3 Points: An NBA team in Kentucky? John Calipari loves the idea
Gentry Estes, @Gentry_Estes
3 Points is a look at the sports topics we're buzzing about in the Louisville area and elsewhere.
1. Calipari loves the idea of an NBA team in the state
An NBA team in Louisville? For what it's worth, UK coach John Calipari is on board.
Answering a question in a "mailbag" video post on CoachCal.com about the impact an NBA team in the state would have on Kentucky basketball, Calipari had nothing but love for the idea, saying "for our state, it'd be unbelievable."
"I think it would add to the image and the perception of our state," Calipari said. "We become a pro city, pro state. I think it does nothing but help. Having a pro team when I was in Memphis had nothing but a good effect for us. Our program went up. Our season ticket sales went up. Our fundraising went up. It didn't do what people thought it was gonna do. It helped us, and I knew it would. And it helped the image and perception of the state and the city of Memphis."
It's worth noting that Calipari presumably picked the submitted question that he answered on his own site, and that is probably not something he does lightly. More than most coaches, Calipari understands the weight his words carry.
So one could naturally assume he wants to talk about this and let it be known where he stands.
And he has stood there before.
As Calipari referenced, he did famously support Memphis' move to bring the NBA's Grizzlies into the same city as his former Tigers.
"John Calipari, he could have come out and said, 'Hey, this is bad for us, this is bad for the University of Memphis' and he might well have been able to kill it, but he didn't," Memphis Commercial Appeal columnist Geoff Calkins told the Courier-Journal recently. "He came out and said, 'A rising tide lifts all boats. I'm totally supportive of it.' He threw his weight totally behind it."
2. OK, here's the deal, though
Not to be a downer, but the Courier-Journal took a deep dive into this topic of the NBA-to-Louisville less than a month ago (if you haven't read it, you should) and found little substantive with a whole lot of hurdles to this actually happening. Right now, it does seem to be just talk.
And as the Courier-Journal's Joe Gerth put it recently as well: It's not going to work, so just stop.
3. Whoa Miss!
And finally, for anyone who would think University of Louisville basketball didn't have company in the whole area of voluntary postseason bans for NCAA violations, it does.
Ole Miss football had a really bad day Wednesday, one that involved terms like "lack of institutional control" and could end up costing the school nearly $8 million because of a self-imposed bowl ban for the 2017 season.
Kentucky, by the way, hosts Ole Miss on Nov. 4, meaning a game that not too long ago looked to be a tough ask for UK now looks quite winnable against a Rebels team that will be playing for nothing but pride.
Follow sports planning editor Gentry Estes on Twitter at @Gentry_Estes or email at gestes@gannett.com.