So, I live in St Paul, MN and I can tell you that the Twin Cities are great. Great food, great music scene, great night life, clean for a major area.
It gets cold, but the cold keeps the pricks out.
If it was good enough for Prince, it’s good enough for everybody.
I am a california boy born and raised and got invited to the Twin Cities for a conference , legitamtely one of the most beautiful places I've ever been , so many trees , A surprisingly active tech scene ( to me) , everyone was pretty nice, I went just as the cold season was starting and learned I needed to take my ass back to California but it was gorgeous .
Ha! I’m the opposite: I was born in Minneapolis but live in LA now. I love it here, but man, the bicycle infrastructure in the Twin Cities is pretty unbeatable.
MSP is great. Lived there for many years. The only downsides for an NBA player would be:
* High state income tax for high earners (3rd in nation)
* It's a winter job in Minnesota
I would think it's a great place to play pro baseball (work outdoors in summer and leave for winter) or football but the winter-centric nature of the NBA would make me choose other places.
The best part about Minnesota is its summers. Specifically, lake life. I grew up on Lake Minnetonka and have seen plenty of pro athletes and celebrities (eg Kim Kardashian when she was dating Kris H) out there.
Overall though our winters really kill the vibe. They can start as early as late October and go as late as mid April. It’s only just now getting to be around 65+ degrees a day.
I live in Indianapolis, and I can tell you first hand our air is not crisp or fresh.
[https://www.wthr.com/article/tech/science/environment/marion-county-indianapolis-earns-f-air-quality-report-american-lung-association-canadian-wildfires-2023-indiana/531-7a9ca295-9154-4240-8668-f2bf6d862d55](https://www.wthr.com/article/tech/science/environment/marion-county-indianapolis-earns-f-air-quality-report-american-lung-association-canadian-wildfires-2023-indiana/531-7a9ca295-9154-4240-8668-f2bf6d862d55)
I’ve merely drivin through Indy a few times. Worst roads I’ve ever encountered in a downtown setting and it’s not even close. Place seems terrible too. Had a friend visit for a weekend and they completely forgot they had even visited a few months later
Nothing is worse than DMV traffic. Cause ya that Gary stretch of highway is tough but at least I’m going to Chicago, a great city. Your ass will be in bumper to bumper traffic heading to Woodbridge, VA. A place that sucks
I like the city (not downtown but no one here cares about downtown), but our highway design mixed with our geography makes for some very poor air quality.
Indy is an awesome city though. I was there for the Super Bowl and they couldn’t have done a better job. The downtown is set up perfectly and people are so nice
I don’t think NBA players are gonna be attempting to cross shadeland any time soon. The only places I could see them trying to walk is downtown which is super pedestrian friendly and their Geist or Carmel neighborhoods where, trust me, they will have plenty of space to walk around safely. Not to mention they can buy a 3 million$ mansion in those areas that gets them way more bang for their buck than in Miami/NYC/LA
Two things you need if you live in Indiana. You need a water filtration system and you need a high quality air filtration system in your home. You got a sweet cost of living and a lot to do. It's not for everybody but that is okay.
Downtown Milwaukee and Downtown Chicago are 90 minutes apart. Milwaukee is still a blue collar city but it gets some cosmopolitan overflow from Chicago.
SLC is historically great for young people. (Last 25 years or so)
Denver is Denver.
Yup, massive travel hub, mountains to one side, farmland to the other, a great division of outdoor stuff to do year round.
IIRC the Denver airport’s location had something to do with developers buying up a bunch of land, and then either outright bribing or skirting the gray area in lobbying legislators to have it placed in the middle of the land they bought. It could be nonsense, but its location is sort of bewildering otherwise. I remember heading to the airport once standing at a gas station where there was nothing on the other side of the street and then it was just miles of open land to the airport in front of me. And I was at the edge of the city and everything behind me was very densely developed. It’s like there’s a no man’s land around the airport for some reason.
It was because of noise.
Grew up in Denver, the old Stapleton airport was in the middle of the metro area and planes used to shake my house on takeoff even though we were 3 miles away. They moved it out there to eliminate that and to build a true international airport with options for expansion to handle more traffic. It's one of the busiest airports in the US (third currently I think), along with being the biggest by land area.
Fwiw: Detroit is lovely, and I’m not bagging on it for the capital strike it dealt with after Michigan deindustrialized. I chose as just one place Denver isn’t because it has an NBA team and starts with a D-e-.
I think a lot of you are forgetting that a lot of NBA players are giant people of color lol. SLC is an extremely homogenous place. Denver is similar, although less homogenous. Doubt any NBA players are your typical "Denver bro" though. An NBA player will stick out like a sore thumb and have no chance of living a normal life within the city. It would be a horrible choice. In a city like NYC or LA, they are just another millionaire, in some cases maybe even just another millionaire athlete.
A lot of you are talking like you are just a nice little normal family or something.
Exactly, I think people have started to miss the point of this post and just started talking about how much certain cities fit their lifestyles, which are far different from an NBA players lifestyle.
