Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers are still under investigation for an alleged “no-show” agreement with a now defunct company, Aspiration, to funnel extra compensation to the player in a deal viewed as salary cap circumvention.
But another company may have had similar, previously undisclosed dealings with Leonard, according to a report by the podcast “Pablo Torre Finds Out.”
Daktronics, the company that designed the Clippers' video board inside the Intuit Dome where they play home games, reportedly had an agreement and partnership with Leonard.
Torre's podcast cites multiple anonymous sources inside the Clippers and Intuit Dome project. A person who was previously under contract with the Intuit Dome project alleged the sponsorship "was 1,000% a way to circumvent the salary cap. It was funneling money from the Clippers through Daktronics back to Kawhi."
USA TODAY reached out to the Clippers for comment on Thursday evening.
The podcast asked Daktronics to confirm if Leonard had an endorsement deal, but the company directed them to a spokesperson for a crisis management firm who said, “My understanding is Daktronics doesn’t have a deal with Kawhi right now.”
Asked for clarification, the spokesman said “I don’t know what the company wants to say, or can say, given the Wachtell investigation and all that,” referencing the investigation into the alleged Aspiration deal.
Leonard’s seven-year tenure with the Clippers appeared to be over this summer as he was going to be traded to the Toronto Raptors on June 30.
That trade has since been halted because of the investigation that involves Leonard, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and Leonard's uncle/advisor Dennis Robertson. The Clippers would’ve received forward Brandon Ingram, guard Gradey Dick, two unprotected first-round picks (2031, 2033), two second-round picks (2030, 2033) and a 2027 first-round swap in the trade.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver previously told reporters in mid-July that his timeline for the investigation to conclude would be by the end of the summer.
“As I've said previously, we all have an interest in wrapping this up,” Silver said. “... I am hopeful it will wrap up this summer and that will continue to be the goal here."
The investigation is being run by an external law firm but the findings will be presented to Silver, who will then decide on any potential discipline.
Lawrence Frank, the Clippers' president of basketball operations, provided some of the last public comments from the organization regarding the investigation on June 23.
“I can’t comment on the specifics of the investigation, but what I can say is we did not do what we are accused of doing,” Frank said. “The investigation has had no impact on how we go about our business. We just continue to go about our business as normal.”
Knicks second-round pick Jack Kayil announced on Friday that he will play this coming season overseas rather than sign an NBA contract to join New York.
"The NBA remains my big dream – and Alba is just the right place for me to continue on this path," said Kayil, selected 39th overall by the Knicks in the 2026 NBA Draft.
The 20-year-old guard showed promise during the NBA Summer League. But it was always going to be difficult for New York to sign Kayil to a standard NBA contract while also remaining under the second apron in team salary. Kayil was eligible for a two-way contract, but he would have had to pay the buyout of his contract with Alba Berlin and also would have had to accept a significant pay cut to sign the two-way contract.
The plan heading into free agency was that Kayil would remain overseas this season to develop his game. The benefit of a large playing role overseas – and the Knicks’ financial limitations – outweighed the opportunity to be in the NBA this season.
With Kayil heading overseas, the Knicks have just 13 players under contract. They also have three spots for two-way players.
New York’s other second round pick – Tyler Nickel – also remains unsigned. There are reports that Nickel is considering going back to college, but league sources say he is all in on starting his pro career. Nickel is eligible to return to college in 2026-27 thanks to a recent ruling allowing players in Nickel’s class to return to school.
Nickel could presumably make much more money in NIL deals than he would make on a two-way contract. The Knicks could sign Nickel to a standard NBA deal via the second-round exception, but if they did that, they would not have enough money to sign a third center on a veteran’s minimum contract.
The Knicks targeted Mavs center Moussa Cisse for this role, but the Mavs matched New York’s offer to Cisse in restricted free agency. Prior to signing Cisse to an offer sheet, New York pursued multiple trades for centers.
In recent weeks, the Knicks have also been in touch with several free agent centers who could fill the third center role. Logic tells you that if they wanted to sign one of these centers on a guaranteed one-year deal, the Knicks would have done so already.
The Knicks have enough room to add eight players on training camp contracts. If they don’t trade for a third center or sign a center who gets unexpectedly waived due to a roster crunch, you can expect the Knicks to bring in multiple veteran centers to compete for the third center spot.
TORONTO, ON - FEBRUARY 10: Scottie Barnes #4 of the Toronto Raptors passes the ball off against Darius Garland #10 of the Cleveland Cavaliers during the first half of their basketball game at the Scotiabank Arena on February 10, 2024 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 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 Mark Blinch/Getty Images) | Getty Images
There was a big part of me that dreaded LeBron James’ return to the Eastern Conference. The years of LeBronto, and the idea of James in his twilight years snuffing out the Raptors’ playoff hopes in infancy was almost more than I could bear.
Maxey, Edgecombe, Brown, James, and Embiid. Lord have mercy.
But then, Shams Charania made something clear: LeBron James would not just be playing power-forward for the Sixers. Rather, he’ll be slotting in at the point guard for at least a significant amount of time. This means that the 76ers’ lineup may actually be James, Maxey, Edgecombe, Brown, and Embiid. This is a game changer. And not just for the 76ers, but for the Raptors as well.
Shams Charania on LeBron James’ role in Philadelphia:
“I do expect him to play a significant time as that initiator, the game manager, the point guard of this team that sets the table for Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown, Joel Embiid, and VJ Edgecombe” pic.twitter.com/ZDl78YqJ4X
People deemed successors to LeBron have frequently fallen short in some way. Paolo Banchero and Zion Williamson both haven’t quite developed into the archetype of unstoppable point forward, but I would argue that Scottie Barnes is closer to what LeBron is archetypically — a do-it-all forward who rebounds and passes as well as scores — than any of these score-first bigs that usually get compared to LeBron.
