April 14, 2025 • 11 mins
Louisville attorney J Bruce Miller wrote the book AIR BALL, a detailed account of Louisvlle's failure to snare an NBA franchise with many opportunities.
Can Louisville still get it done? Mr. Miller says YES! YES! YES!
Can Louisville still get it done? Mr. Miller says YES! YES! YES!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Last week we were having a hearty discussion about the
financing for the KFC Young Center, and I figured it'd
be another good time to if we could extend this
subject matter to go on about Louisville and some of
its swings and missus, including the chance of getting an
NBA team. Attorney J Bruce Miller is in the studio
(00:20):
with me. He ran the campaign for Governor John Y
Brown back in the day. He's a man about town.
People know him. He's a Vanderbilt guy. It's all about Vandy.
When you play him in golf, he lets you know
that he can whip you. Hey, it's gonna see again.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Ja, Well, thank you. I've enjoyed those golf games. The
only thing being eighty four is golf becomes a memory
if you have your mental acuity, and I do. I
can remember how far I used to hit it and
I couldn't. I couldn't hit it twice and get it there.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
I was lucky enough to play golf with you and
Tom Meeker many times, and we had a zillion laughs.
But you always were connected to the community in so
many ways.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Well, he's he was a fine fellow or a fine.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Yeah, he's a fine fellow. He just doesn't live around here.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Okay. You wrote a book called Airball, a complete and
unvarnished account of Louisville's thirty year odyssey to acquire an
NBA franchise. Dennis Frankenberger was in here the other day.
We were discussing the kind of crazy financing structure of
paying for the Young Center, which really, wasn't that a
major impediment to us getting an NBA committal here in Louisville.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
I wouldn't say it was, but it didn't help.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
I was.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
I had a number of meetings, private meetings, and never
used his name because he didn't want me to with
Junior Bridgeman, and Junior was thought it was a heck
of an idea to do this, and he was I
think God risked his soul, was going to be a
major player privately with me and NBA structure. And he
(02:02):
was ideal person to be a net no doubt about it.
And when we lost him a week or two ago,
it we it didn't help.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
No, we were all devastated about it. The loss of
Junry did so many things in so many quiet ways
around the community.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
He was a class act. He was one of those
fellas Terry that you run across every now and then,
who gained a lot of fame and fortune, but it
never went to his head. No, he was the same
guy the last time I saw him as he was
the first time I ever met. He same guy.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Yes, so we have this gigantic arena here. We know
the payments are going to be staggering down the road
when the principal comes due.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Well, when somebody tells the truth about it like Dennis did, yeh,
it's nightmare.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Is there any chance that Louisville could still secure an
NBA franchise when and if they decide to expand.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
I think it's going to depend upon the mayor showing
an interest leadership. I think it's going to depend upon
the re there are. There is going to be some expansion.
It will either be two or four.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Teams Seattle, Mexico City, not Mexico City.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
There's no way the Players Association are going to allow
team have players eighteen players now into Mexico City and
have the cartel. That would be scary, not going to happen.
The question about Vegas is that they can't play in
the MGM arena Seattle, for sure. They can't playing the
(03:45):
MGM Arena because it's booked completely. So Las Vegas has
a problem because the starting to get They also passed
a thing in the legislature to build a baseball stadium
in Vegas for the sacrament No team that is going
to move there, so it would require the building of
a new arena in Vegas. And that's a question mark.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
You mean the athletics that were in Oaklands, Sacramento.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Let me tell you. I walked Cathedral in New York
City one day wearing a Louisville sweatshirt and a guy
walked up and he started in Louisville on my shirt
and he said, you guys are getting an NBA franchise.
I was like, wait a minute, what he said? Well,
I know such and such who said this or that? Now?
Was that a crazy Is that crazy talk?
Speaker 2 (04:30):
No? No, David Stern, God rest his soul absolutely could
never understand why why we couldn't get our act together here?
They've never understanding it. I got I got to know
him extremely well in a very ironical situation when I
represented John Why when the colonel's thing ended and the
(04:53):
other poor entering teams asked me to if I would
go to Chicago to the final meetings of the merger,
and not Chicago, I'd go to him Spring. They were
going to have it, and I agreed if they would
pay me, and they did, and I went and David
was Stern was a young lawyer, just like I was.
(05:15):
He had gotten out of Columbia Law School and he
was working at a law firm called prosper Rose, which
was a huge firm in New York City, and the
firm represented the NBA. But David was assigned the responsibility.
