Brandon Clarke's fiancée made her first public statements since the NBA player's passing.
Amber Suchomel, who goes by Amber Hana Lorraine on social media, published an Instagram post on Sunday, May 17 expressing her grief at losing Clarke, according to multiple outlets. Suchomel has since made her Instagram profile private.
"There are no words to describe this feeling,” Suchomel said, as People reported. “I never thought I’d have to live life without you. I’m not really sure how to do this without you by my side. You were the most special person, with the biggest heart. You made an impact on so many people, but most of all me. I have never felt so loved and cared for, you made me feel like the most special girl in the world.”
Suchomel went on to praise the Memphis Grizzlies forward, who died on May 11, for being "so impressive" in "everything you were passionate about," including his seven-year basketball career and his venture as a music artist.
The Sun adds that Suchomel posted an Instagram gallery of several photos of her and Clarke, including when he proposed to her and a note of when he asked her to be his girlfriend.
“All I want is to hug you and kiss you and to hold you in my arms. I don’t know how to process that you aren’t here anymore. I love you always Brandon, forever and always," she continued. "Please keep watching over me, I need you.”
When the news of Clarke's death broke, tributes poured in from across the NBA, including from commissioner Adam Silver and Clarke's Grizzlies teammate Ja Morant, who said the 29-year-old was "gone way too soon."
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 19: Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers hits a double during the eighth inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on May 19, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Yuichi Masuda/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Shohei Ohtani takes the mound (and hits) against Randy Vázquez as the Dodgers wrap things up in San Diego.
Updated lineup:
Ohtani DH Betts SS Freeman 1B Tucker RF Pages CF Muncy 3B Smith C Hernández, T. LF Kim 2B Ohtani P https://t.co/hj3DpN93hS
Some years, it's a struggle for voters to find 10 players deserving of making the All-Rookie Teams. Not this year. In fact, it was the opposite problem.
Three players were unanimously chosen to make First Team All-Rookie — Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg, as well as Kon Knueppel and VJ Edgecombe — in what was one of the deepest rookie classes in recent memory. Because of that, some quality players who played key minutes for playoff teams, didn't even make the second team. The All-Rookie Teams shook out like this.
NBA All-Rookie Teams
First Team
Cooper Flagg (Dallas) Kon Knueppel (Charlotte) VJ Edgecombe (Philadephia) Dylan Harper (San Antonio) Cedric Coward (Memphis)
Derik Queen (New Orleans) Maxime Raynaud (Sacramento) Jeremiah Fears (New Orleans) Ace Bailey (Utah) Collin Murray-Boyles (Toronto)
The biggest snub was Hornets' center Ryan Kalkbrenner, but he finished 15 votes (and eight first-team votes) behind Murray-Boyles. Washington's Tre Johnson and Boston's Hugo Gonzalez were the next two vote getters. This is a case where a lot of years any of them would made the second team, but this is a ridiculously deep class.
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA - MAY 18: Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs drives to the basket against Chet Holmgren #7 of the Oklahoma City Thunder during the fourth quarter in Game One of the NBA Western Conference Finals at Paycom Center on May 18, 2026 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Chet Holmgren is the textbook definition of a basketball unicorn. The Oklahoma City Thunder’s 7’1 center cashed 36.2 percent of his three-pointers this season on 243 attempts while also being one of the very best shot-blockers in the NBA. NBA teams will tank for years to get a player like Holmgren who can provide stout rim protection defensively while also spacing the floor on offense. The Thunder did tank to get him with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, and it resulted in a championship in the big man’s third pro season last year.
If Holmgren is a unicorn, Victor Wembanyama is an alien. There’s never been a player in league history quite like the 7’5 French sensation. He’s probably already the most dominant defender in the history of basketball, and he hits logo threes from Steph Curry range, uses his 8-foot wingspan for an unprecedented offensive catch radius on interior finishes, and plays with a non-stop motor. I compared Wemby to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar a full year before he entered the NBA, and he hasn’t made me regret it yet. Kareem is, by the way, the third best player in NBA history.