Since the end of the regular season, I’ve been an advocate of giving Scottie Barnes official point guard status; in a short sample size at the end of the year, Barnes showed that he was more than capable of dishing out assists as needed when Immanuel Quickley was out. In his Instagram bio, Scottie still proclaims himself to be a “6’9 PG”, and I wonder why this hasn’t been made explicit yet?
As Scottie is breaking out as a developing scorer and as one of the league’s premier defenders, I feel like his ability to facilitate an offence shouldn’t be thought of as an afterthought, lumping him into the “point forward” group. LeBron James, who famously played every position at least once in his career, saw one of his highest highs playing PG for the LA Lakers in 2020, leading the league in assists with 10.2 per game, and coming second in MVP voting. That was, in my view, one of his finest seasons in a very storied career. Am I saying that slotting Scottie in at the one is going to be what finally turns him into a superstar?
Yes. I think it just might.
Scottie Barnes is not LeBron James — and really, no one is — but allowing Barnes to focus on parts of the game that feel most natural to him could allow him to develop even more effectively than having him try to straddle multiple roles. The Raptors already understand that part of the key to unlocking Barnes is to remove some of the scoring load from his shoulders, but signs are pointing to a further shift of responsibilities being the thing that could change the trajectory of this team for the better.
The forward at point guard experiment doesn’t always work, and there is a need for true facilitators. But Scottie Barnes is not just any forward. With the Sixers paving the way, will success with LeBron as floor general make the Raptors reconsider how they’ve been using Barnes?
Despite a bummer of an ending, it was obviously a wonderful year for the Spurs. Victor Wembanyama morphed into arguably the best player in the world, and proved that he could drive winning at the highest levels by leading his team to an upset victory over the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals. Wembanyama turns 23 years old in the middle of next season, and he’ll be the presumptive favorite to win his first MVP. Only the Thunder are ahead of the Spurs in our way-too-early power rankings for the 2026-27 campaign.
The scariest thing about Wembanyama is he still has so much room to get better. To me, the biggest thing that would help him level up again is figuring out a signature shot in the mid-range that he can always lean on when he doesn’t want to chuck a three and can’t get all the way to the rim. In the playoffs, Wemby took a decent amount of mid-range shots, with 28% of his field goal attempts coming on non-rim two-pointers. The problem is he only made 35% of those shots. Wemby obviously has good touch — he’s an 82% career free throw shooter, and 34% career three-point shooter — so I tend to think he can get a lot more accurate from the mid-range in time.
A video circulated from the Spurs’ offseason workouts, and it should terrify the rest of the NBA. Wembanyama might be figuring out his mid-range game in the most unstoppable possible style: by mastering Dirk Nowitzki’s go-to fadeaway.
Victor Wembanyama busting out the "Dirk Fade" in practice 🔥
There’s a world where that shot could be as unstoppable as a skyhook for Wembanyama. It’s going to be impossible to contest, and it gives him enough room to square his shoulders to the basket for a shot. The fact that Wemby is now strong enough to win the positioning battle on the ground against his man only makes this even more enticing. If Wembanyama can hit this with any consistency, it’s going to give him even more scoring versatility for when the game slows down in the playoffs.
Wemby could still be a few years away from his offensive peak. Right now, it feels like he’s about as dominant defensively as anyone has ever been. It’s easy to imagine Wembanyama and Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle reaching the NBA Finals year after year, but the reality is that the NBA hasn’t even had a repeat conference champ since the 2019 Golden State Warriors. Everyone thought LeBron James would be in the Finals every year after he made it for the first time in 2007. It turns out James had to leave Cleveland for the Miami Heat before he made his next trip in 2011 … where he lost to Nowitzki’s Dallas Mavericks.
Wembanyama should be adding to his offensive arsenal every offseason. Beginning to integrate a Dirk fade into his game would be the best possible start.
SAN ANTONIO, TX - JUNE 5: David Robinson attends the game between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs during Game Two of the 2026 NBA Finals on June 5, 2026 at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas. 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 Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
On Thursday, Spurs legend David Robinson turned 61. That’s also 39 years since he moved to San Antonio. Nearly four decades in The Alamo City. Robinson was originally drafted in 1987 as the first overall pick, but because of his active-duty commitment to the United States Navy, he did not suit up until the 1989-1990 season.
Over his illustrious career, The Admiral accrued many awards starting in 1990 with the NBA Rookie of the Year. He was the league’s rebounding leader (1991), blocks leader (1992), and scoring champion (1994) on his way to picking up the 1995 NBA Most Valuable Player award. He also picked up Defensive Player of the Year honors in 1992, just one of five players to all-time to receive MVP and DPOY during his career.
Robinson is one of nine players to ever score more than 70 points. His 71-point game came on April 24, 1994.
Robinson is also one of four players in recorded NBA history to capture the elusive quadruple-double, tallying 34 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, and 10 blocks on February 17, 1994.
The Admiral displayed the greatest humility in 1997 as he relinquished his leadership of the San Antonio Spurs to Tim Duncan. Together they brought in the Spurs first championship in 1999. Robinson continued to hand the baton until 2003, when the Spurs next generation was poised to take over.
Robinson had the rare distinction of going out on top. In 2003, he played his final NBA game. It was Game 6 of the NBA Finals, and the Spurs won their second title. The game took place on Father’s Day, June 15, and he walked off the court for the last time with a trophy by his side.
In addition to his NBA accolades, Robinson was a member of the 1992 Olympic “Dream Team” and won two gold medals, the second coming in 1996.
