NBA 2K27 is a towering achievement and a testament to how good a game can be when developers listen to their players. The series has always been great, but often falling victim to resting on its laurels too much — afraid to upset the established player base, at the expense of bringing in new fans to the franchise. With a focus on MyPlayer it’s been understandable from a business perspective, but not one that pushes the series forward.

It’s with profound joy that I tell you that NBA 2K27 has flipped the script. Mammoth overhauls to defense, shooting, dunking, and dribbling has breathed new life into the franchise. 2K27 is not just the best sports game of the year, but the best 2K there has ever been — and I say this as an old head who has been playing this series since NBA 2K on the Dreamcast in 1999 with Allen Iverson on the cover.

A focus on defense shines

There’s been very little reason to play a big man in past iterations of 2K. A lack of defensive tools, particularly in the paint, paired with inconsistent shot blocking and steals meant that the only functional way to play defense was to try to contest shots — and even then it was iffy at best.

This year everything feels different. The revamped animations in NBA 2K27 make the defensive side of the ball feel more chaotic and realistic than ever before. Canned block animations that often left a big man soaring away from the ball and looking like an idiot are gone. Instead, blocks are much more contextual, with defenders rising straight up to meet slashers at the rim, low blocking scoop layups, and even coming up under shots where appropriate to knock the ball in the air, hoping a teammate can come down with it. There’s a real skill and nuance that comes with knowing when to jump up for a block, and on one occasion my timing was perfect, leading to Victor Wembanyama meeting Lauri Markkanen in the air, and snatching the ball one-handed — leading to an easy outlet assist.

The attention to detail extends to the perimeter as well. It’s now easier to fight through screens with players who are able to in real life, and even this is contextual. Jalen Brunson will use his quickness and athleticism to squeeze around the big man to continue locking down the ball carrier, while James Harden will force his way around, making more contact with the screening player to get back on the ball.

Turning up both the skill required to play good defense, as well as putting more abilities in the toolbox of players makes it equally entertaining to play either side of the ball — which is something the game has often struggled with. There’s legitimate value in playing with premier defensive players now, and it really makes lockdown two-way players like Kawhi Leonard, Scottie Barnes, or Amen Thompson feel special.

Shooting is much tougher, and that’s a good thing

One of the worst aspects of NBA 2K26 was how easy shooting had become. A factor of both a more generous shot meter, paired with a faster game pace, meant that after a few games you could lock down your timing and consistently shoot 80% from three without concern. That’s all gone in NBA 2K27 with much narrower shot timing on contested shots to “green” releases (resulting in a guaranteed make).

There are still very large green windows on wide open threes, rewarding the work that goes into shaking a perimeter defender or executing a good screen — but now there are myriad factors that go into the size of the green release window on most shot occasions. As soon as you go up for a shot the game runs through an advanced algorithm to determine how easy the shot would be. It takes into account:

• Player rating
• Was the shot contested or not?
• The height of the defensive player contesting the shot
• How they contested the shot with either a timed jump or arms up on the floor
• Did the shooter set their feet?
• The location of the shot on the floor
• What happened immediately before the shot? Did the player execute an advanced Iso dribbling chain, or was this a catch and shoot?
• Player fatigue

All of these determine the size of the window for a perfect release and a make. Use someone like Steph Curry and contested threes will still be generous; try to fade away a three after crossing the ball over with LeBron James and the timing window will be a single pixel, making the shot near-impossible to hit. There’s always the slimmest of chances it will still go, adding heightened excitement — but don’t expect it to be happening on the regular.

On the flipside the 2K team has made dunking much easier than in last year’s iteration. NBA 2K26 introduced the dunk meter, which brought the shot meter to driving on the rim, determining whether or not a dunk was successful. The major criticism with this is that the meter wasn’t contextual, meaning that far too often a big under the rim would miss a wide open dunk after getting a rebound, simply because a player’s timing was off.