Wembanyama is 22 years old. Holmgren just turned 24 years old. These two players have been battling since they were teenagers on the international stage, and there’s clearly some bad blood between them. As Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs meet Holmgren’s defending champion Thunder in the 2026 Western Conference Finals, their rivalry is coming back into focus. Here’s why there’s so much hostility between these great young bigs — and why Wembanyama is the one driving it.
The 2021 U19 FIBA World Cup started it all
Want to get a first-look at the next generation of basketball stars? Lock in to the FIBA youth tournaments in the summer time. Back in 2015, I wrote that a 17-year-old Jayson Tatum had the basketball world in the palm of his hand after watching him on the FIBA stage. He’s just one of many examples of future stars who had their first big breakout in these events. I’ve been following this stuff closely for a long time, and I can never remember a more anticipated matchup than the United States vs. France showdown in the 2021 gold medal game at the U19 FIBA World Cup. It’s an important first chapter in the Wembanyama vs. Holmgren rivalry.
The United States won the game, and Holmgren was named tournament MVP. What I remember about that game is that it wasn’t Chet who out-dueled Wemby — it was Kenneth Lofton. Lofton was a 6’6, 275-pound big man who played his college ball at Louisiana Tech, signed with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2022 as an undrafted free agent, and played 45 NBA games before now continuing his career in China.
Lofton won the U.S. the gold medal game, but Holmgren was still that team’s best player.
Victor Wembanyama vs. Chet Holmgren head-to-head in the NBA
The Thunder demolished the Spurs in the first two games between Holmgren and Wembanyama in the NBA. The Spurs won the third matchup in their shared rookie season with Wemby going off for 28 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists, while Holmgren had 23 points, seven rebounds, and five assists in the loss.
Wemby and Chet only matched up once in the next season during the 2024-25 campaign. The Thunder won an Oct. game and would go on to win the NBA championship while the Spurs missed the playoffs after Wembanyama had to be shutdown after the All-Star break with deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder.
“I was told by somebody inside that room that Wemby is motivated by Chet. Chet having one up on him on the championship,” ESPN reporter Marc Spears said.
Marc Spears:
"I was told by somebody inside that room that Wemby is motivated by Chet. Chet having one up on him on the championship" 👀 pic.twitter.com/E0lACvh2X6
The Thunder started the year at 24-1. Then the Spurs beat them three times in just about two weeks, including knocking them out of the NBA Cup semifinals in Las Vegas in a game where Wemby came off the bench to score 22 points in 21 minutes. Watch the way Wembanyama reacted when Holmgren missed a key free throw late.
The Christmas matchup between the two teams was another fantastic showcase. The Spurs beat the Thunder, 117-102, for their third straight win against mighty OKC. Holmgren only had 10 points in the loss, and Wembanyama was clearly trying to get in his head.
Watch this hard foul by Wemby, and his reaction when Chet missed another free throw.
The Thunder did win the final regular season matchup. Everyone knew we’d see these two again in the Western Conference Finals.
Wembanyama vs. Holmgren in the Western Conference Finals is pure theater
The Spurs’ Game 1 double-OT victory in the 2026 Western Conference Finals was one of the greatest basketball games you will ever see. Wembanyama had 41 points and 24 rebounds in a career-high 49 minutes. His logo three will be the shot remembered forever, but he also served Chet a facial with a dunk in double overtime to essentially clinch the win.
Wembanyama knows he’s one of the few people alive with a physical advantage on Holmgren. He also seems to play the mental game against his rival relentlessly.
This tweet summed it up perfectly:
I understand Chet just wanna hoop but unfortunately he’s mentally gonna have to participate in whatever this is Wemby got going on with him
After Game 1 of the WCF, Wembanyama holds a 5-4 edge in head-to-head matchups against Holmgren.
