A fans perspectives

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They love to hate

Although you read of my displeasure with the actions of LeBron James recently mine is not hatred. There is no requirement for me to defend him but I will. Now that you have an opportunity to determine this account you can cease reading before moving forward. This is written from the perspective of me, someone who claims he is not a LeBron fan. Allow me to clarify that last statement, LeBron chose to join my Lakers, the Lakers didn’t choose him to bond with them. I (you have too) read it seems like hundreds of letters from folks critical of LeBron. His talcum powder toss at the beginning of games probably even gets on their nerves. A large portion of the annoyance is aimed at LeBron due to son Bronny being drafted and on the Laker roster. I hope you remember Vince Carter an outstanding NBA pro.

Carter was nowhere near the level of LeBron at 41, the same could be said for Robert Parrish and one of my favorites Kareem Abdul Jabbar. All three are in the Naismith Hall of Fame…see where I’m going I hope? No single player wins an NBA championship alone but consider the fact he’s won 4 of them with three different teams. The Miami Heat won 2, the Cleveland Cavs 1 and the Lakers 1 indirectly owe their championships to the skill and talent of LeBron James. This defense is not going to settle anything if you are a hater this certainly will not convince you to come over to my side. Let’s just conclude by saying I have doubts if anyone eclipses a number of his records. He certainly belongs in the conversation about who is the G.O.A.T. however if you say Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant or someone else there would be no argument from me. The truth of the matter, it’s not just LeBron…whenever you are a celebrity someone is always attempting to negate your impact on a bunch of stuff.

Who said you can’t go home

Mizzou power forward Mark Mitchell can’t shoot free throws if he was paid. At least to date that appears to be the single issue for this 6-foot 9 230 pound power forward, where did it begin? He played a portion of his high school basketball at Bishop Miege located in Roeland Park (KS) a suburb of Kansas City MO. For his senior year Mitchell transferred and played at Sunrise Christian Academy in metro Wichita where he was a 5-star prospect and McDonalds All American. Although Mitchell had offers from Mizzou, Kansas, and UCLA he chose Duke as his school of choice.

Mitchell played starter minutes during his freshman and sophomore year at Duke but decided to head elsewhere. That elsewhere became Mizzou where he played this past season averaging 13.9 ppg. He chose to leave Duke is unclear however entering the portal he decided to head home. Technically that’s correct because Mitchell’s from Kansas City Kansas, he attended a high school as mentioned in metro Kansas City Missouri. There is talk of a potential NBA career if he is able to spruce up areas of his game. I’d mentioned free-throw shooting however another area is the three line, Mitchell is not particularly good. In today’s NBA teams expect all players with the exception of centers to possess skill from behind the line. Setting the NBA aside for a moment, fans of Mizzou Nation can enjoy the show for this Mitchell’s senior year.

Your intention is….

There have been recent reports that NBA commissioner Adam Silver engaged in discussions about launching NBA Europe. According to The Athletic, the league was considering teams such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, ASVEL Basket of Villeurbanne, and Fenerbahce Istanbul. Progress seemed steady until January 9th, when the EuroLeague sent a letter to the NBA threatening legal action if talks continued with teams already in their league. Although this situation is far from reaching the courts, it demonstrates strong resistance to any NBA efforts to expand in Europe. While I cannot predict the future of NBA Europe, I do recall wondering early on whether European organizations would be receptive to the NBA's presence.

This latest development suggests they are not, at least for now, but things could change by the time NBA Europe might actually launch—potentially around 2030. It will certainly be interesting to see how NBA Europe evolves. On Thursday, the commissioner indicated that the NBA in cooperation with its FIBA partner would continue to pursue the establishment of this new league. Nothing is set however according to ESPN this is the vision. “Current target countries for the NBA-FIBA endeavor are known to include England (with the potential host cities their being London and Manchester), France (Paris and Lyon), Spain (Madrid and Barcelona), Italy (Rome and Milan), Germany (Munich and Berlin), Greece (Athens) and Turkey (Istanbul). On the surface this would appear to be quite a threat to EuroLeague and you can understand why elements with the league are displeased.

Is there a Blazer Big Man curse

Is there a Big Man curse with the Portland Trail Blazers franchise? After an All American college season at UCLA the Blazers made the 6-foot 11 Bill Walton the top pick in the 1974 NBA draft. After a relative pedestrian beginning he led the Blazers to their only NBA championship in 1977. Later he would play for the San Diego Clippers and remain for one season once they moved to Los Angeles. His time for playing major minutes were over, he ended his career with the Celtics being honored as Sixth Man of the Year aiding them to win an NBA championship. Based on his college and early NBA career Walton’s been enshrined in the Naismith and College Basketball Hall of Fame.

Injuries had seriously impacted Walton’s NBA career. Next up a look at Sam Bowie, he was an outstanding post player (7-foot 1) while in high school. His college school of choice would be Kentucky where he was declared an All American. All that remained for Bowie was the NBA and that came in 1984. This draft saw the Houston Rockets choose Hakeem Olajuwon at the top, the Portland Trail Blazers selected Sam Bowie two and at three the Chicago Bulls picked Michael Jordan. From the 1984 season through 1989 a series of injuries would see Bowie in an out of the lineup with an assortment of injuries. Bowie would spend four additional seasons with the New Jersey Nets, his career ended with the Los Angeles Lakers after two seasons. Despite the potential believed Bowie had it was never fulfilled due to the injury issues. Although Bowie had a 10-year career it was nowhere close to what was expected. Years later the Blazers had another opportunity to draft an outstanding prospect and why not? They saw a promising future and not the curse occurring once again.

Greg Oden had budding superstar written about his ability prior to setting foot on an NBA court, one scout even claimed the 7-foot 1 Oden would be “The second coming of Bill Russell.” He was made the top pick in the 2007 NBA draft, immediately behind him the Seattle Sonics chose Kevin Durant. Oden would spend 2007 to 2012 in and out of the lineup of the Blazers beset by a series of injuries. They finally gave up on him and he spent his last year in the NBA with the Miami Heat. Three college All Americans, three players who displayed tremendous talent while in college however their NBA careers were seriously impacted due to numerous injuries.