It was not supposed to be like this when LeBron James moved to Los Angeles. He was supposed to be the savior. The savior who brought basketball back to Los Angeles. “Showtime” seems like decades ago.
The Lakers currently reside in the 10th spot with a 28-29 record, and only have 25 games left to make a move. When it comes to their playoff outlook, LA is three games behind the Los Angeles Clippers (32-27), yes the Clippers, who are sitting in eighth.
Their upcoming schedule won’t do them any favors either. Just under a quarter of the Lakers’ remaining games are against teams ranked in the top three of either conference. Nearly two-thirds of their remaining games are against teams in the playoff race.
Yes, LeBron is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time in 14 seasons. Doing so has to take a little chink out of his legacy.
The Economics Of Zion
Zion Williamson and Duke hosted North Carolina last night and there are some last minute ticket buyers who shelled out $2,500 to watch history. And those were the cheapest tickets available as of Tuesday.
The $2,500 figure is just $174 less than the least expensive ticket to this year’s Super Bowl. Here is another comparison. There were tickets for last season’s national title game between Michigan and Villanova that were as low as $67.
Some more Zion economics. The average price to attend a North Carolina home game is $70 this season, but the average price for the March 9 rematch against Duke is already at $991. You may want to jump on that price. It is only going to go up after last night’s game.
Speaking of Economics
The NFL and Colin Kaepernick settled out of court. The exact details of the agreement are supposed to be confidential. But numbers are either leaking out or being speculated at by those who could have inside knowledge.
Dollar amounts I keep reading about are mostly between the $60-80 million range. Yet there are some who speculate that the actual amount is much lower, as low as $5 million.
I tend to go with the low amount. I base my thinking on what are the chances of Kaepernick winning his collusion case against the NFL? Minimal at best because any proof of collusion would have been leaked out by Kaepernick’s team of attorneys. This tells me there is not any evidence.
I think Kaepernick realized it was time to get some money while telling the media/public that the settlement proves he was right. And he has said he would still like to play. Settling the suit may lead to a job with a team, but I doubt it.
This settlement will do little to change people’s preconceived ideas about who is the bad guy and who is the good guy.
There are many pro-Kaepernick people out there who have turned on him for settling or taking any money at all. They talk of him selling out on his cause.
Time will lend itself to finishing the many stories. Will he play for someone? Will he use his fame and the money from the settlement to keep the cause moving forward? Will the actual dollar figure be released?
Meanwhile, the NFL will move forward with the suit no longer hanging over it.
Photos: LeBron James & Colin Kaepernick
