Published Monday thru Friday    

Basketball from a fans perspective

Saturday afternoon & evening

Sixers-Nets - The Sixers would face the Nets with no Joel Embiid, the Sixer Big Man would be ruled out of Game 4 when an MRI revealed a right knee sprain. With an opportunity to close this out the Sixers unsure of Embiid’s future status stepped up and close out the series 96-88. Tobias Harris along with James Harden and Tyrese Maxey padlocked the game and series. Based on the turmoil that existed at one point Jacque Vaughn and crew should still be saluted.

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Clippers-Suns - Russell Westbrook had a monster game for the Clippers. With no Paul George and Kawhi Leonard he did his best, scoring 37 points and playing an all-around great game. Unfortunately they came up short against the Suns losing 112-100, this gives the Suns a commanding 3 Games to 1 lead. The series is not over, however the Clippers have quite a mountain in front of them. Someone on the Clippers besides Westbrook has got to step up if they intend this series to continue.

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Bucks-Heat -The Bucks appear to be lethargic with no Giannis available, his back issue kept the Bucks forward unavailable again. This is not intended to paint a picture of total domination, there was an effort made. The Heat led by Jimmy Butler (30 pts) were just too much for them. Khris Middleton led the Bucks with 23 points as they succumbed to the Heat 121-99.

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Lakers-Grizzlies - In the nightcap, Dillon Brooks poked the bear and the bear poked back. The Lakers beat the Grizzlies 111-101 and the game was actually not as close as the final score might indicate. I believe there are several athletes who must prepare themselves for games by antagonizing the opponent. That would be the case for the Grizzlies Brooks. I was surprised to discover Brooks, not Draymond Green led the NBA in techs during the season. As for the game, Brooks was 3 of 13 from the floor (23.1%) while his adversary LeBron James was playing a remarkable game. Was that the basis for hitting LeBron in a private area, Brooks was immediately ejected? With no apparent suspension for Brooks we shall see what prevails tonight. A magnificent effort by Grizzlies point guard Jae Morant returning from injury, 45 points and 13 assists.

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An oddity

I wasn’t close enough to Raptors basketball to determine what went wrong with their season. This I do know, the Raptors fired Nick Nurse. The oddity in this, Nurse becomes the second former Coach of the Year the team has dismissed. The 2019-20 season saw Nurse named Coach of the Year in the NBA, in 2017-18 Dwayne Casey received the same selection. 

It’s now official

We have read reports since last fall Victor Wembanyama would be the top pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. Seeing Wembanyama in action against NBA G-League Elite in October 2022 only picked up the pace. The game saw a number of NBA scouts and front office personnel along with NBA players in Las Vegas to see him play. One veteran player after another provided us with their view of Wembanyama’s possible future.

Despite the praise expressed there were some negative opinions voiced by a few NBA players including Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal. We heard terms like “generational player” and this one from Jay Bilas. “If 18-year-old LeBron James was in this draft there would be a question on who is the top pick.” All the talk positive and negative is just that, what does the future hold for this youngster? Perhaps Wemby might decide to remain in France and not cross the Atlantic Ocean. After all he’s on top of the world in France, on Friday afternoon all that was put to rest with this news. It is now official, Victor Wembanyama formerly submitted paperwork.

In the 2023 NBA Draft we’ll hear his name called and early, he will be the first name at worst number two. As for the future we don’t know if Wemby is a generational player but at least we’ll have an opportunity to see him in action against NBA talent. I don’t know about you but I can hardly wait for May 16 (draft lottery) and June 22 (NBA Draft). Other than the prospect of NBA play Wemby claims (at least for now) there is no such thing as a “bad NBA team.” He is willing to go to Detroit, Houston, Charlotte or Portland.

And you thought it was only me

There will be no NBA basketball in my hometown unless it’s the exhibition variety. Despite that a number of folks would still like to see the game return to Kansas City. From all my whining over the years you thought I was the lone individual pining for NBA basketball in KC. Since the Kings departed no one holding office has expressed any interest in the game returning, at least one of the past mayors spoke in a negative tone when it was mentioned.

The current mayor doesn’t see it that way regarding the NBA and the hope for some in Kansas City. During covid the NBA was contacted and Kansas City was proposed as a temporary home for the Toronto Raptors. That move didn’t come to fruition but we gathered Mayor Lucas had an interest in the NBA especially for his city. Recently one of his Facebook postings was noted by me regarding the Kings. Here’s what Mayor Lucas posted last week with the Kings first win. "Congrats on the playoff win tonight to the Kansas City Kings (in absentia).” I think that gives us a little idea of the mayor’s thoughts.