Since retiring, Robinson has continued to make San Antonio his home. He’s been an ambassador, a philanthropist, and a leader in educational pursuits. He can be seen dining at local restaurants, hosting events, and making appearances throughout the city. He remains a fixture at Spurs games. He’s had seats in the second row for years, but during the 2026 postseason, he moved around and sat with other former members of the Spurs as they made their first Finals run in a dozen years.
SAN ANTONIO, TX – APRIL 19: David Robinson and Tim Duncan attends a game between the Portland Trail Blazers and the San Antonio Spurs during Round One Game One of the 2026 NBA Playoffs on April 19, 2026 at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas. 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 (Photos by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
Robinson help set the tone for Spurs Culture. He brought a grandness and composure to the team, the city, and the sport. And he is the ever present reminder that the Spurs stand tall and have class.
Happy belated birthday, Big Dave.
Welcome to the Thread. Join in the conversation, start your own discussion, and share your thoughts. This is the Spurs community, your Spurs community. Thanks for being here.
Our community guidelines apply which should remind everyone to be cool, avoid personal attacks, not to troll and to watch the language.
Out of all the players participating in Cleveland Browns training camp this offseason, Denzel Boston has certainly received the most excitement from both local and national media members. Between his physical tools and playmaking abilities, expectations are soaring for him going into the 2026 season. But is the conversation surrounding him warranted?
Already in camp, he has shown he excels at winning contested catches and creating mismatches against the defensive backs. Media members who have watched him every day at training camp have been astonished by how hard it has been for the defense to cover him.
A quick smattering of the hype surrounding Boston, via social media:
Friend at Browns practice today said watching Denzel Boston was a religious experience
🔸Denzel Boston 🔸Rookie WR Denzel Boston 🔸Browns’ second-round draft pick Denzel Boston 🔸No. 12 for the Browns, the wideout 🔸Boston, the kid from Washington 🔸that big rookie receiver, Boston 🔸Denzel Boston
As exciting as it is to see a young player with such promise so early on in training camp, solid reps in camp are not the same as production in an actual game. It’s important to manage expectations because his impact as a receiver will depend on how a number of factors play out during the season. The uncertainty at quarterback and with the offensive line will have a significant impact on the offense as a whole, including the level of production Boston is ultimately able to generate. For now, cautious optimism is the most reasonable approach.
Let me know what you think in the comments – Has Denzel Boston earned all the hype, or is it being exaggerated?
This article was their idea. Perhaps the best idea I’ve had during my time with The Dream Shake was to solicit the comments section for article ideas. I’ll be using a few of your suggestions.
Stros (can I call you Stros?) suggested a piece on how badly the Rockets might miss Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks. This is a modified version of that idea. Why? Because this Dream Shaker doesn’t really miss Green:
But he badly misses Brooks.
Rockets (may have?) missed Brooks last year
It’s a bit difficult to make the statistical argument that the Rockets missed Brooks last year.
In 2024-25, they had a 110.3 Defensive Rating, which was fifth in the NBA. Last season, they were 112.1, which was sixth.
That’s not an entirely inconsequential differential, but it’s not a gulf either. Besides, it’s hard to make the causal link directly to Brooks. His absence was likely a variable (more on that later), but who can say for sure?
Per CleaningTheGlass, each of the Rockets’ top-5 lineups in 2024-25 featured Brooks. That could be something – except four of them featured Jalen Green as well (although, for what it’s worth, the best one did not).
Per databalllr, the Rockets were +4.2 when Brooks was on, and +7.6 when he was off. That’s no help.
Are we sure Brooks even made the Rockets better?
Brooks’ impact was intangible
Brooks is your prototypical “the stats don’t capture his impact” guy.
It’s an issue when you’re routinely tasked with guarding the other team’s best player. The numbers will say you’re not a good defender, because the league’s best players can’t be defended. If Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drops 40 on Brooks, he would have dropped 48 on a lesser man on the same night, and nobody cares.
Which may explain why Amen Thompson’s Defensive Box Plus/Minus (DBPM) dropped from 2.6 in 2024-25 to 1.0 last season. In Brooks’ absence, he was responsible for guarding star players far more often:
What, you thought Kevin Durant would do it?
When Thompson is guarding the SGAs of the world, he’s less available to play passing lanes and hunt weakside blocks. He’s at his best when he can operate as a free safety. Hopefully, the addition of Marcus Smart will lessen some of his on-ball defensive burden in 2026-27.
That’s just one way that Brooks was an adhesive for this team. After years of watching P.J. Tucker and Trevor Ariza camp out in the corner like they were waiting for Wrestlemania tickets, it was almost jarring to watch Brooks’ forray into shot creation. Yet, that multiplicity of skills was part of his value. Brooks’ ability to function as a “break in case of emergency” bucket getter had extra value when he was such a strong three-and-D wing otherwise.
Finally, there’s the “je ne sais quoi”. In 2024-25, Brooks, Ime Udoka, and Fred VanVleet were a three-headed monster. VanVleet actualized Udoka’s vision of low-risk, low-reward offense that only works (?) if you defend harder and play meaner than everyone else. Brooks actualized the defending harder and playing meaner part.
Again, there’s hope that Smart can fill that void. It should be noted that Brooks has changed since leaving Houston. During his last season with the Rockets, he averaged 14.0 points per game while shooting 39.7% from three-point land. Last year with the Suns, he hit a career-high 20.2 points per game, but the shooting slipped to 34.4%. He just signed an extension with a $24.3 million Average Annual Value (AAV), which is probably too much money for Dillon Brooks.
The Rockets miss the old Dillon Brooks, straight from the go Dillon Brooks, etc.
