Basketball from a fan’s perspective

You have questions? 

The 2020 NBA Draft is a mix bag, we have no idea if it is going to be a good or bad. One of the mysteries in this draft is James Wiseman who played but 3 games at Memphis.  No requirement to go into detail as to why his number was so low.  Last fall the young man was projected as the top pick in the 2020 draft and then bam, he disappeared.  He did not vanish but seemed to drop off the radar of most mock draft sites after he left school.  Was it the fact he only played 3 games, well not exactly?  In those 3 games Wiseman scored nearly 20 points a game along with 10 rebounds shooting 77% from the field. 

Wiseman was able to sprint up and down the floor good for a 7-1 235-pound center.  The question mark might be his size, in this age of 3-point shooting small ball perhaps classic Big Men are no longer sought by NBA teams.  On the other hand, the time issue might be the culprit, most rookies have difficulty adjusting to the faster pace of the NBA game.  Maybe nowhere is that more evident than at the center position, the emphasis on small ball has forced many coaches to give up traditional style offenses.  Who knows for sure, this I believe draft Wiseman and prove he CAN’T play at the NBA level? 

NBA history made different

The Celtics may not have returned to championship level, the Kings franchise might have remained in Kansas City.  The 1978 NBA Draft was the instance, the Kings with the second pick in that draft chose Phil Ford All-American point guard from North Carolina.  Ford would become Rookie of the Year in 1979 but he would later suffer an eye injury along with substance abuse would impact his NBA career. Ford retired after the 1985 season while a member of the Rockets, he left with scoring of 11.6 ppg along with 6.4 assists. 

Certainly, good numbers for Ford but nowhere near the output of the number 6 pick made by the Celtics, that pick was Larry Joe Bird from Indiana State.  Bird would play an additional year and begin play for the Celtics in the 1979-80 season, he was named Rookie of the Year in 1980.  The balance is pure conjecture, what if the Kings bypassed Ford and chose Bird?  Those NBA Championships in the Celtics future might have never occurred.  In addition, Bird along with Moses Malone and teammates allowed the Kings to become a competitive team, they never hint at moving anywhere. 

Family Feud 

This is an old story that once occurred, but I thought it was worth a re-read.  Anybody view or remember the television quiz show Family Feud? We had a real-life family feud in North Carolina on the campus of Duke University. A woman filed a lawsuit against her sister, her sister's husband, and Duke University regarding season basketball tickets. As a life-time contributor and fund raiser for the university their Dad was given two season tickets, when he died the tickets were transferred to the sister and her husband by the university.

The athletic department awarded the tickets without any forethought according to the legal brief. The Duke graduate wants to continue support of the basketball program. If you thought this was just an argument over tickets, it is about money too. According to news reports there are financial obligations required for the owner of the tickets. The holder of the tickets must pay a $50,000 transfer fee and be willing to contribute $6,000 annually to the Duke athletic program. Surely there must be more to the story than basketball tickets?

Speak it

At this point there is no public statements made from any pending draft prospect except “I want to play in the NBA.”  The following account is strictly my thoughts based on events of the past.  Some of you might remember The Mouth otherwise known as LaVar Ball.  In 2017 the elder Ball made his thoughts known he wanted the Lakers to draft son Lonzo.  

He talked and talked and talked and the Lakers must have believed, they decided LaVar “might be” correct and drafted Lonzo. We know how that turned out and maybe LaVar is doing it again.  Over the last 4-6 weeks we hear stories weekly “LaMelo Ball is going to the Knicks” and where do these accounts originate?  We can never be sure until something is confirmed however I believe the Knick stories originate from the mouth of LaVar Ball.  The father saw this tactic work with one son, it could work for the second son too and is worth a try again.