Basketball from a fans perspective

Shocking
It’s unbelievable for me to be writing this narrative; I've watched enough highlights or a few games to determine it is time for Kobe Bryant to retire. There is no requirement for him to wait until April Kobe should set a December date. If you pay any attention to box scores you notice he’s leading the Lakers in shots taken not shots made. If this was the Kobe of 5 or 6 years ago I would have no problem with him leading the team in shot attempts. As you are aware he’s shooting a poor 30% from the floor and is not playing the “decoy” many of us expected.

You might ask “who takes the Kobe shots? “ I have no answer but regardless Kobe’s not making baskets anyway why not Randle, Clarkson or somebody else taking the bulk of the shots. I believe all Laker fans didn’t expect a 25 or 30 year old Kobe to return however they expected more production than what has been evident to date. As I was finishing this narrative Byron Scott announced he was changing the starting lineup. Randle and Russell to the bench replaced by Nance and Williams no word on the status of Kobe. We must guess Kobe remains in the starting lineup, hey coach what about the reduced minutes you once stated would be imposed on Kobe?

Part Deux
After completing the story on the Chicago Stags I decided to conduct further research on defunct NBA teams. Much to my surprise I discovered our cross-state city St. Louis (MO) had an NBA team prior to the 1955 arrival of the Hawks. If you remember the Hawks arrived that year after leaving Milwaukee, they would remain in St. Louis before moving to Atlanta in 1968 where they remain to date. The St. Louis Bombers came into existence in 1946 as an original member of the Basketball Association of America. Of course you remember from your earlier reading the league merged with the National Basketball League in 1948 to become the NBA of today, the Bombers folded in 1950 along with four other teams.

A Giant game
We sometimes say the game of basketball is often between giants. For the most part the participants are much taller than the average male; in a recent match we really had giants facing one another. 7-6 Mamadou Ndiaye UC-Irvine was matched against 7-6 Tacko Fall University of Central Florida. There have been players taller than either Ndiaye or Fall but there might be doubts if two players of this stature ever faced one another. UC-Irvine won the match 61-60 although neither participant played a factor in the outcome. Ndiaye scored 5 points in his teams’ victory while Fall contributed 6 points in a losing effort.

Hope this helps
The swift start by the Warriors this season has caused us to look to the past for great teams. The Bulls and Lakers have the top two all-time regular season wins and the Celtics line up behind them in the NBA history books. The game has changed so its just as impossible to compare these teams with the Warriors of today just thought it might be of interest to compare the lineups then versus now. I’ve mentioned previously I have no problems with records eclipsed except in one instance; the winning streak by the Heat (27) and Lakers (33) was accomplished during the regular season not parts of two seasons.   

‘71-’72 Lakers 69 wins 13 losses 
Wilt Chamberlain - center
Jim McMillan - small forward
‘Happy” Hairston - power forward
Jerry West - guard
Gail Goodrich - guard

‘95-‘96 Bulls 72 wins 10 losses
Michael Jordan - shooting guard
Ron Harper - point guard
Scottie Pippen - small forward
Dennis Rodman - power forward
Luc Longley/Bill Weddington - center
Toni Kukoc was a part-time starter in ‘95-’96.

‘96-’97 Bulls 69 wins 13 losses
Michael Jordan - shooting guard
Ron Harper - point guard
Scottie Pippen - small forward
Dennis Rodman - power forward
Luc Longley/Bill Weddington - center
Toni Kukoc was a part-time starter in ‘96-’97

The “War”
Was it a true war in a sense of the word might be the question; I speak of the NBA-ABA bidding for players that existed. It’s my belief the “war” may have only existed between franchise owners. There may have been bad blood between some players and teams but that might have been lessening once they began playing one another. The ABA began play in 1967 and it’s likely for the first five years or so play was superior in the NBA. Beginning at some point in the early ‘70’s play began to become equal in both leagues. Keep in mind the NBA-ABA merger didn’t occur until the 1976-77 season but the leagues begin exhibition play in 1971. These exhibition games served a two-fold purpose, they enhanced play in the young league and they allowed the public to see the ABA as a “Major League.”

The television footprint was nothing like it is now there was no ESPN, TNT or NBA TV. The NBA national telecasts were seen at various times on the ABC, CBS or NBC Networks. The ABA had local contracts but were practically invisible nationwide except for the ABA All Star Game. All during the time period the exhibition games were being played talks between the owners were being conducted, in June 1976 the two leagues agreed to a merger. The Spurs, Nuggets, Nets and Pacers were absorbed into the NBA; the Spirits of St Louis, Kentucky Colonels and Virginia Squires franchises were dissolved. Players from the dissolved franchises were placed in a pool and a dispersal draft was held by NBA teams.