The Louisville metropolitan area would be the smallest in professional basketball. In fact, it would be the only one with a total population below one million. Others wonder if the franchise might have wound up a regional one, playing in Louisville, Cincinnati and Lexington. Others think the love of basketball here would have been strong enough to overcome most obstacles. ''I think, if we had gone in, the team would have made it,'' said Dampier, the ABA's all-time leading scorer. Dampier said people forget that the Colonels drew decently at a time when they were playing the same teams over and over and over.
Some teams only come in once a year.
Team plays in East Rutherford, N.J., population 7,902. Copyright 1996 Lexington Herald-Leader.