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The Philadelphia 76ers selected the Wickliffe, Kentucky, native in the NBA draft’s second round. Rollins played three years with four teams and was inducted into Louisville’s Hall of Fame in 1979. His No. 9 jersey is among 20 former Cardinals whose names and honored jerseys are displayed in the KFC Yum! Center arena.
One big focus for next season has been the status of the Toronto Raptors. Due to the United States’ handling of COVID-19, travel into Canada has been banned. MLB’s Toronto Blue Jays played their home games in Buffalo, and the Toronto FC of the MLS played its games in East Hartford, Connecticut. The Raptors face a similar dilemma, and league sources tell Yahoo Sports one alternate location that has been broached is Louisville, Kentucky. Former NBA player and successful businessman Junior Bridgeman has been in contact with the NBA, considering Louisville has the KFC Yum! Center that is NBA-ready.
The KFC Yum! Center now sits on the Louisville waterfront with all of the bells and whistles of a typical NBA arena, but no professional tenant. The trouble, as former Colonels legend and current NBA2LOU president Dan Issel explains, was a lack of interest on the NBA's part. "As we got into it, we found out that expansion really wasn't anything, it wasn't as inevitable as everybody felt," Issel said. "In fact, I called the commissioner and he said 'Dan I really appreciate it, but I'm not even taking any meetings on expansion.'" This has been the NBA's official stance for over a decade. The league has not expanded since welcoming the Charlotte Bobcats in 2004, giving it an even 30 teams.
If the NBA is weighing this, KFC Yum! Center general manager Eric Granger said he has not heard about it from anyone. "I've had no contact with the NBA," Granger said. "I've reached out to a few of my contacts and not gotten a response yet, but obviously we'd be very excited about the opportunity to host this event."
“I probably had too many beers and blacked out,” Clarkson narrated. “I think KFC is so much better in the Philippines.” “But no it was a great experience playing for the Filipino national team, just being able to represent the country on the Asian Games. It was great,” Jordan added.
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Iverson is set on chicken this afternoon, but first he has to find something. “Where’s my jack?” he asks. His entourage, still formidable but significantly smaller than in the Philadelphia days, when his Cru Thik used to take over the TGI Fridays on City Avenue, appears bewildered. Jack? “Yeah,” Iverson replies wearily. “It means phone. I heard that from some young guys. I gotta keep up with the slang.” He finally locates his jack—Lord knows the number; it seems to change every few months—and heads to the parking lot, the Cru trailing behind him, in search of a Hollywood KFC.
Economists have said it would cost at least $1 billion for an individual or groups of investors to buy an NBA franchise. Those experts also said that the KFC Yum! Center’s lease agreement — which has the University of Louisville as the main tenant — would be another obstacle. Daniel Bauer, director of Bellarmine University's Sports Administration program, said it would cost more than $300 million to convert Freedom Hall out at the Fairground into an NBA-caliber facility.
The KFC Yum! Center is no stranger to the NBA, even hosting two exhibition games during the pre-season, but could the league become more permanent here in Louisville? “If anyone is even considering this city, that we take the time to work with them and see if it could be profitable for all parties. With that being said, no one has contacted my office as of yet,” said Metro Council President David Yates. Yates responds to an article by '16 Wins a Ring,’ an NBA blog calling Louisville ‘a serious contender’ for an NBA expansion team. Yates said if it does happen, UofL would have to share the KFC Yum! Center with the NBA.
Now twenty-five years later, Furman says he is still working on getting the NBA to the Bluegrass State but with a group of organizers in Louisville instead. The group hopes to bring a team there which has the NBA-ready KFC Yum! Center that seats over 22,000. “The NBA TV contract runs out 2015-16, and it looks like the NBA is going to expand to two more teams. They're talking about Seattle and one other team and I figure that other team may be Louisville,” Furman said.
Following the construction of the $450 million, 22,500-seat KFC Yum! Center complex, the Louisville Metro Government expended a significant amount of taxpayer funds, in an attempt to lure an NBA franchise to the arena; all to no avail. The KFC Yum! Center was completed, after a bitter controversy in which University of Louisville athletics director Tom Jurich, along with University of Louisville president James Ramsey, local pizza magnate John Schnatter, and Humana co-founder David Jones, expressed serious concerns and reservations about the project. Current estimates indicate that the total debt on the bonds used to finance the arena will amount to at least $573 million, over 30 years.
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The results of PWC’s investigation are not yet available, but there already exist clear signs that Louisville is ripe for an NBA team. Louisville contains an arena fit to host an NBA franchise. The KFC Yum! Center was completed in late 2010 and has been the home of the University of Louisville basketball team ever since. Many suggest that the arena is as nice (if not more pleasant) as many NBA facilities. It is also complimented by many 5-star hotels and highly rated restaurants in its vicinity. An arena needs to be filled with fans so that it is sufficiently utilized the maximum number of days throughout the year, and Louisville has proven itself as a basketball city. A professional basketball team would fill the numerous open dates in the KFC Yum! Center’s annual calendar of events.
Less than two years since it opened, the KFC Yum! Center still carries its showroom shine. It is a gleaming, gawk-worthy reality and, at least from a structural standpoint, what the real estate types like to refer to as “move-in ready.” What it needs is another tenant, a professional team or some other entity that can fill up a calendar currently overcrowded by open dates. What it needs, Mayor Greg Fischer believes, is a city prepared to pounce should an opportunity arise. “If an NBA team comes knocking, we want to be able to open the door,” said Chris Poynter, the mayor’s communications czar. The Yum! Center’s doorman, however, reports to the University of Louisville.
The McDonald's Timberwolves? The Coca Cola Timberwolves? The Kentucky Fried Chicken Timberwolves? The NBA is considering allowing corporate advertising on players' jerseys. "With every maturing business, you always need to be aggressive in seeking new ways to drive revenue without perhaps impacting the fans," Wolves president of basketball operations David Kahn said. "I'm not advocating it or opposing it. I'm just saying I think it's smart to be thinking about everything under the proverbial sun."
Besides being at the mercy of teams, who can essentially terminate a contract whenever they want, players often fail to adjust to everyday life in China. Whereas some places in Europe offer a Western style of life that Americans are able to adapt rather easily to, China has a distinctly different language and culture. The case is even more apparent on the basketball court. After experiencing daily six hour practices, nine hour bus rides, unheated hotel rooms and stadiums, and endless meals of KFC and McDonalds — all while not being able to communicate directly with Chinese coaches, management and teammates — players often waive the white flag on their Chinese career and just pack up and leave.
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