Words eye view 

Basketball from a fan perspective

I was there

Dame Lillard had quite the game on Tuesday evening, he scored 50 points leading his Blazer team to a 125-124 win over the Pelicans.  Dame often is the offense for the Blazers and he’s clearly demonstrated that especially this season.  I remember another outstanding scoring game, it occurred January 26, 2006 and I was there, technically speaking.  At the time I was a subscriber to NBA League Pass and watched every Laker game that season, so I was usually in front of my television set. 

Kobe Bryant would score the second highest point total in NBA history that evening, his 81 points placed him right behind Chamberlain.  Was he a gunner that night, I think we can answer in the affirmative however it wasn’t a case of just jacking up shots?  Kobe was 28 for 46 from the field a blazing .609 from the floor, from the 3-point line he was 7 for 13 .538.  Several Raptors made the mistake of fouling Kobe, he would go to the line and sink 18 out of 23 free throws a .900 percentage. 

I remember watching the game and thinking to myself “He’s going to break Chamberlain’s single game scoring record” of course that didn’t occur.  Unlike the 100-point Wilt Chamberlain game, thousands and thousands of fans have claimed over the years they were in attendance in an arena with less than 6,000 capacity.  As for me I was witness to the history, does it matter it was on television, I was there. 

What does the future hold for HBCU schools?

The headline might be a tad bit misleading, HBCU schools will continue educating the nations many black medical practitioners, attorneys, teachers and bankers.  The reference is HBCU schools and their basketball programs, this was the season, Makur Maker would change the world by enrolling at Howard University.  Among the many HBCU schools they along with others have seen the landscape change over the decades. 

Civil rights legislation passed in the 1950’s and 1960’s allowed black athletes entrance to many state schools especially in the south they had been barred from attending.  The downside, athletes who would have attended HBCU Jackson State could now attend Ole Miss or Mississippi State as an example.  HBCU’s at one point provided an estimated 85-90% of the black athletes in the NFL and NBA, once blacks could attend schools anywhere, they met entry requirements HBCU athletic programs especially basketball began to suffer.     

The shortfall came in the athletic department as more and more black athletes chose state schools over HBCU’s.  At the present time it is believed Robert Covington is the lone black player in the NBA from an HBCU school, he attended Tennessee State.  Continuing with Maker it was his hope to change the dwindling enrollment of top prospects to HBCU schools with him being a 5-star prospect.  Now all that’s changed an injury plus Howard University shutting down for the basketball season…well things just didn’t turn out as hoped.  This is written from belief and not confirmed but Maker is likely headed for the NBA draft in June.  Will the effort by Maker change recruiting, we must wait for further development to see if there is change?

Could the world beat the NBA now?

The question is posed to you, if foreign born NBA players were matched against American NBA players who wins?  Keep in mind I’ve not selected an American team; they would face the team below.  

Starters

Joel Embiid-Cameroon-center

Giannis Antetokounmpo-Greece-small forward

Nikola Jokic-Serbia-power forward

Luka Doncic-Slovenia-point guard   

Jamal Murray-Canada-shooting guard

Reserves

Rudy Gobert-France-center

Domantas Sabonis-Lithuania-power forward

Ben Simmons-Australia-point guard

Nikola Vucevic-Montenegro-center/power forward

Kyrie Irving-Australia-shooting guard

Okay, I cheated a bit with Ben Simmons and Kyrie Irving.  Simmons has an American father and Australian mother; Simmons dad met his wife while he played basketball in that nation.  Ben and his siblings were born in Australia.  As for Irving both his parents are American however, he was born in Australia while his father played basketball there as well.  Except for Jamal Murray, World Team members were all selected for the recent NBA All Star Game. 

LeBron James is allowed

Tuesday afternoon came word LeBron James purchased a share of the Boston Red Sox; the questions as to why this baseball team began flowing like water.  “I thought he was a Yankee fan” or this one, “Why didn’t he purchase a share of Cleveland?”  As for the later question Akron not, Cleveland represents home he just happen to begin his NBA career there.  Often financial decisions of others are not impacted by what we believe or think.  James the baseball fan was likely attempting an investment for himself and family, he could probably care less less about our thoughts.