Unless you think he’s a viable 20-a-night guy. From this vantage point, that looks like something a team whose first-round picks it would be nice to own in 2027 and 2029. Perhaps Brooks is still helping the Rockets, along with Green.
But as a 14-point scorer, three-and-D, occasional creator, spiritual leader? Brooks was worth his weight in gold:
With most of the major free agency moves completed and with the NBA draft well in the rearview mirror, here are the USA TODY Sports NBA offseason power rankings:
The defending-champion Knicks stayed mostly pat though they did lose Mitchell Robinson, but it nonetheless remains that everyone is looking to catch them. The biggest movers here, however, are undoubtedly the Sixers, who overhauled their roster after those Knicks swept them in the conference semifinals; Jaylen Brown and LeBron James suddenly give the Sixers one of the most stacked starting lineups in the league. Now, can they stay healthy?
One interesting team in this group is the Timberwolves, who clearly understood that Anthony Edwards would need more help with shot creation and ball handling. Out are Julius Randle and Naz Reid and in comes LaMello Ball in what could be the biggest feast or famine move of the offseason. And then there’s the Lakers, who lost James and went all-in on Walker Kessler. These moves are all about building around Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves, but the new pieces may need time to jell. Even then, it’s not immediately clear if Los Angeles actually improved.
While the Heat did nab the best available player and a genuine Top 5 talent in the league in Giannis Antetokounmpo, this is still a roster that has some flaws; Miami should shine defensively but shooting and shot creation remain an issue. For the most part, people appear to be sleeping on the Pacers, who may have very well won the 2025 NBA Finals had star point guard Tyrese Haliburton not ruptured his Achilles tendon early in Game 7. Haliburton will be back and Ivica Zubac shores up Indiana’s presence down low.
The Jazz are another interesting team and now we can see the fruits of their tank job. Adding Darryn Peterson with the No. 2 pick and last year’s trade acquisition Jaren Jackson Jr. having an offseason to settle in makes Utah a top candidate to see the biggest win improvement next season. And the Bulls could also be quiet contenders, after adding No. 4 overall rookie Caleb Wilson and Norman Powell and hiring Tiago Splitter as head coach.
The big question here is about the Warriors and their decision to run it back. Jimmy Butler appears likely to start the season sidelined, and Golden State essentially doubled down on this build. Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg should be a nice player, but this aging, injury-prone team may once again struggle to get out of the play-in. The Wizards are another team that appears to be on the ascent, but questions remain about Trae Young and Anthony Davis and how their veteran presence will fit with this young team that just landed No. 1 overall pick AJ Dybantsa.
Basketball: NBA Finals: Boston Celtics Bill Russell (6) in action, rebound vs Los Angeles Lakers. Game 7. Boston, MA 4/18/1962 CREDIT: Walter Iooss Jr. (Photo by Walter Iooss Jr. /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images) (Set Number: X8418 )
NBA history spans 80 seasons, and as CelticsBlog readers well know, the Boston Celtics have won a league-high 18 championships. This month, we are recapping each of those title years.
If the Boston Celtics were ever going to have their championship streak broken, 1962 was the year. Playing just two playoff rounds doesn’t sound too demanding, until you look at the details.
First, you play your biggest rival, led by a 7-foot-1 behemoth who averaged a 50-piece during the regular season. Also, a brawl breaks out in Game 5. In the second series, you face a superstar duo that averages 70 points per game. One of those two stars hits you with a Finals-record scoring performance. Both series go to Game 7, and both of those are in doubt until the final buzzer.
Was it too easy to win a title back then? Doesn’t seem like it.
<p>Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics takes the hook shot over Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">(Photo by TPLP/Getty Images)</span></p> | Getty Images
The regular season
The schedule was increased from 79 to 80 games, which gave the Celtics a chance to win an extra game. So they did, compiling a 60-20 record, the best in league history to that point. They built a 23-3 record during the first two months and closed the season winning 13 of their last 15.
Bill Russell earned his second straight Most Valuable Player award and third overall, but again was second team All-NBA behind Wilt Chamberlain. The Dipper certainly had the stats, scoring an astounding 50.4 points per game and pulling down 25.7 rebounds nightly. Free-throw shooting was normally his Achilles heel, but this season he made career highs of 10.4 makes on 17.0 attempts for 61.3%. Chamberlain even averaged 48.5 minutes per game, with the extra .5 coming from overtime periods.
For the Celtics, Bill Sharman had retired but Sam Jones was more than ready to take his place. Sam’s minutes and production had increased each season, and in this fifth year of his career he averaged 18.4 points and was named an All-Star. In the postseason, Sam rose to 20.6 ppg.
Filling Sharman’s roster spot, Auerbach signed Carl Braun, a 6-foot-5 veteran guard and five-time all-star who’d been with the New York Knicks for 12 seasons and made the Finals just once. Braun played sparingly but was reliable and filled a need. This type of player acquisition was a habit for Auerbach, with good results.
Eastern playoffs
By winning the Eastern Division for the sixth consecutive season, Boston had its sixth straight first-round bye before meeting the rival Warriors. The series schedule alternated between each city, and as common back then, the home team prevailed each time. The Celtics won blowouts in Games 1 and 3 while the Warriors grabbed close wins in Games 2 and 4. The crucial Game 5 was set for Boston Garden.
The Warriors weren’t intimidated, and the result was several pushing matches, and a few punches thrown during the 48 minutes. The two main bouts were Chamberlain vs. Sam Jones and burly Celtics forward Jim Loscutoff vs. 6-foot Guy Rodgers. In both cases, the smaller man defended himself by swinging a photographer’s stool. Tommy Heinsohn ended up the only player ejected. No one was suspended. Most importantly, in the end, the Celtics won by 15.
