Basketball from a fan’s
perspective
Bits n Pieces
The NBA on Friday announced 16 of 302 NBA
players have tested positive for coronavirus.
We do not know if that number quarantined will be allowed to finish the
season, that is an unknown question at this point.
Charles Barkley continues to provide cannon
fodder for NBA players and others, this his view of the Nets DeAndre
Jordan. "If you locked him in a gym by himself overnight &
told him he couldn't dunk, he'd have 6 points in the morning."
The
Oklahoma Attorney General is upset with the NCAA. He told them as much based on the penalties
Oklahoma State is facing. We have had a
love-hate relationship with the NCAA, they are wrong lots of times however they
might not be this time. I believe the
people of Oklahoma would be better served by the AG enforcing laws and
legal matters applying to the state. This
is not an issue for him to regulate.
In a
story on Emoni Bates The Detroit News listed the 6-foot 9-inch Bates as a
guard. He is listed in several
publications as 200 pounds but that might not be accurate. What if he is one of those athletes with
difficulty gaining pounds, perhaps shooting guard might be the best position for him in college (?) and the NBA.
43
No more Vin-Sanity or Half-Man Half-Amazing,
those were the nicknames given Vince Carter.
The number 43 is his age, after 22 years in the NBA Carter has decided
to retire from the game he loves. The Vince
Carter we witnessed the last few years was not the highflyer of his youth. The one who spent the early portion of his
career a member of the Raptors, over the years Carter would play for several
NBA teams.
As for his history who can forget his dunk over
Frederic Weiss in the 2000 Olympics. Weiss
who stood 7 feet 2 inches was posterized by Carter in Team USA’s victory over
France. Why not check it out yourself
rather than just read this account. The
dunk was one we might expect in a slam dunk contest not a regular game however
it did, enjoy. As for Vince Carter the
game will miss you, relish your retirement.
Seattle is set to return
Don’t worry you missed no SportsCenter news: Seattle has not returned to the NBA although its sure
to occur at some future date. This is an
update on the former Key Arena later Seattle Center and now Climate Pledge, Jeff
Bezos CEO of Amazon paid naming rights for the arena. The refurbished arena is intended to provide
a home for Seattle’s planned NHL franchise.
How does this impact a possible return to
Seattle by the NBA? The old Key Arena
was deemed inadequate by NBA standards near the end of the Sonics run. If it meets NHL standards at completion, then
rest assured the NBA will not be far behind.
Seattle’s NHL expansion team will begin play in the 2021-22 season; can the "new" Sonics be far beyond that date?
Being tall does not always equate talent
Shawn Bradley is 48-years old now, depending on
your age or NBA interest you might be familiar with
him. Bradley stood 7 foot 6 inches and
eventually a weight of 275 pounds, after outstanding high school play at Castle
Dale (UT) he would attend BYU. After a
pedestrian year at BYU in 1990-91 Bradley decided he was ready for the NBA, he
declared for the draft.
June 1993 he was made the second pick in the
first round of the draft by the Sixers. Bradley
was effective at blocking shots with his height but that is about all. There was difficulty scoring and rebounding
the basketball which is amazing for a player standing that tall. The Sixers would hire Big Man Moses Malone to
work with him, they even hired a dietitian to aid him nutritionally in gaining
weight. The Sixers finally gave up trading Bradley to the Nets in 1995 where he
played for almost two seasons. Bradley
was on the move once again traded to the Mavs in 1995, he played until 2005 in
a Mavs jersey.
He retired in 2005 at the age of 33, nagging
injuries were a contributing factor. In
and out of the lineup during his career his best season was 1996-97 playing for
the Nets and Mavs. He scored 14.6 points
and pulled down nearly 9 rebounds a game, he led the NBA in blocked shots with 248. Many who remember Bradley would say “He just
wasn’t mean enough” to play at the NBA level.
