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Basketball from a fans perspective

“Success is never final; failure is never fatal. It’s courage that counts”

John Wooden 

Gilbert Arenas is…….

A jackass, I thought to leave him alone and I did for a time. Then in the latest podcast from the former NBA player he proves once again how ignorant he is. Arenas claims Hakeem Olajuwon charged Giannis Antetokounmpo $50,000 for training which included his classic post moves. From my view if you want to learn from one of the best you go to that individual except the report Arenas made was not quite correct. Reports indicate Giannis did train for a brief time under Olajuwon however the only dollars spent was the roundtrip air cost between Milwaukee and Houston.

In addition we must add whatever was spent in hotel and food during the time spent training. Where Arenas obtained the dollar figure he reported is unclear but several news sources indicate that is not the case. You might ask the question why I refer to Arenas as a jackass, it’s simple he produces some of the most outlandish takes possible. There are reports that a number of NBA players of today are critical of Arenas so keep it mind it ain’t just me. Sometimes we claim an individual is entitled to his or her opinion and 99% of the time that is the case. That 1% is a Gilbert Arenas podcast, it’s often wrong and I am unsure what joy he receives from it. In closing this is the mistake on my part, providing Arenas an additional audience he seeks.

Did you see it

Probably not, I don’t believe the match was on NBA TV so the answer might be NO. I’m referring to the Monday night game which saw the Thunder facing the Spurs, it was more to the game. Rookies Victor Wembanyama was in a Spurs jersey while Chet Holmgren was in the Thunder lineup. It was only an exhibition game, but it might have provided us a glimpse of the future. Two highly touted rookies on the court at the same time, the winner was Thunder 122 Spurs 121 but it was more to the game. At this point we certainly have no idea if this is the future but it does say the NBA is in good hands with these two giants.

They didn’t face one another in a sense except on switches, the 7 foot 1 Holmgren was listed at the power forward position while 7 foot 4 Wemby was playing center for the Spurs. Cynics have continued to point out the steady drip, drip, drip as the NBA “loses fans” according to them. I believe the NBA remains in good hands when a 19- and 21-year-old provide us proof they have a tremendous desire to compete in the association. Wemby with 20 points and Holmgren with 21 led their teams in scoring. I expect both athletes to have suitable rookie seasons in the NBA. If either has a real breakout year that becomes even better for their respective team and the league.

Accident rather on purpose

I find more trivia accidently than searching…sometimes, that was the case here. While researching the Kansas City Kings I uncovered an interesting bit of history. If we consider the history of the BAA predecessor of the NBA the Knicks and Celtics might be our first thought. After all both these franchises began play in 1946 (77 years ago) however the Kings are even older. Would you believe we are talking 1923, 100 years ago? Of course this is long before the age of modern basketball and it was Rochester New York where the team first began play.

I was unable to discover the name of the league this professional team played. From 1946 through 1948 they became a member of the National Basketball League, in 1948 the Royals moved over to the competing Basketball Association of America. With the 1949 BAA-NBL merger the Royals moved into the new NBA. The team remained in Rochester until 1957 when they re-located to Cincinnati, this Ohio city would be home until 1972 moving this time west to Kansas City-Omaha and a name change would occur, they become the Kings. In 1975 Omaha was dropped and the Kings played exclusively in Kansas City. In 1985 the franchise moved again, this time to Sacramento where they remain to date. This was a swift move through history but enough to give you an idea of the team movement.

An apology

This is written to all students, administration, alumni, fans and friends of Florida Atlantic University.  Recently I checked a pre-season Top 25 poll and FAU was listed, I had no questions on the team’s ability they certainly are competitive. My question was about the team nickname Owls, I don’t believe I am aware of any team with Owls as their symbol. I’m accustomed to Lions, Tigers and Bears…you know fearsome creatures. That’s what occurs with a city boy with no working knowledge of some animals, that’s where the apology comes in.

I conducted some reading and discovered owls are predatory birds, I thought they might feed on worms, grubs or I don’t know what. The book I read indicated owls feed on small mammals, insects and birds, it said a few species specialize in hunting fish. That would appear to make an owl a bad X%So*& bird and not one to mess with. So I offer my apology to anyone associated with FAU, I just didn’t know. Although this focus was on FAU I was reminded there is another with the same team mascot. Rice University in Houston, their mascot is also the Owls.

False Narrative

I didn’t read the article only the first few lines of the L.A. Times. The article revolved around new Laker center/power forward Christian Wood. I guess Wood must have read a number of the negative comments aimed at him by former coach Jason Kidd and others. Wood indicates the stories surrounding him project a “False Narrative.” I have no issue with Wood defending himself from Kidd or anyone else with accounts of his past efforts, this is what is more important to me than talk.

I would adopt the motto of the State which says, “I’m from Missouri you’ve got to Show Me.” There is one method to prove all of the critics wrong including Kidd play as if “your hair is on fire.” Wood needs to accentuate the positives and eliminate the negatives, I don’t believe anyone in Laker Nation expects Wood to be the second coming of Wilt, Kareem or Shaq in the post. If Wood is spending minutes as the teams power forward he’s not supposed to duplicate the play of Pau Gasol, Bob McAdoo or the present occupant at the position Anthony Davis.