The NBA has informed the city of Denver that McNichols
Sports Arena no longer meets current NBA standards,
according to Mike Monroe in this morning's DENVER POST.
This development provides the Nuggets with "ammunition they
may need to bolt the city" should team owner Ascent
Entertainment opt to build its proposed Pepsi Center outside
Denver. In a letter to City Attorney Dan Muse, NBA Deputy
Commissioner Russ Granik cited 79 different aspects of the
arena that fail to meet NBA standards, including court
lighting to the size of team locker rooms to in-arena
parking facilities for TV production trucks. Monroe quotes
an NBA source on as saying, "We usually try to work quietly
... to help our teams resolve conflicts like this" (DENVER
POST, 12/10). Ascent made a counter-proposal to the city of
Denver on a new arena, according to Arthur Hodges of the
DENVER POST. While no details were disclosed, Hodges called
it "the first glimmer of hope in months," after arena talks
"all but broke down" this summer over tax concessions that
Ascent wanted at the new venue (DENVER POST, 12/10).
