The Wild Wild West
The above was the title of 1960’s television series brought to the large screen in 1999. Will Smith only dealt with a single advisory, Dr. Loveless. The Western Conference champ has three serious contenders and four others in waiting. Our discussion of course is the Wild Wild West of the NBA, the Western Conference. These are the primary contenders who will emerge after the smoke clears, the Warriors, Spurs, Clippers, Thunder. The Mavs, Pelicans, Nuggets and Lakers will contend but fall short. Of all the teams the Thunder would appear best prepared however there is the Westbrook factor to consider.

Have the Spurs finally reached the end of the line? It’s always been difficult to count them out; they say a cat has nine lives so do the Spurs. Can Doc Rivers explain to his Clipper team Lob City will not grant them an NBA championship. Baring injuries (and youth) I believe the Warriors will emerge out of the West. They too have questions however last years playoff run was good for the team and coach. I like this team’s lights-out shooting, my chief concern can they manage to play enough defense?

A short note
The Lakers released Marcus Landry; the roster stands at 15. Injuries could make for a later change however this will be the opening game roster. Check the October 9 edition of Words eye view and see if I was correct with my prediction of the final roster moves. I connected with a Celtic acquaintance, I asked him about the changes with his favorite team. He informed me; “I’m still excited about the season (NBA) starting tomorrow” I share his excitement.

Going forward
None of us have any idea what the future holds for the NCAA. It’s my belief college football will be responsible for a change in administration of policy. I am not pleased with the NCAA suspension of Mizzou’s Frank Haith however my problem is much larger. This malfunctioning organization still has a number of issues to address. They must pay for the sins of the past; in this instance one of the sins is the failure to compensate collegiate athletes. Former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon filed a lawsuit against the NCAA to recoup compensation. He was the plaintiff but this essentially could become a class action suit, that’s the reason the NCAA has attempted several times to have this suit dismissed. Last week they tried again and the judge denied their request.

”Be like Mike”
Gatorade sports drink ran a television commercial which featured Michael Jordan; the theme was “I wanna be like Mike.” NBC correspondent Willie Geist had that opportunity last Friday. MJ’s estate is for sale in suburban Chicago and Geist went on a walking tour with the real estate agent for the Today Show. The estate sits on 7 acres of land about 30 minutes from downtown Chicago. This 56,000 square foot home contains nine bedrooms, 19 bathrooms and five fireplaces spread throughout. Naturally it contains an indoor basketball court; outside lays a tennis court and swimming pool. MJ paid a cool $29 million when he purchased the property. The next portion of the tour was even more interesting. Geist changed into basketball clothing along with a number 23 Bulls jersey.

In several shots he proceeded to dunk the basketball, the last was his entire body as he went up and dunked the ball one-handed. Later back in the studio he revealed all the dunks except the last one were on 8-foot baskets. He said the last one was the real deal at 10-feet. Geist stated; “I hadn’t dunk a ball in about four years.” The 6-4 Geist made no mention about his basketball background however based on what I saw I believe he’s picked up a basketball on more than one occasion in his life. It was also revealed the estate comes with the furniture and other amenities included in the cost. It has been reduced to $23 million just in case you might be interested.

They spent $1 billion too
It was reported the construction package for the Nets Barclays Center home was $1 billion dollars. Up to that time I‘m unsure any indoor arena (excluding football) may have approached the figure. Last week Madison Square Garden unveiled its brand new look. It should also be of note the same amount of money spent to build Barclays was spent renovating MSG. The renovation was done in three phases over the last three years. Fans of the Knicks and Rangers will be treated to a “brand-new” arena. MSG was recently given a 10-year lease on the property; will they be required to move after spending this large sum of money? You should be able to locate either video or photos of the facility.