Published Monday thru Friday    

Basketball from a fans perspective

“You don’t have to be Magic to be special. You’re already special, you’re you.”

Magic Johnson

Can you name them

LeBron James is about to begin year 21 in the NBA, that’s a region few NBA players have achieved since the league was born in 1949. There have been 6 in history including James, can you name the other 5? I have no idea without checking NBA archives, I would guess Robert “Chief” Parrish is probably one but I’m forced to look up the others. The following are those NBA players along with the last year they played in the association:    

Kevin Garnett-2016

Vince Carter-2020

Kevin Willis-2007

Dirk Nowitzki-2019

Robert Parrish-1997

LeBron James-?

This is a rare and unusual event, it’s quite possible we may not witness another NBA player accomplishing this feat in the future.

Sorry folks, I did it again

I have an old target, his name is Gilbert Arenas and he once displayed his talent in the NBA. Arenas was a good but not great basketball player in my view. Since his retirement as a player I’m unsure what he’s done other than host a podcast. The podcast is where I’m going, he’s made several outrageous stuff I’ve taken issue with. While the opinions express are his I still disagree with them and have said so. More recently one of his podcasts caused a number of people to question his view on a subject. It wasn’t just me, NBA fans and other podcast hosts voiced a view indicating Arenas was off base. Based on the amount of pushback he received Arenas decided a response was required. The following sentence paraphrased his statement, “You (the public) haven’t played in the NBA, you don’t know the ends and out of what it takes.”

I can agree with the Arenas rebuttal to a degree, like most of you I haven’t played in the NBA nor was I even talented enough to earn a roster spot on my high school basketball team. Despite that fact I’ve got just as much a right to express my opinion as Arenas has to offer his view on a subject. I have no idea what it takes to run a financial institution, not because I’m not intelligent enough I haven’t been trained. I’ve seen utility workers climb utility poles but have no training. There are a thousand and one things in the world we have no working knowledge how they operate. Despite the fact of not working in the field we observe something that our common sense says “That ain’t right!” This is for you Mr. Arenas, we can disagree without being disagreeable, you are not correct all the time and neither am I. 

It ain’t me

I’ve heard the following statement made by some Mizzou fans, “I’m waiting for something to go wrong.” It seems whenever there is a positive many anticipate a downturn or misfortune. I can cite a couple of examples I’ve read, the 5th down awarded to Colorado which allowed them to win a match their football game over Mizzou. In basketball it was the mad dash winning layup by UCLA’s Tyus Edney preventing Mizzou from advancing in the NCAA Tournament. Sorry, that ain’t me…I’m not a member of the “Legion of Doom” you know who they are? They seem always prepared for something or someone to impact the Mizzou sports program from a negative standpoint.

This is written prior to Mizzou kicking off against Memphis, I don’t know if this football game is a winner or loser (it was a winner). This has been another excellent, yes I can say that recruiting week in basketball. Coach Gates managed to receive a verbal commitment from Annor Boateng a 6-foot 5 wing from Little Rock Arkansas, Boateng represents the culmination of a very successful summer of basketball recruiting I believe will extend into the fall. As for basketball the only negative I see, prospect A might not be able to make the jump from high school play to Division I basketball. Unlike some who claim an allegiance to the Mizzou program I don’t expect bad luck to follow the Mizzou program because I plain don’t believe in bad luck.

He’s got a new job

I didn’t realize this fact until I read it in the news release, Jeff Van Gundy’s television career has been lengthier than his coaching resume in the NBA. As most are aware his job as a basketball analyst with ESPN ended after the NBA season, he’d been employed by the network for the last 16 years. Van Gundy served as head coach of the Knicks and Rockets compiling a 430-318 record a total of 11 years. The Celtics hired Van Gundy as a senior consultant in their basketball operations group. The news release indicated he will divide his time between Boston and Portland Maine home of the G-League Maine Claws.