Basketball from a fans perspective

Published Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday

No Doom & Gloom forecast…but

My former high school classmate will not like this story, I’m warning him in advance…Jerome you can stop reading at this point. Warriors owner Joe Lacob was feeling his oats recently, we believe winning an NBA championship probably is the reason. His team is NBA champions no one can argue otherwise, they were better than the Celtics. In winning Lacob figured he tossed some shade in the direction of the Lakers. He mentioned them signing “old” players, going over the salary cap and several other not pleasant things about his Pacific Division rival. Winning can leave almost as quickly as it occurs, and Lacob should know that.

Just two years ago devastating injuries to Steph Curry and Klay Thompson left the 2019-20 Warriors with a 15-50 record. There were other injuries affecting performance but those were key. Lacob mentions the age of the Lakers being a factor in their inferior performance, check this out. Curry will be 35 years old and Klay Thompson 33 prior to the end of next season. Both are certainly not elderly but plenty of wear and tear on the body playing deep into the playoffs. If we exclude those two, can we say with certainty Wiggins, Poole and the others would be able to lead these Warriors to higher and higher heights? The confusing part of Lacob’s statement we are unsure exactly why he felt it necessary to offer critical remarks when the Lakers missed the playoffs all together. In closing I wish to borrow this from a fellow member of Laker Nation. “Hey Lacob, come back and see us when you’ve won championship number 17.”

Stealth Recruiting

At the time we first became aware of stealth aircraft there was misinformation announced. The public was informed the aircraft was “invisible to radar.” Later it was determined that was not quite the case, in fact corrected information was eventually made known. It turns out the aircraft are not invisible just difficult to see on radar, as an example it’s claimed a large aircraft will appear the size of a bird on radar. We have no idea if this information is correct but allow us to assume it is. We apply the term Stealth Recruiting to Mizzou basketball for a couple of reasons.

Reason one, the other day it was announced the calendar change allowing schools to begin recruiting Class of 2024 prospects Mizzou was at the front of the line, Dennis Gates and staff reached out to 66 prospects in that class. We realize it is impossible for Mizzou to sign all 66 athletes, but it details a departure. Reason two, Mizzou’s name is out among prospects even those who might not sign with the school, under the departed Cuonzo Martin this is a totally different move from past years. Finally, if we check the names the majority of these prospects are awarded 4- and 5-stars by Rivals.com. Recruiting is one thing winning is something else. Gates is off to a good start let’s see if any recruiting success shows on court results.

“Mama, there goes that man again!”

I am borrowing the catch phrase often used by ESPN/ABC analyst Mark Jackson during his telecast. This time it applies to me. While hunting for a writing subject I came across a website with this account. “The 10 Greatest Lakers in the teams history”, that’s when the problem began. The usual suspects were on the list Kareem, Worthy and Magic but number 8 stunned me. Placed in the 8^th position was none other than LeBron James. Before you go ballistic allow a further explanation.

LeBron is a first ballot Hall of Fame player no argument there but number 8 all-time on the Lakers. Curious I began to search other websites; several were published prior to LeBron’s arrival so his name was not included. As for others they placed LeBron either 8 or 9 in their Top 10 list of Laker greats. I realize many of you especially members of Laker Nation will find this next statement shocking. I don’t believe LeBron belongs in Top 10, he certainly belongs in an expanded list. One website contained a Top 25 list of All-Time greats, providing you my opinion I believe LeBron is in the Top 15.

Things we do while waiting the start of Summer League

The NBA Draft will be held on Thursday evening June 23, the draft is the first big event of the summer for the NBA. The second great event of summer is basketball play for rookies and a few second-year players. Summer League play for the Utah portion begins July 5 and closes out on the 7^th. Play in Las Vegas begins on the same date but ends on Sunday July 17 with a championship game. At this point we have no idea the composition of team rosters prior to the draft. If you like in Salt Lake City or Las Vegas you can view games in person, the majority of us will be tuned into NBA TV.

The Great White Hope

Jack Johnson we are told was an outstanding heavyweight boxing champion. He took on a variety of boxers one after the other and beat them all holding the championship belt from 1908-1915. The flamboyant lifestyle of this black heavyweight champion caused a problem for many in white America. The call went out for a white boxer to face Johnson in the ring, elements in the nation wanted a white champion to beat Johnson. Although the racial climate of the nation has changed over time it’s whispered in some circles basketball needs a Great White Hope.

Venerable Larry Bird was just that for a number of years, outstanding in all phases of the game. Bird would lead his Celtic teams to championship after championship. Next up was Dirk Nowitzki the 7-foot power forward for the Mavs who could shoot lights out. The talented Nowitzki would lead the Mavs to their only championship to date. The multi-talented white player has always been here, perhaps not in considerable numbers existing in the 1950’s and 1960’s but he’s here. Do you want a few examples of current players, how about the Joker? The Nuggets Nikola Jokic skilled Big Man from Serbia, the Joker’s skill is peak at all elements of the game. He especially excels at passing the basketball for a man 6 foot 11 inches. For the second year in a row the Joker was selected as NBA MVP.

Moving on in the Southwest part of the nation Dallas to be precise we have The Don, Luka Doncic from Slovenia. Doncic is only 23-years old, after winning Rookie of the Year in 2019 he’s done nothing but improve his numbers in succeeding years. Waiting in the wings to make his presence known is Chet Holmgren, in all likelihood the Thunder will choose him in the June draft and the skinny youngster will hopefully take his place in a few years as an NBA celebrated. There are probably other great white players who may have been overlooked but our desire has been simple…just look around the NBA.