Basketball from a fans perspective
Shut down
The injury Ben Simmons sustained sidelined him from play this season. The number one pick by the Sixers in the 2017 draft was expected to move immediately into the starting lineup and then disaster. Simmons suffered a Jones fracture and would be out until the All-Star break the belief being he would be ready by the NBA All-Star game. On Friday the Sixers announced Simmons would be shut down until next season and would even miss Summer League play. Larry Laker with no medical knowledge said last fall; “It would be a good idea if Simmons waited until the 2017-18 season before suiting up.”
The last laugh
Draymon Green of the Warriors talks trash as much as he is whistled for technical fouls. The
6-7 230 pound power forward plays tough hard-nose defense and is a throw-back to an earlier era in the NBA. Thursday night Green could be heard yelling at Paul Pierce and the mics caught this remark. “Chasing that farewell tour, they don’t love you like that, you can’t get that farewell tour, the don’t love you like that, you thought you was Kobe?” Pierce is headed to the HOF as soon as he’s eligible as for the farewell tour.
To my knowledge the Boston faithful saluted Pierce but elsewhere is a different story, did I miss the farewell anywhere else? A day later Pierce responded with a bitter tweet but in my mind it was too late and missed the subject. The Pierce tweet was aimed at the Warriors failure to win the championship after winning 73 games and holding a 3-1 playoff lead. I guess Pierce was attempting to point out Green was suspended for a game but the response to me was very weak. As for you Kobe haters it appears he’s got more going for him with fans than Paul Pierce.
Change agent
The Rockets retired Yao Ming‘s number 11 jersey, it was hoisted to the rafters in the Toyota Center. Many questioned the retirement of his jersey, Yao was not the first Asian player in the NBA but to date has been the most effective. A number of folks questioned his qualifications as a Hall of Fame player as well and my response is baloney, they cite his brief 9 year NBA career.
My question to the critics might be “Is there a time issue you must play to be eligible for HOF inclusion?” He’s a change agent because he allowed the NBA to branch out even further in China once he began play. As Yao prepared to play in the NBA “The Mouth of the South” Charles Barkley said; “He’ll never score more than 20 points in an NBA game.” Of course Barkley was proven wrong with this prediction and a number of others.
I may have shortchanged him
Chavano Ranier “Buddy Hield” collected quite a bit of hardware last season at Oklahoma. The 6-4 shooting guard from the Bahamas was the John R. Wooden Award winner, the Naismith College Player of the Year and won the Oscar Robertson Trophy. Buddy had “can‘t missed” stamped on his forehead, 25 ppg, .501 from the floor and 88% from the free-throw line.
That was Oklahoma as for the NBA that was a different story; he would become the 6 pick in the first round of the 2016 draft by the Pelicans. Buddy has moved at a slower pace than expected and then BAM he’s traded. He's sent to the Kings in the package that saw Boogie Cousins arriving and Buddy and two others leaving. I may have given the impression I’d given up on him when writing about the big trade. It’s early and if the sinking ship the Kings franchise has become can managed to right itself it could prove fruitful for Buddy.
