A fans perspective 

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A second look 

I saw a YouTube video recently, a person was discussing cities pro sports would never return. One of those he mentioned was Vancouver and the NBA. Before I begin my exercise I am not being compensated by any party associated with this Canadian city. Right off the bat the issue I believed which later cause the crash was the Canadian dollar versus the American dollar. This issue would eventually become the death nil of the franchise in Vancouver. This individual mentioned population which I totally disagree with, fact is the metro population in February 2025 is reported to be 3 million citizens with 556,000-600,000 living in Vancouver. That makes it larger than Oklahoma City and Memphis where the Grizzlies now call home.

This individual also mentioned the nearness of Seattle which the NBA will eventually return, road miles is no greater to Seattle than it is between OKC and Dallas. This is the area I find most confusing all these years later, Toronto and Vancouver both came into the NBA in 1995. The Grizzlies won a coin flip over the Raptors placing them in 6th place in that year’s draft. This is the screwy issue for me with that ’95 draft, the NBA had a rule both teams were restricted from drafting above the Top 5 pick. The draft position had nothing whatsoever to do with the lottery or a poor won-loss record which generally affects positioning. The first three years the Grizzlies picked 6th, 3rd and 4th in each of those drafts, the NBA is not headed back to Vancouver however there are issues I believe that require clarification.

The Guru

Joe Lunardi is considered the source for NCAA Tournament play, which teams are in and which are out. He took an early look at 2026 and it appears Kansas-Missouri will be missing a number of schools. Lunardi’s ranks Kansas a 6 seed in the West while he places Missouri at 8 in the Midwest. The other Kansas-Missouri Division I teams are missing from the Field of 68 according to him. Kansas State finished last season with a 16 win 17 lost record, they were 9-11 in the Big 12. After play in the NCAA tournament in Jerome Tang’s first season they have now missed an invite two consecutive years.

With a larger state population Missouri has a greater number of Division I basketball teams, the first to check is Missouri State in Springfield. The Bears finished the season under Cuonzo Martin with a 9 win 23 lost season, they were a 2 win team in the Missouri Valley Conference. If we head directly east we arrive at Southeast Missouri State in Cape Girardeau. The Redhawks won 21 games losing 12, they were 15-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Headed north from there we arrive in St. Louis. The Billikens won 19 games losing 15, they won 11 games in the Atlantic-10 Conference. As you can conclude other than Kansas, Missouri and Southeast MO State there is work to be done by the other coaches.

Their outlook

Sixer fans have no idea what they get this upcoming season, no Joel Embiid and no Paul George at least at the beginning of the season apparently. I checked out the depth chart on ESPN.com NBA page and it left me scratching my head. Adem Bona is listed as the starter in the post, Bona has exactly 58 games played in the NBA. At power forward is Guerschon Yabusele, he’s got 144 games played in his career. Veteran Kelly Oubre Jr. is listed at the small forward position along with Quentin Grimes and Jared Butler at shooting guard and point guard, respectively. They have 243 and 148 games played in the NBA between the two, I hope you see where I am headed.

Behind these starters a number of veteran players are on the roster, do these veterans scare opposing teams? That is doubtful, they are reserves due to a number of reasons. This is why I began this exercise to inform Sixer fans you might be in for a long, long season. Of course all that could change provided Joel Embiid is able to return and remain healthy for the season, the same statement could be made regarding Paul George. The arthroscopic surgery was performed on Embiid’s left knee in April, there is no established timeline for his return as this is written. As for George the news is slightly better, he is expected to return at some point during the 2025-26 season. The outlook doesn’t look promising however there is always hope for play that exceeds expectations.

Naismith Hall

Oftentimes when one is critical of an athlete the question might be is it justified. In this instance I cannot answer the question I can only present to you what has occurred in the past leading to the present. The question is posed, does Kawhi Leonard belong in the Naismith Hall of Fame…my quick answer is no. My opinion is not based on the NBA’s investigation related to Aspiration. Before delving into the why he doesn’t belong I’m going to make this statement. You will not read anything from me claiming his talent lacks justification, far from it. Leonard is one of the most talented offensive and defensive athlete there is currently it’s the other stuff.

I look over his record of play, do you realize since he first set foot on an NBA court he’s never played 82 games. Is that really important based on load management by many of today’s players? Playing for the Spurs who drafted him a single season with the Raptors and his time with the Clippers. 13 years in the NBA and the most Leonard’s played in a single season is 74 games when he was a member of the Spurs. Time spent with the Clippers has seen him in uniform in 68 games two seasons ago, this past season it was 37. I know you are about to mention his injury history, that’s fair but I’ve got a question for you. How valuable are you to your team sitting next to the coach rather than playing the game? I admit there are a few players I question how did they get elected to the Naismith Hall of Fame? Perhaps I will be fooled on this one but I don’t think so.

NAIA basketball

Unless you are associated with a NAIA school in some capacity you don’t know the history. The NAIA Basketball Tournament is older than its NCAA counterpart. The first championship tournament was held in Kansas City MO in 1937, two years later the NCAA was first held. Nowadays NAIA basketball is an afterthought but that didn’t always exist. In the early days of the NBA up through the 1970’s a significant number of players honed their skills at NAIA schools. Have you heard of Scottie Pippen, of course you have?

Robin to MJ’s Batman began his play at Central Arkansas, the school now competes at the NCAA Division II level. At the time Pippen played the schools competed at the NAIA level, but he is only one of a number of Hall of Fame players from NAIA schools. Willis Reed was the heart and soul of the Knicks and key to their championship aspirations. Reed played at Grambling State, they are now NCAA Division I but when Reed was there it was NAIA. Dennis Rodman “The Worm” played at Southeastern Oklahoma and we could add Jack Sikma to the count, he played at Illinois Wesleyan and like Rodman and Pippen is also in the Naismith Hall of Fame. There are other names but I wanted to provide just a few who might be more familiar to you.