And that's in sixty eight or so.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
We come he couldn't swing his magic wand and get
us a franchise.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Well, leadership here if we had had a window cherry
still around he of course, he died in ninety one.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Humana co founder, Hu Madic.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Co founder and the leadership Louisville. I'll show you something
that Elon Musk's former general general counsel sent me. Louisville is.
Here's here's a copy of it. Louisville is in nineteen
(06:11):
I'll tell you the story. I was trying to get
ahold of Musk and he had moved to Austin, with
his operation and we but his council was still couldn't
didn't want to leave San Francisco area because these kids
go to Stanford and Ukal and so he stayed there
(06:32):
and didn't go. But I asked him. I did get
hold of the General Council and he sent the message
to and he sent in Musks sent sent this thing
right here to his general counsel, his farmer general counsel,
and he forwarded it to me. And it's a shocker.
(06:53):
Nineteen fifty census. And in the nineteen fifty census, Louisville
was big than Atlanta, Miami, Oklahoma City, Richmond, Jacksonville.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Tell us, that's seventy five years ago. We can't live
in that passage. I'm asking you about.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Exactly what that's exactly what the General Council said that
that's not going to effect my farmer CEO. And I said, well,
let me just tell you. In sixty three, when everybody
smoked cigarettes, Luther and Terry found out to just determined
(07:32):
that the Surgeon General the cigarettes spoken costs of the lungs,
and all the companies were headquartered here on the New
York Stock Change, Well they all left and again his
General council said that's not going to affect anything, because
the question he was going to have is what New
(07:53):
York Stock Exchange Company has ever moved to the city
of Louisville. You had water and you had the Papa
John developed there. Uh and of course now we all
know they both moved. Uh. Uh that that he didn't
some and he said, that's the only thing you've got. Uh,
(08:16):
you haven't got The city has got to get some
corporate Uh. New York Stock has changed company. Look at
what it did to I mean Salt Lake City as
an NBA team, and who Memphis.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
We had a shot at the Vancouver Grizzlies. You know,
they slid right through here and became the Memphis Grizzlies.
We don't have the registry of top firms that can
pay for the sponsorships. Uh, well that's what Fortune five
hundred company.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
The gentleman I've spoken with one said that our market
area would have to be Louisville, Lexington, Covington, and and
Bowling Green.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
We'd have to share.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
And we were no, we're not necessarily share games, but
you got to market it there. And and they said,
people go to the Cincinnati Reds and and they go
to the Bengals games, and they and and and the
irony is the market in Southern Indiana. No, they don't try.
And I don't know why, but they don't. And I'm
(09:18):
glad they didn't. It helped us because we could even
get Southern Indiana and and and.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
These only I have a minute left. How can Louisville
put together a chance to get an NBA franchise? Is
it impossible?
Speaker 2 (09:30):
No, it's not impossible. But it's going to take a
mayor who wants to do things other than.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Fixed pot hole We need those fixed though, well.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
I know, let's just say in addition to the potholes,
okay uh. And if Wendell Cherry would have ever been
the mayor, got rest his soul, or David Jones, But
he wasn't an interested in politics.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Cherry was buying picassos. Well, he's been an eight hundred
million for a It was the people.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
He knew, and the lady carried himself and you remember him.
He was a leader, all right.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
I want people to take a look at your buck
thing final online, right, sure. Air Ball a complete and
unvarnished account of Louisville's thirty year odyssey to acquire an
NBA franchise. It's very detailed on all the different things
that were going on to try and finagle a team
for us. And it's a swing and a miss. It's
a day. Bruce Miller's the author. Good to see again, brother.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
My pleasure. I've enjoyed it.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
The last thing is your van dy quarterback going to
dominate the SEC again?
Speaker 2 (10:32):
How do you? How do you like what my van
you've always done? They had a board of trustees beat
he after Stanford came in and beat them. Yeah, and
the board of trustees, they got two friends that are
on the board, said that where you're going to get
or we're going to do it right. If Stanford can
have an academic program, we can have the same academic program.
