A basketball fans outlook

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Does the NBA have an issue as well

Prior to discussing the subject of sports television allow me to state this fact, the NFL on television swamps the NBA in television broadcast numbers, despite that fact there might be an issue. The NBA regular season is throttling down with this news related to sports broadcasting. The Department of Justice is reported to be opening an investigation regarding the NFL’s TV deal. The question is “whether the NFL has violated anti-competitive practices with its television contracts that require consumers to pay subscription costs to watch some games.” As for the NBA I mentioned this last fall, I lost a significant number of available NBA games once Turner broadcasting was outbid for the NBA television rights.

A portion of NBA games were moved to Prime and Amazon which caused a number of viewers to be unable to see games. It impacted this writer as well until it was later discovered these streaming services are part of my cable package. I’m okay (for now) however there might be others this change caused major issues. The NBA, unlike the NFL, has no antitrust issue however that fails to take into account there is a problem. How about those NBA fans who must pay a subscription fee for Prime and Amazon? Fans have been priced out of the game plus there is one additional issue. Is it fair to compare last season viewership numbers versus this season? I have no method to prove my theory but believe there were more “eyes” on Turner Sports than Prime and Amazon.

The Rookie of the Year   

There are arguments on both sides of this subject, who should be the 2026 NBA Rookie of the Year? The stats indicate the Mavs' Cooper Flagg and Hornets' Kon Knueppel are nearly identical to one another. In my view its likely Flagg will be the honoree because he arrived last fall as the favorite to win. I’ve mentioned this fact previously there have been three instances in the past where the NBA had co-rookies of the year, they were 1971, 1995 & 2000 why not again in 2026?

I believe we have arrived at this point once again. In my view it would be a shame if one of the players mentioned is named rookie of the year over the other, maybe the voters see what I see. How about the upside with both teams including their chief rookie? This is written in advance of the June draft however for me it’s the Hornets to date, they might be closer to competing successfully over the Mavs. The Hornets find themselves in the play-in tournament this season while the Mavs miss the cut by roughly 10 wins.

We are aware of one name already

This is a done deal, Seattle and Las Vegas are coming into the NBA according to reports as soon as 2028. This is early and certainly not official but how about team names? One is already in place, some might not be aware of this fact. When the franchise was sold, the City of Seattle retained ownership of the name. The team would have been sued if they had attempted to become the OKC Sonics, with that said we await the revival of the new Seattle Sonics team.

As for Las Vegas that’s a different story, I attempted to use my imagination in producing a team name. Below are some of the animals native to the State of Nevada, in addition I added Gamblers because that’s automatically included with Las Vegas long associated with games of chance. A question is raised with a few names and in parentheses I’m questioning, do we need another team with a similar name? We have at least two college teams nicknamed the Coyotes and Jackrabbits. I am quite sure there are a number of names I omitted.

Coyotes

Golden Eagles (NFL Eagles)

Jackrabbits

Elk

Gamblers

Aces (I am aware that’s the nickname of the WNBA team)

Red Tail Hawks (NBA Hawks)

Peregrine Falcons (NFL Falcons)

In all honesty a team name should be connectional i.e., NFL Houston Texans or Dallas Cowboys or just unique (New Orleans Pelicans), my apologies OKC fans. You have a championship NBA team but the worst name ever awarded a franchise. After all these years I continue to maintain Thunder is one of the dumbest names ever for a sports team. I make that statement based on this fact alone, everywhere in the world it rains thunder exists I believe.

Who's leading

As the 2026 college basketball season concludes, the Top 10 rankings remain largely consistent, with little changes among the leading teams. With the exception of two the majority of teams all had winning records during the recently completed season. The team records have been updated to reflect their current standings as they enter the 2026-27 basketball season. It is notable that UCLA ranks fifth all-time in wins and losses.

It’s unusual for me if I take into consideration the impressive number of winning seasons achieved during John Wooden's tenure as head coach. Prior to reviewing this Top 10 list, I anticipated UCLA would be placed third or at least fourth in terms of total wins. At one time I thought Kentucky and Kansas were closer than 19 wins apart however I could be mistaken. By the end of next season both Notre Dame and Purdue will exceed the 2,000 win mark. It should be noted each of these schools on this list has played 100+ years of competitive basketball.  

Kentucky 2,444               

Kansas 2,425               

North Carolina 2,419     

Duke 2370                   

UCLA 2,049

Temple 2,026

Syracuse 2,022

St. John’s 2,003

Notre Dame 1,991

Purdue 1,983