TL's Sunday Sports Notes | May 5 - Digital Sports Desk

By TERRY LYONS, Editor Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – Everyone has their own Basketball Hall of Fame except the NBA. College Basketball opened its Hall of Fame & Experience in Kansas City while the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame opened in Knoxville. The International game has its hall in Switzerland. Only the NBA and WNBA have remained loyal to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in the birthplace of basketball, Springfield, Massachusetts.

The BHofF in Springfield proudly claims to represent all levels of the sport, and it regularly honors high school, collegiate, professional, wheelchair, international and contributors to the game at all levels – both men and women.

FIBA (Federation for International Basketball) recently announced their Class of 2024 and its a good one with the USA’s Reggie Miller and Serbian favorite Predrag Stojakovic the two standout names rightfully honored for induction.

FIBA’s Official Induction announcement poster (file: FIBA.com)

The Class will be feted during the enshrinement ceremony, scheduled to be in Singapore in September. A total of seven players and one coach are being formally recognized for their outstanding contributions to the sport.

Said the official FIBA announcement: “Miller is a former Olympic and FIBA Basketball World Cup winner with USA who was especially revered for his NBA contributions across an amazing 18 seasons in the league. He tallied a spectacular 25,000 points, helped by 2560 three-pointers and that contributed to an eye-catching five NBA All-Star appearances.

“The Serbian, often referred to simply as ‘Peja’ won the FIBA Basketball World Cup gold medal in 2002 with Yugoslavia, as well as a FIBA EuroBasket title in 2001 when he was crowned MVP. Also an Olympian, Stojakovic attained plenty of success at club level, most notably winning an NBA Championship in 2011 with Dallas Mavericks. A three-time NBA All-Star, he also won the NBA Three-Point Contest twice.

“Latvian Skaidrite Smildzina-Budovska conquered the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup three times and the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket five times with Soviet Union. China’s three-time Olympian Miao Lijie starred at four editions of the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup and Croatian ace Danira Nakic-Bilic lit it up with Yugoslavia, competing in title games at the Olympics, the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup and FIBA Women’s EuroBasket.

Other inductees include Kirk Penney, who is being honored for serving New Zealand with distinction at two Olympic Games and four FIBA Basketball World Cups, while African basketball can celebrate Central African Republic colossus Romain Sato being on the list. The guard attained huge success at club level, including titles in Euroleague, Eurocup, the Spanish League and also four Italian championships.

Finally, American (turned Italian) play-caller Dan Peterson flies the flag for coaches in the 2024 Class. He masterminded the European Cup for Champion Clubs silverware in 1987 with Olimpia Milano, just two years after delivering the FIBA Korac Cup. Peterson also amassed five Italian titles and a host of individual coaching accolades.

Created in 2007, the FIBA BASKETBALL Hall of Fame has enshrined 184 outstanding Hall of Famers from 45 countries and all five continents to date. Its home is the Patrick Baumann House of Basketball in Mies, Switzerland.

Class of 2024: Players

Miao Lijie (China)

Reggie Miller (USA)-(UCLA-Indiana Pacers)

Danira Nakic-Bilic (Croatia)

Kirk Samuel Penney (New Zealand)

Romain Sato (Central African Republic)

Skaidrite Smildzina-Budovska (Latvia)

Predrag “Peja” Stojakovic (Serbia)-(Sacramento Kings)

Class of 2024: Coach

Daniel “Dan” Peterson (USA)-(Italy)-(Milan)

The Keeper of the Cup is Miragh Bitove (Hockey HofF)

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: For the first time in history, the Keeper of the Stanley Cup is a woman. Miragh Bitove, archivist at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto has been tabbed as the caretaker of the greatest trophy in sports. An art history and museum management major in college, Bitove went on to work as a Hall of Fame intern in 2003 before parlaying that into a job as an archivist at the venue. Now, 11 years later, she is the first woman in the role of the guardian of the Stanley Cup and general overseer on its annual celebration tour. … Each summer, the winners of the Cup, who have their name inscribed on the trophy, are able to take the Cup for a day – usually bringing it to their hometown – no matter how far away it might be. “Nothing like it,” she said to the AP. “There’s a glow.” … Phil Pritchard, the Hall of Fame’s vice president and the “Keeper of the Cup,” remembers when Bitove first arrived in the building. … “She had all the interest, all the background, everything that we’re looking for,” he said. “When you get someone like that, you don’t want to lose them.” … Bitove also has the game in her blood. While never a hockey player herself, the family tree includes great uncle Ted Kennedy, who won the Cup five times with the Toronto Maple Leafs between 1945 and 1951.

