Basketball from a fan’s perspective

Summer basketball

For the first time in like forever there is NO BASKETBALL being played!  The NBA is restarting next month, and it appears college basketball will start on time but.  The BUT, there is no summer basketball, we are accustomed to AAU play occurring over the next several months.  

This play usually culminates with tournaments being held all over the nation and a large one occurring in Las Vegas near the end of July. The pandemic has impacted the summer high school game, and this will be a long-hot summer with no basketball.  On the other side as was mentioned above NBA Training Camps open July 9 and run till July 29.  On July 30 NBA Part Deux will begin.  So, there will be basketball on the pro level throughout the summer however none at the amateur level, so all is not lost.

He was one of the best
If we held a discussion of All-Time great centers its likely no one mentions Artis Gilmore’s name. The usual suspects are always Wilt, Kareem, Russell and maybe Shaq and Bob Lanier. There are other centers the late Nate Thurmond and David Robinson also might come to mind.  Sorry Tim Duncan fans great as he was the bulk of his play was spent as a power forward.  As for Gilmore during his combined ABA/NBA career he scored over 24,000 points and had nearly 12,000 rebounds.  Despite beginning his career in the ABA, Gilmore spent more time with the Bulls and Spurs than he did with the Kentucky Colonels.  

Why is Gilmore so invisible you ask yourself, it is likely his demeanor?  Shaq and Wilt’s personality drew the media to them; Russell did as well although not in the same manner.  Gilmore nicknamed The A-Train “quietly” scored, rebounded the basketball, and blocked shots for three franchises.  He was born 70 years ago in Chipley Florida and arrived in the ABA from Jacksonville University.  In 2011 a long over-due honor came his way as he was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame.  Gilmore’s name is enshrined in several other Hall of Fame’s throughout the Nation.  Currently reports indicate Gilmore is active in the Jacksonville community since his playing days ended.

History of televised college basketball

College basketball has been broadcast on television since 1940 when the first experimental game was telecast from Madison Square Garden.  World War II impacted the growth of television especially in the sports world however basketball would gain a toe hold in this new medium of mass communication.  During the 1950’s we’d witness an increasing number of basketball games become available however they were regionally telecast.  

Those reading this under age 40 might find it difficult to believe in this day of ESPN, Fox Sports, CBS Sports Network, and the YES Network there were no nationally telecast games prior to the mid- ‘60’s.  No coast to coast telecast for basketball only regional.  The landscape would change forever in January 1968, number one UCLA led by Lew Alcindor faced Elvin Hayes leader of the University of Houston.  The TVS Network was able to string together a gathering of network and independent stations to link up forming a national television audience.  

The game was played in Houston’s Astrodome before 100,000 fans and would become the first ever nationally televised college basketball game.  Many trace that game for the groundwork that would become the sports networks of today.  Eddie Einhorn owner of TVS sold his interest in the network in 1980 although still operating today it is on a much smaller scale than its heyday.  The history cannot be compiled in a few sentences however this is intended to provide a brief overview.