A fans perspective 

Published Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturday

I will pass for the time being

I am unsure how the international television audience is affected by the NBA broadcast change. In the U.S., the NBA family of channels now includes Peacock and Prime,  both streaming services. I have been debating since the change was first announced do I pay to view additional NBA games? Years ago I was a subscriber to NBA League Pass, my desire was to see all the Laker games. Afternoon and evenings the Lakers were not scheduled to play I was still stuck to my television, it was my belief “I’m paying extra for this and I want my investment to be worthwhile.”

The following season I changed my tune, other than the Lakers I would selectively (excluding the playoffs) choose the games I wish to see based on which network broadcast the game. I was content to alternate between ABC/ESPN, TNT and NBA TV for my basketball viewing pleasure. Now that TNT is no longer in the picture having been replaced by NBC is part of my cable package. My decision to not pay for Peacock or Prime is based on college basketball. With CBS, ABC, Fox Sports along with ESPN, SEC and ACC Network I will have large amounts of basketball in my household during the 2025-26 season. Of course there might be a correction to my plan, if I win the lottery all you just read goes right out the window. I might add the YES Network, CBS Sports Network, FanDuel Sports Kansas City and several unnamed.

A Change of ownership

The sale of the Lakers franchise was approved on Thursday by the NBA Board of Governors. Mark Walter, who owns the baseball Dodgers along with the WNBA Sparks and other sports investments purchased the Lakers for a record $10 billion. This purchase exceeds the $6.1 billion by the Celtics earlier this year. As for the Lakers the history indicates in 1979 the late Jerry Buss purchased the Lakers along with the NHL Kings, the Great Western Forum and a California ranch for $67.5 million. At the time, this most recent sale occurred it was believed Jeannie and the Buss family would no longer be involved with team ownership or day to day operations.

That is not the case according to the news release. An unknow percentage of the team will be retained by the Buss family, in addition Jeannie Buss will continue in her role as the teams Board of Governors representative for the next 5 years. This change is historic in this instance, NBA franchises have changed ownership over the course of years. It is widely regarded that the Buss family’s ownership of the Lakers may represent the longest tenure for a franchise in NBA history, spanning 56 years. Laker Nation should not expect wholesale change in operations however there is one change anticipated. It is believed the Lakers are liable to be much more active in the free agent market than the recent past, we can look at Walter’s Dodgers as the example of what might unfold going forward.

Moms who were ballers

In many discussions about NBA players' backgrounds, the father is often identified as a primary influence, such as Joe "Jellybean" Bryant with son Kobe, or LeBron James and sons Bronny and Bryce. While this is common among several NBA players there are exceptions, cases where mothers played a significant role in teaching or inspiring their sons to play basketball at a high level. We could begin this short examination with Victor Wembanyama’s parents, both had athletic backgrounds, but it was his mother, Elodie de Fautereau—who played basketball professionally and was a member of the French National team. Mom introduced the game to young Wemby while he was a child.

We’ve witnessed Zion Williamson play at Duke and later with the NBA Pelicans. Who taught young Zion how to first shoot a basketball, it was his mother Sharonda Sampson. She coached his AAU team until he reached high school, he claims “(My mom’s the) hardest coach I ever had, to this day.” Cooper Flagg's parents each played college basketball, with his mother, Kelly Flagg, taking the more active role in teaching him the game as well as managing his career and brand. Ronda Banchero, the all-time leading scorer at the University of Washington, coached and taught the game to her son Paolo. Similarly, Yvonne Adams (KJ Adams), Lisa Wilson (Jalen Wilson), and Carmen Dick (Gradey Dick) contributed to their sons’ development in basketball, which they developed to play at Kansas and later in the NBA, with the exception of KJ Adams.

Niele Ivey, was playing for the Indiana Fever when she learned of her pregnancy, later after her son was born she was instrumental in his basketball development, today Jaden Ivey is a Pistons shooting guard. The details are unclear, in several instances we might have single parent homes, in other instances mom took over responsibility from over dad (Wemby & Flagg) because she had the basketball expertise. This list highlights several instances where mothers have been instrumental in their sons’ basketball journeys; there are other examples that probably exist but were omitted in this narrative. The plan was to inform you it wasn’t always a father or uncle who inspired the love and basketball tutoring. 

Mine is different

My friends on the other side of State Line Road believe bias remains for me. They claim it goes back to the Big 8/Big 12 days when Mizzou played Kansas on a regular basis. Much as I hate to admit it there is an in balance with the won-loss record, it favors Kansas however its more to the story. I believe the history on-court success has caused some in the media to rate the Jayhawks much higher than due them, example. Last season they were the pre-season number one team in the nation, by the time the final polls were revealed they were no place to be found in the Top 25. They had a bad year (the third in a row) under Bill Self so what are the prospects for this upcoming season?

Cameron Salerno CBS Sports released his list of overrated and underrated teams for the season. He places Kansas as an underrated team due to the presence of a single player. That player is freshman Darryn Peterson projected to be the top pick in the 2026 NBA draft. Self-claims Peterson is the best player during his time as the school’s head basketball coach, that makes a strong statement on his part but there is an issue as well. Is Self-building up Peterson hoping he can compete at a higher than normal skill level or is it something else? It’s my belief there are a handful of freshman who made the leap from high school to college and could be termed impact players. Lew Alcindor a.k.a. Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Carmelo Anthony are two names that come to mind however I am sure there are others. Perhaps Peterson is really as talented as Self projects however I prefer to adopt a wait and see approach to determine his value to Kansas basketball.