A basketball fans perspective

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Nunca

If you’ve read Off the Dribble any length of time you are aware of my belief. The Lakers require a legitimate Big Man in the middle, they don’t need him to score simply do those things which make for quality play at the five position. I thought at one point Deandre Ayton might be the answer but his inconsistent play has become a concern for me. As this is written I remain unsure if the Lakers intend to resolve this issue in the 2026 NBA draft, in the meantime allow me to explain what I don’t want.

This story emanated from a Laker fan website so it’s certainly not set in stone by any means, this .com site indicated the team should take a thorough look at Knicks center Mitchell Robinson. Now this requires a second look, I first became aware of Robinson while he was still in high school, the numbers he displayed gave me the impression he was a walking double-double. I speculated that type of play would continue once Robinson enrolled at Western Kentucky. He never played, he withdrew as a freshman and prepared himself for the June NBA draft. In 2018 he was chosen in the second round by the Knicks where he’s become a capable defender. The offensive game he exhibited in high school never materialized at the NBA level, in addition we discovered he is a horrible free throw shooter.

In all his years as a Knick Robinson remains a capable but backup post player despite the fact missing games due to injury, despite these issues change is in the air. Robinson is a pending free agent who the Lakers should look at according to this site. From my perspective please no, the Knicks need to pay him and he should remain on the east coast and not the west. Espero que él permanezca en Nueva York y nunca en Los Ángeles. Much later you will come across a more detailed assessment of what the Laker roster as I believe it should appear for next season.

Dropped in out of the sky

Keaton Wagler’s former high school Shawnee Mission Northwest is a 20 minute drive from my home. The reason why I am providing the information is simple, most of us in the Kansas City metro had never heard of Wagler. We were unfamiliar with his name until he burst on the national scene at Illinois. The youngster will be an NBA lottery pick soon after his freshman year at Illinois, what occurred before this? There is no indication the 6-foot 6 inch 185 pound combo guard distinguished himself at Shawnee Mission Northwest except he was rated a 4-star prospect.

There were offers for Wagler to attend and play basketball, for the most part they were from smaller schools across the nation. I’m unsure how Illinois came into the picture but that would be the school of choice. He made the Big Ten All Freshman Team and was Big Ten Freshman of the Year, in addition First-team All-Big Ten, Second Team-All American. Wagler topped off his outstanding 2026 being named the Jerry West Award winner. So how did Wagler move from an unknown to a possible NBA lottery pick in 2026? We know this for sure, he didn’t drop in out of the sky. I’m sure hard work plus talent and the fact he was a late bloomer is really the why.

Historic events

Over the course of time many world events and those in this nation have stood out for a variety of reasons. The world of sports is no different, these occurrences have often been so earth-shattering they changed the course of history. One of those events I’d like to point out occurred March 19, 1966, Texas Western (now UTEP) won the NCAA men’s championship 72-65. The significance of the event, many schools in the deep south were yet to integrate their sports programs.

The University of Kentucky basketball roster that year was all-white, not a single black player on the roster. On the other hand the Texas Western team did include white players however the championship game would witness 5 black players matched against 5 white players. Unlike other schools in the deep south prior to Don Haskins arrival Texas Western had recruited and their lineup contained black players. What you are about to read further is from Wikipedia not me. “Later asked about his decision to start five African American players Haskins downplayed the significance of his decision. “I really didn’t think about starting five black guys. I just wanted to put my five best guys on the court,” Haskins was later quoted as saying. “I just wanted to win that game.”

Of course in winning “that game” as he stated the basketball landscape of the nation would later change. In 1969 Adolph Rupp longtime Kentucky coach added the first black player to his team, other schools throughout the south began recruiting black athletes for their programs. Sometimes history is influenced by those who simply believe the best course of action is to win. That might have been the case for the late Don Haskins, he wanted to win not realizing his accomplishment would help change the course of American history and basketball.