Basketball from a fan’s perspective

I’m Back!

That statement belongs to Michael Jordan, I can’t use that…on the other hand. Thanks for being patient during this short break. Below is the Monday edition, please enjoy.   

More trivia

I’ve probably made a big deal about Nate Thurmond and Gus Johnson. They were two high school basketball teammates enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame, they played at Akron (OH) Central High School. With the number of athletes participating in a sport surely there must be more than these two. There have been outstanding teammates who turned pro in other sports. As an example Glen Rice played basketball at Michigan and in high school one of the guards on his team was Andre Rison. Rice had an NBA career while we became familiar with Rison on the gridiron. Rison was a standout wide receiver playing for several NFL teams.

I located several teammates although I could only locate one additional set of teammates to share with you. McClymonds High School in Oakland had basketball players Bill Russell and Frank Robinson as teammates in 1951-52. According to information neither distinguished themselves at the time. Russell went on to college and NBA history with the Celtics, he was enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame. As for Robinson he changed sports and became an outstanding baseball player for several major league teams, later it would be the Cooperstown Hall of Fame for him. In closing keep in mind this represents the here and now, there are high school teammates who are active as this is written, there are also athletes recently retired. The latter might be pending a hall of fame inclusion later in time.

The transfer portal   

Is the transfer portal the new evil of the world, depending on who you might converse with that might be the view? Mine is certainly not the voice that sees all however I’d really desire to know what the issue is. For the most part my guess is that player makes the decision to transfer officially after the season. Has he sabotaged his current school due to his desire to leave, that question has no answer. It’s my belief the portal is similar to NIL, at the time NIL was first begun there were adjustments required by schools.

I’m sure there remain issues with the portal however it’s relatively new, the newness certainly requires an adjustment period. It’s my belief the same applies to the transfer portal plus it’s got one key advantage. A coach can place a greater degree of comfort in a crucial point of a game over a fuzzy-faced freshman, that transfer portal player is no novice. The deadline to enter the portal is May 1 however it’s not the end. I just learned players can still transfer throughout the summer but they must have entered by the May 1

Even more trivia

It was 1946, it was born as the Basketball Association of American and in 1949 it became the National Basketball Association. This was done once the BAA merged with teams from the National Basketball League (NBL). If we use 1946 as the starting point the NBA is now 78-years old, in that length of time two teams have won nearly half of the leagues championships. The Celtics and Lakers each own 16 championships for a grand total of 64.

Several teams have won in cities the NBA left years ago. We begin with the Baltimore Bullets (Wizards) who won it all in 1948. The Rochester Royals (Kings) were champions in 1951. In 1955 the Syracuse Nationals were crowned NBA Champions, the St. Louis Hawks won in 1958, Atlanta is now home. In 1979 the Sonics were the winners, I am not connecting them with the Thunder one of the conditions of the move the name Sonics belongs exclusively to Seattle and records remain in the Emerald City. The balance of teams which includes the Magic, Suns, Thunder, Wolves and Jazz have never won a championship.

Social media

I imagine the life of an NBA player is much more difficult now compared to someone who played 20 plus years ago. I’m not referring to the physical part it’s the social media portion. The year post-game press conferences began is unknown but that is totally different from social media in this age. It’s not only X or Facebook, Instagram or some source being utilized. It’s also the considerable number of “talking heads” we see or hear at any hour of the day on ESPN, Fox Sports, YouTube or other platforms.

The issue is the same for each of these analyst, they are offering you the reader or hearer their opinion of the athlete or the game. I am a blogger, often I find myself provoking controversy. In my defense my reporting is never intended to provoke controversy although it might occur on occasion. The main thing always my hope, providing you an opinion without asking mindless questions. Below you will locate a classic example used in the past, a media member asked Tauren Prince at the time he played at Baylor, check it out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atr60tR7Emo