Basketball from a fan’s perspective

Bumped his head

For complete details of the following story, you must search and read it for yourself. This was so incredibly stupid I stopped reading after a bit, this only reflects a portion of what I read. The Mouth of the South, Charles Barkley’s done it again. He’s decided since the Lakers were playoff eliminated in 2021, we need to go back and look at 2020. He claims because the championship was won in the Bubble, we need to void it. 

I stopped reading the story at this point but must state this clearly no place did I read were Barkley pointed out ALL THE TEAMS were in that same Bubble. All I can say is Barkley must have fallen out of bed and bumped his head, how could he dream up such a weird scenario. I’d mentioned this previously my wife says for some folks “What comes up comes out” never mind if it doesn’t make sense. Barkley is enshrined in the Naismith and College Basketball Hall of Fame...but there is no NBA championship on his resume.  

DiRenna award

Annually In Kansas City the top youth basketball player in the metro is awarded the DiRenna trophy. In 2021 we have co-winners, Lawrence High School (KS) senior Zeke Mayo and Bishop Miege High School (KS) junior Mark Mitchell Jr. Mayo is a 6-foot 3 guard and is committed to play at South Dakota State University in the fall. As for Mitchell he’s got one more year as he leaves Miege and heads to Sunrise Christian Academy in Wichita for his senior year. Mitchell is a 6-foot 7-inch small forward and he’s received offers from several schools including Kansas, Mizzou, North Carolina and UCLA to name just a few. 

He said WHAT?

If you’ve read this blog any length of time you are aware I have issues with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith. It’s not personal, time to time I’ve stated sports media should provide us information more than their opinion. Smith certainly provides us his opinion on stuff even when its Twilight Zone material. Prior to the NBA trade deadline Smith proposed the Lakers trade Kyle Kuzma to the Suns for Devin Booker. Before going any further allow me to elaborate, rarely almost never do teams in the same conference trade players, that’s number one. Number two, Smith proposed this trade during a February program prior to the trade deadline.

Four months ago, Bookers trade value certainly was much higher than Kuzma. This is the manner Smith “cleaned up” his statement, he concluded the Lakers send additional players to the Suns to balance the trade. As a card-carrying member of Laker Nation, I love it, but it wasn’t going to occur last February. It will not occur over the summer or even two years from now. Kyle Kuzma is a talent no argument there, Devin Booker is an improved talent who is yet to reach his ceiling. I can see the Suns GM James Jones falling out of his chair with laughter on this one. It would be interesting to see media members other than Max Kellerman call Smith out on his zaniness occasionally. Smith literally “drives a truck over the top” of Kellerman on those occasions there is disagreement. 

Who’s winning

This should be of interest especially for fans of these franchises, a new NBA champion will be crowned in July. The last few NBA champions either didn’t make the playoffs or were playoff eliminated, this includes the Lakers, Heat, Spurs, Celtics and Cavs.   

Western Conference

Utah Jazz-never won a championship

Los Angeles Clippers-ditto

Denver Nuggets-ditto twice

Phoenix Suns-ditto for the third time 

Eastern Conference

Philly Sixers-last won in 1983

Atlanta Hawks-last won in 1958 when the team was in St. Louis

Milwaukee Bucks-last won in 1971

Brooklyn Nets-never won a championship

The 2021 season will certainly be unique in several ways. NBA fans would see a never champion crowned or one with a 38, 50 or in the instance of the Hawks a 63-year gap in championships.   

Turning over a new leaf

From all indications Kansas basketball will look significantly different in the fall. Coach Self is talking in the same manner of his counterpart at Mizzou Cuonzo Martin. Next seasons Kansas team will be speedier than teams of the past, a sure sign the coach believes there is time for change. Thanks to the transfer portal arriving is guard Remy Martin a point guard from Arizona State, he’s a 6-foot three time All Pac-12 selection at the point.

Coming in from Iowa State is Jalen Coleman-Lands a 6-foot 4-inch shooting guard. Also added to the roster is 6-foot 9-inch Cam Martin from Division II Missouri Southern. Transferring from Drake is Joseph Yesufu another guard. This update fails to take into consideration incoming freshman, it’s the veteran presence that’s most significant. With the holdovers plus newcomers adapting will Kansas basketball be competitive again in 2021-22. Who lands on top of the mountain in the Big 12 Conference?