That’s gone now as well. The dunk meter is still here, but context has been given to the experience. Catch the ball under the rim with a big and nobody contesting them — they’re going to dunk it. The entire dunk meter will be green, with only the smallest pixel on the meter resulting in a miss. Similarly, the dunk meter can shrink when you’re driving to the rim with a slasher. It might be very difficult for even someone like Anthony Edwards to put Joel Embiid on a poster, but the chance is still there — nail the dunk and it will pull off a highlight moment, which feels incredible and earned in a way that past dunks simply didn’t.

MyPlayer is largely the same, for better and worse

Full disclosure that I’m not the biggest fan of the online, competitive MyPlayer experience. I like to tinker around, play a few games here or there — but I’m not someone who researches ideal player builds, follows the meta, or invests too heavily.

The city from NBA 2K26 was extremely good, and it’s the same layout this year. There is now skill-based matchmaking in runs, as well as the addition of Rucker Park, which are both fantastic additions to the mode. The biggest gripe from players who deeply invest in MyPlayer are twofold: Once again it’s going to cost you anywhere from $60-80 in additional microtransactions to upgrade a player to the point where you can actually compete online, and also that this is one area where the changes to the shot meter is really frustrating players. The whole online MyPlayer meta is based around consistency and predictability, so adding a wild card like the changing shot window is a pain point.

There’s also a fully realized story that follows the trials and tribulations of a former 5-star prospect on a path through the G-League and into the NBA. It’s not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s not exactly memorable either. There are also some weird moments contrived for the story that really don’t make sense in real-world basketball. Upon arriving at a street ball tournament at Rucker Park everyone is immediately aware of who the player character is, despite him being a high school prospect from California who was set to attend Duke, but never did. People really don’t follow five-star recruits like that outside of college hoops nerds, unless they’re in close proximity. If the player character went to high school in Brooklyn, or if they committed to play at St. John’s then there would have been some reason that everyone recognized me. Also, I understand it’s for dramatic effect — but upon arriving in the G-League people tell you that “everyone is fighting for a chance at making the NBA,” which is totally understandable; however the amount of in-fighting and an attempted sabotage inside the team is beyond the pale.

More options on the women’s side, but we’re just not there yet

This year allows for women to be created in MyPlayer, so games inside the city are co-ed. This is a really good move that’s nice to see. Also the same attention to the on-court action has been applied to the WNBA, making the game feel better than it ever has before.

Still, there remain some pain points. There isn’t a fully fleshed-out story mode for a female create-a-character, which can be partially forgiven due to the budget required to make it happen — but the lack of real-world commentary for WNBA games is simply inexcusable.

For the second straight season, we have complete, NBA-realistic announce teams, two of them, with Kevin Harlan, Greg Anthony, and Doris Burke — as well as Brian Anderson, Stan Van Gundy, and Richard Jefferson on another. The NBA also gets a pseudo Inside the NBA halftime show with Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kenny Smith.

The WNBA gets … three voice actors who call the high school game in the men’s career mode. It’s absolutely not a knock on the three voice actors, who are genuinely good at their jobs, but it’s a slap in the face to WNBA fans. It would be the most minor of investments to get real TV commentators like Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo, and Holly Rowe, who call the WNBA for ESPN — even using Michael Grady, Lisa Byington, and Mike Watts, who call the game for Amazon. Ideally it would be both, but there needs to be better representation of the women’s game and further investment to make it feel like more than a perfunctory add-on.

Final thoughts

NBA 2K27 is a monumental achievement that requires a lot of deep nitpicking to find fault with as it pertains to playing the game of basketball. The developers have created something truly special that will be on the Mt. Rushmore of greatest versions of the game ever created. Fresh defensive options paired with less-consistent shooting and an overall slower pace makes NBA 2K27 feel more realistic than last year’s entry in the series.

