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Basketball from a fans perspective

He played in the NBA

Baseball folks, even older fans probably don’t realize this, if you are unfamiliar with the name don’t worry. Dick Groat former major league baseball player died April 27; he was 92 years old. Although Groat played for more than one team the shortstop is closely associated with the Pittsburg Pirates where he spent his most productive years. Groat retired in 1967 while a member of the Giants but begin his major league career with the Pirates playing with them from 1955 through 1962. Prior to baseball there was basketball, Groat played at Duke University, how good was he at basketball?

Groat was named a Two-Time All-American Basketball player and found his way to the NBA. In the 1952 NBA Draft Groat was made the 3^rd pick in the first round by the Fort Wayne Pistons (Detroit). The 5-foot 11-inch Groat would play the 1952-53 season scoring 11.5 points along with 2.7 assists that season. As you might surmise baseball would become his career sport, could Groat have blossomed in the NBA that remains an unknown. In 2007 he was enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame and 2011 saw him bestowed with the same honor in the National College Baseball Hall of Fame. Dick Groat one of the few multi-talented athletes good enough to receive an honor in two sports, R.I.P.

Intensity

Playoff NBA is different from regular season NBA and that is good and bad. The good of course is seeing top notch play for 48 minutes something missing at times during regular season games. Players diving on the floor for loose balls, the blocked shot, in a Laker game I saw the Grizzlies have two shots in a row swatted away. The bad, there have been a bunch of front-line performers missing…sidelined with injuries. We cannot be sure; the injuries could be the result of the long season plus playoffs. In any event NBA playoff basketball is certainly a must-see television event unless you live in a city where you can see the action in person.   

Who to pick

The pick has now been solidified; the Lakers will have the 17^th pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. Now the question becomes who do they choose? This is all speculation at this point but consider this fact. Michael J. Porter Jr. coming off an injury fell to the Nuggets at in movies not in real life, or could it? Prior to injury in most 2018 mocks MJP was projected number 2 or 3, he fell to the Nuggets at 14. With the 17^th pick    the Lakers will lie just outside the lottery so there should be a quality athlete available. Now with that settled who should the Lakers choose? Two sites have differing views, nbadraft.net has the Lakers picking Maxwell Lewis, a 6-foot 7 guard/forward from Pepperdine. As for the other mock site, nbadraftroom.com believe the pick to be Jett Howard, also 6 foot 7 from Michigan.

I am looking at the present roster, at small forward we acknowledge LeBron is 38-years old. On the depth chart behind LeBron are several youthful but veteran players. We could look toward the power forward position, although Jarred Vanderbilt is less glued in the position behind him the same scenario exists. There are a number of youthful veterans, I could make the same statement at the point and shooting guard too. I hope you see where I’m going here, the Lakers certainly could be aided by an infusion of another youthful player but who? A Big Man, AD is playing the post but it certainly would be great if they could locate a quality post player. After Wemby excluding those who remain in school one of the following post players should be available at 17:

Adem Bona – UCLA 6 foot 10

James Nnaji – Barcelona 6 foot 10

Zach Edey = Purdue 7 foot 4

This is the upside I might hope; I’m speculating AD remains injury free and will continue to play center. There is no requirement to toss him into the fire of immediate NBA play, i.e. there would be no baptism of fire. The first-year post man could be brought in slowly, if necessary, there might be time with the South Bay Lakers. In addition he would be further schooled with the Laker Summer League team.

When he’s ready

This is not the account I first drafted, what I wrote and declined to publish involved money and the athlete. The amount of money the Clippers had paid Kawhi Leonard based on the time he’s played the last two years. Somehow Stephen A. Smith caused this change, I watched and listened as he pontificated on the reason why Leonard “should retire.” Smith didn’t question future pay, he said Leonard should be paid for the length of his contract it’s the other part that didn’t sit well with me. Over the course of time I’ve witnessed a number of players in all sports suffer debilitating injuries, I’ve not been a personal witness but have read of the work required to return to the game they love.

Sometimes these athletes (besides Leonard) have suffered a second or third injury after the first rehab yet they work at a return. No one who plays the game at a high skill level desires to be sidelined, including Leonard. In basketball Bill Walton, Sam Bowie, and Joel Embiid just three of the names that returned from injury after injury to the game. Embiid drafted in 2014 missed his first two seasons, in season three he managed to play only 31 games. What might have occurred if these and others in the past had Stephen A. Smith in their ear on ESPN demanding they retire due to their continued injury history? This I believe without offering you any proof, despite hints at load management Leonard has worked hard to return to the game. Unfortunately it appears he is one of those athletes who is injury prone. The decision to retire or not belongs to Kawhi Leonard and not Stephen A. Smith.