By Nunnie Robinson, The Westside Gazette Sports Editor
May I opine, readers of my sports column? Do you recall a couple of weeks ago I predicted that the NBA finals would go at least 6 games, possibly 7 between the OKC Thunder and the Indianapolis Pacers, despite the prevailing belief by pundits and experts that the Thunder would dominate the Pacers in no more than 5 games. After witnessing the Pacers defeat Cleveland and New York, my gut said no way. That’s why you play the game. You know the rest: the Pacers win the first game away on a last second shot by Tyreese Haliburton, shocking the NBA world. The Pacers, after earning a split on the road, had the opportunity to take a 3-1 lead at home, but allowed the Thunder to tie series 2-2, while seeding home court advantage back to OKC. You know the rest. OKC won game 5 at home, the Pacers won game 6 at home, leading to the best 2 words in sports. – GAME SEVEN – won by the Thunder after Haliburton went down in the first quarter with an Achilles injury, leading to the Thunder’s first NBA championship. No one knows what would have happened if Haliburton hadn’t suffered that horrific injury; however, reality placed finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the elite company of greats Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neil and Kareem Abdul Jabbar as the only players to win the scoring title, the regular season MVP and the finals MVP in the same year. Haliburton’s injury will cause him to miss most or all of next season. I applaud his willingness to place the team ahead of his personal concerns.
I opine, fully convinced, that the Pittsburgh Steelers, unless they’ve significantly improved their offensive line, will fair no better with Aaron Rodgers under center than they did with Russell Wilson, a younger, more athletic quarterback than Rodgers. Wilson has as many Super Bowl rings as Rodgers -1 – and should have 2 sans a boneheaded call by the coaching staff in a senseless loss to Tom Brady and the Patriots. And yes, I am absolutely a Russell Wilson fan.
Shedeur Sanders driving 101 miles per hour in a 60 mile zone should have been a newsworthy, compelling headline. I only read about it on the ESPN news flash at bottom of screen. Why hasn’t it gotten more scrutiny? Every human being has a breaking point ; was this incident it for him. If so, I completely understand even if I don’t agree with his action, behavior or choice. Too much at stake and too much to lose. I pray all is resolved and that his life finds peace of mind and normalcy.
Now that the NHL and NBA champions have been crowned, I look forward to the remainder of the MLB season and the beginning of football season, especially the OBC featuring FAMU and Howard. Is it just me or does anyone else believe that time is slipping away at an accelerated pace. We are already half way through 2025. Don’t put off tomorrow something that can be done today, and we all know why…..