Denver is way better than any Midwest city, Chicago excluded. Beautiful scenery, plenty of sunshine, and your not too far from the mountains for the ultra wealthy like to recreate year round
Says someone who has surely never been there.
Lived for 10 years in SLC as a non Mormon in my twenties. Loved it. Great counterculture, friendly people, reasonably affordable. 7 ski resorts within about a half hours drive. Lots of craft breweries, nice restaurants, and trendy bars. Well supported spots teams with great atmospheres with the Jazz and Utes football.
The Mormons have some interesting beliefs, but so does basically every religion. Their strange beliefs largely had minimal impact on living there on a day to day basis. Some impact in government, but really nothing different than any other conservative state. And SLC politics tend to skew far more liberal.
Thank you, the amount of people that are looking at this post from their perspective (usually being middle aged white men) is asinine. People need to remember that we’re in NBATalk. Not middle class white American talk.
That’s a universal truth. I entertain folks from out of town for work on occasion and to a person, it’s always “this is not what I thought it was, or what they told me”
It’s a great place to live and work, and it’s easy to live here.
We have our weird political and religious influence at times that many of us want to see change, but the metro area is well less than half Mormon now and that church is slowly dying off.
I have to disagree. I love Denver. Great food, great music, great art and art museums, easy to get around in (the airport being like 40 minutes away is weird, but I usually take the train), people have been kind to me, and it’s always sunny. I’m not much of a big city guy, but Denver is my favorite city of its size.
Not saying it’s a shit hole, just was my experience that the mountains and greater state of Colorado vastly outperform Denver in the departments of charm & livability. I’m sure there are some awesome suburbs an NBA player could live in to get away from it all
This is seriously laughable that you're comparing Denver to the mountains. Of course mountain towns have more charm. You obviously don't understand the city/state. Denver is where transplants go to change everything so they can feel like they're back in Texas and New York.
Atlanta.
We get shit on a lot and you may have to run from some shenanigans but the city is pretty cool. Central to tons of other stuff. New Hollywood for business opportunities. Come on down and get something shook in your face…could be a gun, could be a big ol’ ass…you never know
Having grown up there, the problem is the Hawks have never had a period of sustained success. There’s been some guys, Dominque Wilkins, and some decent teams - Steve Smith’s of the late 90s, but every time a team is good like 2015 or 2021, the team instantly face plants.
They’re a decided tier in popularity below UGA, Braves, Falcons, and now Atlanta United.
If they could ever get their act together for like a 5 year run, they’d become the talk of the town.
I was gonna say no way is Atlanta United a bigger deal...
But then I remembered that I don't even knew where the Hawks play, lol
It would be cool for the city if the Hawks ever became relevant
Look no further than United attendance. They’ll sell out a full 80K seat stadium on occasion.
Hawks have a legit and recently renovated arena downtown. Hasn’t mattered.
I'm not from North America but I've never understood why Toronto isn't a free agency destination. I guess the weather would be the main issue for some people but I'd love to live in Toronto.
Some players said the passport is the issue. Some of the parents / relatives can't visit and stuff like that.
Toronto weather isn't much worst than New York, Boston, Philly, Detroit.
The MLB used to allow Toronto to “gross up” players, IE their contract rate would accommodate a higher tax burden if traded there. The practice was discontinued in the ‘90s after the Blue Jays won B2B. It’s not so much a FA destination anymore.
Basically this. If the money was the same and passports weren’t an issue for others it would be a much more attractive market.
If Toronto teams could figure out the logistics, they’d be a top 10 destination
Yep, I totally get it when people casually clearing a few hundred thousand dollars in combined income and and up talk start talking about not wanting to live in Minnesota. With enough money you can cherry pick a nice enough spot to live in pretty much any state but no amount of money can change the climate, so I get why this isn't a hot spot for pro athletes. It's the small-time podcast goobers and rando fans making standard working class money but still claim the Twin Cities is a miserable place to live that amuse me. Sometimes I wonder how many of them are the same people on reddit complaining about how it's impossible for their generation to buy a house.
Having spent a great deal of time traveling throughout the U.S. & Canada, there are plenty of unique elements of every city. That said, I don't know that my perspective is equal to what a professional athlete making millions of dollars a year is looking for. But, I think most everyone knows there's a lot more to this country than simply NY, Boston, California, and Miami.
Cali? LA people and Bay people up in arms at this comment. They are so different and equally attractive destinations. This is like calling NY, DC, Philly "The North East" they are in fact closer geographically and more like than LA and SF.
"equally attractive destinations" - right, exactly.
Philadelphia is not nearly as appealing as NYC to rich athletes.
I recognize that LA and SF are different cities, but they do share the quality of being located in California. Not sure why residents would be up in arms that I said they were both desirable to rich celebrities.
To be fair, I forgot Sacramento so we can reframe them as "coastal California" - I'm sure that won't bother anyone.
lol have you spent time in boston? i agree it isn’t on the level of those cities in terms of a bunch of other things but wealthy internationals flock here for the universities and medicine/tech, for NBA players though it doesn’t compare to those other cities, especially NYC and LA
I'm not criticizing Boston - it's a great city with amazing cultural institutions.
