Just kicking back to recall some of the top moments of 2023. Here is some of what I came up with.
LeBron James became the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. The King surpassed Kareem Abdul Jabbar last February when he tallied his 38,338th career point. That was not all James did during his 20th year in the league. He made the All-Star team for the 19th time, same for All-NBA, and averaged 25 points per game or more for the 20th straight season. Last thought on LeBron. My thinking is that he is the most productive player in NBA history. Michael is still the best ever player.
A few months later, during March Madness, we saw a 16 seed beat a 1 seed. Fairleigh Dickinson’s upset over Purdue in the NCAA men’s tournament was the ultimate David-over-Goliath moment. The game served as yet another reminder that, even with all the changes making things harder for smaller schools to compete in college sports, anything is possible in single-elimination basketball.
The Kansas City Chiefs won another Super Bowl. Behind Patrick Mahomes, who else, the Chiefs held on to beat the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Vegas Golden Knights won their first Stanley Cup, the first major championship for the city. Hockey can thrive in warm-weather, non-traditional areas. Speaking of non-traditional locales. It was once thought that Las Vegas would never have professional sports. Not anymore. They have the Knights, the Raiders in the NFL, and the Oakland A’s will be there shortly.
Speaking of Vegas, legalized sports betting is becoming the norm.
The Texas Rangers won the World Series. That was somewhat surprising in itself. The fact that they beat the Arizona Diamondbacks was equally surprising. Two perennial losing franchises knocked powerhouses like the Dodgers, the Braves, the Phillies, and the Astros. It was good to see that money cannot buy championships.
