1) Bay Lake, FL: New Orleans Pelicans vs. Utah Jazz (July 30, 2020)

141 days after the NBA was forced to suspend the ’19-’20 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it resumed action at a neutral site “bubble.” That location is the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex on the campus of Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida. Both the Jazz and Pelicans were scheduled to play on the night of March 11, but had their respective games cancelled due to COVID positive tests. For the Jazz, it was due to their star center Rudy Gobert who had contracted the virus after facetiously touching microphones and other equipment during a press conference just a couple days earlier. The Pelicans had their contest against the Kings cancelled that same night when a referee was revealed to have a positive test. When they returned to action, Gobert finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds as Utah was victorious, 106-104, in front of a mostly empty arena. It was the first of 88 “seeding” games that will close out the season, with home court advantage simulated for teams via virtual fans, personalized sound effects and music, and court elements.

2) Miami, FL: Fort Wayne Pistons vs. Baltimore Bullets (January 12, 1954)

Long before the state became the epicenter of the NBA with the 2020 bubble or before receiving its first NBA franchise in 1988 with the Miami Heat, Florida hosted its first NBA game way back in 1954. You may instinctually assume this was an early attempt by the league to expand its fanbase down south, but the reasoning was more self-indulgence than ambition. Pistons owner Fred Zollner had made his fortune manufacturing pistons at a foundry in Fort Wayne, Indiana but by the mid ’50s, he and his wife were wintering at their second home just outside Miami. The magnate missed managing his basketball franchise during those spans and rather than remain in Fort Wayne or commute more regularly back and forth, Zollner decided to start scheduling neutral site games in Florida. The first one happened in January of 1954 in Coral Gables, at the home arena of the University of Miami. The Pistons easily defeated the lowly Baltimore Bullets that night but would struggle overall in Florida, losing six of the nine games they played there over the next few seasons.

3) St. Paul, MN: Minneapolis Lakers vs. Washington Capitols (April 13, 1949)
4) Indianapolis, IN: Fort Wayne Pistons vs. Syracuse Nationals (April 3, 1955)

Imagine if the Raptors or Warriors had to host one of last year’s NBA Finals games at a neutral site because their home arena was unavailable? That actually happened twice in the early days of the NBA. When the Lakers reached the NBA Finals for the first time in 1949, their home arena in Minneapolis was already booked for an outdoor sportsman expo. Thus, the first title in Lakers franchise history was clinched across the river in St. Paul, where they hosted and won game six against the Washington Capitols to take the championship. That same convention again affected Lakers scheduling in their 1950, 1952, and 1959 NBA Finals appearance and was a contributing factor to their 1960 relocation to Los Angeles. A neutral site title series game also happened in 1955 to the Pistons, then based in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Because the team had missed the playoffs altogether in ’53-’54 their home arena, the War Memorial Coliseum, was booked for all of April in 1955 for a bowling tournament. All four of their home games in the 1955 Finals had to be staged 120 miles away in Indianapolis. Though this was no doubt a hassle, it didn’t seem to affect the outcome, as the Pistons won all three games they played in Indianapolis. Unfortunately, they also lost all four road games against the Syracuse Nationals to drop the series.

“Hershey was the most common secondary home for the Warriors, as it was also the host site of their yearly training camp (despite player protestations about the overwhelming smell of chocolate).”

5) Tokyo, Japan: Phoenix Suns vs. Utah Jazz (November 2, 1990)

While the early days of NBA neutral site games was a necessity, the practice was revived again as a choice. In an attempt to expand the international reach of the league, the NBA kicked off its “Global Games” series with several exhibition games in Israel in 1978. It would eventually expand preseason and exhibition match-ups to Russia, Italy, Spain, Bahamas, China, Mexico, Philippines, Germany, Dominican Republic, Turkey, France, Great Britain, and Brazil. The first NBA game played at a neutral international site that actually counted in the regular season standings happened in Tokyo in 1990. Two years before becoming international superstars as part of the U.S. Olympic Dream Team, Karl Malone and John Stockton traveled to Japan with the Jazz to take on the Suns in two games. The Suns won the opener while Utah was victorious the next day, with the teams subsequently returning to the states to resume the ’90-’91 season. Opening the NBA season in Tokyo became a regular tradition from there, and the league soon after expanded to regular season games in Mexico City, London, and Paris.

6) Las Vegas, NV: Los Angeles Lakers vs. San Francisco Warriors (November 20, 1965)
7) Las Vegas, NV: Utah Jazz vs. Los Angeles Lakers (April 5, 1984)
8) Las Vegas, NV: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Portland Trail Blazers (May 3, 1992)

The Lakers have ventured 250 miles northeast to Las Vegas for a regular season game on three occasions in franchise history, and all three had major historical connotations. In 1965, they defeated the Warriors in the inaugural NBA contest in Las Vegas. But the real significant fact about this game is that legendary announcer Chick Hearn wasn’t there to call it. He had been in Arkansas that afternoon working a college football broadcast and his flight to Vegas had to be cancelled due to inclement weather. Hearn swore he’d never miss another Lakers broadcast and from that day forward called 3,388 consecutive games before taking a night off in 2001 following heart surgery. Nearly two decades later, the Lakers returned to Sin City to take on the Jazz, who hosted 11 games at the Thomas & Mack Center during the ’83-’84 season. Los Angeles won the game 129-115 but the big story was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scoring 22 points to surpass Wilt Chamberlain as the all-time NBA scoring leader. The game was paused for several minutes after the record-breaking basket as Abdul-Jabbar received a standing ovation from the neutral site crowd.

In the third and final Las Vegas appearance by the Lakers, it was an unplanned diversion. When the Los Angeles riots broke out in the spring of 1992 following the Rodney King incident, the city went into curfew, leaving the Great Western Forum unavailable. The Lakers were thus forced to postpone and move game four of their first round series against the Blazers to Las Vegas, where they were blown out, 102-76. It was an inglorious end to a disappointing ’91-’92 season, which had started with Magic Johnson’s shocking retirement announcement. Vegas has long since been a rumored landing spot for either a relocating or expansion NBA franchise (it was also reportedly in the running as the 2020 “bubble” site) but has settled for hosting the yearly summer league and the 2007 All-Star Game.

9) Hershey, PA: Philadelphia Warriors vs. New York Knicks (March 2, 1962)

Perhaps the most striking thing about Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game is not any of the stats involved but the lack of photographic and video evidence. That can be largely explained by the game happening not in Philadelphia but 100 miles west at the Hershey Sports Arena. Despite Philadelphia being the third most populated U.S. city at the time, then Warriors owner Eddie Gottlieb claimed that his franchise was in financial straits. He would schedule multiple neutral site games every season as attempted cash grabs, making it as far as Boston, Buffalo, and Toledo. Hershey was the most common secondary home for the Warriors and was also the host site of their yearly training camp (despite player protestations about the overwhelming smell of chocolate). It was the unlikely locale of NBA history in March of 1962 when Chamberlain put on the ultimate display of individual dominance. Only 4,124 people were on hand to witness it but Hershey went down as the site of one of the most iconic games in basketball history. In the ensuing offseason, Gottlieb sold the franchise to Franklin Meuli, who relocated them to San Francisco.