Basketball from a fans perspective

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Bits n Pieces of information

They need a Mars Blackmon character or something, allow me to explain further. The name Mars Blackmon might fail to register with a substantial portion reading this, the character was portrayed by Spike Lee in dozens of Air Jordan commercials back in the day. Of course His Airness Michael Jordan was featured in the commercials but it was Mars Blackmon who was just as much the focal point of the commercials maybe more than MJ. Recently I saw the first New Balance commercial featuring Cooper Flagg, in my opinion it was bland rather than entertaining. Listen folks, I have no expertise in this area but long believed commercials should do two things. They should Sell the product and Entertain, the New Balance ads do neither. Don’t take my word alone, check out YouTube and decide for yourself.

The talk of adding UConn to the Big XII conference has stalled, don’t misunderstand what I am communicating I’m not saying the Connecticut school will never join the Big XII. There are a bunch of moving parts one being a television contract. As I attempted to point out previously the Big East is more than UConn but it is a key, could Fox cancel its contract should UConn leave? That question and others cannot be answered by me. I have but one question why does commissioner Brett Yormark continue to add teams? There are now 16 teams in this expanded conference, I’ve read the basketball schedule this upcoming season will see some teams play one another only once. Of course in the past teams have played a home and home schedule. Of course everything is money generated so I guess that’s the answer.

I don’t remember the name perhaps you may, his name Dink Pate and he’s from Dallas Texas. Pate was a 5-star prospect at the time he graduated high school. Although he could have chosen colleges Alabama or Arkansas he decided in favor of G-League Team Elite in 2023. He just turned 18 last March making him the youngest American player in professional team sports. Pate had a pedestrian first year as a pro but was probably looking forward to year two. Of course by now you are aware G-League Team Elite closed shop so he attempted to enter his name in the 2024 NBA draft but was turned down. Based on that fact Pate had to find a team and he did, he’s headed to Mexico having signed a contract with the Mexico City Capitanes of the G-League.

I’ve often wondered

Both football and basketball require talent and skill to play the sport at an exceptional level. There is a difference in this manner, I received this insight from a former high school and college football player. Jerome informed me of his observation. “You cannot expect an 18-year old football tackle to play in the NFL yet an 18-year old basketball player could come into the NBA and dominate.” There are host of basketball players who while not dominating the game certainly held their own against 29 and 30 year old veteran pro players.

Who are they, this is speculation on my part because neither Wilt Chamberlain nor Abdul Jabbar were able to play as teens in the NBA although I believe they could have. We certainly could name LeBron James as a day one player, also add the name of Moses Malone to our list. If we fast forward to present day we could see the names of Luka Doncic and Victor Wembanyama added to a list. Both of them were 19-years old when they arrived in the NBA and despite their age were able to compete immediately. Attempting this from memory I’m quite sure I’ve omitted one or more players who could be on this list. This really provides us little evidence of Jerome’s belief but I’ve detailed for you a number of youthful NBA players.     

Which sport…chose one or maybe not

I saw video of Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes playing basketball. Although he moved as smoothly on the basketball court as he does the football field its clear he made the correct choice. At 6 foot 2 and 225 pounds he is a “tweener”, too short to play small forward probably not tall enough even for a big shooting guard too. How about another player and sport, that would be the Yankees Aaron Judge. Judge played three sports in high school, pitcher and first baseman, wide receiver for the football team. In basketball he played center and once averaged 18.2 points, the difference between Mahomes and Judge is size.

Judge stands 6 foot 7 and 282 pounds, despite his size Judge chose baseball over the other two. He might have been a dynamite power forward if he’d chosen basketball. How about LeBron James, a 6 foot 9 inch 250 pound wide receiver in high school if he’d continued he would have become a tight end in the NFL. Two NFL tight ends one in the NFL Hall of Fame are up next. Tony Gonzalez played for the Chiefs and Falcons but he also played on Cal’s basketball and football team, at 6 foot 4 and 255 pounds he was too “small” for the NBA. Antonio Gates story is quite different in one aspect. He wanted to play football and basketball at Michigan State, that would not occur Nick Saban didn’t want him playing basketball so Gates decided on Kent State. He played both sports but he also was 6-4 and 255, the NBA was out of the question, he would spend his NFL career all with the Chargers. Danny Ainge now an executive for the Jazz played baseball before beginning his NBA career with the Celtics. Of course the athlete many refer to as the GOAT Michael Jordan at one time retired from the Bulls played minor league baseball for a time and then returned to the NBA.

One of the names that even predates Jordan is Gene Conley whose major league career was quite different. Rather than choose one sport over the other how about playing both at the same time? Conley was a reserve player for the Celtics while pitching for the Red Sox, other than Bo Jackson (who never played basketball) Conley was one of the few to accomplish this deed. At an earlier period actor Chuck Conners played for the Celtics and the baseball Cubs. This look should certainly not be considered complete, I located at least 10 additional names that could have been included in this account.

The decision

It was clear this member of Laker Nation was displeased with the JJ Redick hire. My preference was the guy who turned down the job UConn’s Dan Hurley, if not him former player/broadcaster Mark Jackson. I give Steve Kerr all the credit in the world for Warriors success however a portion of the roster was assembled and played for Jackson. That’s another story, no need of continuing to repeat it…what about Redick? I read and hear negative accounts regarding his perceived lack of experience and possible success on the basketball court. There is no requirement on my part to root against the guy before the first jump ball.

There will be adjustments made by Redick based on his lack of coaching experience. This is the portion I do like, it appears he’s assembled a capable coaching staff and a veteran one. Nate McMillan and Scott Brooks have served as head coaches, Greg St. Jean and Bob Beyer have been long-time NBA assistant coaches and that’s only a portion of the staff. A head coach is the final decider however it’s imperative a coach listens to the advice of his staff as a key to on court success. Unless there is an apparent problem at the beginning my intention is to allow Redick time to implement his program. This was my plan initially with the departed Darvin Ham. Since 1960 the team’s first season in Los Angeles and not counting interim coaches the Lakers have hired only 23 head coaches. I’d bet money there are several NBA teams with more hires in less time.