Basketball from a fans perspective
Shades of Darryl Dawkins
September 2nd we covered the late Darryl Dawkins a.k.a. Chocolate Thunder and his NBA career. We mentioned the former Sixer was responsible for the collapsible rim being implemented by the NBA due to his monstrous thundering dunks. Dawkins broke a rim and backboard against the Kansas City Kings in November of 1979, later he repeated the feat in Philadelphia. Shaquille O’Neal broke the glass backboard portion of the rim in practice while at LSU, he collapsed that basketball stanchion his rookie year in the NBA.
In Shaq’s case the rim remained in place while
the entire backboard came down. That was
quite a while ago until this past week, we witnessed Carte’Are Gordon mimicking
the Dawkins break. Gordon is a 6-foot 8-inch
240 pound forward in his freshman year at St. Louis University. In practice Gordon is seen dunking the ball
and the after affect is glass splintering all over the court. Since I don’t own the video rights and it’s
yet to be available on YouTube you must search it for yourself.
Doris Sable
We are sure at the time Doris Sable first picked up a basketball as a 2nd grader she had no idea. No idea the game she played as a youngster would eventually lead her to the Naismith Hall of Fame. Sable was her maiden name you probably are more familiar with the last name of Burke. She would continue playing the game in high school and later college at Providence. She graduated college and began broadcasting the game in 1990 as an analyst for the women’s team at Providence.
Doris Sable
We are sure at the time Doris Sable first picked up a basketball as a 2nd grader she had no idea. No idea the game she played as a youngster would eventually lead her to the Naismith Hall of Fame. Sable was her maiden name you probably are more familiar with the last name of Burke. She would continue playing the game in high school and later college at Providence. She graduated college and began broadcasting the game in 1990 as an analyst for the women’s team at Providence.
Every step since that beginning has been upward
bound, in 2017 she took on the role of analyst for the NBA on ESPN the first
woman to do so. Burke has proven herself
to be knowledgeable and insightful in analyzing the game. I could list the achievements on and off the
court accomplished by Burke, but you can read them for yourself later. On September 7th, 2018 she was
awarded the Curt Gowdy Media Award by the Naismith Hall of Fame for her
contributions to basketball.
The “Ground
Floor”
I love profiling basketball talent at an early age, there are times the story turns out quite different than expected. Recently I read of an 8th grade athlete I don’t remember what part of the nation he lived, he played for the high school varsity last season and scored in double-figures. Naturally future stardom was projected, my first intention was to profile him and then I remembered another report one closer to home. The Kansas City Star contained a story concerning an 8th grade phenom, it read “_______ is the best 8th grade player in the metro.”
I love profiling basketball talent at an early age, there are times the story turns out quite different than expected. Recently I read of an 8th grade athlete I don’t remember what part of the nation he lived, he played for the high school varsity last season and scored in double-figures. Naturally future stardom was projected, my first intention was to profile him and then I remembered another report one closer to home. The Kansas City Star contained a story concerning an 8th grade phenom, it read “_______ is the best 8th grade player in the metro.”
I believed the reporter to be correct however
that’s not where this saga ended, the athlete in question continued to high
school earn a spot on the varsity. By
his senior year he turned out to be a sound player, he never reached the level
written about him 4 years prior. He
would receive a scholarship to play at an NAIA school. Today he’s quite successful, runs his own
company and clearly has entrepreneurial skill.
Future achievement can sometimes arrive off the court as well as on it.
The true story, he wasn’t totally absorbed by basketball he spent quality time
in the classroom too.
An owner
How’d you like a business card that read "owner" behind your name. You could be the proud owner of a professional basketball team, no not an NBA team the cost is astronomical. I’m referring to The Basketball League or TBL, this new league hopes to expand over the next few years. The TBL currently has 12 teams spread across the U.S. and Canada. They plan on 16 franchises by 2019 and eventually 60 by 2025, the TBL claims to have located larger population areas lacking professional basketball, they believe these pockets are ripe for expansion. I believe an additional 15 or 20 teams certainly is workable, any number above 32 would appear to be quite difficult to manage.
How’d you like a business card that read "owner" behind your name. You could be the proud owner of a professional basketball team, no not an NBA team the cost is astronomical. I’m referring to The Basketball League or TBL, this new league hopes to expand over the next few years. The TBL currently has 12 teams spread across the U.S. and Canada. They plan on 16 franchises by 2019 and eventually 60 by 2025, the TBL claims to have located larger population areas lacking professional basketball, they believe these pockets are ripe for expansion. I believe an additional 15 or 20 teams certainly is workable, any number above 32 would appear to be quite difficult to manage.
At the time the American Basketball Association
was revived in 1999 I believed it was a good thing. Consider this fact, there are close to 500
players in the NBA at any one time.
Annually 60 players are added which certainly guarantees talent slips
through the cracks. Some guys just don’t
make it, it doesn’t mean they are not talented it’s a numbers issue. The ABA, American talent playing in Europe
and Asia plus the G-League there remains talent overlooked. I was late gravitating to the team in Kansas
City, I can state with conviction I witnessed some very good basketball. Was it on the level of the NBA, certainly not
however it was a step above several Division I schools. That 60 team thing bothers me, I hope they
don’t expand to that number. In any
event if you still desire ownership below is the contact information. NOTE: I’m making not one dime promoting this
league just in case there might be a question.
