Basketball from a fans perspective
A pioneer
Often when you accomplish a task first you are sometimes a memory. That’s the case for sports broadcast pioneer Eddie Einhorn. The 80-year old Einhorn died on Wednesday complications of a stroke. He was a minority owner of the baseball White Sox but basketball was the sport that brought him to national prominence. Einhorn was the founder of TVS a network dedicated to telecasting regional college basketball games. Keep in mind in the ‘60’s there was no ESPN or Fox Sports in those days the TVS games were sold to broadcast and independent stations across the nation. In 1968 the Houston Cougars with star Elvin Hayes would serve as host to Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul Jabbar) and his UCLA Bruins.
The game was played in the Houston Astrodome and set an attendance record which has since been broken. Einhorn secured the broadcast rights for this January 1968 game and would market the game to a national television audience. At this time only NCAA post-season games were nationally broadcast so this game was a first, a national telecast of a college basketball game in season a first. In addition “The Game of the Century” proved to be a financial success for college basketball and Einhorn. Einhorn would later have the network telecast other sports and eventually he would sale TVS. Eddie Einhorn was inducted in the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011 as a contributor.
Are they a winner?
I’m listening to the 25,000 discussion (argument) between Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith on ESPN‘s First Take. Number 24,999 was about the Dallas Cowboys and so is this one. The last time Cowboys won a Super Bowl was 1996 20 years ago. Before I go any further allow me to clarify a point. There is no disagreement from me the NFL (and maybe the Cowboys) are more popular than any NBA team.
Every time I hear a complaint about the lousy Lakers I remind the critic of the history of championships. The response; “I don’t want to hear that when is the last time they won it all.” To jog their memory I remind them it was 2010 the last time the Lakers were NBA Champions. That was six years ago certainly lesser time than 1995. I hope you understand the intent of this rant. The Cowboys receive a pass while the Lakers get an F from haters.
Bit n Pieces
This is written prior to the NBA trade deadline. Plenty of big names have been floated about including the Clippers Blake Griffin. It’s likely he’s not been traded by the time this is published but it probably will occur this summer. No doubt on his talent but the larger question might be his value to the team. Did you realize the Clippers won-loss record has been better with Griffin on the sidelines?
I just heard a portion of this discussion and wanted to add my two cents worth. The debate centered on the problems of Dwight Howard and James Harden as teammates. We know the issues with Harden but what about Howard? Both agreed injuries have impacted his numbers in the nearly three years in Houston. I don’t doubt the injury issue but I question “the head” stuff. Why did Howard not enhance his game with the opportunity of being tutored by Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Hakeem Olajuwon? Can you imagine Dwight with a sky-hook or the dream-shake two classics.
As for the other New York team they need a coach and better players. Phil Jackson is extremely loyal to his former players and coaches so we should expect a triangle offense devotee. Once Phil fired Derek Fisher he was replaced by interim Kurt Rambis who is a disciple of the triangle. Luke Walton currently serves as an assistant for the Warriors but would be free after the season. Brian Shaw is available and he also knows the triangle, then former coaches Jim Clemons and Bill Cartwright might also be considered. One of the other PJ disciples is Steve Kerr however there are serious doubts he leaves the Warriors.
Like father like son---maybe
As Steph Curry continues to shoot lights out the thought crossed my mind. Who’s a better NBA player Steph or dad Dell? Dad was a lights out shooter too however I believe he would admit his son is better. Dad scored over 12,000 points so Dell certainly was no slouch. How about the Bryant’s Kobe and Joe “Jelly Bean” Bryant? Joe was a 6-9 guard who could handle the basketball but wasn’t close to Kobe as a scorer. Kobe is the NBA’s third leading scorer with almost 33,000 points. There might be others but the aforementioned certainly exceeded dad. As for others they didn’t reach the level of their father. Bill Walton’s career was cut short by injury but it’s easy to state dad was a better NBA player than Luke.
Klay Thompson is not as tall as Mychal however given years he might exceed his dad. As for others they haven’t played long enough to be considered. The Bucks Jabari Parker is too early in his career to make a comparison to dad Sonny who had a six year NBA career. The same could be said for the Lakers Larry Nance Jr. in his rookie year. Dad Larry Sr. was an outstanding NBA player. One other player to mention is LSU’s Ben Simmons, he’s not in the NBA yet but there is a story. His dad located to Australia to play professional basketball. In a television interview he was asked about matching up against his son. He said; “I couldn’t beat him once he was a sophomore in high school.”
