December 14, 20178 yr Around the time Pitino arrived, a group of Louisville businessmen and politicians were making a concerted effort to land an NBA team. In part, this was a play for economic development. Louisville could see how pro football and hockey helped revitalize Nashville. But it also came just as much from a desire for respect. The city burghers even had a nonbinding agreement with the Charlotte Hornets, which wanted to relocate. The plan centered around building a downtown arena that the Hornets and the Cardinals would share. Jurich and Pitino had other ideas. They had no intention of sharing an arena with an NBA team—they didn’t even want to share the city with an NBA team. Louisville was theirs. David Stern, who was then commissioner of the NBA, recalls thinking, “If Rick Pitino doesn’t want us there, why are we going there?” The Hornets went to New Orleans instead. College Basketball Made Louisville, Then Broke It - Bloomberg Imagine how much different Louisville and Kentucky would be perceived if there was an NBA team here. Boogie, Davis, Miller and Rondo playing in Louisville would be insane!
December 14, 20178 yr People are finally starting to see Pitino and Jurich for what they really are. Good business men? Why the hell would Pitino/Jurich want an NBA team in town? That's direct competition to UofL. There is a reason you don't see too many successful college programs in pro sports towns or vice versa.
December 14, 20178 yr Good business men? Why the hell would Pitino/Jurich want an NBA team in town? That's direct competition to UofL. There is a reason you don't see too many successful college programs in pro sports towns or vice versa. Good business men succeed without scare tactics, scandals and greed.
December 14, 20178 yr Good business men? Why the hell would Pitino/Jurich want an NBA team in town? That's direct competition to UofL. There is a reason you don't see too many successful college programs in pro sports towns or vice versa. How many successful college teams are in cities big enough to support a pro team?
December 14, 20178 yr How many successful college teams are in cities big enough to support a pro team? UCLA Syracuse Arizona
December 14, 20178 yr Not sure I would include Syracuse. I could agree to that. I think there can be 2 successful teams in a city.
December 14, 20178 yr How many successful college teams are in cities big enough to support a pro team? Columbus is one of the only ones I can think of.
December 14, 20178 yr Author Louisville has a larger population than does New Orleans and the Louisville "Metro Area" has a larger population than the New Orleans "Metro Area". The Owners weren't willing to come to Louisville because they thought Louisville couldn't support a team, they fully expected that it could.
December 14, 20178 yr UCLA Syracuse Arizona Tucson, Arizona couldn't support a pro and college team. Do you mean Arizona State in Tempe/Phoenix?
December 14, 20178 yr How many successful college teams are in cities big enough to support a pro team? I'd throw Philly into the mix. Although, I guess Villanova isn't technically in Philly, but still.
December 14, 20178 yr What do we mean by successful? Winning games? Or being the big draw in town. Let's not kid ourselves here, basically every city listed so far is a pro sports town with some successful college programs as an afterthought. LA, Philly, Miami, Phoenix, New Orleans. All pro sports cities. The only city I feel that is comparable to Louisville in size that is a college sports town is Columbus.
December 14, 20178 yr What do we mean by successful? Winning games? Or being the big draw in town. Let's not kid ourselves here, basically every city listed so far is a pro sports town with some successful college programs as an afterthought. LA, Philly, Miami, Phoenix, New Orleans. All pro sports cities. The only city I feel that is comparable to Louisville in size that is a college sports town is Columbus. And Columbus doesn't have a pro basketball team...and based on the numbers I've seen, they aren't very comparable in size or population either.
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