A basketball fans perspective

Monday, Wednesday & Friday

“Everything Must Change”

For some who might be unfamiliar the headline is a song title recorded by several artists in the past. The names are known primarily in the jazz field, they include the late Nina Simone, George Benson, Oleta Adams and others. Change must occur in Lakerland as well, LeBron James is headed elsewhere, the belief is probably the Warriors. Let’s check the past, in 2018 when he arrived in Los Angeles LeBron had already punched his ticket to the Naismith Hall of Fame several years earlier. The Lakers one of the premier teams in the NBA were suffering at the time LeBron arrived, they had missed the playoffs six consecutive years.

Play of that type was certainly un-Laker like based on their history. In six seasons of eight with the Lakers they would be a playoff team and they added an NBA championship (2020), LeBron certainly was a key to that championship. There were missteps regarding at least two of the coaches hired at the time LeBron arrived, Frank Vogel who led them to the championship shouldn’t have been fired IMO. Darvin Ham had a winning record but circumstances proved to some in Laker Nation (me included) he needed to be replaced. The jury remains out on JJ Redick whom I believe is a good choice but must prove to everyone else. Here I am going to go fast-forward to the recent playoffs, no Luka and no Reaves, who led the way to the victory over the Rockets, it was 41-year old LeBron James. At the same time, the handwriting was on the wall, apparently the Lakers were looking down the road minus LeBron. A friend called me on Tuesday, he said something like “Did you hear LeBron James is leaving the Lakers?” I informed him the news had made its way to me earlier, he said; “You got a pipeline to the front office?” Of course that is not the case. 

I believe it was more than age, LeBron wore out his welcome in Lakerland. Despite that last statement he will forever be among the Laker favorites for me. I believe it wouldn’t end like this, my hope LeBron Raymone James Sr. would retire a Laker but that would not occur. The window is closing on his hall of fame career and I can state this with conviction, I’ve never witnessed a basketball player his age still resemble the one most of us first witnessed play at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron Ohio all those years ago. To top off his Laker career he would become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.

The house cleaning continues

NBA talent Ja Morant has almost become an afterthought, in 2019 Morant was made the second pick in that year’s draft. Almost immediately he proved his value as he was named Rookie of the Year in the NBA in 2020. Since that year Morant has mostly endured headlines that have a negative tone attached to them. Suspensions, injuries have caused his “star” to become somewhat tarnished. No one but Grizzlies management had a clue as to what was about to unfold. Management had begun moving members of the roster placing them with other teams. The biggest name prior to what you are about to read was Jaren Jackson Jr. The Grizzly Big Man along with three others was traded to the Jazz back in February. 

The team would miss the playoffs and soon after the season ended all sorts of speculation had Morant headed almost everywhere except Memphis. On Monday came unofficial word, Morant had been traded to the Blazers for Jerami Grant and Kris Murray. Despite his talent the number of injuries have severely impacted his career. The injuries are part of the game the suspensions over his career are different. There is no requirement to detail them for you except to state hopefully the trade will work in his favor, notice nowhere did I state he was lacking skill. The injuries are just that, the suspensions are his responsibility to curtail. Now the downside of this move, Dame Lillard remains a talent and is still a member of the Blazers, in addition he and Morant will represent a “small NBA backcourt.”

Deep, deep pockets 

The NBA intends to return to Seattle and also place a team in Las Vegas. For this account, the goings on in Las Vegas will be the focus. A number of you are aware LeBron James had expressed interest at one time of becoming an NBA owner, particularly in Las Vegas. Who are the players wanting to purchase the expansion franchise, well there is Bill Foley who owns the NHL Golden Knights who refer to Las Vegas home. We also have Bob Iger former Disney CEO and Joshua Kushner businessman and venture capitalist plus a guy by the name of Magic Johnson.

These are the reported parties that will vye for the Las Vegas franchise once the NBA performs its due diligence. I uncovered this while surfing the net, “The owners are looking at an expenditure of $7-$10 billion to secure a team.” What continues to amaze me, those individuals who make statements like; “Nobody is watching the NBA” WRONG! Anytime folks want to purchase a team at the figure mentioned they have deep, deep pockets. They could choose to spend their money in a number of other areas. Because I have no ability to see the books I have serious doubts if any NBA owner is “losing” money. By the way, the last communication from the camp of LeBron James indicated he was no longer interested.   

The “other” NBA team  

I realize in a technical sense the Nets can be titled “New York’s other team,” most NBA fans probably believe the Knicks are the only game in town despite the fact the Nets have referred to the Brooklyn borough as home since 2012. The franchise has suffered over the years moving from place to place since the days it first began play in the ABA back in 1967 as the New Jersey Americans. It was believed by some the new Barclays Center plus the prospect of new team in town would endear the Nets to Brooklyn and the other boroughs but alas that appears to not be the case. As an outsider to this subject I believe (and I could be wrong) winning an NBA championship or even playing for one will increase the Nets credibility.

The problem is they haven’t won anything since the glory days of the ABA, they won championships in 1974 and 1976 a long, long time ago. More recently the Nets have experienced three losing seasons consecutively, before that they were on a roller-coaster in the won-loss department. The population of Brooklyn alone (2,600,000) is equivalent to that of the Kansas City MO metro. Part of the problem lies in Manhattan, the team with New York on the front of their jerseys. We might conclude that the Nets will always remain New Yorks “other” team with the built in loyalty of that team. Now with NBA champions in front of their name do the Nets even stand a chance with an above average performance on the court? It’s a genuine problem when the Knicks number one celebrity fan continues to live in Brooklyn, need I say more?