(10:55):
But we've got to recruit nationwide. We can't just try
to talk kid in outwit.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Vanderbilt is no longer a doormat.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
That's right, and they're not going to be anywhere.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
You're going to beat UK again this year. I say
it out loud, Bruce, Yes, I think you will be it.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
I think Venerabilt will be in a major bowl game.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
This We got that on tape Gratz again.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Bruce, my pleasure, my honor.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Jay Bruce Miller Books called air Ball back in a
minute
Last week we were having a hearty discussion about the
financing for the KFC Young Center, and I figured it'd
be another good time to if we could extend this
subject matter to go on about Louisville and some of
its swings and missus, including the chance of getting an
NBA team. Attorney J Bruce Miller is in the studio
(00:20):
with me. He ran the campaign for Governor John Y
Brown back in the day. He's a man about town.
People know him. He's a Vanderbilt guy. It's all about Vandy.
When you play him in golf, he lets you know
that he can whip you. Hey, it's gonna see again.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Ja, Well, thank you. I've enjoyed those golf games. The
only thing being eighty four is golf becomes a memory
if you have your mental acuity, and I do. I
can remember how far I used to hit it and
I couldn't. I couldn't hit it twice and get it there.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
I was lucky enough to play golf with you and
Tom Meeker many times, and we had a zillion laughs.
But you always were connected to the community in so
many ways.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Well, he's he was a fine fellow or a fine.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Yeah, he's a fine fellow. He just doesn't live around here.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Okay. You wrote a book called Airball, a complete and
unvarnished account of Louisville's thirty year odyssey to acquire an
NBA franchise. Dennis Frankenberger was in here the other day.
We were discussing the kind of crazy financing structure of
paying for the Young Center, which really, wasn't that a
major impediment to us getting an NBA committal here in Louisville.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
I wouldn't say it was, but it didn't help.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
I was.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
I had a number of meetings, private meetings, and never
used his name because he didn't want me to with
Junior Bridgeman, and Junior was thought it was a heck
of an idea to do this, and he was I
think God risked his soul, was going to be a
major player privately with me and NBA structure. And he
(02:02):
was ideal person to be a net no doubt about it.
And when we lost him a week or two ago,
it we it didn't help.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
No, we were all devastated about it. The loss of
Junry did so many things in so many quiet ways
around the community.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
He was a class act. He was one of those
fellas Terry that you run across every now and then,
who gained a lot of fame and fortune, but it
never went to his head. No, he was the same
guy the last time I saw him as he was
the first time I ever met. He same guy.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Yes, so we have this gigantic arena here. We know
the payments are going to be staggering down the road
when the principal comes due.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Well, when somebody tells the truth about it like Dennis did, yeh,
it's nightmare.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Is there any chance that Louisville could still secure an
NBA franchise when and if they decide to expand.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
I think it's going to depend upon the mayor showing
an interest leadership. I think it's going to depend upon
the re there are. There is going to be some expansion.
It will either be two or four.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Teams Seattle, Mexico City, not Mexico City.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
There's no way the Players Association are going to allow
team have players eighteen players now into Mexico City and
have the cartel. That would be scary, not going to happen.
The question about Vegas is that they can't play in
the MGM arena Seattle, for sure. They can't playing the
(03:45):
MGM Arena because it's booked completely. So Las Vegas has
a problem because the starting to get They also passed
a thing in the legislature to build a baseball stadium
in Vegas for the sacrament No team that is going
to move there, so it would require the building of
a new arena in Vegas. And that's a question mark.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
You mean the athletics that were in Oaklands, Sacramento.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Let me tell you. I walked Cathedral in New York
City one day wearing a Louisville sweatshirt and a guy
walked up and he started in Louisville on my shirt
and he said, you guys are getting an NBA franchise.
I was like, wait a minute, what he said? Well,
I know such and such who said this or that? Now?
Was that a crazy Is that crazy talk?
Speaker 2 (04:30):
No? No, David Stern, God rest his soul absolutely could
never understand why why we couldn't get our act together here?
They've never understanding it. I got I got to know
him extremely well in a very ironical situation when I
represented John Why when the colonel's thing ended and the
(04:53):
other poor entering teams asked me to if I would
go to Chicago to the final meetings of the merger,
and not Chicago, I'd go to him Spring. They were
going to have it, and I agreed if they would
pay me, and they did, and I went and David
was Stern was a young lawyer, just like I was.
(05:15):
He had gotten out of Columbia Law School and he
was working at a law firm called prosper Rose, which
was a huge firm in New York City, and the
firm represented the NBA. But David was assigned the responsibility.
And that's in sixty eight or so.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
We come he couldn't swing his magic wand and get
us a franchise.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Well, leadership here if we had had a window cherry
still around he of course, he died in ninety one.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Humana co founder, Hu Madic.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Co founder and the leadership Louisville. I'll show you something
that Elon Musk's former general general counsel sent me. Louisville is.
