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An answer is required

Daryl Morey serves as the president of basketball operations for the Philadelphia 76ers and was previously affiliated with the Houston Rockets. A bit of background information prior to beginning the examination. Five years ago, the Covid pandemic affected the United States and the world, this resulted in increased use of face masks, social distancing and development of preventative vaccines. The college basketball season was paused and then cancelled all together. The NBA followed suit before resuming play with a revised procedure in place. The NBA playoffs were held without spectators, a scenario described as “The Bubble” due to teams remaining in isolation.

The end result of playoff basketball saw the Los Angeles Lakers winning the 2020 NBA championship in this adjusted season. Fast forward to July 2025, for unknown reasons Daryl Morey decided it was time to comment on that season, questioning the legitimacy of the championship. He claimed without offering any proof many around the NBA held the same belief he did. It should be noted that the "Bubble" format was implemented by the NBA, not by the Lakers, and I am sure it was discussed prior to implementation. Mr. Morey, while you are critical of the Lakers championship could you clarify for us how many NBA championships the Rockets and Sixers have won while you were at the helm? I think most of us are wondering about the timing of your comments on the 2020 championship, we are 5 years beyond that period.

It is difficult

I read an article although it represented a past event it rings true today. David Robinson discussing his career in Basketball Network, the Spurs became winners with the Admiral taking the lead, they almost always won at least 50 games. Despite their consistent win totals they were never able to grasp that top prize an NBA trophy, there were other teams that managed to beat them in the playoffs until the arrival. The arrival in 1997 was Tim Duncan who would transform the Spurs into a championship contender season after season. Robinson had been the clear leader of the franchise however after the arrival of Duncan all that changed.

Robinson indicates he resented being moved into second place with the primary focus becoming the younger Duncan. Robinson slowly realized that his era was ending and handed over leadership to Duncan but this would not come easily. He was reluctant to give up leadership of the Spurs and he said it out loud. Does this scenario sound familiar, it should that is supposedly the issue currently with the Lakers. Nothing official but we are hearing reports LeBron James resents Luka Doncic taking over leadership of the team. LeBron will be 41 years old before the end of the 2024-25 season, while Doncic is 26 years old. Given their ages constructing a team around a younger player may allow for a longe-term approach compared to building around an older player.   

Meanwhile…..

This is written at the end of July…. what the heck I thought we’d take a glance at the pre-season Top 25. USA Today’s top 25 in order are Houston followed by Duke then UConn and Purdue. They place the defending champion Florida Gators in 5th place in their poll. ESPN’s college basketball page is somewhat different, Purdue is at the top followed in order by Florida, Houston, UConn and St. John’s. CBS Sports basketball has St. John’s, Houston along with BYU, they close their top 5 adding Purdue and UConn in that order. Keep in mind, I cannot be assured the information was compiled near the same period. Despite that fact I thought the top 5 of each interesting.

I had to look this up, I wondered if there was ever an NBA player from Denmark. After checking the web I was pleasantly surprised to discover a considerable number of talent has come to the NBA from the European nation of Denmark, wait I’m getting ahead of myself. Marcus Moller is not in the NBA yet, the 7-foot 3 Big Man intends to enroll at the University of Michigan in the fall of 2026. The 18 year old Moller played for Unicaja Baloncesto in the Spanish Tercera FEB during the 2024-25 season. It appears he is ready to take on American competition at the college level, as far as the NBA that must wait for now.    

New Wolves and Lynx partners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez are stating we’ll see change under their ownership. The sale of the franchises has been finalized and the new owners promise a new and bold direction for the future. It was reported earlier that they desire a new arena, Target Center is the second oldest in the NBA trailing only Madison Square Garden. Former NBA player Kevin Garnett’s relationship with the Wolves has been strained over the last several years, Lore and Rodriguez plan on reaching out to him in an attempt to resolve any lingering past issues.  Rodriguez said, “This is not a hobby, this is the most important thing in my life, outside of my family, my close ones. There’s nothing that even comes close to it” was the comment he made to ESPN.

The 1982 NBA Championship Lakers goes down in history as one of the best teams ever. Consider this fact, there were 5 roster members and the head coach who are now enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame. I will save you from searching for the names, they are Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Michael Cooper, Jamaal Wilkes, Bob McAdoo and the coach Pat Riley. I would stack this team against any NBA team past or present and I believe this Laker team would win 7 out of 10 times they played, truth is the total might be closer to pure domination. There is no method to prove my point so I’m going to close this out for now.

The NBA in the same manner of any sport must be reviewed and portions of the game might be required. Two proposals which might be implemented one of which I like the other is terrible. You might have noticed during Summer League play, shots taken from distance at the half or end of game will be charged to the team rather than the player, the hope is to encourage players. The commissioner said they would look at implementing a 4-point play, my first thought that’s terrible. Why stop at 4, a line could be placed some distance from the basket and if the player makes it he’s given a 5-point basket. Better yet, how about an inline shot, the ball is inbounded beneath the basket and the player heaves a shot from that point, if he sinks it becomes a 6 point basket.