A fan’s perspective

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They went opposite ways

This move did not occurr at the same time, however, two coaches took opposing paths toward the 2026-27 basketball season. His was somewhat indirectly, he’d been fired and was an analyst for NBA broadcasts at the time he left for college basketball and the other left the college game for the NBA. With that said how about a brief look at both individuals? The North Carolina Tarheels hired former NBA coach Mike Malone, he’s a former 24 year NBA coach serving in several capacities. There will be an adjustment for him although the basketball bounces in the same manner. As for the other Dusty May takes over the Dallas Mavs for a brand new experience.

May’s Michigan Wolverines won the 2026 NCAA Championship and the coach departed about two months later. Which coach is facing the most pressure in this brand new environment? We return to Malone first, he must adapt to recruiting athletes of today with NIL and the transfer portal in place, it would appear he’s gotten off to a fast start. Demarcus Henry a 6-foot 7 wing and the number two prospect in the Class of 2027 verbally committed on Friday October 30. As for May he’s now responsible for massaging the egos of 15 Mavs players most earning far more dollars than him. The pressure cooker that is coaching would say both are under scrutiny in their new positions. If I were to choose one over the other its got to be May in my opinion who might be facing the most pressure. Of course this is only an opinion, you might come to a different conclusion.

It’s just a number

Lebron James is “ancient” continuing play in the NBA considering his age, he will turn 42-years of age December 30. How about this tidbit of information recently pointed out to NBA fans? LeBron has played against an NBA player who was born in 1962 and another whose birth year was 2006, that’s a 44 year age difference. Who are they, some who are reading this might not remember the name Kevin Willis. Willis had a 21-year NBA career however he spent the greater portion (11 years)  of it as a member of the Atlanta Hawks.

Willis retired in 2006 while LeBron’s first year in the NBA was 2003. As for the player born in 2006 that would be Cooper Flagg of the Dallas Mavs. I know what you are going to say; “How come you weren’t providing information of this nature when LeBron was playing for the Lakers?” All I can say is Oops! As for LeBron playing at 41 it might not be as unusual as you might first believe. According to AI there have been a total of 36 players who played in the NBA after turning 40. Robert Parrish, Vince Carter, Kareem Abdul Jabbar and surprisingly we can count Michael Jordan in the number as well. Those names represent just a few of the number who played past age 40.

Surprise, they were ballers first

Basketball has wide appeal to large segments of the population. In some instances well known celebrities were never stars playing basketball although they reached stardom in other fields, let’s check out just a few of those names. Tom Selleck came to our attention playing in Magnum PI, later he would become New York City Police commissioner for 14 seasons in television’s Blue Bloods, he played the game in college. George Clooney has appeared in a large number of movies over the course of his career, in high school Clooney played basketball. Calvin Broadus a.k.a. Snoop Dog played on the Long Beach (CA) Polytechnic High School team.

Jamie Foxx has made a name for himself in the entertainment industry playing comedic and drama roles, he competed  in football and basketball while in high school. Standing 5-feet 4 it might be difficult to believe but comedian Kevin Hart also was on his high school team. Derek Jeter had a hall of fame career playing for the New York Yankees, he chose baseball although basketball was played as well. Rapper Nelly was on his high school basketball team. Either the game failed to hold his interest or maybe he didn’t improve, Barack Obama played on the junior varsity at Punahou School while living in Hawaii. Actor Brad Pitt of Moneyball was a member of Kickapoo High School as a freshman in Springfield MO. There are several celebrities who were omitted however this is but a small list.

Twin Towers

Whenever a team has two 7-footers in the lineup the immediate thought is “Twin Towers.” Think Tim Duncan-David Robinson or Hakeem Olajuwon-Ralph Sampson in the NBA, much earlier there was Wilt Chamberlain and Nate Thurmond for a time. At the collegiate level it was slightly different, the only names from memory are Artis Gilmore and Pembroke Burrows who played for Jacksonville University and faced UCLA for the 1970 NCAA championship. How about high school, most recently we had the twin sons of former NBA player Theo Ratcliff. Son’s Darius and Adonis. Both 7-footers are to be in the lineup for Southern Cal this season, of course we have the next two of note.

Cherif Millogo and Yann Kamagate are enrolled at St Francis High School in La Canada Flintridge California. This city is located in the foothills of the Verdugo and San Gabriel Mountains in Los Angeles County. Some might remember an earlier report on Cherif Millogo who is a 7-foot 4 240 pound center, 247 Sports rates this Class of 2027 prospect 4-stars. At the  time I omitted his “twin.” Teammate Yann Kamagate is also enrolled at St Francis, he’s 7-foot and 230 pounds and 247 Sports awards this Class of 2028 prospect 5-stars. He and Millogo also share the same home country, both youngsters are from Burkina Faso on the African continent. As this is written it’s unclear if the two are from the same town in their home country. These are two names to file away for future reference.