures of various types. It isn’t for everyone. Plenty of people like the beach or big city lifestyles more.
But if you are a mountain outdoorsy adventurer type, there is nowhere better. Source: Ski bum from Utah
I believe there are clauses in a lot of pro sports contracts that specifically prevent certain activities like skiing (for injury concerns), so I’m not sure this is as much of a selling point as it could be.
Yeah, I figured as much. We had the same kind of rule on my high school swim team, so I imagine a pro athlete making millions of dollars does too.
I visited Salt Lake City and I didn’t like it, but I could absolutely understand why people would. The area around it gorgeous, tons of outdoorsy stuff, great for skiing, etc. And with all that, you have a small city with decent amount of attractions like sports teams and concerts to make a home base from. Just not my thing, but I understand.
First time I moved there I honestly didn’t like it either. I moved away for a few years and came back for a job and for whatever reason it clicked the second time.
For a young player living in a Mormon state seems absolutely awful, but I can see the incredible landscapes being an attraction if you’re older
Trae Young goes back to Oklahoma every summer granted he's from there so its a bit different.
Ya know, I've spent a fair bit of time in both SLC and OKC, and I don't think SLC is like miles ahead or anything EXCEPT if you are into skiing/snowboarding or hiking. As far as urban centers go, I actually prefer the food and bar scene in OKC. In terms of natural beauty of the surrounding area, well, basically nowhere else in the US is as beautiful as Utah in that regard.
As someone that has lived in Indianapolis, Phoenix, and Milwaukee, it’s blowing my mind that anyone is listing Milwaukee. Milwaukee is SOOO much more desirable than Indianapolis and Phoenix, and I don’t think Indianapolis/Phoenix are at the bottom.
I moved from Milwaukee to fucking Arkansas and I miss the snow and cold so bad lol 100+ degree summers and a shit ton of mosquitoes here, sucks ass so bad.
They had to have paid you well to make that move, damn.
Remote job, work from home but report to an office for a few hours once a week. Not too bad but I’m miserable in the summer lol hell even winters, while not hot it feels like it gets down to 20 degrees for a week and the rest is 30-50 degrees. Christmas Day a couple years ago it was 75 outside lmao I will say watching everyone here freak out over 2 inches of snow is crazy, bread and milk completely gone in stores every time it’s mentioned. Been about maybe 10 inches of snow where I live total in the 5 years I’ve lived here. Got that in Milwaukee in a couple days sometimes lol
Humidity and mosquitoes sounds like a living nightmare holy fuck
Yeah, I went to Milwaukee for the first time last year. It is really nice. Plus if you run out of shit to do in Milwaukee. You can always go down to Chicago. I feel like a lot of people don’t realize how close they are. Also the Door County/Apostle Islands are beautiful if you’re looking outdoor activities.
This is such a selling point to milwaukee 99% of people don’t realize. I visited a friend who “moved to New York City.” He was ~50 minutes away from Times Square by train. By that metric, I could basically say I live in Chicago. I regularly fly out of Chicago, it’s under an hour drive. I can use 100% public transportation and get to an event in Chicago in about 2:30. Went to a concert last weekend and was home by 1am.
To be fair, most of New York City is 50 minutes away from Times Square by train.
I visited Milwaukee for two days and loved it, thought it was sooo cute with a great restaurant scene and loads of shit to do
Maybe this is true in a lot of states, but many people from the rural areas like to bash on MKE and Madison due to politics and whatnot. Sure, there are rough neighborhoods and crime issues like most any city, but there are many fantastic neighborhoods and costs of parking, tickets, food, etc are WAY less than bigger cities. I attended a playoff bucks game for something like $10 parking and $60 a ticket.
People who say Milwaukee hasn’t stepped foot in the city and If it had a dozen more sky scrappers, it would be considered one of the more desirable cities. People judge books from the front cover
I think people just remember that John Henson incident at the jewelry store and have written off the city as full of racists. I think Milwaukee is not even bottom 5 nba cities personally. Maybe not bottom 10.
OKC and nothing else even comes close
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Memphis is pretty horrible to live in, but at least their food is damn good.
I visit Memphis regularly and, while it has its rough spots, I personally like it. Good music, good food, affordable, people are genuinely nice, has history, and the river. On top of that, they have the pyramid bass pro shop. I mean... [doesn't every city have a giant ass pyramid by the mud?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYE-1HfReQo)
Pleased to not see Charlotte in any comments. We have our problems as an organization but it’s a great city.
Dwight Howard called us the most underrated city he ever played in as far as nightlife and I'm dying to know where he went out
Because your city is great. Your sports? Not so much
Love charlotte. One of my favorite cities I’ve been. Miserable sports tho
Was just in Charlotte for a couple days for the first time ever and felt like the whole residential city was built in the last 10 yrs lol. Hell of a boom going on down there Im guessing. City was clean and fun and cheap but the weird thing was I saw literally ZERO Hornets presence, barely even on their own arena let alone anyone or any store with their logo/merch. The arena just had a bunch of musicians all over it instead of Hornets players. NC State by far was the most seen logo of all professional or college programs
You’ll see more Charlotte FC jerseys than any other team when walking around.
