This day in Kentucky basketball history

[The Old School JPS]

The Kentucky Colonels played the final game in their history on April 28, 1976.

The Colonels lost Game 7 of the ABA semifinals to the Denver Nuggets 133-110 in front of 18,821 fans, setting an attendance record for Denver. Denver took the hard-fought series 4 games to 3 but went on to lose the championship series 4 games to 2 to the New York Nets (who beat the San Antonio Spurs in the other semifinal series). The Colonels had defeated the Indiana Pacers in the playoffs to advance to the semifinals.

UK's Louie Dampier starred for the Colonels that year and UK's Dan Issel (formerly of the Colonels) starred for the Nuggets, but the star of that night's game was North Carolina State's David Thompson, who had 40 points for the Nuggets.

April 28, 1976 marked the Colonels' final game on the court. On June 17, 1976 the Colonels were officially at an end, as team owner John Y. Brown Jr. reached agreement with the remaining ABA teams. The Spurs, Nuggets, Pacers and Nets went to the ABA; Brown got $3 million for the Colonels. The two brothers who owned the Spirits of St. Louis got a much better deal than Brown did: $2.2 million up front and one seventh (over 14%) of all television revenues, in perpetuity, from the Pacers, Spurs, Nuggets and Nets. While Brown got $3 million total for the Colonels, for the Spirits (a weaker, less financially sound and less successfulfranchise)the two Silna brothers got $2.2 million up front and in every year thereafter got 4/7 of the annual TV revenues of an NBA team - over $100 million in the first 25 years and probably about $5 million or so a year today.

The Colonels' players went into the ABA/NBA merger dispersal draft, as were the Spirits of St. Louis players. The Chicago Bulls took ArtisGilmore for $1.1 million. ThePortland Trailblazers took Maurice Lucas for $300,000. The Buffalo Braves took BirdAveritt for $125,000. TheIndiana Pacers tookWil Jones for $50,000. TheNew York Nets took JanVan Breda Kolff for $60,000. TheSan Antonio Spurs tookLouie Dampier for $20,000. (By comparison, St. Louis' Moses Malone went to the Portland Trail Blazers for $300,000.) The Kentucky Colonels were no more.

http://www.remembertheaba.com/ABAUniforms/1975KentuckyHome.JPGhttp://www.remembertheaba.com/ABAUniforms/1975KentuckyRoad.JPG

http://www.remembertheaba.com/KentuckyMaterial/IsselJumperMcGinnis.JPGhttp://www.remembertheaba.com/KentuckyMaterial/DampierProfileRun.JPG

http://www.remembertheaba.com/TributeMaterial/IsselSoarSlamTaylor2.jpghttp://www.remembertheaba.com/TributeMaterial/IsselYellLayupMcDaniels2.jpg

http://www.remembertheaba.com/TributeMaterial/DampierDribbleAlone.jpghttp://www.remembertheaba.com/TributeMaterial/DampierSwoopEakins.jpg

http://www.remembertheaba.com/ABAUniforms/1975IsselColonelsUniFront.JPGhttp://www.remembertheaba.com/ABAUniforms/1975IsselColonelsUniBack.JPG

http://www.remembertheaba.com/ABAUniforms/1975DampierColonelsUniFront.JPGhttp://www.remembertheaba.com/ABAUniforms/1975DampierColonelsUniBack.JPG

[trublu]

It's really sad to think about. I liked the ABA. It was the fun league at thetime, and the Colonels were our team.

[cumberlandredskin]

The Silna Brothers got quite a deal! Makes ole John Y. Brown lookfoolish. Brown really sold out the Colonels for nothing. If he had really wanted to keep the team he could have held out and the NBA would have had to have kept them in the league.Brown couldn't even hold up the NBA for a great deal like the Silnas. Too bad because I probably would have still been an NBA fan if they had stayed.

[The Old School JPS]

You're right, John Y. Brown didn't handle that situation very wisely. Even if the NBA wouldn'taccept the Colonels he could've gotten a better result. Brown and the Silnas, I believe, were negotiating with the other ABA owners, not with the NBA; the Silnas knew what they were doing and made out like bandits compared to Brown.

You know who else missed out in all of that? The NBA. Had the Colonels entered the NBA then, they would have done so with an outstanding roster and would have been a successful, competitive team from the start. The Colonels usually beat NBA teams in preseason exhibition games (including the NBA champion Portland Trail Blazers before the final ABA season) and they'd have done so in the regular season too. The Colonels had a good, solid fan base that will never again be rebuilt for professional basketball in the Louisville area. With the demise of the Colonels, Louisville and the Commonwealth were basically ceded by the NBA to college basketball, and that won't ever change. It may not be a huge market, but it would've been a good, consistent market for the league. Now, not only will the NBA never have a successful team in Louisville, they don't have a particularly favored brand here period. I don't think I knowasingle personin town who would rather watch anNBA game when there are collegegames airing too. It's just about the same for Cincinnati, which didn't have its own team but which did host the Colonels for some home games from time to time.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, because I think the NBA is lame and uninteresting and I'm glad college ball is king here. But, that situation was mishandled all around, IMO.

[largebluej]

The Old School JPS wrote: You're right, John Y. Brown didn't handle that situation very wisely. Even if the NBA wouldn'taccept the Colonels he could've gotten a better result. Brown and the Silnas, I believe, were negotiating with the other ABA owners, not with the NBA; the Silnas knew what they were doing and made out like bandits compared to Brown.




I believe you are right on that point, it was the ABA ownerswho were taking their teams on to the NBA that made those deals with the Silnas and Brown, not the NBA itself. I believe the circumstances were the NBA didn't want the Spirits and Brown didn't want to pay the franchise fee to enter the NBA. The deal the Spirits' owners got just to go away so the rest of the ABA could enter the league has to go down asthe most unbelievably lucrative in sportshistory. And it's a gift that keeps on giving; there is no termination as to when they are to stop getting that annual share of TV revenue from each of those teams, it goes on in perpetuity. Brown got less than chump change in comparison, even though he had themuch better franchise. Makes you wonder why one of the Silnas never ran for governor of Missouri (or wherever they were from););)

[hoosierhateruklover]

I've read all about the Colonels franchise and I am very sad to see how the team fell off of the face of the earth. I'm glad to see that one of their last games was a win over the Indiana Pacers. That's a good way to go out. However, I haven't given up on the Colonels just yet. David Stern has already ok'd KFC to sponsor the team and let the name remain Colonels and the colors still Colonels red,white, and blue. I feel this is also a good jersey mix for both UL and UK fans. I liked the uniforms and I feel with a couple of tweeks they will be perfect for the modern era. It's time to bring the Colonels back home! This new arena looks promising fora pro team!

[The Old School JPS]

I came across another couple of cool photos of Issel and others of Dampier and Frank Ramsey in their ABA days. I especially like the first one, of Issel.

http://www.abamemorabilia.com/images/colonels6.jpg

http://www.abamemorabilia.com/images/colonels4.jpg


http://www.abamemorabilia.com/images/colonels12.jpg

http://www.abamemorabilia.com/images/colonels3.jpg