TNTF Presents The 32nd Team: Ep. 5 - "Opening Up The Doors"

If Seattle represents unfinished business and Las Vegas represents the NBA's newest frontier, the race for the league's next franchise doesn't end with either city.In Part Five of The 32nd Team, Gavriel Wilkins and Torrence Stagger widen the NBA expansion conversation by examining several North American markets with compelling cases of their own. Some possess deep pro basketball histories. Others have never received an opportunity. And as the possibility of a 32-team NBA draws closer, each presents its own combination of potential, tradition and unanswered questions.The convo begins in Tennessee, where Memphis has represented the NBA for more than two decades while Nashville continues emerging as one of America's fastest-growing metropolitan areas. Gavriel and Torrence discuss why Memphis remains an important NBA market, whether Nashville's growth and economic appeal translate into a legitimate basketball market and, ultimately, whether Tennessee could realistically support two NBA franchises.From there, the focus shifts to one of America's great basketball hotbeds: Kentucky. Despite generations of basketball tradition & the championship legacy of the ABA's Kentucky Colonels, the state has never hosted an NBA franchise. Could Louisville's passion for the game translate successfully to the professional level? How much should the Colonels' history matter today? And what continues to stand between Louisville and the NBA?Gavriel and Torrence then head west to examine two Missouri cities with their own professional basketball histories. Kansas City hasn't hosted an NBA franchise since the Kings departed in 1985, but a modern downtown arena and passionate sports culture raise the question of whether the city deserves another chance. Meanwhile, St. Louis' history stretches from the Bombers and Hawks to the ABA's Spirits of St. Louis—yet the market has remained largely absent from modern NBA expansion discussions. Why have both cities spent decades outside the league, and could either provide a compelling home for professional basketball today?Nashville. Louisville. Kansas City. St. Louis.Four markets. Four different cases. And only so many opportunities available as the NBA considers what its next chapter could look like.But before The 32nd Team reaches its conclusion, one final conversation remains — because the future of NBA expansion may extend well beyond the candidates we've examined thus far.Follow The New Twenty Four across social media on IG and Twitter/X (@TNTF_).