Basketball from a fans perspective

They have comics

I found it strange and funny the manner HBO attempted to distance itself from the controversy surrounding it’s programming. We mentioned earlier a law firm representing Jerry West asked for an apology from HBO regarding the mini-series they are broadcasting. Winning Time has been roundly criticized by many former Lakers, a few writers and others familiar with happenings of the time. This from the network, “HBO has a long history of producing compelling content drawn from actual facts and events that are FICTIONALIZED in part for DRAMATIC PURPOSES,” the network said in its statement. Note the words capitalized and underlined. You are certainly free to draw your own opinions however that defensive stance almost sounds comical to me.

Never say never

Retirement for Villanova’s Jay Wright lasted less than a week, before you think he’s returning to Villanova that is not quite the case. Questioned on possibly coaching in the NBA Wright says maybe it might be possible. With that statement the coach allowed us to believe he could entertain coaching an NBA team in the right setting. It’s been Death Valley for college coaches in the NBA, to date Larry Brown is the only coach to taste success at both levels.

John Beilein was the last coach to move from college to the NBA, he'd been head coach at Michigan from 2007-2019. In May 2019 Beilein signed a 5-year contract to coach the Cavs, he would resign in February 2020 lasting less than one season. This is not intended to shine a negative light on Wright moving to the NBA it’s just to provide you some background. There are two coaches maybe three who could be successful in the NBA. One of them is Coach K. and the other is Jay Wright, we shall see how this turns out in the future.

Really no reason

Then owner Donald Sterling decided (without authorization) he would move his Clippers from San Diego to Los Angeles. Since 1984 fans (probably of the Lakers) have suggested the team needs to return to San Diego. Let’s take a look at several other cities across the nation. Chicago has the baseball Cubs and White Sox; the teams has shared the hearts and minds of Chicagoans for 100+ years. It’s simple you root for the Cubs or White Sox you don’t cheer for both. Heading east in New York City we have the baseball Yankees and Mets, the NFL Giants and Jets. In the NBA we have the Knicks and in 2012 the Nets moved into Brooklyn from New Jersey. Technically the Nets were in the metro, they are now in the city. As you can see the three largest populated metros in the nation have more than one sports team.

According to figures we uncovered the metro population of Los Angeles is 13,200,998 which makes it the second most populated behind metro New York City. This likely sounds strange written by a member of Laker Nation but I’m okay with sharing. Fans of the Lakers are fans of the Lakers not the Clippers, we could make the same statement about the Clippers. I remember a story, entertainer Billy Crystal claims at one point he was a fan of the Lakers. Back in the ‘80’s he couldn’t get into The Forum, so he begin attending Clipper games. Crystal did so because it was much easier to purchase a Clipper ticket. Steve Ballmer might not win but he’s proven thus far to be an owner vitally interested in his team unlike that of Sterling. We can look at the Intuit Dome under construction in Inglewood. Ballmer is building his $2 billion arena at his cost; citizens will not be responsible for any cost associated with the arena with the exception of a ticket purchase. In conclusion this member of Laker Nation is good with Steve Ballmer as owner of the Clippers.

There is truly only one culprit

If you are a fan of Kyrie Irving, you can stop reading at this point. The chief reason the Nets are sitting at home rests on the broad shoulders of the mercurial guard. If we placed a percentage let’s just say 40-45% of the reason the Nets are on vacation is the result of inept management including coaching. The balance of that figure belongs to Irving, there were facts pointed out which cause me to wonder about the athlete. Nobody wants to be injured however if you’ve missed as much time as Irving you might want to be out on the court. For the first time in a while injury was not the issue, the issue was covid. Irving decided he wasn’t going to be inoculated despite a vaccine being available. A New York City mandate said he couldn’t play in the city so what occurs?

Kevin Durant is forced to shoulder the major portion of the offense and defense and maybe because of it is injured. Durant spends time on the injured list then the saga of James Hardin. Hardin after talking his way out of Houston decided he didn’t want Brooklyn either, he was traded to the Sixers for Ben Simmons. Simmons never suited up for the Nets despite moving in early February. In between time Nets management decided Irving could play games on the road which helped but certainly didn’t resolve the issue. Prior to the end of the regular season New York City lifted its vaccine mandate and Irving could play at home. You know the balance of the story…the Nets were a soap opera all season long. Early reports indicate Steve Nash is safe for now, but this team must do something if they expect to compete next season.