Spurs vs. Thunder is cinema. We’re watching the next great rivalry in not just the NBA, but all of sports. Wembanyama taking it personally against Holmgren makes it even better.
Chase Meidroth races around second after Tristan Peters lodged a double in the wall during the sixth inning. Moments later, the Sox watched another scoring chance vanish. | (Connor Jalbert/Getty Images)
The White Sox spent the afternoon tripping over their own shoelaces. They outhit Seattle 11-7 but still dropped the rubber match. Eleven strikeouts, 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position, nine left on base. All that traffic, and nothing to show for it.
It was the kind of game that keeps rebuilding clubs awake at night — enough traffic to win, not enough execution to finish the job.
The omens were bad from the jump. In the top of the second, the Mariners practically handed the Sox a gift when Colson Montgomery, Chase Meidroth, and Jarred Kelenic drew three straight walks to open the inning. Bases loaded, nobody out, and a golden opportunity to seize momentum. Instead, Tristan Peters whiffs, and Drew Romo rolled into an inning-killing double play. Just like that, the Good Guys come away with a big fat zero.
Seattle immediately made them pay.
After Randy Arozarena got plunked in the bottom of the frame and swiped second, Dominic Canzone smacked a double down the first base line to plate the game’s first run and put the Mariners ahead, 1-0.
The Sox answered in the third. Sam Antonacci punched a one-out single, then stole second after Munetaka Murakami flew out. Andrew Benintendi followed with an RBI single to center to knot things up at 1-1.
But Seattle kept the screws on Sean Burke, whose rough stretch continued. In the fourth, Arozarena worked a leadoff walk, stole second again, and eventually came around when Patrick Wisdom ripped a two-out double to left, giving the Mariners a 2-1 lead.
Chicago clawed back once more in the fifth. Luisangel Acuña and Antonacci opened the inning with back-to-back singles, and Murakami delivered with an RBI knock to plate Acuña and tie the game at 2-2.
Burke’s afternoon ended shortly after. He walked Jhonny Pereda to begin the bottom of the fifth, then hit Cole Young before Julio Rodríguez packed the sacks with a single. Antonacci bailed him out with a nice play on a Josh Naylor fly, and then Arozarena popped up, but Will Venable had seen enough and pulled the plug anyway.
Sean Newcomb came on and cleaned up his mess, preserving the tie and salvaging Burke’s line: 4 2⁄3 innings, four hits, two runs, three walks, five strikeouts.
However, it was the sixth inning that may have been the game’s defining moment. Meidroth led off with a single, and after Kelenic struck out, Peters ripped a ground-rule double that got lodged in the wall down the line. Runners at second and third, one out, another massive chance. Then came the kind of mistake that young, agressive teams make: Meidroth got caught in a rundown breaking toward home during Romo’s at-bat, erasing the lead runner before González grounded out harmlessly. Another golden ticket, shredded.
Seattle finally broke things open in the seventh. Pereda ambushed a Newcomb pitch for a leadoff solo shot to make it 3-2, and after Rodríguez doubled, Venable waved in Jordan Hicks to face Arozarena.
It did not go well.
After getting ahead with strike one, Hicks grooved one over the plate, and Arozarena didn’t miss. Two-run bomb, 5-2 Seattle, just like that.
But the Sox still had chances.
Eighth inning, Sox still breathing. Meidroth and Kelenic single, Peters reaches on a throwing error, and Meidroth scores. Miguel Vargas drew a pinch-hit walk, two on, two out. Edgar Quero, hero last Sunday, comes up as the tying run — swings through strike three — threat over.
Brandon Eisert handled the eighth at least, kept things tidy in the bottom half, tossing a quick inning and even picking off Emerson after issuing him a walk.
Ninth inning, last gasp. Randal Grichuk jumps the first pitch for a pinch-hit homer to right. Sox within one, and the dugout has a flicker of life.
Then, poof, the bats disappeared.
