Basketball from a fans perspective

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Remember when….

In years past an All American basketball team was comprised of seniors a collection of juniors and sophomores. Some years we might uncover a freshman such as Lew Alcindor, Anthony Davis or Carmelo Anthony. That scenario no longer exists, truth is most of us are unsure of who earns a spot on an All American team. The names listed below are the All Americans for 2024. Don’t worry I wasn’t familiar with several names on either team. 

FIRST TEAM

RJ Davis SG North Carolina, senior

Zach Edey C Purdue, senior

Dalton Knecht SF Tennessee, graduate

Tristen Newton PG UConn, graduate

Jamal Shead PG Houston, senior

SECOND TEAM

Hunter Dickinson C, Kansas, senior*

Kyle Filipowski PF/C Duke, sophomore

DaRon Holmes III PF Dayton, junior

Tyler Kolek PG Marquette, senior

Mark Sears PG Alabama, senior 

*additional eligibility, Dickinson has returned to Kansas for the 2025-26.

Take note, the first team is three all seniors and two (2) graduate assistants. The second team contains one junior and one sophomore. What’s missing from this All American list…freshman? That’s not to say first year players are missing every season it just so happens that was the case for the 2023-24 college season. The landscape’s changed those freshman believe talented enough are off to the NBA after but one year.

Bring it on

The last quarter of the 20th Century NFL football has clearly been the leader in the hearts and minds of most Americans. Despite that fact the league finds itself following the NBA in one area…Christmas Day. December 25 Christmas Day and through the evening have long been the exclusive domain of the NBA. That existed until last season, this past year the NFL scheduled games on Christmas December 25 which fell on a Monday, the NFL generally plays games on Monday so it wasn’t that unusual. Once Christmas was over and the television numbers were compiled they were outstanding for the NFL. Fact is the NFL surpassed the NBA games, that was not unusual. 

It was believed the Christmas Day NFL games were an anomaly and strictly based on the calendar. With the holiday falling on a Wednesday we’d not see a repeat of 2023, that’s what was thought to occur. The NFL decided to repeat what most believed they wouldn’t schedule. The NFL has games scheduled Christmas Day I seriously doubt if the NBA has an issue with the competition. The true NBA fan will be tuned in, he or she might watch the NFL game if its more enticing than the NBA game. We shall wait and see what develops from these “sports wars,” meanwhile below is the schedule for games:

Spurs at Knicks

Wolves at Mavs

Sixers at Celtics

Lakers at Warriors

Nuggets at Suns    

The best

Who is the best college basketball player might depend on who is holding the discussion. In this instance its college basketball coaches according to CBS Sports. The coaches rank them in this order, Cooper Flagg (36%), Mark Sears (22%) and Hunter Dickinson (16%). It remains interesting Flagg is rated the best college basketball player and is yet to register a single minute on the court for Duke. Up next is Sears who played outstanding basketball at Alabama. Looking at his numbers this point guard scored at a 21.5 point clip, he shot .508 from the floor and .436 from the 3-line along with 4 assists a game.

Finally there is Hunter Dickinson at Kansas. Dickinson is a 7 foot 1 260 pound post player who averaged nearly 18 points along with 10.9 rebounds a game this past season. Dickinson is a three point threat, his Achilles heel however is his free throw shooting. This is what I find most interesting, despite the fact these three are highly rated by college coaches for the NBA that is a different matter. Flagg is the only name that can be found on two mock draft sites. Don’t become confused by my statement, I’m not saying Sears and Dickinson are not NBA prospects. As this is written in middle August their names are excluded from these mock draft sites.

A change

Michael Jordan sold his majority share in the Hornets, he still retains a minority share of the team. Dwayne Wade owns a portion of the Jazz while the Hawks have Grant Hill as an owner. Once upon a time Magic Johnson owned a piece of the Lakers but sold it to acquire a stake in the baseball Dodgers. All of us are aware LeBron James has long made his intentions known, he wants to own an NBA team as well. Hopefully, this list is complete however there might be a new pending owner.

Sharpshooter deluxe Steph Curry announced the fact he wants to become an NBA owner. Curry’s announcement caught us off guard, unlike LeBron who’s long voiced an opinion Curry made no previous indication this was his intended future. I have no idea of his wealth however taking a partner or multiple partners I don’t see why not. The question might be which team, that is likely an important consideration. With a planned Las Vegas, Seattle and possibly Mexico City expansion franchise it would appear the field is wide open. On the other hand it could be an existing franchise, just recently the Celtics were placed on the market.