Basketball from a fans perspective

Published Tuesday, Thursday plus Saturday & Sunday 

Be careful, be very careful what you say

This story had to be the leadoff story, truth is I should have written this for the Saturday edition, in any event here goes. By now most of you are aware of the story. Former Celtic Paul Pierce said; "If the Celtics lose Game Two I will walk to the studio in my robe and barefooted." His home is 20.2 miles from the FS1 studio and this is likely to never occur again lol. We did discover Pierce is a man of his word as its being reported he walked the distance.

Bronny

He's not proven anything yet, the G-League is not the NBA. Despite that fact Bronny James has come a long distance bouncing back and forth between the parent club and South Bay Lakers. I’ve mentioned this more than once I wasn’t pleased with the Lakers drafting Bronny. Using the term pleased is quite different from being upset, it was essential for him to return to the college game or at least I held that belief. Once he was drafted I expressed my conviction he belonged in the G-League full time. No one paid any attention to my opinion and that’s okay.

Bronny James has proven me wrong and most of all he’s proven Stephen A. Smith wrong. His final numbers in the G-League detail he’s got a smidge of talent. In 11 games he averaged nearly 22 points a game on 44% shooting, from three it was a respectable 38%. 5.2 rebounds (for a 6 foot 2 inch guard) and 5.4 assists. I began this exercise by pointing out these are G-League numbers, in addition they only represent 11 games however they prove something to me. Bronny is on his way to become an NBA player. He will not duplicate the numbers produced by his hall of fame father however he will prove to all (including Stephen A. Smith) he belongs with the Big Boys playing Big Time basketball.  

The American Basketball Association

A fan of the defunct league expressed how upset he was, a record of Dr. J’s is unlisted. It’s not in the NBA annals because the American Basketball Association or ABA “never existed.” Allow me to explain, it’s long been my contention unlike 1949 when the BAA and NBL came together that was a true merger. For glamour sakes NBA owners referred to 1976 as a merger when it actually was expansion of the NBA, records established by the junior league simply vanished. The ABA was down to just a few teams by 1976 but they all didn’t gain entry into the NBA. It’s my belief that only the teams considered to be lucrative were absorbed into the NBA. I checked the records for the last year of the leagues existence 1975-76, the season began with 10 teams. Virginia, San Diego, Utah and Baltimore closed shop before the end of the season.

That left 6 teams of which only 4 moved into the NBA the Nets, Pacers, Spurs and Nuggets. The Kentucky and St. Louis ABA franchises were dissolved which provides proof the NBA never fully intended a merger. We know the players that were able to move into the NBA and continue to play, lost to history are the others. Those ABA players left with no team and the owners with the exception of St. Louis and Kentucky continued but in dissimilar roles. The Silna brothers owners of the Spirits of St. Louis struck a sweetheart deal with the NBA which paid them television rights into infinity. John Y. Brown would later purchase a ½ share of the Buffalo Braves. The NBA had a first, franchises were exchanged, the Celtics owner wanted to be closer to his California business so he traded franchises with Brown and he moved the Braves to San Diego where they were re-born as the Clippers. In 1979 Brown sold his share of the Celtics and thus ends the basketball history.

It’s a hope, not what I know

It appears Dennis Gates and staff are satisfied with the transfer portal plus incoming freshmen. I checked out who left, who remains and who is incoming, is Missouri prepared for a breakout season? Let’s take a quick look, arriving is 6-11 235 pound Jevon Porter (brother of Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr.) who played at Loyola Marymount last season. Luke Northweather 6-11 and 240 pounds, he’s coming in from Oklahoma. Sebastian Mack a 6-3 shooting guard from UCLA comes on board and will battle Jayden Stone 6-4 shooting guard from West Virginia. Shawn Philips a 7 foot 245 pound center from Arizona State completes our look at those arriving via the portal.

Two high school freshman hoping to make their mark appear, they are unlikely to see much of the court, they are Aaron Rowe a 6 foot point guard from Father Tolton HS in Columbia. Nicholas Randall 6-7 power forward from Compass Prep in Arizona also arrives in Columbia. There are 7 players who remain on the roster after the seniors graduated and those transferring from Missouri. The headline says, “It’s a hope” and that’s what it is from Annor Boateng, here’s hoping the sophomore moves to the level many believe he is capable of. Also guard T.O. Barrett, who played limited minutes as a freshman, is also expected to take on a much larger role in the ever tough 2025-26 SEC. Is Missouri prepared to compete with Auburn, Alabama, Florida and other SEC heavyweights…time will only tell?