Sports consultant Max Muhleman on Wednesday advised the
Memphis and Shelby County Sports Authority to "proceed with
caution" as it considers the potential for an NBA team in
The Pyramid, according to David Williams of the Memphis
COMMERCIAL APPEAL. Muhleman: "There is potential. I hope
that the authority will take a measured, realistic, but
stick-to-it position on this and try to explore it further."
He said that The Pyramid arena has NBA "potential," and
appears to be adaptable in key areas, such as increasing the
number of skyboxes from the current 28 to at least 45-50.
Muhleman, on Memphis: "Your charts are headed up, not down.
... You have a lot of corporate relocation happening. You
have some high-tech jobs that I found out about that are
being developed here now." Williams noted that Muhleman
charged the authority "only for his travel expenses"
(COMMERCIAL APPEAL, 6/25). In Memphis, columnist Geoff
Calkins proposed moving forward with the plans: "[I]f the
cost is minimal, if the expectations are realistic, it's
only sensible to take whatever steps we can to make the
unlikely a little more possible" (COMMERCIAL APPEAL, 6/25).
