No NBA? No Problem

The NBA has always been a tough sale in the Commonwealth, with as feverish as the fanbases are for the Cats and the Cards. Take away the flirtation we had with the ABA in 70's and the pipe-dream of bringing the Kings to Louisville, pro basketball doesn't seem to have any niche to grasp on to.

The Kentucky 'Legends' games this past fall are testament that, while we would support such ventures that include NBA players, we have to feel some connection to them, and even then, the interest began to wain the closer it got to the start of college basketball PRACTICE!

However, with the lock-out looking like it has no end in sight, there is a slew of former Cats who have nothing to do at the moment. Even more so,a whole league who have nothing to do. Several have taken, or threatened to take, offers from international leagues. We have seen countless charity and pick-up style games be organized featuring the likes of Lebron, Wall, Durant, and others have the equivalant of NBA All-Star games in high school gyms doing nothing but shooting half court 3's and performing dunk contest dunks in-game...but hardly in front of sell-out crowds.

Which is why I propose this. With the amount of talent from this area who are either till active in basketball or still can go in a organized atmosphere, let's get in on the act and have one here.

I honestly can't believe that no such game has been organized here yet. Mayo, Bill Walker,Patterson, Chris Early, a slew of former Marshall players and the guys who went on to smaller schools , are all ripe for the picking to have a homecoming of sorts. Instead of appearing at the Huntington Mall or Kentucky Korner, why not get them on the floor?

So here is my proposal... This is an open invite to any and all locked-out NBA'ers with nothing to do. Come to the Burg. We will get a game going. The atmosphere of players of this caliber playing in the vaunted Thomas R. Brown Gym would be unmatched by any game you have seen. Or, we could even schedule the game to be held in Veteran's Memorial, if it has not already been torn down or even the Henderson Center...

we can make this happen, and I think it would be a huge success.

Besides, I think Frank Lee could still school all those fools.

So, NBA Players, if you got nothing better to do, and if you care about the fans as you claim, come on down. Do Battle in the Burg.