Classic Basketball Card Set Coming in April!

Wait until you see the new 60 card set of Classic Basketball Cards that care coming to Basketball Illustrated and ShopTV4U.Com from Reach Sporting Goods. They are beautiful, and long needed for the true sports collector. There are many historic stars of pro basketball that have been simply overlooked by the new generation of fans. Can you imagine a baseball fan not knowing who Babe Ruth was? Well, Bobby McDermott was the Babe Ruth of pro basketball but he is virtually unknown today. In fact, McDermott was selected as the best basketball player of the first half century in poll taken in 1950. Imagine us forgetting Wilt Chamberlain or Michael Jordan? Anyway, these 60 cards are outstanding. You'll read about them shortly on Basketball Illustrated when they are released in April.

Bad Behavior Less Obvious This Year

It's so nice to see a reduction in the thugish behavior that has infected professional basketball for a generation now. Does anyone miss Stephon Marbury, Alan Iverson, Rasheed Wallace, or Rafer Alston? As pro basketball has degenerated from a beautiful game of skill to a circus sideshow, it has gained young viewers at the expense of the legitimacy of the sport. Seeing the general revulsion of the behavior of LeBron James, and also to the recent Richard Hamilton led player boycot of the Detroit Pistons, it could well be that the tide is FINALLY turning away from the hoodlum element of the sport, and hopefully returning to real basketball. It's refreshing to see the new stars like Kevin Durant acting and looking like athletes instead of members of a carnival side show...or a street gang. One hidden benefit of the NBA has been the rule forcing the high school stars to spend a year in college. While it didn't do much for Marbury or Iverson, the rest of those in the one and done era seem to be growing as people before they get to the NBA. We've seen the arrested development of a Kobe Bryant, a Kevin Garnett, a LeBron James, a Tracy McGrady, and even a Dwight Howard (just suspended for 16 technical fouls) because they lost this critical year of personal growth before being locked into the self serving prison that is their 'posse'. Even though most these players eventually overcome this handicap to a degree, they are never as good as they could have been with that year of emotional development. Recently, Kobe Bryant was asked who he thought was the better player, Kevin Durant or Russell Westbrook. His answer "Bof". "Bof"!!!! This is a man with years in the league and untold millions of dollars. "Bof". You can't help but think that if he'd have spent that year at LaSalle, the answer would have been "Both".