How The Buffalo Braves Were SCREWED From The Get-Go 

It's like a curse that's never went away!🤦🏽‍♂🏀

They actually moved first to san diego and were the conquiatdors

Here's hoping the curse remains until they return to buffalo

​@@mrbob8618 no, the Conquistadors were an ABA expansion team that played in San Diego after the Rockets moved to Houston and before the Braves moved to San Diego.

Doomed to having terrible ownership, forever.

They still had that ultimatum from the league anyway. They had to figure out their schedule better and they never could

Had Tiny Archibald too.

And Ernie DiGregorio eventually from Providence College. This Team definitely could've done much better with the Talent present in western New York. Very Cool Logo too.🤔😉🌬❄⛄🏀B.W.

The greatest athlete on the team was Randy Smith by far!

That still didn't relieve the big issue...they were behind Canisius College in scheduling priority (the Buffalo Sabres were first, inheriting that position from the AHL Bisons) and Canisius wanted key prime time slots.

Wow didnt know he called the braves toi. He lived on Bathurst when i was a kid in tonawanda. Used to shovel his driveway lol

When Van called a Braves game on the radio, You could picture the game in your head! He was Professionally Descriptive! Mc Adoo with a 23 footer GOOD! Heard with an 17 footer at the Foul Line, Off the rim And In! Van told you the Distance of EVERY SHOT and you could Picture it in your head! Ernie D over the Time line Right Bounce pass to McMillian to McAdoo in the Corner 19 footer GOOD! Before the Braves, Van Called UB Football, Niagara University Basketball with Calvin Murphy. Buffalo Bisons Baseball, those games were interesting as some games that he could not travel, he did the Games Via TICKER TAPE from the Studio if the Games were in EX COLUMBUS, he would Complete the game in time for his WBEN TV 11 pm Sports Reports!! VAN WAS THE MAN❤️

My Auntie lives in Buffalo we loved the braved

@@mikeb5067 Channel 17 used to have auctions. Once, one of the items to be auctioned was you could set next to Van Miller courtside and watch the game and be interviewed at half time ... my dad got it for me when I was 13!!!! I loved it. The Braves killed the hapless Sixers and Van asked me who my favorite player was and I said "Bob McAdoo!"

David thompson

Did you ever sit in the Oranges?

@BillMorganChannel A guy I worked with for 33 years.Tried out for buffalo braves robert reece

Randy Smith was a tough player. I remember that Team well Bob McAdoo and Bob Kaufman. ABC carried the NBA at that time.

@tygrkhat4087: Weird connection to Buffalo State in Pop Culture as well. That was said to be the Alma Mater of "Public Defender Christine Sullivan" Played by the lovely and dearly departed Miss Markie Post on "Night Court!" And intriguingly enough Buffalo State's Teams are known as "The Bengals."🤔😉🎤👩‍⚖🐅💃🏈🏀🎭📺B.W.

Same thing at Cards game. And there were a couple of fans wearing Spirit of St.Louis jerseys too, as this was the year after Durant rookie year 🙄 misguided youth

😂 today’s young is are freakin clueless. I think phones are makin ‘em dumber !

​@@spursdynasty7378 the irony here.

Bob MacAdo In A Word #Iconic

I had no idea, the Braves had Moses Malone, Adrian Dantley. Their scouting Department was good, with Bob Mcadoo. If the Braves had proper ownership and management and with that coach, Buffalo might have a CHAMPIONSHIP BANER.

Saw that game and the playoff game where McAdoo scored 44pts

Ernie D was on that Celtics team and fed Honda that whole game!

The "Doo" helped the Lakers win titles in 1982 and 1985, namely as a backup to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

My pal John isn't the only one!

Different times my friend. The 20s look like 30s, the mid 30s like 50s 😂

@@Gierapwhy is that you think ? Diet ?

@@pb3 I think it's cuz back then people mattured much younger. The fashion is also a factor.

And smoking too...

@@HHSGDFootballJPD Yeah, start smoking at 10yo gotta take some effect at 30s 😁

Three ROY (McAdoo, DiGregorio, and Dantley..)

And one of the greatest coaches of all time

@@carljustinenuestro8771 And the Bisons of The International League. At least for awhile near as I know.🤔B.W.

We're not getting another NBA team in Buffalo anytime soon.

My Braves had good teams but usually seemed to play the evil Celtics in round one and lost 4 games to 2.

@@madbrowniac7871 Farm team of the putrid Senators!

If the Braves could have lasted a couple more seasons, we would have had a team during the Magic-Bird era. When the Braves left town, the NBA was in a malaise itself; drug problems were rampant, and TV ratings were so bad, championship games were shown on tape delay after the local 11PM news.

You were born in 89 10 years after the team left

HAH! 😮

Sam Bowie Lives!

Destined for mediocrity.

Plus, Larry Bird and the 78 draft no one talks about.

Charles Barkley as well.

Jack was. An awesome

Living in the Buffalo area, that would be very cool, indeed. Unfortunately, the NBA is a corporatocracy and money, stadium luxury boxes/suites, and media ratings drives the game. Buffalo is a 1980s Ross ten-speed in an era of EV bikes.

