Basketball from a fan’s perspective

Today only happens once…. make it amazing-unknown 

Kwame Brown

I wrote a detailed commentary and decided against publishing it.  Despite what Stephen A. Smith, Skip Bayless and others have stated Kwame Brown is no scrub. They believe freedom of speech allows them to call Brown and others derogatory names. 

The other Van Gundy

Jeff is his name and many of us certainly hope he finds something else to do besides NBA basketball. I’ve held a grudge for several years, but it now appears I have gained at least one ally.  Alex Schultz wrote in the SF Gate “ESPN announcer Jeff Van Gundy is even crankier than usual for the Warriors-Grizzlies play in game.” How many ways can I describe his commentary, okay one example. Last season while broadcasting a Laker game it was mentioned the number of championships the franchise had accumulated.

With no prompting this from Van Gundy: “They should only count the championships won while in LA.” A quick check discovered how much in error his statement was, we only need check the Kings. The Kings website lists them as NBA champions in the 1950-1951 season. The franchise was in Rochester New York and known as the Royals, of course they would move to Cincinnati, Kansas City and finally Sacramento. My wife has a saying, “What comes up comes out” which refers to people blurting out whatever comes to mind, that certainly fits the other Van Gundy.

Why I’m not bothered

A report is circulating the parents of Zion Williamson received payments from Adidas while the young man was in high school. If true, there are several questions which remain unanswered to this point. The bank records of a former Adidas employee are reported to detail this information. If you remember the story this is part of the Adidas mess that’s been dragging on for years now. If true there are questions, if a background check of a prospective high-profile athlete is investigated who conducts it? If the account is true, you might say   Zion should have been ineligible to play at Duke, guess what I don’t care. This not an NCAA problem but in a manner of speaking it is, the governing body of collegiate sports continues to operate with 1920 rules.

The NCAA wants anyone earning income be deemed a professional. What exactly does any youngster receive from the NCAA other than granting eligibility? Did you wonder why in this pandemic climate the NCAA followed the NBA’s lead playing all tournament games in a Bubble? It was revenue plain and simple, this source of income covers nearly half of the organizations activity we are led to believe. With no tournament played in 2020 due to the pandemic the NCAA had to ensure it be played in 2021. You didn’t ask but here goes, if Zion had been paid by Duke to attend school that would be a different matter for me. To date as far as we know that has not been the case, as with most an effective counter might alter my view however I don’t believe by a great deal.  

A dunk that changed a game

We’ve mentioned the dunk was disallowed in the college game for several years. The NCAA gave some lame brain reason why it was banned, the dominance of one Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul Jabbar) was the reason. Abdul Jabbar was long gone to the NBA by the time UCLA played in the 1970 NCAA championship, despite the dunk being banned it would turn out to be crucial to the victory. UCLA would face Jacksonville for the championship, the UCLA squad was undersized compared to Jacksonville. UCLA stood 6 foot 9, 6 foot 9 and 6 foot 7 across its front line. Jacksonville had 7-2 Artis Gilmore and 7-foot Pembrooke Burrows probably the first twin towers in basketball history.  

Early in the game Jacksonville’s height advantage handicapped UCLA’s attack. Often 6-9 Sidney Wicks and 6-9 Steve Patterson were forced to double team Gilmore, and this continued to create problems for the defense of UCLA. Then it occurred in the first half, Wicks upset at the direction of the game dribbled the ball on the left wing heading on a collision course toward Gilmore. Wicks went up and dunked the ball over Gilmore, officials blew the whistle and Jacksonville was awarded free throws but that was it. UCLA would go on to claim another national championship while threshing Jacksonville 80-69. Below is a YouTube link to that game, the only problem the video is fuzzy and unclear. Hopefully around the 4-minute mark you will see the dunk that Williamson received payments from Adidas while

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbvAMOHQk3g&t=286s.