A basketball fan’s perspective

Sunday, Monday, Wednesday & Friday

Who’s at the top now

Marcus Spears Jr. was the number one prospect in the Class of 2027. As noted here and in other accounts Spears Jr. reclassified and is now headed to the University of Texas next month, who takes his place in the top position now you ask? Well it depends on which prospect site you decide to check. Spears Jr. has been replaced by Beckham Black a 6-foot 3 point guard who is playing at Southeastern Prep Academy in Orlando Florida. Black hails from Duncanville Texas in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro.

247 Sports and ESPN place Black in the top slot for 2027 however Rivals has another player in its top position. Rivals ranks CJ Rosser, a 6-foot-9 power forward, as its number one prospect. In an interesting twist, Rosser is Black’s teammate at Southeastern Prep, though he calls Rocky Mount, North Carolina, home. As whether this duo remains in the present position is another matter, classes begin next month, with basketball season soon to follow. There you have it, the top prospect for the Class of 2027, its either Beckham Black or CJ Rosser depending on your source.

I don’t do money

If you’ve read this blog any length of time you are aware of this fact, I don’t do money! Correction, it is a topic from time to time but never from the point of stating an athlete needs to be paid a certain amount, in addition I’ve never stated a team regardless of the sport should pay a specified amount to an individual.  Despite my love affair with basketball those in the NBA are vastly overpaid compared to first responders, medical and law enforcement including educators. This is where I’m headed, Victor Wembanyama signed an extension and essentially left money on the table, i.e., he failed to secure the max of what he could have received.

Plenty of folks have decided “in their minds this sets a dangerous tendency for others in the NBA.” Wemby is not the first athlete to take less money at contract time, we could use Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes as our first example although he is unlikely the first as well. Over his time in the NFL the Chiefs have continued to reward him financially as it seems every season. The Chiefs indicate this tactic has been utilized to allow the team to secure additional talent. This type of financial arrangement was also used in the NBA in the past up to the present, the Spurs Tim Duncan did it so did Dirk Nowitzki of the Mavs. The most recent example to check would be Jalen Brunson, his move in taking less money is reported to have allowed the Knicks to acquire additional talent. The Wemby move is objectionable to former NBA player and current ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins and he's voiced as much. 

Unlike the dinosaur

Science claims a meteorite was responsible for decimating the dinosaur population that once ruled the earth. Fast forward a few million years, we find ourselves at the point of extinction of the Pac-12. A number of teams managed to escape as if a meteorite were about to strike the western portion of the United States. A strange thing occurred with someone or somebody associated with what was left of the Pac-12, “We are not going to become the latest conference to dissolve like the Southwest and Metro Conferences did. We intend to stay and fight” and fight they did, after longtime members such a Southern Cal, UCLA and others departed replacements were located.   

Holdovers Oregon State and Washington State have been joined by Gonzaga, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Utah State and Texas State. The revised Pac-12 now has 9 members and though some are referring to the conference as a “mid-major” those words have little meaning to me. I have no intention to project a conference leader, however, it should be pointed out the successful won-loss record of Gonzaga and coach Mark Few. I would be remiss if I failed to mention Boise State as well, they certainly have tasted on court basketball success too. If I overlooked your school forgive me, space and time will not allow me to conduct a deep dive discussion. The Pac-12 ain’t going nowhere and will continue into the future.

Retired numbers

There are several players with retired jerseys despite the fact they never played for that team. As an example you would expect the Bulls to have retired Michael Jordan’s number however the Heat have also retired his jersey. The same could be said for Kobe Bryant, his Laker jersey is retired but so is one the Mavs retired. Pete Maravich has three retired jerseys one each from the Hawks, Jazz and Pelicans, he first played for the Hawks and the Jazz while New Orleans was home, of course he never was a member of the Pelicans.

Wilt Chamberlain also has three retired jerseys however he played for the Warriors, Lakers and Sixers. Oscar Robertson is interesting in that he never played for the Kings yet they retired his number. He was drafted by and spent a major portion of his career playing for the Cincinnati Royals, by the time the team moved to Kansas City becoming the Kings he’d been traded to the Bucks who retired his jersey as well. Bob Lanier, Julius Erving, Clyde Drexler, Charles Barkley and Kareem Abdul Jabbar all have two jerseys retired. They competed as players for each of the teams they represented.