Basketball from a fans perspective

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Hiring practice

The NBA long ago surpassed other professional sports in its diversity, gender and minority hiring. The league made news in this area once again recently with the hire of Darvin Ham by the Lakers. With this latest hiring half, the teams in the NBA now have black men serving as head coaches. Someone else might question if it’s necessary to make note of this news, we say yes, it is. 

Whatever might be whispered in private circles by owners it appears NBA teams are serious in their pursuit of hiring quality black and minority coaches. The NBA continues to outshine the NFL, MLB and NHL in its employment practices. One might state “White guys need jobs too,” that is certainly a true statement and whenever hiring all quality candidates should be taken into consideration prior to a decision. This latest hire by the Lakers provides us evidence once again there remains no requirement for an NBA Rooney Rule.

He wants no part of Oklahoma

We believe it was former NFL quarterback Jon Elway who announced ahead of the draft he wanted no part of the Colts at the time Baltimore was home. There may have been others however the Broncos icon is the name that comes to mind. Could we have the same scenario playing out in the NBA? If you live in the State of Oklahoma at present or have an association with it allow an explanation for the headline. Every mock website projects the 6-foot 10 250-pound Paolo Banchero to be a lottery pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. Apparently, he probably could care less where he plays, the only exception might be Oklahoma.

Now relax in Oklahoma this might not be as bad as it first appears. This is the interesting part; most are aware the Thunder franchise once was located in Seattle. Banchero was born and grew up in Seattle and the next portion is most interesting. The Sonics (less the name) moved to Oklahoma City in 2008, Banchero would have been 5-6 years old at the time the team left the Pacific Northwest for its present location. It would appear Banchero still holds a grudge for the team moving to Oklahoma City claiming, “I never liked the Thunder because I’m a Sonics fan.” I’m going to read between the lines of the Banchero statement and express my belief he’s got a problem with the franchise rather than the city or state. On the other hand, I could be misreading Banchero’s intent, we shall see.

NBA Draft History

Over its history the draft has been integral to the growth of the NBA. Despite this fact there have on occasion been some unusual events like the 1977 draft. Beginning in 1989 and thereafter the draft consisted of two rounds, prior to that year it was 8 rounds. That meant instead of drafting 60 players as we do today there were 170 players chosen in the draft. There might have been a requirement for 8 rounds at one time who knows, there certainly was a smaller number of NBA teams. The ’77 draft would see the first woman drafted, Lusia Harris who passed away last January was that player. Harris alone might have been responsible for placing women’s basketball on the map.

Harris averaged over 30 points a game during her four years at Delta State. As for the NBA she never had a try out, she was pregnant at the time the draft occurred. Harris was chosen by the New Orleans Jazz with the 137^th pick in the 7^th round, in 1992 Harris was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame. With the 139^th pick the Kansas City Kings would choose Bruce Jenner (now Caitlyn Jenner), Jenner was coming off his gold medal Olympic decathlon championship. Jenner played basketball in high school, whether he could shoot, dribble and defend might be the question. This move was a publicity stunt for the franchise. Although she wasn’t drafted 1981 would see Nancy Lieberman play for the Lakers Summer League team. Sprinter Carl Lewis was the 208^th pick by the Bulls in 1984, he’d never played basketball in high school or college.

This is different…maybe

The Billikens of St. Louis University call Chaifetz Arena home since it opened in 2008. Seeing a place on television versus in person is quite different and that is the case here. No, I was not at a Billiken game rather a high school graduation. On entering the arena, it appears intimate although it can seat 10,600 for basketball. Before I complete this account if you’ve been inside Chaifetz previously you know all there is to know and can stop reading.

Continuing for the others there is not a bad seat in the house, placed around the arena are 4 video screens allowing attendees to see the game close up if they desire. According to information researched, “In February 2007, Chicago-based businessman Richard Chaifetz, CEO of ComPsych Corporation and 1975 graduate of SLU, made a $12 million donation to the university, which named the arena in his honor.” * The era of the 23,000 seat Rupp Arena or the 21,000 seat Dean Dome have now become dinosaurs. It’s smaller college venues for arenas like Chaifetz and venerable Cameron Indoor Stadium home of Duke basketball which we shall see in the future.

*Wikipedia