A fan’s perspective

Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday

Pay me or miss games

As we begin the countdown to Tuesday October 20, 2026, I am prepared this time around. For nearly 1/3 of the season I missed NBA games broadcast by Peacock and Prime, neither of those streaming services were part of my cable package. For me it was ESPN or the networks of ABC, NBC or NBA TV, I didn’t believe last season I was missing much….but I was. This was an “itch” I couldn’t scratch, it seemed early Peacock or Prime was broadcasting a game I wanted to see. This is what convinced me, Thanksgiving weekend the Lakers were on Prime, my son had the streaming service so Friday evening I watched the game while out of town.

When I returned home there was no rush on my part, sometime in January I added Prime and shortly thereafter Peacock. From roughly February through the playoffs including the NBA championship I had wall to wall NBA action which was much different in one aspect. My wife loves the NFL Chiefs, she follows the Royals but basketball has been a different matter until last season. It was during the playoffs, my wife sat down and began watching the games, she did this right through the Knicks winning the NBA championships over the Spurs. I’m not sure how this upcoming season will unfold, I don’t know if my wife retains her interest in the NBA however this I know, this time around I decided to pay rather than miss games.

School’s begun

Students are in school, that includes the student-athletes especially those who play football. Several school’s began their football on August 29 while others will began play much later, can basketball be very far behind? There are a large number of college basketball players with NBA aspirations, who are they you might ask? If we look at NBA mock draft sites round one is comprised of mostly freshman so unless you saw them play in high school you might only see them briefly in college before the NBA. 

As I’ve often stated over and over, the changing landscape has caused us to see these athletes demonstrate their skill at the high school level but we haven’t a clue about college. In addition we have the words of others to evaluate their NBA possibilities. With that said I decided to check just one site, nbadraftnet.com is my information source for this little exercise. Last season most of us were made aware headed into the season AJ Dybansta at BYU and Darryn Peterson at Kansas were considered the top two picks, early it was believed it would be Peterson and then perhaps Dybansta. The evening of the draft told a far different story with Dybansta first and Peterson second, Peterson’s freshman season was  a contributing factor we guess. We believed both would be high draft picks and that indeed turned out to be the case, with that said let’s check the names because we have no idea which NBA team picks where. At the top of the draft is the son of former NBA player Gilbert Arenas.

*Alijah Arenas 6-foot 6 shooting guard Southern Cal

*Jason Crowe 6-foot 4 point guard Missouri

*Jordan Smith 6-foot 2 combo guard Arkansas

*Kanon Catchings 6-foot 9 small forward Georgia

*Tyran Stokes 6-foot 8 shooting guard Kansas

*Stefan Joksimovic 6-foot 4 shooting guard Slovenia (International)

*Amari Allen 6-foot 6 combo guard Alabama

*Davis Fogle 6-foot 7 shooting guard Gonzaga

*Braylon Mullins 6-foot 5 shooting guard UConn

*Caleb Holt 6-foot 5 combo guard Arizona

Four of the 10 are sophomores while the remainder named are freshman along with a single international athlete. You might have heard the old adage “Youth will be served” which certainly applies to the NBA draft nowadays, it is rare to see a junior or senior’s name listed in the lower portion of the draft every season. I read one team in the NBA considered a prospect “old” if his 23rd or 24th birthday had occurred prior to draft night.

This is interesting

A trend I’m unsure where it began has cropped up, my question does it serve any purpose? The explanation, we read or hear a former NBA player one who usually retired in recent years. This former player without providing any evidence other than his opinion claims a 1950s or 1960s athlete couldn’t play in today’s NBA. Usually they will see film from the time period as a basis for their conclusion, they provide you the reader or listener no proof whatsoever. In 2026 sports medicine is at its best ever, players in all sports have suffered devastating injuries. That 1950s player would have been forced to retire, the 2026 player has surgery plus rehab and he returns to the court.

Jason Tatum suffered a torn right Achilles tendon during the 2025 NBA playoffs and missed most of the 2025-26 season before returning in March 2026. My favorite player Kobe Bryant suffered a left Achilles tendon rupture on April 12, 2013, he returned to the Lakers December 8, 2013. Today’s athletes are better conditioned plus they have the benefit of sports medicine non-existent in the past. That’s only part of the story of today’s athletes, as for the play itself consider this belief. I offer you no proof however Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, John Havlicek, Elgin Baylor and several others I believe could have played competitively in the 2026 NBA. This exercise is for my benefit only, recently retired NBA players will continue to express their belief the early NBA was “plumbers and carpenters” as one cynic claimed.