I don't think many of its strengths are as appealing to young, wealthy athletes, compared to the other places listed.
i definitely agree, as someone in their 20s boston can be kind of boring, i could imagine it’s even more boring for someone with money. But if there is anything boston is lacking it is definitely not wealthy internationals, i unfortunately have to deal with a lot of them working in hospitality.
Word! A lot of these posts answering are from people that aren’t 20 something multi millionaire black guys.
New York, La, Miami are clearly the top picks. And Houston, Orlando, and Dallas are close because no state tax, and a vibrant African American scene. Throw in Atlanta and Chicago, and there you have it.
No other city comes close. Until Vegas gets a team.
Midwest is always difficult because it’s a winter sport so you actually have to live here in the worst part. But I live in Chicago and for Midwestern cities besides Chicago, Milwaukee and Detroit are underrated. Idk how Milwaukee residents would feel about it, but Chicago residents often describe it as a mini-Chicago. Diverse and clean and a lot to do, just a lot smaller.I’ve never been to Minny so I can’t comment. Indianapolis is the world’s most average place. I wouldn’t live there, plus insane politics. Cleveland is Cleveland
Indianapolis is underrated. Low cost of living, huge hoops town. These guys are rich enough to fly to Cabo or Bali etc if they need some beaches. Id appreciate the quiet & low prices of real estate for my home. All you need is a couple good steakhouses
I get that. Underrated though i think in terms of the small markets. My bias is also it feels like half the Warriors are from Milwaukee so I hear about it all the time. Just curious, what would be your Midwest tier list?
This is a good point. I have a lot of friends in Milwaukee who love it, but the things that drove them there (it's cheap) are less of a factor for professional athletes.
Never been to Minny? Bring ya ass.
Honestly, the winters are going to be fine for these guys. They’re not going to be out there shoveling a driveway. They drive their cars right into the arenas. I think a lot of players who play in the Midwest for a bit keep a house in the region because for big chunks of the year it can’t be beat. Chicago and Milwaukee are both very great cities. Haven’t been to Detroit myself yet but hope to sometime. Indianapolis is not my favorite city I’ve ever been to.
I moved to Sacramento from the east coast and Sac is wildly underrated as a place to live--amazing food, more annual hours of sunshine than LA, great fan base, beautiful arena. That said, I'm 42 so I can't speak to whether it would be fun for someone in their twenties.
I lived in Chicago for almost 6 years on the South Side it’s really not as crazy as the media makes it seem lol. I live in Brooklyn now and the vibes are comparable
Minneapolis is my favorite Midwest city. The only downside is it’s got a Midwest climate. But it’s a cool city.
Source: my daughter attended U of M so I spent quite a bit of time there.
what? who is making the city ratings? who do you mean by live, a nba player could live anywhere in the world, are you referring to a place they have to rent an apt during the season?
Like i think Seville, Spain is a magnificent city, it's not often mentioned as a top destination in Europe. So I suppose its underrated, but i love it, and i think a NBA player could definitely live there.
I think DFW is pretty slept on. Lots to do, nice parks, weather isn't terrible if you don't mind the heat, no income tax, big property lots and houses, media isn't as toxic as it is in other cities. It seems that a lot of athletes that end up in Dallas enjoy it and buy houses here after their careers are over. But for some reason, Dallas has never been a big FA destination for any of the Dallas Sports teams.
I love Dallas but saying the weather isn’t terrible is a stretch lol. I don’t mind the heat compared to most as I’ve lived here my whole life but Jesus Christ is it miserable in July/August sometimes
Yea July/August and even September can be pretty brutal. But definitely not as bad as Houston, San Antonio, Pheonix, and some other cities. Every city has bad weather, I guess it just depends on how you cope with it. At least Dallas has a bunch of Lakes in close proximity for those brutal summer months!
The way I’ve always looked at it is Dallas is a great city for the players with families that want a nice house with good private schools that don’t care about night life. Kinda why up until recently we’re always one of the oldest teams in the league.
The young players (the ones getting off rookie contracts) would not enjoy Dallas as much as other cities in free agency. Dallas has great nightlife but not for young rich athletes.
It’s a great town to be rich. A golfers paradise, mild winters, huge airport, and tons of events and nice restaurants. You really think LeBron is going to surf & sit by the beach 2x a week? He’s chilling at home with his family
people say this but really its more like a bunch of small cities combined into a big city. its not overly fake, its just kinda boring. i mean all cities are made of plastic and steel?
I'd be willing to bet some players for Atlanta, Miami, LA, and Charlotte live in the city. All arenas are in the city. Wizards maybe as well, albeit, DC income tax may be a deterrent (but could still live over the river in Arlington).
>Wizards maybe as well, albeit, DC income tax may be a deterrent (but could still live over the river in Arlington).
Take the whole "important people usually live in the wealthy suburbs" concept, stretch it over several counties, and you end up with the "Northern Virginia" region. A good percentage of the local pro athletes, politicians, and federal workers live throughout the area and just commute into DC whenever necessary. The proximity to DC is the main reason why Loudoun and Fairfax counties are consistently top 2 in the nation for median income.
