Basketball from a fans perspective

No publication

Off the Dribble will not be published May 23 through May 25. Our regular schedule will resume on Thursday morning May 26. Take the opportunity to catch up on some of the back issues regarding the history of the game, be well.

Not just me

If you’ve read this blog any length of time you are aware of this fact. I’ve held a grudge against the NCAA for quite a few years, this the result of “throw it up on the wall and see if it sticks judgments.” They were slow to react to NIL and by the time the body did a number of states had placed the rule in place. All of this was placed at the feet of Mark Emmert NCAA president, it was announced he would be stepping down next year. This move was applauded by me in Kansas City, I didn’t realize it reached Washington D.C. too. Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn reacting to the news.

“Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn criticized outgoing NCAA president Mark Emmert on Thursday (May 5), noting the end of Emmert’s team will “enable the NCAA to support our student-athletes.” the this represents one more example of that change. Emmert announced in April he is stepping down from his role as NCAA president by June

2023. Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey discussed the future of the NCAA on capitol hill on Thursday in an effort to push lawmakers to pass NIL legislation. “For far too long, the NCAA has refused to allow student-athletes to benefit from the use of their name, image, likeness (NIL)” Blackburn told Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger. “NCAA President Mark Emmert’s resignation is one of many necessary structural changes that will enable the NCAA to support our student-athletes. During my meeting with SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey and other today, I continued to push for the accountability and fairness measure our student-athletes deserve.” *

What does the future hold, that remains an elusive question for now? If the body remains in place hopefully it will do what it was intended to do. The NCAA often became a punishing institution rather than one providing leadership for student-athletes and athletic directors. Naturally, the actions of the NCAA has caused the former problems it also extended to alumni and fans of many programs across the nation. Sorry Mark, I can agree with the Tennessee senator you will not be missed by me either.

*SI.com May 5, 2022

It’s the numbers 

The NBA Draft will be held June 23 in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It will be a surprise if we hear the name of a prospect called from an NAIA/HBCU school. There is a reason no name will be announced, potential NBA talent has dried up from these schools, it’s the numbers man, the numbers. Just 30 years ago (1992) that draft contained two foreign players and technically one of them was born in the United States. As the years passed, we’d witness an ever-increasing number of foreign-born players drafted, the 2021 NBA Draft contained 18 foreign players out of 60 prospects. The NBA begin attracting high school players with its G-League Elite Team. Overtime Elite a start-up basketball league also began play with high school players. Prospects continue to arrive from European nations in ever increasing numbers, others followed the path of Luc Longley.

Although Longley played at The University of New Mexico he’s from Australia. Many saw him as one of the keys to those successful championship runs by the Michael Jordan Bulls teams. Not only were prospects arriving on these shores from Australia a few high school players such as LaMelo Ball provided proof Australian basketball could lead to the NBA. We include the South Pacific island nation of New Zealand with the likes of Sean Marks, Steven Adams and others. Hopefully, you see the issue, it’s the numbers an ever-increasing number of Division I talent plus the fact even the high school players are competing against grown men in the G-League and Australia. NAIA/HBCU basketball teams continue to contend and efficiently however they are being forced to the sidelines by these other events. This should not be considered a complaint; this is just an attempt to point out the basketball landscape continues to evolve, and this represents one more example of that change.

NBA Africa

If you’ve followed the NBA any length of time you are aware of one fact. Athletes from the African continent have been just as responsible for the growth of the game as those from Europe or the U.S. for that matter. There is a question who might have been the first but allow us some leeway, it might have been Akeem Olajuwon from Nigeria who played at the University of Houston in 1981. We later discovered his name had been incorrectly spelled it was actually H a k e e m. In any event in 1984 Olajuwon was made the top pick in the draft by the Rockets and spent his career with the team except for one year spent with the Raptors he retired in 2002 a two-time NBA Champion. His success opened the floodgates to others from the African continent.

That was then, this is now… there are more than 55 players from various African nations playing in the NBA today. NBA Africa was begun in 2021, it will oversee league business on the continent including the Basketball African League. There are five former players Junior Bridgeman, Grant Hill, Joakim Noah and two additional from the continent. Dikembe Mutombo and Luol Deng from the Congo and South Sudan are also investors in the venture. The board of directors include commissioner Adam Silver and deputy Mark Tatum. If you have NBA TV, you might have seen a few of the leagues games televised. The Basketball Africa League has 12 teams containing 124 players. As noted, we’ve seen the ever-increasing numbers of players from the continent, this endeavor will greatly enhance the role of basketball in the world.