Bid Reachable--Westdome Backers : But Chances Still a Long Shot After NBA Expansion Vote

PHOENIX â€”  Although many consider Anaheim a dark horse to get a National Basketball Assn. expansion team, backers of the city’s proposed Westdome arena greeted Tuesday’s announcement that the league will expand by one to three teams as a victory.

Commissioner David Stern said the 23 team owners voted unanimously Monday to expand by at least one and no more than three teams. A five-owner committee will study the applications submitted from Anaheim and five other cities--Charlotte, N.C., Miami, Orlando, Fla., Minneapolis and Toronto--and announce a decision at an April 20, 1987, meeting in New York City.

“I feel good. I think, just from our standpoint, we’re definitely in the top three,� said Al Durkovic, one of four partners who want to build an arena adjacent to Anaheim Stadium. “I don’t think they can ignore the Orange County market.�

Anaheim Mayor Don Roth called Tuesday’s announcement “an upper.� He cited the area’s 2.1-million population base and repeated his oft-heard comment that Anaheim is the sports capital of the West as reasons the city has a chance to gain a team.

Roth said he rates Orlando and Miami as the favorites for a franchise.

Roth, who said “there’s a lot of work to be done,� believes the City Council at the least could assure the NBA of its approval of an arena if a franchise is granted.

Some NBA officials, however, said privately that Orange County is a long shot among the applicants because Los Angeles has two teams, the Lakers and the Clippers. But team owners publicly gave all applicants equal ratings. Richard Bloch, the Phoenix Suns owner who will chair a five-person committee, said the owners were overwhelmed by the six presentations made Monday.

“We think that Anaheim has great potential,� Bloch said. “We just need a lot more information.�

Other NBA sources have said that little is known about the Anaheim bid, which was announced only three days before the meeting, which ended Tuesday.

George Shinn, a businessman who would be a partner in the Charlotte franchise said: “I really don’t know much about the Orange County group so I can’t comment.�

Stern said the owners committee also will evaluate applicants who might come forward before April. He said the league has received inquiries from other cities, including St. Petersburg, Fla., San Diego, St. Louis, Louisville and Lexington, Ky.

“But I don’t know how serious those are,� he said, adding that he expects no more than one or two additional cities, if any, may apply.

Stern, whose contract was extended for an additional three years by the owners after Tuesday’s vote, said the costs for an expansion franchise were not discussed.

The applicants seemed to welcome the NBA’s decision despite earlier hopes that a city would be selected in Phoenix.

“We came into this thing thinking that there would be just one (city selected),� said Lewis Schaffel, who would run the Miami franchise. “Now there’s three. And I do believe there will be three announced in April.�

Stern said the league would probably select a city that could have a franchise for the 1988-’89 season. If additional cities are selected, they would begin operating sometime after the 1987-’88 season and before the 1991-’92 season.

Durkovic, along with partners Don Oliphant, Robert Osbrink and Ronald McMahon, want to build the Westdome arena on a site northeast of State College Boulevard and Orangewood Avenue. They were rejected in two previous efforts to build an arena in Santa Ana.

If Anaheim were selected as one of the teams to start in 1991, the partners would start with construction of the 20,000-seat arena anyway, he said.

Former Cleveland Cavaliers owner Nick Mileti, who made the Anaheim presentation Monday, would own the Orange County team.

Convincing the owners that Orange County can support a franchise despite the close proximity of the Lakers and Clippers will be one of the major tasks during the next six months, Durkovic said. He described Los Angeles and Orange County as “distinct, separate markets.�

The second major task, Durkovic said, will be to get as much of a commitment as possible from the city of Anaheim for construction of the arena. Roth said he believes city council members will have to receive more information from the developers so they can decide whether the arena can be profitable if a team is not granted to the city.