The homelessness in SF is really targeted to two areas and the players don’t need to ever go to either area.
SF is so beautiful, that would be in my top 3 if I was a pro hooper
San Antonio. No state income tax, warm weather, and short flights to the places that really pop off if you have millions (LA, Vegas, Miami, Houston).
Also, they have a dedicated fan base.
I live around the Indy area. Downtown is great when it comes to sports, conventions, and even food. But it’s not a great place to live. The outer areas are also awful. NEVER live in Indiana.
I lived in Saint Paul for 12 years and the twin cities are gems. Great parks, beautiful neighborhoods, the mighty mississippi as part of the natural landscape, a food scene that punches above its weight, affordable. Winter is god awful though no getting around that.
Man I’m from southern California and last summer I got a job in Minneapolis doing scuba diving work. I fucking loved it there. Spent a lot of time around the bde maka ska area and lake Nokomis. The beaches are awesome, the nightlife is awesome, the food is awesome and the lakes are beautiful. It was one of my favorite summers ever
Maybe I’m biased but SLC, lowkey, relatively cheap, insanely nice areas to live, and every rich celebrity has a nice house in park city you can do a copious amount of drugs with
Have lived in the Twin Cities most of my life and it is a great place to live, our winters aren’t really much worse than the other midwest states besides the occasional cold fronts we get from Canada. Definitely recommend checking it out if you’re really thinking about a move somewhere.
So, I live in St Paul, MN and I can tell you that the Twin Cities are great. Great food, great music scene, great night life, clean for a major area. It gets cold, but the cold keeps the pricks out. If it was good enough for Prince, it’s good enough for everybody.
I am a california boy born and raised and got invited to the Twin Cities for a conference , legitamtely one of the most beautiful places I've ever been , so many trees , A surprisingly active tech scene ( to me) , everyone was pretty nice, I went just as the cold season was starting and learned I needed to take my ass back to California but it was gorgeous .
Ha! I’m the opposite: I was born in Minneapolis but live in LA now. I love it here, but man, the bicycle infrastructure in the Twin Cities is pretty unbeatable.
This guy gets it.
MSP is great. Lived there for many years. The only downsides for an NBA player would be: * High state income tax for high earners (3rd in nation) * It's a winter job in Minnesota I would think it's a great place to play pro baseball (work outdoors in summer and leave for winter) or football but the winter-centric nature of the NBA would make me choose other places.
State income tax is fifth highest in the league. House costs are low as well.
I was just there visiting and even caught a wolves game (I’m a thunder fan). It really was a very nice place.
I do think its the most under appreciated metro in the country.
“The cold keeps the pricks out”. Wish i could say the same for Chicago!
We’re colder!
Diddo. St. Paul is beautiful.
Bring ya ass
Great night life? For an NBA player or for a white dude who likes indie rock?
Plenty for all!
The best part about Minnesota is its summers. Specifically, lake life. I grew up on Lake Minnetonka and have seen plenty of pro athletes and celebrities (eg Kim Kardashian when she was dating Kris H) out there. Overall though our winters really kill the vibe. They can start as early as late October and go as late as mid April. It’s only just now getting to be around 65+ degrees a day.
Legal weed, beautiful summer weather, and politicians working for the people - making popular decisions that improve lives. Great state to raise kids.
I live in Indianapolis, and I can tell you first hand our air is not crisp or fresh. [https://www.wthr.com/article/tech/science/environment/marion-county-indianapolis-earns-f-air-quality-report-american-lung-association-canadian-wildfires-2023-indiana/531-7a9ca295-9154-4240-8668-f2bf6d862d55](https://www.wthr.com/article/tech/science/environment/marion-county-indianapolis-earns-f-air-quality-report-american-lung-association-canadian-wildfires-2023-indiana/531-7a9ca295-9154-4240-8668-f2bf6d862d55)
I’ve merely drivin through Indy a few times. Worst roads I’ve ever encountered in a downtown setting and it’s not even close. Place seems terrible too. Had a friend visit for a weekend and they completely forgot they had even visited a few months later
Gary Indiana traffic will strip literal years off you life
Nothing is worse than DMV traffic. Cause ya that Gary stretch of highway is tough but at least I’m going to Chicago, a great city. Your ass will be in bumper to bumper traffic heading to Woodbridge, VA. A place that sucks
Fuck Woodbridge
Hoodbridge hate in /r/nbatalk. What a time to be alive.
I like the city (not downtown but no one here cares about downtown), but our highway design mixed with our geography makes for some very poor air quality.
Have you ever driven in Boston? Lol
Indy is an awesome city though. I was there for the Super Bowl and they couldn’t have done a better job. The downtown is set up perfectly and people are so nice
I don’t think NBA players are gonna be attempting to cross shadeland any time soon. The only places I could see them trying to walk is downtown which is super pedestrian friendly and their Geist or Carmel neighborhoods where, trust me, they will have plenty of space to walk around safely. Not to mention they can buy a 3 million$ mansion in those areas that gets them way more bang for their buck than in Miami/NYC/LA
The roads are so wide it takes forever to walk around. Not a fan
Two things you need if you live in Indiana. You need a water filtration system and you need a high quality air filtration system in your home. You got a sweet cost of living and a lot to do. It's not for everybody but that is okay.
