Digital Sports Desk

Online Destination for the Best in Boston Sports

Opinion

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | June 26

by

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – It was a tumultuous week to say the least.

Starting with a wonderful, quiet and restful Father’s Day, finishing Sunday with a White Mountain Creamery mint chocolate chip ice cream treat after enjoying an entertaining U.S. Open golf tournament right up the block at The Country Club in Brookline, the week started off fine.

The week continued, we had three games of the NHL Stanley Cup Final, with Game 4 a series-swaying overtime win (3-2) by the Colorado Avalanche at Tampa to take a 3-games-to-1 series lead back to Denver where they hoped to close it out. But, the Tampa Bay Lightning did not go down, winning Friday’s Game 6, 3-2, to keep Lord Stanley’s Cup in its case and volley the series back to Tampa-St. Pete Sunday night (tonight).

The Golden State Warriors had a victory parade. The NBA held its annual Draft. Brooks Koepka and Abraham Ancer were the latest two PGA TOUR professionals to jump to the LIV Golf, accepting zillions for sure. … College Baseball is closing in on the winner of the 2022 College World Series with Oklahoma and Ole Miss squaring off on Sunday and Monday.

Thursday was the most important day of the week as the sporting industry celebrated the 50th Anniversary of Title IX, the landmark federal law that changed the world for women’s athletics and evened the playing field for girls in youth programs, elementary school, high school and college while building the foundation for women playing sports with a goal to become professionals.

June 23, 1972 was the date, and the sporting emphasis of Title IX was packed nicely into a larger list of educational reforms for any program seeking federal funding. It was monumental in many ways legally and ground-breaking for the pioneers of women’s sports. Professionals like tennis legend Billie Jean King, long distance runner Kathrine Switzer, tennis great Althea Gibson and basketballer Anne Meyers Drysdale led the way and the multitude would follow.

No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

According to a study by the Women’s Sports Foundation reported in The New York Times, high school participation rose from 294,015 in the 1971-72 school year to 3.4 million in 2018-19. At the collegiate level, participation at N.C.A.A. schools rose from 29,977 athletes in women’s sports in 1971-72 to 215,486 in 2020-21. Men’s sports reportedly had 275,769 athletes competing in 2020-21. Talk about evening the playing field.

The landmark legal proclamation was a major step for education and women’s sports but for those experiencing Title IX while in high school, the law was less important than the statement it was making: That being “it’s cool for the girls to play sports” – all sports – and “it’s just as cool” for the boys to support their classmates, attend home games, travel to away games and root hard for the girls’ teams.

At Holy Trinity, it was about Debbie Basel grabbing an offensive rebound with a quick put-back or Clare Krummenacker knocking down a shot with a stroke as silky as Jamaal Wilkes’ jumper.

At St. John’s, it was watching Trinity grad Laura Edney swim through the water like a Chris-Craft cruising the Long Island Sound.

There might’ve been some pushback from old-school coaches and athletic administrators who didn’t want to give-up their sacred gymnasium time, but the student body spoke. Let them play! Game On!

Olympian Summer Sanders (file)

As time passed by and Title IX paved the way in many different sports, the competition brought forth serious competitors like Summer Sanders-Schlopy, the most decorated Olympic swimmer at the 1992 Summer Games. Sanders-Schlopy, once an anchor for NBA Inside Stuff and a regular TV commentator and show host, took home two gold, a silver and a bronze for a USA Women’s swim team that just ROCKED the ‘92 Barcelona Olympics.

Around the hoop, the results of Title IX became quite apparent on the USA Basketball Women’s World Championship and Olympics front, especially between 1996 (See the new ESPN 30-for-30 “Dream On” currently streaming) and 2020 when the “Supreme Team” won seven consecutive gold medals, and five of the last six World Cups of Basketball behind a team full of Title Niners.

The women’s basketball team of ‘96 led the way, along with the gold-medal winning women’s gymnastics team at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics that the women dominated in terms of awareness, event attendance and fan affinity.

There were Title IX benefits off the playing field as well, as women took their rightful places in sports administration on the community, high school, collegiate and professional levels as the Boomers of 1972 grew-up with sports and the sports industry grew-up with them.

Yet in 2022, there is still more to accomplish to balance the playing field, the job opportunities, coaching and administrative salaries and pay in sports where women generate revenue to great lengths, like the USA women’s national team in soccer, grand slam tennis and LPGA golf. Basketball and ice hockey are well on their way, the WNBA in its 25th year of existence.

“Across the board, we’ve all won,” said Dr. Courtney Flowers to The New York Times. “But sometimes, we have to recalibrate and make sure that in the next 50 years we’re not saying the same thing and advocating for the same thing and figure out what does equity look like now?”

“Title IX — in many ways — has defined my life,” said Teri Schindler, a former colleague at the NBA. “As a member of the University of Notre Dame women’s swim team that took the program to varsity status and earned All-America honors for me and my teammates to stints setting up the Big East Conference television network, covering the University of Connecticut undefeated women’s basketball teams and with the National Basketball Association and nascent WNBA — it offered me ways to compete and opportunities to learn and work that were unprecedented.

“My mother started this effort with me when she set up our community’s first softball league for girls – I hope I have furthered it. I am certainly richer for it and it has infused everything I’ve done since … here’s to this Title IX anniversary and all the women who compete, on and off the field,” said Schindler.

DISTURBANCE IN THE FORCE: While Title IX was being celebrated across the land, the Supreme Court of the United States came down with two rulings that crashed the Title IX party like an unwelcome drunk at an outdoor wedding. First, on Thursday, the SCOTUS struck down a New York handgun-licensing law that required New Yorkers who want to carry a handgun in public to show a special need to defend themselves. The 6-3 ruling, written by Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, is the court’s first significant decision on gun rights in over a decade. In a far-reaching ruling, the court made clear that the Second Amendment’s guarantee of the right “to keep and bear arms” protects a broad right to carry a handgun outside the home for self-defense. Going forward, Thomas explained, courts should uphold gun restrictions only if there is a tradition of such regulation in U.S. history.

The landmark SCOTUS decision came six weeks after a gunman killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket, and a couple weeks after 21 people – 19 children and two teachers – were shot to death at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. Under intense pressure, the Senate Republicans relented and reached an agreement on bipartisan gun-safety legislation that is the first federal gun-control legislation in nearly 30 years. The 80-page bill requires tougher background checks for gun buyers under the age of 21 and provides more funding for mental-health resources. President Joe Biden signed the bill into law upon it arriving on his desk, Saturday, June 25.

