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Basketball from a fans perspective

I can read minds

The headline is not really a true statement however I can safely predict the manner some of you will react to this account. Adam Silver said, “I would be disappointed if no woman is hired as a head coach in the next few years. Of the 30 NBA teams there are 5 with female assistant coaches. We can identify the Pacers, Kings, Grizzlies, Mavs and Pelicans as those teams. The “read minds” headline is simply this, a number of you will have a problem with the commissioner even mentioning this issue.

You can invent all sorts of objections but it’s going to occur one day. You ask the question why…I could ask you why are their male head coaches for woman’s basketball in the college ranks? If you mention the name Geno Auriemma the first thought, successful basketball coach and the second UConn. I’m reasonably sure the focus is on the successful part over he’s the school’s women’s basketball coach. Some of us have difficulty with change I think we get that but as the old hit tune goes, “Everything must change.”

“Sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you”

I had the opportunity to see Jordan Clarkson play while at Mizzou. He’d transferred from Tulsa and immediately found a spot in Mizzou’s offense and defense. Although he’d distinguished himself the NBA draft was another matter, would he be drafted? That would be an affirmative and not only was he chosen he began his NBA career with my Lakers. The Wizards chose him in the second round of the 2014 draft but later traded him to my Lakers.

I’m not sure what occurred over the next few seasons, but Clarkson was eventually traded to the Cavs and from there to the Jazz. For the Jazz Clarkson was named Sixth Man of the Year in 2021, he’s now moved into the starting lineup and his NBA career numbers have accelerated. As for the headline it reflects on the fact sometimes one might excel on other occasions it’s the other way around. In this instance I’m going to state the Lakers made an enormous mistake trading Clarkson. Would his breakout occurred if he’d remain with the Lakers? I cannot answer that question however the Lakers swung and missed on this move they hoped would improve the team. 

NBA All Time Leading Scorers

If you check the scoring record of Julius “Dr. J.” Erving, you will discover he scored 18,364 points during his career. Well guess what, that scoring total is not quite correct, the number you read is the total he scored in the NBA. The points he scored while in the American Basketball Association playing for the Virginia Squires and New York Nets are not included in the total. The NBA is not picking on Dr. J. alone there are others including Moses Malone, George Gervin, Connie Hawkins plus Artis Gilmore and a host of others.  

These are athletes who began their professional careers in the ABA and later retired from an NBA team after the merger. I’m unsure but I imagine the same story exists for Rick Barry in a different manner. Barry began his career in the NBA but later jumped to the ABA for four seasons. He would return and his last 8 years would be spent with the NBA Warriors and NBA Rockets. Back to Dr. J., we could add another 9,332 points to his total which makes him as a 20,000-point scorer for his professional career. If you ask me why the NBA decided to not include the totals from both leagues, I have no answer without contacting the NBA and asking the question?    

There is a difference

What’s the difference between stuff I write in this blog and what you might hear and read. Big difference, I always attempt to point out this is my opinion on the subject matter. If you disagree that doesn’t make you wrong, you are simply stating a different view of the point at issue. I refuse to believe I have been blessed with special insight that allows me to always provide a concise answer. Should I guess that’s a New York thing to be loud, argumentative and over the top in order to prove only you have the answers. In the real world that doesn’t work…what we see on television doesn’t exist when asking for a raise.

It is pure entertainment for the television audience. As my younger friends might state its purely “to get clicks”, they want to ensure they have the capability of taking numbers to their higher ups and say look see, this is what I GENERATED. I happen to believe it takes special skill to play basketball and well especially at the NBA level. Certainly ability is required however there is nothing special about sitting in front of a television camera pontificating over an issue. Don’t get me wrong there are many in the media who do an admirable job without all the theatrics.

It's now official

Toss the geography out the window, it’s no longer important anymore to any conference. The Board of Regents has approved the move of UCLA from the Pac-12 to the Big 10. It’s believed Southern Cal will soon follow UCLA out the door as well, what becomes of the league after these two move? I cannot address the football question nor any other sports, the basketball is the only sport I feel comfortable with a comment. UCLA basketball is one of the most storied programs in the nation.

The mighty Bruins since 1920 have won 1,955 games excluding the 2022-23 season. The number of wins place them 7^th in the nation in college basketball, those in front of UCLA read like a who’s who of collegiate sports. A large number of the wins occurred while the late John Wooden was head basketball coach. Who are the others, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, Temple, Syracuse and UCLA? Adding a storied program like UCLA is a giant coup for the Big 10. As this is written UCLA record stands at 9 wins and 2 losses, they are in first place in the Pac-12.