Here's here's a copy of it. Louisville is in nineteen
(06:11):
I'll tell you the story. I was trying to get
ahold of Musk and he had moved to Austin, with
his operation and we but his council was still couldn't
didn't want to leave San Francisco area because these kids
go to Stanford and Ukal and so he stayed there
(06:32):
and didn't go. But I asked him. I did get
hold of the General Council and he sent the message
to and he sent in Musks sent sent this thing
right here to his general counsel, his farmer general counsel,
and he forwarded it to me. And it's a shocker.
(06:53):
Nineteen fifty census. And in the nineteen fifty census, Louisville
was big than Atlanta, Miami, Oklahoma City, Richmond, Jacksonville.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Tell us, that's seventy five years ago. We can't live
in that passage. I'm asking you about.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Exactly what that's exactly what the General Council said that
that's not going to effect my farmer CEO. And I said, well,
let me just tell you. In sixty three, when everybody
smoked cigarettes, Luther and Terry found out to just determined
(07:32):
that the Surgeon General the cigarettes spoken costs of the lungs,
and all the companies were headquartered here on the New
York Stock Change, Well they all left and again his
General council said that's not going to affect anything, because
the question he was going to have is what New
(07:53):
York Stock Exchange Company has ever moved to the city
of Louisville. You had water and you had the Papa
John developed there. Uh and of course now we all
know they both moved. Uh. Uh that that he didn't
some and he said, that's the only thing you've got. Uh,
(08:16):
you haven't got The city has got to get some
corporate Uh. New York Stock has changed company. Look at
what it did to I mean Salt Lake City as
an NBA team, and who Memphis.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
We had a shot at the Vancouver Grizzlies. You know,
they slid right through here and became the Memphis Grizzlies.
We don't have the registry of top firms that can
pay for the sponsorships. Uh, well that's what Fortune five
hundred company.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
The gentleman I've spoken with one said that our market
area would have to be Louisville, Lexington, Covington, and and
Bowling Green.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
We'd have to share.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
And we were no, we're not necessarily share games, but
you got to market it there. And and they said,
people go to the Cincinnati Reds and and they go
to the Bengals games, and they and and and the
irony is the market in Southern Indiana. No, they don't try.
And I don't know why, but they don't. And I'm
(09:18):
glad they didn't. It helped us because we could even
get Southern Indiana and and and.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
These only I have a minute left. How can Louisville
put together a chance to get an NBA franchise? Is
it impossible?
Speaker 2 (09:30):
No, it's not impossible. But it's going to take a
mayor who wants to do things other than.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Fixed pot hole We need those fixed though, well.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
I know, let's just say in addition to the potholes,
okay uh. And if Wendell Cherry would have ever been
the mayor, got rest his soul, or David Jones, But
he wasn't an interested in politics.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Cherry was buying picassos. Well, he's been an eight hundred
million for a It was the people.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
He knew, and the lady carried himself and you remember him.
He was a leader, all right.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
I want people to take a look at your buck
thing final online, right, sure. Air Ball a complete and
unvarnished account of Louisville's thirty year odyssey to acquire an
NBA franchise. It's very detailed on all the different things
that were going on to try and finagle a team
for us. And it's a swing and a miss. It's
a day. Bruce Miller's the author. Good to see again, brother.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
My pleasure. I've enjoyed it.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
The last thing is your van dy quarterback going to
dominate the SEC again?
Speaker 2 (10:32):
How do you? How do you like what my van
you've always done? They had a board of trustees beat
he after Stanford came in and beat them. Yeah, and
the board of trustees, they got two friends that are
on the board, said that where you're going to get
or we're going to do it right. If Stanford can
have an academic program, we can have the same academic program.
(10:55):
But we've got to recruit nationwide. We can't just try
to talk kid in outwit.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Vanderbilt is no longer a doormat.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
That's right, and they're not going to be anywhere.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
You're going to beat UK again this year. I say
it out loud, Bruce, Yes, I think you will be it.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
I think Venerabilt will be in a major bowl game.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
This We got that on tape Gratz again.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Bruce, my pleasure, my honor.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Jay Bruce Miller Books called air Ball back in a
minute
Popular Podcasts
40s and Free Agents: NFL Draft Season
Daniel Jeremiah of Move the Sticks and Gregg Rosenthal of NFL Daily join forces to break down every team's needs this offseason.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Bobby Bones Show
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.