The view of a fan

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CORRECTION

If you read Off the Dribble early Sunday morning Sept 7 it contained an error. The story titled “Not surprising” included a mistake which was corrected with an hour of publishing. Some might have read the name Donald Sterling being identified as the Clippers owner, that has been corrected he’s no longer in that capacity. Steve Ballmer is the owner of the Clippers team at present. My apology for the error, in addition I wanted to bring it to your attention rather than bury it where it might be missed.

NBA dynasties

The first NBA dynasty was that of the Boston Celtics, a part of the time they were winning the NBA contained a smaller number of teams. For this purpose I am only counting the first 10, the Celtics won in 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1968 and 1969. You certainly can see a trend with those Cousy-Russell-Havlicek-Bird Celtic teams, can you say dynasty? In ‘90’s it was the Jordan Bulls winning in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 1998. The Lakers have won more than the five listed here, 2000, 2001, and 2002 then again in 2009 and 2010. Now you are wondering where I’m going with this story, straight to former coach Phil Jackson who led two of those teams, the Jordan/Pippen Bulls and the Kobe/Shaq/Gasol Lakers.

I would like to clarify that the following perspective reflects Jackson’s opinion rather than my own. Jackson asserts that it is difficult to characterize the Robinson/Duncan era Spurs teams as a dynasty, he makes this statement primarily because they were never able to achieve consecutive championships. Regardless of whether one agrees with Jackson, it is undeniable that the timing supports his argument: the Spurs captured NBA titles in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2014, which remains an impressive accomplishment. Considering there are NBA teams that have never reached the Finals, this raises a pertinent question: Is Jackson correct in suggesting that repeating as champions is a necessary standard for a franchise to be considered a dynasty? You be the judge on this one.  

I missed this one

Missouri head coach Dennis Gates has made another notable addition to the program with the unexpected commitment of Toni Bryant. It was announced Monday that Bryant, a 6-foot-9 power forward from Zephyrhills Christian Academy in Tampa, Florida, has committed to Mizzou. As a member of the Class of 2026, Bryant is ranked as high as 14th and as low as 23rd among national high school prospects across four major recruiting sites. Rivals awards him a five-star rating, while other outlets assign four stars.

Earlier this summer, the Tigers secured a commitment from Jason Crowe Jr., a 6-foot-3 combo guard from Inglewood, California, who verbally committed in July. These commits suggest that Coach Gates is focused on establishing a consistent pipeline of talent to Columbia, Missouri, for the Tigers basketball program. While expectations vary among supporters, sustained competitiveness and regular NCAA tournament appearances remain key objectives for the program’s continued growth. I made this statement regarding Crowe Jr. and can repeat it here. Bryant could relinquish his commitment since its verbal however the hope is he remains steadfast, this time next year he should be on the campus in Columbia. As this is written Mizzou sits at number one in recruiting for the Class of 2026, those prospects must turn into winning basketball. 

He's the one

Every season it seems I pick out a Laker rookie to observe his play. In this instance that player is Eric Dixon who is likely headed for the South Bay Lakers, allow me to explain what I like. He is 6-foot 8 and 260 pounds which says nobody will push him around under the basket. The part of his game the most enticing is his shooting, he led NCAA teams in scoring while playing for Big East Conference member Villanova. Dixon scored at a 23.3 ppg average and shot a sizzling .407 from three. I know what you are probably thinking, he took 2-3 shots a game for such a prolific number, that is not the case. Dixon took nearly 8 three’s a game but still managed to go undrafted in 2025.

There were two concerns scouts expressed, he lacked elite athleticism and there were defensive limitations with his game. Those are certainly red flag issues which prevented Dixon from being drafted but not super critical, allow a brief explanation. Lack of athleticism is not exactly a new thing except to say a player can be taught effective methods to “hide it” much as possible. The defense is a different matter, I once read Magic Johnson said he wasn’t a good defender but learned how to play team defense, that could be the case for Dixon. He was injured while the Laker team competed in Summer League play that is the reason you failed to see him in action. As for the future, Dixon can be taught methods to improve his defense stance in time, as for now I intend to keep an eye on his development at South Bay and with the parent club over the upcoming season.