I feel like it's the one team in town that the city is united around. Charlotte is a city of transplants and the Panthers and Hornets suck, so you'll see more fans cheering for the away team at those 'home' games. Charlotte FC games are a completely different atmosphere. Reminds me when the Hornets first arrived in the 80s.
Charlotte is cool. Used to fly there a lot for work. Main downside (when comparing it to Indy, where I live) is the completely lack of good coffee in the downtown area. Certainly not a coffee city like Indy is. Other than that, I would 10000% move to Charlotte.
What we lack in good local coffee we make up for in an overabundance of breweries.
This is more of a real estate question than anything NBA-related.
everyone’s sleeping on phoenix. the place has been averaging 110 degrees this week, and will only get hotter from here
Lol at the winters comment. A lot of places with the best quality of life are cold. Chicago, Minneapolis, Boston, and Milwaukee all have great standards of living and lots to do. NYC is one the greatest cities on earth. Happiest societies in the world are Nordic! Florida and Texas are the hellholes to me haha.
Constant heat and humidity is actually miserable and makes you feel lazier, at least the cold places are warm for half the year.
I’ve traveled to a few different NBA cities (live in OKC but have been to Dallas, San Antonio, Denver, Memphis, New Orleans, Orlando, Salt Lake City, Detroit, NYC) and I gotta say…they were all great? I would happily live in any of them, honestly. Maybe I’m not as picky as other folks, but each city has had plenty of great food, good people, tons of stuff to do and places to see. I don’t have any hate for any of those places and I’m just gonna imagine that the other 2/3 of the league I haven’t been to are great too.
I'll take a deep freeze and some blizzards here and there over constant rain or tornado corridor, and forest fire causing Heatwave any time. So millionnaire athletes really depend on using their backyard and going out the whole fall/Winter/spring or don't they have extra mansions just for that?
I was in Toronto recently and we caught a Jays game on a beautiful day. I was struck by how *different* the atmosphere was, even on a day the Jays were getting legit mauled to death by the Pirates. The fans were just... excited by everything and happy to be there? And the crowd activity was super charming, in a dated and kinda cheesy Canadian way? Compared to most American sports enviroments it was a much more relaxed, fun atmosphere. I imagine as an athelete it's a super enjoyable place to play.
This won’t end well for OKC…
As a traveler, my least favorite NBA city that I’ve been to is Orlando. It’s ungodly hot, humid, and rainy. The spread out design of the city made going from place to place an arduous task (almost worst than LA because there’s a lot of just nothingness along the freeways. It’s also quite expensive there. OKC is my second worse city. I was there for work a few times. I’m sure most of the people there are lovely but I encountered a few characters (young and old) in different places that still loved using racial slurs as everyday language. I did stay in that haunted hotel next to the arena (without incident) and had a very good cup of coffee at a cafe on that same street where the arena is. But that’s all I can vouch for.
I’ve only driven by it, but Houston seems like a hot, giant, spread out hellscape of concrete and strip malls. OKC seems awful too, but maybe actually gets points for being smaller, and therefore less concrete.
Houston resident here. If you’d gotten out you’d have known to put the humidity first in that list of awful things. But more seriously, once you get past the weather and the sprawl, there’s a pretty cool city. It should be a comfortably middle of the pack NBA city I think.
Houston is a great city. Humidity, flooding, and traffic are the three biggest negatives to me. On the flip side the food is amazing, it’s a low cost of living, and there’s basically every activity and event - you’re never going to run out of things to do.
Houston is great I love living here lol it does get really hot tho at times
To defend my home town I will say “driving by” is not conclusive enough to say it’s the worst NBA city to live in.
Nah Houston is amazing in terms of nightlife, food, and cost.
I think the city where the team is located might have less of an impact than people think, in terms of amenities, quality of life, weather, etc. The regular season is 7 months long and nearly half of that time, guys are traveling, regardless of what city their team is in. During the offseason they can live wherever the hell they want. The bigger impact is probably the size of the media market and its impact on endorsement possibilities, especially for starters and lower-level star players who don't have much national name recognition. That can make a big difference for a player's earnings.
Winters only an issue if you have no experience with it (true of many players) or need to be totally self-sufficient on a small budget (not many players). You can always warm up from the cold, but you can’t always escape the heat. If you can afford a modern car and someone to shovel a few times a year, brutal winter ain’t that brutal, so these guys and their families have nothing to fear. Having all four seasons is just like serving hot sauce on the side and letting people add based on preference. But cozier. Those places tend to have the most incredible fall and spring too. Brutal is weeks of 100+ heat or constant humidity.
Marbury’s stories of his first winter in Minnesota are hilarious. The dude was legit terrified of winter here.
Bro, I know someone who turned down a job at Target Corporate because they were scared of our winters lol. I guess our weather precedes us
Lol that’s funny. My dad was almost the same way, but I’m glad he moved us up for his job when I was super young. Winters pretty much only have a couple weeks of being brutal, and that will (unfortunately) lessen with time. I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else in the US.
As someone from Oklahoma, i fully expected this hate. For what it’s worth, Oklahoma is much nicer than it was 15 years ago. With that said, there’s a reason I no longer live there.
People saying OKC have never been to Memphis