Basketball season continues this week after the New York Liberty finished off Minnesota in five games Sunday night, with the NBA and college seasons coming up soon. The writing staff at Between The Keys had questions (and answers) before tip-off. Our panel consists of Alex Lawson, George Bagwell, Leviya Francesca, Thilo Widder, and Will Tipton. 

Question number one, which player and team (any level) are you most excited to watch this season?

AL: Since I can't be a homer and pick my Spurs and Victor Wembanyama, I'm most excited about watching Hailey Van Lith and seeing if she can get back to her Louisville form. A weaker Big 12 without Texas and Oklahoma means the conference is wide open, and a revamped Horned Frogs roster could make a deep run with Van Lith's return to all-conference play. 

GB: I love to watch ASUN Preseason Player of the Year Robert McCray V and Jacksonville basketball. Did you know that Jacksonville is the largest (by area) city in the lower 48? Florida’s most populous city contains over 840 square miles, beating out Tribune, Kansas, by almost 100 miles. The Columbia native McCray V (obligatory shoutout Columbia) is just one factor in a dynamic offense, with Marcus Niblack and Stephon Payne III returning as well. This team could win the ASUN after coming really close last year. 

LV: Jared McCain for my Sixers, Audi Crooks at Iowa State, Paige Bueckers as always, and of course the great Lincoln Ball's farewell run at my alma mater American University.

TW: Kings turning Demar into the third playmaker alongside Fox and Sabonis, along with a Murray return to form and Malik Monk always being awesome makes the Kings my answer for most excited to watch. As far as players go, I may be the only person still holding Ben Simmons stock. Duop Reath is cool too.

WT: I’d say for a player, I am insanely excited to watch Markus Burton on Notre Dame play this sophomore season. Rutgers basketball is definitely going to be some must-see TV with Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper. The RAC is going to be electric.

Question number two, what niche basketball topic could you talk about for hours?

AL: I could talk (and have talked with Leviya) for hours about how the role of the seven-footer has evolved over the last few decades. As stretch bigs evacuate the paint, elite rim runners and dominant post players still necessitate rostering at least two giants who can hang inside. Ask the Knicks how desperate they could have used another serviceable big man against the Pacers last year…

GB: Shoutout to the “ArtButMakeItSports” guy, basketball and art go hand in hand. Basketball has such a wide range of human emotions. It can build us up (see James, LeBron), tear us down (West, Delonte), and make us feel just about everything in between. It’s all connected.

LF: I could talk endlessly about how the NBA and its fandom tackles death and grief. Last month they had a tribute game for Dražen Petrović where they had a hologram of him address the crowd and then the crowd chanted "welcome back" at the hologram. I'll be thinking about that for a very, very, veryyyyy long time. 

TW: I did my thesis in undergrad on pre-integration basketball, specifically the Harlem Rens so probably the braided history of the Rens and Globetrotters as politicized basketball.

WT: 2010s Big Ten Basketball or college basketball point guards that are 6'0 and under. 

Switching it up, name the most obscure basketball player you can think of.

AL: (This is a deeply contrived game that demonstrates how well people retain the 12th men from their favorite teams and their old 2K saves but) Allonzo Trier? Nando de Colo? Arne Duncan?

GB: My go-to answer for this question is Walt Lemon Jr., who played 11 career games in two years for the Pelicans and Bulls in the late 2010s. He played the last six games of the 2018-19 season for Chicago and averaged 14.3 PPG, with two 20-point performances, then never suited up in the league again.

LF: Jacob Pullen? Or does my cousin who plays D3 at Wheaton count? (Editor’s note: it does.)

TW: Von Wafer? Nazr Mohammed? Rodions Kurucs? I used to play way too much crossover grid.

WT: Most obscure player? Hmmmm… I’ll have to go with Rakeem Christmas. 

Getting into literature, what is your favorite basketball book that you've ever read?

AL: Basketball (and Other Things) by Shea Serrano is a lovely read from a fantastic author that I cannot recommend enough. 

GB: Strong Inside: Perry Wallace and the Collision of Race and Sports in the South by Andrew Maraniss.

LF: Black Gods of the Asphalt by my wonderful undergrad professor Onaje X.O. Woodbine.

TW: When the Garden was Eden, by Harvey Araton or Heaven is a Playground by Rick Telander.

WT: Favorite basketball book I have read is When the Game Was Ours by Jackie MacMullan, detailing the rivalry between the Boston Celtics and L.A. Lakers. along with Larry and Magic’s personal rivalry. 

Last question, and I think I know some of these answers already, but who is one basketball player you would defend like your life depended on it?

AL: YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW GOOD TIM DUNCAN WAS.

GB: Lonnie Walker IV. Or Terance Mann. Both deserve their flowers.

LF: You already know.

TW: My middle name is Latrell after Latrell Sprewell and the man made All NBA third team as a sophomore after being the 21st pick out of two JUCOs and then Alabama. Awesome player and PJ Carlesimo ruined it. Allen Iverson said it himself "If I could be any player, I wouldn't be Jordan, I would take Latrell Sprewell.” I was wrong, Sprewell MADE ALL NBA FIRST TEAM IN HIS SOPHOMORE YEAR, PJ CARLESIMO I CANNOT STAND YOU.

WT: A player I would defend if my life was on the line is undoubtedly the greatest player to walk this earth, LeBron James.

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