Three straight strikeouts. Ballgame.
So went the afternoon for the South Siders: traffic everywhere, timely hits nowhere.
Even after the loss, the Sox are 25-24, still above water and 2 1/2 games back, depending on what Cleveland does against Detroit. Off day Thursday, then they’ll head to San Francisco for three. Time to forget this one ever happened.
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 19: Jarrett Allen #31 of the Cleveland Cavaliers drives to the basket during the game against the New York Knicks during Game One of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals on May 19, 2026 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
After proving through 40 minutes that they’re more than ready for the bright lights of the conference finals and a road game at Madison Square Garden, they reverted to their old ways. The offense got stagnant. The defense left much to be desired. And questionable coaching decisions cost them.
Fortunately for the Cavs, they have a chance to put that all behind them. The goal at the start of the series was to split one of the first two on the road. Bouncing back and winning on Thursday wouldn’t erase the mistakes of Game 1, but it would get them into the driver’s seat of the series with the action shifting to Cleveland for Game 3.
We’ll see if this Cavs team can put that bad loss behind them.
Anything bought from the links helps support Fear the Sword. You can also shop all of Homage’s Cavs gear HERE. The link to the 2016 championship shirt HERE.
On Tuesday, the AHL announced that former Philadelphia Flyers forward Jakob Pelletier was named the AHL Player of the Year, putting the exclamation point on the best pro season of his career thus far.
Pelletier, still just 25 years old, erupted for 28 goals, 49 assists, and 77 points in 62 games for the AHL Syracuse Crunch this season, establishing new career-highs across the board while leading the entire league in scoring, making him an easy choice for AHL Player of the Year.
In four Calder Cup playoff games, Pelletier added a goal and four assists, and he got to play in five NHL games for the Tampa Bay Lightning this season as well.
The 2019 first-round pick was let go by the Flyers last offseason after a short stint in Philadelphia that saw him score three goals, five assists, and eight points in 25 games in place of the traded Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost, playing in a limited role for then-Flyers coaches John Tortorella and Brad Shaw.
Free to sign with any NHL team after not receiving a qualifying offer from the Flyers, Pelletier inked a three-year pact with the Lightning, giving the perennial Stanley Cup contenders some depth and some young upside - two things they badly needed.
The 5-foot-9 winger could have had a role to play in Philadelphia with the Flyers again this season when Tyson Foerster missed time with two different injuries, but Denver Barkey and Alex Bump stepped up in their first professional seasons instead.
At the same time, though, given that Pelletier played almost exclusively in the AHL again this season, we can point to a weak Lehigh Valley Phantoms team that probably could have used some upgrades.
For instance, journeyman Lane Pederson finished as the Phantoms' leading scorer with 23 goals, 25 assists, and 48 points in 63 games, while Pelletier trumped that total with just his 49 assists.
Also consider that Anthony Richard, the team's second-highest scorer, just left for Switzerland, and Bump and Barkey, seventh and 14th, respectively, on the team in scoring, graduated to the NHL.
Alexis Gendron, who was traded to the Boston Bruins organization midseason, had a modest 10 goals, 12 assists, and 22 points himself.
That's all to say that the Flyers lost a lot of firepower over the course of the season, which culminated in an early end to the year for prospects like Oliver Bonk, David Jiricek, Hunter McDonald, Aleksei Kolosov, Carson Bjarnason, Jack Berglund, and Cole Knuble.
In the end, Pelletier bet on himself and signed elsewhere, and now he's a bonafide AHL star, at the very least.
If I put “LeBron James” in quotes, at least half of you can hear the meme I’m referencing. The King is The King for a reason, after all.
But with the NBA’s Conference Finals featuring a new generation of stars, and superstars, we’re getting an idea of how the Hobby is reacting to the passing of the torch. If the eBay search bar is any indication of who’s heating up, who’s hot, and who just helped someone retire, there are few players more valuable than the one and only Victor Wembanyama.
