Published Monday thru Friday    

Basketball from a fans perspective

It’s your list

What if I did this, ask you to name the top 10 barbeque restaurants in the Kansas City metro. After you wrote them down or gave them to me verbally this response from me occurs. “How could you leave off Gates (or Joe’s Kansas City) from your list?” Notice the last sentence and the underlined portion, I asked for your list, unfortunately you failed to include a restaurant (or two) I believe to be the best in the metro. Well a similar event occurred in the basketball world. I’m quite sure you are familiar with the name Julius Erving a.k.a. Dr. J. a member of the Naismith and College Basketball Hall of Fame.

Dr. J. is a 30,000-point scorer and has numerous other accolades besides those mentioned, this is what occurred…asked to name his top 10 players he left LeBron James off his list. I don’t understand but must concede this is HIS list and not mine. Well to Stephen A. Smith it matters not what Dr. J. believes the list is bogus in the eyes of Smith. Now we have a member of the media who appear to be at odds over a list compiled by a hall of fame player. Did you notice at the beginning I attempted to point out this list belongs to Dr. J., I would have included LeBron James on any list containing the best ever but this ain’t my list. Guess who else it doesn’t belong to…Stephen A. Smith?   

A new name

The Spurs may or may not have a new arena in the planning stages. It’s been mentioned over the last few weeks the Spurs have figured with the drafting of Victor Wembanyama in June a decision was made a new arena was required. It was mentioned the belief a larger than normal number of fans will now be flocking to see the young Frenchman. In the meantime the present use arena known as AT&T will undergo a name change before next season.

The AT&T folks apparently decided at some point they no longer desired to have their name placed on the arena. At this point apparently Spurs management begin a search for a new corporate sponsor. That new sponsor turned out to be Frost Bank a regional institution. An official announcement has not been made yet so there are no dollar figures to entertain. I do have a question, because these corporate sponsorships are several years in length I wonder if the Frost Bank name will move to the new arena? 

The worst owner in NBA history

A few of you reading this only go as far back as Donald Sterling. Sterling the former owner of the Clippers was a bad owner Ted Stepien was light years worst, who is he you ask? Because I divulge basketball beyond my years I am acquainted with Stepien. How harmful was he, before he was forced to sell the Cavs a rule regarding draft picks had to be placed in affect, “A team must have at least one first-round pick in every other draft moving forward.” The pick doesn’t have to be their own, but they have to be guaranteed a pick from some team somewhere in every other draft.” The previous portion you read was from Sam Quinn NBA writer for CBS Sports. In case you are curious about Stepien and why did he make such an impact on the NBA? It’s generally agreed he was/is the worst owner in NBA history.

Think about this for a moment, in the rich history of this basketball league dating from 1946 up to the present. Consider the numbers who’ve owned teams during this period and for one guy to be identified as the worst owner. The Cavs were an expansion team, according to the records Stepien purchased a 38% interest in the team continuing to obtain shares until he owned 82% of the stock. Once he owned the majority of shares the circus moved into full effect. During the 1981-82 season Stepien fired three head coaches and hired 4 in their place…in a single season. Between 1981 and 1985 the Cavs traded five consecutive first round draft picks, hence the Stepien Rule came into being. The NBA had to prohibit teams from making trades in the manner of the Cavs owner. The Cavs playing poorly begin suffering at the gate so what does Stepien do about it? He threatens to move the team to Cincinnati, Toronto or Pittsburg after attendance began to decline.

Do you think the statements made by former Clippers owner Donald Sterling were racist and insensitive, allow me to introduce you to Ted Stepien? The history doesn’t provide us complete detail, but the NBA was reported to have “forced” Stepien to sell the Cavs. In April 1983 he sold the team to the Gund brothers George and Gordon. As a businessman Stepien probably believed the moves he made were in the best interest of the team they were proven to be unwise. As for his racial comments, unlike Sterling or former Suns owner Robert Sarver they made private racist statements, Stepien appeared to see nothing inappropriate with his racial comments since he made them to the media. This is a compact version of the chaotic time when the Cavs had Ted Stepien as owner. This is a compacted history, there is additional detail on the net.

Coach still recruiting

Kentucky has a late addition in the Class of 2023, his name Zvonimir Ivisic and he’s a 7-foot 1 220-pound center. Ivisic is considered one of the top European prospects in basketball, Ivisic is from Croatia. If you think this was a “soft commitment” consider this fact. Kentucky has in place Aaron Bradshaw a 7-foot 207-pound freshman center along with 6-foot 11 233-pound sophomore Ugonna Onyenso. As you can see there is plenty of beef and height in the pivot. I’m not familiar with who returns or is incoming for the Wildcats beside the three named. If coach Cal has an effective point guard they will be a tough foe for any of the SEC rivals they will face this fall and winter. As per usual I make no declaration of the ability of any of the names including the late addition Ivisic.