NUGGETS AND TIDBITS: The United Football League was formed this spring after the merger of the XFL and USFL. The new spring league operates under the combined ownership of RedBird Capital Partners, FOX (FOX Sports), Dany Garcia and Dwayne Johnson. The UFL currently has eight teams based in eight US cities, including: Arlington (TX), Birmingham (AL), Detroit (MI), Houston (TX), San Antonio (TX), Memphis (TN), St. Louis (MO), and Washington (DC).

The UFL is entering its sixth week of play and has yet to crack the code of success enjoyed by the NFL and the other traditional leagues and the spring football concept always seems far out of place, especially with the NBA and NHL Playoffs heating up and MLB in full swing.

Add to challenge for the rest of the summer and you’ll note the WNBA is opening training camps this weekend and everyone’s favorite superstar, Kaitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever, opening with a road game in Frisco, Texas. That game was streamed on the WNBA App and the Fever’s first home preseason game was postponed due to an Indiana Pacers playoff game.

If the UFL goes up in flames, the concept of spring football will have run the gamut of the entire alphabet from the WLAF (World League) in Europe, and rapid-fire through (Donald’s Trump’s very own) USFL to the publicity strong XFL where “He Hate Me” – aka Rod Smart – started with the Las Vegas Outlaws and bounced around to five other pro franchises before taking his degree in kinesiology and setting sail.

The UFL uses up the final life of the cat called spring football. If this entity goes under, the NFL and its remote affiliates will need to re-think their approach to player development.The league is opening offices and shopping TV all across the globe. The NFL has strongholds in Germany and to a lesser extent in England/Scotland/Ireland.

Yet, unlike soccer and basketball, American football, as a participation sport, is not played very much outside of the United States and Canada.

If the current reiteration of the sport doesn’t translate to sales and TV eyeballs, the UFL might stand for and add to the Unemployment Fookin’ Line.

NBA’s BEST, TAKE 1ST ROUND EXIT: Sixty percent of the very best and most productive NBA scorers from the 2023-24 regular season have been eliminated from the ‘24 NBA Playoffs. Using the proven formula of adding the positive stats and subtracting missed shots shows that only four of the Top 10 in the league have advanced to the NBA Conference Semi-Finals.

Player, Team, Formula (Positive/Efficiency per game)

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee, 41.192
Joel Embiid, Philadelphia, 41.105
Luka Doncic, Dallas, 40.786
Nikola Jokic, Denver, 40.416
Domantas Sabonis, Sacramento, 36.000
Anthony Davis, LA Lakers, 33.095
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City, 32.986
LeBron James, LA Lakers, 32.667
Kevin Durant, Phoenix Suns, 29.877
Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics, 29.703

LAX SELECTION SHOW TIDBIT: The NCAA brackets for the 2024 Men’s Lacrosse Tournament will be announced today, May 5, at 9:30 pm on ESPN2. … No. 2 Johns Hopkins was upset by Michigan in the BIG 10 semifinals on Thursday. Notre Dame, the unanimous No. 1 in the USA, will play in its fourth straight ACC Championship title game when the Irish take on No. 6 Duke at Noon ET on today, May 5 in Charlotte at American Legion Memorial Stadium. The Fighting Irish have advanced to the title game in five of the last seven ACC Tournaments. The game will air on ACC Network.

KENTUCKY DERBY: It seems like just weeks ago that the 100th running of the Kentucky Derby took place and the favorite, Cannonade, rode to victory. Saturday, it was Mint Juleps for everyone as the 150th Kentucky Derby was run at Churchill Downs in Louisville and Mystik Dan (18-1) was the winner in a three horse photo finish, one of the tightest in the history of the horse race. Mystik Dan paid $39.22, $16.32 and $10. Sierra Leone returned $6.54 and $4.64. Forever Young was another nose back in third and paid $5.58 to show.

Need the official recipe for the Official Mint Julep?

2 cups sugar (for Simple Syrup)
2 cups water (for Simple Syrup)
Sprigs of fresh mint (Flavor Simple Syrup overnight)
Fill Glass with Crushed ice
1 Tablespoon Simple Syrup
2 ounces of Kentucky Bourbon Whisky of Choice

Make simple or complicated syrup by boiling sugar and water together for five minutes. Cool and place in a covered container with six or eight sprigs of fresh mint, then refrigerate overnight.

Make one julep at a time by filling a julep glass with crushed ice, adding one tablespoon mint syrup and two ounces of the Kentucky Whisky.

Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint.

PODCASTING: Your favorite columnist participated in a special podcast which originated across the pond. Listen in.