Basketball from a fans perspective

We are almost there

Basketball in the same manner as other sports is 24/7 365, despite that statement there is a slow period. Generally after NBA Summer League and NBA free agency everything in the association begins to crawl news wise. As for the college game it reached that stage a few weeks after the NCAA tourney. There is a small amount of news but even at this level there’s not much to report. Words eye View will be reduced from a 7-day publication to a 3 or 4 times a week news source. At this point it will probably be a Sunday-Wednesday-Friday and maybe Saturday supplier. To those of you who are long-time readers of Off the Dribble thank you for your continued commitment. As for newer readers I hope you continue to use this as one of your basketball sources.

This is interesting…if true

The hire of JJ Redick as head coach by the Lakers certainly wouldn’t be placed in the category of shocking. I’m sure this list of possible assistant coaches is quite interesting based on their past. Let’s say the hiring of assistant coaches might be placed in the ‘most thought-provoking’ category. The following are names first reported, they include Sam Cassell who won a championship with the Celtics as a player and just this month as an assistant. Next up is Scott Brooks a former NBA player and head coach at two stops with the Thunder and Wizards.

Former point guard Rajon Rondo is a two-time NBA champion with the Celtics in 2008 and in 2020 with the Lakers. Probably the name most might not have thought of is Jared Dudley, he also has NBA championship experience as a player. Did you notice a theme here, with the exception of Brooks all those named have championship experience except Brooks. Brooks position is validated by serving as head coach twice no less. Keep in mind none of the names are yet to be confirmed, however if this staff is assembled as reported it should prove interesting. At the same time should something go horribly wrong with the Redick hire there are several candidates to choose from, the hope is that will not be a requirement.

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t

I will remind you again of this old quote, “Managers (coaches) receive far too much credit when their team wins and far too much blame when they lose.” The statement certainly applies to Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla. It was how his hiring came about, Mazzulla was on the staff of coach Ime Udoka. At the time Udoka was fired the Celtics stayed in house hiring him from the former coaches staff. Mazzulla has now won an NBA championship an accomplishment that places him in select company. Where did this all begin for him?

Mazzulla grew up in Rhode Island, he played his college basketball at West Virginia. He went undrafted in 2011 and that’s when he turned to coaching. The first job was an assistant at Division II Glenville State in West Virginia, later he moved to Fairmount State also located in West Virginia, this was also Division II. For the 2016-17 season Mazzulla was an assistant for the Celtics G-League team, then it was a return to Fairmont State this time as the head coach. In 2019 Mazzulla was hired as an assistant for the Celtics, in 2022 he was named interim head coach and the job was made permanent in 2023. At least for now Mazzulla is sitting on top of the world after his Celtics won the 2024 NBA championship. This but a brief look at the Celtics 35-year-old head coach.

The logo

You might remember back in 2020 there was a drive to change the NBA logo. This was initiated by a number of players and several in the media, they expressed the belief the Jerry West form had reached its expiration date. The NBA logo should represent a more contemporary player such as Kobe Bryant, LeBron James or Steph Curry. My counter argument this appeared to be change for no practical reason, as an example consider this.

Let’s say the logo is changed to Kobe, Steph or anyone, 20-30 years from now the argument becomes Victor Wembanyama should be the logo and 10 years later another player is named. As I indicated near the beginning change for no practical reason doesn’t make a great deal of sense to me. Jerry West died June 12, 2024, what a continued attempt regarding his legacy to leave everything as it is. Naturally, this is my opinion and it certainly doesn’t make it the only acceptable standard. If you believe another player should replace West as The Logo so be it.

It's not just me

At the Celtics victory parade guard Jaylen Brown sported a black t-shirt with large white lettering, it read ‘STATE YOUR SOURCE.” This was in reference to a statement made by Stephen A. Smith during ESPN’s First Take last month. Smith reported “that a source told him that Brown wasn’t marketable because of his ego” I would guess Brown is fed up with Stephen A Smith as well and this was his effort to shut Smith up.

This is the concern I have with the Smith assertion, prove what you report to be fact. The worst thing in the world is to inform someone in the media and then ask them to not reveal the source. From the media (Smith) to proclaim something about someone and then be unable to reveal the basis what’s that about? Why must we believe Smith when he offers no proof, its entirely possible the statement could be true however without proof it is useless. As you can see Brown becomes the latest athlete to be offended by something Smith states as the truth yet offers us no proof other than his words.