Basketball from a fans perspective

Sorry Mavs fans

Mavericks fans have faced numerous challenges this season. It began with a series of injuries that took key contributors from last year’s playoff run out of the Mavericks lineup. Then a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit the American Airlines Center, Luka Doncic the generational talent was traded to the Lakers for Anthony Davis. An explanation was made by Mavs management but was greeted by skepticism by the vast majority of fans, the arena was even picketed for a time. In the meantime Anthony Davis played one very good game for his new team and then went immediately on the injury list.

Wait, there is more…the Mavericks announced an 8% ticket price increase for the 2025-26 season. The situation for the Mavericks worsened when Kyrie Irving sustained a torn ACL during a game against the Kings on Monday evening, ruling him out for the remainder of the season. Given these events, Mavericks fans are understandably concerned about what might happen next. In conclusion this might be the plight of the fans. “You trade the 25-year old (26 now) franchise player, then you raise ticket prices for next season. The injured Kyrie Irving returns at what point next season, you expect me to pay _________for this giant mystery?” In the space of roughly 6 weeks the Mavericks went from contenders to pretenders based on the series of events summarized in this account.

What I expected

The Lakers' winning streak would not come to an end at the hands of the Pelicans. The game was briefly tied early in the first quarter, but that was the extent. Leading the charge to victory for the Lakers were LeBron James and Luka Doncic, I now dub the Dynamic Duo. I know it’s not an original nickname however I like it. While the saying "Father Time remains undefeated" is still true, its impact can sometimes be postponed as in the case of LeBron. There is a marked difference between the Lakers team with LeBron and Anthony Davis compared to LeBron and Luka.

LeBron led the team with 34 points, along with 6 assists and 8 rebounds. Luka also performed admirably, scoring 30 points and contributing 15 assists. Notably, Jaxson Hayes stood out by scoring 19 points and securing 10 rebounds. Additionally, reserves Knecht, Milton, and Vanderbilt played pivotal roles in safeguarding the 39th win of the season. This victory extended the Lakers' winning streak to seven games. The team now prepares itself for upcoming games against New York on Thursday and on the road versus the Celtics on Saturday and the Nets on Monday. Although the Lakers have not captured any championship yet, it is an enthusiastic time for members of Laker Nation.

College Arenas

In instances we speak of older college basketball arenas one of the first names that comes up is Allen Fieldhouse. The venerable home of the Kansas Jayhawks first opened its doors in 1955. That makes the arena nearly 70 years old but it’s not even close to being the oldest in continued usage. Cameron Indoor Stadium on the Duke Campus opened its doors in 1940 but it’s not the oldest. That honor belongs to Matthews Arena in Boston opened in 1910, it’s home of Northeastern University and holds 5,066 fans.

Next on our list is Rose Hill Gymnasium on the campus of Fordham, this 3,200 seat arena first opened its doors in 1925. Lavietes Pavillion at Harvard holds 1,500 fans and held its first basketball game in 1926. The next two arenas opened the same year 1927, they are the Palestra-Penn home of the University of Pennsylvania with 8,722 seats and Hec Edmunson Pavilion seating 10,000 for basketball. Hinkle Fieldhouse is home to Butler University, opened in 1928 it seats 9,100. If you saw the 1986 movie Hoosiers the state championship depicted in the movie was shot inside Hinkle. Next on our list is Williams Arena on the campus of the University of Minnesota, the 14,625 seat arena opened in 1928. Payne Whitney Gymnasium on the campus of Yale begin hosting games in 1932, it has seating for 2,500. 1933 saw Avron Fogleman and Haas Pavilion open their doors. Fogleman is on the campus of Tulane and contains 4,100 seating capacity, while Haas is located at Cal, it seats 11,858.

We close this look at college arenas with one located in my hometown, Municipal Auditorium is located in downtown Kansas City, it opened in 1936. This art deco arena was once home to the University of MO-Kansas City although the school has returned games to its campus 6 or so miles away. Municipal holds 10,700 for basketball but shares another unique record. Prior to the NCAA Tournament being played at football stadiums Municipal held the record for the most Final Four and Championship games.

Meanwhile....

It’s important to remember that it is just a game and should not be taken too seriously. After the Kansas loss to Texas Tech, one of the Kansas players received two derogatory messages on social media, presumably from upset Kansas fans. In a different context, Ant Man has faced criticism from some for declining efforts by the media to encourage him to become the “face of the NBA.” Back in the day Jerry West, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kobe Bryant received criticism but nothing like that of Kevin Durant and LeBron James today. It’s unfortunate but social media commentary is now commonplace in both college and professional basketball. Although we may not be able to resolve this issue directly, it is crucial to address and challenge those who believe it is acceptable to offer profane and disrespectful comments to players when they don’t perform at the level we expect.

Kevin Harlan is associated with Kansas City, although he was actually born in Milwaukee. He graduated from the University of Kansas and quickly embarked on a career in sports broadcasting. His first role was as the radio voice for the Kansas City Kings, followed by the Kansas City Chiefs. Harlan then moved on to become the radio voice of the NBA Wolves before transitioning to the national stage. For some time, he has been broadcasting NFL games for the CBS Network, in addition to covering college basketball games for CBS and NBA games for TNT. As this is the final season that TNT will partner with the NBA, it is likely that one of the new partners will seek to employ Harlan if he wishes to continue broadcasting both college and the NBA. When not airing sports Kevin and family have resided in the Kansas City metro for a number of years.