Fresh off of his 41-point, 24-rebound, 3-block masterpiece in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, a winning performance that handed the Oklahoma City Thunder their first loss of the entire postseason (!), the hobby has responded accordingly to Wemby’s otherworldlyness: On May 18, “Victor Wembanyama” was searched for more than 5,300 times per hour on eBay.
While the Alien is leading the charge, he’s somehow not the most-searched player on eBay this postseason. Take a look at the data provided by eBay below:
The Playoff Search Leaderboard
From the start of the NBA Playoffs (April 18) through May 17, the top-five most-searched NBA players on eBay are:
Cooper Flagg: This year’s #1 draft pick…whose Dallas Mavericks haven’t played a single playoff game this season after finishing with just 26 wins. That’s what winning ROY will do for you.
Victor Wembanyama: He’s got next, and all 29 other teams should be terrified.
LeBron James: The Lakers’ run ended early, thanks in part to Luka Doncic’s injury, but The King’s gravitational pull on the hobby did not.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: The reigning, and now back-to-back, MVP, who just put up a real stinker in Game 1 against Wemby, and will be looking for redemption in Game 2.
Anthony Edwards: The Ant-Man might not’ve been able to get it done against the Spurs, but his playoff performances further bolstered Minny’s hope for the future.
On the team side, the San Antonio Spurs led the league in eBay searches from May 1-17, with the Detroit Pistons (shoutout Cade and them) and the New York Knicks (my goodness, Brunson) rounding out the top three.
The Moments That Moved the Market
Sometimes a stat line is louder than a series, and it appears that a few stellar playoff performances sent search bars into orbit:
April 25: Ayo Dosunmu’s 43 off the bench in the Wolves’ 112-96 Game 4 win over the Nuggets spiked searches for the new Minnesota guard more than 25x the prior week’s daily average, the biggest single-game spike of the postseason.
April 30: OG Anunoby’s 29 points that helped closed the door on the Raptors in Round 1’s Game 6 cranked his eBay traffic up 180% vs. the prior week.
May 17: Donovan Mitchell dragging the Cavaliers past the #1-seed Pistons and into the Eastern Conference Finals pushed Spida’s search rate 80% above his prior-week average.
May 17: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s second straight MVP more than doubled (+100%) his daily search rate vs. the week before, on the same night Wemby led his team to victory over the Thunder.
Read the Search Bar
The clear takeaway is that the hobby is chasing moments more than anything else. A 40-20 outburst in San Antonio, a closeout-game 29 in Toronto, a 43-bomb off the bench in Denver, every one of them moved the eBay needle. The names that help their teams win in the playoffs win the hobby, and with the NBA Finals just a few weeks away, we could see cards from Wemby, Brunson, Spida, and Shai reach insane new heights.
In the meantime, make sure to use Mantel’s SLAM score to monitor the liquidity of your collection throughout the Playoffs.
Who are you buying ahead of the NBA Championship? Let us know on Mantel.
The San Antonio Spurs stole Game 1 of the Western Conference finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder in clutch fashion, without perhaps their most clutch player.
De'Aaron Fox didn't suit up in Game 1, missing the contest with right ankle soreness. That didn't slow the Spurs down, as they leaned on superstar Victor Wembanyama, who put on a playoff performance for the ages with 41 points, 24 rebounds, and 3 blocks as he led San Antonio to a 122-115 double-overtime victory.
The Spurs will need Wembanyama to have a repeat performance and continued additional contributions from guys like Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell and Julian Champagnie. Because, for the second straight game, the Spurs will be without Fox.
According to the league's 7:45 p.m. ET injury report, Fox is out for Game 2 versus the Thunder with right ankle soreness. Tip-off is at 8:30 p.m. ET.
"Pretty (much) status quo moving forward, I believe. Regardless of if he plays the games or not, this will be just kind of the world we live in," the coach said of the All-Star guard being listed as questionable.
