Basketball from a fans perspective
“Throw it in to the Big Man”
Luke Walton’s dad Bill has often made the above statement telecasting a game. The Laker offense under Coach Luke might not be structured in the same manner dad played in the ‘70’s. Laker Coach Luke Walton indicates rookie Ivica Zubac will likely back up Timofey Mozgov at the center position. I’m not going to get into an argument with the coach early on but I see this a little different.
No doubt rookie Zubac is likely to be taken to the cleaners by the Gasol brothers and others. The youngster wants to learn the game it’s been reported he studied video of Marc Gasol and Hakeem Olajuwon. The veteran Mozgov appears to have an advantage defensively as for the offense that’s questionable. I don’t believe anyone including Laker fans expect the second coming of Chamberlain, Abdul Jabbar or Shaq around the basket. They do expect an improvement over Robert Sacre.
I was wrong
The pending civil trial of Derrick Rose I made an observation which has turned out to be incorrect. Lets go back in time during the preliminary testimony of Kobe Bryant’s rape hearing, he would fly charter from the Colorado courtroom to Los Angeles or wherever and play that evening. I said with the pending Rose trial that wasn’t going to occur again in a similar manner. I’m unsure now how I reached that conclusion other than this is not 2003.
I believed the climate regarding reported sexual assaults had changed. In addition this was not David Stern’s NBA it was Adam Silver’s. In any event Rose played Tuesday night in Houston but was expected to be in court in Los Angeles on Thursday. How distracting this is we don’t know however it appears until this is concluded he’ll divide his time between the Los Angeles trial and when and wherever the Knicks are playing.
She’s correct
People say retirement is difficult, all your life you’ve worked. You rise one morning and realize retirement is smacking you in the face what do you do? This occurs at 65 or 70 for a number of folks how about an NBA player. A number have played until their early 40’s most often they are retired by age 36, they are retired whether they realize it or not. Jackie McMullen ESPN Senior Writer wrote on this issue earlier and her points are valid. If I stopped and thought a moment I could probably list 10 or more players who played too long.
At one time I attributed this to the “roar of the crowd”; these players have been cheered since high school. This approval continued through college and into the NBA however I’ve discovered its more than mass appeal. What do you do with the rest of your life when you are retired in your middle 30’s? That’s where post-retirement planning should have taken place at some point. A number of NBA players acquired businesses or lent their services to the media. For many the salary earned might not have been as important as “having a life pursuit.” By the time you read this J.R. Smith, Steve Blake, Chris Kaman or Kendrick Perkins will be signed I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Establish your own
I’ve attempted to table my criticism of LeBron James since his return to Cleveland. I believe for the most part I’ve accomplished that until now. This is in response to the comment made by his former teammate Dwayne Wade. Wade essentially said “It’s going to be impossible to eclipse Michael Jordan.” My question to LeBron might be why is it necessary? “My motivation James told Sports Illustrated over the summer, after winning his third title, is the ghost I’m chasing."
The ghost played in Chicago.” Don’t get me wrong if he wins the next three championships is that going to cement his legacy in the minds of NBA fans? I can admire someone from afar; I might even inform them they are my role model. Why is it necessary to eclipse them? As someone who witnessed the play of both I question LeBron’s reasoning. If for example LeBron closes his career with two more championships and ends with five we guess he won’t be satisfied.
