The first word
Jabari Parker says he’s not made up his mind yet. Andrew Wiggins claims the year went too quick. We can’t read too much into either statement we can guess. Parker is unsure if he will head for the NBA or remain at Duke, as for Wiggins he’s history at Kansas.

Tony Kornheiser
Pointed out a fact known of us probably realized, “for the first time in NBA history the Celtics, Lakers, 76ers and Knicks will all miss the playoffs. This has never happened in NBA history these storied franchises all missing the playoffs in the same season.” For you historians the Celtics franchise first played in 1946 the 76ers took the court for the first time as the Syracuse Nats the same year. The Lakers beginning year was 1947 and the city was Minneapolis.  The Knicks remain in the city of their 1946 birth New York City.

A.I.
Over a recent weekend the 76ers retired Allen Iverson’s number 3. Although he played for a number of NBA teams’ the 76ers drafted him and his best years were spent in Philadelphia. Iverson was an enigma, a guy who could win a game with his shooting and might cost his team a victory by taking difficult shots. A guy who fought with coaches but to my knowledge never read of any disagreements with teammates. At his size he should have been a point guard but was a shooting guard for his career. Pound for pound he might be the toughest player ever. Never did we experience him hesitate or be afraid to drive the lane. The stats say one thing but this we believe A.I. was probably no taller than 5-11 and weighed in at maybe 155 pounds.

Would a player his size be afraid to drive the lane, probably most that size but not A.I., he thrived on the contact in the paint. He will forever be remembered for his quote when questioned by a reporter. * “Man look, I hear you... it's funny to me too, I mean it's strange... it's strange to me too, but we're talking about practice man, we're not even talking about the game... the actual game, when it matters... We're talking about practice …” Does the Basketball Hall of Fame lie in his future? I cannot say for sure just provide you a statement I once made. A friend asked if Dennis Rodman would ever be elected to the Hall. I said “no, he (Rodman) was too one dimensional just a rebound specialist. “ As you are aware I called that one incorrectly. *Wikipedia

Why worry about a nickname?
Did you hear this story, a footballer at the NFL Combine claims he had been nicknamed Black Mamba “long” before Kobe Bryant. There is no copyright infringement issue as far as I know however there is a larger predicament. This pre-drafted rookie needs to worry about being drafted first and secondly hope he makes the final cut of some NFL team. If he accomplishes those goals then maybe he can fight Kobe over the nickname.

Bits n Pieces
Coming into the season we knew the Clippers were better than the Lakers. A
142-94 is the cap on a pathetic season. Losing is one thing; losing by 48 points is unacceptable. I cannot wait for Mike D’Antoni to leave.

Remember Royce White and his aversion to flying? The Kings have signed him to a 10-day contract, are the Kings going to by him a bus or Amtrak ticket? If you have a job that requires travel by air you better figure out a method to there.

What is wrong with many of today’s fans, a number believe they can walk on the court whenever or for whatever reason they believe. Thursday night an individual a Cal Santa Barbara tee shirt comes rushing onto the court. He confronts the Hawaii coach and then gestures toward a Hawaii player (backing up) as if he‘s ready for a fight. Could we foresee a Hawaii player hitting the guy the guy sues Hawaii, the coach and the player, it didn’t happen but it could.

You can get there from here but you might not always be successful. The idea with tanking can be applied with the prior sentence. Ask the Celtics at the time they attempted to draft Tim Duncan, how did that work out for them? The 76ers should be investigated by the NBA.