Paige Bueckers is the closest thing that we have to Kobe in 2025

Here are my thoughts (and a grade) for Josh Giddey's new deal: www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/...

Those of us paying attention to Chicago know that Angel Reese's comments about the Sky weren't wrong: www.sportingnews.com/us/wnba/news...

(1/3) Hawaii kicker Kansei Matsuzawa is one of the most inspirational stories in sports. At age 20, he made a goal to become an NFL kicker despite never touching a football. Started watching YT videos on how to kick because he didn't know anyone in Japan who could teach him.

You may have heard of Hawaii kicker Kansei Matsuzawa, who taught himself how to kick via YouTube at age 20 because nobody near him in Japan knew how. That's just the tip of the iceberg. Read one of the most unbelievable stories in college football: www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa-foot...

Playoff wins for every team since 2000:

No matter your side of the argument in @sportingnews.com's Bron vs. Mike Week (Shark Week? Pffft) let's agree on this they both are bigger than basketball. OK, OK, let's argue. Friend + coworker @stephnoh.bsky.social digs into it. www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/...

We are doing Jordan vs LeBron week at @sportingnews.com. My contribution: who had the bigger cultural impact? Hear what the experts have to say: www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/...

Jordan or LeBron. Who is your GOAT? 🐐 The case for MJ as the greatest of all time: sn-now.com/GOATJordan The case for LBJ as the greatest of all time: sn-now.com/GOATLeBron

Noa Essengue notes after two games: -Defense is up and down. When he turns it on, he can disrupt plays -Good activity on the glass -Very wild offensively. Best move right now is charging to the rim trying to draw a foul -Jump shot looks ROUGH (several airballs)

YUKI

He saw us on press row taking pictures and decided to lean into it

Yang is fun. Crowd is going insane every time he does something, and he's giving them some flashy plays to cheer for.

There's no defensive 3 seconds in China. Yang has been in there for 10+ seconds almost every time and hasn't been called for it once. Love it.

You're going to hear a lot over the next few weeks about how summer league performance doesn't really matter. My favorite counterargument, given nine years ago by 2016 NBA Summer League champion Denzel Valentine (h/t: @highkin.bsky.social)

My report of Cooper Flagg and Bronny James from Las Vegas: www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/...

Here's the stadium for the game after Cooper and Bronny (Sixers vs. Spurs). EVERYONE left the arena.

Pacers vs Cavs has been a one point game down the stretch. With a minute left, it went: -dunk -dunk -dunk -dunk Peak summer league defense

Pictured: 75% of the crowd at Cox Pavilion. Waiting to see Jase Richardson three hours from now 🫡

Fans in the Cooper Flagg/Bronny gym vs the four fans in the smaller gym (first game on the smaller court doesn't start for another 90 minutes)

Summer league line right before doors opened: It took me over five minutes to walk from the start of the line to the end. Several hundred people were waiting in the 104 degree heat. Here's the first guy in line (got there at 5:45 am) and the last (got there at 11:30 am, with noticeable aura).

Hawks General Manager, Onsi Saleh, had to confirm with Joe Dumars that the Pelicans really intended to trade the 2026 more favorable of the Milwaukee and Pelicans pick. Inside the Pelicans whirlwind of a draft night. intheno.substack.com/p/queens-gam...

I reported an offensive Caitlin Clark fake video on X to try and get it removed. Instead, I saw how deeply the platform is letting women down. My story on one of the most disturbing issues affecting women in the age of AI, and X's failure to curb it: www.sportingnews.com/us/wnba/indi...

Myles Turner is a good player on a fair deal, but the Bucks mortgaged their future in order to acquire him. Why waiving-and-stretching Lillard was the wrong move, and what comes next: www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/milwa...

Happy for Lonzo Ball, hope he experiences the Caruso arc in Cleveland. I'm perplexed why the Bulls took this deal for Okoro instead of trading Ball at the deadline last year to the Grizz for long term salary (probably Marcus Smart) + a first round pick.

I hadn't watched much Noa Essengue prior to the Bulls picking him, so I loaded up a randomly selected game on YT and watched it start to finish last night. Here's a three minute summary of what I saw, good and bad: youtu.be/Mq6EHlu4_cQ?...

This is my favorite story from @sportingnews.bsky.social that we've published this year. Give it a read. From David Suggs, a profile on Glenn Burke, the MLB's first openly gay player: www.sportingnews.com/us/mlb/los-a...

Bulls trading down from no. 45 to no. 55 in exchange for cash is certainly not great process, but that range in this draft kind of stinks anyway👇

Day Two of the draft is tonight, and it's going to be much more difficult to find talent than in previous years. There's one main reason why — NIL is killing the second round. www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/...

Hansen Yang was the biggest reach of the first round. He was also one of the toughest scouts. I talked to an NBA scout about the difficulty of evaluating players in China, along with the CBA MVP (Jared Sullinger!) about Yang's game www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/...

Hansen Yang is the mystery of the 2025 class and the biggest surprise of the first round. I talked to experts to learn more about his game, why China has failed to produce NBA players, and the blind spots that arise from scouting in the CBA: www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/...

Instant grades for the Porzingis trade: www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/...

Ranking the top 30 NBA free agents: www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/...

Here are my quick KD trade grades: www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/...

Leaders in distance traveled *while diving on the floor* during the Finals.

On the heels of reports that the Bulls and Billy Donovan have begun contract negotiations, Artūras Karnišovas and Marc Eversley have already had their deals extended, a source told @itsthebigs.bsky.social on Tuesday.

Student becoming the master (Also the differences in commentary, sheesh)

Caruso swimming on hardwood to recover a loose ball is peak Caruso

Pacers adjustment to the Thunder's Game 4 strategy of getting a weaker defender on SGA — have Nembhard show & recover on these screens. Nembhard has been hustling to get back to SGA whenever SGA sets a screen.

Nembhard couldn't quite finish this play, but heads up switching his positioning at the last second and stealing this tip

Here's Caruso calling out what the Pacers were about to run (C, as explained by @caitlinmaycooper.bsky.social ). Thunder didn't give up the switch that the Pacers wanted, but Siakam was still able to generate free throws.

New for @theathletic.bsky.social - The Grizzlies and Magic made opposite bets on the value of Desmond Bane's contract to a contender. Why each made their choice and both might be right. www.nytimes.com/athletic/642...

Here's the ONE SECRET TRICK to becoming a great analyst. Watch the game. That's it. Watch the same play over and over and over. Put yourself in the shoes of every player. If you only watch once (or play solitaire), you're going to miss most of what's happening and why.

the thunder were on the brink of going down 3-1, and then… www.cbssports.com/nba/news/sha...

Two nights after Indiana's bench tilted the Finals in their favor, OKC reminded us all that it's got a hell of a lot more to offer than just SGA. At Y! Sports: Wrote about Jalen Williams, Lu Dort, Alex Caruso and Chet Holmgren all doing their part to help save the season in Game 4: yhoo.it/3FFb0AV

With 3 min 52 sec remaining, Mark Daigneault called timeout and made the adjustment that won the Thunder Game 4. Nembhard had been guarding SGA extremely well. Thunder used the same action 3x to get Nesmith to switch, Shai kept scoring/getting the foul call.

Haliburton celebration 😆

Nembhard taking two Shai shoulders to the chest and not getting bumped off. Impressive stuff.

I get saving Caruso but they gotta start him the second half here.

This is the kind of little defensive technique that the box score / advanced stats have a hard time capturing. Caruso sitting perfectly in the gap, one-way closeout to the shooter, hand in the passing lane, blows up the drive and first pass but isn't credited with anything.