Fifty years ago, on May 22, 1975, the Kentucky Colonels sent a crowd of 16,622 at Freedom Hall into a frenzy. Try as they might, neither ushers nor police could keep fans off the court to celebrate the commonwealth's first, and only, major pro sports championship.
Dan Issel was in the middle of the party. At one point, former Courier Journal reporter Keith F. Overpeck noted in his story from the Colonels' Game 5 win over the Indiana Pacers to capture the 1975 American Basketball Association title, all that could be seen of the team was the 6-foot-9 forward's "triumphant fist held high in the air.