Basketball from a fan perspective

Close out---The Lakers managed to win the WC Championship over a very tough Nuggets team.  The final score was 117-107, a follow up will be provided on Monday.   

Coach wants his player to win---We have Anthony Davis on the Lakers and Jamal Murray with the Nuggets; their teams are battling one another to determine who represents the Western Conference for the NBA Championship.  Kentucky Coach John Calipari is a winner regardless…he was coach for both players.  AD played at Kentucky 2011-12 but left for the NBA after his freshmen year, as for Murray he only played one year 2015-16 and then declared for the NBA draft.        

He is not the first---Princepal Singh is not the first basketball player from India to arrive on these shores.  Despite this fact he might be the best thus far of a small figure, we make this conclusion based on Singh being signed and being placed on the NBA G-League team Ignite.  Singh is a 6-foot 10-inch 225-pound power forward, like several foreign athletes’ basketball was not his first sport. 

Singh began his athletic career as a volleyball player and was spotted by a sharp-eyed coach who moved him to the NBA Academy.  The academy was established in 2017 to develop and train the youth of India in the game of basketball.  We are anxious to see him in action playing for the G-League Ignite team next season.  Singh makes no secret of the fact he wants to play in the NBA, he’s taken that first step and with training Singh makes it to the next level. 

If we blink---We just might miss him at Oklahoma State, we speak of Cade Cunningham 6-foot-7 combo guard.  Cunningham was rated the number one prospect in the Class of 2020 by Rivals and 247Sports and was awarded 5-stars by both sites.  After Cunningham committed there was another decision required, OSU was placed on probation by the NCAA which meant no post-season play. 

After a brief period, Cunningham announced he would remain at OSU and would not transfer to another school.  If Cunningham is good as advertised if we blink, we might miss his freshman year because that’s all we’ll see.  If he has the breakout year, we expect he will not return to Stillwater for his sophomore year.  Next stop for Cunningham is the 2021 NBA Draft where he is expected to be a lottery pick. 

Also, perhaps on the cusp of an NBA career is Makur Maker a 7-foot forward at Howard University.  You remember he shocked the basketball world over the summer when he committed to Howard, he became the first Top 25 prospect to commit to an HBCU school in quite a while.  In addition, like Cunningham it’s likely Maker is not committed to Howard long term.  We look forward to viewing Howard games on one of the sports channels since the school has been invisible on television.   

Superstitions---have existed in sports for a millennium, they even persist into the 21^st Century.  Baseball players would ensure they step over the chalk lines rather than on them is as old as the game itself.  Then we have the SI jinx, any team or sports person profiled on the cover of Sports Illustrated would endure injury or suffer a catastrophe.  Those are just two examples of perhaps hundreds, one recently brought to light again is the Clipper jinx.  The 1984-85 season was the first for the Clippers in Los Angeles after leaving San Diego. 

In 36 years, the team has NEVER played for the Western Conference Championship.  The truth is most of those Clipper teams were bad.  In the 2011-12 season up to the present day they have fielded competitive teams earning numerous playoff berths.  One constant remained they never advanced far in the playoffs; it was believed the 2019-20 season would be different.  With Kawhi Leonard and Paul George plus a capable number of reserves much was expected.  Once again Clipper fans were left at the altar, was it the Clipper Jinx?

I can be baited---Sometimes a person makes a snide remark about the NBA to me and I’ll just say okay.  There are other instances I can be baited into a discussion, depends on the person and location.  I’ve mentioned I follow the Chiefs and Royals because both teams are local.  I don’t carry on an in-depth discussion about any other professional football or baseball team.  The reason is clear I don’t follow those sports in the same manner I do basketball and the NBA.  

In the past these are just a few of the statements my ears have picked up over the years.  “They don’t call traveling in the NBA” or “I only watch the last quarter of an NBA game.”  An even stranger statement is this one; “I followed the NBA when Michael Jordan played but I don’t anymore.”  I’m sure if I followed NFL or MLB with fervor, I do the NBA, I’m sure I could discover aspects worthy of criticism but why?  I just wish these folks would make their statements to someone other than yours truly.