Basketball from a fans perspective

“It ain’t over till it’s over”

The headline was made famous by the late Yankee great Yogi Berra in 1973. I’m borrowing it for use in this account, after the game on Saturday night a reporter asked LeBron James about the future. The question was aimed at the 2024 NBA Playoffs. I don’t remember the exact response but it was something like Berra’s. The 123-109 victory over the Pacers was good, the Lakers won the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament Championship.

Have you ever witnessed an individual or team on a mission, that was the Lakers on Thursday against the Pelicans and Saturday night when they faced the Pacers. The Lakers could have lost either of the two game but they didn’t. Can you say it with me, “AD had a monster game” by as he led the way scoring 41 points along with 20 rebounds. In addition there were 5 assists and 4 blocked shots shooting 66.7% from the floor. AD took 0 shots from three, does that make him a less effective player, you are the judge? LeBron James contributed 24 points and Austin Reaves emerged from the bench with 28 points and 80% shooting from the field.

Using a combination of defenders the Lakers managed to hold the Pacers Tyrese Haliburton to 20 points. One more note someone asked LeBron about the future and he said, “We are getting healthy” and mentioned Gabe Vincent. The sharpshooter is the only Laker currently on the injury list, in closing there remains another account. Sunday afternoon I discover Austin Reaves had been battling a flu bug, someone said this will not match Jordan’s flu game however it might be a close second.

Who do you choose

You’ve got seconds remaining in a tight game, you need a 3-point basket to win the game. You have 5 players on the floor plus 3 reserves. As the coach you call a time out to designate one of the 7 to shoot, which one will it be to take this crucial shot? I didn’t inform you the makeup of the team, you have:

LeBron James

Kobe Bryant

Kevin Durant

Reggie Miller

Klay Thompson

Ray Allen

Larry Bird

Steph Curry

I titled this exercise who do you choose because as coach of this group it is your decision to pick the best player to take the shot.   

A different view

The late David Stern might have governed over the richest portion of NBA growth. Serving as commissioner from February 1984 through January 2014 was an impactful time for the league under his leadership. A few years before his retirement talk began circulating on expansion, Silver always dismissed talk of expansion instead growing the game internationally or expansion in Europe. Fast forward to the present day, Adam Silver has taken a different approach.

Silver wants to grow the NBA internationally but unlike Stern he’s made no mention of placing teams in Europe. Instead Silver’s focus is locations in the western hemisphere. In fairness to Silver a new television contract will be signed I believe after the 2024-25 season. Perhaps it might be one of the forces driving expansion and Silver willing to discuss it unlike Stern. You are familiar with the sites mentioned, Seattle and Las Vegas are at the top of the list. Secondary mentions have been made by Silver which includes Vancouver, Montreal and Mexico City. Would the NBA expand beyond U.S. borders to Canada and Mexico before adding an American city? That question is in the realm of the unknown and certainly cannot be answered. Speculating on my part Seattle and Las Vegas are there, the only requirement the NBA announce the addition of team 31 and 32, as for the others the water is a little murkier. History says the league is rare to return to a city loss previously and that would be Vancouver.

Montreal might be a better choice based on several factors chief among them population. The metro population of Montreal is over 4 million while Vancouver is 2.6 million. Mexico City is almost there however I believe there are issues unrelated to financing of a new team. The chief reason is not the language issue it’s the altitude, Mexico City’s elevation is higher than Denver. There will likely be no unbalance NBA, two teams will be added to make for 34. What do you think about NBA expansion, do you think it’s possible without watering down the talent?

Maybe it will…maybe it won’t

Over the last few weeks and months a stream of story’s have been written on plans for new NBA arenas. San Antonio, Philadelphia, Oklahoma City and Las Vegas are the city’s mentioned. I’ve reported on the possible issues in Philadelphia but Oklahoma City might be added to the list as well. Citizens of the city are to vote on Tuesday to determine if taxpayers will affirm a $900 million arena proposal. I realize this is Christmas and the giving season however a few of the residents don’t appear in the giving mood. What is the major issue, the one that’s evident in Kansas City’s attempt to build a baseball stadium.

Taxpayers question why they must assume the cost of these sports palaces when owners have deep pockets, deep enough to pay for them alone. This is an Oklahoma City and Kansas City issue but as I pointed out previously this doesn’t exist all over the nation. Steve Ballmer’s Intuit Dome under construction in Los Angeles is privately funded, in San Francisco Chase Center was also privately funded. The leadership in Philadelphia and Las Vegas claim the arenas in those two locales will be constructed without taxpayer funds. The proposal for San Antonio is in the talking stage at present along with that in Las Vegas. As for Oklahoma City I intend to monitor the vote to explore how it turns out, I will do a follow up for you later.