On Nike Hoop Summit, transfer portal, Drew Eubanks, Ben Petrick, Pete Ward, Jon Spoelstra and high school hoops
Touching on a number of subjects as we head into the weekend …
My thoughts on the NBA’s Top 75, the dozen greatest players ever, and another 10 for good measure
The All-Star Weekend’s cavalcade of events in Cleveland will commemorate the 75th anniversary of the NBA.
January 2022 Book Reviews
Three-Ring Circus
By Jeff Pearlman
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
As the manuscript was completed for “Three-Ring Circus” in early 2020, author Jeff Pearlman found himself in what some would consider a quandary.
How does ‘The Jackhammer’ do it? ‘I have no idea’ says the Beavers’ Colletto
There is no spot for Jack Colletto on Oregon State’s football Mount Rushmore. They likely won’t put his likeness in bronze on campus. He won’t make any All-America teams or cause NFL scouts to swoon.
But it’s safe to say that in 125 years of football in Corvallis — from the Farmers to the Hayseeds to the Aggies to the Orangemen to the Beavers — there has never been a player quite like “The Jackhammer.”
Ben Golliver’s Travels From Inside the ‘Bubble’
Bubbleball: Inside the NBA’s Fight to Save a Season
By Ben Golliver
Abrams Press
Ben Golliver didn’t just write the first book of his career. He lived it.
The Washington Post’s NBA writer was one of the select few who spent the entirety of the league’s post-shutdown portion of the 2019-20 season in the isolation zone — called the “Bubble” — at Disney World.
In “Bubbleball,” Golliver chronicles the three-months-plus experience of being inside the Orlando Bubble that allowed the NBA to complete its season and saved the league more than $1 billion in revenue.
Steve Kerr’s Life Story was Worth Writing, and it’s Worth Reading
Scott Howard-Cooper had it all set up.
The veteran Sacramento journalist was prepared to write a book about the Golden State Warriors’ fourth NBA championship in five years in 2019.
“We were screwed,” Howard-Cooper says. “Nobody wanted to read a Warriors book coming off a loss.”
Howard-Cooper’s literary agent, Tim Hays, had another idea.
“He encouraged me to write a book on (Warriors coach) Steve Kerr,” Howard-Cooper says. “He stayed on me. He said, ‘Write out a proposal. Take a little time and put something on paper.’
Thoughts on Tyler Shough, Ryan Crouser, Paul Castro, the Hops and Volcanoes, NBA-All-Star Weekend and the real G.O.A.T
A wintry weekend? Snow way!
Thoughts on some sporting subjects:
• Item: Oregon quarterback Tyler Shough enters the NCAA transfer portal.
You Can Bet On It
I was mildly surprised Michael Jordan allowed the subject of his gambling to be included in “The Last Dance.” My guess is that he took it as another opportunity to convince the public that he did nothing wrong, that he was only guilty of being a “compulsive competitor,” not a “compulsive gambler.”
I was a guest on Portland's XRAY FM morning show on May 14, 2020
I joined Portland, Oregon's XRAY FM 91.1 & 107.1 morning show In The Mornings hosted by Jefferson and Joe Smith. We discussed ESPN's Chicago Bulls documentary The Last Dance, the current NBA season that is on hold because of the COVID 19 pandemic, and the hometown Portland Trail Blazers.
The Last Dance Recap with Kerry Eggers
I had the pleasure of being a guest on the “D and Davis" podcast hosted by Chicago’s Demonze “D” Spruiel and Ken Davis. We discussed “The Last Dance,” the Trail Blazers-Bulls NBA Finals matchup in 1992, Clyde Drexler vs. Michael Jordan, the Jail Blazers and more.