<p>Celtics guard Sam Jones grabs a stool to ward off Warrior Wilt Chamberlain during a fourth-period skirmish in Game 5 of the Eastern finals. An iconic photo that captures the heated Boston-Philly rivalry. (Photo by Paul Connell/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)</p> | Boston Globe via Getty Images
The inevitable Game 7 was in Boston and was tense and close all the way, but the key lesson was if you’re facing a player who averages 50 points, it’s good to have Bill Russell. The MVP held Chamberlain to only 22 points for the game, while scoring 19 himself, including five straight free throws during crunch time. Both big men tallied 22 rebounds. With one second remaining, Sam Jones buried a tie-breaking jumper from the top of the key. The Celtics were back in the Finals for the sixth straight year.
(Video has no audio.)
NBA Finals
For the first time since moving from woodsy Minnesota to glitzy Los Angeles, the Lakers made it to the Finals. Their 70 PPG duo was forward-guard tandem Elgin Baylor and Jerry West, still today two of the greatest the NBA has seen. The Lakers were actually in the Garden to witness the dramatic ending of the Eastern Final. They had arrived early, anticipating Finals Game 1 would happen in Boston. They had no way to know that the ending of their own series would be even more nerve-wracking.
Game 1 in Boston went to the home team when the Celtics outscored LA 66-42 in quarters two and three. The Lakers regrouped and took Game 2 by seven points, aided by a large free-throw advantage, 37 of 42 compared to Boston’s 16 of 28.
One you’d like to have back
The series shifted to Los Angeles, and the Lakers got a Hollywood ending as Jerry West lived up to his Mr. Clutch nickname.
Game 4 was a must-win for the Celtics, and they held the Lakers to their lowest total of the series, 115-103. Now tied 2-2 and going home for Game 5, the Celtics felt back in control.
They weren’t. Baylor walked into Boston Garden and delivered a superhuman 61-point Finals-record performance. He shot 22 of 46 from the floor and 17 of 19 at the line with 22 rebounds. Lakers 126, Celtics 121.
Down 3-2 and faced with a do-or-die situation on the road, Sam Jones demonstrated again that his time had come. Sam buried 17 of 27 shots for a game-high 35 points and Boston evened the series, 119-105. The Celtics had displayed grit and will honed by four championships. The Lakers had let their best chance slip away.
Game 7 was excruciatingly close – tied after the first, third and fourth quarters, and with 13 lead changes over the entire contest.
Turning point
Sam Jones scored just two points in the first half of Game 7, but he poured in 20 during the second half and five more in OT. The Celtics wouldn’t have won in 1962 without Sam’s heroics, and he became well-known for always delivering in crunch time.
It was almost over when…
Game 7, tie score, last possession of regulation, the championship on the line. In your driveway and in your dreams, the shot always goes in, but not for LA’s Frank Selvy here.
If that shot had gone in, all of NBA history would’ve been drastically changed. No eight-peat, Lakers would have the most titles now, Russell wouldn’t be 10-0 in Game 7s, and more. Instead, the Celtics survived and won in overtime.
The heroes we needed
Russell scored 30 points (including 14 of 17 free throws) and tied his own Finals record by grabbing 40 rebounds while playing all 53 minutes of Game 7.
Three Celtics had fouled out trying to stop Baylor, so in OT Red turned to little-used Gene Guarilia. The 6-foot-5 forward in his third season played only 6 minutes in the entire series, but he was just scrappy enough to force the tiring Baylor into a couple of misses. Guarilia also snagged an offensive rebound and assisted on a Russell dunk.
Playing on an injured leg, Frank Ramsey still managed to score 23 vital points, including 15 of 16 free throws. Ramsey was always known as a crafty veteran.
The final score was 110-107, with Bob Cousy tricky-dribbling and zigzagging across the court to run out the clock. Banner #5 was secured.
Notable facts and stats
The Celtics became the first NBA team to win four consecutive titles.
Russell played 338 of 341 minutes in the series. He led the Celtics in scoring at 22.9 per game, and rebounding, averaging 27.0, while adding 5.7 assists per game.
Baylor averaged 40.6 points and 17.9 rebounds across the seven games. West added 31.1 points per game.
Banner Years continues Monday with a review of the 1962-63 season and the road to winning Banner #6.
BROOKLYN, NY - FEBRUARY 24: Kyrie Irving #11 and Cooper Flagg #32 of the Dallas Mavericks looks on during the game against the Brooklyn Nets on February 24, 2026 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, 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 David L. Nemec/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
The NBA recently found itself arguing with a medical journal, and the league office doesn’t usually bother punching down at a sample size of nineteen unless something in the findings stings.
The paper, published late last month in the Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, examined nineteen NBA players who ruptured an Achilles tendon over the past decade and found that in the ten to fifteen games before the tendon gave, they were logging more minutes than their norm: twenty-nine a night against a season baseline of twenty-seven and a half. The league’s director of sports medicine answered with methodological objections and an internal review that found no such relationship. The authors, to their credit, had listed their own limitations first. Nineteen players. No control group. No causal claims. Patterns “temporally associated” with injury, and nothing more.
The detail worth keeping is quieter than the fight. The injured players’ seasons were ordinary by the measures available: career-normal playing time and career-normal distance. The clearest pattern appeared in the short window before the rupture. Which raises a possibility the paper is careful not to promise: sudden changes in work may matter differently than season-long volume.
That pattern felt uncomfortably familiar in Dallas, where February has been writing Kyrie Irving’s story since the night it delivered him here, and where the story’s fifth chapter already has a time stamp.
