Basketball from a fan’s perspective

I hesitated

There is always a reluctance on my part to mention ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith’s name. This has to do with providing him space on my blog which is not due him. There are occasions I cannot sit back without covering him and this is one of those occasions. I didn’t see the incident involving Westbrook and another player only heard it described. The outcome “upset” Smith to the point he claimed he’d call the NBA office. According to him he wanted to know why Westbrook wasn’t suspended for the punch etc., put a period at this point and allow me to state this belief.

I have no method to document if a telephone call was placed to NBA League headquarters…I am one of those who find it difficult to believe several of the stories Smith passes about. Am I saying he’s lying, let’s just say he might be embellishing the truth a bit. See I've heard and read too many accounts of his that sound strangely fictional, like the Big House Gaines story. You remember the legendary coach of Winston-Salem State University whom Smith claims was persuaded by this friend of his for a tryout. Smith asserted he sunk a remarkable number of 3-point baskets enough that Gaines "decided to award him a basketball scholarship on the spot." Later an injury would force Smith from the game permanently with a 1.0 ppg average.

They are gone…at least one of them    

I can see no evidence pointing towards Darvin Ham returning as head coach, it was more than the Nuggets closing out this series 108-106. The Game 5 could have seen the Lakers in the lead or at least in a 2-2 tie. Instead of looking back I’m going to look forward, catch me later in the week this critique might be completely different. As this is written despite the play LeBron James demonstrates it seems he is as much of a distraction as his coach. I would be concerned if he didn’t return next season however I wouldn’t be upset. The Lakers play season long has been inconsistent to my eyes, that points directly to Ham and LeBron. One chief area of concern for me is the center position, AD had an outstanding season in my opinion.

Although his size present that of a post player I remain unconvinced regarding that. They should move Jaxon Hayes or Christian Wood into the 5 slot and determine if they have more skill than simply that of a reserve. Point guard is another area of concern, I’m unsure what occurs for D’Lo however I don’t believe Trae Young is the answer. A trade or acquisition of Young fails to improve play in my view. Some of the changes mentioned are pure speculation on my part, the new coach must implement these changes once LeBron retires or returns to the Cavs. If I waited until Saturday this assessment of the Lakers would be far different on Wednesday after the Monday elimination. This was clean on my part I must state this at the end. You read no profanity…no hair on fire nor any dire outlook for the future. This I hope appears to be a commonsense approach about re-tooling this Laker team.

Everyone can’t be them

Some folks are more demonstrative than others and that’s okay. While most folks are more laid back then these next two…well let’s discuss them. The two that standout for me are Mark Cuban owner of the Mavs and Steve Ballmer with the Clippers. Television cameras will always catch them at points during telecast rooting enthusiastically for their teams. Cuban first came to our attention in January 2000, history indicates he purchased the majority share in the Mavs in that year. This part is certainly of interest, “In the 20 years before Cuban purchased the team they won only 40% of their games, in the 10 years following they won 69% of their games.”

No skybox for Cuban he is usually seated behind one of the backboards nearest the Mavs bench or seated immediately behind it. Although he’s sold his majority share of the team Cuban remains the face of the Dallas Mavericks. You might have heard the term “self-made man” to someone building his financial empire, that certainly applies to Mark Cuban in my view. Next up is Clippers owner Ballmer, unlike the Mavs Cuban, Ballmer’s name was known by a segment of the population prior to his purchase of the Clippers. His long association as a key member of Microsoft was the reason a portion of the public was familiar with his name. After the Donald Sterling saga broke in May of 2014 the NBA was exploring a new owner for the Clippers. There were two groups bidding for the franchise one with television magnate Oprah Winfrey and Ballmer. Winfrey indicated when the dollar amount exceeded $2 billion her group dropped out conceding the sale to Ballmer.

Since 2014 the owner’s worked diligently to improve the team through free agency, coaching and other areas. The most ambitious project Ballmer’s taken on is construction of the Intuit Dome scheduled to open in the fall of 2024. The $2 billion state of the art arena was built with 0 taxpayer funds, Ballmer is underwriting all costs associated with the Intuit Dome. Similar to the Mavs owner Ballmer can usually be spotted seated on the floor behind one of the backboards. There you have it, a brief look at Mark Cuban and Steve Ballmer NBA owners, they certainly are not the only high-profile owners however they might be the most visible. The visibility is mostly due to the manner they impact their respective teams and also where they choose to sit during their teams games and the other stuff.

3-Peat

In this part of the nation fans are discussing a 3-peat for the NFL Chiefs, there’s even been talk of a football dynasty. I am extremely cautious anytime someone desires to hold those types of conversations. There are far too many variables possible which might prevent a team from winning it all. In Storrs we are hearing and reading similar comments regarding the Huskies, if anyone can accomplish this feat Dan Hurley would be the one. I’ve long believed he’s one of the best college basketball coaches there is but back to the question.

It appears UConn might lose its starting 5 so what occurs then regarding a 3-peat? It might begin with adding Liam McNeeley a 5-star prospect in the Class of 2024. The 6-foot 7 185-pound wing played at Montverde Academy in Florida, that’s proof he’s played high quality basketball. The roster is not gutted completely, there are returnees and in addition there’s the transfer portal. Allow me to close with this thought, I feel comfortable stating Hurley will get the most from his roster no matter who’s there. Those who hate the coach should grow accustomed to mentioning his name anytime we are discussing Big Time college basketball.