Basketball from a fans perspective
Knucklehead
I’ve often been guilty of referring to Charles Barkley as a knucklehead. This former NBA player often receives a pass on much of his commentary by several people I‘m not one of them. Rather than referring to him as a knucklehead I’m going to refer to him as a stand up guy. A number of you might be aware long-time TNT broadcaster Craig Sager had to undergo a third bone marrow transplant.
As for Barkley he also was under a doctors care having hip replacement surgery less than a month ago according to reports. There were probably a number of orders from his doctor however the chief one might have been no flying for a period of time. What did Sir Charles do----he flew from his home in Phoenix to Houston where Sager was hospitalized.
Bits n Pieces
After years of talk which never appeared serious the NFL made the move first. For years it seems Las Vegas has been a prime topic of discussion for expansion or an existing NBA franchise moving to the city. The Raiders in Oakland have taken legal action to copyright the name Las Vegas Raiders. No idea if or when the Raiders will move but they will play in the city before an NBA team refers to the city as home.
I was checking out one of the Laker fan websites, a topic was the over-loaded front court and what to do about it. Randle, Black, Zubac, Yi and someone I’m missing. In any event the conversation was possible trade scenarios. I thought “that might work” or “this would.” Then I thought how in the world we can discuss trades when we are unsure of the composition of the team. I believe it might be February before Laker fans get a real clue on the makeup of the frontcourt, backcourt and the entire team.
What happened to AND1 might be the question? Unlike Nike, Converse, Adidas and others this start-up company is relatively new having been founded in 1993 by three Wharton School graduates. Now the brand is better known for street ball rather than the NBA brand. Early on they had Stephon Marbury, Rex Chapman and Rafer “Skip to my Lou” Alston. Vince Carter even wore the signature shoe in the 2000 NBA Dunk Contest but now sports Nike; nowadays its likely Lance Stephenson might be the only “name” NBA player wearing the shoe.
Thanks to SI.com I’d forgotten Kobe Bryant’s complete shoe history. At the time he entered the NBA out of high school he’d signed with Adidas, that company would release five Kobe shoes while he was under contract. Later signing with Nike the company would initially release 10 shoes over the years and perhaps more in the future. After all the entire Air Jordan brand continues to sell solidly despite Michael’s 2003 retirement.
The history
October 30, 1954 it was first utilized, I’m referring to the 24-second clock. Younger fans of the NBA might not realize the clock has not always been a part of the game. *“Danny Biasone the late owner of the Syracuse Nationals invented the shot clock following the 1953-54 season to try and speed up the game and prevent teams from stalling.” The lowest scoring game in NBA history occurred in 1950 when the Fort Wayne Pistons played the Minneapolis Lakers, final score Pistons 19 Lakers 18.
As for college the same situation existed, Dean Smith patented the “Four Corner Offense.” In a close game Smith would place four players in each corner of the court, they would pass the ball while the opposition desperately attempted to retrieve it. Carolina would only take a shot if an opposition player moved allowing for a lay-up. **“In 1985-86 the NCAA instituted a 45-second clock, reduced to 35 seconds in 1993-94. In 2015-16 it became 30 seconds.”
*NBA.com
**Wikipedia
