A fans perspective

Published Monday, Wednesday, Friday through Sunday

Sad news to report

Although Elden Campbell played his college basketball at Clemson he was Southern Cal through and through. Born in Los Angeles he was drafted in the first round in 1990 by his hometown Los Angeles Lakers. Campbell a power forward/center was a teammate to Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal and several others. Although he spent a number of years with the Lakers it was with the Detroit Pistons Campbell would win his only NBA championship. It was reported Campbell was an accidental drowning victim while fishing December 2, he was 57 years of age. Rest in peace Elden Campbell, Laker Nation mourns your passing.

It’s not his fault

We awoke Wednesday morning to Chris Paul news but this portion first. The Los Angeles Clippers are a mess, keep in mind there are NBA teams with worst won-loss records but allow a further distinction. It’s been mentioned previously prior to the season start many had predicted the Clippers would compete for the Western Conference championship. They had a roster containing several talented players but even added additional others over the summer. The Clippers have lost 14 of their last 16 games, in addition to that fact they are in the middle of a 5-game losing streak. So how do they address the issue they decide to release veteran Paul in the middle of the night, this is not exactly news.

Several weeks ago it was reported Paul would retire at the end of the 2025-26 season. This from an ESPN report by Lawrence Frank president of basketball operations for the Clippers. “We are parting ways with Chris and he will no longer be with the team, “ Frank said. “We will work with him on the next step of his career. “Chris is a legendary Clipper who has had a historic career. I want to make one thing very clear. No one is blaming Chris for our underperformance. I accept responsibility for the record we have right now. There are a lot of reasons why we’ve struggled. We’re grateful for the impact Chris has made on the franchise.”  There is an old fashioned term not much in use today, the word is gobbledygook. Merriam-Webster defines the word in this manner: “wordy and generally unintelligible jargon.”

Meanwhile….

The Spurs have reached back into their glorious past which includes a number of NBA championships. Hired as an assistant coach is the player who brought the Euro Step to the NBA. Interesting that Manu Ginobili is actually from Argentina although he played in Europe prior to beginning his brilliant NBA career. The Spurs have several young backcourt players and the belief is Ginobili can teach them a thing or two about playing in the backcourt for the teams. If they are willing to learn the teaching of this group of young backcourt players could certainly enhance the play of the Spurs.

Landry Shamet of the New York Knicks will never be an NBA star. Despite what might appear a negative I'm actually praising him. Shamet from Park Hill HS in my hometown of Kansas City might have begun his pro career rather inconspicuously. He was the 26th pick in the 2018 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. Shamet made the All-Rookie Second Team in 2019, since then he's played for a number of NBA teams. Despite his movement his play as a reserve has proven valuable to each of the teams thus far.

NBA standings early, in the category of surprises there are several teams. Before going any further maybe I shouldn't be. The surprises are the Pistons, Raptors, Spurs and Lakers. Of those teams named probably the Spurs are the biggest surprise realizing Wemby’s been out of the lineup for a significant period of time. Disappointments thus far; at the top of the list must be the Los Angeles Clippers along with the Minnesota Wolves, also in the mix the Memphis Grizzlies, plus the Philly 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks. It’s still relatively early and perhaps those teams I term disappointments can turn their season around.

The rules have changed, I speak of the transfer and eligibility rules. This is the question. An athlete plays at a junior college for 3 seasons, he then transfers to a 4-year school. He was enrolled at this school for 2 years and then in the portal moved to another school. At his present school is a 5th year senior, will that impact his draft status? I am not referring to his ability to play the game but his age. He is 23 years old now and will turn 24 prior to beginning an NBA career in the fall. It was stated by a number of so-called experts that one of the reasons the Los Angeles Lakers Dalton Knecht lasted so long in the draft was the fact his age (23).