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Basketball from a fans perspective

I’m cautiously optimistic

Although the Lakers have played better over the last week or so I still don’t know what to expect. On the first night of a road trip playing the tough Milwaukee Bucks what should occur…a Laker win, I hope? That’s exactly what Laker Nation received Friday evening 133-129. Anthony Davis was high scorer with 44 points and 10 rebounds, but it was Westbrook first name Russell. The feisty point guard came off the bench and was efficient as he located teammate after teammate for his snappy passes. It was 15 points and 11 assists while shooting 55% from the floor for Westbrook. I was quite skeptical when it was reported Darvin Ham intended for Westbrook to play a reserve role this season. Someone once wrote, it doesn’t matter who starts the game the important thing is to be there at the end. Westbrook played 29 minutes in this game and is 20+ for most of his games.

The hype train continues to roll

You had relaxed, you thought you’d heard the last from me regarding forward Victor Wembanyama yet there is another story. As you can see the hype train continues to roll as I resume to publicize the apparent talent of this youngster. The 18-year-old Wemby had his 4^th consecutive 30-point guard, included in the number were 10 rebounds 4 blocks and 3 assists. Wemby led his Metropolitans 92 team to a 96-85 victory over Fosur-Mer. The Friday win for Metropolitans was also the teams 9^th consecutive victory. The 7-foot 4-inch youngster continues to provide us proof why his name will be the first one announced in the June 2023 NBA draft.

NBA scoring

I have no idea if this is any kind of record, currently there are 6 NBA players scoring more than 30 points per game. The Mavs Luka Doncic leads the way in scoring with 33.55 points. Celtic Jayson Tatum is second with a 31.6 per game average and Devin Booker, Donovan Mitchell and Jae Morant are nearly there. Is there a single aspect for the increased scoring, I have no idea although consider this. In this early season we’ve seen a significant number of NBA players exceed the 50-point mark. Looking back on scoring leaders there have been several seasons the leader was less than 30 points a game. That is highly unlikely to occur for the 2022-23 NBA season. Should Doncic slow down Tatum is right behind him and liable to take the lead.

Construction update

Work is moving at a steady pace for the Intuit Dome in Inglewood. The Clippers will soon have a place they can truly call their home because it will have been built exclusively for them. At the time Staples Center opened in 1999 I thought it odd two NBA teams sharing the same building, but this is how the story unfolded. At the time Staples was under construction the Lakers and Kings along with entertainment prospects announced their intentions to move into the arena, the Clippers were late to the party. From 1984 to 1999 the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena served as home base for the team, it was not an old arena having opened in 1959.

For unknown reasons Donald Sterling then owner decided to sign a lease and move the team to Staples after all the others mentioned had decided months and maybe a year earlier. I’ve always thought it unusual two sports teams sharing the same arena/stadium it’s not occurred that often in sports history. New York City almost always had two baseball stadiums, the same with basketball. The Knicks in the Garden and the ABA New York Nets played in three arenas but none in the Garden, this was prior to the team moving to Brooklyn. Finally the San Francisco Warriors and the ABA Oakland Oaks played in different arenas as well. This was mentioned in the past and is worth repeating. This longtime member of Laker Nation believes this is a good thing…the fact the two Los Angeles NBA teams will soon have separate homes. 

Is it worth it?

Forget where you heard this next story, besides the fact its free advertising. I don’t receive a dime but here goes. I debated with myself, “Should I purchase ESPN+, if I had the service, I’d be able to tune into a few games which might not be on the family of ESPN channels.” Early on that is often the case for my Mizzou Tigers, on Tuesday evening I made a last-minute decision and decided I would purchase the service.   

The game wasn’t on the network however because I decided to purchase ESPN+ I (along with others in Mizzou Nation) was able to see the game. I repeated the same action Wednesday evening, I wanted to see Emoni Bates and his Eastern Michigan Eagles. I saw this game as well on my desktop, the question is do I want to keep the service? For now I’m in a holding pattern, I just might keep it through basketball season and then cancel it. On the other hand I might continue to keep it depending on the next few months. If you are wondering if it’s worth subscribing to ESPN+ that is your decision and not mine.