Basketball from a fans perspective

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The Commish says an emphatic NO

His statement might not have been that forceful however commissioner Silver addressed the rumors spreading about NBA expansion. He claims the league does intend to eventually expand but not in the timeframe we reported a few weeks ago. You might remember based on at least two news sources we reported Seattle and Las Vegas were alleged to be at the front of the line for an NBA expansion team. We certainly would tend to believe a replacement team for Seattle was in the works, for all the worthy deeds he accomplished in growing the NBA David Stern was a contributing factor to the move.

As for Las Vegas being the second choice the league’s had a long association with the city despite the gambling issue, that apparently is no longer a concern. Due to the fact the commissioner says no at present what does the future hold for the NBA. The league will eventually expand to 32 teams which places it alongside the NFL, MLB and NHL in the number of franchises. Never say never however there are doubts if the NBA expands much past the number 32. What might occur for the future, untapped markets might witness a franchise move. Long-ago we saw a Kansas City to Sacramento move and more recently the Seattle franchise was moved to Oklahoma City. Despite the loss of revenue due to more teams in place a payout for new franchises will prove quite lucrative for NBA owners.

“The Wheels on the Bus”

Several might be familiar with the children’s rhyme The Wheels on the Bus.” “The Wheels on the Bus go round and round, round and round all through the town” the refrain goes. Sometimes in the case of the Warriors there are unintended consequences, the wheels on the Warriors bus fell off, that’s what occurred on Thursday. As ABC/ESPN announcer Mark Jones said at a point “They are hotter than fish grease” his description of the Warriors and especially Steph Curry hot shooting especially from 3.

Slow steady play by the Celtics and by half time they managed to hold a 56-54 lead over the Warriors despite the fast start by the home team. It was the sterling 4^th quarter where the Celtics prevailed as they demolished the Warriors defense scoring an incredible 40 points. Duplicating the Warriors particularly in the first half the Celtics rained 3’s in the 4^th quarter. The final score read, Celtics 120 Warriors 108. Tonight, we shall see who prevails in Game Two, based on the outcome of the initial game we believe the Warriors should win however if I were you, I would not place any bets on this to be the conclusion.

Forbes

Michael Jordan was the first to accomplish it, later it would be the late Kobe Bryant. Both were classified as billionaires by the financial publication Forbes, now there is a third member. Forbes announced LeBron James joined this group of NBA players. This is certainly not shocking news based on the entrepreneurial efforts by his management team Klutch Sports. It should be noteworthy MJ and Kobe were documented as billionaires after they retired, LeBron remains an active player.

Sidebar here, did you read or hear LeBron say anything negative in the past or present about the departed Frank Vogel? There is no argument from anyone, LeBron’s voice can be heard by Laker management. There are a substantial number of folks who believe he’s got player acquisition decisions. Let’s face it if your superstar player says to you “We need ________ to win a championship” don’t you think management listens especially to a LeBron James? In closing LeBron claims he is okay with the hiring of Darvin Ham as head coach of the team. Also expressing approval of the hire is unpredictable point guard Russell Westbrook. It sure would be an enhancement if the Lakers were able to get the OKC version of Westbrook.

A potential ownership duo

Paul Allen owner of the Blazers and NFL Seahawks died in October 2018. Since that point Allen’s sister has run the franchises but that is about to end. There was no long-range plan for her to continue in the role of management for either team, there is an offer on the table for purchase of the Blazers. Nike founder Phil Knight and Dodger co-owner Alan Smolinsky have offered $2 billion plus for the NBA team. I am not sure if I like this proposal with Knight being part of the ownership group.

We know little about Smolinsky except he is an owner of the Dodgers. Knight we are familiar with based on his company Nike, is this a good fit? A shoe and apparel owner who many teams have utilized his products over the decades. Is it a good thing to allow him ownership in an NBA franchise? I’m not saying Knight would force a team to switch from the Adidas or some other brand to Nike however the possibility might be in the back of his mind or one of the Nike corporate types. This is only an offer for the Blazers there is no pledge nor paperwork has been signed yet. The NBA Board of Governors needs to explore this thoroughly before giving the okay to Knight as an owner.

What comes up, comes out  

I have a failure to understand, listening to local sports talk radio one of the hosts was singing the praises of Charles Barkley. For me it seems whatever comes up comes out with Barkley no matter what the thought process. Here’s an example, Barkley claims he cannot see a great deal of success with the hire of Darvin Ham as Laker coach. He claims, “Ham is too close in age to those players he coaches.” We guess Barkley is referring to Carmelo Anthony (38 years old) and LeBron James (37 years old), Ham is 48 years old and turns 49 next month. That statement is a little strange if we look at NBA history. Pat Riley was two years older than Kareem Abdul Jabbar at the time he took over as Laker head coach.

Riley was quite effective for a number of years as head coach of the Lakers. How about the Cavs, Tyronn Lue was 39 years LeBron was 32 years old when the team won its championship? He failed to win a championship however Stu Jackson was 35-years old when he took over as Knicks coach in 1989-90. He would lead them to a 45-win season and the playoffs. His team won a playoff series before losing in the second round. In conclusion Barkley might be correct, Ham might indeed be a mistake hiring. The answer will not be known until the Lakers begin play, whether they succeed or not under Ham has absolutely nothing to do with age. Barkley is certainly intitled to his opinion on the subject however I respectfully disagree with his view of this subject.