July 3rd: On this date...

... in 1986, your University of Kentucky Wildcats were on their way home from a seven game exhibition world tour to the far east. Six of the seven games were played in Japan, while the other was played in South China. In the last game versus South China, the attendance was said to have been 100 people. Shortly after this game, Kentucky boarded a plane for a 27-hour ride back to the Commonwealth. The Cats finished the road trip 6-1, the only loss coming against Czechoslovakia. The third ranked Cats, from 1986, beat South China, Finland, and Japan for their wins. So whenever someone brings up how David Stern or the Dream Team globalized basketball, you give them this little nugget and watch them squirm.

UK calendar