Bucks D-League franchise not headed to La Crosse

Cities closer to Milwaukee apparently on team’s radar

The Milwaukee Bucks are searching destinations for a D-League team.

La Crosse is no longer an option. La Crosse Center director Art Fahey said Tuesday the Bucks called and recently gave him the news.

Fahey says the Bucks seem to be looking for a site that would be closer to their existing fan base near Milwaukee.

Other Wisconsin cities which have shown an interest in a minor-league basketball club are Oshkosh, Racine and Sheboygan.

While the La Crosse Center seemed to be a viable choice to host the franchise – it had done so in the past with two CBA teams – other cities have seemingly shown more interest.

Sheboygan, headed by Joe Wolf, who was a former player on the Bucks, is an assistant coach for the team and a Wisconsin native, looks like a popular destination based on his ties and the proposal to remodel an old armory into an arena (pic below, click for website).

Oshkosh has a private group planning on building an arena of its own.

The La Crosse Center just got approved for a $35 million renovation and could get another $10 million in state funding, but all those plans were submitted before knowledge of the Bucks interest to get a D-League team.

Fahey said he talked with the Bucks a few weeks ago, but the conversation was very nuts and bolts. Bringing up possibilities with the La Crosse Center updates or even the proposal of naming the court after former coach Flip Saunders, who recently passed away of cancer, were never part of those talks.

Fahey initially heard the Bucks wanted to expand when he received an email back in early June of a story that the team was interested in adding a D-League franchise in Wisconsin and La Crosse was a possible destination.

So, he quickly put together a proposal and submitted all the appropriate paperwork.

The Bucks, who were last in town for a preseason game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Oct. 18, 2012, are rumored to want a team for the 2017-18 season.

Heading into this season, only eight NBA teams will be without an NBA D-league affiliate. Chicago, Brooklyn and Charlotte just added teams recently. That leaves Atlanta, Denver, L.A. Clippers, Milwaukee, Minnesota, New Orleans, Portland and Washington without teams.

Perhaps, with its Sauders’ ties, La Crosse could be a possible destination for the Timberwolves franchise. Saunders was both coach and GM of the franchise before he passed and the Timberwolves are closer to La Crosse than the Bucks.

The last pro team to play in La Crosse, at the Center, was the Bobcats of the CBA. Before that, it was Saunders’ Catbirds, who won a pair of titles. 

The Catbirds played in La Crosse from 1986-1993. A year later the Bobcats came and played until the CBA folded in 2001.