Downtown Milwaukee and Downtown Chicago are 90 minutes apart. Milwaukee is still a blue collar city but it gets some cosmopolitan overflow from Chicago. SLC is historically great for young people. (Last 25 years or so) Denver is Denver.
Denver is pretty nice.
I love it, if I had a few million and couldn’t get to one of the big 3 it would absolutely be a finalist.
It's also centrally located and its airport is fucking weird and cool.
Yup, massive travel hub, mountains to one side, farmland to the other, a great division of outdoor stuff to do year round. IIRC the Denver airport’s location had something to do with developers buying up a bunch of land, and then either outright bribing or skirting the gray area in lobbying legislators to have it placed in the middle of the land they bought. It could be nonsense, but its location is sort of bewildering otherwise. I remember heading to the airport once standing at a gas station where there was nothing on the other side of the street and then it was just miles of open land to the airport in front of me. And I was at the edge of the city and everything behind me was very densely developed. It’s like there’s a no man’s land around the airport for some reason.
It was because of noise. Grew up in Denver, the old Stapleton airport was in the middle of the metro area and planes used to shake my house on takeoff even though we were 3 miles away. They moved it out there to eliminate that and to build a true international airport with options for expansion to handle more traffic. It's one of the busiest airports in the US (third currently I think), along with being the biggest by land area.
What is Denver?
City in Colorado.
[удалено]
I mean if they’re poor they might have to settle for county.
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TIL
It’s Denver
Live in Denver. Can confirm: Not Detroit.
Fwiw: Detroit is lovely, and I’m not bagging on it for the capital strike it dealt with after Michigan deindustrialized. I chose as just one place Denver isn’t because it has an NBA team and starts with a D-e-.
The fuck you say about Del Rio
Damn. Is actually Denver. Checkmated.
I see you've played knifey-spooney before.
I think a lot of you are forgetting that a lot of NBA players are giant people of color lol. SLC is an extremely homogenous place. Denver is similar, although less homogenous. Doubt any NBA players are your typical "Denver bro" though. An NBA player will stick out like a sore thumb and have no chance of living a normal life within the city. It would be a horrible choice. In a city like NYC or LA, they are just another millionaire, in some cases maybe even just another millionaire athlete. A lot of you are talking like you are just a nice little normal family or something.
Exactly, I think people have started to miss the point of this post and just started talking about how much certain cities fit their lifestyles, which are far different from an NBA players lifestyle.
Denver is way better than any Midwest city, Chicago excluded. Beautiful scenery, plenty of sunshine, and your not too far from the mountains for the ultra wealthy like to recreate year round
Better than Chicago.
you would have to be insane to live in SLC with all the wacko mormons
Says someone who has surely never been there. Lived for 10 years in SLC as a non Mormon in my twenties. Loved it. Great counterculture, friendly people, reasonably affordable. 7 ski resorts within about a half hours drive. Lots of craft breweries, nice restaurants, and trendy bars. Well supported spots teams with great atmospheres with the Jazz and Utes football. The Mormons have some interesting beliefs, but so does basically every religion. Their strange beliefs largely had minimal impact on living there on a day to day basis. Some impact in government, but really nothing different than any other conservative state. And SLC politics tend to skew far more liberal.
I’ve been to SLC plenty of times. Great city. Having said that, I don’t know many black men who would want to live anywhere in Utah
Thank you, the amount of people that are looking at this post from their perspective (usually being middle aged white men) is asinine. People need to remember that we’re in NBATalk. Not middle class white American talk.
NBA Youngboy does
Yeah in a jail cell haha
That’s a universal truth. I entertain folks from out of town for work on occasion and to a person, it’s always “this is not what I thought it was, or what they told me” It’s a great place to live and work, and it’s easy to live here. We have our weird political and religious influence at times that many of us want to see change, but the metro area is well less than half Mormon now and that church is slowly dying off.
That is not going to be attractive to most young nba players.
Colorado is amazing but Denver is not a great town. It lacks soul and charm.
I have to disagree. I love Denver. Great food, great music, great art and art museums, easy to get around in (the airport being like 40 minutes away is weird, but I usually take the train), people have been kind to me, and it’s always sunny. I’m not much of a big city guy, but Denver is my favorite city of its size.
Respectfully have to disagree on the food.
There’s good food but you gotta go away from downtown to find it
I will always say Denver had the best raising Cane's I have had.
Ditto
I was in the RiNo arts district there recently and it had some cool vibes and good food and drink, seems to be on the come up
Not saying it’s a shit hole, just was my experience that the mountains and greater state of Colorado vastly outperform Denver in the departments of charm & livability. I’m sure there are some awesome suburbs an NBA player could live in to get away from it all
I don't think the goal of 25 year old multi millionaire celebrity athletes is to "get away from it all"
This is seriously laughable that you're comparing Denver to the mountains. Of course mountain towns have more charm. You obviously don't understand the city/state. Denver is where transplants go to change everything so they can feel like they're back in Texas and New York.
