Investment Group Seeking To Lure NBA Team to Louisville

Could the NBA be headed to Louisville? Investment group looking into possibility.

An investment group has committed $750,000 in an effort to start the process of possibly luring an NBA team to Louisville, Kentucky.

According to the Louisville Courier-Journal, The Louisville Basketball Investment and Support Group provided the seed money to look into the issue. 

Kentucky has not had a professional basketball team since 1976 when the Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association ceased operation.

"Commissioner Silver said the NBA would be flattered that Louisville wanted a team,” former NBA player Dan Issel said. “He said right now there is no timetable for expansion. That will be their stance until they start accepting applications. ... What we want is to be ready to go. If and when they accept applications, we want to be on the top of the pile.”

Issel, who is the president of the investment group, says they have has not identified an owner or discussed the possibility of sharing an arena with the University of Louisville.

“Most cities have to have an arena situation in place,” Issel said. “In Louisville, we have two alternatives: the Yum Center is already there, and a renovated Freedom Hall. ... I don’t know that much about the situation with the Yum Center. I’ve never been in it. I understand it’s a beautiful building and that would be something we’d want to look at."

Louisville has a population of approximately 615,000.

Salt Lake City is the smallest NBA city in terms of population with just over 186,000 residents.

"As Mayor, I wake up every day focused on ways to grow our city and compete on a national and international level," Louisville mayor Greg Fischer said. "We play to win. So I welcome collaboration among members of the arena authority, the NBA, the University of Louisville, and others in reviewing the potential for an NBA team to locate here."