Fox has played 11 postseason games through the first two rounds for San Antonio. He's averaged 18.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 6.2 assists on 48.6% field goal shooting.
GLENDALE, ARIZONA - MARCH 16: Justin Wrobleski #70 of the Los Angeles Dodgers throws on the field prior to a Spring Training game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Camelback Ranch on March 16, 2026 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Brandon Sloter/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Dodgers go from playing one recent postseason opponent to battling another recent playoff foe, heading from San Diego to play the Brewers beginning Friday night in Milwaukee, in a rematch of last year’s National League Championship Series.
In 2025 the Dodgers and Brewers faced off in two different times. They played two series over two weeks surrounding the All-Star break, and Milwaukee swept all six games, winning by a combined score of 31-16. Then came the NLCS when Dodgers pitching was on a heater, holding the Brewers to exactly one run in all four games. Los Angeles only scored 15 total runs in the series, but that was enough for a pennant-winning sweep.
Justin Wrobleski gets the ball in the series opener on Friday night, rookie right-hander Logan Henderson on the mound for Milwaukee making his 10th major league start.
NEW YORK (AP) — Dallas' Cooper Flagg, Charlotte's Kon Knueppel and Philadelphia's VJ Edgecombe were unanimous first-team selections for the NBA's All-Rookie team, which was unveiled Wednesday night.
Also making first-team All-Rookie: San Antonio's Dylan Harper and Memphis' Cedric Coward. Harper also appeared on all 100 ballots, with 93 first-team nods and seven second-team votes.
Those five players were also the only ones to get votes in the Rookie of the Year balloting, where Flagg edged Knueppel for top honors.
The All-Rookie second team included New Orleans' Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen, Utah's Ace Bailey, Sacramento's Maxime Reynaud and Toronto's Collin Murray-Boyles.
The NBA will announce the All-Defensive team on Friday and the All-NBA team on Sunday, with Coach of the Year set to be announced Tuesday.
It's the offseason for most NBA teams, where everything means something — but a lot of the time, nothing at all. However, that's not going to stop conversation and cease speculation about player movement and team transactions.
It's a running joke that every player is rumored to be on the Lakers' radar, but after the Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade in February 2025, it's almost seems as if nothing is off the table and anything can happen.
So, when restricted free agent Peyton Watson appeared at the Lakers practice facility for Klutch Sports Pro Day workouts, speculation among fans began, hoping the 23-year-old might sign with the purple and gold.
Welcome to Ball Arena! Stay tuned for all of the action!
First Period
The Avalanche dictated the pace of play for the early going of the opening period. Although there weren't a ton of shots on goal, we saw several players get involved in the physical side of the game early.
At the 6:27 mark, Wedgewood came up with an outstanding save on a 2-on-1 rush before Tomas Hertl tried to fire in the rebound from his knees, but missed the net.
On the subsequent faceoff, Nathan MacKinnon won the draw, but Devon Toews mishandled the puck behind the net resulting in a turnover to Jack Eichel, who was turned away by Wedgewood on a pair of shots before the puck was cleared.
Colorado killed a penalty after Brent Burns was sent to the box for hooking Vegas forward Brandon Saad at 9:02.
With 4:45 to go in the period, Logan O'Connor received a pass just past the red line and penetrated the Golden Knights defensive zone before putting on the brakes and firing a wrister, but it dinged off the left post, and the game remained at a 0-0 deadlock.
At the end of one, the game remained scoreless, and both teams accrued 10 shots on goal.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 19: Alex Call #12 of the Los Angeles Dodgers scores a run ahead of the tag by Freddy Fermin #54 of the San Diego Padres during the ninth inning at Petco Park on May 19, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Los Angeles Dodgers (30-19) at San Diego Padres (29-19), May 20, 2026, 5:40 p.m. PST
Watch: Padres.TV
Location: Petco Park – San Diego, Calif.
Listen: 97.3 The Fan
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