It’s Championship Series Time!

It’s championship series time in the post-season for the two major winter sports.
Let’s talk a little about Toronto.
If you’ve been living in a cave you would assume the talk is about the NHL’s Stanley Cup playoffs.
What else would Toronto be fighting for?

Since our readers haven’t been in the dark, most are aware that Toronto’s hockey team, the Maple Leafs, are nowhere to be seen.
But the Toronto Raptors are.
Yes, the Toronto Raptors of the NBA.
Who would have ever thought that a Canadian team would be fighting for basketball supremacy, not hockey, Canada’s beloved pastime.
The Raptors are battling the Golden State Warriors, the latest NBA dynasty.
So, Toronto has finally reached the Finals for the first time, attempting to short-circuit the Warriors, who are seeking their third straight title and their fourth in the last five years.
The Raptors have plenty of support.
They are a new face, replacing the Cleveland Cavaliers who represented the Eastern Conference four straight years, winning once.

Of course that was the LeBron James era, part two. More on that later.

The Raptors popularity has as much to do as a not-so-subtle dislike of the Warriors as it is for Toronto’s remarkable achievement and rise to the top this season.

The Warriors are perceived by many to display an arrogance with their style and demeanor which in my opinion is unwarranted.
While I am not a fan of the way the game has evolved, you can’t blame the Warriors for exhibiting an extraordinary ability to fight through adversity and constantly find a way to win.

If you’ve watched them, you are aware of the phenomenal way they outlast their opponents by virtue of the three-point field goal and their uncanny use of players performing in multiple positions all over the court.

They are flexible, multi-faceted and manage to win despite injuries to their key players.

One of the league’s best, Kevin Durant, hasn’t played, and Golden State doesn’t seem to miss a beat.

The arrogance comes from their self-assurance, which is hardly kept private, and the raucous backing of their home crowd in the Bay Area.

I don’t like basketball when all players do is fire away from “downtown”, taking bad percentage shots in the hope they score three points.

I’m seeing it a lot more in the college game as well, and I’m not happy with the trend.

Stephen Curry is the master at that shot, and I kind of accept it from him. Maybe a few others, but it’s seemingly become the norm in the NBA.

Steph Curry

 

Back to the Raptors, the only negative I see with them has nothing to do with their game.

It’s about Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter, Aubrey Drake Graham, popularly known as simply Drake, who has conducted himself unlike any other fan in any sport.

He has a front row seat at home games right near the team’s bench, and he wanders freely on the sidelines during games.

That’s not all.

In Game 4 of the Eastern Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks, Drake actually gave a quick massage to the shoulders of Raptors coach Nick Nurse, while play was going on in the fourth quarter.

Give me a break!

The NBA’s Commissioner, Adam Silver, perhaps the best Commissioner in sports, had to put his foot down.

And he did.

 

Drake

 

It is dangerous and amateurish to allow fans, no matter their celebrity, to enter the “hallowed” ground of the field of play, or the court, ever.

So, as Toronto and Golden State battle for the NBA championship, a few thoughts on the sport that was prominent in my career.

I was fortunate to broadcast nine NBA Finals for CBS in the 1980’s, calling the games involving the Boston Celtics of Larry Bird, Magic Johnson’s LA Lakers, Doctor J, Julius Erving of the 76ers, the rise of the great Michael Jordan, winding up with the two-year reign of the “Bad Boys”, the Detroit Pistons.

It was a glorious time.

Now, the style of play of the NBA has changed, which is fine. All sports have seen changes, which is a sign of the times.

In addition, the league has become a soap-opera of sorts, often overshadowing the actual games.

I may be off the mark, but it seems once the season begins the talk of trades, free agent moves by star players after the season, and all things behind-the-scenes dominates the conversation.

LeBron James left the Cavs for the second-time, signed with the Lakers, in what observers felt was the start of creating another L.A. dynasty. The idea, was that LeBron would attract other superstars to the Lakers, to dominate the league.

It hasn’t happened, and may never happen.

Magic Johnson, beloved in Tinsel Town, was brought to the front office, only to see the relationship between Magic and his former team ruptured.

Johnson resigned recently.

Hard feelings are the rule with the Lakers these days.

And then there is Anthony Davis, the super, duper big man who announced he would not re-sign with the mediocre New Orleans Pelicans. Presumably, LeBron is trying to convince Davis to play for the Lakers, increasing the Lakers stature, for a team that didn’t make the playoffs.

Anthony Davis

 

 

But the Pelicans won the NBA Draft Lottery and will have the Number One pick.

That choice will be Duke’s Zion Williamson.

A prize, to be sure.

Now the Pelicans are trying to cajole Davis into staying put with New Orleans, to team with Williamson and make them a lot more relevant.

Just a few items regarding the NBA away from the action.

You get the idea.

One final note on the NBA Finals broadcasts of which I was once a part.

They are seen on ESPN, and they are wonderful to watch.

No gimmicks, no clever innovations that are distracting, just the game.

Mike Breen is the play-by-play announcer.

He is calling his 14th Finals, five more than I was honored to do, and five more than Marv Albert, regarded as the best-ever NBA broadcaster, a rating I would endorse. Breen is one of my favorites, a great listen and humble to a fault.

The analysts are Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson, two former head coaches.

Jackson, was the Warriors head man before Steve Kerr took over and won all those championships. Kerr is humble in his own right, in giving Jackson credit for setting the tone for the Warriors before their big successes.

Van Gundy is also a favorite of mine.

When he began with TNT, I had the pleasure to help break him in.

You knew right away, he had the goods.

Van Gundy once made the following remark to me, off the air, and one I’ve never forgotten.

Jeff said, “basketball is make, or miss”.

Think about it.

You can dissect the sport till doomsday.

But it really comes down to “make, or miss”.

Every time I see a player hoist up a long three-point shot, I think about what Jeff Van Gundy said.

Jackson, Van Gundy and Breen