The cracks appear online. MyPlayer remains a frustrating cash cow for those who are invested, gatekeeping anyone who doesn’t want to shell out more money to make a player good enough to hang on the court. Honestly, it’s just not even worth trying to play in the city if you haven’t spent the money to upgrade your character, and while technically possible to grind VC on your own, it takes so long to level up that it’s worth ignoring.

If you come to the series to play NBA quick games, run a team season, or create a player to do a solo career then you will find immense joy in this game. NBA 2K27 is brilliant, and absolutely worth your time — from there it just depends how much more time and money you want to invest.

Welcome back to our in-depth schedule preview for the Sixers’ 2026-27 season (here’s a look back at part one and part two). Part three will be picking the schedule back up in the middle of January and stretching through the beginning of March. It’s another spread out part of the season as it contains the trade deadline and the All-Star break.

It’s a 20-game stretch that contains three back-to-backs, with most of the travel being short trips to the middle of the country. It starts with one of the biggest road trips of the season, shipping up to Boston to take on the Celtics on January 21. Jaylen Brown will have already played his former team once, but all eyes will be on him when he plays in TD Garden as an opposing player for the first time (in the regular season at least, the Sixers are also scheduled to play in Boston in the preseason.) Unsurprisingly, that game will be on national television.

It’s a bit of a wonky two-game trip as they’ll head over to Chicago for a game on the 23rd, but the Bulls should present a much easier opponent. They’ll get two more games at home against opponents that should be easier games in the Clippers and Kings before hitting the road again, this time for a back-to-back against the Pelicans and Heat.

By this point in the season, how the Sixers stagger their stars in back-to-backs will be clear, but this looks like one where they can play everyone in Miami and feel confident about that Pelicans game as well. Of course how healthy the team is generally will dictate those decisions as well.

They’ll get their fill of the Pelicans that week, playing them again at home on February 1, then they’ll wrap up their series with the Grizzlies on the 3rd. That trip to Memphis is sandwiched between five games at home, and tricky ones at that.

The Pistons come to town on the 5th, then another nationally televised matchup against the Celtics on the 7th. Things lighten up only a bit when they take on the Brooklyn Nets on the 8th, before the defending champion New York Knicks play Philly on the 11th.

February 11 also marks the trade deadline, so that’ll be a big day in several areas for the team. Not only should those three games be a pretty big measuring stick for the team, but it’ll be their last day to make significant in-season changes to the roster.

Life doesn’t get much easier as the Sixers’ next game will be in Oklahoma City on the 13th. After the Thunder they’ll just have to get through the Mavericks on the road and the Suns at home before getting to the All-Star Break.

After the time off and hopefully some participation in All-Star Weekend, the Sixers start one of their lightest road trips in terms of travel, albeit with two tough opponents. They’ll start the unofficial second half of the season in Brooklyn on the 25th before wrapping up their season series with the Knicks on the 27th at MSG. That sound you heard is every traveling Sixers beat reporter celebrating such a convenient trip. They’ll wrap up the trip with a flight to Cleveland, wrapping up that season series on March 1.

This stretch of games concludes with a home back-to-back against the Hornets and Lakers. Those certainly aren’t the two hardest opponents listed but with the lack of rest it won’t be an easy one either. This stretch of games will tell the Sixers a lot about how they stack up with the rest of the Eastern Conference and for the most part, they’ll be well rested enough to show it.

1/21: @Celtics

1/23: @Bulls

1/25: V Clippers

1/27: V Kings

1/28: @Pelicans (B2B) 

1/30: @Heat

2/1: V Pelicans

2/3: @Grizzlies

2/5:V Pistons  

2/7: V Celtics

2/8: V Nets (B2B) 

2/11: V Knicks (Trade deadline) 

2/13: @Thunder

2/15: @Mavericks

2/17: V Suns (ASB) 

2/25: @Nets

2/27: @Knicks

3/1: @Cavs

3/3: V Hornets

3/ 4: V Lakers (B2B)

For years now, Harrison barnes has shown he more than a basketball player. Together with his wife Brittany, the Barnes have made many charitable donations. Since moving to San Antonio and joining the Spurs, they donated $250,000 to AlamoPROMISE, $50,000 to the San Antonio MLK Commission, and another $150,000 across ten nonprofit organizations. They were involved with court renovations in Austin, Texas and Saltillo, Mexico.

