I watched last night's game, and I noticed that the Wolves have a statue of George Mikan, and had a banner related to the chamionships won when the Lakers were in MN. Are both teams claiming the "history" for those titles/players? In some instances, a teams history stays with the city (see Cleveland Browns). On the other hand, the history can follow the team as well (see Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans). Exactly how does it work in this case?
Add Baltimore to your list. Compute the bitterness factor into the equation and Voila! Of course in Cleveland Modell (the -----ole) was not allowed to keep anything 'Browns'. NY Mets always aligned with Dodgers and Giants history in the 60s.
As long as the Lakers keep their name while playing in a desert, I think Minnesota has a right to a piece of the purple and gold dynasty.
For a long time, Jerry Buss didn't even acknowlege the titles in Minny until they hoisted up one banner for all 5 titles 3 or 4 years ago. There was some talk that he was shamed into raising that banner because of the Wolves plan to honor Mikan and because the rights had always belonged to the Lakers. I don't think it's the Wolves claiming the honor, but rather it's a PR move to build up the city's basketball roots.
There is absolutely no relation to the Minny Lakers and the Minny Pups. As previously mentioned, just a PR ploy to get their fans to think they have such a rich basketball history. Too bad there might be 1-2 Pup fans who were fans of the Minny Lakers too.
But, they do don't they? Those championships were won for Minnesota and in Minnesota, right? That's local success. Otherwise, it'd be like saying that Houston is a new football town because the Texans were just formed even though football has been king here for decades.
This is why I hate team relocation. It messes up all team loyalty and tradition, not to mention all the confusing statistical and record relating stuff.
Do you expect to see a statue of Earl Campbell outside Reliant? Or maybe we should hang up some AFC Central division banners in Reliant. Moreover, it would be more relevent because 80% of the Texans fans probably were Oiler fans. I don't think 2% of the Pup fans were Minny Laker fans from 50 years ago. It's really apples and oranges.
If Earl had revolutionized the game, won numerous championships and was looked upon as the first great running back of the NFL then yes I would expect to see a statue of Earl outside of Reliant.
