Basketball from a fans perspective

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NBA history was made

With about 4 minutes remaining in the 2nd quarter NBA history was made opening night. The Wolves were visiting the Lakers at Crypto.com arena. LeBron James and Bronny James checked into the game at the same time, the first father-son combo to appear in an NBA game. As for the game itself, Laker Nation whether in the arena or part of the television audience witnessed a much different team from last season.

The energy level for the game was high for the greater majority. They missed a large number of three’s however Redick appeared to be unconcerned about the issue. The Lakers could shoot three’s they just didn’t shoot a substantial number last season compared to other NBA teams. Under JJ Redick all that changes now as he wants to place emphasis on that aspect of the game. It’s worth mentioning that 2024 Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert had issues. Matched against Anthony Davis much of the game he could only “watch” as AD alone was a major contributor to the 110-103 Laker victory. 36 points, 16 rebounds along with 4 assists and 2 blocked shots was the effort made by the Laker center. I was reminded back to the spring of 2024, AD thought he should have been given consideration for Defensive Player of the Year. If he continues to play in a similar manner throughout the season it just might occur.

As for the father-son combo Bronny only played 3 minutes as they set a record. In addition to the James family the baseball father son combo of Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. was in attendance for this historic event. Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith made an interesting statement which I will paraphrase. “I got to see Bronny James when he was at Sierra Canyon (HS), he was a McDonald’s All American. Let’s say he doesn’t have the health issue at Southern Cal we might be looking at him differently than today.”

Our neighbors

Our northern neighbor Canada has produced a substantial number of NBA talent over time, as for our southern border not so much. In Mexico soccer (football) remains the most popular sport although basketball has made inroads. According to information I uncovered the popularity of the sport has increased, it’s now the number three most popular sport in Mexico. It’s my belief internationally at least fans have gravitated to the NBA seeing a fellow countryman playing the game at a high skill level. By comparison, the number of Mexican NBA players has been quite minor compared to Canada.

There might be just one player to change that and he’s already on the stage, his name is Karim Lopez. You might remember Lopez was covered in the past but to update others a little detail. He’s a 6 foot 8 195 pound shooting guard/small forward, he’s played in Spain until recently. This upcoming season Lopez will begin play for the New Zealand Breakers in the NBL and he’s looking toward the 2026 NBA draft. I took a glance at two mock sites, one indicates Lopez will be a lottery pick while the other implies he would lie one or two picks beyond the lottery. You might ask why I am point towards the 2026 draft rather than 2025, this appears to be the choice of Lopez.

The” new” Palace is open

Prior to Little Caesar Arena opening the Pistons played their games at The Palace of Auburn Hills for years. This arena opened in 1988 and remained the home for Pistons basketball until 2017. The Palace closed and has since been demolished however it’s been replaced, i.e., the name at least. Wednesday night saw the Clippers play their first game in The House that Ballmer built. Clipper owner Steve Ballmer has long desired to remove his team from the shadow of playing in the Lakers building.

The arena is not really owned by the Lakers but it seemed that was the case, the Clippers were lined up behind the Lakers and Kings in the pecking order. In any event the palatial Intuit Dome opened to a roaring number of spectators Wednesday. Words fail to provide the grandeur of this state of the art arena, check out video on YouTube which will provide you the look. Oh, by the way they did play a basketball game, the Clippers played host to the Suns. The inaugural game in the Intuit Dome turned out to be a loser for the home team in OT 116-113.

He's playing at home

Karl-Anthony Towns was born in Edison New Jersey, he grew up in Piscataway and we could say he’s a New York City metro guy. KAT developed his game at St. Joseph HS in Metuchen, New Jersey. From there it was the University of Kentucky where he played for coach Cal for one year. He declared for the NBA draft and was made the first pick in the first round of the 2015 June draft by the Wolves, in 2016 he was named NBA Rookie of the Year.

Since then over the course of a brief career the 28-year old KAT has provide us proof of his talent. Sure he’s suffered injuries during his career but when healthy and on the court the 7 foot 250 pound athlete has proven to be an outstanding talent over and over again. October 2024 the Wolves traded KAT to the Knicks, someone looking at the trade might believe the Wolves might have given up on him…far from it. KAT might be the key piece allowing the Knicks to escape the east and play for an NBA championship, that is the hope for Knick fans especially Spike Lee.