A fans perspective 

Published Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturday

No wonder

LeBron James nicknamed Victor Wembanyama “The Alien,” after reading this you might understand why. You remember a deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder sidelined him in February for the balance of the season. Once the surgery was successful he began a spiritual and mental journey of recovery. This from ESPN, “He played soccer in Costa Rica and Tokyo. He spent 10 days at a spiritual retreat at a Shaolin temple in Zhengzhou, China where he studied and trained with monks. He hosted a chess and basketball tournament at his home court in Le Chesney, France.

He visited NASA’s Johnson Space Center, where he learned about astronaut Peggy Whiston, who owns the American record for spending 675 days in space. He went on to spend time with Kevin Garnett, seeking to tighten his grip on the mental side of the game.” He also visited Hakeem Olajuwon working out with him on Olajouwon’s ranch. Injury aside as you can see he spent a summer of travel before arriving in San Antonio to prepare for the upcoming season. Wemby accumulated significant frequent flyer miles, traveling from Costa Rica to Japan, then to France, and ultimately returning to the United States. He concluded his travels in Houston, where he participated in a training session with Olajuwon.

ESPN

Cooper Flagg

I believe in myself, there are a bunch of things I do well…. predicting future events with any degree of accuracy is not one of them. With the disclaimer out front I will proceed with the subject matter.  As mentioned on Wednesday there was a strong desire on my part to witness the Mavs Cooper Flagg in action for his first NBA game. That would not be the case as events conspired to work against me but that’s another story. I saw the majority of Duke games last season, the good and the bad of Flagg in action.

I wrote this previously but will remind you once again, if you are expecting Flagg to wow you look elsewhere. He will produce in those areas his team requires, if it’s a shot Flagg takes it, a rebound he grabs it or defensive stance is required he’s your man. Do I have concerns about his ability to tailor his game to the NBA, of course I do? There is a “Grand Canyon” leap from Division I basketball to the NBA as we all know. The Mavs have a veteran team which should aid Flagg in his adjustment, AD at center plus Klay Thompson and D’Angelo Russell should help with the transition. Once Kyrie Irving returns in the second half of the season that should further benefit Flagg. Of course all this could be null and void however I don’t believe that to be the case.

Why Kansas City

History says the game of basketball began in Springfield Massachusetts, more than likely a decision was made to locate the Naismith Hall of Fame there for this very reason. In 2007 the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame opened October 10, 2007, in Kansas City, Missouri. The establishment also contains a museum the College Basketball Experience, which was created by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. The year previously the NABC selected 180 players in its first class of honorees. Open year round, current hours are Thursday-Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., on Sundays’ its 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

The Hall of Fame is located in downtown Kansas City, Missouri at 1401 Grand Blvd. This should be on every basketball fans bucket list and is well worth attending. As for the question why Kansas City over some other city, that’s easy. Kansas City specifically Municipal Auditorium was home to more NCAA championships than any other city in the country at one time. All that’s changed now beginning in 1991, the tournament was moved to a domed football stadium. Off and on the next few years the tournament was moved between football stadiums and regular basketball arenas. In 1997 the move to football stadiums was made permanent. With that change unless Kansas City builds a domed football stadium the game will never return to Kansas City. 

I just don’t remember

The Lakers have struggled in the win-loss department in the past however this one caught me off guard. I should have remembered but don’t, a dot com website covered each NBA team’s worst won-loss record in history and there it was with no date behind it. The Lakers had experienced a 17 win 65 loss season, I thought when did this occur? It was the 2015-16 season, so I decided to check for the coach and roster members. The team was coached by former Laker player Byron Scott who technically wasn’t fired he was not asked to return, Scott’s overall record 38 wins and 126 losses in two seasons.

Kobe Bryant was on that team but would retire after the season ended, the 60-point last game I remember the season not so much. What other roster members were on that team, Metta World Peace was there. Also Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance Jr. and Julius Randle to name just a few. That Laker team contained several other veteran players but apparently no cohesiveness based on the record. We just uncovered the fact just this year Scott the coach and D’Angelo Russell were conducting mental warfare all season. Was that a contributing factor to such a poor record or was it something else? In any event it’s hoped by this Laker fan whatever the future holds they never return to the days of such inept play. It’s no wonder I don’t remember that particular Laker team.