An NBA team wouldn’t need local players. People here support Cincinnati and Tennessee teams without local players. An NBA team here wouldn’t be any different.
Issel still wants a NBA team in Louisville.
- Thread starter Smashcat
- Start date
Which is stupid. This is a basketball state. They would sell-out a lot of games. Especially if we were good. But I don't make enough money to pretend I know everything.
I could certainly be wrong, but I just can't imagine a roster like this generating much in the way of ticket sales in Louisville.
| F | 41 | Bey, Saddiq | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | 1999-04-09 | Villanova |
| G | 13 | Bogdanović, Bogdan | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 225 lb (102 kg) | 1992-08-18 | Serbia |
| C | 15 | Capela, Clint | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 256 lb (116 kg) | 1994-05-18 | Switzerland |
| F/C | 20 | Collins, John | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 226 lb (103 kg) | 1997-09-23 | Wake Forest |
| F/C | 24 | Fernando, Bruno | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 240 lb (109 kg) | 1998-08-15 | Maryland |
| G | 2 | Forrest, Trent (TW) | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | 1998-06-12 | Florida State |
| F | 14 | Griffin, AJ | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 222 lb (101 kg) | 2003-08-25 | Duke |
| G | 3 | Holiday, Aaron | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | 1996-09-30 | UCLA |
| G/F | 12 | Hunter, De'Andre | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 221 lb (100 kg) | 1997-12-02 | Virginia |
| F | 1 | Johnson, Jalen | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 219 lb (99 kg) | 2001-12-18 | Duke |
| G | 27 | Krejčí, Vít | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | 2000-06-19 | Czech Republic |
| G | 25 | Mathews, Garrison | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | 1996-10-24 | Lipscomb |
| G/F | 22 | Martin, Tyrese | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | 1999-03-07 | Connecticut |
| G | 5 | Murray, Dejounte | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | 1996-09-19 | Washington |
| F/C | 17 | Okongwu, Onyeka | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 240 lb (109 kg) | 2000-12-11 | USC |
| G | 4 | Williams, Donovan (TW) | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | 2001-09-06 | UNLV |
| G | 11 | Young, Trae | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 164 lb (74 kg) | 1998-09-19 | Oklahoma |
A fringe playoff team with a young exciting star wouldn’t sell tickets? I gotta disagree.
The area around the Yum Center is most assuredly not a dump. It’s actually a nice area. It isn’t Vegas, but comparable to Seattle.
Everything south of Market street is a dump. And North of Market is only decent between Baxter and 9th.
Would be great but vegas and Nashville are both miles ahead, no matter what those odds say. The only way we get in over those cities is if they don't want a team
I disagree, but regardless, the crowd will spill out an or around Main, which is nice. I’ve seen NBA arenas in worst areas.
What’s good for Louisville (economic driver) is good for the commonwealth. An NBA franchise would drive revenue to the state through tourism.
Some of you sound like 90 year olds terrified of any type of change or idea. Why in the world would anyone say "no" to an NBA team in their own state? It might not work in the long run, but the arena is already there, in the state's most populated city, and it's home to a program who won 4 games last year.
Imagine Tennessee residents saying no to every opportunity to bring money in and eyeballs on their state. Well, they didn't and now they have pro teams they've embraced and a city that's basically become the South's version of Vegas, in a sense anyway. But yes, it's just pretend it's 1962 and keep saying no while pretending a horse race once a year is good enough. The weird, closed-mindedness on this issue is sort of maddening, and usually no reason is given why or some just say "it won't work." Cool, let's just not try anything then. Oh well, we'll always have two minutes a year and an Ark.
Imagine Tennessee residents saying no to every opportunity to bring money in and eyeballs on their state. Well, they didn't and now they have pro teams they've embraced and a city that's basically become the South's version of Vegas, in a sense anyway. But yes, it's just pretend it's 1962 and keep saying no while pretending a horse race once a year is good enough. The weird, closed-mindedness on this issue is sort of maddening, and usually no reason is given why or some just say "it won't work." Cool, let's just not try anything then. Oh well, we'll always have two minutes a year and an Ark.
