The NBA is coming to Kansas City — at least for one night.
The Portland Trail Blazers will face the Atlanta Hawks in an Oct. 10 preseason game at the Sprint Center, which will celebrate its first anniversary that night.
Both teams have local connections.
Former Kansas star Kevin Pritchard, who helped the Jayhawks to the 1988 national championship, is general manager of the Trail Blazers. Another former Jayhawk, veteran Raef LaFrentz, is on the Portland roster. Portland’s chief executive is Tod Leiweke, a former official with the Kansas City Comets indoor soccer team and brother of Tim Leiweke, president of AEG, which operates the Sprint Center.
The Hawks are coached by a pair of former Kansas City Kings — head coach Mike Woodson, and one of his assistants, Larry Drew, who also starred at Wyandotte High and the University of Missouri.
Portland is one of the rising young teams in the NBA. The Trail Blazers took Greg Oden of Ohio State with the first overall pick of the 2007 draft, but he missed his rookie season because of a knee injury. Guard Brandon Roy was selected NBA Rookie of the Year in 2006-07 and was an NBA all-star last season, averaging 19.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game.
The Hawks qualified for the playoffs last season and took eventual NBA champion Boston to seven games in the opening round.
“Kansas City has a rich tradition of NBA fans and basketball history,” said Brenda Tinnen, Sprint Center general manager and senior vice president. “Celebrating the first anniversary of Sprint Center’s grand opening with our first preseason NBA game is truly remarkable.”
This will be the second major league sports exhibition to be played this fall at the Sprint Center. The NHL’s St. Louis Blues will face the Los Angeles Kings on Sept. 22.
Tickets for the Blazers-Hawks game will start at $10. Additional tickets are available at a variety of levels including $30, $50, $65, $90 and a limited number of courtside seats for $200 each. Tickets go on sale Saturday, Aug. 9 at 10 a.m. at Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com and charge by phone at 816-931-3330.
Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more and may be purchased now by calling 816-949-7175 or e-mailing grouptickets@sprintcenter.com.
The NBA hasn’t staged an exhibition in Kansas City since 2001 when the Houston Rockets and Detroit Pistons played in front of 7,113 at Kemper Arena. The two previous exhibitions both involved the Los Angeles Lakers, drawing 16,841 in 1997 and 12,754 in 1999.