Basketball from a fans perspective

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He’s an enigma

Gilbert Arenas was a good but not great NBA player, he was a 3X All NBA All Star. That’s the good, as for the bad there was one single incident in his career that stands out for us. He was suspended for most of the 2009-10 NBA season, he’d brought a handgun into the Wizards locker room over a dispute with a fellow player. The player pulled out his gun on Arenas who in turn did the same. No shots were exchanged just an ugly incident for the Wizards and the NBA. Arenas would eventually leave the NBA at 30 years of age, was it possible he could have played a few more years that’s certainly a possibly.

It’s my belief his past actions may have caught up with him and the NBA had grown weary of his questionable behavior. Despite what you might believe the NBA has a point that simply says…” That’s too much and no more.” The Grizzlies waived Arenas in 2012 with him playing insignificant minutes that season. Since his retirement Arenas similar to other athletes has become a podcaster, this has caused him to become a lighting rod for controversy based on some of the comments he’s made over time. The latest Arenas comment was detailed in last Friday’s Off the Dribble. You might remember I wrote Duke’s Cooper Flagg had signed a contract with New Balance, they do manufacture basketball shoes but are not one of the major players. Signing Flagg might be an attempt by the company to improve their marketplace share we just don’t know. In any event the story caught the eye of Arenas and he felt compelled to critique it. All realize Nike is the clear winner regarding basketball shoes and apparel and that’s where this story goes a little sideways.

Without offering a shred of evidence Arenas decides “Nike didn’t want Flagg” which is certainly strange from my standpoint. As I’ve stated previously I have no clue if Flagg can play competitively in college let alone the NBA. Apparently he signed with New Balance because he chose to, maybe he did this because their plant is only 25 miles from his Maine hometown. We really have no idea why Flagg signed with New Balance. The second part of this story Arenas has no idea if Nike reached out and Flagg just decided he'd rather go with them over Nike.   

An implied black eye

This blog detailed the Basketball Africa League a few weeks ago just in case you are unfamiliar with BAL here are a few brief details. It was founded in 2019 and is a co-op effort between the NBA and FIBA. Recently the BAL and its association with the NBA came under scrutiny based on events in Rwanda. An ESPN media person questioned the NBA and its role with Paul Kagame. If you are like me you are probably not familiar with Kagame’s name, he is currently serving as president of Rwanda although he’s considered a dictator by several in and outside the nation of Rwanda.

That is the question raised by ESPN, why is the NBA conducting business with Kagame based on the manner he presides over the nation. Two U.S. senators have accused the NBA of being more interested in profits over human rights violations. The initial response of the NBA is to defend itself, which certainly was expected. At this point I will refrain from going into further detail while awaiting a further NBA response. A story of this magnitude contains several layers, in all likelihood it will not be resolved quickly, I will continue to follow developments as they become available.

I stand corrected 

You might have read the discussion of basketball shoes, it was mentioned Converse Chuck Taylors were the “Maybach” of shoes back in the day. The statement remains correct however there was another entry. I’m unsure if college players wore PRO-Keds but several NBA players did. If the names are unknown to you take time and google the player. Among those who wore the shoe, Lou Hudson, Bob Lanier and Nate ‘Tiny’ Archibald. I was shocked to discover the great Kareem Abdul Jabbar sported PRO-Keds.

According to the information uncovered the shoes were a staple for the players named from the 1950’s through the ‘80’s. That would indicate they were the shoe of choice at the same time a number of players wore Converse Chuck Taylors. Another site claims the shoe was intended to compete with Converse Chuck Taylors. From a vintage era photo it appears Tiny Archibald wore Converse PRO-Keds while a member of the Kansas City Kings, this would 1972 and possibly lasted through his 1977 trade to the Nets. Where these NBA players financially compensated, I have no idea but believe they must have been. 

Don’t slay the messenger

Read it for yourself, Andy Katz longtime college basketball scribe is the responsible party. I am only offering this for those who may have missed it. Folks in Lawrence Kansas are likely to boo and hiss Katz for his ranking, it was him not me ranking the Top 10 fan bases in the nation. With a warning “Beware of the Phog” those in Jayhawk Nation believe they are the best, not according to Katz. He rates Kentucky with the top fan base and UConn number 2.

Where is Kansas on his list, he ranks them number 3 in the nation. At 4 is Duke and the Top 5 concludes with Purdue at number 5. Whether you agree with his ranking or not it’s certainly true, college basketball fan bases are light years ahead of ALL NBA teams. It’s my belief a number of NBA fans attend the game expecting to be entertained. That doesn’t exist at these college arenas and others throughout the nation. As for Katz my focus was 1-5, did he correctly identify the basketball arenas that contain the most high-spirited crowds?