NBA: Suns to offer money-back guarantee
How about this for a good deal?
The Phoenix Suns will guarantee fans who attend next Thursday night's game against Dallas that they'll get their money back if they don't have fun.
That's the first time an NBA team has made such an offer.
The Suns' plan for a "Satisfaction Guarantee Night" came out of an overtime loss to Chicago on Nov. 14.
"After that game, I think we were all struck by the fact that so many people were leaving our building with a smile on their face," first-year Suns president Jason Rowley said. "Normally, when a team loses, fans are down. But not with us. And that was an eye-opening moment."
The Suns aren't planning any special promotions or incentives for the game. If fans don't like the game, they can fill out an online form to send in with their ticket for a refund.
"We know there's a risk to this," Rowley said. "But all we're doing is standing behind my product."
Average attendance through eight games is 15,063, which is on pace to end up as the team's lowest since its move to a new arena 20 years ago.
"We haven't set any specific goals other than trying to use this to build long-term brand affinity," Rowley said. "If we can sell 50 people on buying single-game tickets to a couple games this season or sell those people on buying some game plans, we'll be happy."
---The Golden State Warriors sent reserve guard-forward Kent Bazemore to Santa Cruz of the NBA Development League on Friday.
Bazemore had played 10 total minutes in six games for Golden State since the Warriors signed the 23-year-old free agent this summer from their summer-league team.
The Warriors' D-League team opens the regular season Friday night.
---The Toronto Raptors signed free-agent Mickael Pietrus and waived forward Dominic McGuire on Friday.
Pietrus, a 6-foot-6 swingman who has a career scoring average of 8.4 points per game, bounced between Orlando, Phoenix and Boston the past four years. He was the 11th pick of the 2003 draft by Golden State, where he played for five seasons.
McGuire played in 15 games this season and averaged 2.1 points and 3.4 rebounds.
