Dan Issel pushes for an NBA expansion team in Louisville

Despite NBA commissioner, Adam Silver, previously denying the League will expand anytime in the near future, he called it a possibility in a discussion with Shaq during the Finals, and now the rumors on the subject are swirling. Some suggest after negotiating the new collective bargaining agreement and impending media rights deal, expansion is the next major talking point in the NBA front office and will come as early as the summer of 2024.

This type of scuttlebutt is nothing new. Kentucky legend, Dan Issel joined KSR back in 2018 to discuss the possibility of luring an NBA franchise to Louisville, a cause for which he is still passionately advocating.

The NBA currently sits at 30 teams and any sort of expansion would likely mean the addition of two franchises. One major concern the League has is talent dilution. With super teams forming in an array of big markets, there might not be enough brand-name stars to go around.

Then again, money talks. And with even the lowliest of NBA teams being extremely profitable, expansion is less of a possibility and more of a certainty. The only question is when.

Cities with the best chance

The two favorites to acquire an NBA expansion team are Seattle and Las Vegas. The SuperSonics, which perhaps might be the most amazing professional nickname in existence, played in the pacific northwest from 1967-2008 before moving to, of all places, Oklahoma City.

Seattle is known to have a rabid sports fanbase, so giving them back the NBA team they once had makes sense. Heck, they even sell out their NFL football stadium for their MLS soccer team, so no one can question how much their fans care. They would just need to secure a new arena.

Las Vegas is the next betting favorite to acquire an NBA team. The City of Sin was void of any professional sports but has become a hot and flashy destination in recent years with the NHL’s Golden Knights and the NFL’s Raiders now calling the desert their home. There is also talk that the Oakland Athletics are looking to relocate there as well, so much like the newest club on the Strip, Las Vegas is the place to be.

Next up when it comes to odds-on-favorites for an expansion team in Mexico City, Mexico. Similar to the NFL playing regular season games in London for more than a decade, the NBA has descended upon Mexico City for meaningful games in recent years to huge success.

With zero inside information, my guess is that this would be Adam Silver’s first choice. The idea of being the first professional league in three different countries would leave quite a legacy on his commissionership and would gain a market share of tens of millions of hungry basketball fans.

What about Louisville?

After Seattle, Las Vegas, and Mexico City, Louisville is the next favorite to host an NBA team. The YUM! Center is a state-of-the-art venue and would easily meet the nicety standards of the NBA. Of course, there is a bit of a contract entanglement with the University of Louisville, as Tom Jurich forced the city into a borderline unfair deal when he was the athletic director. That would need to be renegotiated prior to an NBA team seriously considering Louisville, but that is a doable task.

Despite the hurdles, Dan Issel thinks it is still possible. He told the Herald-Leader, “We were gaining some traction, then COVID hit and the whole thing kind of fell apart. With this development from Commissioner Silver, it might fire up the organization again.”

It would take roughly $3 billion to become an NBA franchise, but perhaps the bigger issue is convincing the state is good enough to host the NBA. Issel describes a bit of a defeatest mentality that Kentuckians would need to get over. According to Issel:

“That’s the part that bothers me or concerns me the most: For some reason, Kentuckians have this idea, ‘Well, we can’t do that. We’re not big enough to do that. We are not sexy enough to do that.’ … Well, sometimes you just have to roll up your sleeve and say, ‘Forget about all the negatives, we’re going to get this done.’ And have that attitude going into it.”

Dan Issel | Lexington Herald-Leader

I don’t know about you, but I’m fired up after reading that. $3 billion? We can make that happen. I’ve got $100 bucks on it. Who else is in?