One branch of government was easing the ability to carry concealed weapons in New York, while other branches were taking baby steps to curtail access to guns. None, mind you, addressed the main issue of assault rifles, such as the AR-15 and its 30-Plus capacity ammunition magazines, which gunned down the 19 children in Uvalde, Texas on May 24th nor the mass murder at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida in 2018 which took the lives of 17 students while injuring 17 others nor the December 12, 2012 mass murder at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut when 20 of 26 victims were children aged six and seven. Of course there were many others, in night clubs at concerts in Las Vegas, movie theaters, shopping malls and churches. The list goes on and on.

While the New York gun law reversal was a stunner, mainly since it dated back to 1913, the SCOTUS wasn’t done.

On Friday, as they often do when trying to bury an unpopular decision, the SCOTUS went against some 66% of USA voters’ opinions when they reversed the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the Constitution of the United States generally protects a pregnant woman’s liberty to choose to have an abortion. The decision sent shock waves across the United States, as the 5-4 vote to overturn the 50-year law was largely due to three recent SCOTUS appointees by President Donald Trump. The confirmation of those associate justices was largely done by men.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert issued a statement regarding the decision (Mississippi: Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization):

“The NBA and WNBA believe that women should be able to make their own decisions concerning their health and future, and we believe that freedom should be protected. We will continue to advocate for gender and health equity, including ensuring our employees have access to reproductive health care, regardless of their location.”

The three Democratic-appointed justices — Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan — dissented while Chief Justice John Roberts joined the justices to uphold a restrictive Mississippi law, but Roberts criticized his conservative colleagues for taking the additional step of overturning Roe v. Wade. They were Republican-appointed justices — Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — who all supported Justice Samuel Alito’s 5-4 majority opinion to reverse the standing law, and toss the decision-making to the elected officials in each State.

The tumult of protestors began immediately as the ruling was tipped when a draft of Alito’s opinion was leaked to the world weeks ago. The hypocrisy of celebrating women’s rights one day and turning them upside down the next is not lost by women who will head to the voting machines this November, nor will the SCOTUS ruling to ease gun laws while mass murders are taking place by the week. The Senate took a baby-step, largely to say they did so come campaign time.

The end-game will be decided in New York where 8-in-10 Democratic voters believe the gun laws should be more strict as opposed to the SCOTUS ruling. That comes in a largely Democratic-leaning State. Add the 50+ percent of women to the anti-Supreme Court trend, and there could be major issues in the 2022 mid-term elections this Fall.

One thing is for sure, the Title IX girls of voting age, women, mothers – both urban and suburban – are pissed.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Both the men’s and women’s USA Basketball 3×3 teams took losses this week. The women to Canada in the quarterfinals and the men lost to host Belgium in the qualifying round and then were eliminated by Lithuania in the quarters. … USA Basketball added center Will Davis II (College Park Skyhawks) will join the July 2022 USA Men’s World Cup Qualifying Team in Miami, as the team prepares for a pair of World Cup Qualifying Games this week in Puerto Rico and Cuba.

Davis was a member of the November 2021 USA Basketball Men’s World Cup Qualifying Team. In one game vs. Cuba, he recorded four points, four rebounds and two assists in 12 minutes. Davis also played in one game in the FIBA AmeriCup Qualifying February 2021 games, helping the USA to a win over Mexico (95-76) with 10 points, five rebounds and one block in 20 minutes. … To close the 2021-22 season, Davis played 19 total games in the NBA G League with the South Bay Lakers, Raptors 905 and the College Park Skyhawks. He averaged 2.9 points and 2.4 rebounds in 10.0 minutes.

The USA squad, coached by Jim Boylen, opened training camp Friday night in preparation for the third competition window of 2021-23 FIBA World Cup Qualifying games that will see the USA (3-1) face Puerto Rico (2-2) in San Juan, Puerto Rico on July 1, and Cuba (0-4) in Havana on July 4.

For additional information on the USA World Cup of Basketball qualifying, visit HERE.

Steph Curry and His Coach

by

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – In the 2007-08 college basketball season, I watched from afar and in amazement as Davidson College in North Carolina plowed through their Southern Conference schedule with a 20-0 record. Davidson coach Bob McKillop told me all about a sophomore guard and miracle worker, Stephen Curry, right from the first time he set eyes on him.

McKillop, born in Queens and a real Long Islander in the way rock and roll star Billy Joel loves his Downeaster’ Alexa, was once the head varsity coach at Holy Trinity High School on Long Island. He was also my history teacher and the instructor of the very first sports administration course I was fortunate to take, “Sports in Society.” From 1977 and onward ‘til this day, McKillop is a mentor for many of us and the common denominator as the great sport of basketball forged a lifelong friendship and deep bond. We speak often. We text less.

When a TV viewer watches Davidson play a game, one sees a coach, hair turned Irish white, calmly coaxing the very best from his team. He is known by anyone and everyone in college basketball as perhaps the best coach in the whole shooting match. Just this week, Jeff Goodman – the highly respected college basketball reporter from Stadium – ranked McKillop as the No. 2 most under-rated coach in the game. I shook my head in wonder why he listed Kelvin Sampson, coach of the University of Houston (via Washington State, Oklahoma, Indiana (see five year show cause penalty), via Milwaukee Bucks assistant, via Houston Rockets assistant) as the No. 1 underrated.

All that time, as Sampson bounced around, McKillop was coaching and teaching his players at Davison College, first in obscurity down in the Southern Conference but then with brighter lights as his wildcats joined the Atlantic 10.

This Fall, McKillop (71), will coach his 34th season and he’ll begin the year with a prior Basketball Hall of Fame nomination in his portfolio. But, in all that time and all the success (he’s one of only nine coaches in history to coach 1,000 games at one school), McKillop is no longer referred to as “Coach McKillop.” He’s been upgraded to become “Steph Curry’s coach,” and it’s a tag he wears proudly. The two men remain incredibly close, but McKillop has a knack of keeping in touch, forging that bond that he built with all of his past players and students who – over the years – become friends rather than pupils. In that area, McKillop works more 1,000 more miracles than Curry.

McKillop will be at the pivotal Game 5 of The Finals in San Francisco Monday night, watching live what he sees often on TV or DVR – Steph Curry dominating a basketball game, as that’s what happened on Friday night when his student of the game dropped 43 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists on the Boston Celtics in a 107-97 Golden State Warriors win at the TD Garden. The game tied the NBA Finals at 2-all, setting up a best-of-three to decide the 2022 NBA champion.

