No nonsense by me
As I was preparing the
Sunday edition of Words eye view the
news broke. Depending on your source we
have a mixed picture of the meeting between Magic Johnson and Luke Walton. There will be no nonsense by me the chief
Laker fan in KC. This is written
Saturday morning however the Lakers are 3-5, by the time you read this either
one more loss or win. In any event it’s
being reported Magic was “upset” with
the slow start by the Lakers. We have no
idea of the meeting content but this we do know, Walton is not Magic’s
hire.
It’s was detailed at
the time Magic-Pelinka were hired in the spring they met with most front office
personnel. Guess who they failed to meet
with….Luke Walton. You might remember my
comment in early August, I met with a fellow Laker fan. I hadn’t visited with John in a couple of
months, so we began to conversation about our families eventually focusing on the
Lakers. We expressed satisfaction with
the arrival of LeBron James however John had a concern, “I don’t think Walton’s the coach
to lead this team.” He went on to
explain his reasoning, I’m not going to bore you with his view. I can state this, maybe Magic has a similar
view to that of my friend. The significant
difference, as a fan John can only voice his opinion Magic can make
changes.
Jersey numbers
Have you noticed Mavs rookie Luka Doncic wears jersey number
77? I’m not sure of the significance of
the number for the youngster, if I discover the why I certainly will inform
you. Unlike NFL players jersey numbers for
NBA players are usually 50 and below although there are exceptions. Hall of Fame center George Mikan wore 99
while playing for the Minneapolis Lakers but there have been others. Ron Artest a.k.a. Metta World Peace wore 91
with the Pacers, 93 with the Kings and 96 while a member of the Rockets. Dennis Rodman didn’t arrive in the NBA with a
high number, later he wore 70, 73 and 91 as well. Former center Jason Collins donned number 98
and with that I ceased my search. I
concluded there are likely more former players wearing large numbers than I first realized.
High school
teammates
You might remember an account regarding Nate Thurmond and Gus Johnson two high school teammates in the
Naismith Hall of Fame based on outstanding NBA careers. While it seemed unusual at the time I
discovered it’s not that uncommon. I’m
not stating any of the combos are headed for the Hall of Fame, they do share a
common thread. This list should not be
considered complete there are others. Doug
McDermott and Harrison Barnes played for Ames High School in Ames Iowa.
Barnes drafted by the Warriors now plays for the Mavs. As for McDermott he was drafted by the
Nuggets and his rights were traded to the Bulls, he now plays for the Pacers. Ben Simmons of the Sixers and D’Angelo
Russell of the Nets were teammates at Montverde Academy in Florida. Celtic Kyrie Irving and the Hornets Michael
Kidd-Gilchrist played St. Patrick High School in Elizabeth New Jersey. Ty Lawson of the Wizards and Kevin Durant
were teammates at Oak Hill Academy.
