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DJ Wagner is a 5-star combo guard and the number three prospect in the Class of 2023. Several schools offered scholarships to this highly rated prospect; on Monday the announcement came. Wagner would be headed to Kentucky to play for John Calipari, but there is more to the story than simply committing to a school or a coach. DJ’s dad DaJuan Wagner played basketball too, he was at the University of Memphis at the time Calipari was serving as the head coach. Louisville thought it might have the inside track due to a connection as well. Milt Wagner is the father of DaJuan and grandfather of DJ; the grandfather played his college basketball at Louisville. So we see another basketball family connection, three generations playing the game.

Larry Joe

After I re-read Generational Athlete I thought, “Larry Bird is missing from the list.” Did you believe this was an oversight on my part that is hardly the case, allow a further explanation. Unlike the others Bird didn’t change how the game was played but displayed talents only a few hold. Red Auerbach saw it, that’s why he drafted Bird as a college junior. Auerbach displayed that keen eye for talent in drafting another athlete, the legendary Bill Russell. Back to Bird later first the Russell story, he drafted Russell at a time offensive centers were in vogue although Auerbach believed he might be the missing piece to Celtic success. In the 1956 draft Russell was drafted by the St. Louis Hawks with the second pick in the first round.

Russell’s draft rights would be traded to the Hawks for Ed Macauley and Cliff Hagen, the rest is Celtic and NBA history. Back to Bird, he’d received a scholarship to play basketball at the University of Indiana but dropped out due to the large enrollment. He worked municipal jobs before enrolling at much smaller Indiana State, there he began to further develop and display his basketball skill. Bird arrived in the NBA in 1978 however the shrewd Auerbach drafted him in 1977 realizing Bird wouldn’t play until the following season. Like Russell you know the balance of the story NBA Champion, NBA All Star, NBA MVP and Naismith Hall of Fame. Larry Joe Bird was not a generational player in a sense, he didn’t change the game, but the game changed him.  

Not much has gone right so far

Laker Nation with not much smile about this season did. The smile occurred Sunday night that saw the team beat the Nets 116-103, a win something rare so far. How did it occur, first there was no LeBron he still dealing with injury. Street Clothes a.k.a. Anthony Davis of the Lakers led the way with 37 points, 18 rebounds and only one turnover in 34 minutes. There was help in the person of Lonnie Walker IV (25 points) and Austin Reaves with 15 points. Laker 3-point shooting which has been so horrible this season witnessed the team shooting a sizzling 40.7 behind the line for this game.

Despite the win there is nothing to indicate the downtrend for the Lakers is over, in truth they remain a work in progress. As a card-carrying member of Laker Nation I appreciate the win, despite the win I must take into consideration the drama surrounding Kyrie Irving, the disfunction of Ben Simmons. The Nets might be just a little bit better than the Lakers, but you might get an argument out of me on that statement. The Warriors what in the world is going on in San Francisco? The Lakers losing to the Kings is understandable…the defending NBA champions.  

Get your facts straight please

What do you mean by the headline, I’m glad you asked…allow an explanation. When I sit down to write this blog my desire is for it to be as accurate as possible. Have there been mistakes made, of course they have. My hope is these errors have been grammatical over content. On those occasions outside sources are used I want to ensure the information is accurate. I have reported since spring the hire of Dennis Gates at Mizzou, the school’s website detailed the beginning of the basketball season on social media. The responses began almost immediately most of them positive except one I read.

The writer claimed, “I’d have no problem with the school if they recruited KC players.” My first thought where has this guy been? If you are not from this area the names will mean little to you however it’s my intention to provide them. A list containing 8 players certainly is not a large number however it provides this detail. The names listed represent KC area players who played at Mizzou over the years. If the writer had said, “significant numbers” I could concur with the statement but to say never, that’s as wrong as opening a shoe box and discovering two left shoes. This was completed from memory and brief research, there might be players omitted without intention.

Jon Sunvold-Blue Springs

Larry Drew-Wyandotte

Anthony Peeler-Paseo

Jevon Crudup-Raytown South

Marcus Denmon-Hogan

Michael Dixon Jr.-Lees Summit West

Kareem Rush-Pembroke

Kevin Puryear-Blue Springs South

All in the Family

No, this is not the ‘70’s television classic this one exists on the basketball court or rather the story is related to it. Several reading this might remember the name Bernie Bickerstaff. Bickerstaff had a number of coaching stops over his long NBA career as an assistant while others he served as head coach. Currently he’s a Senior Advisor for the NBA Cavs but this story doesn’t end there. In 2019 his son B.J. Bickerstaff was hired as an assistant coach with the Cavs.

At the time John Beilein resigned in February 2020 the team hired assistant B.J. as head coach where he presently serves. But wait there is more, B.J. has a nephew playing for Boston College, T.J. Bickerstaff is a 6-foot 9 inch forward for the Boston College Eagles. There you have it, three generations of the Bickerstaff family all connected to basketball. At this point I’m unsure if there are other family members who might be linked to the game. I conducted additional research but was unable to locate any other family members connected to basketball in some manner.