Basketball from a fan’s perspective

“These young guys are playing checkers. I'm out there playing chess.” Kobe Bryant

“Were putting the band back together”

Those are the words of Jake and Elwood, better known as the Blues Brothers, but they could just as easily be voiced by the Lakers. As you are aware LBJ’s been out of the lineup with an injury for an extended period, the same holds true for AD although he returned and then went out again. Dennis Schroeder was absent too due to covid restriction. All three Lakers were able to return to the starting lineup on Saturday and aided the Laker cause in beating the Pacers. It certainly is a hope in Laker Nation this trio along with the balance of the roster will be able to maintain their health throughout the upcoming playoffs.   

They were honored too

At times, this blog has railed at several members of the media, that is not the case across the board. Generally, my ire is aimed at those who appear to become part of the story they report the story by  interjecting their opinion often when not necessary. On Saturday at the Naismith Hall of Fame induction there were members of the media awarded the Curt Gowdy Hall of Fame honor. For print media the winner was Mike Wilbon, this former columnist for the Washington Post works exclusively for ESPN and serves as co-host of Pardon the Interruption. The electronic media winner was longtime broadcaster Mike Breen who serves as the broadcaster for the NBA on ABC and lead announcer for the Knicks, Jim Gray sportscaster won for Insight and the Transformative award went to TNT Inside the NBA.  

One more story

It was a different era back then; we are referencing the high school years of Julius Erving.  Dr. J. as he was later nicknamed only mentioned two schools were in contention for him. St. John’s with legendary Lou Carnesecca as head coach and UMass then led by the late Jack Leaman. A New York guy he was drawn to St. John’s but chose UMass because it was 2 ½ hour drive from his Long Island New York roots. He only remained two years at UMass the numbers are outstanding, he scored 25.7 points along with 20.9 rebounds a game. In his sophomore year the numbers were nearly the same, 26.9 points and 19.5 rebounds.

Erving believed he was ready for the rigors of a professional basketball career. In 1968 Erving applied for “hardship entry” into professional basketball, at the time the NBA didn’t allow underclassman, but the ABA did. He would leave UMass in his junior year and sign a contract with the Virginia Squires of in 1971. He says, “He believed the leagues would merge within two years”, it would take place in 1976 for a merger to occur. The next portion of the story is unclear, once his class graduated Dr. J. was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in 1972. He would later show up in Atlanta play exhibition games for the Hawks before a court injunction witnessed him returning to the ABA. How Erving would make his way to Philly is quite a story, below from Wikipedia,

“The Nets, Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, and San Antonio Spurs joined the NBA for the 1976-77 season. With Erving and Nate Archibald (acquired in a trade with Kansas City, the Nets were poised to pick up right where they left off. However, the New York Knicks upset the Nets' plans when they demanded that the Nets pay them $4.8 million for "invading" the Knicks' NBA territory. Coming on the heels of the fees the Nets had to pay for joining the NBA, owner Roy Boe reneged on a promise to raise Erving's salary. Erving refused to play under these conditions and held out in training camp.

After several teams such as the Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers lobbied to obtain him, the Nets offered Erving's contract to the New York Knicks in return for waiving the indemnity, but the Knicks turned it down. This was considered one of the worst decisions in franchise history. The Sixers then decided to offer to buy Erving's contract for $3 million—in addition to paying roughly the Nets same amount as their expansion fee—and Boe had little choice but to accept the $6 million deal. For all intents and purposes, the Nets traded their franchise player for a berth in the NBA. The Erving deal left the Nets in ruin; they promptly crashed to a 22–60 record, the worst in the league. Years later, Boe regretted having to trade Erving to join the NBA, saying, "The merger agreement killed the Nets as an NBA franchise.”

Wikipedia