What the minutes can prove
Before anyone reaches for a pitchfork, the honest part has to come first. Tearing the Achilles and the ACL are two very different injuries.
In 2017, researchers examined 83 NBA players who tore an ACL across three decades. The players had logged an average of 17.1 minutes in the games in which they were injured, compared with a season average of 23.5. That comparison carries an obvious limitation: a torn ACL tends to end the night. Even so, the narrow finding is worth respecting. Three decades of NBA knees do not support the simplest fatigue story, the one in which a ligament usually gives way only after an unusually heavy night.
The tear itself resists a clean explanation. The research finds firmer ground on the other side of it, where the question becomes what shapes the player who comes back.
A 2025 study followed sixty-seven NBA players through twenty years of ACL tears. Eleven never made it back; those players skewed older and were more likely to have suffered injuries involving more than one ligament. Among the fifty-six who returned, age at the time of injury and greater minutes played before surgery were associated with a larger decline in player efficiency rating. The returners lost about three points of PER while matched healthy controls lost almost nothing, and lower post-return efficiency was associated with less favorable salary movement.
The minutes cannot convict Dallas of the tear. They still belong in the prognosis.
Dallas could not change Irving’s age. It did choose his minutes. But those minutes make sense only inside the relationship that preceded them, one in which Irving kept becoming whatever the franchise needed. By February 2025, as every other plan collapsed, Irving’s willingness to put on a cape and save the season had become a doomed campaign’s last bit of infrastructure.
February 2023: The discount
The Februarys started long before the tear. Dallas traded for Irving on February 6, 2023, sending Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, an unprotected 2029 first-round pick and two seconds to Brooklyn, a price widely read at the time as below market for a player of his gifts. The discount was the risk. He arrived carrying everything the previous few years had attached to him, and that first partial season ended with no playoffs and a partnership still looking for its rhythm.
Sitting in the nosebleeds for Irving’s first Dallas home game, yours truly. Looking at the names in the Mavs box score for that game makes it feel like forever ago. Christian Wood; “people forget about Frank”; and two minutes of JaVale freakin’ McGee.
The incredible fourth-quarter comeback was a sight to behold. Irving spearheaded it with 24 of his team-high 36, only to see a backcourt miscommunication cost the Mavs a chance at a miracle win. The game of hot potato signified two stars, both willing to defer, and, in retrospect, may have been a sign of the great chemistry that was about to develop.
February 2024: The proof
The backcourt rhythm between Dončić and Irving began the 2023-2024 season at a solid level but kicked into high gear in February of 2024. Exactly one year after the trade became official, Irving returned to Brooklyn and scored 36. Dallas went 8-2 in the ten February games he played, with Irving averaging 27.7 points and shooting 55.4 percent from the field. That month offered the first sustained glimpse of the team that would reach the Finals.
2024 showed us how Irving has always been deployed best: as one of the finest championship-level second options the game has ever seen. The backbreaker against stretched-thin defenses. The secondary creator. The closer who entered the fourth quarter with his best fastballs saved for when the game was on the line. We saw all of it that year, and what felt like the beginning of several contending seasons became, tragically, a one-off memory sealed in amber by the inexplicable act that followed.
For the five weeks after Christmas, the carrying job was Irving’s. He missed five games of it himself in early January, first with an illness, then with what the team listed as a lumbar sprain, and returned on January 14 to the same assignment: holding the team together while the franchise player rehabbed and relief was supposedly coming. Then the first weekend of February, Nico Harrison traded the rehabbing franchise player for Anthony Davis, a thirty-one-year-old with an injury file, in a window Harrison insisted existed to win now. The reunion with his friend and backcourt mate, the one Irving had spent a month propping the season up for, never came. What arrived instead was three quarters of his replacement.
Davis debuted February 8, left late in the third quarter with what was later diagnosed as a left adductor strain, and the win-now roster was suddenly a thirty-two-year-old point guard and whatever was left standing.
Sacramento, it turns out, was present at both ends of this.
Run his final ten healthy games through the Achilles paper’s method, borrowed here as vocabulary and nothing more, with the injury game removed from his season baseline just as the paper removed it. That cohort ran about a minute and a half over its norm before rupture. Irving’s baseline was 36.6 minutes; his final ten healthy games came in at 39.3. A jump of 2.7, at 32, with fourteen NBA seasons on the odometer.
The changing job showed even more clearly on February 12. Forty minutes, roughly a third of the team’s possessions, and not a single assist, the night a point guard completed his conversion into a scoring appliance.
Davis returned March 24, three weeks after Irving’s knee gave out while giving all he could to keep the season’s pulse.
February 2026: The accidental mercy of a lost season
One year later, February delivered the opposite order.
So the franchise’s last two Februarys read as a matched set. On February 10, 2025, Dallas wrung 43 minutes and 46 seconds out of him in an overtime loss. On February 18, 2026, it announced that it would ask him for none. The man who spent him and the man he was spent for were both gone before he could possibly have suited up.
Hold the two Februarys next to each other. Desperation overclocked him. A lost season protected him. Neither posture began with the knee. Both began with what the franchise needed.
And by accident, the lost season may be the kindest thing this organization ever did for him. He had reconstruction surgery on March 26, 2025; by the time the regular season opens he will be nearly nineteen months removed from it, in his second postoperative season by the calendar. The research on NBA comebacks puts the average return at about a year, then half a season of availability, then something resembling the old self in year two. The second postoperative season is the point at which one NBA cohort’s average efficiency had recovered to its preinjury level. That is encouraging context, not a promise. His first season back will still be his first season back.
