Basketball from a fans perspective

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Draft night

It was Paolo Banchero and not Jabari Smith Jr. that came first. We were shocked to hear Banchero name’s called first by the commissioner and him headed to the Magic. The disappointed Smith Jr. dropped to number three as he watched Chet Holmgren picked at two and headed to Oklahoma City. More on the draft in the Sunday edition of Off the Dribble.

“You’ve got to show me”

If you have been a regular reader of this blog, you are aware I live in Kansas City Missouri. Because of my location long ago I adopted the state motto quite a while ago. It simply states, “I’m from Missouri you’ve got to Show Me” which brought about the Show Me State term. Patience I’m getting there, there are stories circulating as this is written, Kyrie Irving will head for the Lakers or the Knicks. I always hate to deal with rumors because often they are just that stories planted in the news feed. Despite that fact allow a brief account with this one.

Kyrie Irving is missing portions of his game however he remains an NBA talent, despite this fact I don’t want him on the Lakers, I cannot do anything about this possible move but complain. That’s what I did a little over a year ago when Russell Westbrook stories began circulating. As for Westbrook we see how that turned out don’t we. Back to Irving there is no argument from me regarding his talent it’s his head and injury prone issues that concern me. Irving’s refusal to be vaccinated indirectly led the Nets to their subpar season. As for the other issue Irving never plays close to a complete season as injury always appear to impact his season. Irving on the Lakers, He’s got to Show Me what he can do.

It’s purely entertainment

“The (sports) media has become this hot-take shock jock show. And when one person like Nick Wright (Fox Sports) says something like that, other media jump on board like what he said was gospel. Andrew Wiggins proved them all wrong.” That was a quote from former NBA player and writer Etan Thomas regarding sports media today. What exactly did Nick Wright state in his Fox Sports broadcast, just a tidbit? “Andrew Wiggins is a bad basketball player, it’s over for them now. We will never see Steph in another NBA Finals again. Ever.” You can stop laughing now, as you are quite aware the Warriors were crowned 2022 NBA champions thanks in part to the outstanding (my view) job Wiggins did on the Celtics Jayson Tatum.

In addition, Wiggins found time to score vital baskets and may have impacted the series more than the highly touted Klay Thompson. We are visiting this subject again because it is quite clear the entertainers can be proven wrong at times which is quite evident here. The bigger problem, try as we might we are often unable to escape them, this is an example. I’d mentioned on more than one occasion I quit watching ESPN’s First Take, but I continue to have a problem. Because of my blog basketball news especially the NBA is always popping up on my news feed. I ignore the account, but Stephen A. Smith appears every day on my news feed. I’ve concluded I must have a 1950’s mentality regarding sports coverage. Give me information I can use not your opinion; I’ve got one of those myself. In addition, stop acting like you are always correct and if people don’t agree with you, they are the one’s operating without the correct viewpoint.

Laker notes 

With no draft choices the Lakers have brought in a number of players for workouts. These are talented players however they might be overlooked in the 2022 draft; one of those we speak of is Khalifa Diop. Diop is a 6-foot 11 231-pound center who played this past season for Gran Canaria of the Liga ACB. He is one of the continuing talents emerging from the African continent in the last several years, the 20-year-old Diop is from the west African nation of Senegal. Whether Diop signs a free agent contract with the Lakers or someone else remains a question.

Also working out for the Lakers is Shareef O’Neal son of Shaquille and Shaunie. Shareef doesn’t have the bulk of his famous father however his numbers are 6-foot 10 215 and he’s a power forward. Sidebar here, we are unsure of the status of LeBron James. We remember Kobe Bryant once demanded the Lakers trade him. Shaq was traded due to the feud between he and Kobe. The point is this, if LeBron wants to play for the Warriors, the Nets or the Shanghai Sharks it’s okay in this corner. At age 37 there is no argument he is one of the most talented players at his age in NBA history. If LeBron prefers to “walk” so be it, there’s no crying in baseball, basketball.