Heck, I wouldn't mind getting the Raptors to play a game against the Clippers in Buffalo, with the Clips wearing Braves throwbacks. They could raise a banner remembering the team.

@@tygrkhat4087 You’re right! Maybe the Raptors relocate to Buffalo, NY

@@tygrkhat4087 Now THAT would be sweet!

Bringing an NBA team back to Buffalo would be great

That team needs to come back! One of the Best Jerseys in all of sports history!!

How about the cleaveland barons/ Colorado Rockies. Who are now in New Jersey

Hmmmmm, I hear that city Hartford is a cesspool of crime & unemployment Dont think the NHL would ever go back there

​@@daveyboy_I think it has to do with the fact that CT can't support a fifth hockey team with all of the Rangers, Bruins, and Devils fans in the state.

​@@daveyboy_Sounds a lot like the Islanders out in Long Island.

@@joemagwood9130 Forgot about John Shumate! He was practically All World at Notre Dame. Adrian Dantley's Alma Mater as well.🤔👨‍🎓☘🏀B.W.

​@@madbrowniac7871John Shumate beat Lewis Alcindor and broke the Bruins winning streak at 88 games

@@joemagwood9130 It was a Dick Enberg TVS Classic! John Shumate IIRC had two Teammates named Austin Carr and Gary Brokaw who both ended up as Cleveland Cavs in The NBA. As did Garfield Heard.☘🏀🐻B.W.

Walton not Alcindor

They had Ernie D’s college teammate, Marvin Barnes, as well.

Yep, they are still cursed. The only way to get rid of the curse would be to play some games in Buffalo.

@@jameslaubacker3467 Nobody would care in Buffalo, just like nobody goes to Sabres games. Buffalo is strictly Bills Country.

No it was supposed to be four. Mentions at 3:25 Houston's expansion team folded operations due to financial fees. That opened the door for San Diego to come there in 1971 instead

Have you seen their new $2B arena? They're not going anywhere.

@@darryljorden9177 Oh yeah that got made too. Yep they ain't leaving anytime soon

They were really good back in the day. They had multiple NCAA and NIT tourney appearances and a few NBA players. Wild to think about considering they play in a 2,000-seat arena nowadays that doesn't even have a video board and one cheap concession stand - think of a high school gym.

College could have played at the kessler

I didn’t know that either. Total BS they couldn’t get their schedule better!

Maybe that's the reasons the Sabres are jinxed. You would think a college team would give up their night in the Aud and just play at home. Losers.

@@ronintsukebin9163 The Aud was much bigger than Canisus' arena, so maybe the program outgrew it and had to use the Aud due to ticket demand. This is why the Seattle Redhawks' men's hoops team plays some games at Climate Pledge Arena instead of their tiny on-campus arena.

Living in the Buffalo area, I remember the Braves very well. They left when I was in third grade. I remember being pretty bummed out about it. I started following the Cavaliers afterwards.

Those are things casuals say man. They def carry distinct ambiance, energy, and traditions/superstitions. Generally the best franchises have a distinct playstyle too (e.g. Steelers, Barcelona)

@@Sticktothemodels Yep. Two championship eras of Pistons were distinctly defensive specialists with four scoring options on the court and one all-defense super specialist. Golden State, whether in Philly or the Bay, had all their glory based around generational game changing scorers (Wilt/Barry/Run TMC/Death Lineup). Multiple generations of Buffalo Bills had unfathomable and eerily similar losses, multiple generations of Trail Blazer GMs took a center over a transcendent player in the draft, the Spurs are always the workhorse franchise. The Celtics have traditionally succeeded when they have position players who play like they're something else. Russell ran the fast break, Bird as the first small forward that the offense ran through, Pierce's total command of the half-court, and now Tatum, the forward with a guard's command of the game. Uncanny! There are exceptions. The Chicago Bulls are probably the team that had the most success without any real team identity, unless you consider their uncanny injury bad luck to be the team's culture. Hapless, directionless team where every potential superstar is struck down by an injury, JORDAN HAPPENS, hapless, directionless team where every potential superstar is struck down by an injury.

The only way around this was really a new arena. However, Buffalo is not big enough to support two major arenas (it's currently the smallest NHL and NFL market and the only NHL market in the USA not a top 50 media market---and one of 2 in the NFL), meaning the Braves would have had to build the arena themselves to replace the Aud. Arenas built around that time ended up aging badly, and you'd likely still need to have built the KeyBank Arena.

He was the Braves PxP guy. WBEN had the Braves. WKBW had the Bills and WGR had the Sabres

Kumusta!! From the US👊🏾🏀

They at least have 1977

Oden was a monster at OSU, most fun I ever had watching Buckeyes basketball. Shame his knees ended up being made out of eggshells.

So San Diego had 2 chances at NBA team: Rockets, then Clippers. I am doubftul that the city will get a 3rd chance.

If that was the case, then a move would never have happened.

@@russellguercio3904 have you ever read about why Clippers moved to LA? (PS it has everything to do with Donald Sterling).

John Y almost drove the Celtics into the ground until Red Auerbach threatened to leave and join the Knicks.

Mr. Phyllis George.

"UNC," my guy