Basketball from a fans perspective 

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“He said what?”

Several reading this might become offended, they will consider it racist. I can’t look inside Kevin Garnett’s mind and only attempt to explain it as I believe it might have been intended. “The Kid” as he was nicknamed has seen Cooper Flagg in action and made this statement to Basketball Network. “When it comes to being a leader, with all the exposure he has gotten in high school, he is used to leading a team, he is used to the attention. He is used to walking to the gym and people knowing who he is, that superstardom that follows you,” Garnett said. “I’m seeing kids wanting be like that and play like that. When I see him move? I’m like, okay. He has that superstar potential. We ain’t had no bad-a**cold-a** white boy like this in a long time. That’s some real sh*t.”

Excuse the language and perhaps the racial tone however Garnett was expressing his belief regarding the Flagg potential. There are a number of white superstars or potential one’s in the NBA, we could begin with The Joker, Lauri Markkanen, Luka Doncic or a number I might have overlooked writing this from memory alone. Those mentioned and others are from Europe not the U.S., we must return to Larry Bird to uncover the last white American superstar to arrive in the NBA. 

Some might disagree with this statement, Gordon Hayward was on the road however injury might have derailed his potential. Last month after a series of playing for several teams he retired. As for yours truly I believe in Cooper Flagg, the true test the NBA lies ahead. I believe Flagg can conquer the NBA too but his first trial will be this upcoming season at Duke. Provided he’s given time to adjust to NBA play and avoids major injury we just might see the first white American superstar to arrive in the NBA since the days of Larry Bird.

Dickey V

If you follow college basketball you may have noticed longtime ESPN analyst Dick Vitale was missing in action this past season. Health issues kept him sidelined from telecasts much of last season, I’m unsure of his 2024-25 schedule. Despite this question Dickey V manages to provide us his clever remarks on basketball talent, most of them are easy to figure out while others might cause you to ask…what’s that? Rather than provide you the names of the players and coaches on the 2024-25 season my preference is to provide the comedic name of the team and a brief explanation:

PTPers (prime-time players)- important team members 

Floor Generals-point guards or leaders performing a similar role

Low Post Enforcers- prominent centers

Marco Polo Team- noteworthy talent transferring from other teams 

Frank Lloyd Wright Team-coaches who perform double duty coaching & managing NIL

A quick history lesson for some and a reminder for others, Marco Polo was an Italian merchant who traveled from his country to Asia in the 13th century. Frank Lloyd Wright was a well-known American architect and designer (1867-1959), he created over 1,000 structures during his 70 year career.

Do you agree

A sports website provided it’s list of the NBA’s All-Time Top Passers. I’m going to list them but might ask the question, did they omit anyone you believe should have been included. With that said here goes, by the way these are not in any order:

Bob Cousy        Chris Paul                     Isiah Thomas    Jason Kidd

John Stockton  Larry Bird                      LeBron James   Magic Johnson

Nikola Jokic      Oscar Robertson           Rajon Rondo     Steve Nash

This I find most interesting for me, although their list contains 12 names it is not exclusively point guards. Forwards LeBron James and Larry Bird earn positions along with center Nikola Jokic. As for additions I’m adding Walt “Clyde” Frazier along with Gary Payton and surprise… the name of Wilt Chamberlain. This might be shocking to some, Chamberlain once led the NBA in assists (8.6) in the 1967-68 season. In conclusion do you have additional names to add?

The best

If you were asked the question, “Which HBCU school had the best record in the 2023-24 season could you answer?” We’ll I will inform you which one it ain’t, it’s not Grambling State, Prairie View, Howard University or any other HBCU institution. Truth of the matter its Langston University located in Langston Oklahoma about 50 miles north of Oklahoma City. This past season playing an NAIA schedule they lost an exhibition game against the University of Arkansas at Monticello on December 4.

They wouldn’t lose another game until NAIA Tournament time came around. Langston played for the NAIA Championship but lost to Freed-Hardeman University from Henderson Tennessee 71-67. In between those two losses Langston won 30 consecutive games and finished the season with 35 wins versus 2 losses. Expect more great basketball from Langston led by head coach Chris Wright. He managed to turn around one of the worst basketball programs in the nation going 31-3 in his first year and 35-2 in year two.

There really is no off season

Does an off season exist for the NBA and all basketball…I think not. Technically teams are not at play however news and events continue to occur from April (end of the college season). As for the NBA the league makes news 12 months of the year. As an example in June the Celtics were crowned NBA champions, we then moved to the NBA draft and then free agency. This places us near the end of July but it doesn’t end there, the balance of the summer sees NBA Summer League play. This summer was different in that a number of NBA players were active in the Olympics.

Team USA, France, Canada and the rosters of several other nations contained NBA or former league players. In the meantime over the summer a number of youth teams are active playing AAU basketball from coast to coast. In early August as students begin returning to school so do freshman, transfer and returning basketball members. Once again I make the statement I’m unsure if an “off-season” really exists for basketball at all levels. Basketball is no different from other pro and amateur sports which also operate 12 months a year. Just because the teams are not competing that fails to take into consideration there is activity on-going.