"What can Brown do for you?”
I borrowed the headline from the television commercials and print ads United Parcel Service once used. The 1988 NCAA Championship and the 2004 NBA Championship share a common factor. Both the Kansas Jay hawks (‘88) and the Detroit Pistons (‘04) had 73-year old Larry Brown as their head coach. No one would disagree the roster of a team is key to winning however the coach was key in both teams winning. The 1987-88 Kansas team finished with one of their worst records in recent history. Then come the NCAA run where Brown cajole, preached and coached “Danny (Manning) and the Miracles” to the 1988 NCAA Championship.

Even with the successful run Kansas finished 27-11 one of the worst records for an NCAA Champion. Talk to any Laker fan and they will inform you no way would the Lakers lose the 2004 NBA Championship. The Lakers had Karl Malone, Gary Payton, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal plus a quality bench. Two key factors were to work in favor of the Pistons. That Hall of Fame Laker team forgot the game was still spelled T E A M. The other factor Larry Brown sat on the Pistons bench detailing strategy. Brown is still coaching and teaching; the AARP coach is at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. To prove he’s still got it SMU finished 15-17 in his first year at the helm, last season they finished 27-10.

My original intention was to ignore this
A racist tinged email Bruce Levenson majority owner of the Hawks wrote two years ago surfaced over the weekend. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver indicated almost immediately Levenson will sell his share of the team. The email written to the Hawks general manager indicated “white people were scared to attend Hawk games because of black people.” This issue may be Atlanta as much as racial, prior to this story breaking I’ve talked to several folks who currently live there or have at a point. These friends indicated to me Atlanta is a little strange regarding its sports teams. I’ve not checked attendance figures however the baseball Braves, the NFL Falcons and the NBA Hawks have never been experienced record gates.

I’m in Kansas City with “just a little” knowledge of Atlanta sports why Levenson doesn’t understand Atlanta’s sports history is a mystery to me. One other note there have been two NHL teams which referred to Atlanta as home neither plays there now. Attendance for Atlanta’s NHL franchises may have not been paramount in them leaving however it certainly may have played a factor. Someone might say hockey in the south, well Tampa Bay, Carolina and Miami continue play. “Free speech” advocates will rush to Levenson’s defense, they will inform you he’s the owner and he is denied freedom of speech. This is a different age; we cannot continue to operate with early 20th Century mentality. An individual in Levenson’s position and everyone else needs to think first and consider their private actions could become public.

Bits n Pieces
The Bulls are the latest team to contact Ray Allen. News reports indicate a number of NBA teams are attempting to secure his services for the upcoming season. Several of my acquaintances have made it known to me Kobe needs to retire. No doubt Kobe is at the end of the road however they certainly haven’t made the same statement about Allen.

You may have missed this or maybe you didn’t know him. Jim “Bad News” Barnes died at age 62. Barnes was a talented basketball player when he emerged from Providence. He could have played in the NBA when he first came out of college but chose the ABA. The desire to be a thug rather than a basketball player cut short of what could have been a brilliant career.

Several years back sportswriter Jason Whitlock (who played football in college) attempted to inform us “NBA players were out of control.” He wrote a stinging article after the NBA held its All-Star Game in Las Vegas. I have no doubt there were incidents however Whitlock paint a broad picture of the NBA out of control. Bad behavior whatever this case should be condemned in light of the problems of the NFL. It appears Mr. Whitlock was simply pandering to an audience who believes he writes the truth while others believe he attempts to stir up controversy where none actually exist. 

Introduction of the latest Air Jordan’s prompted a response I thought interesting. The writer pointed out; “Jordan hasn’t played in years, he’s not involved in the design and he’s getting paid for nothing.” I would like to question the writer; “what’s wrong with getting paid?"  Jordan is not actually getting paid for nothing he is being paid for his name.