Cincinnati and Louisville are almost the same exact driving distance away from Indianapolis. Both are big enough but probably not as enticing as vegas, Seattle or again, Mexico City. One of the biggest cities in the world and only a few hours flight for both conferences
Louisville has no other major pro franchises, it's in a basketball state, has an NBA ready arena. There is no following whatsoever for the Pacers in Kentucky like there is for the Cincinnati or Nashville teams in certain parts of KY. So I think Louisville could more than handle a single major pro franchise and basketball makes the most sense especially with no NBA team in Nashville or Cincy.
For Kentuckians that want to put down the city, I was born in Lexington and am a die-hard UK fan but I love the city of Louisville. It's not perfect but it is a much better city to live in than 75% of cities that already have an NBA team and while it's no Atlanta or Chicago it is certainly metropolitan enough to not be a glorified college town (despite what UofL fan thinks) which is what places like Lexington and Knoxville are. This "I'm just gonna hate it because it's Louisville" is embarrassing and stupid.
Also as a UK fan, if you really, really hate UofL you should be doing all you can to get a pro franchise there. Tom Jurich fought it as hard as.he could because he did not want the competition for UofL for money, resources, and attention a pro franchise would bring. It's still very much a long shot but I think given what Louisville has to offer, it should be about third after Vegas and Seattle.
For Kentuckians that want to put down the city, I was born in Lexington and am a die-hard UK fan but I love the city of Louisville. It's not perfect but it is a much better city to live in than 75% of cities that already have an NBA team and while it's no Atlanta or Chicago it is certainly metropolitan enough to not be a glorified college town (despite what UofL fan thinks) which is what places like Lexington and Knoxville are. This "I'm just gonna hate it because it's Louisville" is embarrassing and stupid.
Also as a UK fan, if you really, really hate UofL you should be doing all you can to get a pro franchise there. Tom Jurich fought it as hard as.he could because he did not want the competition for UofL for money, resources, and attention a pro franchise would bring. It's still very much a long shot but I think given what Louisville has to offer, it should be about third after Vegas and Seattle.
Yes, Vegas and Seattle for sure would be the first in line. Mexico and London is interesting as well, the NBA is always looking to expand into markets outside the U.S
I think it would be awesome to have a team in Louisville, Lexington, or somewhere in between. If we want to be serious as a state, we need to get behind efforts like this as a state, starting with the governor’s office. Yes, we are a college sports state, but so was Tennessee, and they have incorporated professional sports.
As for where the team would go, with the caveat that this is just fun conjecture on a message board, I think downtown Louisville would be the obvious choice, given they already have an NBA ready arena, but I wouldn’t be opposed to an arena in one of those growing areas on I-64 between Lexington and Louisville. I think regardless of where the team would be, it would be accessible for people in both cities, along with E-town and other population centers (people drive from Louisville to UK games all the time). I think it would be awesome if we could rally around it as a state and sell ourselves as one market rather than the Louisville market or Lexington market in isolation (probably takes as long to get from some parts of Houston to others as it takes from Lex to Lou anyway, or close to it). Little we could do as fans, but it would be great if the governor was proactive in marketing the state to the NBA and to potential investors in that way.
As for where the team would go, with the caveat that this is just fun conjecture on a message board, I think downtown Louisville would be the obvious choice, given they already have an NBA ready arena, but I wouldn’t be opposed to an arena in one of those growing areas on I-64 between Lexington and Louisville. I think regardless of where the team would be, it would be accessible for people in both cities, along with E-town and other population centers (people drive from Louisville to UK games all the time). I think it would be awesome if we could rally around it as a state and sell ourselves as one market rather than the Louisville market or Lexington market in isolation (probably takes as long to get from some parts of Houston to others as it takes from Lex to Lou anyway, or close to it). Little we could do as fans, but it would be great if the governor was proactive in marketing the state to the NBA and to potential investors in that way.
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