Basketball from a
fan’s perspective
Moving at warp speed
Kevin Durant had surgery on Wednesday for a ruptured Achilles, we knew surgery was required but had no idea it would be this soon. From timetables I’ve read it would appear he should be on the court in February 2020. Notice I said, “on the court”, I didn’t say he’d be playing. KD misses the 2019-20 season and returns to action in the fall of 2020. The money will still be there the question who’s money and what team? How about other NBA players suffering similar Achilles injuries?
The Hawks Dominque Wilkins was only 21 while Wes Matthews was
28, both recovered and continued play at a similar skill level. As for the others the outcome was somewhat
different, the Pistons Isiah Thomas at 35 was forced into retirement. Patrick Ewing (36) and Kobe Bryant (34) both
returned to the court, neither played at their pre-injury level. How much age may have been a factor regarding
Ewing and Bryant cannot be determined. As
for KD he turns 31 in September and in the fall of 2020 when he returns to the NBA,
he’ll be 32. Which version of KD returns,
only time will tell?
The NBA continues to lead
John Beilein Cavs head coach added Lindsay Gottlieb to his staff as an assistant coach. Gottlieb’s previously served as head coach at Cal and the first without a WNBA connection. The 41-year old Gottlieb becomes the NBA’s sixth female coach, this might appear a small number but consider this. Commissioner Silver has gone on record indicating a desire for the NBA to continue diversifying their hiring and gender practices. This latest hire provides us proof the NBA continues to lap other professional sports leagues in diversity and gender hiring.
John Beilein Cavs head coach added Lindsay Gottlieb to his staff as an assistant coach. Gottlieb’s previously served as head coach at Cal and the first without a WNBA connection. The 41-year old Gottlieb becomes the NBA’s sixth female coach, this might appear a small number but consider this. Commissioner Silver has gone on record indicating a desire for the NBA to continue diversifying their hiring and gender practices. This latest hire provides us proof the NBA continues to lap other professional sports leagues in diversity and gender hiring.
“Damned if you do, damned if you don’t”
I certainly didn’t realize Merriam-Webster Dictionary had an informal definition of the headline. My intent was to give you mine, now I will use the professional’s definition. “Used to say that in a specific situation a person can be blamed or considered wrong no matter what he or she does.” Kenyon Martin’s son has decided to follow the earlier plan of R. J. Hampton. Martin after first headed to Vanderbilt now plans on a yet unspecified nation to play professionally. As this is written we have no idea if Martin was influenced by Hampton or not. This is the part I’d like to elaborate, you heard it said you can’t have it both ways and that certainly applies here.
I certainly didn’t realize Merriam-Webster Dictionary had an informal definition of the headline. My intent was to give you mine, now I will use the professional’s definition. “Used to say that in a specific situation a person can be blamed or considered wrong no matter what he or she does.” Kenyon Martin’s son has decided to follow the earlier plan of R. J. Hampton. Martin after first headed to Vanderbilt now plans on a yet unspecified nation to play professionally. As this is written we have no idea if Martin was influenced by Hampton or not. This is the part I’d like to elaborate, you heard it said you can’t have it both ways and that certainly applies here.
There have been a few exceptions for the most part the last high school
players eligible and drafted occurred in 2005.
Many began to matriculate to colleges and universities across the nation
to only stay one year. Former coach
Bobby Knight claimed many NBA bound players were not even enrolled for the
spring semester. We’ve heard from fans and some in the media the One and Done
rule is ruining college basketball. Now
it’s apparent unless high school players are allowed in the draft again, we’ll
have several players headed to Europe or Asia.
This is highly unlikely to cause a mass exodus; few high school players
are mature enough for an overseas move without parental guidance.
When did you become King?
That question might be aimed at ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, does he really think he’s got the power? The power to affect change, how about this tidbit, “He’ll advocate for owner James Dolan to sell the franchise if they fail to land Durant this summer.” The ESPN audience has long been acquainted with the typical pontification by Smith, he’s got no power to force a sale of the Knicks. Keep in mind this statement was made prior to the Game Five injury to KD.
That question might be aimed at ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, does he really think he’s got the power? The power to affect change, how about this tidbit, “He’ll advocate for owner James Dolan to sell the franchise if they fail to land Durant this summer.” The ESPN audience has long been acquainted with the typical pontification by Smith, he’s got no power to force a sale of the Knicks. Keep in mind this statement was made prior to the Game Five injury to KD.
We have a local radio guy who organized
a boycott of the Royals about 6-7 years ago.
With the passage of time I don’t remember the origin for this boycott, I can say this with conviction whatever existed was a portion of his radio audience. I think we might term his boycott as highly unsuccessful. Smith should stick to journalism
and not try and convince us he’s got the power to affect change with ownership of the Knicks. He certainly has the right to voice his
opinion on the subject no argument there.
I'm not defending Dolan; he might be the worst NBA owner or
certainly the second worst.
