Basketball from a fan perspective

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Often, I don’t pay attention to the location of an NBA game, the team(s) playing are more important over the locality.  Thursday evening, I turned on the Mavs-Nuggets game and prominently displayed near the 3-point line on both sides of half court was “Ball Arena.”  My first thought, “The Nuggets have a new arena and I missed it.”  Well, that’s not quite the case, the short answer its simply a name change. 

The Pepsi Center opened in 1999 and operated under that name until last fall.  In October 2020 Ball Corporation secured naming rights to the former Pepsi Center.  In addition to the Nuggets the NHL Avalanche also play in the building. A name change occurred here as well but for a different reason.  Sprint Center which opened in 2007 has also undergone a name change, the arena has been rebranded as the T-Mobile Center; a buyout caused this name change. 

You should be proud

LaVar Ball should be proud, he’s got two sons in the NBA.  There are few families able to make a claim of that magnitude.  At this point we are unsure if Lonzo or LaMelo will become great NBA players but they getting’ paid.  The oldest and baby son are in the NBA but left out of this account is middle son LiAngelo.  The talent level of the middle son apparently fails to reach that of his brothers.  He’s apparently headed for the G-League which certainly isn’t terrible, he too is gettin’ paid.  LaVar has voiced his complaint at the Pistons for dropping his son but he needs to get over it. 

Bits n Pieces

Don’t think a quality point guard is still required, consider this fact?  When’s the last time you’ve heard the name Blake Griffin or DeAndre Jordan mentioned.  In fairness Griffin traded to the Pistons has suffered injuries but I hope you get the point.  A similar statement could be made regarding Jordan with the Nets less the injury issue.  At the time, the two along with Chris Paul played for the Clippers all we heard was Lob City and Paul’s ability to effectively distribute the basketball to the duo.  In the age of position-less basketball do you still believe a quality point guard is not essential. 

We discover former Sonics broadcaster Kevin Calabro was responsible for the nickname, the nickname of “The Reign Man.”  That was the nickname hung on Shawn Kemp at the time he played for the Sonics from 1989-1997.  Kemp claimed he objected to the nickname at first believing it was Rain Man, after the spelling was explained it was ok’d by Kemp. 

Who is tallest, Anthony Davis or his twin sister, awhile back we discovered Laker power forward Davis is a twin?  Most of you are aware AD is 6 foot 10 inches tall but what about sister Antoinette? His sister is a foot shorter than her brother standing 5 feet 8 inches.  As for the growth factor AD says he stood 6 foot 3 at the beginning of his junior year in high school.  He grew to 6-5 and ended that school year standing 6-8, he went from a size 14 shoe to 17.  Get this last part, AD claims he is “still growing.”

Is he the top pick?

If we said the top pick in the 2021 NBA Draft is from _________, what school or nation would you settle on.  Would it be Gonzaga, Duke, maybe Kentucky or North Carolina.  If the top pick is foreign born, he could be from Serbia or France or maybe another Euro nation.  We narrow the number and state he’s likely to be an American but from none of the school’s above hopefully that helps?  Of course, it doesn’t help you would never guess the school is Oklahoma State and the player is Cade Cunningham who arrived from Arlington Texas.   

Cunningham is a 6-foot 8-inch 220-pound point guard, it is entirely possible at the next level he becomes a shooting guard or small forward.  Whatever the case Cunningham will be in the NBA next season and it is highly likely he’s the top pick in the NBA.  His case is somewhat like Michael Porter Jr. a few years ago at Mizzou, the Tigers never attract the top talent in the nation but that’s what they did.  Cunningham had his choice of schools but his association with head coach Mike Boynton sealed the deal.  Oklahoma State on probation many believed Cunningham might opt out of his commitment, there was slight lag time however he affirmed his intention to remain at OSU.  As for his sophomore year don’t count on him walking through those doors, he is NBA bound.