Basketball from a fan’s perspective

Re-start

News report indicate a select number of teams will open facilities May 8.  The indication is this will occur in locations less impacted by the pandemic.  The guess is New York, Los Angeles and Golden State are likely to be among the last to resume practice.  As updates are available they will be provided. 

I hope

The Bulls announced the hire of Marc Eversley as general manager.  The Bulls had endured a degree of negative publicity regarding minority hiring in the front office.  Eversley is an African American, the tidbit of information indicates his background is that of assistant general manager for the Sixers.  Was Eversley hired due to the negative media coverage the Bulls were receiving?  Hopefully, that is not the case, and this was a genuine hire due to Eversley being the best candidate interviewed. 

Is it still funny?

2013 witnessed the New Orleans NBA franchise being re-branded as the Pelicans. At the time the late Tom Benson purchased the team in 2012 he wanted to change the name. He wanted a name more in tune with New Orleans appropriate, he wanted Jazz but that was not possible. The Jazz now in in Utah retained the name at the time they moved from New Orleans. Despite the fact there is likely little jazz played in Salt Lake City management turned Benson down. South Louisiana apparently is ripe with Pelicans and the team adopted it as their new name. You heard laughter from Bangor Maine to Seattle Washington, the pelican name was deemed funny.

Well this writer had no issue with the name, in fact I thought it more appropriate than THUNDER. When the Sonics relocated to OKC nobody seem to have an issue with that change. This is information I discovered in researching the birds. I am unsure if they would be placed in the category of eagles, hawks, or some other predatory bird however they are not worm eaters. The diet of Pelicans consists of fish, amphibians, turtles, insects’ birds, and mammals. The eating habits alone place them in the category of fierce. If you are prompted to laugh at the nickname think on this a moment. The franchise was prevented from taking the Sonic name, but don’t you think Thunder is kinda of a dumb name for a team, admit it?

Our G-League discussion

Greg Brown 6-8 forward had a choice; he could head to college in the fall or sign a G-League contract.  The 6-8 forward was rated the number 8 prospect by Rivals in the Class of 2020 decided in favor of Texas.  According to reports Brown turned down a $300,000 contract (terms unknown) to the G-League.  The issue raised on Monday about the NBA going to “war” with the NCAA apparently is a real thing.  

Another Euro

Aleksej Pokusevski of Serbia submitted paperwork to the NBA offices, Pokusevski’s name will be included in the 2020 NBA draft.  His stat line indicates he is 7 feet tall; one mock site lists his weight as 190 pounds another states its 205.  At this point as with most Euro athletes we have little ability to determine his ability to play at the NBA level, one issue is quite clear he needs to gain weight.  Even playing small forward at his weight might tend to indicate Pokusevski will be beaten up physically in a short time.  

It’s not just the NBA

As we are all aware basketball has become a world game, who are they and where are they located in the world. Below is the list of basketball leagues throughout the world and the date they first began play, also included is the number of teams and the year play first began in most instances: 

Euro League (16 teams)

Spain’s Liga ACB (17 teams, (1957)

Turkish Basketball Super League (BSL) (16 teams, 1966)

Russia’s VTB (United League) (13 teams)

Germany’s Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (18 teams)

Italy’s Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) (16 teams, 1920)  

France’s LNB Pro A (18 teams, 1921)  

Adriatic League (ABA) (14 teams, 2001)  

Greek A1 League (14 teams, 1940’s)   

Australia’s National Basketball League (8 teams, 1979)  

Lithuania’s LKL (10 teams, 1993)  

Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) (20 teams. 1995)

12 leagues throughout the world play basketball. If we exclude football (soccer) the only other sport played world-wide is baseball and that is not in the same numbers as basketball.