NBA team in Columbus? Highly unlikely

Nationwide Arena has hosted several basketball games in its' 12-year history including the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament seen here in 2012. (File Photo) So the mayor of Columbus, Michael Coleman, would like a National Basketball Association franchise in his fair city. Really? I guess it’s always nice to dream big. The fact of the matter remains, Columbus is a small market that already has a winter season sport occupying Nationwide Arena. In case Mayor Coleman forgot, the city still has an NHL franchise, the Columbus Blue Jackets. According to the Columbus Dispatch, Mayor Coleman has told the NBA that Columbus wants a basketball team now that the ink is dry on the public purchase of Nationwide Arena. Coleman sent NBA Commissioner David Stern a letter last Thursday expressing the city’s desire to move a franchise here or add a new team if the league expands. A spokeman from the Mayor’s Office, Dan Williamson, had this to say: “Up until recently, our arena situation was not...