Basketball from a fans perspective
The countdown has begun
The Spurs David Robinson stood 6 foot 8 inches as a freshman at Annapolis the naval academy; he required a waver because the maximum height allowed is 6 foot 6 inches. By the time Robinson graduated he stood seven feet tall too tall for sea duty as a naval officer. In addition by this time he’d become a college All-American and his sights had shifted on a possible career in the NBA.
Robinson graduated in 1987 but didn’t suit up for the Spurs who held his draft rights until 1989. All that’s changed now the Department of Defense Pro Sports administration is operating under new rules implemented in May 2016. “A service member can request to be tendered an appointment in the reserve upon graduation and satisfy their commissioned service obligation in the Ready Reserve.” The short version any future David Robinson’s would be NBA eligible immediately their military obligation would be resolved without going on active duty.
Bits and Pieces
According to Forbes according to 2016 value there are 13 NBA franchises worth $1 billion dollars or more. Number one is the Knicks with a value of $3 billion followed by the Lakers at $2.7 billion. The Raptors and Blazers miss the cut with a net worth of $980 million and $975 million respectively. As for the Knicks and Lakers its interesting both teams had poor regular seasons and missed the playoffs. It seems and I have mentioned on a number of occasions every time an NBA franchise places a “For Sale” sign outside the front door there is never a shortage of potential owners.
The 2016-17 NBA season will be different for a number of reasons, two giants of the game will be missing in action. For the first time since 1996 no Laker lineup in Staples Center or in a visiting arena will announce the name of Kobe “Bean” Bryant in the starting lineup. The AT&T Center will change too, for the first time since 1997 the lineup in the arena and visiting arenas will no longer contain the name Timothy “Theodore” Duncan in the starting lineup. Kobe and Timmy both 5X NBA Champions will be sitting back and relaxing on brilliant careers. As for Kobe he might be busier than Timmy since he and his wife are now expecting their third child. Its likely Kobe will be busy changing diapers.
Former Knick Coach Mike D’Antoni offered a comment on Jeremy Lin and
Lin-Sanity. D’Antoni claims neither Carmelo Anthony nor Amar’e Stoudemire were willing to adjust their game to accommodate Lin. I checked the numbers, before his season-ending injury point guard Lin scored at a 14.6 point and 6.2 assist per game clip while shooting 44% from the floor. The remaining question did the two resent the media blitz surrounding Lin? We’ll probably never know the true answer it remains with the three players and only the former coach is talking at this point.
If a bad team is progressing the coach should be rewarded. That’s the case for Tennessee State and Dana Ford who received an extension through the
2020-21 season. Ford’s team finished 5-26 in his first year and last season registered a 20-11 mark. Ford was named Ohio Valley Conference coach of the year.
Misleading headline
Above the video it read; “Shaq O’Neal gets dunked on by son Shareef O’Neal.” I’m not exactly sure what I saw sure the dunk was legitimate as for the headline is a little misleading. The 6-9 O’Neal receiving the basketball on a pass drives down the lane. Shaquille O’ Neal all 7-1 350+ pounds is standing near the basket just as soon as Shareef goes in the air daddy barely moved as the son soared around his dad.
In addition daddy made no attempt to block the shot nor did he even raise his arms to attempt a block. I’m sure Shaq had no desire to hurt his son which he certainly could have done. My complaint the ESPN.com writer must have been using his imagination there was nothing close to an attempt to block the shot.
