What a Messi… Lionel was in. In the end will there be a BIG PAYOFF from Saudi Arabia? - (Tasnim News Agency - photo)

FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 tickets back on sale - (Getty Image) Sports Notes: Ronaldo Gets His Numbers but… Is His Time Up?

Dillon Brooks on the move? - (NBA - photo)   Mike Bibby - (NBA photo)

Years later Shaq and Kobe mocked the Sacramento Kings calling them Queens in a series that WAS FIXED for the Lakers - (Screen shot - photo)

Los Angeles Lakers Magic Johnson and Boston Celtics Larry Bird in Game two of the 1985 NBA Finals at Boston Garden Date 30 May 1985 - Steve Lipofsky www.Basketballphoto.com ALL TIME NBA 1st TEAM - BREAKING IT DOWN MAGIC JOHNSON & PHAL SAMPHORS

SPORTS NOTES - SPORTS STARTS TURNIN & CHURNIN with MOVES ON THE WAY?

James Loving/National Radio Text Service

What a Messi… Lionel was in - In the end will there be a BIG PAYOFF from Saudi Arabia? - Years later Shaq and Kobe mocked the Sacramento Kings calling them Queens is a series that WAS FIXED for the Lakers - PLAY ON & GET BACK 2 BASKETBALL - THIS DAY IN THE NBA - NBA's ALL TIME BEST PLAYERS 1st and 2nd TEAMS

Sunday May 7, 2023

MESSI MOMENTS

When it all adds up it makes perfect $ense why Lionel took a trip too Saudi Arabia. The reported math notes that Messi was offered $440 Million Offer from Saudi Arabia to play there. When he returned to France he received a two week suspension without pay from his club PSG (Paris Saint-Germain). He apologized on his social media account for his actions. He mentioned that he though there would be some free days in their schedule as there were previously.

His trip will cost him $1.6 million from his $800,000 a week salary. His current worth is $600 million. That compares to his longtime rival Christiano Ronaldo worth of $500 million.

June 24th will be his 36th birthday. Currently he is second to Kylian Mbappe in scoring with 15 goals in 28 appearances to Mbappe's 23 goals.

As he ages Messi's strength is turning to assists. He also has 15 assists, that leads the club. He games is comparable to the former NHL great Wayne Gretsky who has almost as many assists as goals.

That brings up a point. International should value and honor assists and include them is a players scoring. It would be an adjustment but the NBA has adjusted to aborting the way the basketball game is played with their addition of these sissy ball rules. That includes letting a players take two steps AFTER A DRIBBLE.

For Messi is comes down to what environment he prefers or will it be about the money.

Ronaldo is currently playing in Saudi Arabia and making millions of dollars. This is where the separation of comparing the two player's stats makes a difference. One could argue that the quality of play there is lower than the MLS that continues to improve in quality of play and salaries.

David Beckham's Miami team has been in the mix of controversy of a probable place where Messi can land. Other heavily populated Hispanic areas include New York and Los Angeles.

Messi does not come off as a Hollyweird type of guy. He is more connected with his family life than partying and hanging out with the stars. The question remains… what is the next move for Messi? Stay tuned…

PLAY ON & GET BACK 2 BASKETBALL

It seems the playoffs are the time that the referees are letting the players bang a bit more. It's quite a different game today then what was proposed to be basketball. During the LeBron James era the game has changed to SISSY BALL.

The message that repeatedly surfaced was Cleveland Cavalier management pleading to protect the players. Since I was traveling extensively I had no access to NBA games during this period.

Our last NBA viewing ceased when LeBron entered the league in 2003. The last playoff series we viewed were battles between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings. That series prompted us to pen the column, BAP, BAM BOOM - Lakers ELBOW Their Way To Seventh Game.

The Kings had the better team but lost the series on some very questionable calls favoring the Lakers. It was so obvious that an investigation was made. The result was it was found that the series WAS FIXED. Only one official served jail time for the offense.

One example was Mike Bibby was called for FOULING BRYANT. BIBBY GOT A BLOODY NOSE. The ESPN replay showed over and over the referee was looking right at the play during the entire time and IGNORED Bryant's fouling Bibby. The play should have been whistled dead at the time that Bryant smashed Bibby in the nose with his elbow. . It was as if Bibby's nose infringed Bryant's elbow.

There is a video on You Tube with Shaquille O'Neal hosting a talk show and Kobe Bryant was his guest. They brought up that series for discussion. The made brash statements regarding the Kings. They said that at the beginning of the series the Kings but at the end they were Queens. They chuckled a bit. In doing so you could see the immaturity of both individuals. That series was SOILED IN CHEATING that led to a person going to jail.

That was the most obvious series where referees favored the Lakers and the Kings took the fall as did the imprisoned referee.

I surmised, the NBA must wake up and have the game played on a fair and equal basis. The focus should not be on the marketing major market teams and selling Kobe and Shaq bobble-head dolls. The focus should be the quality of the game and its fairness. What kind of lesson is the NBA sending out to the fans that watch the game on television around the world?

We also viewed the 2022 series featuring the Lakers against the Philadelphia 76ers with Allen Iverson. Iverson was so disgusted that the refs didn't call fouls against the Lakers. He would shake his head in disgust while sitting on the bench during rest periods. It was so brutal we wrote a column titled Lakers Bludgeon 76ers.

Again favoritism and one sided calls were for the Lakers. We noted The excessive amount of elbows to the face and chest the Sixers Dikembe Mutombo was subject to take from the Lakers 7-1, 330 lb Shaquille O'Neal. Apparently the referees were busy looking at something else.

Apparently they may have been looking at their bank accounts.

There are several videos on You Tube that show how the games were and should be played. Since we have relocated several times during the past 25 years we have been in areas where the cable systems didn't carry the NBA. The good news is with technology today the world can learn how basketball should be played.

THIS DAY IN THE NBA

May 7, 1972 The Lakers defeated the New York Knicks 4-1 in the NBA Finals, capturing their first league championship since moving to Los Angeles from Minneapolis.

May 7, 1989 Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls got the ball on the right side of the court with his team trailing by one point in the closing seconds of a deciding Game 5 of their 1989 Eastern Conference First Round playoff series against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Jordan drove just inside the top of the key and while falling away from the basket to his left nailed an 18-footer over the outstretched fingertips of leaping Cavaliers’ defender Craig Ehlo for a 101-100 victory.

May 7, 1994 In one of the biggest upsets in NBA Playoff history, the eighth-seeded Denver Nuggets eliminated the top-seeded Seattle SuperSonics 98-94 in overtime in Game 5 of their Western Conference First Round series at the Seattle Coliseum. The Nuggets, who won the last three games of the series, became the first # 8 seed to upset a # 1 seed since the First Round of the NBA Playoffs went to a best-of-5 format in 1984. Nuggets center Dikembe Mutombo fell to the floor after grabbing the final rebound, clutching the ball as tears of joy streamed down his face.

May 7, 1995 Indiana’s Reggie Miller scored eight points (two three-pointers, two game--winning free throws) over the final 16.4 seconds of the game, helping lead the Pacers to a shocking 107-105 come-from-behind win over host New York in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series. The Pacers went on to win the series in seven games.

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