Everyone is not happy
Until recently we
believed most NBA players wanted to complete the 2019-20 season. We were led to believe most wanted this, that
is not the complete story, Kyrie Irving appears to be one of the leaders in a
group of NBA players opposed to the idea of starting again. A report indicates several spoke of “wanting
to start a new league.” Irving claims he
left the conference call and there was no mention of this when he was on the
call. We certainly understand the
concern of these players with the threat of covid-19 however starting a new
league is an uphill battle and quite a financial undertaking.
A loss?
Alex Okongo is
leaving the Mizzou basketball program, do not worry if his name is unfamiliar to
you most Mizzou faithful did not know him either. Okongo arrived on campus from Northwest a junior
college in Wyoming last summer. The 7-foot
Big Man hails from Saacy-sur-Marne about an hour drive from Paris France. The
Mizzou coaching staff must have seen potential in Okongo however he appeared in
few games despite the fact Jeremiah Tilmon missed several games. Okongo scored but 5 points in 8 games this
past season, Coach Cuonzo indicates Mizzou will likely not offer his scholarship to another player.
Best high school player (Kansas City)
My hometown Kansas
City fails to measure up in the same manner as many metro areas across the
nation. Despite this fact a small number
of outstanding basketball talent was produced here. If we compiled a Top 10 list Warren Jabali is
number one. Jabali graduated from Kansas
City’s Central High School in 1964, he attended Wichita State where he was a 3X
All Missouri Valley First team. Although
he could have joined the NBA Knicks Jabali chose to sign with the ABA Oakland
Oaks, Jabali was the 1969 ABA Rookie of the
Year.
We could probably
have numerous arguments who might be number two in the metro. For my take the number two pick would be
Jaron Rush who played at Pembroke Hill High School in the city. The 6-foot 6 Rush led Pembroke to three
consecutive Missouri State Championships.
Rush won the prestigious James A. Renna award, this is an honor awarded
to the best high school player in the Kansas City Metro. Rush won the award his sophomore and junior year
and shared it with another as a senior.
Although Rush would
attend UCLA he left after his freshman year for the NBA Draft and was passed
over. For several reasons unlike Jabali earlier Rush would never have a
successful professional career. After
drifting around with several minor league basketball teams Rush quit the game
in 2001 at the age of 22. Number two A
or number three would be Lucius Allen who played at Wyandotte High School in
Kansas City Kansas. Allen would join Lew
Alcindor at UCLA contributing to the school’s success.
He is missing
A discussion is held
on all-time Big Men in the game, who are the names we most often hear? We might begin with Bill
Russell or Wilt Chamberlain you add Kareem and Hakeem to the discussion. Missing from any discussion is one of the
NBA’s all-time greats, Nate Thurmond.
This statement is made despite the fact Thurmond is enshrined in the Naismith
and College Basketball Hall of Fame. He
played his college ball at Bowling Green; he grew up in Akron long before that other
guy.
The 3rd
pick in the 1963 draft Thurmond was forced to play out of position for the
Warriors, at the time the Warriors had a 7-1 center named Wilt Chamberlain occupying
the position. Despite the fact Thurmond
played the center position in college he was forced to play power forward. Nowadays not a big deal to have 6-11 player
at that position, in 1963 it was highly unusual. In 1965 at the All-Star break Chamberlain was
traded to Sixers thus freeing Thurmond to move to the center position full-time
where his career would blossom. The
Warriors depended on Thurmond to rebound and play defensive which he
accomplished so efficiently.
Kareem playing at
the same time of Chamberlain, Bob Lanier and others was asked the
question. “Who is the toughest center
you face”, without hesitation he mentioned Nate Thurmond? Toward the end of his career Thurmond would
play for the Bulls and Cavs but it was his play with the Warriors that made him
an All-Star. While a member of the Bulls
Thurmond recorded the first quadrable-double against the Hawks. October 18, 1974, he scored 22 points, 14
rebounds, 13 assists and 12 blocked shots.
In July 2016 Thurmond died of leukemia at the age of 75.
