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Will Louisville's NBA hoop dreams finally become a reality?

Is Louisville ready for a NBA team? One attorney says yes and is planning to announce someone prominent who has NBA ties to his team. Here's what I know. Plus, the pros and cons of bringing the franchise to the city.
Credit: WHAS
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New information as of Feb. 14 on the effort to get NBA team in Kentucky.

LOUISVILLE (WHAS11)-- Louisville attorney and strong advocate of bringing a professional basketball team to the city sparks conversation after he posted something on his social media page. J. Bruce Miller made a statement that could not be ignored on Sunday. Miller says that he will make an announcement this week announcing that his nearly four years of work behind the scenes trying to get a National Basketball Association, (NBA) team is seeing some movement. He starts off by saying “Big news” coming to Louisville and Kentucky. He goes on to say it will involve a very prominent NBA-related person, who will now be working along with him to develop a commitment from the ultimate ownership team for the NBA expansion franchise.

There’s several rankings from sports columnist, reporters and even census statistics rankings in regards to population that ranks a few cities. In February 2017, SBNation.com raised the question, Where should the NBA setup shop next? First on the list is Seattle, second Mexico City and third is Louisville.

Let’s start with the cons. Many say it will not happen. Louisville is about 100 miles away from Indianapolis, Indiana where the Pacers play. That team may object to having another franchise so close. The purchasing of arena suites and ticket prices would be a problem when the city is a college basketball town. The size of Louisville is parallel to Memphis and Oklahoma City. They refer to all three as a mid-sized city. A lot of corporate and private donors would have to do a long term commitment to make it happen.

Another ranking, still has Seattle and Mexico City one and two but Las Vegas is third and Louisville is sixth with Vancouver and Kansas City in front of them.

So, here’s some of the reasons why Louisville could be getting closer to the professional hoop dreams. The NBA would like to have a mid-sized city that doesn’t have a professional football, baseball or hockey franchise. The KFC Yum! Center is already built and could host games right away. The venue has hosted a couple of exhibition games and that gave the NBA, players and coaches to give their feedback on its potential. Two major opponents in the NBA coming to the city and playing in the KFC Yum! Center are no longer in those positions to object to it. Since they have no affiliation to the school have they changed their minds? Also, with the University of Louisville awaiting the NCAA infractions ruling on the escort investigation. Many U of L officials, fans and the community as a whole are holding their breathes to see if they will obtain their 2013 National Championship, 2012 Final Four appearance and avoid paying millions of dollars back.

So, does Louisville move into the top position and/or the second slot because of the potential punishment that the NCAA will hand down? That’s what everyone is trying to figure out. Is this another hoop dream or is it a slam dunk? We will just have to wait and see.

If you have a story idea, send it to me at The411@whas11.com. You can follow me on Twitter @Sherlenemediapr and my public figure page on Facebook at Sherlene Shanklin for real-time entertainment and community news.

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