Two things about his time here can be true at once. When Dallas traded for him, the fear was what he would do to a locker room. That fear inverted so completely it became the best thing about him, and anyone who watched the 2024 Finals run knows it. It kept inverting through the lost season. Dallas Sports Journal reported watching him run footwork drills and post sessions with Cooper Flagg in practice while injured. Flagg told ESPN that Irving “stepped in as a great vet for me” during the stretches of a 26-56 rookie season that shook him. Irving’s review of the kid: “He’s chasing history.”
The more immediate answer will be written in his minutes, his back-to-backs, and how often a young offense makes him the emergency exit. For the fifth February in a row, the month will force Dallas to declare what it needs from him. Whether Ujiri and Schmitz fill the blank with a trade, a protected role, or another emergency will tell you whether the new regime learned anything from the Februarys it inherited.
Irving is the last headliner from the last Dallas team anyone fully believed in.
Orthopedists use a questionnaire built around joint awareness after ACL reconstruction. Its ideal is a knee that recedes from consciousness. The feeling of being on autopilot. An afterthought, merely part of the intended athletic motion.
All season, the league will be noticing. The minutes. The back-to-backs. The first hard plant in traffic in a January game that does not matter.
Five seasons, five Februarys
There is a reason this calendar frame feels personal.
My first long-form piece asked readers to savor the season back in 2022, no matter how it unfolded. Kyrie Irving arrived less than four months later. Four Februarys into this role, every one has become a Kyrie chapter. The fifth is already waiting on the calendar.
And, if we are honest, the redemption arc setup was likely the only door through which he could have arrived in Dallas blue. Without the Brooklyn COVID-era drama, there is no trade, certainly not at that price. Dallas has rarely been the city top-tier stars choose in July. It became the city that answered the phone that February in 2023.
I do not know whether he will be a Maverick past February 11, and anything beyond speculation would be dishonest. What I know is what this season offers: a new front office, a new coach, a young roster worth being curious about, and the possibility that basketball in Dallas may feel exploratory, riveting, and fun again. Somewhere inside it is a thirty-four-year-old guard on a rebuilt knee, approaching the fifth February of a ballad that has given this franchise everything it asked for.
Four Februarys asked something different of Kyrie Irving: arrive under suspicion, prove the wager, carry the wreckage, accept the shutdown. He answered each one.
The fifth February will give Irving and the Dallas Mavericks the chance to decide how they can best help each other…one more time.
Feel free to use this thread to chat about (almost) anything you want: video games, food, movies, non-football sports, you name it. As long as it’s allowed by the site’s ToS, it’s fair game here.
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - AUGUST 6: Jaylen Brown #7 of the Philadelphia 76ers talks to the media at Francis J. Myers Recreation Center on August 6, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 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 Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Spending a decade with the Boston Celtics prepared Jaylen Brown for just about everything.
He now brings that experience to a rebuilt Philadelphia 76ers team seeking its first championship in 43 years.
Fully cognizant of the implications that come with playing in Philadelphia — a long-storied Boston rival — and alongside a star-studded group featuring Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, V. J. Edgecombe and LeBron James, Brown feels prepared for what’s ahead.
That’s all he’s focused on, fully aware of the spotlight his arrival — and James’ — will shine on both him and the Sixers this upcoming season.
“At this point now, I’ll probably ignore a lot of it,” Brown told reporters during his introductory press conference Thursday, per NBC Sports Philadelphia.
Brown, when asked, avoided most Boston-related questions from members of the press. He kept his answers short and measured, offering minimal insight when asked about his relationship with Jayson Tatum and feelings on the trade.
But when the discussion steered toward the pressures that await him in Philadelphia, Brown expressed confidence. The past decade in Boston not only allowed Brown to improve as a player, but also forced him to learn how to handle the pressure that comes with chasing an NBA championship.
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – AUGUST 6: (L-R) President of Basketball Operations Mike Gansey of the Philadelphia 76ers, Jaylen Brown #7, and managing partner Josh Harris pose for a picture at Francis J. Myers Recreation Center on August 6, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 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 Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) | Getty Images
He’s already been through that, taking home both the Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals MVP awards in 2024.
It just so happened that Brown’s departure from the Celtics — something that had been rumored for the past seven-ish years — delivered him his next challenge at the perfect time.
“I played in Boston for the last 10 years, and the pressure is high there — it’s Titletown,” Brown continued. “They expect to win every single year, and they’re always looking for someone to blame. Some of those years, it was me. So I’ve been through that. All I come with is my work ethic, my mentality, impact on winning, and that’s just my approach. Nothing else matters.”
Being part of a loaded roster is nothing new to Brown. In 2024, the Celtics brought in Kristaps Porziņģis and Jrue Holiday to help get them over the hump. And in order to acclimate both Porziņģis and Holiday, Brown understood and accepted the sacrifice required from him. He didn’t complain, nor did he insinuate he was being held back by those around him that season. Brown did his part, averaging nearly three fewer shot attempts than in his prior campaign while embracing the sacrifices required to turn Boston into a championship team.
During his rookie season, Brown, selected third overall in the 2016 NBA Draft, played off the bench and watched Isaiah Thomas guide Boston to the conference finals.
The following season, Brown — in tandem with a then-rookie Tatum — assumed responsibilities as the leaders in Boston with Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward sidelined with injuries before the postseason.
In Boston, things didn’t always go according to plan. Brown endured plenty of gutwrenching defeat from losing to the Miami Heat in seven games after turning a 3-1 deficit into a 3-3 tie to this most recent playoff hunt in which he and the Celtics blew a 3-1 advantage to the Sixers. But as he discovered through the highs and lows of playing in one of the most demanding markets in professional sports, each season is a stepping stone of its own. The next one will determine whether or not that next step is toward a championship pursuit or Brown’s next (painful) learning lesson.
