Sez Me …
As awful as the NBA Draft is, it has come a long way since its lottery-less 1982 version, which culminated my one year of covering the outlandish circus named the San Diego Clippers.
This was long before it became the FBA (French Basketball Association), when the game mostly was played for real, although poorly in some arenas (especially ours), and it provided the most memorable moments in my half-century-plus in this dodge.
It was then that Magic had introduced carrying the ball over as art, and it was before Michael made traveling something other than getting into a car or airplane for personal pleasure or business.
In any event, the Clips won 17 games, 16 following their opening win vs. Houston, but the real players didn’t play.
The stars were owner Donald T. Sterling, coach Paul Silas, and general manager Ted Podleski. Sterling was a budding NBA pariah who plastered his face on any available space in San Diego.
Paul and Ted, gone now, were two of the finest men I’ve known, working for a person they knew was a punch line.
As we speak, much is being made of Bronny James, son of the great LeBron, being drafted in the second round (55th overall) by the Lakers to be with his dad.
LeBron doesn’t own the Lakers. But he owns the Lakers, if you know what I mean.
Bronny’s agent reportedly told other teams not to draft his client. They weren’t going to, anyway. And the Lakers didn’t want daddy leaving L.A.
Bronny seems like a terrific kid. He’s overcome a serious heart condition. He has talent. But not enough talent to get drafted in the second round. He did very little during his one year at USC to earn varsity status in college.
But I’m OK with it. Bronny may be NBA-ready. I saw a clip of him taking five steps.
Nepotism is rampant in sports — and business. Rampant everywhere. If Bronny can play, he’ll play. If others who could have been drafted at 55 deserved it (no guaranteed money for second-rounders), they eventually will make the NBA if they’re worthy.
There always will be players in all sports who fall through the cracks (Tom Brady), but these kids now get scouted in hospital nurseries.
When I covered the Clippers, there wasn’t one player who had a son good enough to play professionally — and overseas basketball either didn’t exist or was negligible.
But Bronny, without question, would have been taken in 1982, when the draft was 10 rounds. Yes. Ten. In fact, I could have drafted him.
Correct.
In 1982, the Clippers took the excellent Terry Cummings with the second overall pick. The procedure was dragging along. We were in the seventh round, and I was sitting in Silas’ office. It was not a sophisticated process. He had a bunch of papers scrambled on his desk.
He asked: “Nick, why don’t you make this pick?”
I wasn’t stunned. It was Paul. It was the Clippers.
I had been covering Aztecs basketball from 1977-81, when they were in the WAC. I asked Silas if Eddie Hughes had been drafted.
He looked at his sheets. “No.”
Eddie was a guard at Colorado State. I’d watched him for four years, and he was a rocket, one of the fastest players I’d seen.
Just like that, without even looking him up, Paul, exhausted by it all, said, “OK.”
Eddie didn’t make the team. Should have. But he was a last cut. He played in the league three years with Utah and Denver.
But there was no fanfare. The NBA had been struggling and was just getting its legs, pre-Michael, with Magic and Larry. There was no Unsocial Media. ESPN was an infant.
Congratulations to Bronny. But how many ink-stained sportswriters have drafted a player?
I missed my 15 seconds of fame. …
The Padres are showing toughness, some leather skin. Time to get to work on re-upping Jurickson Profar, so far, the catalyst. …
Baseball. Go figure. The Pads are better without Fernando Tatis Jr., Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove. …
Did you see Reds pitcher Hunter Greene barfing on the mound? This is not the same as Jerry Coleman announcing: “Rich Folkers is throwing up in the bullpen.” …
Refusing to spend $450 million on needless bike lanes,
Jacksonville’s City Council has approved a new $1.3 billion renovation of a bad stadium for the Jags. Jacksonville. We should be ashamed of ourselves. …
Dick Vermeil to Ivan Carter: “, every bad defense has a leading tackler.” …
I fear for Joe Burrow’s health. And I believe Joe does, too. He’s on the verge of being Andrew Luck. It’s what can happen when a great — and Burrow was the best — college quarterback gets drafted by a bad team. …
Athing Mu, the defending Olympic champion, fell during the U.S. Olympic Trials’ 800-meter run, was denied an appeal, and won ‘t compete in the event in Paris. Cruel? Maybe. But that’s how it goes. The runner who finishes in front of you gets cut? …
When novice Zola Budd sent Mary Decker to the track in the 1984 Olympics, Mary, who had international experience, should have known better and knocked Zola into the first row of the L.A. Coliseum. …
We have Trials. Other countries do not. Defending champions don’t get a free for a mistake. It’s how we do things. It’s how we do at least one thing right. Four years is a long time to get better or worse. …
JJ Redick opened his F-Bomb Bay Doors and dropped them during his introductory Lakers press conference, outraging many. Hypocrites. Not one ear has bled. …
Dan Hurley’s wife didn’t want to live in L.A. Dan decided commuting would be difficult. …
A friend once called to ask my opinion on a good job he was being offered by an out-of-town paper. I asked him: “What does your wife think?” He: “She doesn’t want to go.” Me: “Do you want to remain married?” He: “Yes.” Me: “Then why are you calling?” …
If you get arrested and aren’t a big-time athlete, become one before your trial, and all you’ll have to do is hold out your wrist and get it slapped. Justice, my eye. …
It isn’t a lie when coaches deny they’re leaving their jobs for bigger money. It’s art. …
Colin Jost of “Saturday Night Live” will cover Olympic surfing for NBC. It will be held near the Champs de Elysee, in Tahiti. …
The Wave cast Casey Stoney onto the beach of unemployment. Mayflies have greater longevity than soccer coaches. …
Umberto Eco on Unsocial Media: “It’s the invasion of the idiots.” See? …
Denis Leary on racism being taught, not born: “I have a 2-year-old son. Know what he hates? Naps.” …
Happy 98th, Mel Brooks. Funniest human since Eve had a hankering for fruit. …
First Willie Mays, now teammate Orlando Cepeda. RIP, Giants. …
Back from Vegas. Know what we need? Global Shading. …
Does China pay a tariff for the pandas? …
Am I better off than I was four years ago? Hell no. I’m four years older. You know how it is with us old guys.