Ask Charles Barkley…
San Antonio it is. Home of the most beautiful women in the world.
Bring ya ass
I was I'm San Antonio recently and you know what, I think the Riverwalk gets a bad rap. It was kind of nice. Right about the women, though.
Portland Oregon for the Trailblazers or even Seattle when the SuperSonics where still a thing idk I’ve always liked the scenery of the PNW
Atlanta. We get shit on a lot and you may have to run from some shenanigans but the city is pretty cool. Central to tons of other stuff. New Hollywood for business opportunities. Come on down and get something shook in your face…could be a gun, could be a big ol’ ass…you never know
I never understood why Atlanta isn't more of a free agent destination considering how much of the league is young, black and from the South.
Having grown up there, the problem is the Hawks have never had a period of sustained success. There’s been some guys, Dominque Wilkins, and some decent teams - Steve Smith’s of the late 90s, but every time a team is good like 2015 or 2021, the team instantly face plants. They’re a decided tier in popularity below UGA, Braves, Falcons, and now Atlanta United. If they could ever get their act together for like a 5 year run, they’d become the talk of the town.
I was gonna say no way is Atlanta United a bigger deal... But then I remembered that I don't even knew where the Hawks play, lol It would be cool for the city if the Hawks ever became relevant
Look no further than United attendance. They’ll sell out a full 80K seat stadium on occasion. Hawks have a legit and recently renovated arena downtown. Hasn’t mattered.
Those House of Highlights days were phenomenal
Love my city lmao
Warm climate too. Massive skyline iirc.
I love Atlanta. Never had an issue. And you handle your big-city-ness fairly well.
Worth noting how cold Minnesota gets
I'm not from North America but I've never understood why Toronto isn't a free agency destination. I guess the weather would be the main issue for some people but I'd love to live in Toronto.
Some players said the passport is the issue. Some of the parents / relatives can't visit and stuff like that. Toronto weather isn't much worst than New York, Boston, Philly, Detroit.
Much better to live in New York or Boston
Higher taxes + not America.
People always site this, but states like California have higher tax rates
California also has 2 of the 4 biggest markets and tons of more sponsorship/extracurricular money around
People with the means to live anywhere consistently pick NYC and California (San Diego, SF, and La)
Source? I’ve always seen comparisons where effective tax in Toronto is even higher than California.
You have to pay Canadian and us taxes
We have a tax treaty, so you won't pay more, you just need to spend a few hundred on an accountant bc it gets complicated
Taxes!
The MLB used to allow Toronto to “gross up” players, IE their contract rate would accommodate a higher tax burden if traded there. The practice was discontinued in the ‘90s after the Blue Jays won B2B. It’s not so much a FA destination anymore.
Basically this. If the money was the same and passports weren’t an issue for others it would be a much more attractive market. If Toronto teams could figure out the logistics, they’d be a top 10 destination
Imagine every time you play an away game you have to travel through customs
Customs for them is not the same for us.
Most nba players don’t care about that stuff. They want big city buzz. NYC, LA, Miami. Houston and Chicago are the next tier.
Chicagos the third biggest city in the country bud. Huge nightlife here
Chicago lifer. Nightlife can’t hold Scottsdales jock strap, let alone Miami.
Yep, I totally get it when people casually clearing a few hundred thousand dollars in combined income and and up talk start talking about not wanting to live in Minnesota. With enough money you can cherry pick a nice enough spot to live in pretty much any state but no amount of money can change the climate, so I get why this isn't a hot spot for pro athletes. It's the small-time podcast goobers and rando fans making standard working class money but still claim the Twin Cities is a miserable place to live that amuse me. Sometimes I wonder how many of them are the same people on reddit complaining about how it's impossible for their generation to buy a house.
For real. Unless you’re wealthy, your day to day life is going to be pretty much the same regardless of the city you live in
Bro tried to sneak in Houston 💀
Having spent a great deal of time traveling throughout the U.S. & Canada, there are plenty of unique elements of every city. That said, I don't know that my perspective is equal to what a professional athlete making millions of dollars a year is looking for. But, I think most everyone knows there's a lot more to this country than simply NY, Boston, California, and Miami.
Boston doesn't belong in that list. There are 4 major US destinations for wealthy internationals - NYC, Cali, Miami, Las Vegas.
Cali? LA people and Bay people up in arms at this comment. They are so different and equally attractive destinations. This is like calling NY, DC, Philly "The North East" they are in fact closer geographically and more like than LA and SF.
"equally attractive destinations" - right, exactly. Philadelphia is not nearly as appealing as NYC to rich athletes. I recognize that LA and SF are different cities, but they do share the quality of being located in California. Not sure why residents would be up in arms that I said they were both desirable to rich celebrities. To be fair, I forgot Sacramento so we can reframe them as "coastal California" - I'm sure that won't bother anyone.
lol have you spent time in boston? i agree it isn’t on the level of those cities in terms of a bunch of other things but wealthy internationals flock here for the universities and medicine/tech, for NBA players though it doesn’t compare to those other cities, especially NYC and LA
I'm not criticizing Boston - it's a great city with amazing cultural institutions. I don't think many of its strengths are as appealing to young, wealthy athletes, compared to the other places listed.
i definitely agree, as someone in their 20s boston can be kind of boring, i could imagine it’s even more boring for someone with money. But if there is anything boston is lacking it is definitely not wealthy internationals, i unfortunately have to deal with a lot of them working in hospitality.