Curry shot 14-of-26, with 14-of-26 field goal shooting including 7-of-14 from downtown and an easy 8-for-9 at the line. Curry was nursing a sore foot, a condition suffered in Golden State’s Game 3 loss to the Celtics. Yet, at this time of the season, anyone and everyone still standing in the NBA postseason in banged-up.

“The heart on that man is incredible,” Warriors guard Klay Thompson said of Curry post Game 4. “The things he does, we kind of take for granted at times, to go out there and put us on his back.”

“He wasn’t letting us lose. That’s all it boils down to,” said Warriors veteran and mix-it-up man Draymond Green. “I could tell in his demeanor, last couple of days, even after Game 3 that he was going to come out with that kind of fire.”

That’s what McKillop saw when he first set eyes on Curry, in a game when Curry didn’t play well but kept his composure, looked his coach in the eyes and never complained or pointed a finger at another.

I was told in 2006 what McKillop told everyone. “Steph is something special.” That was out of ordinary for Coach McKillop as he rarely gushes over one single player and he never exaggerates.

When we sat in the Players’ Lounge area at the 2009 NBA Draft, McKillop wasn’t his coach anymore. Steph was joining the rest of us in having a trusted mentor in his corner, one that will tell you the truth, tell you how to be a better player, better person. Maybe, he’ll tell you something funny or a good story about something or someone he reconnected with on a recent scouting trip.

At the NBA Draft that year, and ever the worrier, I was concerned if Curry’s lack of size would catch-up with him in the big time NBA, where players are much bigger and stronger than at any college program. “Can he get his shot? Can he defend? Can he adjust? Can he handle the physical nature of the NBA?”

When the No. 5 and No. 6 pick came up that June 25, 2009 night at Madison Square Garden, and the Minnesota Timberwolves had not one but the next two selections in the NBA Draft, I was sure Curry would be packing his winter coat for Minneapolis.

Nope.

The Timberwolves selected Spain’s Ricky Rubio who came with legendary status and stories dating back to his teenage years, scoring and entertaining fans with a Pete Maravich-type flair. The Timberwolves’ need for a scoring guard was filled and Curry dropped from what many thought would be a Top 5 selection. But, then the shocker, with the No. 6 pick, Minnesota selected Syracuse guard Jonny Flynn. Incredible!

Stephen Curry fell right into the lap of the Golden State Warriors at No. 7. It was perfect for the Warriors, perfect for Curry and it became the cornerstone of a rare air dynasty in the NBA, anchored by Curry and built by GM Bob Myers, team president Rick Welts, all-star players Klay Thompson and Draymond Green and a host of others from the front office, to Ray Ridderand the PR department to the athletic training room. Add a strong collection of complimentary players and other stars like Kevin Durant and Andre Iguadola, and the wins began to flow, some 73 Dubs in the 2015-16 season when they fell short in the Finals (Cleveland Cavaliers, 4-games-to-3).

The architect who placed the cornerstone will remain his under-rated self when he sits in the stands for Game 5 of the 2022 NBA Finals at the brand new Chase Center in downtown San Francisco this Monday. It will mark the sixth time the Golden State Warriors will compete in the NBA Finals in an eight-year span. People will point in McKillop’s direction, and say, “That’s Steph Curry’s Coach.”

Silver Outlines Past, Present & Future

by

SAN FRANCISCO – NBA Commissioner Adam Silver stepped up to the podium at the 2022 NBA Finals in lower-level media interview room at the brand, new Chase Center with memories of doing the same in the Orlando-based “NBA Bubble” of 2020 and slightly better conditions for the 2021 NBA Finals in Phoenix a year ago.

Silver and The NBA have been through quite a lot of stress and financial setbacks since the coronavirus came about and the Commissioner was the very first to make the bold step to shut everything down, cancel all games and begin stringent protocols for players, coaches and all league and team employees. It took guts and it took the risk of losing hundreds of millions of dollars.

Like so many, Silver and the NBA forged ahead. This season, things settled down, as much as could be expected in the middle of a global pandemic, and they even celebrated the 75th anniversary of the league’s founding. On Thursday night, June 2, in San Francisco, Silver and the NBA had reason to celebrate.

“For us, it’s only fitting that on our 75th Anniversary, two of the original NBA franchises are represented here,” said Silver to open-up his twice annual State of the NBA address to media. “Of course the Warriors, who won the first-ever NBA championship in 1947, were then Philadelphia Warriors, and they’re up against the Boston Celtics, who will be competing for the highest number of championships in the league. They are tied with the (Los Angeles/Minneapolis) Lakers right now at 17 each and will be going for 18. So we’re thrilled about that.

“Also how fitting that some of the greatest players ever are associated with these franchises – Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Bob Cousy – obviously just goes to the age of this league that Bill Russell, as I’ve said before, is someone, along with Bob Cousy, who I can pick up the phone and talk to about the state of the league. While we are 75 years old, it’s not all that old.”

After addressing the past, Silver looked at the present.

“I think as I’m looking out on these fantastic Finals coming up, you have some extraordinary, legendary talent out there,” noted Silver.  “Steph (Curry), having achieved so much on the floor; up-and-coming superstar Jayson Tatum (of Boston) – you have players who have demonstrated all-time resilience. I just saw Klay Thompson’s dad out in the hall. We were talking about the fact here he is back in the Finals, having lost essentially two full seasons. Quite an incredible story.

“And the competition has been nothing short of spectacular through these playoffs.”

The league persevered through player injuries, team owner misgivings, front office investigations, player discipline, issues and financial losses in China, staff turnover (good bye to Kiki Van DeWeghe and hello to Joe Dumars), COVID+ tests and outbreaks all in the shadow of the January 1, 2020 death of former NBA Commissioner David Stern.

Thought it all, the game remained the center of focus and the competitive landscape of the league changed with the times.

“We’ve seen increased parity, increased competition around the league over the last several years. As you’ve said, six different teams in the Finals over the last three years.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing unto itself if you have repeat teams in the Finals or champions, frankly, like the Golden State Warriors, who are back here in the Finals for the sixth time in eight years, added Silver as he looked to the future and negotiating a new NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement – the backbone of the league – in advance of the deadlines for opting out never mind the end of the deal completely.

“We do, though, focus a lot on ensuring through a salary-cap system that teams, in essence, have the same fair opportunity to compete. And that is something we’re always looking at as part of our system, something we are constantly talking to the Players Association about. And to me, that should be not just a concern shared by fans of all 30 teams but for all players in the league, all 450 players, presumably want an equal chance to win championships and be part of championship teams.

