The soap opera is over
Steve Ballmer will officially become the owner of the Clippers. The team will continue to operate in Los Angeles, sorry Seattle. Wife Shirley Sterling indicated she’d reached an agreement to sale the team to him. Estranged husband Donald indicated no such deal had been struck; in addition he filed a $1 billion dollar law suit against the NBA. Wednesday afternoon Donald Sterling indicated he was dropping the suit and approved the sale of the team. The “black-eye” this issue would become for the NBA is now basically concluded. I don’t wish to focus on morality issues that played a role in the downfall of the Sterling’s, my preference is to discuss the previous years.
We can peer at the Clippers record the past three seasons and we witnessed a successful team on the court. Beginning in 1981 (Sterling purchase) up till recently the Clippers were one of the poorest run franchises in professional sports. We just discovered the NBA was going to step in to manage this franchise at one point it was run so inept. For defenders of Donald and Shirley Sterling remember the 1981-2011 Clippers. During this 30-year period the Clippers finished at .500 or above a total of three times. Finally let’s check out the financial conclusion. Donald Sterling purchased the Clippers for $12 million dollars and will sell it for $2 billion dollars. Figure the math if you care that’s still a huge profit after taxes.
The best ever?
In the past I’ve mentioned how difficult it is to compare players from different eras certainly true of Tim Duncan. Mention the name Elgin Baylor or Karl Malone we immediately envision Hall of Fame power forwards. Perhaps the “quiet” demeanor of Tim Duncan causes us to look elsewhere. Duncan is the best power forward in NBA history and I make the statement with no hesitation. That’s a bold statement however its true, Barkley, Baylor and other power forwards might have had better numbers but who was the true winner?
Talk about being in the right place at the right time we could certainly play what if? The Celtics were salivating in 1997 believing they had an opportunity to draft Duncan finishing with the second worst record in the NBA, the Spurs finished with the third worst record. As history details the lottery has proven the worst team is not always awarded the number one pick and that‘s what occurred with the Spurs. We can only speculate what Celtic history might have been if Duncan had become a Celtic rather than a Spur. In addition Duncan will accomplish a feat few have done he will retire a Spur the only NBA team he ever played for.
He’s on his way to the NBA----maybe
I’ve stated previously how I believe its extremely complicated accessing a 7-foot high school basketball player. The chief reason, the majority of opposing players may be anywhere from 5-7 inches shorter. In this account the height and weight difference might be even greater, the prospect we are discussing is 7-5 and weighs 250 pounds. Adding a 22 shoe and an 8-foot wingspan you can see he could cause fear in the heart of an opposing player. His full name is Elhadji Serigne Tacko Diop Fall; it’s been shortened to Tacko Fall nicknamed “Taco.” Fall will be a senior in August at Liberty Christian Prep in Tavares (FL); the school is located about 45 miles from Orlando.
Fall is from Daker Senegal in West Africa and he with a number of prospects emerging from the African continent is raw. Does he have the talent to play at the next level; a college will take a chance strictly due to his height. As for the NBA or another pro league that’s up to him and the growth of his game. Most interesting to me fans want to weigh in on the ability of a player without much to back them up except their opinion. A fan wrote; “He has no leaping ability” after seeing video of Fall in action. After reading his email I thought; “At 7-4 is it really necessary that Fall have great leaping ability?” At his height he should develop into an adequate rebounded, if he really works at it he could become excellent.
Another Glove
Gary (aka The Glove) Payton had an outstanding NBA career most of it spent as a member of the Seattle Sonics. There is another Payton headed to the NBA, we don’t know if he’s related to “The Glove“ nor do we know if he’ll be a quality point guard at this level. This we do know at 6-4 and 190 pounds his height and weight parallel that of the Gary. Don’t worry if you have never heard of Elfrid Payton of Louisiana-Lafayette. His story might become similar to that of Damian Lillard, you remember him don‘t you? Lillard came into the NBA a relatively unknown from Weber State. Lillard went on to become the 2012-13 NBA Rookie of the Year. NBADraft.net and draftexpress.com list the Gretna (LA) native as the number 27 prospect in the 2014 draft. Don’t be shocked or surprised when Commissioner Silver announces “with the ________pick in the 2014 NBA the ________ select Elfrid Payton from Louisiana-Lafayette.”
