A fans perspective 

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Who is Mark Walter

If you are a fan of Dodgers baseball you are familiar with Mark Walter, he purchased controlling interest in the team in 2012 for $2.15 billion. More recently the NBA world was shocked when Jeannie Buss announced the sale of the Lakers to Walter, what about his background besides sports. This from Wikipedia, “Walter is an American businessman, philanthropist, and the chief executive officer of Guggenheim Partners, a privately held global financial services firm with more than $345 billion in assets under management. He is also the CEO and co-chairman of TWG Global.”

It is reported the Buss family is somewhat cash short compared to other NBA owners due to the Lakers being their sole source of income. Walter is reported to be able to spend somewhat freely by comparison to Jeannie Buss and the Buss family. Everything is so new in Laker Nation no one really has a clue how this change in ownership will impact the team. We could look toward the Dodgers to provide us a clue on how operations for the Lakers will function soon. Some reading this might not be aware of this fact, the Dodgers spend huge sums of money to acquire the best baseball talent available. Will that be the Modis operandi of the Lakers we shall soon discover the approach Walter intends to go about this task.

The NBA will never return

The NBA will never return to my hometown of Kansas City for details presented to you over the next several paragraphs. I’ve concluded a 5-hour drive to Oklahoma City or an hour flight to Dallas on occasion must suffice. If you are questioning why the NBA never returns I have plenty of evidence as to why. I will begin with the “New Kids” on the block…not the Boy Band of the ‘80’s the Kansas City Current Women’s soccer team. This metro area is super excited about having a professional women’s soccer team, they have a dedicated stadium built exclusively for them. While we are discussing soccer I cannot leave out Sporting Kansas City the men’s soccer team. Although they have not experienced the success recently, Sporting’s attendance remains steady for them. I have no idea of the bottom line but the thought might be how can minor league baseball exist in the same metro as the major league version.

This is not New York, Los Angeles or Chicago with their huge population base yet the Kansas City Monarchs survive. Now we arrive at the guys that have called Kansas City home for the longest time period the Chiefs and Royals. The NFL began a boom period shortly after the Dallas Texans moved here in 1964 and were rebranded the Kansas City Chiefs. There have been a number of down years however this always playoff bound team and former Super Bowl Champions have continued to experience record attendance despite continued price increases for tickets. In 1969 baseball expansion brought the Kansas City Royals into existence to replace the A’s who’d left the city for greener pastures in Oakland. As you might surmise with 5 professional sports plus college football and basketball nearby is there a need for the NBA? I believe there is but I am a party of one, could today’s NBA survive in Kansas City with 41 games played annually? I’d like to say yes however that question might require additional study.

Is it possible

A member of the media for CBS Sports wrote this “Projecting top 25 college basketball programs of next 25 years.” I read it with curiosity and thought that’s interesting, can a school lay a foundation that might last that length of time? My Mizzou Tigers are nowhere close to having a foundation although I hope under Dennis Gates there is a plan. Kansas basketball has managed to sustain winning over numerous generations. Bill Self is part of this effort but it began long before the present coach was born, it goes back to James A. Naismith. You remember him don’t you…the “inventor” of basketball. Sidebar for some, unlike sports such as football and baseball the game of basketball came about due to weather. Dr. Naismith a Springfield YMCA instructor needed an activity for his students in the cold New England weather.

You remember the story a peach basket was placed at the lip of the upper floor of the gym which turned out to be 10 feet high. Fast forward to 1899, Naismith began his tenure as basketball coach which lasted to 1907. This tidbit you might find interesting, in the history of Kansas basketball Naismith has the only losing record (55-60) in the history of the school. Self has the most wins with 624 however Phog Allen who recruited but never coached Wilt Chamberlain was a 590 game winning coach. Ted Owens won 530 games and Roy Williams 519 providing us proof of a coaching legacy that continued generationally. There were the 203 games Dick Harp won from 1957-1964, Larry Brown was only head coach for 5 years but managed to win 179 games and an NCAA championship. For the most part years spent as head coach was not mentioned however the victory totals provide you a clue of longevity of the program plus recruiting talent to Lawrence Kansas. I don’t know if you consider it luck, good coaching, talent or something else however Kansas basketball has managed to continue victorious overtime.

“Sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes he eats you”

You know by now from reading this blog for a time I am full of movie references and metaphors. The headline is a metaphor which hints, “In life, there are times when you are successful and times when you are defeated.” The story begins in 2019 and Kawhi Leonard’s meeting and signing with the Clippers. As a condition of Leonard signing with them he indicated he wanted to play alongside Paul George with the Thunder at the time. The Clippers said okay and arranged a trade with the Thunder trading a host of players to acquire George, one of those Clipper players who was made a part of the trade was Shai-Gilgeous Alexander who’d just completed his rookie year with the team.

Word is they were reluctant to include SGA in the trade however they believed in acquiring Paul to play alongside Leonard they would be on the road to an NBA championship. Okay we can now fast forward to the present day, George spent 4 years with the Clippers before signing a free agent contract with the Sixers in 2024. As for SGA he began adjusting to the NBA and raised his level of play ever season thereafter and in June 2025 reaped the ultimate reward for an NBA player a championship. Not only was he an NBA Champion but we also witnessed him being named NBA and Finals MVP. As for Leonard he played well for the Clippers last season but was only in action for 37 games after January 1. Leonard remains with the Clippers however the team has never won a championship, at this point I could say “the bear might be waiting for his second helping of Leonard.” On the other hand I could be wrong and the final act is yet to be completed, the Clippers breakthrough and win the 2026 NBA Championship…maybe.