#ColonelsComeBack

Join the movement! #ColonelsComeBack #ItsOurTurn #NBA2LOU RT to spread the word!

Would have been amazing!

Would’ve been wild

A-Train! @COLCOMEBACK @ArtisGilmore53

We’ve requested a meeting with Trevor Pawl of (LEDA/ OneLouisville) to see next steps @EconDevLou @LouisvilleMayor @SportsinLou @COLCOMEBACK

⏳@LouisvilleMayor

@ShamsCharania @stevejones20 Louisville, KY should get the expansion team. Vegas brings very little of value to the table. Everyone says Vegas has gone down hill. Kentucky has a rich legacy in Basketball, and it would be justice for the ABA KY Colonels! Shout out to the guys at @abathrowbacks ! 🏀

clutchpoints.com/exclusive/excl…. Here is my exclusive interview with ABA/NBA/Bulls legend Artis Gilmore for @ClutchPoints @PeterVecsey1 @HannahStormESPN @JustinTinsley @abathrowbacks @CHSN_Bulls @PhilipCharlesIV @BorderlessBulls @WholeLottaBull @BullsOnTap @Crayestout @ScoopB

We would say this is unbelievable…but it’s not. The story of the ABA is incredible and insanely powerful. @abathrowbacks and all the behind the scenes crew ABSOLUTELY CRUSHED it. If you haven’t seen it yet, set some time this weekend to watch with friends and family!

The ABA-NBA merger in 1976 helped many players and owners, but many other players were left out. 50 years later, they're still struggling without pensions and basic healthcare. Their stories are told in the new doc "The Waiting Game". bit.ly/4rjqUm3

@JoSpence22 @COLCOMEBACK One of my prized collections.

Today's ABA post from my childhood collection is another I've posted previously but Louie holds a distinctive place in ABA history so I'm posting again today as he falls within the alphabetical order...

@DanJame11737081 @abathrowbacks Probably just hard for a growing league. Of the original teams only Indiana, Denver, and Kentucky stayed put. It would have been great to have had a Pacers rivalry. They never wanted it. When the Hornets almost came to Louisville, Pacers president Donnie Walsh was not happy.

If memory serves me correct, Kentucky always had spotty ownership and faced financial difficulties…. Notice there has been no pro basketball in Louisville since the Colonels….even though obviously it’s a very good basketball state!! The great basketball state sits just north of Kentucky!😎. Note the rivalry between Kentucky and Indiana ABA teams was amazing! Saw many of these games!

Anyone want to jump in on this one? 🤔😳

@CraigMac1112 @abathrowbacks It's a shame the Pacers never wanted it.

@abathrowbacks It's a shame because the Colonels/Pacers rivalry would have been good for the NBA.

Please, NEVER forget who ‘King’ Louie Dampier is ? ABA Champion (75) 7× ABA ⭐️ (68–70, 72–75) 4× All-ABA 2nd Team (68–70, 74) ABA All-Rookie 1st Team (68) ABA All-Time Team 2× 2nd-team All-Am (66, 67) Indiana Sports HOF (2020) Kentucky Sports HOF (90)

@JoeyRJust1 @jasonlevin18 @abathrowbacks Important to remember that after losing to the Colonels in the 1975 Finals, the Pacers never even managed to have a winning record in the ABA or NBA for the remaining of the 1970s. They're simply not the best team of the 1970s.

@COLCOMEBACK @jasonlevin18 @abathrowbacks Maybe because there were only two season left after that? Are you trying to be obtuse?

Who was the best pro hoops team of the 1970s?

@abathrowbacks As explained by ABA's PR director Jim Bukata in Terry Pluto's Loose Balls, the Bull's Wirtz ("Bill" or Arthur?) "desperately wanted Artis Gilmore" and "figured the only way he could get [him] would be if Kentucky folded." It worked. Bulls drafted Gilmore with first pick.

@NickRevell317 @abathrowbacks Great question! We obviously believe the Colonels should have been in the league! Here's what Jim Bukata, the ABA's director of marketing and public relations said as found in Terry Pluto's ABA book Loose Balls: Chicago's Bill Wirtz wanted Artis Gilmore, who they drafted #1.

@COLCOMEBACK @abathrowbacks So why weren't the colonels picked as one of the four teams to join the NBA

@jasonlevin18 @abathrowbacks @JoeyRJust1 Well I hadn't seen your comment and I wasn't responding to you, but if your point is that the Pacers lost their "heart and soul" by dismantling their core after 1974, then I don't see how you can believe they were the team of the 1970s.

@COLCOMEBACK @abathrowbacks @JoeyRJust1 You just made my point The Pacers dismantled their core after 74 Daniels, Brown and Lewis all gone. The heart and soul of the team that won 3x The only thing KY was “better” at was keeping their stars an extra year.

Athletes We Remember From the Past #Kentucky #ABA #nostalgia

@JoeyRJust1 @abathrowbacks If by games that "matter" you mean playoff games, the Colonels still won more playoff games against the Pacers [9-6] from the 1970-71 season onward. In 1973, the Pacers won 4-3, but in 1975 the Colonels won 4-1, and in the 1976 first round mini series the Colonels won 2-1.

@COLCOMEBACK @abathrowbacks So, your argument is the Cols were the better team, they just didn't win as much when it mattered? Are you a Purdue fan/alum?