1998 NBA draft
Michael Olowokandi was the number one pick that year, never heard of him, I guess a number might have a similar response. As for Olowokandi he arrived in the NBA with star written all over him, unfortunately it was written in invisible ink. The 5th pick in the 1998 draft was Vince Carter chosen by the Raptors, here we are 20 years later, and Carter is still active. He’s now a member of the Hawks; this week his dunk became the 25,000 point he’s scored in his sterling NBA career. TNT’s Kenny Smith dubbed Carter “Half-Man, Half-Amazing” in his rookie year in the NBA. Next stop for Carter the Naismith Hall of Fame……if he ever decides to retire. Carter is 41 years old now and will hold another birthday party before the season concludes
Michael Olowokandi was the number one pick that year, never heard of him, I guess a number might have a similar response. As for Olowokandi he arrived in the NBA with star written all over him, unfortunately it was written in invisible ink. The 5th pick in the 1998 draft was Vince Carter chosen by the Raptors, here we are 20 years later, and Carter is still active. He’s now a member of the Hawks; this week his dunk became the 25,000 point he’s scored in his sterling NBA career. TNT’s Kenny Smith dubbed Carter “Half-Man, Half-Amazing” in his rookie year in the NBA. Next stop for Carter the Naismith Hall of Fame……if he ever decides to retire. Carter is 41 years old now and will hold another birthday party before the season concludes
Kyrie or LeBron
Your call on this one, remember Kyrie Irving indicated he
wanted to lead his own team? That was
the basis for him leaving the Cavs in free-agency for the Celtics. I’m unsure if there was much criticism of the
Kyrie move at the time except perhaps in Cleveland. We finally hear from LeBron this season and
he indicates his belief there was never an issue between the two, who should we
believe? There have been numerous
occasions on record highly touted teammates were not best of friends, they came
to work passed the basketball and rebounded it.
They didn’t hang out with one another after games. Maybe that was the case for both athletes, or
perhaps there might have be difficult sharing the spotlight.
Is this the season?
Shaka Smart forced us to wake up, he compelled us to pay attention to those competitive teams he produced every season at Virginia Commonwealth. His resume at VCU contained a sparkling 136-56 record at the time the University of Texas came a calling. Texas finished 20-13 in Smart’s first season since then it’s been 11-22, last season it was 19-15.
Shaka Smart forced us to wake up, he compelled us to pay attention to those competitive teams he produced every season at Virginia Commonwealth. His resume at VCU contained a sparkling 136-56 record at the time the University of Texas came a calling. Texas finished 20-13 in Smart’s first season since then it’s been 11-22, last season it was 19-15.
With a .500 record since his arrival in Austin is Smart on
the hot seat? Perhaps this season might
be a break-out year for Texas, as this is written it’s early however, they are
5-0. One of those wins includes an upset
win of number seven North Carolina. I
believed if Smart could win at mid-major VCU the wealth of prospects in the
State of Texas alone should allow for continued success for this 41-year old
coach.
The man in charge
It’s been pointed out the NBA is an “infant” league compared to other major sports. That’s quite evident just by checking the number of men who served in a leadership position over the years. In 2014 Adam Silver took the helm as for the others each placed his mark on the league in some manner. The first commissioner was not Maurice Podoloff who served from 1946-1963, his title was president. He might be considered the chief architect of what exists today. The Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League merged during his tenure to form the National Basketball Association. J. Walter Kennedy would be hired to replace Podoloff, from 1963-1975 Kennedy would serve as commissioner, he was the first awarded the title. The NBA had no television contract and only nine teams, at the time he departed the league had grown to 18 teams and had gained a national television contract.
It’s been pointed out the NBA is an “infant” league compared to other major sports. That’s quite evident just by checking the number of men who served in a leadership position over the years. In 2014 Adam Silver took the helm as for the others each placed his mark on the league in some manner. The first commissioner was not Maurice Podoloff who served from 1946-1963, his title was president. He might be considered the chief architect of what exists today. The Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League merged during his tenure to form the National Basketball Association. J. Walter Kennedy would be hired to replace Podoloff, from 1963-1975 Kennedy would serve as commissioner, he was the first awarded the title. The NBA had no television contract and only nine teams, at the time he departed the league had grown to 18 teams and had gained a national television contract.
Larry O’Brian was commissioner from 1975-1984, this was a turbulent period for the NBA, the rival ABA
had drafted and signed talent that would have played in the NBA. In addition, Rick Barry, Billy Cunningham and
others left the NBA for the ABA. Drug
problems would become prevalent for some players. Despite some of the negatives that existed
during the period the ABA-NBA merger occurred under O’Brian’s watch. David Stern would be the longest serving
commissioner to date, from 1984-2014
he served in that position. Much of what
we see in front of us today is David Stern’s NBA, franchise expansion, NBA
games available for viewing beyond television.
Most of all growth of the game outside the USA began during his time
period as commissioner. This is but a
thumbnail sketch of all those serving as commissioner throughout the NBA’s
history. This is far too brief to
provide the history of the 72-year-old league.
If you seek additional detail, there are sources available on each of
the individuals profiled in this account.
