What are you
passionate about, for me I have an expanding list? It does not change daily but if I thought about
the word, I am sure it grows on an annual basis. I must say one of the subjects for me is
basketball, I enjoy most sports but
especially have
a love of basketball. That is why I write about it discuss it and dwell on it. It
has not always been that, when I was a child it was baseball. As I matured my interest changed, for several
years it was football. College football
was never a passion it was the NFL, that is the game of real men. Somewhere in there for unknown reasons
basketball especially the NBA moved into first place.
There are
occasions I have been questioned, “Why are you writing about basketball, there
is NO BASKETBALL being played currently.” Generally, their observation is correct
because Words eye view is written 7 days a week 365 days a year. I could make the same statement regarding any
sport including NFL football. The local and national sports news is chock full
of NFL stories yet there are times of the year there is no football being
played as well. If you are passionate
about the NFL or any other sport so be it, my sport and passion happen to be basketball,
but I guess you figured that out.
No government intervention…we hope
The basketball game
between Louisville-Kentucky is played annually but that has not always been the
case. My mind focused on the two largest
schools in the State of Kansas, Wichita State and Kansas. The two
universities are about 144 miles apart but never play one another.
Well that is not quite true, the NCAA Tournament forced the schools to
play one another with Wichita State the winner. If you remember the
history the two Kentucky schools would not play, it was more Kentucky refusing
to play Louisville rather than the other way around.
Louisville had
lobbied for years to play its cross-state rival with Kentucky turning a deaf
ear to the request. In any event the
Kentucky State Legislature had to “force” the two schools to play one
another, threats of withholding state funds allowed for the change. I
would hate for the same situation to repeat itself in the State of Kansas i.e. government
involvement in a sporting event. Across
the state line in Missouri, it is reported long-time Coach Norm Stewart refused
to schedule St. Louis University believing it was more beneficial to the
Billikens than Mizzou.
Does that argument
sound familiar? Close to the Arkansas
border is another Division I program Missouri State, we have no idea if Stewart
had the same feelings but all that will change in 2020. Mizzou Coach Cuonzo Martin (who coached both
schools) has a game scheduled with Missouri State this fall. Mizzou has competed against Southeast
Missouri State in the past however they too should be included in a rotation of
sorts to allow each Division I program in the state an opportunity to play one
another.
He is the one
Jack Molinas was one of those people, you might be aware of someone with similar traits. Molinas might have been a success in whatever field of endeavor he might have chosen. His intellect allowed him to attend Ivy League Columbia University. The 6-foot 6-inch Molinas was skilled enough to play basketball and briefly in the NBA, intelligent enough to graduate from law school. Molinas was drafted in the third round by the Fort Wayne (Detroit) Pistons in 1953 and was almost an All-Star.
Jack Molinas was one of those people, you might be aware of someone with similar traits. Molinas might have been a success in whatever field of endeavor he might have chosen. His intellect allowed him to attend Ivy League Columbia University. The 6-foot 6-inch Molinas was skilled enough to play basketball and briefly in the NBA, intelligent enough to graduate from law school. Molinas was drafted in the third round by the Fort Wayne (Detroit) Pistons in 1953 and was almost an All-Star.
In 1954 Molinas was
selected for the All-Star team however he was unable to play.
He had been banned
from the NBA after 32 games for betting on Piston games. Molinas had a gambling problem. There was just one problem with Molinas the
criminal tendencies would be the driving force in his life. He filed a suit against the NBA which he lost. After playing minor league basketball the
cerebral Molinas entered Brooklyn Law School and would graduate with a law
degree. There is no indication he ever
took a bar examination.
Molinas was the
driving force behind the 1961-point shaving scandal in college basketball,
Connie Hawkins and Roger Brown would be banned from college due to association,
there was never any indication the two shaved points. Molinas would be convicted for his part in
the scheme, sentenced to a 10-15-year sentence he was paroled after 5
years. In 1973 Molinas was murdered
while living in Los Angeles, police did not rule out a mob-related hit. Jack Molinas a man intelligent enough to graduate
law school. Skilled and talented enough
to be drafted and play in the NBA but Molinas had a devious side which impacted
his life.
Leadership
It has been
mentioned on more than one occasion the NBA is the newest of the professional
sports leagues in the nation. Baseball,
Football and Hockey are all over 100 years old, the NBA traces its roots to its
founding in 1946. Due to its “youthful” age
there have only been five leaders to hold the position as head of the NBA. The early days of the NBA saw Maurice
Podoloff as the man in charge, his official title was president and not
commissioner. J. Walter Kennedy the
second man to lead the NBA was the first to hold the title of Commissioner.
The NBA in its
infancy the same as any human baby had to crawl first before it could begin
walking and later running. The early
days saw much of the league a mix of small city teams versus large markets such
as Boston, New York, and Philadelphia.
Each of these leaders brought innovation and change to the game during
the time they led the NBA. Naturally,
each might be deemed to have varying degrees of success. They are listed below and the years they served;
it should be noted the late David Stern was the longest serving
commissioner.
Maurice Podoloff 1946-1963
J. Walter Kennedy 1963-1975
Larry O’Brien 1975-1984
David Stern
1984-2014
Adam Silver 2014-