“We’re all trying to figure this thing out,” Brown said. “LeBron, he’s active in the group chats. We’re trying to all get on the same page. I think everybody knows how incredible of an opportunity that we have, but we also have to put in the work. So my focus is on that — putting in the work, earning the respect from the city, from the coaching staff, everything. It takes time. I understand how that process of winning works.”
But in terms of preparation, James isn’t the only member of Philadelphia’s locker room with championship pedigree.
We’ve already seen what a motivated, back-against-the-wall JB looks like. Two summers ago, Brown was left off the United States Team for the Paris Summer Olympics. He admitted the snub served as fuel, responding by averaging 22.2 points on 46.3 percent shooting during his fourth All-Star campaign in 2024-25.
This past season, Brown conquered doubt again with his loudest response to date. He guided an underdog Celtics without Tatum, who nursed his ruptured Achilles tendon for the first 62 games of the season, to 56 wins and the No. 2 seed in the East. Boston’s only bump in the road in the regular season was its 0-3 start in October, which became the team’s lone three-game losing streak until the playoffs.
He averaged a career-high 28.7 points, made the mid-range his bread and butter and allowed everyone around him to develop — all while playing the biggest role in transforming Boston from a rebuilding project into a legitimate contender.
Needless to say, Brown is more than qualified for whatever he’ll face in Philadelphia.
The latest news surrounding the Los Angeles Clippers and Kawhi Leonard features additional evidence that the organization may have circumvented the salary cap via secret endorsement deals.
While the Clippers and Leonard are being investigated by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz (the NBA’s outside law firm) for a $28 million endorsement deal with Aspiration Partners Inc, the evidence of another suspicious sponsorship has surfaced.
An investigation into Steve Ballmer, Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers regarding circumventing the salary cap is ongoing, according to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. Getty Images
On the “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast, Pablo Torre uncovered Leonard’s ties with Daktronics, the manufacturing company that installed the massive double-sided 4K “Halo Board” for the Clippers’ new arena, the Intuit Dome.
Leonard was reportedly a spokesperson for Daktronics, despite the company focusing its advertising on the business-to-business model rather than celebrity endorsements.
An insider told Torre that the sponsorship was “1,000% a way to circumvent the salary cap.” Several high-level officials who worked on the Intuit Dome project joked about Leonard’s alleged sponsorship with the manufacturing company, according to Torre’s sources.
Moreover, the sponsorship was reportedly a multimillion-dollar deal between Leonard and Daktronics. Only sources say the Clippers were funding the endorsement, rather than Daktronics.
Daktronics, the manufacturer of the 4K Halo Board at the Intuit Dome, reportedly had a multimillion-dollar deal with Kawhi Leonard. Daktronics
BREAKING: Kawhi Leonard had a hidden, multimillion-dollar "sponsorship" with Clippers' scoreboard-maker, sources tell @PabloTorre.
"It was 1,000% a way to circumvent the salary cap," insider says.
In our investigation, Daktronics' Ballmer-linked crisis firm raises NBA probe pic.twitter.com/LU1AeBAF44
Sam Koppelman of Hunterbrook Media followed up with Daktronics directly about the sponsorship. Daktronics didn’t comment on the situation and instead pointed Koppelman to a crisis communications firm, where an executive sent him the following: “My understanding is Daktronics doesn’t have a deal with Kawhi right now.”
Investigators from Wachtell perviously looked into the unreported endorsement deal between Leonard and Daktronics.
The trade between the Clippers and Raptors for Kawhi Leonard has been put on hold amid the NBA’s investigation. USA TODAY Sports
The current investigation into the Clippers and Leonard is entering its 10th month with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver hoping to end the probe before the upcoming season. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and Leonard have denied any wrongdoing, claiming to be victims of fraud tied to Aspiration co-founder Joe Sanberg.
The Minnesota Timberwolves made a massive pivot this offseason — they went from a big, defense-first team hoping to get enough offense from Anthony Edwards to win, to becoming a high-flying offensive team hoping they can get enough defense to win big. It was a pivot the Timberwolves had to make — they had hit the ceiling with the current construction. If they were going to break on through, it was going to require big changes.
Enter LaMelo Ball.
After a blockbuster offseason trade, the Timberwolves may have the most dynamic backcourt in the NBA with Ball and Edwards. In an appearance on the Road Trippin Podcast with Richard Jefferson, Channing Frye and Kendrick Perkins, Minnesota head coach Chris Finch laid out why the franchise felt it had to do this (hat tip Bleacher Report).
"We probably did Anthony a disservice last year, at times, playing him as a point guard. It caught up to us. He did a really great job, but in the playoffs it was just double team after double team. We got to get him back to his natural position off the ball. We didn't create enough catch-and-shoot threes for him and when you look at the numbers with LaMelo on the floor with his teammates and the efficiency and the production, I mean Kon Knueppel shot seven percent higher from the three-point line with LaMelo on the floor than he did without... And obviously LaMelo's a phenomenal talent all by himself. We needed the connective tissue. We needed the point guard play."
Edwards is poised for a massive season, for my money maybe getting into the top five in MVP voting. Finch is spot on that teams last season — especially in the playoffs — could absolutely load up on Edwards and not fear repercussions. That is not the case now. Plus, with Ball, the Timberwolves should play much faster, leading to more easy buckets.
There are a lot of questions. Ball himself is not playoff-tested (he had 30 points in the play-in game against Miami but needed 31 shots to get there, then struggled in a play-in loss to Orlando). There is the defense, which is going to ask a lot of Gobert. This is a very different team than we had seen in Minnesota before, what will be its personality?
What the Timberwolves will be is very fun to watch. And LaMelo in town is going to be good for Ant. Very good.
