Kentucky Colonels Team History

The Kentucky Colonels were a member of the American Basketball Association for all of the league’s nine years. 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, but the team did not join the NBA in the 1976 ABA–NBA merger. The downtown Louisville Convention Center (now known as The Gardens) was the Colonels’ original venue for the first three seasons before moving to Freedom Hall for the remaining seasons, beginning with the 1970 – 1971 schedule.

Established
1967

City
Kentucky

Arena
1970 – 1976 / Freedom Hall
1967 – 1970 / Louisville Convention Center

Owner
1973 – 1976 / John Y. Brown, Jr. and Ellie Brown
1969 – 1973 / H. Wendell Cherry, Bill DeWitt, Stuart Jay, David Jones, John Y. Brown, Jr. and Mike Storen
1967 – 1969 / Joseph E. Gregory, Mamie Gregory and William C. Boone
1967 / Don Regan