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Basketball from a fans perspective

Be ready

The Lakers signed Lonnie Walker IV during the free agent period last summer from the Spurs. Once the season began, he was the only reliable shooter off the bench for the Lakers and then it occurred. The Lakers “cleaned house” around the trade deadline removing 5 players while acquiring 5 others. Walker IV got lost in the move, after being part of the rotation the Laker box score behind his name begin to read DNP-Coach’s Decision. Despite not playing it appears he was always ready to play, he proved that fact in two consecutive playoff games.

The Lakers won Game 4 (104-101) primarily due to Walker IV’s play, particularly in the 4^th quarter. I didn’t say it LeBron James said something to that effect. Some critics claim AD has and every other game event I don’t agree at least on Monday. It was 23 points 15 rebounds 3 steals and 2 assists while shooting 62.5% from the floor. AD’s defense on Steph Curry in the 4^th quarter was quite telling on two occasions. He forced Curry to miss both shots as he extended his 6 foot 10 inch frame forcing the Warriors guard to shoot over him.   

Canada, or the Western Hemisphere

If you live in the U.S. you might agree with my take if you don’t that’s okay too. I told my wife about the account I wrote on international players; I took it a step further by saying “I don’t include Canadian players in my count her comment was “why not?” For me it’s a distance issue, as an example I can gas up my vehicle and drive to Windsor Ontario Canada from Kansas City in roughly 11 hours. If I decided to drive from here to Los Angeles, it would take me 24 hours. In truth besides our northern neighbor there are a smaller number of athletes in college or the NBA from this hemisphere I just don’t see as being international.

In the past we had Klay Thompson’s dad Mychal, he’s from the island nation of The Bahamas, also Tim Duncan from the U.S. Virgin Islands. With the Pacers is guard Buddy Hield from the University of Oklahoma by way of The Bahamas. On Mizzou’s roster this past season was guard D’Moi Hodge, from the Caribbean British Virgin Islands. The islands are only a 4-hour flight time from Miami. The same could be said regarding Mexico, same time zone…same hemisphere. Although none are currently active there have been four NBA players from Mexico, one Eduardo Najera played his college basketball at the University of Oklahoma.

Who pays?

John Sherman, owner of the Royals wants a downtown stadium, nothing wrong with that. Kaufmann Stadium is 50+ years old, there are areas in the bowels that are reported to be in extremely poor condition. At the same time all over the nation more and more baseball stadiums are being built in downtown entertainment districts. Mr. Sherman’s reasons are all valid except one…who pays? I continue to have issues with billionaire owners wanting subsidized stadiums and arenas. This is certainly not the case nationwide but it seems these edifices are built with taxpayers underwriting a substantial portion.

Now let’s not kid one another a basketball arenas cost would be substantially lower than a 40,000-70,000-seat baseball-football stadium but check this out. Chase Center 18,000 seat home of the Warriors was privately financed when this $1 billion arena opened in 2019. How about down the California coast in SoCal, the City of Inglewood, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is having Intuit Dome built. This 18,000-seat arena is scheduled to open in 2024, owner Ballmer is paying for all construction cost. In Philadelphia, the Sixers have 76Place in the planning stage, guess what? 76Place is privately funded, do we see a common theme here? Billionaire owners should, as Sherman, clarify their position anytime a proposal of this magnitude is under consideration.

Big Man

I heard this from someone much younger than me, I was almost shocked to hear it. A brief conversation on the NBA and I heard this, “I don’t like to watch games anymore, no inside play.” Somewhat unsure what he meant I said, “Big Man play” and he said yes? Steph Curry and the Warriors championship success plus the 3-point line are the reason for the change in NBA play. I’ve mentioned this time and time again, we expect Big Men to shoot from three as if they were 5-11 guards.

It’s okay for a Big Man to take those type shots if you are a career 3-point shooter like Nikola Jokic (34.8%) Brook Lopez (34.6%) or Joel Embiid (33.7%). The three mentioned are the exception because most Big Men need to avoid taking the shot for several reasons. The chief one being your height, when you stand 7 feet tall or more why are you taking 35-foot shots? You are 3 inches short of the basket, an easy dunk and you score. 3 is certainly more than 2 but a dunk is a guaranteed 2, a 3 taken from distance not so much.  

A look back 

I came across an account on Basketball Network which was interesting and I thought should be shared. In the late ‘90’s Big Man basketball was still very much in vogue. The University of the Pacific is known more for academics than basketball except in 1998 Michael Olowokandi the best there was. Standing 7 feet tall and 270 pounds he appeared to be the real deal, the fact is Olowokandi was made the top pick in that year’s draft by the Clippers. Imagine the Clippers excitement at the prospect, they hired Kareem Abdul Jabbar to coach and mentor Olowokandi only it didn’t work. We have two versions of why Olowokandi became a journeyman player, his version and that of Abdul Jabbar.

The Kandi Man as he was nicknamed claimed tendonitis in his left knee was the issue. He says if not for the injury he could have been an All Star, surgery did cause him to miss half a season early in his career. Abdul Jabbar indicates he constantly pointed out faults he witnessed in practice. “He (Olowokandi) told me point-blank that he would not be criticized in front of the team. He stuck to his word and, as a result, had very few successful moments on the court playing the way he wanted to play.” This is a shortened version of The Kandi Man’s NBA career, Abdul Jabbar claims he might not have become a great player but could have been much better. Which of the two should we believe in this story; my money is on Abdul Jabbar?