“One Man’s Opinion” by Gordon E. Curvey

As a person who has grown up playing basketball and following the game of basketball I have never seen a young man treated so unfairly by the media and fans like local University Of Washington freshman Tony Wroten Jr.

The treatment of this 18 year old fella here in this town is terrible. Tony has not asked for none of this. Since the 8th grade the basketball world has known of this young basketball player from up in the Northwest city of Seattle who is very very good.

Tony went on to Garfield High School and became a high school star. If you want to see some of his plays in high school just go to You Tube and you will see. The young guy has untapped talent.

Now he just completed a great freshman year at the UW, And was named “Freshman Of  The Year” in the Pac 12. People are saying he might be one year and then gone to the NBA. Which I think is a big mistake.

The other day, Washington lost to a 9th seeded Oregon State team in the Pac 12 tournament. The game ended with Tony Jr. missing four critical free throws after making 9 out 11 during the game. He scored 29 points in the game.

And now Washington because of the loss to Crieg Robinson’s Beavers, the Huskies most likely will not go to the big dance. Even after winning the Pac 12 sorry to say. Wroten Jr. after the game was a huge target on Twitter with very very negative comments by a bunch of clowns.

Now I will say this, young Tony Jr. in my opinion made a mistake by re-tweeting comments by these clowns who was blasting him on Twitter. Tony should not and cannot do this because he is just making things worse. Just ask LeBron James.

On Friday I turn on local sports radio KJR and 710 ESPN and listen to the hosts and callers talk positive about Wroten Jr.  and negative about him. On the negative side, I heard a host on KJR talk negative about Tony Jr. because he shows emotions after making a tremendous play on offense or defense.

The host said he was wrong for hollering like former Sonic star Shawn Kemp after a great play and “beating his chest” like Kemp. What a STUPID comment!! This is the kind of stuff that Tony Jr. and his family has had to deal with. And this is what might drive him to leave Washington after his freshman year. I know his dad Tony Sr. is tired of all the negativity towards his on. The unfair media and fans in this area need to chill out and support Tony Jr. and not bash him at will.

In my opinion Wroten Jr. needs to stay in school and work on his outside shot and outside jumper from 15 to 20 ft. Maybe enlist Troy Miles to work with him during the off season on his game. Miles can for sure help Tony and other young players with their game. Of course Tony Jr. must want the help.

As a basketball fan I will say this right now. Tony Wroten Jr. IS NOT ready for the NBA. He has to work on his game. Why not stay four years like Brandon Roy did. The money will be there for sure. He can shut up the crazy and stupid fans and sports radio hosts with his play on the court.

Wroten Jr. is a tremendous talent. He cannot let this past season get him down in spirits. He has to realize that he is only 18 years old and a very bright future is in front of him. By the way, if he returns to Washington next year, they will have a VERY good team that could go very far.

Tony Jr. should block out the negativity and think positive. Stay at the UW and practice, practice and practice. Take 1,000 shots a day. Work with Troy Miles at the UW or SU Connelly Center. Do not enter the NBA. He is not ready. Don’t let the so called fans and so called media drive him away. There are people in community who don’t even know Tony Jr. but we still have his back and support him.

Tony’s niece Joyce Walker is my childhood friend who is the best ladies basketball player ever from the state of Washington. A great player at Garfield High School (where Wroten Jr. played) and at LSU and went on to play with the Harlem Globetrotters and his mom Shirley was great in the sport of track also at Garfield. And his Uncle Donnie was a great local player too. I had a lot of battles on the court with Joyce and Donnie growing up.

I hope Tony Sr and Joyce and Shirley and all of us who are following Tony Jr. will stand behind him and “shelter” him from the negativity from the stupid fans on Twitter and the stupid fans and hosts on KJR snd 710 ESPN here in Seattle. STAY UP YOUNG BROTHA!!! WE HAVE YOUR BACK!!!!!!

ARTICLE FROM si.com (Click here for full story) Readers I have made up my mind on one issue. Kobe Bryant is a freakin warrior. He is a true flat out superstar.

He has five rings and is not finshed yet. He can end up with more titles than MJ. He loves the game of basketball. He plays hurt. While others sit out games with pulled this or pulled that, Kobe Bryant is on the court playing.

