Basketball from a fan’s perspective

Don’t let anyone dull your sparkle-Unknown

Roundball Rock

From 1991-2002 broadcast network coverage of the NBA was strictly in the domain of NBC.      It was this period we heard Roundball Rock at the beginning of every NBA telecast, there is nothing like a great theme or fight song to put you in the mood and this certainly did. Entertainer John Tesh is probably one of the few persons one associates with sports particularly NBA basketball.  Tesh would write in my opinion the best theme song ever for the NBA and to this day no one has been able to top it. Check out the YouTube versions below, one live and the pre-recorded version of Roundball Rock. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-cSFPglc90

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Pnl1ulaG5k

Bits n Pieces 

It was her not him, a news report broke late Friday, according to the account LeBron James wanted the Knicks. Savannah James wanted the Lakers, the question if this is true why anyone would doubt it occurred. Most men are often influenced by their wife or significant other in decisions or problem solving, this might be one more example. You might have heard the expression often “Happy wife, happy life.”

Did you catch it, Rudy Tomjanovich on his entry into the Naismith Hall of Fame? Prior to accepting the honor said Robert Horry deserved to be there as well. Certainly not shocking, Horry helped win two championships while a member of the Rockets. After Horry left the Rockets with the Suns, Lakers and Spurs he took on a reserve role, clutch shot maker when called on. He’s got 7 count them, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 NBA championship rings. Of all the clutch shots this was the greatest in history for Laker Nation. As for the Hall of Fame, that’s the coach talking not me. I refuse to say yes or no based on the last time, I said Dennis Rodman didn’t belong and look how wrong I was there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaDi_HR7bT4&t=148s  

The Warriors expected Klay Thompson to return but he suffered an injury forcing him to miss another season. James Wiseman and Kelly Oubre Jr. were expected to contribute but they experienced injuries which sidelined them at points for the season. What do the Warriors have to look toward in the 2021-22 season? A wise draft pick in July plus the return of the walking wounded, Thompson, Wiseman and Kelly Oubre Jr. and continued health for Steph Curry. See where I’m headed with this story, the Warriors made the playoffs with vital missing parts next season expect a deep playoff run.  

Laugh out loud

“Ranking opponents by upset potential” read the ESPN headline and it caused me to laugh out loud. If I knew ahead of time which team was possibly going to be upset Las Vegas would go bankrupt. Truth is ESPN has no idea either just an observation the same as me or you. Upsets have occurred in the playoffs since the leagues founding. Just last season the Miami Heat were a 5 seed yet managed to play the Lakers for the 2020 NBA championship.

If we look further back in time the 1995 Rockets were a 6 seed yet won the NBA championship, what might we guess the odds were back then. The number 8 Nuggets didn’t win the championship but upset the number 1 Sonics in 1994. Perhaps the greatest upset in NBA history occurred in 1975, the Warriors defeated the Bullets (Wizards) 4 games to 0 for the NBA championship. Those are but a few upsets with a speedy history check, rest assured there are other examples. 

The Dallas Spurs 

Some of you are sitting there scratching your heads, the Spurs have always belonged to San Antonio. That’s not quite correct, the American Basketball Association Chaparrals came into existence in 1967, their home at the time was Dallas Texas. According to history the team was bad and suffered from poor attendance, three years after its founding “Dallas” was dropped, and the team became the Texas Chaparrals and adopted a regional schedule playing in Fort Worth and Lubbock. That moved failed and they would return to Dallas placing the cities name up front again.  

In one of the strangest moves maybe in sports history a group of San Antonio businessmen “leased” the team for a period. Games would be played in San Antonio and if an agreement to purchase could not be reached the team would return to Dallas. The shorten version of the story an agreement was concluded, and the team was renamed the San Antonio Gunslingers, prior to playing their first game they became the Spurs. The balance of this story you might be acquainted with, the Spurs would become one of four teams added to the NBA after the ABA-NBA merger in 1976. The team closely identified with the City of San Antonio had its birth in Dallas and would spend its first six years of existence playing in the city along with Fort Worth and Lubbock.   

I don’t work for the Chamber of Commerce 

According to Wikipedia Akron Ohio’s population is about 200,000 souls, at its largest it   never exceeded 300,000 and that occurred in 1960. Despite the populace Akron’s produced some impressive basketball talent over the years. This is a did you know, LeBron James and Steph Curry were born in the same hospital 39 months apart? Before those two are enshrined in the Hall of Fame there were others in front of them. Center Nate Thurmond is generally known for his time with the San Francisco Warriors and Bulls later, he’s in the Hall.

Next up Gus Johnson who might have been the first NBA player to break a backboard with his furious dunks. The Baltimore Bullets (Wizards) were winners back then due to him and Earl “The Pearl” Monroe, Johnson is also enshrined in the Hall. Next up Steve Johnson, drafted by the Kansas City Kings he spent several years in the NBA with stops in a number of NBA cities. Jerome Lane is no longer in the NBA but had a 7-year career playing principally for the Nuggets, he attended St. Vincent-St. Mary High School the same school which LeBron would attend. We close with Larry Nance Jr., drafted by the Lakers in 2015 he was traded to the Cavs in 2018 where he remains.