A basketball fans perspective

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First choice or last….does it matter

I have no method of verifying this account one way or another, a writer claimed Mike Brown was not the first choice as coach of the Knicks. Does that really matter, this I believe to be true he will never have to pay for a meal in New York City again. Brown has proven he can coach, however, a couple of stops where he was fired have hung like a millstone around his neck. In Cleveland with LeBron and his stop at the time he was head coach of the Kings. What is most interesting about the time spent in Sacramento this little jewel. The team went 16 consecutive seasons missing the playoffs before Brown led them to a berth in the 2022-23 season.

Consider this, Brown is an NBA championship coach 18 months after the Kings fired him. How many active coaches are NBA champions, I will save you time it’s seven, Mark Daigneault with the Thunder was added last season becoming number six and Brown this month makes the count seven. One of the most difficult tasks in life is to never lose faith in yourself. I’m really unsure how Brown accomplished this but consider the fact, he was fired at Cleveland, fired at the Lakers and fired at the Kings. Was New York the last gasp of hope for a job, probably not. See he’d been an assistant on Steve Kerr’s staff and was a 4-time winning NBA championship coach. So we have the brief account of Mike Brown who should never pay for a meal in New York City again, do you hear me New Yorkers?

I plead guilty

Quite often I will mention a headline to my wife, she then says, “What about ________________ and _________.” I am then forced to confess I didn’t read the article only the headline. That is the case with the story I’m about to convey to you. A well-known celebrity who claims to be a Knicks fan was critical of another well-known celebrity attending the Finals. I thought for a moment this is interesting because I’ve never seen this particular celebrity offering the critical commentary on my television screen.

On the other hand I can say in truth I haven’t seen every Knicks game from MSG however I have seen a significant number. Despite that fact it seems the television camera almost always provides us video of Spike Lee, he’s the only celebrity who always appears at Knick games. This made for a larger question, who are you….a bandwagon fan someone who only follows a team when they attain success? On the other hand you could be the fan who sticks with the team through the good and bad times. This is the truth, I once held a discussion along these lines who is your favorite team or which one do you follow? The answer, “I followed the Bulls until Michael Jordan retired.” My thought, you are no fan of the Bulls your interest lies strictly with the play of Michael Jordan. My point is simple, its far easier to follow and root for a team when they taste success, I imagine over the next few weeks and months we’ll see a legion of folks emerge pledging their loyalty to the Knicks.

In this instance I wonder who’s been there since 1973, I’m sure quite a few excluding the bandwagon fans. The question could be posed to me as well, am I a loyal fan? Am I willing to remain a fan of the Lakers no matter if they win or lose? I think that might be the case for me, what about you and your favorite team, doesn’t matter if its college or the NBA? In the case of this celebrity shouldn’t they be allowed to attend a game without being a fan of that particular team, I say yes.

Where do we go from here

The guy in the apartment above you turns on his television at 3:00 a.m. blasting you out of a sound sleep every morning 5 days a week. That might be the plight of the Los Angeles Clippers, they are awaiting a judgement that could sink the franchise or allow it to float successfully. The Aspiration debacle is partially over, you remember that was the company that filed bankruptcy and the owner sentenced to prison recently. Were the Clippers involved in an unscrupulous arrangement with this company? The law firm hired by the NBA must wrap up its investigation regarding the company and a supposed payment arrangement to Kawhi Leonard circumventing the salary cap. That’s one story, the other is the 2026 NBA draft upcoming and how it will impact the franchise.

The trade to acquire Paul George in exchange for SGA left the Clippers with no draft picks like forever, I’m exaggerating of course. The February trade to the Pacers would lead them to the first round and the lottery guarantees they will have the 5th pick in a few weeks in the 2026 NBA draft. With that said the Clippers find themselves in a position they probably would not have believed, even at the close of the season, who do they choose with this pick? Two of the mocks I normally use has them choosing talented point guard Darius Acuff Jr. 6-foot 3 from Arkansas. A third mock indicates the choice will be Illinois combo guard Keaton Wagler 6-foot 6 while a 4th site has them choosing Mikel Brown Jr. a 6-foot 5 point guard out of Louisville. This is certainly not written in stone but do you see the common theme here….point guard. Based on these four mock draft sites I can state we might be surprised if the pick is another position other than someone to play the point.

“Danger, Will Roger!”

That was the phrase uttered by the robot from the iconic television series Lost in Space. What I discovered it was only said once the entire the series ran on television but will forever be a catch phrase. The connection here, the danger expressed by the courts whenever there is a ruling affecting sports. The latest, the Texas Tech quarterback okayed to play after evidence he bet on games. A Texas court judge made the ruling it would be okay for him to play, of course the following day the NCAA took action. This issue has not been resolved as this is written but it follows a pattern.

Last season an Alabama judge made a ruling allowing a professional basketball player to return to college in….you guessed it….Alabama. I’m not going to detail that or the Texas Tech quarterback, all I intend to ask is WHY? Has the issue of Name, Image and Likeness driven us to this point? I realize its difficult to refer to several athletes as amateurs while they are being paid huge sums of money for attending a particular university. Unfortunately (or fortunately) that is the world we live in today. Would a commissioner of university sports resolve these issues, I am unsure. I feel compelled to make this statement, we cannot have Washington D.C. politics involved in any resolution of this magnitude. Once again yours truly has raised an issue without providing you an answer, the simple truth is I don’t have one.