Basketball from a
fan’s perspective
Published Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturday
Trivia
How about this bit of trivia, the Lakers traded Vlade Divac drafted in 1989 for the draft rights to Kobe Bryant in 1996? If we check the numbers Divac registered while a member of the Lakers they were certainly respectable, don’t believe for one minute the trade was made because Divac was a below average player. The result was a Hall of Fame career with the Lakers and Kings,
This past Friday Divac was enshrined
in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, next year Kobe Bryant will be
nominated and there is no doubt he will be elected. This will become an
interesting trivia question, two players traded for one another and both in the
HOF. This event might have occurred in another major sport I seriously
doubt if it’s occurred in basketball. 😁
Dates
The National Football League is observing season 100, the KC Chiefs are 60 years old. Professional basketball has been played since the 1920’s although we could state it was much later in time prior to a assuming a lasting structure. The official beginning is considered 1946-47 when the Basketball Association of America began play, the National Basketball League had actually begun play much earlier in 1937. It's unclear however players from both leagues must have switched leagues as would occur later with the formation of the ABA.
Several National Basketball League teams jumped to the BAA, in 1949 the leagues merged becoming the NBA we know today. The early days of the NBA was really a minor league disguised as “major-league.” Other than the New York, Boston and Philadelphia franchises most teams were in smaller cities throughout the nation. In 1967 the start up American Basketball Association began play; this league would last until 1976. The ABA Spurs, Pacer, Rockets and Nets would be included in an NBA merger, the balance of ABA teams would cease to exist.
The National Football League is observing season 100, the KC Chiefs are 60 years old. Professional basketball has been played since the 1920’s although we could state it was much later in time prior to a assuming a lasting structure. The official beginning is considered 1946-47 when the Basketball Association of America began play, the National Basketball League had actually begun play much earlier in 1937. It's unclear however players from both leagues must have switched leagues as would occur later with the formation of the ABA.
Several National Basketball League teams jumped to the BAA, in 1949 the leagues merged becoming the NBA we know today. The early days of the NBA was really a minor league disguised as “major-league.” Other than the New York, Boston and Philadelphia franchises most teams were in smaller cities throughout the nation. In 1967 the start up American Basketball Association began play; this league would last until 1976. The ABA Spurs, Pacer, Rockets and Nets would be included in an NBA merger, the balance of ABA teams would cease to exist.
“You big dummy!”
From 1972 to 1977 the NBC Television network ran a comedy series titled Sanford and Son. The story line focused on a junk dealer and his son; re-runs of the series continue to be telecast to this day on a variety of cable channels. Fred Sanford would utter a classic line in every episode. His son or one of the characters would do or state something offensive to him.
From 1972 to 1977 the NBC Television network ran a comedy series titled Sanford and Son. The story line focused on a junk dealer and his son; re-runs of the series continue to be telecast to this day on a variety of cable channels. Fred Sanford would utter a classic line in every episode. His son or one of the characters would do or state something offensive to him.
Fred would utter these words, “You big
dummy!” In a few weeks you might refer
to yours truly in that vein because I believe.
If you state an intention to change or do something different, I’m
going to trust you. Who do I trust, how
about Dwight Howard, he claims this second Laker journey will be different than
the first one? No requirement to repeat
the deeds of the past, let’s just say Howard indicates he is ready for the
challenge. Guess what, I believe him.
What might have been
We can say with justification we are near the sunset of Chris Paul’s career, he’s 34-years old now. The talented Thunder point guard just might retire with no championship ring. If that should occur, we can’t state with a degree of certainty it’s not been all his fault. His regular season and playoff injuries plus those of his teammates have been contributing factors, we can still pose what might have been.
December 8, 2011 Paul became a Laker in a trade, but it would last less than a week. Imagine this he would have joined a roster including Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol still in their prime. The Lakers also had improving Andrew Bynum at center plus Derek Fisher. Paul would have tossed lobs to a streaking Kobe and found Bynum and Pau around the basket for easy shots. Paul would take his share as well, the future as Laker fans envisioned it never occurred.
We can say with justification we are near the sunset of Chris Paul’s career, he’s 34-years old now. The talented Thunder point guard just might retire with no championship ring. If that should occur, we can’t state with a degree of certainty it’s not been all his fault. His regular season and playoff injuries plus those of his teammates have been contributing factors, we can still pose what might have been.
December 8, 2011 Paul became a Laker in a trade, but it would last less than a week. Imagine this he would have joined a roster including Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol still in their prime. The Lakers also had improving Andrew Bynum at center plus Derek Fisher. Paul would have tossed lobs to a streaking Kobe and found Bynum and Pau around the basket for easy shots. Paul would take his share as well, the future as Laker fans envisioned it never occurred.
The Hornets (Pelicans) at this period were owned by the NBA at the
time. Commissioner Stern stepped in and
voided the trade, he claimed “It was not in the best interest of the NBA.” With Paul returned to their roster on
December 12, 2011 the Hornets would trade Paul to the Clippers. Some might claim that’s sour grapes for Laker
Nation, my response so what. Who knows
Paul might have been a cornerstone in maintaining a winning Laker franchise?
