A fan’s perspective

Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday

Twilight

We usually think of twilight occurring in the evening, it can also occur in the morning. “The morning twilight before the day begins,” however my preference is dusk. “The evening twilight after the sun sets. For our purposes we are going to utilize the latter definition, the Warriors Steph Curry is in the sunset or twilight of a brilliant NBA career. He will be 39-years old by the time the 2026-27 season ends. It’s been my belief that for a number of years he alone is the prime reason the three point shot has become such a valuable tool for NBA teams.

A number of players over the years have attempted to duplicate Curry but nobody ever shot it with the proficiency he did in my opinion. He will close out his Hall of Fame career playing for only one team, the Golden State Warriors. NBA history might have turned out quite differently at least for the Wolves considering their decision. The 2009 NBA draft saw the Wolves with the 5th and 6th pick that year so what occurred you ask? In succession the Wolves chose Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn both point guards, with the 7th pick the Warriors chose Curry. Rubio from Spain would experience a 12-year NBA career but nowhere close to that of Curry.

As for Flynn after a brief three years spent with the Wolves, Rockets and Blazers he left the NBA. I could locate no further information indicating the former Syracuse guard managed to resurrect his basketball career. There is no method all these years later to determine the mindset of the Wolves management at the time. This we believe, they missed out on what some might call a generational player by them passing over Steph Curry.

Another great

I’m late with this account, Bob Pettit died last Thursday at the age of 93. Unless you are a student of the game the name might not register with several reading this. I was unsure where to place him in the archives of the NBA, I consider him an early NBA superstar. After all he was the NBA’s first MVP in 1956 he was named again in 1959. As for his arrival prior to the NBA Pettit played his basketball at LSU graduating in 1954, drafted by the Milwaukee Hawks as the second pick in that year’s draft.

Pettit was named NBA Rookie of the Year in 1955, the balance of his career was spent in St. Louis as the Hawks moved to the city after his rookie year, Pettit would be the first player in the history of the association to score 20,000 points in his 11-year career. After retirement Pettit was enshrined in the Naismith and Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. When the NBA named its 25th Anniversary Team Pettit was chosen, later he would be named to the 35th, 50th and 75th Anniversary Team’s. A giant of the game in more ways than one, Robert Lee Pettit Jr.

Hurry up and wait

The headline represents a term once used by the military, as an enlisted person I was never responsible for giving orders only accepting them. The term was used because it seemed there were duty assignments rushed to completion only to be placed on hold. The project or proposal would sometimes wind up in a holding pattern, that would appear to be the case in San Antonio. The Spurs led by Wemby made a gigantic leap in play exceeding expectations.

All of a sudden there were concerns by some in the Alamo City, “We need to ensure we keep Wemby” or “We can’t lose the franchise to Austin or some other city with a new arena.” I’m unsure if the concerns were legitimate however there were folks in San Antonio who believed they were. A gigantic rehab and new build plan was generated which included a new arena for the Spurs. Despite the fact Frost Bank Center home of the Spurs is really not ancient (2002) it’s not downtown, it’s located on the east side of San Antonio about 4 miles from downtown. Plans for the arena were rolled out and one by one the mayor’s office or someone took issue with the project or portions of it.

I believe the arena and surrounding plan will be implemented one day but this effort is certainly not moving at the pace it once did. I highly doubt (at least for now) if Wemby is hoping to play elsewhere. He could have commanded more dollars than he signed for, which is all the evidence I need. As for their I-35N neighbors it’s possible the Spurs could move to Austin although I have serious doubts if that would occur as well.