A fan’s perspective

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Will they….can they

The year was 2018 the Warriors were crowned NBA champions for the second year in a row. This was quite unusual not the championship but the fact we had a repeat champion in the NBA. The Showtime Lakers, the Russell led Celtics no longer dominate the game. Both remain competitive teams but similar to others they don’t repeat. The Lakers won in all in 2020, the Celtics 2024 but neither were able to repeat the feat in the following season. There are a variety of reasons that factor into the why there are no longer repeat NBA champions….the chief one in my view injuries. The second might be free agency, those teams that manage to come up short have secured free agents allowing them to accelerate past their rivals.

The Knicks won it all in June 2026 after last winning in 1973, the Knicks lost four players from their championship team. Mitchell Robinson, who backed up Karl-Anthony Towns was key to the win over the Spurs, he left in free agency. The Knicks signed Andre Drummond and Tacko Fall in an attempt to solidify the reserve position in relief of Karl-Anthony Towns. The 7-foot 6 Fall is a training camp signee who hopes to secure a position with the Knicks. The Knicks also added two players from the 2026 NBA draft, don’t expect either to see any minutes, the Knicks are a veteran team. The Sixers signed LeBron James to an improving team and the Celtics are laying in the weeds despite shipping Jaylen Brown off to the Sixers. It will be extremely tough but barring major injuries the Knicks could repeat if all the dominoes fall into place again. The headline “Will they….can they, the answer is yes.

Blocked shots

Bill Russell didn’t invent the blocked shot, after all his rookie season in the NBA was 1956-57. The first year of operation for the league was 1946-47, surely a number of players probably blocked shots prior to his arrival. What was the difference, Russell turned the blocked shot into an art form. He once said; “I can’t block every shot but if I make them think I can.” As you can see the intimidation factor was in full effect for Russell. Now for the problem, the NBA didn’t begin tracking blocks until the 1973-74 season.

Russell and Wilt Chamberlain, who arrived in the 1959-60 we can only guess the numbers they managed. The following numbers should be taken as speculation based on the shot-blocking ability of both. Russell was probably 8.1 blocks a game during the regular season in the playoffs it was 8-15 blocks. There are no playoff estimates for Chamberlain but his number during the regular season was guesstimated to be 8.8 blocks. As indicated once the block shot stat was added well a number of players blew the roof off. October 28, 1973, Laker center Elmore Smith set the NBA single game record with 17 blocks against the Blazers. This past season Victor Wembanyama was named Defensive Player of the Year, he also led the NBA in blocked shots. What’s that you say, its easy when you stand 7-foot 5 or whatever height Wemby stands. Blocking shots is more than height alone, I’m not picking on Brook Lopez but consider this.

Lopez is 7-foot 1 and 282 pounds yet 2.5 blocks a game is his highest total for his 18-year career and he accomplished the number four years ago, Wemby led the NBA with 4.8 blocks this past season. Why do you think the Lakers traded for Walker Kessler, he’s a productive rebounder and shot blocker. Because the height issue was mentioned what are the traits of a good shot blocker. He must have good leaping ability, timing is also important plus positioning. Added is discipline and the intimidation factor or the Russell effect is also a key. Bottom line, just being 7-feet tall is no guarantee of an athletes ability to block shots or intimidate.  

Meanwhile…. 

ESPN is projecting a dire future for the Clippers losing 5 future first round draft choices. They use the example of the Minnesota Wolves from 26 years ago at a time they suffered a similar fate involving Joe Smith. Although it will not be an easy task I believe the punishment is nearly the same although the outcome could be quite different. As an example I believe in the draft, however, a complimentary free agent is more likely to turn a team around than a rookie draft pick. What’s the old adage; “location, location….location.” This is certainly not intended as a criticism but we are talking Southern California versus the cold, cold winters of Minnesota. The Pacific Ocean plus Hollywood movie and commercial opportunities, those might work to an advantage for the Clippers attempting to sign free agents.

My best guess is that, aside from winning an NBA championship, having your number retired ranks near the top of basketball honors. I was surprised to learn that all 30 NBA teams have retired at least one number, with the Boston Celtics leading the way at 24. The Los Angeles Clippers have the fewest with one, and even that is somewhat technical. Major League Baseball retired Jackie Robinson’s number 42 across the sport, and the NBA took a similar step with Celtics great Bill Russell’s number 6. That remains the only retired number credited to the Clippers. The Lakers are second behind Boston with 15 retired numbers, though technically it is 14 players because Kobe Bryant’s numbers 8 and 24 are both retired. The New Orleans Pelicans have retired two numbers: Bill Russell’s 6 and Pete Maravich’s 7. Overall, seven NBA teams have retired 10 or more jersey numbers.

I like Michael Porter Jr., much of this stems from the fact he attended and played at Mizzou briefly. I’ve followed his NBA career and pleased it appears MPJ has raised his level of play over his brief time in the association. Those are the positives. The negative for me, his opinion: He recently made headlines by saying he is unimpressed with the rebuilt Lakers roster. I’m not sure what prompted his view, but I can say with confidence that I’m equally unimpressed with his assessment.