Basketball from a fan’s perspective

Au revoir South Beach

Jimmy Butler’s NBA career is winding down, he will turn 35 by the time the 2024-25 season begins. He’s accomplished a great deal during his time in the NBA. I’m not going to detail it for you he’s been there with the Bulls, Wolves, Sixers and now in his 5th year with the Heat. Everyone want’s to be paid but my guess he is driven by something other than folding money. I believe its his desire to win an NBA championship. What drives him might be a question, his start in life was rough if your not familiar with it. Raised in a single parent household, his mother told him to leave when he was 13 years old. Butler says he bounced around from house to house never remaining long anywhere.

Butler graduated from Tomball High School in the Houston (TX) metro area, he then attended Tyler Junior College for a year and then Marquette. In the 2011 NBA draft the Bulls selected him near the end of the first round. The balance of his NBA story can be described however I have a question. Butler claims he’s still in contact with his father and mother because they are still family. My question, who motivated him while he was homeless. Who provided him the ability to see the possible lucrative future that lay in front of him. It matters not where you begin because sometimes you can do nothing about that fact. It does matter where you end up in life and that would certainly appear to be a good place for Jimmy Butler a.k.a. Jimmy Buckets.

Mexico City

This is a recap of an earlier account, it is being covered again based on comments made by NBA commissioner Adam Silver recently. The commissioner was discussing NBA expansion and he mentioned Canada and Mexico. He noted the altitude of Mexico City being higher than that of Denver. He also cited this fact, a flight from New York City to Mexico City is less flying time than one from New York to Los Angeles. As for the clock, as this is written it is 10:24 p.m. in Kansas City and 9:24 p.m. in Mexico City. So as you can surmise time is a non-issue regarding NBA expansion unlike any attempt to expand in Europe.

As for a place to play games that would be Arena Ciudad de Mexico which opened in 2012, the arena seats 22,300 which makes it’s seating larger than every NBA arena. Since it’s opening a number of exhibition and regular season NBA games have been played in Arena Ciudad de Mexico. which may The economics say the city should be able to support and NBA team. It’s possible there are at least two issues that may prevent an NBA team in the near future. The first mentioned earlier is the altitude of the city the second might be the language barrier. Spanish is the language spoken by the vast majority of the population. According to a 2023 report I located only 5% of Mexico City’s population speaks English, could that be a hindrance to an NBA team in the city?

Basketball was the game of choice

If you watch NFL football the name James Brown is familiar to you. He’s been one of a host of personalities the CBS Network has used over time, he’s been host of The NFL Today since 2006 and Inside the NFL since 2008. Although Brown is associated with the oblong ball his sport of choice early was roundball. If we return briefly to the past we discover Brown became known playing basketball at DeMatha High School in Maryland. In 1967 and 1968 Brown was named a member of the All-Metropolitan boys basketball teams, it was stated 7 of his teammates went on to play Division I basketball.

Brown would later attend Harvard University where he further distinguished himself on the court, he was all Ivy League his last three years while at Harvard. In 1973 Brown was the 63rd draft pick by the Atlanta Hawks, although Brown went to training camp he failed to earn a roster spot. With an Ivy League degree he went to work for two Fortune 500 companies. In 1984 Brown went into sports broadcasting and you are aware after that he would become one of the voices of the NFL. Despite his close association with the NFL Brown didn’t divorce basketball all together. From 1984-1993 and briefly in 2007 Brown performed a number of duties for College Basketball and the NBA. Although Brown is mostly associated with the NFL it was basketball which came first.

Way above my pay grade

We have covered the ongoing issue regarding the Marc Lore-Alex Rodriguez struggle to purchase the Wolves. The latest report indicated a decision was in the hands of an arbitrator for a verdict. The question, did the Lore/Rodriguez team violate the agreement to purchase the Wolves. According to owner Glen Taylor they were unable to secure the final $600 million they needed by March 27. Along comes Michael Bloomberg former NYC mayor and one of the richest persons in the world. It seems the Lore/Rodriguez group was either unable to afford to purchase 100% of the team or possibly owner Taylor didn’t offer it.

In any event billionaire Bloomberg enters the picture and it is reported he will buy out the final 20% of Taylor’s stake, this would provide the Lore/Rodriguez team 100% ownership. Bloomberg is not expected to be an active owner, this sale is yet to be completed but it represents the latest development in this ongoing drama. It should be of note I cannot remember there ever being a problem with the sale of an NBA team except in the case of New Orleans and Detroit. If my memory serves me correctly both involved an owners death and there were probate issues. The Blazers remain unsold however the sister of Gary Allen is running the team and is yet to “officially” place the team on the market. Back to the Wolves in closing, it appears this pending sale should be finalized soon.