Calipari sees no harm in a NBA team in Louisville but can it benefit the Wildcats?

Once upon a time, the Commonwealth of Kentucky had their very own professional basketball team.  The Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association started play in Louisville in 1967 and lasted nine seasons, the last six seasons at Freedom Hall.  The ABA was actually started to compete with the NBA with the endgame being to force an eventual merger with the more established NBA.

In the beginning, the Colonels seemed to be the inspiration for all the bad ABA jokes and movies.  Their mascot was a dog that also happened to  have a front row seat for games and attend the owner’s board meetings.  The Colonels also beat the Tampa Bay Lightning (remember female goalie Manon Rheaume?) to the punch by about 25 years by hiring female jockey Penny Ann Early to appear albeit briefly in a game.  In short, the early Colonels were a colorful part of a colorful league with that colorful red, white, and blue ball.

Even back then, Kentucky Wildcat basketball ruled the Commonwealth and the Colonels started their first season with former Wildcat standouts Louis Dampier and Cotton Nash.  Eventually, the franchise got serious about competing and signed former UK great Dan Issel to a 10 year, $1.4M contract.  Former Wildcat Frank Ramsey coached the team for the 1970-71 season and the Colonels lost in the ABA finals.  The Colonels lost the 1972-73 ABA finals to the Indiana Pacers before finally winning striking gold, winning the 1974-75 ABA Finals.  That team was coached by future NBA legend Hubie Brown who still says the Colonels were the best team he has coached.

By this time, the competition between the ABA and NBA was at a fever pitch and Colonel owner (and future Kentucky governor) John Y  Brown Jr challenged the NBA champion Golden State Warriors to an exhibition game for a $1M dollar prize.  The Warriors declined, but the Colonels went 7-2 against NBA teams in their pre-season schedule, including a less heralded win over the Warriors.  The 1975-1976 season ended up being the last for the ABA as several teams had to close up shop due to financial difficulty.  In the end, the NBA agreed to take on four new teams (New Your Nets, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, and San Antonio Spurs) and the Colonels were forced to disband.  Rumor has it that the NBA chose Indiana over the Colonels as the last team in.

And like that, the history of pro basketball in Kentucky was over.  Sure, there was a reincarnation of the ABA and the Kentucky Colonels in 2004 that went nowhere really, but for all reality, pro basketball in the Commonwealth was done.

Until now.  Teams like Charlotte and Vancouver seem to be the topic of constant relocation talk and now the city of Louisville has a sparkling new 22,000 seat arena which would be awfully attractive to a wayward franchise.  And now the Louisville Metro Council has hired a lawyer to gauge the possibility of luring a team to play in the Yum!.

it’s no secret that Louisville coach Rick Pitino is not a fan of the NBA intruding on his turf.  But John Calipari, whose Memphis Tigers shared Memphis with the Grizzlies sees “no downside” to bring the NBA to the Commonwealth.  Calipari is not concerned in the least about the NBA franchise affecting the Kentucky/Louisville rivalry or the Kentucky program::

"“This state is driven by the city of Louisville.  Anything that’s good for the city of Louisville is good for our state. I believe [the NBA] is good for the city of Louisville, which makes our state even better.  It will never take away from the University of Kentucky, never, ever.  It will never take dollars away, it will never take seats away.”"

In a indirect way, the presence of a NBA franchise could actually help the Dirty Birds in recruiting:

"“The recruiting for Louisville will go up because there will be pro scouts in there every day,” Calipari said. “That’s what happened to us in Memphis, every day, because they’re going in to see the pro team that night. Where do they go that afternoon? They go to the gym to see the college players.”"

Another benefit of a NBA franchise in Louisville is that it could be what is needed for Lexington leaders to quit dragging their feet and get serious about replacing Rupp Arena.  As a matter of fact, Calipari seems to be counting on this happening soon as he makes a special invitation for his mancrush LeBron to come play in the “new Rupp”.

"“When [the Louisville team] is playing LeBron, come here and play here in the new building we’ll have in four years,”"

Keep following www.http://wildcatbluenation.com for the best in Kentucky basketball and football news, rumors, and opinions. By Kentucky fans for Kentucky fans