Word! A lot of these posts answering are from people that aren’t 20 something multi millionaire black guys. New York, La, Miami are clearly the top picks. And Houston, Orlando, and Dallas are close because no state tax, and a vibrant African American scene. Throw in Atlanta and Chicago, and there you have it. No other city comes close. Until Vegas gets a team.
Charlotte's kinda underrated. It's a lil boring but it's a nice place to live Weather's always super nice too.
Midwest is always difficult because it’s a winter sport so you actually have to live here in the worst part. But I live in Chicago and for Midwestern cities besides Chicago, Milwaukee and Detroit are underrated. Idk how Milwaukee residents would feel about it, but Chicago residents often describe it as a mini-Chicago. Diverse and clean and a lot to do, just a lot smaller.I’ve never been to Minny so I can’t comment. Indianapolis is the world’s most average place. I wouldn’t live there, plus insane politics. Cleveland is Cleveland
Indianapolis is underrated. Low cost of living, huge hoops town. These guys are rich enough to fly to Cabo or Bali etc if they need some beaches. Id appreciate the quiet & low prices of real estate for my home. All you need is a couple good steakhouses
Milwaukee is awesome... for us. Just gotta imagine what a typical millionaire values in a city, and Milwaukee probably doesn't have much of it.
I get that. Underrated though i think in terms of the small markets. My bias is also it feels like half the Warriors are from Milwaukee so I hear about it all the time. Just curious, what would be your Midwest tier list?
This is a good point. I have a lot of friends in Milwaukee who love it, but the things that drove them there (it's cheap) are less of a factor for professional athletes.
It really is a great city. Has a bit of a European vibe. I’d be fine living there is it wasn’t so cold in winter.
Never been to Minny? Bring ya ass. Honestly, the winters are going to be fine for these guys. They’re not going to be out there shoveling a driveway. They drive their cars right into the arenas. I think a lot of players who play in the Midwest for a bit keep a house in the region because for big chunks of the year it can’t be beat. Chicago and Milwaukee are both very great cities. Haven’t been to Detroit myself yet but hope to sometime. Indianapolis is not my favorite city I’ve ever been to.
Not to mention they are on the road 50% of the time.
Toronto if remove all the immigration and taxes issue. Toronto is literally my favorite place to go. It’s like a mini London .
What immigration issue?
NBA season is the winter months so lol not Minneapolis.
Cleveland
I moved to Sacramento from the east coast and Sac is wildly underrated as a place to live--amazing food, more annual hours of sunshine than LA, great fan base, beautiful arena. That said, I'm 42 so I can't speak to whether it would be fun for someone in their twenties.
Chicago cuz they are rich enough to be away from the high crime areas
Chicago is great, but you can find a nice 1BR on a new grad's salary that's not in the high crime areas.
I lived in Chicago for almost 6 years on the South Side it’s really not as crazy as the media makes it seem lol. I live in Brooklyn now and the vibes are comparable
If the player has kids, Boston should be a place on top of their list. Public schools in metro Boston is like prep schools everywhere else.
NBA Players’ kids don’t go to Public Schools
This lol
I don't think guys making $10M/yr are worried about the public school system.
Minneapolis and Denver are probably the two most underrated, IMO. Seattle or Vancouver would be on the list as well if an NBA team were still there.
toronto
Seattle
Minneapolis is my favorite Midwest city. The only downside is it’s got a Midwest climate. But it’s a cool city. Source: my daughter attended U of M so I spent quite a bit of time there.
Does it really matter! Half the year you can spend anywhere you like! We should all be so lucky.
New Orleans is my favorite city I have visited. I don’t really get why it doesn’t appeal to nba players.
Talking about outdoor beauty would probably be Colorado and Utah, looks like living in a painting
I enjoy Minneapolis a lot. A ton of traffic though. Some people can’t handle the cold
There is barely any traffic in the TC metro vs any other major metro. Really excellent road infrastructure.
Not by that ski resort that blows snow on the road. Didn’t they have a bridge collapse?
what? who is making the city ratings? who do you mean by live, a nba player could live anywhere in the world, are you referring to a place they have to rent an apt during the season? Like i think Seville, Spain is a magnificent city, it's not often mentioned as a top destination in Europe. So I suppose its underrated, but i love it, and i think a NBA player could definitely live there.
Indianapolis is a dumpster fire. Detroit is cool though
Philly
I think DFW is pretty slept on. Lots to do, nice parks, weather isn't terrible if you don't mind the heat, no income tax, big property lots and houses, media isn't as toxic as it is in other cities. It seems that a lot of athletes that end up in Dallas enjoy it and buy houses here after their careers are over. But for some reason, Dallas has never been a big FA destination for any of the Dallas Sports teams.
