NBA Basketball Could Return to Buffalo for at Least One Season

Most people forget that the city of Buffalo was home to an NBA professional basketball team in the 1970s. The Buffalo Braves entered the league in 1970 before relocating to San Deigo in 1978. But, pro ball could be coming back to the Queen City.

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On the heels of successfully hosting the Toronto Blue Jays Major League Baseball team this year during COVID-19, New York State Senator Tim Kennedy would like to see Buffalo play host for the NBA's Toronto Raptors.

According to WGRZ, the senator sent a letter to the NBA offering up Buffalo as Toronto's home away from home.

New York State Senator Tim Kennedy sent a letter to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver requesting that the Toronto Raptors make Buffalo its "home away from home in the event that the Canadian Federal Government declines to provide the Raptors an exception to the current ban on cross-border travel between Canada and the United States."

The NBA is planning on starting their new season in December sometime before Christmas.

Buffalo does have history playing host to basketball besides being home to the Braves. The City has hosted the opening rounds of the NCAA March Madness tournament several times and is expected to host those games again in 2022 and 2026.

New York state and city officials would still have to sign off on the move like they did for the Toronto Blue Jays and as of this writing, no fans would be allowed to attend games in person.

This past season, the NBA finished its season in a "Bubble," with all games played in Orlando due to COVID-19.