Professional basketball is back in Pittsburgh, and, of course, we say that with a chuckle.

In truth, pro basketball never has been a part of Pittsburgh. It has been here many times in many forms in many leagues, but never has been embraced by enough fans to make it worthwhile or even remotely worthwhile.

But, now, another group -- men who should know better -- are front and center with a plan to present a pro basketball team to the Pittsburgh market. The team is the Pittsburgh Xplosion, and it's a member of the American Basketball Association -- one of 50 members.

The guess here is there will be an implosion of the Xplosion by the end of the year.

Pro basketball won't work in Pittsburgh. It didn't work as the Ironmen in the 1940s, the Rens in the 1950s, the Pipers in the 1960s, the Condors in the 1970s and the Piranhas in the 1990s.

All teams had varying degrees of on-the-floor success and no degree of off-the-floor success.

The Rens, of the American Basketball League, had the great Connie Hawkins, who went on to an NBA Hall-of-Fame career. The Pipers, who also had Hawkins, and the Condors had Johnny Brisker, an NBA-quality player with a flair for showmanship, and brought opposing greats such as Julius Erving and Rick Barry to the Civic Arena. The Piranhas, the only one to admit it was a minor-league team, had one player who went on to NBA success and several others who were well known in the Pittsburgh market.

It made no difference. Pittsburgh never has gone for pro basketball, not even when it had almost double the population it currently has.

But this group, headed by businessman Richard Hershperger, is plunging forward. Freddy Lewis, from McKeesport and a standout in the ABA, is the general manager. Dwayne Woodruff, the former Steelers defensive back who is a candidate for an Allegheny County Common Pleas Court judgeship, also is involved.

Present plans call for the Xplosion to play most of its 18 home games at Mellon Arena, which seats about 17,000. When Mellon is not available, the team is tentatively scheduled to play at the Petersen Events Center on the Pitt campus, a 12,500-seat facility. Those are major-league sites, but neither deal is contractually in place.

Although the season begins Oct. 30, Jay Roberts, the general manager of Mellon Arena, said, "We are trying to finalize the details of the negotiations right now."

That is cutting it close.

The previous pro team to attempt a go of it in Pittsburgh was the Piranhas of the Continental Basketball League -- a long-established minor league that fed players to the NBA. The owner of the team was Bob Murphy, a successful local businessman and sports entrepreneur. Murphy wisely had his team play at the Palumbo Center on the Duquesne campus, where small crowds wouldn't look lost and where the overhead was considerably less than Mellon Arena.

Palumbo wasn't available to the Xplosion, which felt Mellon Arena was its next best option, although it costs about $15,000 to $20,000 every night just to open the doors there. Even with low salaries, that kind of rent is a major impediment to financial success.

If the Piranhas are any indication, the Xplosion will dawn to major indifference. The Piranhas were little more than an afterthought to the ticket-buying public. The team averaged 1,635 customers and folded after its first year.

The franchise was professionally run, and the product wasn't bad. It included Jaren Jackson, who went on to be a key player on San Antonio's 1999 NBA championship team, and Brian Davis, a starter on Duke's 1992 national championship team.

That level of talent figures to be considerably higher than what the Xplosion will offer. They're talking about going with Armon Gilliam and Myron Brown as their marquee players. Gilliam was a standout NBA player, but he's 40 and well past his prime. Brown, who had a brief NBA career, played at Slippery Rock in 1991, which would place him also not quite in his prime.

Contacted yesterday, Murphy, the owner of the Piranhas, cut to the heart of why anything short of a competitive NBA team won't go in Pittsburgh.

"The reception for our team, after the first game, wasn't real good because of the great Division I basketball programs that are here and have been here for years."

Certainly, Pitt doesn't think of itself as a minor-league team. It has been an elite member of Division I of the NCAA for several seasons. Still, in the grand scheme of things, college basketball is a minor league to the NBA. It's where the NBA gets most of its players.

As long as there is a Pitt, Duquesne and Robert Morris, anything short of the very best pro basketball won't make it in Pittsburgh.