Basketball from a fans perspective
‘Wait until the dust settles’
I’m unsure if this is a correction, yesterday news reports indicted Beyonce was interested in purchasing a share of the Rockets. One site I don’t remember which one reported the potential share to be ‘$2 million dollars.’ I stated between Beyonce and Jay-Z I thought it was a fee they could afford. This morning HLN News is reporting the figure to be more like $20 million. At this point I’m unsure which number is correct; perhaps if the deal is consummated we wait until the dust settles to determine the amount.
Push-back
LaVar Ball finally received a response however it might not be the one he expected. The bombastic one has been talk, talk and more talk for a number of weeks and months. A portion of the conversation dealt with his ability to ‘beat’ former NBA stars one on one so Michael Jordan decided to respond. Air Jordan said; ‘LaVar Ball couldn’t beat me 1-on-1 if I was one-legged’. Naturally The Mouth had a response but I’m not going to detail his point because he’s LaVar Ball. No further commentary on my part is required or necessary.
Kansas City in the NBA
Owners of the Kings were short-sided and the only word I can use is cheap. On Tuesday I wrote of Kansas City and its NBA history. Only four ABA teams would move into the NBA so what to do with the players left-over? I’m glad you asked the NBA held a dispersal draft and ABA players without a team were drafted by NBA teams. The NBA teams drafted in reverse order worst to first, the Bulls with the worst regular season record had the first choice. They were followed by the Blazers and then the Kansas City Kings. The Bulls drafted HOF player Artis Gilmore, the Blazers (with the Hawks pick) chose Maurice Lucas. The Kings pick was guard Ron Boone, two picks later the Blazers with their own pick chose Moses Malone.
Boone played for three ABA teams before his arrival with the NBA Kings, the 6-2 guard played for the Kings a brief two years before he began play with the Lakers concluding his career with the Jazz. Boone was a very good player but no comparison to the 6-10 260 pound Malone. This is a different NBA now but I pose the question, how does a team draft a guard over a Big Man? We know Malone’s, NBA Champ with the Sixers and a stellar NBA career culminating with a Naismith Hall of Fame induction. What if…….What if the Kings ownership had not been so short-sighted and cheap believing they couldn’t afford Malone. Malone might have led to the Kings becoming successful and remaining in Kansas City….just maybe.
Can he shoot?
The headline is aimed at Zion Williamson; you know the Rivals number three prospect in the Class of 2018. He’s about the same size LeBron was in high school (6-7 230 pounds). I doubt I will get a chance to see him in person, hopefully ESPNU or Fox Sports will telecast one of the Spartanburg Day Schools' game (Spartanburg SC). The list of schools offering Williamson scholarships is a couple of arm lengths and the usual suspects have offers on the table. Georgetown, Kentucky, Kansas and Louisville are just a few of the names.
As for my title I’ve searched the net and cannot determine if Williamson can shoot. I’ve seen plenty of flashy slams an equal number of lay-ups but no shot more that 10-feet from the basket. I’m okay in one instance with a questionable shooter (Lonzo Ball) why is Williamson shot bothering me so much? In the instance of Ball he’s a distributor of the basketball his shot is secondary (in my view). Williamson is a volume scorer and must have a jump shot if it’s not already there.