I’m pleased where we are. I’m thrilled with the teams that are here in the Finals. But it’s something, at least in my time in the league, I think we have incrementally improved the system every time along the way so that we can have more and more top-tier teams and competition throughout the league.”

The relationship with the players has been solid, but there’s been turnover at The NBA Players Association, as well.

“We at the league are just getting to know my new counterpart, Tamika Tremaglio, who is the incoming executive director of the Players Association. She is someone we had known prior to her taking on that role. She had been an advisor to the Players Association. She had been a former colleague at Deloitte of Cathy Engelbert’s, the commissioner of the WNBA, Byron Spruell, president of Basketball Operations, some of you know, and I’m in the process of building a relationship with her.

“What was effective last time around was using that opt-out as a self-imposed deadline by both sides. I think we all know that for any negotiation, seemingly collective bargaining in particular, deadlines are really helpful to get people to push their best offers across the table. So I’m hoping, we’re always discussing things, the league and the Players Association.”

Not to be lost in the constant and evolving nature of The NBA and all professional sports is the fact Chris Paul, the former President of The NBA union has passed his job responsibilities to C. J. McCallum of the New Orleans Pelicans. It’s doubtful that McCallum, Tremaglio, the union or Silver will want to rock the boat and risk work stoppages. The league fought too hard and risked so much through the global pandemic and they might’ve even benefitted a slight bit from the experiences.

“And just lastly, I’ll say that this whole process of dealing with COVID protocols, shutting down, reopening the bubble, etc., has brought us all much closer,” said Silver just before Game 1 was ready to tip-off. “We never used to talk as much as we do now. I’m not always crazy about virtual calls and Zoom, but because of that technology, it’s allowed us to have at least daily calls for the last two and a half years. I think if you have strong relationships, it’s very conducive to getting a deal done. I am optimistic that we can move quickly.”

 

Celtics: Fund Raiser #Move4Heather

by

#MOVE4HEATHER – Those connected to the Boston Celtics, the New England sports scene and the NBA’s extended Public Relations family are circling April 11 on their calendars for a night to help Celtics VP Heather Walker and her family as Ms. Walker fights a very tough battle against an opponent no NBAers wish to face. In July, 2021, Walker was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a rare brain cancer.

Upon the news of the diagnosis, Walker and her inner circle of family and friends, created the #Move4Heather Challenge to support the Heather Walker Glioblastoma Fund at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the Boston-area hospital where she is being treated. All proceeds will directly benefit Dr. David Reardon’s glioblastoma research.

The April 11th function at West End Johnnies, a full-sized restaurant and bar one block from TD Garden and a place Heather Walker regularly organized team functions for the USO and military families to pick-up tickets donated by Celtics’ season ticket holders, will now be raising money to assist in the clinical trials Walker has been undergoing since the summer.

There will be all kinds of auction items from the National and New England sports franchises but also just some time to get reacquainted with friends to celebrate life in the Year 2022.

While We’re Young (Ideas) | Feb 20

by

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | February 20, 2022

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – Post the dreaded and deadly global pandemic, the sports world bounced back about as well as any business segment on the planet. While not perfect and, in many cases, having to operate without fans in the building, the events and sports carried-on and incurred extra expenses to keep the players and front-line workers safe.

Here are just a few of a long list of sporting events of 2021-22 that greatly entertained our sports-loving world:

  • PGA Tour ✅
  • NASCAR ✅
  • NCAA Basketball and March Madness ‘21 ✅
  • NCAA Football and the CFP Championship and most Bowl Games ✅
  • NFL Season and Super Bowl ✅
  • NBA Season and this Weekend’s All-Star festivities ✅
  • MLS ✅
  • NHL Season and its Winter Classic and All-Star Game ✅
  • The Masters ✅

And, more recently …

  • Australian Open ✅
  • Winter Olympic Games ✅
  • Super Bowl LVI ✅
  • 2022 NBA All-Star and the Daytona 500 are looking good ✅

Then, we get to Pitchers & Catchers reporting and MLB Spring Training ❌

The Major League Baseball lockout began at 12:01am on December 2, 2021 immediately upon the expiration of the 2016 MLB/MLB Players’ Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) ending. It is MLB’s first work stoppage since the 1994-95 players’ strike and the first lockout since 1990.

Unbeknownst to many, the expiration of a CBA gives a sports organization very few options. If the sides are close, they can call for a moratorium and try to bang-out the remaining issues and keep things operating in “good faith.’ However, with things as they are in Baseball today, the Commissioner of Baseball and his MLB Player Relations Committee had no option under labor laws and called for the lockout.

While a lockout in December and January is not very visible to players or fans, the impact begins immediately for the league office and teams, as they must shutdown any and all player-related activities, including promotional tours, winter training and a host of important items. The players must train on their own, which most do in their hometown cities anyway. So, as the NBA on TNT basketball guru Kenny Smith once likened an off-season lockout as your regular Barber Shop being closed on Mondays, the tenants of MLB are now in dire need of a haircut.

MLB and its Players have volleyed proposals back-and-forth without any significant progress towards a deal. The first “real” meeting didn’t take place until January 13 and that was done by virtual Zoom rather than in person, which saved time and travel while keeping the parties safe from confinement and air travel.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred requested a Federal Mediator to assist the process in early February and as recently as February 17, the sides met again – but that was two days after the treasured date on the calendar for Pitchers & Catchers to report.

The Boston Red Sox are yet to load-up the equipment truck on Jersey Street, outside of Gate D at Fenway Park and the negotiations seem to be going backwards, rather than forward.

The NBA and NHL find themselves in the dog days of winter. College basketball’s “Got Next” with the various Conference Tournaments and March Madness fast approaching. Meanwhile, MLB is starting to scratch-off scheduled Spring Training games and revenue is being lost by the day. And, if there’s any sport which needs a solid month of training and exhibition games, to stretch-out the starting pitchers and alleviate many a hamstring pull awaiting, it is baseball.

Remember last year when the likes of Ronald Acuna (297 at bats), Alex Bregman, Max Muncy, Fernando Tatis, Jack Flaherty, Chris Sale, J.D. Martinez, Eloy Jiménez, Cody Bellinger, Ketel Marte, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, George Springer, and a laundry-list of others were all sidelined or scratched?

