It’s been almost two weeks since the deadliest mass shooting in American history hit Las Vegas. I’ve lived in the city since the summer of 2010, and have come to call it home. That night, I was in my apartment preparing for a meeting the next morning related to my writing business when news first broke. I called my mother in Wisconsin, and she and I, along with a couple of my close friends (including a fellow night owl in Georgia), stayed up all the night, watching and listening with horror as the reports came in.

Since that awful night, I’ve written about the importance of people still coming here, and pondered ways I could further highlight my adopted city. And that’s when I hit upon an overview of our basketball history.

The earliest attempt at a professional basketball franchise in Las Vegas was the Silver Bandits, a semi-pro team slated to play in the International Basketball League in the 1982-83 season, but failure to secure sufficient financial backing resulted in a move to Albuquerque before play began.

The first successful implementation was the Las Vegas Silver Streaks, founding franchise of the World Basketball League. A minor league, the WBL had the gimmick that no player could be taller than 6’4, and the Silver Streaks won the inaugural WBL championship, beating the Chicago Express 102-95. The team played three seasons (1988-1990) and were led by Jamie Waller, a 2nd round pick of the New Jersey Nets who washed out in the NBA (just 91 minutes), but was a marquee player in the WBL, with four straight scoring titles – including three during the Silver Streaks’ existence. Former UNLV stars Freddie Banks, Anthony Jones, and Mark Wade were also key contributors. As so often happens in minor league sports, financial issues doomed the franchise, leading to a move to Nashville, TN after the 1990 season.

Since then, there have been a number of short-lived ABA teams, but that hasn’t stopped Las Vegas for being talked about as an NBA destination. This is a city where basketball is king (fueled in no small part by the Jerry Tarkanian dynasty years at UNLV), and in a December 2004 Sports Illustrated article, Ian Thomsen put forth the argument that Las Vegas would receive a MLB or NBA franchise within the next five years.

Perhaps partly to test viability of pro basketball in the city, the NBA awarded Las Vegas the 2007 All-Star Game. What followed was a disastrous weekend, marred by hundreds of arrests and numerous violent incidents. That temporarily put the discussion of an NBA franchise on hold, even with the growing popularity of the Las Vegas Summer League started in 2004 by Warren LeGarie that grew from six teams in the first season to 16 in 2007, when official NBA sanction came.

Fast forward a decade and the Las Vegas Summer League has become one of the NBA’s marquee offseason events, drawing thousands of attendees each summer, with million more viewers watching the league’s incoming young talent. Talk, too, has continued about a possible pro basketball franchise – particularly after the NHL expansion Golden Knights became a certainty and the NFL’s Oakland Raiders were approved for a move to Las Vegas.

A few days ago, word broke that the WNBA (the female counterpart to the NBA) franchise San Antonio Stars were on the verge of being purchased by a Las Vegas-based owner and moved to the city. Although nothing has been confirmed, and it would need approval from the NBA and WNBA Board of Governors, it could be the first genuine pro hoops team here.

In recent years, the Sacramento Kings, Milwaukee Bucks, and the-then Seattle Supersonics were all discussed as possible options for a relocation to Las Vegas. All fell through, but given the current sports momentum, and the fast-growing nature of the city, it seems likely that we will one day, perhaps in the near future, see a team here. While many no doubt hope for an expansion similar to the Golden Knights, last year, MGM International Resorts CEO Jim Murren, one of the biggest proponents for an NBA franchise in Las Vegas, said  that a team was likely to come via relocation, and not expansion.

Earlier this year, media reports surfaced that while NBA expansion isn’t foreseeable in the immediate future, expanding to 32 teams is something the league will consider if the recent surge in popularity and revenues continues. Seattle, which lost the Sonics to Oklahoma City in a controversial decision, is the only one to be specifically mentioned by league commissioner Adam Silver. Still, there’s little question Las Vegas would at least be in the conversation.