Logo of the National Basketball Association’s old Vancouver Grizzlies, who entered the league as an expansion team in 1995. The Grizzlies joined the league along with another Canadian city, Toronto, that year, and played in Vancouver until 2001. They were a losing operation in their entire tenure there, and in 1999, the team’s top draft pick, Steve Francis, refused to play there and forced a trade to Houston. Francis’ move, along with the lockout by NBA owners, were turning points for the franchise in Vancouver, as fan interest waned. After threatening to move the club to St. Louis, the team eventually was sold and moved to Memphis, its’ current location.