A combination of pandemic fatigue, lack of training and proper stretching and preparation, never mind care by some of the best Athletic Trainers in the world, will cost many a game due to injury if and when the 2022 MLB season begins and the Barber Shop opens seven days a week.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Shares of Boston-based DraftKings tumbled by more than 15% as the week closed when the online sports-betting operator reported top line growth as well as widening costs, according to the Boston Business Journal. The company, led by CEO Jason Robins, reported its quarterly and full-year financial results. In the last three months, DraftKings’s revenue jumped from $322.2 million to $473.3 million, but costs widened as well, particularly sales and marketing — from $192 million to $278 million. In the end, net loss for the quarter grew from $242.7 million to $326.3 million. while Draft Kings offers full sports gambling in many States, including New York where it pays a lofty 50+% tax, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts continues to bury its head in the sand with no real progress on sports gambling. With Governor Charlie Baker now facing lame-duck status, there’s no certainty on the future of sports gambling in Massachusetts and the money continues to flow to Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Hampshire.

NHL UPHOLDS MARCHAND SIX-GAMER: National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman upheld the six-game suspension that was assessed to Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand by the Department of Player Safety for roughing and high-sticking Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry during their game in Boston on Feb. 8.Bettman heard Marchand’s appeal of the original decision, assessed Feb. 9, at a hearing on Feb. 16. … The incidents occurred at 19:35 of the third period. Marchand was assessed a minor penalty for roughing as well as a match penalty. … “In reaching my conclusions I have given careful consideration to Mr. Marchand’s testimony concerning his efforts to control his emotions in order to excel as an impact player who plays aggressively, but within the rules. I believe that he has already made significant strides towards achieving this goal. Unfortunately, however, Mr. Marchand’s behavior and lack of judgment in respect of these incidents did not meet acceptable NHL standards. He created a distraction which reflected poorly on himself, on his team and on the League as a whole, and as such, I find he also deserves the penalty he received. Having said that, I encourage Mr. Marchand to reflect on this experience and to use it positively in furtherance of his efforts to refine and improve his on-ice image and game for everyone’s benefit,” said Bettman in his statement.

Merry Christmas 🎄 2021

by

Here is the NBA on Christmas Day schedule:

Noon: Atlanta Hawks at New York Knicks (ESPN): The Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks will meet on Christmas Day for the first time since the Hawks moved to Atlanta (which took place in 1968). The teams faced each other twice on Christmas Day when the Hawks were in St. Louis (1956 and 1965). This will mark the first time the Hawks have been scheduled to play on December 25th since 1989. The Knicks have played 53 times on Christmas, the NBA team high.

2:30pm ET: Boston Celtics at Milwaukee Bucks (ABC): The Celtics have played the third-most games on Christmas Day (34 entering 2021, trailing only NY and the LA Lakers) and the most road games on Christmas Day (29 entering 2021). Milwaukee will be hosting a Christmas Day game for the second consecutive year. The Bucks are (4-3) on the holiday with last year’s 138-99 stocking full of coal deposited on the Golden State Warriors.

5:00pm ET: Golden State Warriors at Phoenix Suns (ABC/ESPN Radio):The Suns are (12-6) on the holiday and the Warriors are (13-17). Phoenix’s last Christmas Day game came in 2009, a 124-93 win vs. LA Clippers. Golden State’s Draymond Green was the last player to record a triple-double on the holiday, and is one of six players to do so on Christmas Day: Draymond Green (2017), Russell Westbrook (2013), LeBron James(2010), Billy Cunningham (1970), John Havlicek (1967) and Oscar Robertson (four times: 1967, 1963, 1961 and 1960).

8:00pm ET: Brooklyn Nets at Los Angeles Lakers (ABC/ESPN Radio):The LA Lakers are scheduled on Christmas Day for the 23rd straight year. They have the most all-time victories on 12/25 with 24. Lakers center DeAndre Jordan holds the single-game record for most blocked shots on Christmas Day with eight for the LA Clippers against the Golden State Warriors in 2011. LeBron James ranks second in career points on Christmas Day with 383. He needs 13 points to pass the late Kobe Bryant (395) and become the all-time leading scorer on 12/25 when he has a (10-5) won-loss record which trails only Dwyane Wade’s (10-3) record. Meanwhile, the highest-scoring game by an active player on Christmas Day belongs to the Brooklyn Nets’ Kevin Durant, who had 44 points for the Oklahoma City Thunder against the Denver Nuggets in 2010. KD fell 16 points shy of Bernard King’s record.

10:30pm ET: Dallas Mavericks at Utah Jazz (ESPN): The nightcap will feature Dallas’ Luka Dončić against Utah’s Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, all three named NBA All-Stars last season. Both franchises are relative newcomers to the NBA on 12/25 tradition, with Dallas (2-2) and Utah (5-2). The Jazz games on Christmas Day have all been played at home (including two as the New Orleans Jazz).

TIDINGS of JOY: The NBA’s first foray of Christmas Day game came in 1947 when the Baltimore Bullets defeated the Chicago Stags 87-70 at Baltimore Coliseum. The same day, the New York Knicks defeated the Providence Steamrollers 89-75 at Madison Square Garden and the Washington Capitols won at St. Louis Bombers 73-56 at St. Louis Arena. The 56 point effort is the all-time low for Santa. … The last time there was just a single game on Christmas was 2006 when the Miami Heat defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 101-85 at Miami’s American Airlines Arena.

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Dec 12th

by

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – Welcome to the Land of Confusion.

This week, we’re serving up the controversial happenings in sports, clearing the mayhem out before the Holiday Season, Peace on Earth, Goodwill Towards Men and Tidings of Comfort and Joy.

Instead, there’s a Land of Confusion, including:

  • Diplomatic Boycotting of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games by USA (with similar support from the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and Lithuania).
  • The Women’s Tennis Association suspending play in China in response to alleged sexual assault and disappearance of star tennis player Peng Shua
  • Celtics’ reserve center Enes Kanter Freedom campaigning on human rights issues in Turkey and China

Most likely, the Diplomatic boycott will have little to zero effect on the athletes at the games. It’s not like an Austrian skier is going to be thinking about the USA Chef de Mission while awaiting the downhill slalom ride of a lifetime. But let’s pose a few questions to see where this might go in a few weeks (February 4, 2022)?

(Getty Images)

Might the youth of the world collectively question the USA’s recent past in terms of suppressing voter rights, limiting women’s healthcare and upending a 50-year Constitutional decision, never mind issues regarding “rising climate and environmental concerns, growing financial and economic coercion,” noted a recent missive from the Council of Foreign Relations examining the previous US administration’s tendency to “increasingly invoke national security as a justification for restricting trade, while its prolific use of quotas, sanctions, tariffs, and the like threatens to destroy the rules-based economic order.”

