TORONTO — Larry Tanenbaum said that for the second time in his time as a major player within the world of Toronto professional sports, he finds himself in the right place at the right time.
Speaking at a news conference to announce the WNBA expanding to Toronto, Tanenbaum recalled Toronto getting an NBA expansion franchise more than 30 years ago. He remembered hitting the road to visit all of the league’s owners, one by one, to sell them on the idea of the NBA coming to Toronto.
Tanenbaum left out an important part: He did not win the bid for the team. John Bitove and Standard Broadcasting’s Allan Slaight got the expansion team, with Tanenbaum not becoming involved until the Toronto Maple Leafs essentially bought the Raptors and the arena that would become the Air Canada Centre (and now Scotiabank Place) in 1998.
By then, Tanenbaum was a minority partner with the hockey team. That was five years after Toronto got an NBA team and into their third season of play. There was a thought that Tanenbaum was too public with his initial campaign for an NBA team, and that irritated the league, and especially commissioner David Stern.
This time around, Tanenbaum’s foe came from inside the house that Tanenbaum helped build in 1998. It has been widely reported that Edward Rogers, the…
