Basketball from a fans perspective

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Okay, you have my attention

It seems lately Draymond Green wants to talk about any and everything NOT CONNECTED to the Warriors. His favorite subject appears to be what other NBA players should do or who was a better candidate to be traded. He must envy the Lakers for both accounts involve the SC team. The subject was the Lakers Austin Reaves and his nicknames; Green’s opinion was Reaves should embrace the nicknames despite the fact it appears the Laker guard objects to them.

The Warrior players latest subject revolves around two former Lakers Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma. Green figured after three years he would provide us his opinion on the Lakers acquiring Anthony Davis. He wanted to play a “what-if” scenario, what if it had been Kuzma instead of Ingram in the trade. Kuzma was later traded to the Wizards so we are left somewhat unsure how this might have affected the Lakers 2020 championship. This upcoming October AD will be entering his 4^th season and Ingram the same for the Lakers and Pelicans respectively. It would certainly be more interesting if Green provided us analysis of the Warriors.

Okay now what?

News moves real fast; on Monday morning I wrote “Six weeks from now” which dealt with Nets training camp opening. I wrote Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant would likely be there however based on Monday evening news are we really sure, we just don’t know. Part of the problem anytime we are discussing Kevin Durant we are not exactly sure where he stands, unlike other athletes news arrives in bits and pieces with him. Not hearing it directly from him we are often faced with the dilemma, “Did he say that” or “What was that about?”

That is the report breaking early Monday evening, did he or didn’t he. Okay here it is, Durant is supposed to have informed owner Joe Tsai “Coach Steve Nash and GM Sean Marks must be fired if he is to remain with the Nets.” The statement goes on to say something like he (Durant) doesn’t trust them. The question for Nets and NBA fans is this really Durant talking, his agent or a figment of someone’s imagination? We must wait for further developments on this one. I didn’t originate this next portion just read it and it makes a heck of a lot of sense. The writer said, “Imagine if this was Jeannie Buss and LeBron James playing out this issue in the media?”

That would be a NO

The Wolves arrived in the NBA in 1989 as an expansion franchise. In 1995 the franchise drafted Kevin Garnett and he would become the face of the franchise as he clearly demonstrated his talent. On July 31, 2007, Garnett was the key figure in a trade to the Celtics where he helped them win the 2008 NBA championship. From 2013-2015 Garnett played for the Nets briefly returning to the Wolves for a season prior to retiring in 2016. At this point the story becomes somewhat murky, we are unsure which came first so it’s simply being reported. Glen Taylor Wolves owner was reported to have promised Garnett the opportunity to purchase the team. 

We are unsure of the timeframe however this agreement would become invalid by the owner. We are unsure as to the why however “bad-blood” has existed between Garnett and Taylor for several years now over the deal. More recently Taylor sold his interest in the Wolves to former Yankee baseball player Alex Rodriguez and partner Marc Lore, is there a change in the air with the new owners? We are not stating Garnett’s been invited to become an owner however the team’s made overtures about retiring his number 21. KG, “The Kid” or whatever nickname you might apply has gone on record, he says that would be a no. You might think with the passage of time and a new ownership group in place Garnett might have mellowed in his attitude toward the Wolves apparently that is not the case.

We know…we know!

If we omit the numerous injuries and games missed, we discover the Lakers had two key difficulties last season. 1. They were an old team with old legs, teams would routinely run them ragged. 2. There was a dearth of 3-point shooting from the Lakers which caused innumerable problems for them. Of course, there were the injuries too, oh I mentioned that earlier. The question might be asked, has summer play seen help might possibly be on the way? The possible answer…undrafted rookie Cole Swider, who spent 3 years at Villanova and one season at Syracuse.

Remember this is Summer League play but the numbers look good, as for the average he’s not going to be the primary focus that’s LeBron, AD and Westbrook (if he’s still around). The numbers 13.9 points per game shooting .52.1% from the floor and .52.8% from the 3-point line, it is Interesting Swider’s field goal percentage is slightly higher from the 3-line. Swider is a 6-foot 9 forward who packs 220 pounds on his frame. He is older than most 2022 rookies, he celebrated his 23^rd birthday in May. Keep in mind this move to the Big Club is not a done deal, Swider is on a two-way contract so he must earn a roster spot once training camp opens.   

Is it the water…or something else?

The Royals played a series against the Blue Jays in Toronto, I mentioned this to my wife. “I’m not sure why but the overwhelming majority of Canadian NBA players are from Toronto and its surrounding cities.” I further stated “I’m not sure why” so I decided to check the number. Andrew Wiggins from Toronto was one of the keys to the Warriors NBA championship. At present there are roughly 30 active players (not counting rookies) from our Canadian neighbor. Guess what I discovered; my belief was affirmed most are from Toronto.

What’s most interesting Toronto recently became the largest populated city in the nation? This from the Canadian Encyclopedia, “This megacity (Toronto) was created in 1998, by merging Metropolitan Toronto’s six cities into one. Ontario’s capital city usurped Montreal as Canada’s most populous city in the 2001 census and hasn’t looked back.” * There are two U.S. cities that accomplished the same scenario merging the county with the city. Interesting in that three other cities in the nation contain populations of well over a million yet they haven’t produced 10 NBA players in total.

*Canadian Encyclopedia