Jaw droppers in the NBA

Jaw dropping reversals of fortune happened in the NBA recently.

Two of the biggest shockers occurred with the Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings, teams whose Filipino fans are among the most ardent in the world’s premier basketball league.

Lakers great Magic Johnson ascended from “advisor to boss” following team president Jenny Buss’ abrupt announcement after the All-Star Break.

Ms. Buss fired her brother, executive vice president Jim Buss, general manager Mitch Kupchak and veteran publicist John Black in one fell swoop.

No one in Lala land thought that Johnson, once an unpaid team consultant, would be given a real job with real difficulties as president of basketball operations.

Many believe Johnson had a hand in letting go of three of the league’s longest tenured front office executives as the team rebuilds from the worst seasons of its storied franchise.

Over at the Kings, whose ownership was once coveted by Filipino business mogul Manny V. Pangilinan, management finally traded DeMarcus Cousins to the New Orleans Pelicans.

Although a certifiable whiner, Cousins was arguably the best big man in the NBA and easily the Kings’ best player. He was shipped to the Pelicans in a move fans in California’s capital city thought should have been made long ago.

Despite a turbulent personality, Cousins wanted to spend his career with the Kings and was effectively playing for a potential $209-million contract.

But the Sacramento Bee newspaper said he was simply “not maximizing his own value” and was leading the NBA in technical fouls by a mile for bad behavior on the court.

At the height of his negativity, he was badmouthing reporters—including a Bee columnist—and had a penchant for conflict with anyone and any object “that came in contact with him,” says a Bee column.

Then Kings basketball operations chief Vlade Divac, the former Kings center, stepped in and decided in a jiffy that although Cousins was a valuable asset, what mattered most to fans “was character.”

Hats off to a college buddy Art Cuevas, a retired San Miguel Corp. drumbeater.

The 65-year-old Cuevas, along with his son Xyggy, finished 29th out of 51 relay teams in the Tagaytay to Maragondon 50K Ultramarathon in under seven hours over the weekend.

My friend, a former mountaineer, noted that although the route was conducive for comebacking runners like himself, “the challenge along the way was me fielding a common question from curious spectators: Tay ilang taon na po kayo? (Sir, how old are you now?)