TheCatsDomain.Com Message Boards: Issel pegs Cats as quintessential location for NBA expansion

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Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 01-13-2020, 03:36 PM:

According to 247 sports.com, Dan Issel was in Elizabethtown recently expressing the benefits of bringing an NBA expansion team to our old Kentucky home.

Part of Issel’s tenure with basketball in Kentucky includes leading the former ABA team, Kentucky Colonels, to the 1975 ABA championship.

Issel told the Hardin County Chamber of Commerce audience, “Winning that championship with the Colonels in Louisville is why I’m involved with our present endeavor, to get the NBA back to Louisville.”

Issel is currently facing challenges though, the biggest one being that the NBA is not interested in expansion at this very moment; however, they may consider it down the road.

Secondly, Kentucky may not be a perfect place for an expansion roster with cities like Seattle and even Austin potentially ahead in the race.

The hope is that the NBA will soon vote to expand by two franchises, putting the total at 32, but that will not be official to the public until the league starts taking applications. Another problem Issel encounters is the opinion of the public.

Many people worry that it will take from the awe that is the state of Kentucky’s basketball. While that is a reasonable assumption, there’s no denying an NBA franchise would be good for the state and certainly the Louisville economy.

Link

Posted by Tiptree (Member # 844) on 01-13-2020, 09:37 PM:

Won't happen. The Colonels failed, and several subsequent attempts to bring an NBA team to Louisville also failed. The demographics just are not there.

Better cities for expansion would be Seattle and Austin, as mentioned in the article. Closer to home, Columbus Ohio, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Nashville would be better than Louisville.