Basketball from a fans perspective

　
Curious
Let’s re-visit an old story, should we presume there will be a summit conference soon? A meeting might be in order to divide boundaries between the two. In this instance I’m not speaking of a world leaders meeting I’m referring to Isiah Thomas soon to become President of the Liberty (?) and Phil Jackson President of the Knicks. James Dolan owns both teams plus Madison Square Garden and Cablevision. We recognize Thomas has far more knowledge on men’s basketball than the women’s game. Its likely PJ has probably had little if any input on workings of the Liberty. Will the same scenario play out with Thomas?

Although there still may have been controversy hiring Thomas for a position with the Knicks it would have been a far different story. Stephen A. Smith defending Thomas claimed “he wasn’t guilty of anything.” Smith is only partially correct although he was included as part of the lawsuit he was not found guilty in the final judgment. I’d like to pose this question to Smith since neither of us has a law degree. Guilty or not as president of the Knicks “his company was responsible for creating a hostile work environment.” I placed a question mark behind president of the Liberty, the WNBA must vote to affirm Thomas.

Bits n Pieces
Conspiracy theorists are questioning how the Lakers received the number two pick in the 2015 draft. I can hear them loudly proclaim; “The fix must be in they (whoever they are) want the Lakers to become good again.” Funny we didn’t hear from these same folks four years ago when the Lakers acquired Chris Paul. You remember they traded for Paul then a member of the Hornets (Pelicans) and the commissioner voided the trade. David Stern claimed he “vetoed the trade in the best interest of the NBA.” Paul would have teamed with Kobe Bryant, Paul Gasol and Ron Artest.

The other day I mentioned ESPN’s Mike Greenberg proposal to “fix” the NBA Draft. Instead of the Wolves receiving the number one pick under his proposal that pick would be awarded to either the Thunder or Pacers. Greenberg’s fix is to award the number one choice to the top team failing to qualify for the playoffs. The Thunder won 45 games barely missing the playoffs while the Wolves only won 16 games. Before he offers to fix the NBA Draft maybe he should delve into its history to understand why the lottery was implemented in the first place.

I’ve been viewing the weekend baseball series between the Royals and the Cardinals of St. Louis and I had a thought. In a perfect world Kansas City and St. Louis both would have NBA teams; the two cities are located a short 249 miles apart and would be perfect rivals. No rivalry really exists currently in baseball the Royals and Cardinals play in two different leagues in football its two different conferences (AFC and NFC). In basketball it’s likely they would compete in the same conference of the same division. Just a thought, thanks for taking the time to indulge my fantasy.

I wonder if it’s true about Bulls management. Reports are circulating everywhere they are waiting for all the coaching positions to be filled and then fire Tom Thibodeau. We’ve know for quite awhile Thibodeau was a “dead man walking” but this might be a new low for the Bulls if true. I guess if you ask Phil Jackson to leave after winning championships Thibodeau doesn’t stand much of a chance to remain head coach.

Stephen A.
Sometimes commentary of Stephen A. Smith requires more than a simple response, I promise this to be the last. Smith of ESPN and Knicks fan appeared to explode with rage regarding the NBA Draft Lottery. Smith might give us the impression Duke’s Jahlil Okafor and Kentucky’s Karl-Anthony Towns were the only two talents eligible for the 2015 draft. “His” Knicks landing in fourth place in the lottery will likely miss the opportunity to draft either player. Hey Stephen A. the NBA Draft as in the past will contains more than just two players. I’ve only seen Emmanuel Mudiay in clips however Larry Brown at SMU claims “He’s the most talented player for his age I’ve ever seen.” A firm statement by a 74-year old basketball coach. Brown certainly has seen his share of basketball talent over the course of his playing and coaching career.

How about DeAngelo Russell from Ohio State also 6-5 and he a point guard too. Also available is Justise Winslow who came on strong for Duke this past season. Much of the success this past season for Wisconsin was attributed to 6-9 small forward Sam Dekker. How about the potential defensive prowess of Willie Cauley-Stein, he comes into the draft after his junior year. These are but a few of the athletes who could wear the jersey of the Knicks if they choose to draft one of them in the four spot. It’s not the end of the world as Smith would have us believe there is talent aplenty to be chosen. There is no prediction of future success for either the Wolves or the Lakers of their picks having a successful NBA career.

Owners
A number of sports owners could walk in the door and we wouldn’t recognize them. They prefer to remain in the background and allow personnel who work for them liberty of directions. On the other hand there are owners who seem to always be in the news. Is it ego driven we are not sure but I shared this story previously. At the time Charles Finley owned the A’s in Kansas City he once said; “The O in my middle name stands for owner.” You know them; they often become a portion of the story rather than the story itself. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is a member of this team, in addition there are several in the NBA.
Remember the Mavs owner declaring his team was better than the Rockets? 

Mark Cuban said; “There offense is predictable although James Harden is a good player.” We know the results of the series, Rockets win. Cuban later tweeted “I was in error and congratulated the Rockets.” Cavs owner Sam Gilbert may have turned in his membership. After LeBron James returned his quotes have been conspicuously absent in the news in recent months. Ted Stepian owned the Cavs from 1981-83 and was beyond a doubt one of the worst owners in sports and NBA history. His headlines are far too many to include in this short account. I could say one positive the Lakers owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Stepian. His team always terrible negotiated a trade with the Lakers for a draft choice. The Cavs would receive the number one pick and which became Laker great James “Big Game” Worthy.