In other words, will the USA Olympians have to pay a price for a 2017-to-2021 undermining of U.S. allies across the globe, or the decision to withdraw from the Paris Accord? (President Joe Biden re-joined the Paris Accord at recent COP26 summit).

On the flip side, can the USA and other countries utilize the global spotlight of the Olympic Games to pressure China on the allegations of torture, forced detention, sterilization, religious persecution and atrocities committed against the Uyghur people – a Muslim ethnic group in northwest China?

Some (including 180 human rights groups) have called for a full boycott of the games, but White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki defended the decision to allow American athletes to compete by saying that it would be unfair to “penalize athletes who have been training, preparing for this moment,” and adding that the diplomatic boycott “sends a clear message.”

Meanwhile the relatively small WTA stood-up to fight a mighty battle against China, one the International Olympic Committee would never broach as the Celtics’ scrub Kanter stands on his own vs. human rights issues, calling-out his native Turkey and now China. Kanter has even singled-out NBA superstar LeBron James and Lin-sanity himself in Jeremy Lin, 33, a former NBA player of Taiwanese-American descent. Lin now cashes a check, playing for the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association.

All the while, the IOC claims to be non-political, and many sports fans claim they don’t want to mix politics and sports, but that ship sailed long, long ago.

The Sports vs. Political landscape is muddy. The answers will never come, unless you measure USA Nielsen TV ratings which is never a method that can be considered an exact science.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Hunt Auctions this week presented an amazing offering of game memorabilia and other artifacts from the personal collection of Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell. The auction items were owned and carefully collected by Russell throughout his life, chronicling his historic basketball career and seminal role as a leader in the Civil Rights movement in the United States, beginning in the 1950s.

Notable sales from the auction, held at TD Garden in Boston, included:

  • $1,116,250 – 1969 Bill Russell Boston Celtics professional model jersey worn in Game #7 of the 1969 NBA Finals, the final game of his NBA career
  • $1,313,500 – Cumulative total for Russell’s five MVP awards
  • $705,000 – 1957 championship ring, Russell’s first ring
  • $587,500 – 1956 Olympic gold medal
  • $558,125 – 1969 championship ring, the last of Russell’s 11 championships

TL’s Sunday Sports Notebook – Nov. 21

by

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – There are very few things that burn me up more than calls for a boycott of the Olympic Games. I tend to side with the athletes who’ve spent their lives training for a relatively short window for competition against the youth of the world who assemble every four years to compete in the Summer or Winter Olympic Games.

In 1980, the United States with 65 other countries and territories boycotted the Summer Games in Moscow to protest the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. In 1984, the Russians and 14 other (mostly Eastern Bloc) countries returned the idiocy and boycotted the Los Angeles (USA) Games.

Nothing was accomplished by the two boycotts and nothing will be accomplished with the current discussion of a new kind of boycott – a “diplomatic boycott’ – by the USA of the Beijing Winter Games, scheduled for this coming February ‘22.

This week, news coverage of the potential USA diplomatic boycott surfaced again as US President Joe Biden conducted a three-plus hour virtual summit call with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Biden said Thursday he is considering a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics, which would deliver a “stinging rebuke to China over its alleged human rights abuses,” according to news reports by Reuters.

It’s “something we are considering,” Biden said when asked about a U.S. diplomatic boycott of the Games, although the summit was “aimed at reducing tensions between the two countries, which have flared over the COVID-19 pandemic, trade policies, Taiwan and other flashpoints.,” said Reuters.

Human rights advocates have increasingly lobbied the White House to call for a full-scale U.S. boycott of the 2022 Games. “The decision not to send an official American delegation to the Games would fall short of that dramatic step, but would still represent a major snub,” noted Reuters. “The U.S. traditionally sends a roster of high-profile dignitaries, often led by the sitting President or Vice President or first lady, to attend Olympic events – including the opening ceremonies. First Lady Jill Biden led the U.S. delegation to the most recent Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

What does the USOC (now USOPC) think?

“We strongly believe that the governments of the world, including our own, and the respective diplomatic teams and experts should lead the conversation about international relations,” USOPC chief executive officer Sarah Hirshland said.

Where does @WhileYoung(Ideas) come down?

Sports diplomacy is a huge and highly effective and efficient mechanism to bridge gaps, share ideas and literally use the sport(s) as a guiding light to many of the same values all nations face in these terrible times of the COVID-19 global pandemic.

The athletes themselves become the focus and example-setters. The diplomats – if they are not childish – don’t compete for athletic medal counts but go out of their way to welcome and contribute to discussions which can lead to concrete, mutually beneficial and substantive improvements for all nations.

In China alone, we’ve improved relationships through “Ping Pong Diplomacy” in the late ‘70s all the way to “Yao Ming Diplomacy” in the early 2000s. While the sports side (aka the Toy Store) might not solve the most troubling issues (Human Rights to all political differences), it can begin the discussion on common ground to help build the relationships that can lead to more important discussions, with the youth of the world providing the example for their older world leaders.

Too often, an ineffective sports boycott costs a young athlete the ability to compete for an Olympic medal or simply earn the title of Olympic competitor. Politicians, instead of facing the issue at hand, try to deflect the attention by implementing a sports boycott, rather than multi-lateral talks and negotiations. In every instance, the boycott goes by and nothing is accomplished except the disappointment of the athletes.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: On August 9, 2008, Air Force One had yet to clear US air space when my mobile phone range with the White House Director of Communications on the other end of the line. “Sorry, T, but because of normal security reasons, I couldn’t call earlier but we’re on our way to Beijing and I need your help. As you can probably tell from the background, I’m on Air Force One with the President. Your on speaker phone, too, okay?

“We’re thinking of attending both the USA Basketball men’s game against China and the Women’s first game, too. They play the Czech Republic at 8pm. How can I make it work best?”

While I had just waved good-bye to the US Men’s National team when they departed a few days earlier, NBA and USAB services completed, and was now officially a TV spectator of the Summer Olympics for the first time since 1988, it was obviously time to think fast.

“It’s easy,” I said. “If you’re at a USA women’s game, be sure the President is seated next to Val Ackerman and/or Jim Tooley (head of USA Basketball Federation) and at the men’s games, have the President with Jerry Colangelo and Jim. They can take care of EVERYTHING you might need and will know all the “go-to” people.”

“Thanks, TL.” (Click).

