Kentucky Colonels
The Kentucky Colonels were an American professional basketball team based in Louisville, Kentucky. They competed in the American Basketball Association from 1967 to 1976. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky Colonels. The Colonels won the most games and had the highest winning percentage of any franchise in the league's history. However, the team did not join the National Basketball Association in the 1976 ABA–NBA merger. The downtown Louisville Convention Center was the Colonels' venue for their first three seasons before moving to Freedom Hall for the remaining seasons, beginning with the 1970–71 schedule.
The Kentucky Colonels and the Indiana Pacers were the only ABA teams to play for the entire duration of the league without moving, changing team names, or folding. The Colonels were also the only major league franchise in Kentucky since the Louisville Breckenridges left the National Football League in 1923.
Overview and background
The Louisville-based Colonels started their time in the ABA. They were known for their "mascot" Ziggy, a prize-winning Brussels Griffon dog that was owned by original team owners Joe and Mamie Gregory, daughter of former U.S. Senator Robert R. ReynoldsThey were equally famous for publicity stunts. In 1968, the team signed Penny Ann Early, the first licensed female horse racing jockey. In a game on November 27, 1968, Early inbounded the ball to Bobby Rascoe, making her the only woman to ever play in the ABA or NBA. A timeout was immediately called, and she was taken out of the game.
The team's biggest rival was the Indiana Pacers, reflecting their states' prominent college basketball programs. The two teams played in the same Eastern Division for the first three seasons before Indiana was reassigned to the Western. It was referred to in some circles as the "I-65 Series", referring to the Interstate that connected the two states; the two met five times in the playoffs, with each being the most common opponent played in the postseason.
In 1970, the team was sold to a group led by Wendell Cherry and future Governor of Kentucky John Y. Brown Jr., who appointed Mike Storen as general manager. Storen fired Gene Rhodes, who had worked as the head coach since the early games of the 1967–68 season, saying Rhodes "is not in the best long-term interest of the team". In that year, the team signed another Wildcat star in All-American Dan Issel. They also dropped the chartreuse uniforms in favor of a blue and white scheme similar to that of the Wildcats. Another abnormality to the Colonels uniform change was that the players' last names on the back had only the first letter capitalized, as opposed to all capital letters, which are almost universally featured on the back of nearly every professional or collegiate basketball uniform where names are featured on the back. Issel's signing helped the Colonels become well known as a legitimate basketball team. Despite an average record in the regular season, they made a serious run at the 1971 ABA championship. They fell just short, however, and lost to the Utah Stars in seven games.
They proved to be even better in 1971, with the signing of Artis Gilmore with a ten-year deal of $1.5 million that saw him receive $150,000 a year for ten years with a $50,000 bonus and a Dolgoff Plan that would pay him $40,000 a year for 20 years starting in 1981. Gilmore's signing would help make the Colonels a legitimate powerhouse for years to come. The Colonels won 68 games in his rookie campaign under coach Joe Mullaney; their record turned out to be best in the league's entire history. Yet, in the playoffs, they were upset by the New York Nets in the first round. Kentucky recovered and made another championship run during the 1972–73 playoffs and faced the Indiana Pacers in the third rendition of the "I-65 Series". In a physical series that went the maximum seven games, the Pacers defeated the Colonels in Kentucky to win the championship.
After the season, the franchise was nearly moved out-of-state to Cincinnati when a group headed by Bill DeWitt bought it. However, spurred by his family, Brown Jr., who owned Kentucky Fried Chicken for years, swooped in to buy the team and have it stay in Kentucky. He also stated that his wife Ellie was distinctly a co-owner with him. In fact, several women would be hired to serve on the board for the team, which helped significantly with tickets. Brown helped increase interest in the team, and looked to improve its on-court performance by hiring popular ABA coach Babe McCarthy. But after they were swept in the second round of the playoffs by the Nets, Brown gave McCarthy his walking papers.
For the 1974–75 season, Brown hired Hubie Brown, a former NBA assistant coach, to give them that championship. Unlike the previous year, the Colonels would not be denied. After a torrid finish to the regular season, which saw them win 23 of 26 games, they ripped through the playoffs, and beat their nemesis, the Indiana Pacers, in a dominant 4 games to 1 victory to win the 1975 ABA championship. Gilmore scored 28 points and grabbed an amazing 31 rebounds in the final game. That same season the Golden State Warriors won the NBA championship. Brown Jr. offered the NBA champs a million dollars to play a one-game world championship. The Warriors and the NBA refused.
