An NBA team comprised of Arkansans

I’m still focused on football, but for fans who’ve transitioned to basketball, I offer today an All-Arkansas team of current NBA players.

The betting line suggests we’d get clobbered by similar teams comprised of native sons from California, New York, and Texas, but we’d run teams from South Dakota, Maine, and New Hampshire off the court.

Here’s our team for 2022-23. Oh, and as a native Arkansan, I’ve selfishly included myself on the support staff as one of those guys whose job is to pick up towels as players toss them aside when they take the court.

GUARD — Malik Monk (Lepanto/Sacramento Kings)

Monk has found his groove after signing in the off-season as a free agent with Sacramento, where he reunited with De’Aaron Fox, his former college teammate at Kentucky.

Monk scored 26 points on 11-of19 shooting off the bench last week against San Antonio. The former East Poinsett County and Bentonville star, who is still only 24 years old, occasionally makes the NBA highlights with his ability to dunk over much larger opponents at the rim.

GUARD — Mike Conley Jr. (Fayetteville/Utah Jazz)

Plenty of fans know Conley Jr. spent a year at Ohio State before being drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies, where he spent the first 12 years of an all-star career in the NBA. But did you know he was born in Fayetteville?

He’s the son of Mike Conley Sr., a former Razorback track and field athlete who won gold and silver medals in the Olympics. Conley Sr. displayed his leaping ability in basketball when he won a celebrity dunk contest against other top athletes. Good stuff but he can’t match his son’s shooting ability, which is 14.8 points for nearly 1,000 games and 15 years in the NBA.

Still, you wouldn’t want to get involved in a game of H-O-R-S-E with either one of them.

CENTER — Daniel Gafford (El Dorado/Washington Wizards)

The arrival of Kristap Porzingis from Dallas pushed Gafford into a reserve role at Washington, where he’s averaging 5.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. Those numbers aren’t impressive until you realize Gafford has made 73% (33 of 45) of his shots from the floor, by far the best on the team.

The Wizards think so much of Gafford’s ability they signed him to a 3-year contact extension in October.

POWER FORWARD — Bobby Portis (Little Rock/Milwaukee Bucks)

Hard to believe it’s been seven years since Portis left the Razorbacks as a sophomore to enter his name in the NBA Draft.

The big man with the white head band has enjoyed a solid career in the NBA and he was a major contributor to Milwaukee’s NBA championship team. This season, he’s averaging 13.7 points and 10.9 rebounds, a career high.

Despite his success, Portis hasn’t forgotten where he comes from. His Twitter page includes references to his home state and the Razorbacks.

SMALL FORWARD — Austin Reaves (Newark/Los Angeles Lakers)

Folks in Arkansas don’t hear much about Reaves, primarily because he plays in late games on the West Coast and the fact he’s on a losing team comprised of fading stars.

The Lakers are a mess but that’s no fault of Reaves, a 6-5 swingman who’s scored in double figures in four of his past five games since breaking into the starting lineup. LA fans appreciate the tenacity and basketball IQ of Reaves, who was only recruited for college by South Dakota State, Arkansas State and Wichita State after averaging 32.5 points per game as a senior at Cedar Ridge.

He also went undrafted after averaging 18 points and making first-team All-Big 12 as a senior at Oklahoma. It’s another oversight that once again proves coaches and scouts aren’t the geniuses some make themselves out to be.

KEY RESERVES — Moses Moody (Little Rock/Golden State Warriors), Jaylin Williams (Fort Smith/Oklahoma City Thunder) and Isaiah Joe (Fort Smith/Oklahoma City Thunder).

COACHING STAFF — Sidney Moncrief (Little Rock/NBA AllStar), Corliss Williamson (Russellville/NBA 6th Man award winner) and Ronnie Brewer (Fayetteville/ NBA/Razorbacks assistant coach). So, who’s up for a game? How about you, Oklahoma?

RICK FIRES