SPEAKING OF USA BASKETBALL: Veteran NBA and international tournament players Justin Anderson (Fort Wayne Mad Ants/Virginia) and Isaiah Thomas (free agent/Washington) were added by USA Basketball to its November 2021 USA World Cup Qualifying Team. The pair were added to the USA roster after an injury forced DaQuan Jeffries (College Park Skyhawks/Tulsa) to withdraw, and after Frank Mason III (South Bay Lakers/Kansas) was not cleared for full participation.

Anderson and Thomas join USA team members Jordan Bell (Santa Cruz Warriors/Oregon), Brian Bowen II (Iowa Wolves), Josh Gray (Long Island Nets/LSU), Shaq Harrison (Delaware Blue Coats/Tulsa), BJ Johnson(Lakeland Magic/LaSalle), Luke Kornet (Maine Celtics/Vanderbilt), Chasson Randle (free agent/Stanford), Zavier Simpson (Oklahoma City Blue/Michigan) and Emanuel Terry (Stockton Kings/Lincoln Memorial). … Former NBA head coach Jim Boylen will serve as head coach of the USA Basketball Men’s World Cup Qualifying Team while former USA Basketball coaches Ty Ellis and Othella Harrington will serve as assistant coaches. … The USA squad will train Nov. 20-25 at the University of Houston and will participate in the first competition window of the 2021-23 FIBA World Cup Qualifying games, which will be played in a bubble format in Chihuahua, Mexico starting November 28. … The 2023 FIBA World Cup for Basketball will be staged in Japan-The Philippines-Indonesia.

On Saturday, Nov. 20, USA Basketball added NBA G League forward Haywood Highsmith (Delaware Blue Coats/Wheeling) after Orlando Johnson (free agent/UC Santa Barbara) was not available to participate.

ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE: The Boston Celtics’ acquisition of superstar forward-center Kevin Garnett began on the night of the 2007 NBA Draft (June 28) when the Celtics did two things to make a future move for Garnett possible. … Although Ray Allen and Garnett would later be at odds over Allen’s post championship departure to Miami, that late June 2007 night, the Celtics acquired Hall of Fame sharp-shooter Allen in a multi-player deal with the then-Seattle SuperSonics, shipping a package of point guard Delonte West, small forward Wally Szczerbiak and forward Jeff Green to the the Sonics in exchange for Allen and center Glen “Big Baby” Davis.

The two steps taken by then-Celtics head of basketball operations Danny Ainge?

  1. Obtaining another scoring threat in Allen to form a “Big 3” needed to win.
  2. Moving Szczerbiak, a former teammate of Garnett’s he was none too fond of in previous exposure.
Kevin Garnett (Showtime)

The “Anything Is Possible” journey to the 2008 NBA title took a giant step that night. Garnett’s story is currently being told via a Showtime sports documentary entitled, (You Guessed It): ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. … The story is good. KG’s personality shining through is great. The language is filthy.

Co-directed and produced by Eric Newman and Dan Levin, along with producers Mike Marangu, Marc Levin and Brian Bennett—KG’s partner at his production company, Content Cartel—the documentary is a look at KG’s past, delving heavily into Garnett’s youth, his progression as a high school player and astonishing talents displayed at Chicago’s Farragut Academy.

The story winds its way to the fact Garnett became the fifth overall pick of the 1995 draft with team GM Kevin McHale and the Minnesota Timberwolves taking the gamble on the 6-11 high school phenom. Until then, only a sporadic few (Moses Malone, Bill Willoughby, Darryl Dawkins and a small handful of others) had made it to the NBA (or ABA) via high school, not college.

The documentary explains the successful start of Garnett’s NBA career in Minnesota seemingly opened the floodgates for other high school talents to jump right to the NBA, namely Kobe Bryant, Jermaine O’Neal, LeBron James, Rashard Lewis, Tyson Chandler, Amare Stoudimire, Dwight Howard, and Tracy McGrady.

As you would expect with anything and everything Garnett does, the story is true, it’s raw and it is produced by  circle of people Garnett allowed into his tight inner sanctum, a place he guards 24/7.

Another take-away for seasoned NBA observers is the undeniable similarities between Garnett and NBA/Celtics’ All-Time great Bill Russell, both very guarded and well-aware of the circle of madness that is fame and the NBA. Both very conscious to keep their privacy – private and families secure.

The documentary is currently running/streaming on Showtime after its November 12th release date. Interviews of the likes of Doc Rivers, KG’s championship coach with the 2008 Celtics, and former teammate Sam Cassell, examine the complexity of Garnett – a player with serious work ethic, intensity on and off court, humor, loyalty to those he trusts, keen observation of the fast-moving world surrounding him and a disdain for anything and anyone who disrupts his normal routine.

Said Eric Newman to Variety: “I don’t think the younger generation realizes the overall impact he had, which we obviously do our best to convey in the film. It’s going from high school to the NBA when no one had done it for 20 plus years and the circumstances in which he did it. It’s the pre-salary cap NBA when he got that contract which changed the financial structure of the sport. It’s transforming this physical, intense power forward position where he adds this dynamic skill set on both ends of the floor. And then of course it’s forming the Big Three with the Celtics. We tried to weave these four pillars in without being too in your face about it, but find another — forget basketball, find another athlete who had this kind of impact on their sport. There’s not many.”

Baseball Series: The Shot Heard Around a Local Neighborhood

by

By TERRY LYONS

ATLANTA – Welcome to Game 3 of the Unincorporated Community of Cumberland Series. After two games at the Harris County Series, Major League Baseball will stage its first pitch of the first truly local, everyday series with the Harris County Astros tied with the Cumberland Braves, 1-game apiece.

Embed from Getty Images

Gone are the days of the World Series and amazing feats like the Miracle of Coogan’s Bluff which brought the 1951 NY Giants to an early version of the Local Series, called a Subway Series which was lost to the New York Yankees in six games. Gone are “I can’t believe what I just saw” moments, as no one will see it.

“We don’t market our game on a nationwide basis,” said Manfred as the series opened in Harris County, Texas. “Ours is an everyday game, you’ve got to sell tickets every single day to the fans in that market. And there are all sorts of differences among the clubs among the regions as to how the games are marketed.”

That is certainly true and to be fair to MLB and Manfred, he was explaining how every MLB club must compete in each MLB town to attract fans, sell tickets and get TV eye-balls on their regular season games. It’s a difficult task multiplied by 81 home games in the heat of summer, the cold dampness of April in the northern USA cities and the sad reality of being 20 games back in September for the cellar-dwellers.