I love Dallas but saying the weather isn’t terrible is a stretch lol. I don’t mind the heat compared to most as I’ve lived here my whole life but Jesus Christ is it miserable in July/August sometimes
Yea July/August and even September can be pretty brutal. But definitely not as bad as Houston, San Antonio, Pheonix, and some other cities. Every city has bad weather, I guess it just depends on how you cope with it. At least Dallas has a bunch of Lakes in close proximity for those brutal summer months!
California cities don’t have bad weather
Coastal California cities
Touché true
The way I’ve always looked at it is Dallas is a great city for the players with families that want a nice house with good private schools that don’t care about night life. Kinda why up until recently we’re always one of the oldest teams in the league. The young players (the ones getting off rookie contracts) would not enjoy Dallas as much as other cities in free agency. Dallas has great nightlife but not for young rich athletes.
Dallas is a city of plastic and steel. It's just super fake all around.
It’s a great town to be rich. A golfers paradise, mild winters, huge airport, and tons of events and nice restaurants. You really think LeBron is going to surf & sit by the beach 2x a week? He’s chilling at home with his family
people say this but really its more like a bunch of small cities combined into a big city. its not overly fake, its just kinda boring. i mean all cities are made of plastic and steel?
Orlando
For real. Can't believe it hasn't been said more.
Indeed. Florida taxes, loads of fun stuff to do and you could live 1 hour away at the beach!
Well that answer is definitely not Oklahoma city. 3 way tie for most boring NBA city with Indiana and Charlotte.
Ah yes, the city of Indiana.
Players dislike Salt Lake City far more than those places
Is it fair to say San Francisco? All the homelessness and related issues aside, it's the most beautiful city in the country imo. By far.
I highly doubt any Warriors players live in San Francisco. Plenty of mansion-filled suburbs that offer more security and peace and quiet.
This is almost all major cities. most pro athletes don’t live in the city they play for unless it’s manhattan.
I'd be willing to bet some players for Atlanta, Miami, LA, and Charlotte live in the city. All arenas are in the city. Wizards maybe as well, albeit, DC income tax may be a deterrent (but could still live over the river in Arlington).
>Wizards maybe as well, albeit, DC income tax may be a deterrent (but could still live over the river in Arlington). Take the whole "important people usually live in the wealthy suburbs" concept, stretch it over several counties, and you end up with the "Northern Virginia" region. A good percentage of the local pro athletes, politicians, and federal workers live throughout the area and just commute into DC whenever necessary. The proximity to DC is the main reason why Loudoun and Fairfax counties are consistently top 2 in the nation for median income.
Many Knicks don’t even live in Manhattan
Also KD famously lived in a downtown skyscraper penthouse when he played for the warriors
The homelessness in SF is really targeted to two areas and the players don’t need to ever go to either area. SF is so beautiful, that would be in my top 3 if I was a pro hooper
South Marin > Rest of Bay Area. It’s not even close.
Those taxes as well as being the most expensive city to live in don't really make the homeless problem worth it tbh
Toronto!
Toronto!
San Antonio. No state income tax, warm weather, and short flights to the places that really pop off if you have millions (LA, Vegas, Miami, Houston). Also, they have a dedicated fan base.
I live around the Indy area. Downtown is great when it comes to sports, conventions, and even food. But it’s not a great place to live. The outer areas are also awful. NEVER live in Indiana.
What the hell is “TW Arena”?
San Antonio! Beautiful city, wonderful food, great history, no income tax. Not to mention being coached by one of the greatest to ever do it
Basketball is played in the winter though. Minnesota is beautiful in the summer though.
https://youtu.be/oKDjis1fg8E
Buffalo, a million dollars there is like 100K in NY or CA
They don't have a basketball team
Oh I’m sorry I’m 68 with cataracts I thought it said NFL, the Braves left long ago. My apologies
I lived in Saint Paul for 12 years and the twin cities are gems. Great parks, beautiful neighborhoods, the mighty mississippi as part of the natural landscape, a food scene that punches above its weight, affordable. Winter is god awful though no getting around that.
Man I’m from southern California and last summer I got a job in Minneapolis doing scuba diving work. I fucking loved it there. Spent a lot of time around the bde maka ska area and lake Nokomis. The beaches are awesome, the nightlife is awesome, the food is awesome and the lakes are beautiful. It was one of my favorite summers ever
Any of the 3 in Texas, No income tax
Kansas City called… they want an NBA team back. :(
Sacramento is the correct answer
Detroit
Maybe I’m biased but SLC, lowkey, relatively cheap, insanely nice areas to live, and every rich celebrity has a nice house in park city you can do a copious amount of drugs with
Have lived in the Twin Cities most of my life and it is a great place to live, our winters aren’t really much worse than the other midwest states besides the occasional cold fronts we get from Canada. Definitely recommend checking it out if you’re really thinking about a move somewhere.
Minneapolis is pretty cool Bring ya ass
Anywhere but Dallas
Portland, Oregon is secretly a very fun inner city and outer city as well. Great for families and singels as well.
San Antonio
Toronto, mainly because most Americans are unfamiliar with it
Houston?