Did you know? 
Prospective owner Chris Hansen announced the Sonics have begun selling priority seating yesterday.  "Before we sell any new tickets, we would like to highlight that we plan to do our very best to contact all 2007-2008 Sonics season ticket holders and provide them the opportunity to secure their same seat location for the team’s return. However, we’d greatly appreciate it if prior season ticket holders would still fill out the request as it will greatly help us in making sure we have your current contact data.” Naturally there is a disclaimer indicating the ticket sale is based on a favorable ruling by the NBA Board of Governors. (sonicsarena.com)

I made a mistake
Sometimes you create a firestorm without intending, while on one of the social networks that’s exactly what I did. I added a comment to that posted earlier by a Laker fan and friend. An acquaintance of my friend who was no fan of the Lakers made a snide comment. I questioned his comment and he responded; “basketball players are not heroes, police officers and firefighters are true heroes.” Neither my Laker friend nor I made any connection in our messages regarding basketball players and heroes, his response came out of left field for me. This person assumed my life revolved around basketball 24-7. He doesn’t know me and I certainly discovered I didn’t know him either.

As for his statement, sport specifically basketball is just that a sport! We are allowed to focus on a fun thing rather than life problems and concerns. Athletes of the various sports were only heroes to me as a child! As I reached adulthood I probably echoed the Charles Barkley statement long before he ever issued his testimonial. (1.) “In 1993, his argument prompted national news when he wrote the text for his "I am not a role model" Nike commercial. A million guys can dunk a basketball in jail; should they be role models?” Words eye view reflects my views and opinions, I have no qualms stating I could be incorrect or even might change my position. (1.) (Wikipedia)

I find it difficult to agree with Bayless
Unfortunately we sometimes discover ourselves agreeing with a Skip Bayless comment. On ESPN’s First Take discussing a DeAndre Jordan dunk Bayless said; “Clipper players lead with their elbow or forearm when dunking the ball!” Although Jordan was the only player mentioned he would have been referring to Blake Griffin as well. I cannot relate the number of times I’ve witnessed Griffin leading with his elbow/forearm when an opposing player attempts to block his dunk.

Best of the best
New York, Los Angeles and Chicago have large metro populations to grow talent, Memphis although smaller than Kansas City also produces a significant amount of players too. With the exception of Memphis Kansas City metro certainly doesn’t have the population of the cities listed. Despite smaller numbers Kansas City metro has produced several outstanding players over its basketball history. I didn’t include Danny Manning of Leavenworth High School, although close the city is not included in the (1.) metro populace. Recently I read a story in the Kansas City Star that made me think “where did the time go?” I thought it had been over 15 years ago when I first became aware of Jaron Rush. His son Sean is a freshman at Barstow School in Kansas City; he’s 6-3 and plays basketball as his dad before him. Shea might never have the basketball skill of his dad but that’s not really that important. There is more to life than sport and from the article it appears Shea is a “grounded” young man, Shea’s dad is JaRon Rush. In order to profile the dad we must journey into the past with a disclaimer right at the beginning. It’s my belief the area has produced three outstanding players however all played in different eras.

I believe those athletes to be Warren Jabali, Anthony Peeler and JaRon Rush. Warren Jabali played at Central High School in Kansas City. Jabali went on to Wichita State however he chose the ABA over the Knicks. To this day it’s my belief he chose the ABA due to Walt “Clyde” Frazier. Frazier had been drafted a year earlier; his ABA career was cut short due to injury. ABA Rookie of the Year and ABA All-Star Game MVP, 4-time ABA All Star game selections. Over the course of his brief 7-year career this 6-2 high-flyer averaged 7 rebounds a game. Anthony Peeler played at Paseo High School; he was a 6-4 and a 208 pound shooting guard. He played baseball growing up and might have played that sport professionally. Peeler dominated basketball headlines in the area; many were surprised no shocked when he chose to attend Mizzou. Peeler playing for legendary Coach Norm Stewart led the Tigers in just about every category going. Consider this, Peeler left Mizzou in 1992 and the assist record he held was just this year eclipsed by Phil Pressey. Peeler was drafted by the Lakers in the 1^st round of the 1992 NBA draft. He had a 13-year NBA career with a number of teams.

The other outstanding player was mentioned earlier. The name is JaRon Rush, Pembroke School however you might be more familiar with the younger brothers. Kareem played at Mizzou and had a 9-year NBA career, younger brother Brandon played at Kansas and is a member of the Warriors, JaRon was the eldest brother. I thought back then and continue to believe JaRon was the best of the bunch; personal demons side tracked him on the way to what many believe would have been an NBA career. The DiRenna Award is the ultimate honor for a basketball player in this area. In the awards history, nearly 60 years JaRon is the only player to win the award three years in a row. This 6-6 205 pound forward had all the tools many believed would lead to an NBA career. JaRon played at UCLA for two years but left early for the NBA and was not drafted. He failed to seek out those with knowledge of the NBA Draft. The road to the NBA was curtailed before it even got off the ground. Metro Sports ran a feature on the elder Rush. The anchor describing the play of Rush; “all I could say was wow!” Seeing this talented youngster play I certainly could concur. (1.) United States Census Bureau