Basketball from a fans perspective
Social activisim
This is a different age; players in all sports the NBA included have become social activists. Much as many of us desire to return to the go old days of the past the landscape has changed. A number of NBA players have challenged the norm by discussing issues outside the realm of the basketball court. This activism is not new there always been activists especially in the world of basketball. Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Warren Jabali, Chris Jackson who also changed his name becoming Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf.
Those named and others attempted to raise the consciousness of the nation and world with their social commentary. Did it this trend lose speed probably and there was no specific reason. Recently it seems a greater number of players are adding their name to social issues. A week or so ago the CEO of Under Armour said; ’The election of Donald Trump was an asset to the nation.” Steph Curry under contact to the same company and wearing the shoe took a different approach. When question on the statement he said: “Yes he is an asset if you remove the last two letters.” Although it’s the NFL currently the NBA will soon face the same issue a potential White House visit. Several black players from the Super Bowl Champion Patriots indicate they will not attend the White House if invited. The travel ban placed in effect by this administration might impact at least two NBA players (Luol Deng, Thon Maker) so said Commissioner Adam Silver.
The days of playing the sport and not making a social statement are over. The NBA All Star game was played in New Orleans after being first scheduled in Charlotte. North Carolina passing the so-called “bathroom law“ was the basis for the NBA moving the game to New Orleans. The NBA is likely to follow the NFL who are monitoring the State of Texas with pending legislation similar to North Carolina. Stay tuned social activisim was the catalyst for change in the past, its continued through the present and will continue into the future.
Pretenders
I posed the question earlier in the season if there was a true contender in the Big 12 Conference. Would one or more teams step forward and prevent Kansas from winning its 13 straight Big 12 regular season championship. The race is not over but all we can see are pretenders rather than contenders. Baylor, West Virginia, Iowa State did I miss any one of them? Good for Kansas bad for the conference, how can you convince me or anyone else about the strength of the Big 12? Check out the ACC, Pac-12 or some other conference there is balance. You say UCLA once dominated (Pac-8) in a similar manner I’d say yes however check out how long ago that occurred.
Decision (all ready) made
This is interesting the ESPN 2017 100 top prospects, 7 players remain unsigned or uncommitted as of February 16. Imagine this out of the best 100 prospects in the nation all made their decision known before the calendar turned to February. Below are the prospects name, position and home town.
#4 Trevon Duval 6-3 point guard Wilmington DE
#5 Mohamed Bamba 6-11 center Harlem NY
#6 Brandon McCoy 6-11 center San Diego CA
#7 Kevin Knox 6-8 small forward Tampa FL
#12 Brian Bowen 6-7 small forward Saginaw MI
#16 M.J. Walker 6-5 shooting guard Jonesboro GA
#40 Jordan Tucker 6-7 small forward Marietta GA
The crowd
No argument the best basketball is played at the NBA level, the best crowds are in college. I’ve not attended a game in person but Chesapeake Arena home of the Thunder is reported to have the loudest NBA crowd. At the collegiate level we could probably name 5 or 6 arenas who might intimidate opposing teams by crowd noise. Just a few and not in any order:
Cameron Indoor-Duke
Allen Field house-Kansas
Rupp Arena-Kentucky
WVU Coliseum-West Virginia
Dean Smith Center (Dean Dome)-North Carolina
The Pit-New Mexico
Hilton Coliseum-Iowa State
Gallagher-Iba-Oklahoma State
There are other buildings throughout the nation that might be on the same level of crowd noise and intimidation, those mentioned stand out at the very top of the list.