The celebration of the 1975 season ended when Brown Jr. dealt Issel to the ABA's new Baltimore Claws franchise for financial reasons. They acquired all-star Caldwell Jones to replace him, but he never gelled with the team. Jones was dealt mid-season for young Maurice Lucas. On the eve of the postseason, Ellie Brown announced on April 6, 1975, that the team would be sold for $1.5 million to a local syndicate headed by J. Bruce Miller, a Louisville attorney, provided that he would raise $500,000 by June 15 and also assume a five-year debt of $1 million. The Browns were reported to have lost $500,000 in operating the team in the championship 1974–75 season. The Colonels won the first round series against Indiana and reached the league semifinal against the regular season leader Denver Nuggets, even forcing a Game 7 after winning Game 6 in double-overtime. Denver won Game 7 in what ended up being the last game of the franchise.
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Kentucky was one of the league's strongest teams, both on and off the court. It boasted a talented roster and had one of its best fan bases. However, during merger talks with the NBA, the older league's Chicago Bulls objected to the Colonels being part of the merger. They owned the NBA rights to Artis Gilmore, and desperately wanted him on their roster, even at the expense of accepting the geographically much closer Pacers in their place. As a result, Brown Jr. was forced to fold the Colonels. Brown would indeed get an NBA franchise: he purchased the Buffalo Braves in 1976, then traded it for the Boston Celtics two years later.
Colonels players were distributed to other teams in a dispersal draft, with Gilmore going to Chicago. Maurice Lucas went on to be an all-star for the Portland Trail Blazers and Louie Dampier, who ended up being the all-time leader in points and assists, ended his career as a sixth man for the San Antonio Spurs. Coach Hubie Brown went on to coach the Atlanta Hawks for five seasons after the merger before being fired.
The Colonels won 448 games in the ABA, more than any other team or franchise. The Colonels' overall regular season record was 448–296; their.602 winning percentage is better than that of any ABA franchise except for the Minnesota Muskies, who only played one season.
The Colonels' playoff record was 55–46. Only the Indiana Pacers won more ABA playoff games.
Year-by-year results
1967–1968
On March 6, 1967, the American Basketball Association awarded the franchise that became the Kentucky Colonels to Don Regan for $30,000. Later that year the franchise was bought by Joseph Gregory, Mamie Gregory and William C. Boone.John Givens was named as the first coach of the Colonels.
The Colonels draft picks were used on UK standout Louie Dampier, who signed with the Colonels; Western Kentucky University standout Clem Haskins, who signed with the NBA's Chicago Bulls; Bob Verga, who signed with Dallas, and Randy Mahaffey, who signed with the Colonels. The team also signed Darel Carrier and Jim "Goose" Ligon. The Colonels' 1967–68 roster was rounded out with Kendall Rhine, Stew Johnson, Rubin Russell, Bill Bradley, Cotton Nash, Bobby Rascoe, Howard Bayne, Orbie Bowling and Tommy Woods.
The Colonels played their home games at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center and at the Louisville Convention Center. The team only won 5 of their first 17 games, leading to Givens being fired as coach. He was replaced by Gene Rhodes. In November, Stew Johnson was traded to the New Jersey Americans for Jim Caldwell. Darel Carrier, Randy Mahaffey and Louie Dampier played in the ABA All Star game but the team finished with a record of 36 wins and 42 losses, tying New Jersey for fourth place in the Eastern Division. For the season the Colonels averaged 3,225 fans per game.
The Colonels and Americans scheduled a one-game playoff game to determine who would get the playoff bid slated for the Eastern Division's fourth place team. The game was scheduled at the Long Island Arena, as New Jersey's Teaneck Armory was unavailable, but the facility was in such poor condition that the game could not be played, and the Colonels won by forfeit. The Colonels then advanced to the Eastern Division semifinals where they lost to the Minnesota Muskies 3 games to 2.
1968–1969
Among the Colonels' draft picks was University of Louisville star Wes Unseld, who opted to take a higher paying deal with the NBA's Baltimore franchise. The Colonels also drafted Manny Leaks and Gene Moore, who signed with the team. Sam Smith was acquired from Minnesota and then Randy Mahaffey and Manny Leaks were traded to the New York Nets for Oliver Darden and Andy Anderson.The Colonels hosted the 1969 ABA All-Star Game in Louisville. Kentucky coach Gene Rhodes was the head coach for the East team, which lost to the West 133–127. Darel Carrier and Louie Dampier repeated as ABA All Stars and were joined by Kentucky's Jim "Goose" Ligon.
During this season the Colonels fielded the first ever female professional basketball player when jockey Penny Ann Early joined the team for pregame warmups and appeared briefly during a game.
The Colonels finished in third place in the Eastern Division with a 42–36 record. Their average home attendance was 4,157.
In the Eastern Division semifinals the Colonels lost a tight series to their rival the Indiana Pacers, 4 games to 3.