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Basketball from a fans perspective

Fixing the NBA All Star Game

We’ve discussed this already; the recent NBA All-Star game claimed the lowest number of viewers since I don’t know. Fans, players and coaches have claimed the game needs a fix. What you are about to read didn’t originate with me. I’ve read comments by NBA fans and will provide them here:

Play the game earlier, the NBA regular season will end in less than two months. It should be played sometime between December 25 and January 15, those dates are closer to the middle of the season, near the end of February is the present time frame for the game.

Return the game to an East-West format again, why is it so important for fans to be treated to the  disfunction we witnessed this past Sunday supposedly by the best basketball players in the world. it is unbelievable we watched Celtic teammates oppose one another and Eastern Conference Julius Randle a teammate of Western Conference LeBron James. The format adopted a few years ago makes sense to some, not this writer. In addition can we say the teams need to play with purpose, at times play was certainly lackadaisical. 

This recommendation is the best I’ve heard yet, I believe this would certainly be more entertaining to NBA fans. Two teams, one representing Team USA and the other Team World. Team World would be comprised of the large number of international players dotting the rosters of NBA teams. Imagine a team of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, Luka Doncic along with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and others representing Team World. Team USA would feature LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Jayson Tatum, Jaylin Brown and Zion Williamson and others competing against the World Team that would be entertaining basketball.

I’m quite sure there are additional methods to fix the All-Star Game, these are but a few. I’m sure you can come up with others to relieve fans of the trope we saw last Sunday.

Bits n Pieces

The Nets rewarded head coach Jacque Vaughn by signing him to an extension. This guarantees he remains coach through the 2026-27 season. The drama that was Nets basketball certainly has improved since Steve Nash was fired and Vaughn took over. For those who believe I’m trashing Nash that is not the case I happen to believe he was a poor choice. Often star players don’t make great coaches, I could insert Magic Johnson’s name at this point.

Someone help me, there must be a bunch imposters wearing Carolina Blue. What happened to the real Carolina Tarheels? They played Kansas last season for the national championship, this same Tarheel team was chosen the pre-season number one college basketball team in the nation. That was then, this is now, as this is written they have a 16-11 record, they are .500 in the ACC with an 8-8 record. They are highly unlikely to repeat last season again. Last year’s team got hot at a point after the first of the year, the momentum carried them the balance of the season and tournament.

This is great, those of us in Laker Nation realize there are great numbers of haters out there. We can welcome two more to the group…Pat Beverley and Russell Westbrook. All I can say is bring it on, prove to me you are the deciding factor in Bulls and Clipper victory in the future.

Charlie a co-worker has the solution for Load Management. He claims players should be prohibited from sitting out games on the road. He further stated home team fans see those particular athletes all the time. It reminds me of a recent game in San Francisco, you might be familiar with it. A youngster purchased her ticket ahead of time believing LeBron James had an opportunity to break the point total record against the Warriors. She was disappointed to find out he wasn’t playing until he sat down beside her.

Okay Paul I think we understand the why

Paul George went on the record, he says (these are my words paraphrasing his statement) “I’ll be happier if I win a championship with the Clippers over the Lakers.” If you remember the story when George became a free agent, the Lakers believed they had the inside track on signing him. To everyone’s surprise he decided in favor of the Clippers. Okay George let’s check the history; the Clippers have called Los Angeles home since 1984. Nope, never won it all in the City of Angels…what about San Diego? 

The city was home base from 1978-1984 for the Clippers, I don’t see any championships there. Before the franchise found its way to San Diego Buffalo New York was the home of their founding. The Braves were an expansion team who began play in 1970 where they played until 1978. There is no Braves/Clippers NBA championship ever in 53 years of play through Buffalo, San Diego and now Los Angeles. If we look at the Lakers, they have totaled 17 NBA championships since 1961. To win an NBA championship for a team that’s been in existence since 1970 through three cities and never won, I believe all of us can see how noteworthy this would be for George.