Should anyone be surprised that the NBA is embroiled in a gambling scandal? Pas moi, dudes and dudettes, Gamblers and basketball go back a long time. I was just graduating from St Mary's College in the Spring of 1961 when the Jack Molinas' orchestrated college scandal was uncovered. Many players I knew were involved, either as point-shavers or as players who knew about the gambling and kept their knowledge a secret. Players such as Connie "The Hawk" Hawkins, Tony Jackson, Doug Moe, and Roger Brown and others were banned for life from the NBA. All four mentioned above could have been NBA All Stars and even perhaps Hall of Fame inductees. I devote a page or two in my memoir The Mad Manchurian, to that scandal and how I was personally affected by it.
What bothers me about this particular scandal are the two players, Chauncy Billups and Terry Rozier who appear to be significantly involved. Other than they might be gambling addicts, which the info I'm reading doesn't suggest, there doesn't seem any financial reward these two could achieve by their actions. Billups approximate net worth according to the info I found on the internet is 35 million. Terry Rozier's net worth is approximately ten million dollars based on his contract with the Miami Heat. Holy Dinero? A California public school teacher with 30 years experience earns from ninety thousand to one hundred-thirty thousand per year. I could have used numbers from careers that more closely resemble professional sports, but I wanted to make a point of the disparity we're looking at in this scandal. Why in hell of logic would Billups and Rozier allow themselves to be involved in something that netted them a few measly thousands? I understand Dontae Jones, a fringe NBA player with a low ball NBA contract who was deeply in debt and probably addicted to gambling, helping gamblers. Rozier and Billups are not as far as the news goes, deeply in gambling debt. Are there there much greater $ bribes the public is not aware of? Not that I've read or heard. Billups and Rozier are connected to gambler friends. Maybe that's it, some kind of loyalty to old chums from the hood. I can't see that either. Scratching my head, and coming up with little else, I'm left with a Forrest Gump qoute, "Stupid is, what stupi does."
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Time for the Warriors to figure out a permanent solution to the prolonged Kuminga drama. They signed him to a fair and lucartive contract. It was thought to be the solution. It helpted but not enoght. Kuminga started the season playing well within Coach Kerr's system, but then regressed, became injured, and is no AWOL. I'll not second guess Warrior player management, but it's high time something happens because, at least for the moment, I'm looking at Kuminga still as an unhappy camper. In my opinion, it is not an advantage for the Warriors to wait too much longer to find the right trade, not if they want to accomplish anything other than a play-in sport in the NBA Western Conference Playoffs. If I were them, I'd be looking for a strong defender and first round unrestricted draft choices. A lot of teams might find a young athletic slasher with an advantageous contract like Kuminga's a good acquisition.
CP 3 retiring at the end of this season. Chris Paul is a shoo-in HofF player. He has brought honor to the NBA. He was always edgy and tough, but never dirty, even though there were times when he guarded our Steph Curry in ways that made me want to go on the court and set a few hard picks on him. I can see Chris going into coaching.
Two teams to watch as of today: The Toronto Raptors and the Detroit Pistons. There is lots of talk about OKC repeating as NBA Champs. I believe the Nuggest are the better team in the West. We'll see.
i was unaware that Jalen Eillimas was Vietnamses on his mother's side. One more country heard from to make the NBA an international sport. One of these days, the NBA will surpass soccer. You read it here first.
Instead of a poem, I'm offering a novel: The Proving Ground by Michael Connelly from a Mickey Haller Lincoln Lawyer series about Artificial Intelligence. I do so, alarmed by the possibilitie that AI, if it is not governed properly by some kind of government oversight can cause a lot of damage, particularly to our young people whose brains have not yet developed fully.
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