Basketball from a fan’s perspective
Last Dance
Episodes 9 and 10 concluded Sunday evening on
ESPN. Are you like me, “Is that all
there is, I want more?” I have seen several
documentaries over the course of my lifetime this one ranks near the top of my
personal list. Last Dance was eye
opening for a few reasons, first it allowed us to return to the glory days of
the Bulls. All the warts were exposed,
the physical and verbal battles that existed.
In an interview with ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt director Jason Hehir indicated
not a single individual profiled said, “don’t show that.”
That would tend to affirm our belief Last
Dance was “The Good, The Bad and the Ugly” of the Bulls Dynasty. The only downside was an area Hehir had no
control, Bulls GM Jerry Krause died in 2017 and had no opportunity to defend
his actions. Krause was the architect of
the Bulls if we consider he brought everyone together apart from Michael
Jordan. Krause claimed Phil Jackson had
no job, MJ said he would only play for Phil.
As for teammate Pippen MJ claims he would
have returned as well. Hehir allowed
many to see a side of the superstar we witnessed with his Naismith Hall of Fame
speech. Most of the public even
basketball fans were unaware MJ was so fiery regarding the opposition and his
Bulls teammates. An individual blessed
with basketball skills far beyond the level of most. MJ was unapologetic regarding his intense
desire to win, he seems to say, “Help me or get out of the way if you are not
prepared to sacrifice.” Are you ready
for episode 11 and 12, I certainly am?
NBA Draft
We are about a month from June 25, that is
the original date of the NBA Draft. As
this is written there is no indication it will be postponed. Under normal circumstances Western and
Eastern Conference Division teams would possibly be at play to decide which
team represents each division. By the
time June 25 rolls around the NBA Championship would have been decided. Of
course, these are not normal times, covid-19 has forced a suspension of play in
the NBA and other professional sports.
The latest NBA news indicates there is no planned
revision in the schedule date of the draft.
We read several teams have already conducted pre-draft interviews, how
complete this might be is unknown. We
must guess if teams have conducted workouts either in person or by video. As for
the lottery portion the indication is will look like prior years. The team with the worst record can finish no
lower than fifth, the lottery consists of the 14 teams with the worst won-loss
record in the 2019-20 season.
Headed for the G-League
I saw YouTube video of Kai Sotto in action, he is the youngster who recently decided in favor of the
G-League over college. Check it out for
yourself I am sure there is more than one.
Although Sotto stands 7 feet 2 inches tall he checks in at rail thin 210
pounds and that has been the issue for several.
The letters came pouring in “He’s too thin, in the NBA they will break
him down” or “He lacks upper body strength”. Those were just a few of the
negative comments I read. I took in all
the comments but focused on one letter.
The writer said, “Remember when Kevin Garnett
arrived in the NBA and how thin he was, Garnett would become an NBA champion
and league MVP.” I checked the records and
discovered Garnett at 6 foot 11 weighed 217 pounds when he began play for the Wolves. I try and refrain from declarations of an athlete’s
ability until they have an opportunity to prove they do not have the
skill to play at the NBA level. I cannot
disagree with many of the negative comments, but most issues raised are not
beyond the realm of capability.
Money
In 1981 Pink Floyd had hit record titled
Money, Michael Jordan might have the playlist in his inventory. On ESPN’s Highly Questionable the discussion
was focused on Last Dance, during the discussion Bomani Jones made a statement
which caused me to say, WHAT? During a
portion of the conversation Jones claimed MJ was worth more than Bulls owner
Jerry Reinsdorf. I went searching to
discover if Jones was correct, my only stop was Forbes.com. Bulls and White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf’s
net worth is reported to be $1.5 billion, Michael Jordan’s is $2.1
billion. As Don King might say, “Only in
America.”
