Basketball from a fans perspective
　

Wanna know why
The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports released its report recently. As usual the NBA received high marks for its hiring practices with minorities and women. Read the report for yourselves if you desire. Do you really want to know why the NBA receives such high marks?  MLB, the NFL and other pro sports lie in the rear view mirror of the NBA with it's employment history.  Consider this account Becky Hammon is a party of one however she continues to pave the way. 

At the beginning of last season Gregg Popovich added Hammon to his coaching staff thus she became the first female assistant in the NBA.  Hammon made make history again when serving as head coach of the Spurs Summer League team. The NFL will have a female official this fall; they are tardy to the party. Violet Palmer has been officiating for 18 years, she was joined last season by Lauren Holtkamp. Coaches and officiating are only a small portion of the hiring practices of the NBA.

Changing of the guard
Wisconsin’s Bo Ryan announced the 2015-16 will be his last, at 67 he’s not the oldest active coach however he believes the time is now to retire. One of the most successful coaches heading into his final season Ryan’s compiled a 740–228 (.764) record. He’s been selected as Big Ten Coach of the Year four times most recently in 2015. In addition his Wisconsin team has appeared in two Final Four appearances, 2014 and 2015.

Earlier Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim indicated 2015-16 would be his last at the helm. His
858–333 (.720) winning record is tarnished by some of the improprieties that came to light this past season. Nevertheless his 2003 NCAA Championship remains a permanent part of his coaching resume. Up to this time period Boeheim has the rare distinction of “never” leaving Syracuse. He was a guard from 1963-1966 and after a brief pro career returned to become an assistant coach in 1969. He assumed the role of head coach in 1976.

Name change
If you’ve read Words eye view any length of time you know I have a problem with the names of several pro teams particularly in the NBA. As an example I’ve long believed Thunder was probably the dumbest name that could have been chosen for Oklahoma City‘s team. I understand the City of Seattle owned the Sonics name and it wasn’t traveling to the city with the team. Actually there is another NBA name around much older and I hate their name too. A little background the expansion Zephyrs moved from Chicago to Baltimore in 1963 and adopted the name used in an earlier time Bullets. The original Baltimore Bullets competed in the American Basketball League and later the Basketball Association which merged with the NBA. The Bullets played from 1944-1954.

The new guys would later move to Washington D.C. where they would become the Capital Bullets and when they moved into the city they became the Washington Bullets. In the late ‘90’s former owner Abe Pollin concerned with violence in the city believed it would be more appropriate to change the name of the team. A contest was held and among the names submitted was; Dragons, Express, Stallions, Sea Dogs, and Wizards. I don’t particularly like any of those names however I dislike Wizards even more. After Pollin’s death the team was sold to Ted Leonis and he’s indicated a willingness to change the name. Whether Leonis decides to undertake a name change is yet too decided. 

I ain’t mad
Marc Gasol of the Grizzlies indicated early on in the free-agency period he had no desire to talk to the Lakers.  His based his reasoning on the "poor treatment his brother received from the team."  I believe Pau was treated poorly however I don't believe it was all Laker management it was the departed Mike D'Antoni.  For reasons unknown it appeared D'Antoni failed to utilize Pau's talent effectively or communicate with him.  Although his time with the Lakers was limited I maintain he was the best power forward in team history.  That's a strong statement but one I believe is true.      

A.C. Green, Bill Bridges and Happy Hairston might have been superior at rebounding the ball but Pau was a better scorer. After he arrived in Los Angeles his scoring dipped because he was no longer the focal of the offense. His scoring numbers were still two points higher than Rudy LaRusso. There have been other power forwards throughout the teams history however for me Green, Bridges, Hairston and LaRusso were the best of the best. Pau Gasol exceeded all of them in my eyes.  The Lakers retired Shaquille O'Neal's number hopefully they will chose some day to retire Gasol's number too after all he helped lead the team to an NBA Championship.