Basketball from a fans perspective

Published daily except Tuesdays & Thursday

Jason Whitlock

Over time, there have been a number of instances where I have disagreed with the views expressed by Jason Whitlock. He has the right to his opinion, although I do not always share it. This dates back to his tenure at the Kansas City Star, 810 Sports Radio, ESPN, and Fox Sports and several other sports sites. A recent example involves the trade sending Luka Doncic to the Lakers. Whitlock wrote that Commissioner Silver should void the trade, referencing the Chris Paul trade to the Lakers as a precedent.

This week, Silver addressed the issue during a podcast, stating, “The commissioner does not have the power to void a trade.” Regardless of Whitlock’s stance, this is what Silver stated. To revisit 2011, a three-way trade between the Lakers, Rockets, and Hornets (Pelicans) sent Paul to the Lakers. Silver alluded to the fact that “The NBA was running the day-to-day operations of the franchise until an owner could be located.” David Stern did indeed void the trade, deeming it “not in the best interest of the NBA.” So ends the story with Whitlock remaining in opposition but I believe the only parties in agreement with him are those thousands of fans in Dallas.

The SEC

I have said this since the beginning of the college season, the SEC is the best men’s conference in the nation. Check out anyone’s Top 25 list and it will be loaded with schools from this conference once more known for football. Auburn, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Florida, Mizzou and Kentucky the list goes on and on. The key problem with such a competitive conference they beat each other up. My Mizzou Tigers lost two games in a row last week to Tennessee and A&M both schools being in the Top 5 of all polls. 

Gary Parrish of CBS Sports shared an interesting take on SEC basketball this season. The SEC may set a record for the number of schools receiving NCAA Tournament invitations. Once football-centric, the conference is now highly competitive in basketball. Historically, it was known for Kentucky basketball, Pete Maravich, and Johnny Neumann. The Civil Rights movement played a significant role in this transformation as southern schools began recruiting black players in the 1970s, reversing the trend of losing them to northern and west coast schools. For more details, consult additional sources.

Bits n Pieces 

On Tuesday evening, news broke that Duke’s top NBA prospect Cooper Flagg might return to school for his sophomore year. Although he may change his mind by April or May, this is rare since most top freshmen choose the NBA. Despite receiving NIL money and having a New Balance contract, Flagg appears to be enjoying his time at Duke. However, returning poses an injury risk that could threaten his NBA career. His family might follow a strategy similar to Sean Elliott's. In 1988, Elliott stayed in school despite being projected as a top draft pick, with his mother securing a Lloyds of London insurance policy. Elliott wasn't injured and was made the third pick in the 1989 NBA Draft which led to a successful 12-year NBA career. Since his retirement he’s worked in the Spurs front office and is currently a member of their broadcast team. 

It has been two years since Glen Taylor listed the Wolves and WNBA Lynx for sale. Former Yankee Aurelio Rodriguez and financial partner Marc Lore agreed to purchase the team. Subsequently, a dispute arose regarding payment, with Taylor asserting that the partners had reneged on their agreement, while Rodriguez and Lore disagreed. An arbitration panel ruled on Monday that Taylor had breached the terms of the agreement. The last step in this process is obtaining approval from 23 of the 30 NBA owners. Notably, prolonged sales of NBA teams are uncommon, there is only one comparable instance I remember, it involved the Pistons, where the delay was attributed to the owner's death.

Who was the first

Basketball fans witness the play all the time, it could be a college team, the NBA or internationally. Usually it’s a guard but not always, he makes what appears to be a shot attempt but is actually a pass to a teammate. The receiver rising high near the rim dunks the ball or lays it up. We see the play during games all the time but where did it begin is the question? I’m pleased you asked because I have the answer, the play originated at the college level and then moved to other aspects of the game.

The first player who lobbed the ball near the basket was a North Carolina State guard by the name of Monte Towe. He would toss the ball near the basket and 6 foot 4 inch David Thompson, Thompson catching the past would lay it in the basket. It’s not the fact he couldn’t dunk however there were rules in place while he played at North Carolina State (1972-1975) which forbid the dunk. It wasn’t until 1976 that the NCAA rescinded the rule prohibiting basketball dunking. So this is the brief history of how the lob dunk originated, naturally with the success of North Carolina State other teams copied it and eventually it arrived in the NBA and beyond.