A fan’s perspective

Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday

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Only Spike Lee and his accountant know what he pays for courtside seats. I’d say Lee is probably the Knicks’ principal celebrity fan, though he has plenty of company. Because its New York, Manhattan, and Madison Square Garden there are usually a significant number of names seated in those very expensive floor and courtside seats. I once heard Lee being interviewed about his seat and he said; “Don’t do what I do” or a similar statement. Curious, I decided to check on the cost, keep in mind we have no idea what Lee, Tracy Morgan, Chris Rock, Jon Stewart or John McEnroe pay for their seats.

According to the internet the MSG seats these folks occupy range in price from $2,000-$10,000. In addition to those figures its reported price adjustments occur based on the day of the week and visiting team. On the west coast portion of the nation Los Angeles to be exact a similar cost exists. Jack Nicholson is not in attendance at Crypto.com Arena but there are plenty of others, Denzel Washington, Tom Cruise, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg and Steven Spielberg to name just a few. How much are these folks paying for their tickets….it depends. The figure I uncovered only applies to courtside seats and the price could be adjusted in a similar manner to Madison Square Garden. In Los Angeles we have a range of $2,650 up to $10,000. I suspect NBA arenas lacking celebrity fans ticket pricing is more moderate than New York and Los Angeles.

In court rather than on it

For the immediate time Mizzou forward Mark Mitchell is eligible to play. Mizzou has a game tomorrow which has become annual its match against Cleveland State and there is a basis for the game. Coach Dennis Gates arrived at Mizzou after coaching the Ohio school from 2019-2022. The resume of the coach is not the basis of this account its “In court rather than on it.” As most of you are aware Mizzou along with several other schools across the nation has attempted to aid a number of athletes in gaining another year of eligibility. Each case is different, I have no intent to detail each and every one of them I’m only detailing Mizzou. Forward Mark Mitchell, who most of Mizzou Nation believed was gone having his eligibility expired.

But wait there is more, Mitchell went to court and the final reading, he’s been granted a 5th year by the courts. I have no ability to determine if Mitchell is eligible for the season that will be determined later. As for transfer portal player CJ Gunn that’s a different matter. Gunn a guard had played two years at Indiana and two at DePaul but signed a professional contract. He played three games for a Canadian team earning $524, he’s agreed to pay the money back and serve a three game suspension as part of an agreement. The agreement was based on a temporary restraining order and a follow up hearing was planned. Tuesday’s hearing was cancelled, though it’s unclear which party cancelled it. Gunn remains ineligible to play pending a final ruling on his status. Now you see the reason for the headline: Mizzou is spending more time in court than on it. I wish that weren’t the case.

Chamberlain back then

Walk with me for a few minutes on this belief of mine, see if you can gather a degree of truth in the words you are about to read. Wilt Chamberlain back then, we are so far pass the events of his time most of his exploits on the basketball court are blurred. One of the complaints I’ve read and heard mentioned by many, “There weren’t that many teams back then. Chamberlain had little competition for the numbers he was able to produce.” Well the statement is partially correct, when Chamberlain arrived to play in the 1959-60 season there were only 8 NBA teams.

That meant he competed against 7 other starting centers and the reserves of the team. By the time he retired after the 1972-73 season the NBA had expanded to 17 with Chamberlain competing against 16 others. Also keep in mind during this period he played for the Warriors, Sixers and Lakers. It’s my belief by the time Chamberlain retired he might have competed against more quality post players than exist today. The NBA contains 30 teams at present, we could state in truth, “the product (post-play) might be diluted even more than in Chamberlain’s time.” The quality of play is generally at a premium however there are probably a number of players today who might not have earned roster spots back then.

Meanwhile….

Most of Laker Nation is asking the same question I am, who is Lawson Lovering? Having never seen him in action a deep internet dive was required. “Lovering played college basketball at Colorado and Utah, spent time with the Memphis Hustle in the G League, and appeared in two games for the Memphis Grizzlies last season. Lovering is a 7-footer and the Lakers waived AK Okereke in order to sign Lovering to a two-way contract. As most are aware the team is in need of a backup center to Walker Kessler, whether the 23-year old 245 pound Lovering can fill the role is unknown for now.

This is part II of an earlier report, keep in mind I didn’t conduct the research however it certainly would appear to be valid. How old is LeBron James, you know the answer he’s 41-years old and will have his 42nd birthday December 31. Consider this, “23% of today’s NBA players were not alive when LBJ entered the NBA.” The number is 103.5 or more of today’s players were yet to be born. Now for the math, I had to guess there are approximately 450 players in the NBA based on each roster containing 15 players and that’s how I arrived at 103.5 players.

I admit it, I’m spoiled….I wanna see what I want when I want to see it. Confused, here goes, the non-con portion of Mizzou men’s basketball schedule drives me up a wall. Mizzou will have played UNLV by the time you read this, I had no opportunity to see the game, are you wondering why? UNLV is on the Mountain West Network and Mountain West Streaming, I skipped paying for one more streaming service. The balance of the non-con consists of pay for additional streaming services or ESPNU. Based on what I am presently paying for cable and limited streaming I’m financially tapped out.