A Fan’s View of Basketball

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It’s doggone impossible

The Thunder are basking in the sunshine of their 2025 NBA championship, nothing wrong with that, they deserved to be pleased with themselves. The difficult part will commence beginning in October, defending a championship. We haven’t had a repeat champion in the NBA since the Warriors accomplished the feat in 2017 and 2018. The actual fact they came real close to establishing a dynasty having played for the NBA championship 5 years in a row. What is a dynasty in the NBA, it was the Bill Russell and later Larry Bird Celtics. The Magic/Shaq/Kobe Lakers definitely must be considered a dynasty.

The Spurs were certainly dominant and turned out some very good teams but were never able to win back to back championships. I would be remiss if I failed to include MJ and those Bulls teams of the 1990’s in this assessment of dynasty teams. As for the present time the Thunder have a tremendous task in front of them, winning two years consecutively which has proven quite difficult in recent years. Off season moves by those teams in the Western Conference indicates it will be a ‘mine field’ for teams to navigate through the season but why? I have long held a belief that the chief culprit preventing teams from repeating is not injuries as most surmise, its player movement. Think about this a moment, all professional sports teams acquire players through the draft, a smaller number arrive through trades. In the NBA it is far different matter, nowhere does movement among talent exist like that of the NBA. A team may have the opportunity to acquire a pivotal player who enables them to reach the highest levels of competition and contend for a championship.

Alternatively, teams can achieve significant success by integrating a player selected from the collegiate ranks who becomes a key to success. Currently, most players spend minimal time in college, making it increasingly challenging to accurately evaluate their long-term potential. For example, consider league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who was drafted by the Clippers and later traded to the Thunder; few could have predicted his emergence as a top player and MVP candidate within four to five seasons. While it is certainly possible for an NBA team to secure consecutive championships, establishing a sustained dynasty presents an entirely different challenge.

They are likely in the middle of the pack

I believe Kansas basketball fans and several in the media live on past glory, no argument the school has a rich winning tradition however change is evident although some refuse to believe it. Jeff Borzello of ESPN recently released his updated Top 25 preseason poll. Joshua Schulman writing for CNNSI admits to being a fan of Kansas basketball, Borzello’s list places Kansas at number 21 in the nation. Anytime a school finds itself in the Top 25 that’s a good thing except in this instance particularly the Big XII Conference. Houston is placed at 3 while BYU is listed at 6 and Texas Tech is 10, they are followed by Arizona (13) and Iowa State (18).

Keep in mind this is only a projection one or more of these schools might under perform due to injuries or some unknown issue. The bottom line, at least 3 perhaps 4 of these schools will finish the regular season with a superior record over Kansas. More and more it’s become difficult for me to understand why some of the Kansas faithful cannot see the handwriting on the wall. I repeat over and over the landscape has changed, no longer can be Bill Self park himself in the family or living room of a prospect and that youngster be wowed by him. NIL money has certainly influenced decision making among players in the last 4 years or so. To those who believe I am attacking Kansas basketball and coach Self prove me wrong. In August I declare Houston and BYU, maybe Texas Tech will finish with a better record than Kansas.

The shoe

Converse has a rich history in basketball shoes, for generations Chuck Taylor’s were the Aston Martin or Maserati of basketball shoes. The majority of high school and college players wore them so did most NBA players. Although much later they would market a leather shoe for Julius ‘Dr. J.’ Erving, that was then…this is now. In the 1980’s it was Larry Bird and Magic Johnson on the court wearing The Weapon, a Converse shoe produced for the duo. As Nike began its growth Converse began to lose its market share, eventually the company would be purchased by its archrival Nike.

At some point Chuck Taylor’s moved from a basketball shoe to one that became part of mainstream America as it became a fashion statement. Despite that statement Converse certainly hasn’t ignored NBA players, this past Thursday it was announced the SHAI 001 had been launched. This is the signature shoe for Thunder point guard Shai-Gilgeous Alexander. I wasn’t familiar with current NBA players sporting Converse so I decided a quick review was in order. In addition to the SGA Converse shoe they also count Warriors Draymond Green, Kelly Oubre Jr. of the Sixers and Payton Pritchard of the Celtics plus Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart of the Knicks and a number of other players under its umbrella. Despite the fact Converse long ago lost its top position in the shoe market it remains a viable shoe.

He is the last

Chris Paul is now a member of the Clippers, he turned 40 years old this past May. Rick Pitino was discussing basketball specifically point guards and he made a statement recently that I agree with. The St. John’s coach said, “There are no more point guards in basketball” or something quite similar. Who is masquerading as a point guard today, there are plenty of candidates. We have Russell Westbrook, Steph Curry, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving just to name a few. Each of the athletes named can dish out assists but they are more likely shot makers over guys who pass the rock.   

All realize the success the Warriors experienced laid the foundation for the “shoot first, past second point guards.” In addition a guy by the name of Russell Westbrook aided the cause too. Once upon a time NBA teams built their rosters by acquiring a quality Big Man, next up would be a point guard. There was Bob Cousy, then Oscar Robertson plus Walt Frazier to Magic Johnson and John Stockton, I can’t leave out Isiah Thomas. Most NBA teams were loaded with quality point guards and then puff there were none. We have no pure point guards, as this was begun I mentioned Chris Paul was it…the last point guard in the NBA. The game has evolved and it will continue to change over time.