Dan Issel pegs Kentucky as quintessential location for NBA expansion

The new decade has brought a terrific start so far for the Kentucky Wildcats.

Kentucky basketball may be in for an even more pleasant surprise as the state may be a contender for getting an NBA team as the league is starting to embrace the idea of expansion.

Unfortunately, though it will be in their archrivals territory as it would be located in Louisville. UK basketball legend, Dan Issel, is currently the president of the Louisville Basketball Investment & Support Group.

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.