Manfred was defending MLBs attempt to be “apolitical,” Yet, and in all seriousness, with the Atlanta Braves in the 2021 World Series, baseball found itself in the State of Georgia where they left this summer’s All-Star Game behind to make a stand against the obvious voter suppression laws being enacted by state lawmakers in reaction to the upset election of two Democratic United States Senators (Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock) in a State run by a Republican governor. The All-Star Game went to Denver, Colorado and baseball found itself right, smack in the middle of politics in these formerly United States.

Apolitical?

Let me say this,” Manfred said. “It’s harder than it used to be. It sure is.”

That brings us to the Braves, the club name and the (adopted from the Florida State Seminole fans) Tomahawk “Chop.”

“We have 30 markets around the country. They’re not all the same,” said Manfred. “The Native American community in that region is fully supportive of the Braves program, including the chop. And for me, that’s kind of the end of the story.”

Note to PR practitioners: When someone hoping to end a story says it’s “kind of the end of the story,” the public relations people still have a story and potential crisis on their hands.

While scores of athletic programs (college mostly) dropped mascots and program nicknames like, “Warriors, Redmen, and Indians,” and the North Dakota Fighting Sioux dropped their college nickname and have yet to replace it, as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish look on.  Two professional teams found themselves as the major focal points of the politically incorrect position of promoting their franchises as the Cleveland Indians (MLB) and the Washington Redskins (NFL).

The Redskins made the PC move to become the Washington Football Team two seasons ago but are yet to come up with a suitable team name. The Cleveland Indians made the announcement that they would become the Cleveland Guardians but were recently sued in U.S. District Court by a Roller Derby team claiming ownership of the word “Guardians.”

No matter what the case may be, someone, somewhere and somehow will be offended – some rightfully and others trying to make a fuss or a buck but the Braves and Astros will play Game 3 of the Series of the pastime formerly known as national.

While We’re Young (Ideas) – October 24

by

Final Wrap on All Things NBA 75

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – The “official” NBA75 listing was published by the league this week.

There were nine NBA legends that made the While We’re Young (Ideas) list that DID NOT MAKE the official listing. Obviously, the Denver Nuggets and Kentucky Colonels’ alum, and the ABA overall, made much more of an impression on this reporter than the NBA committee members, as three Nuggets greats and four former ABAers were with us and none with them. Here’s the full list cross-referenced:

While We’re Young (Ideas) had:

  1. Vince Carter
  2. Alex English
  3. Artis Gilmore
  4. Connie Hawkins
  5. Tommy Heinsohn
  6. Dan Issel
  7. Bernard King
  8. David Thompson
  9. Jamaal Wilkes

Looking at it the other way, the NBA 75 had:

  1. Carmelo Anthony
  2. Anthony Davis
  3. Dave DeBusschere
  4. Damien Lillard
  5. Jerry Lucas
  6. Chris Paul
  7. Gary Payton
  8. Dennis Rodman
  9. Dolph Schayes
  10. Bill Sharman

Note: The one person discrepancy lies with the fact the NBA named 76 players.

COACHING TREE: To tie this all in a sweet, 75-year-old bow, two additional aspects of the anniversary team should be examined – Coaching and Play-by-Play broadcasters.

At the NBA@50, only 10 coaches were honored. They were:

  1. Red Auerbach
  2. Chuck Daly
  3. Bill Fitch
  4. Red Holzman
  5. Phil Jackson
  6. John Kundla
  7. Don Nelson
  8. Jack Ramsay
  9. Pat Riley
  10. Lenny Wilkens

Since only 10 coaches were named at year 50, WWYI will add only THREE more to the list above for NBA 75. The opinion here places these two coaches into the hall of glory:

  1. Hubie Brown
  2. Gregg Popovich
  3. Erik Spoelstra

While the great, Sports Emmy award winner in Turner Sports studio anchor Ernie Johnson Jr. was noted as a key contributor to the successes of the NBA in our listing last week. That prompted a final NBA at 75 list of 12 of the league’s Greatest Play-by-Play commentators, a list of artists who brought the games to millions of fans. Here’s one columnist’s opinion of the best of the best in the industry:

  1. Marv Albert
  2. Mike Breen
  3. Jim Durham
  4. Ian Eagle
  5. Marty Glickman
  6. Mike Gorman
  7. Chick Hearn
  8. Al McCoy
  9. Brent Musburger
  10. Johnny Most
  11. Dick Stockton
  12. Joe Tait

There are MANY other deserving (radio and TV) voices of the NBA teams over the years, far too many to mention but Eddie Doucette, Hot Rod Hundley, Bill Schonely, and Bob Wolff are listed with apologies while Bob Costas and Curt Gowdy are to be honored in Baseball. There are also a fair number of NBA team play-by-play commentators who were somewhat exposed by the advent of NBA League Pass (TV and audio) and the amount of complaining about referee calls is second only to the players themselves who seem to whine about every call.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: According to France’s L’Equipe and Spanish EuroPresse, EuroLeague Basketball denied possible creation of “an NBA division in Europe,” although it has admitted a three-way meeting last month with the NBA and the FIBA. The intention of the meetings were, “joining forces to increase the popularity of basketball in Europe,” confirmed related parties attending the meeting. As both the NBA and FIBA ​​have confirmed, executives from the three parties (FIBA, NBA and EuroLeague Basketball) met in Madrid in September. … Spain’s highly regarded sports section in “Marca” ran a front page story with banner headline, “The NBA Lands in Europe,” but EuroLeague Basketball quickly shot down the possibilities.

FIBA (International Basketball Federation) went a bit further with a statement that specified the meeting was only to discuss “the unification of European basketball, divided between the Euroleague, the private professional league, and International Federation competitions such as the Champions League (BCL). The International Federation also said in a statement that monthly meetings would now be held on the subject.

The NBA commented, but kept the discussions close to the vest, stating: “We were recently invited to initiate discussions on how we can work together to develop basketball in Europe. We look forward to participating to further these discussions in the future.”

Said Marca, “A European NBA with a Western Conference (clubs in Spain, Italy, France, United Kingdom, the Benelux region, Germany, Austria and the northern countries such as Poland or Sweden) and an Eastern Conference (with clubs in Russia, Turkey, Greece, the Baltic States, Israel, Romania etc. “would be fire.”

The speculation of the idea was presuming the entity would run on its own and not interact for in-season games with the NBA in North America. In other words, it would run similar to the Basketball Africa League (BAL) that began this year on the African Continent.

NOTE: See While We’re Young (Ideas) to subscribe for the full notebook, sent every weekend.