Making Hoop Dreams a Reality

Anaheim has lost its bid to be the new home of professional basketball’s Los Angeles Clippers, apparently through no fault of the city’s. But although the end result was disappointing, Anaheim did a good job in courting the team.

City officials now say they will continue efforts to get a National Basketball Assn. team to play at the Pond of Anaheim. They should. The city has developed a well-earned reputation as a sports and entertainment hub; it should prove attractive to a pro basketball franchise.

A key reason the Clippers decided to stay put in Los Angeles was said to be owner Donald Sterling’s desire to stay in the city where he grew up. It remains to be seen if the Clippers can reach a satisfactory renewal of their lease to play at the Sports Arena; the team could be knocking on Anaheim’s door again in the future. At any rate, the Clippers have played 15 regular season games at the Pond over the past three seasons. They plan to play six regular season games and one exhibition there next year.

Anaheim’s talks with the Clippers apparently were smoother than the stop-and-start discussions with the Walt Disney Co. over keeping the baseball Angels in Anaheim after Disney bought control of the team from Gene Autry.

To their credit, Anaheim officials learned lessons in the Disney talks that they were able to apply in negotiations with the Clippers. The city always must be careful not to give away too much. Residents are happy to have professional sports teams, but taxpayers also want their funds spent wisely.

Disney’s plans for a massive new entertainment complex near Disneyland have been delayed for several years now; the pro football Rams left Anaheim to play in St. Louis after that city provided an extravagantly expensive package. Offsetting those losses are retention of the Angels and plans for an entertainment complex near Anaheim Stadium.

The city gambled when it built the Pond. It won the gamble partially with Disney’s decision to create a pro hockey team, the Mighty Ducks, to play in the arena. But if Anaheim does not get an NBA team, it will have to be paying the company that operates the Pond $1.5 million a year toward the arena’s mortgage. That is a good reason to keep scouring the country for a team willing to relocate or making the case to the NBA for an expansion team in Anaheim.