There are plenty of haters of Kobe. I ain’t one of them. He is a true baller and has been since a teenager. Their is one thing on his mind and one thing only and that is winning. Just like MJ.

So when I saw Dwayne Wade make a hard foul on “The Black Mumba” in the NBA All Star Game I said it was done for a reason. A lot of players are haters of Kobe. They don’t like him. Just like Shaq did not like Kobe. They won three titles on the court but it ended there.

But you can bet Kobe Bryant will not sit out. He will be on the court playing for the Los Angeles Lakers. Because Kobe Bryant is a warrior. And one of the greatest NBA players of all time.   Gordon Curvey

ARTICLE FROM washingtonpost.com (Full story click here)

Basketball fans, have you seen the out of this world dunk by the Los Angeles Clippers Blake Griffin? Just click the link above to view the dunk. Hold on to your seat!!

Griffin acted like the Thunder’s Kendrick Perkins was not on the court. He just leaped over Perkins who is about 6-9 or 6-10. It was crazy, it was off the hook, off the chain, off every damn thing!! Blake Griffin is a modern day Dr. J or a current Shawn Kemp.

I have watched a lot of basketball. It is by far my favorite sport. I have not seen a dunk like Blake Griffin over Perkins at the Staple Center. The crowd went crazy and so did the players. I was watching the game on NBA-TV and when the dunk happened I jumped to the ceiling!!

The think Griffin has untapped talent. He needs to work on his outside game. 15 to 20 ft jumper. He also holds on to the all to long at times and the other Clippers stand and watch while he holds the ball. He needs to work on this.

LeBron James and Blake Griffin are the most exciting players in th NBA. This is a fact. They put butts in the seats of every NBA arena to watch them play. The NBA is starting to market Blake as the new face of the NBA. He is doing a lot of commercials for different companies.

And a good thing is he is a good cat. We never hear anything negative about Griffin. He is kind of quiet but he is still the kind of dude the NBA can put out front like the NFL had Peyton Manning out front.

Again that dunk by Griffin was one of the best of all times. That is for sure! The thing is…..HE IS STILL VERY YOUNG! We have many more huge dunks to view in the future.    Gordon Curvey

ARTICLE FROM espn.com (Full story click here)

If you are a boxing fan like yours truly, then you really want to see all the talk stopped and LET’S FIGHT!! I want to see a mega fight between Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao and Floyd “Money” Mayweather. I am tired of all the talk outside of the ring.

For a for years now Floyd has charged Manny of cheating. He says Manny is hiding something and refuses to take a blood test. Manny has denied cheating and so on and so on. As a boxing fan I am tired of all the back and forth.

So now “Money” is going to jail in June for domestic charges for a few months and I guess he is REALLY calling out Manny and his people to make this fight happen for all boxing fans to see all over the world. He said to Manny “Let’s fight punk”

This fight will bring in MILLIONS AND MILLIONS of dollars. It has to be held in Dallas in the huge stadium that holds about 90,000 folks. It seems Floyd really wants to fight Manny. In the past some said Floyd was ducking Manny to protect his undefeated record. But it looks like that is out the window.

So as the former boxing referee Mills Lane said right before a fight “LET’S GET IT ON” Gordon Curvey

Full Kobe Bryant Bio from wikipedia.com click here

As I watch Kobe Bryant play at the age of 33 I am really thinking this. “The Black Mumba” is the nearest thing to what most people think is the greatest player ever in the NBA Micheal Jordan as far as skills.

He is just a great player period. Kobe came right out of high school and signed with the Lakers and scored more than 28,000 points so far. And has won five NBA titles with the Lakers.

NBA legends like Charles Barkley and Patrick Ewing and others could not win one title but Kobe has five and could pass MJ before he retires. MJ has six NBA rings.

Kobe is a assassin on the court. He wants to do damage. He has one thing and one thing only on his mind just like MJ did and that is winning a NBA title. Yes seems kind of arrogant in his press conferences with the media. Some say he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. His dad was former NBA player Joe “Butterbean” Bryant. By the way he is the head coach of the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA.

I don’t care how arrogant he seems to be and if he was born with a silver spoon in mouth. I also don’t care about his love life that has been in the news. I care about watching a flat out great player play out his final years as a player in the NBA.

It is time we as basketball fans realize just how great of a player he has been and still is. Real talk.  Gordon Curvey

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