Now Barnes has invest $25M into a bank in Paton, Iowa, a small town of approximately 250 people. The bank is located just over 40 miles from where he grew up.  He has previously served on bank boards and studied at the Iowa School of Banking. His interest in community banking blossomed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This is not a vanity project,” Barnes said. “We want to be Iowa’s next great bank.”

Barnes’ ownership in Community State Bank is designed to preserve rather than overhaul it. Community State Bank’s name, staff and management will remain in place. The bank, celebrating its 70th anniversary, was acquired through Barnes Bancorp, Inc., a company he owns.

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The blog’s own Nik Land posed an important question on X that we’ll surely be talking about heavily throughout the next few weeks: what does the Celtics’ Opening Night starting 5 look like? 

Does Payton Pritchard open on the bench? Is it Neemias Queta or Mitchell Robinson setting the tone in the frontcourt? Do one of Boston’s rising wings get an early crack at a starting role? 

Who would your Celtics starting 5 be ?

— NikNBA🏀 (@NIKNBAYT) August 24, 2026

They’re all valid questions. But constants remain. Every lineup prediction will rightfully lock in Derrick White, Jayson Tatum and Paul George, and every lineup can be looked at under the lens of “how does this group help Tatum run the show?” 

It also posed a different question for me: what do the rotations look when JT’s not on the floor? 

That is a big question. 

Tatum was eased in a bit with 32.6 minutes per game in his regular season return last year, his lowest per game average since 2018-19. In six postseason games, his minutes jumped back up to 36, the regular season norm for his prior five seasons. 

It’s a smaller-scale issue to figure out now than it seemed a year ago, when Boston had to endure a Tatum-less existence with Jaylen Brown running the show with a roster built on unproven commodities. 

Those guys are unproven no longer. With established depth and a few new pieces, the Celtics are able to put together an impressive combination of bench lineups to steady the ship — or even win their minutes — when Tatum sits. 

With the help of Basketball Index’s Lineup Analyzer which uses stabilized lineup data and helps us compare lineups of various sample sizes (as well as some opinionated liberties), let’s look at three lineup combinations that could provide well-rounded, two-way impact even as Boston gives a breather to its star catalyst.

Pritchard-Harper Jr.-Hauser-George-Robinson 

Whether Payton Pritchard starts or not, the biggest expectation is that he’ll be a massive figure when Tatum’s off the floor. 

From his days as a garbage time showman to his Sixth Man of the Year season, Pritchard has never shied away from an opportunity to run offense. He loves being the system’s linchpin, and in this case he certainly is, though he’s working within a 5-man combo that just seems like it can beat you in so many ways. 

There’s the Pritchard-Robinson pick-and-roll, there’s the dribble-penetration kickout game to multiple marksmen, there’s PG-13 isolations. This feels close to the very best version of the Celtics when Tatum isn’t out there. 

That 2-guard spot can go a few different ways outside of Ron Harper Jr. That could be Baylor Scheierman or Hugo Gonzalez surely, but RHJ was placed here because, along with his on and off-ball versatility next to Pritchard, his strength and 7 ‘1.25 wingspan gives this lineup a bit more help to defend on drives and paint touches. 

Basketball Index’s predictive model certainly gives its flowers to the offensive upside of this lineup, though a 114.4 defensive rating would place them in the middle of the road (Golden State was 16th in the league in defensive rating with that same figure). 

White-Gonzalez-Walsh-George-Robinson 

This lineup would enter me into a defensive nirvana. 

Just imagine the possibilities, imagine the frustration of a player on the other end. Guys angrily slamming the ball into the floor after a moving screen, hands thrown futilely into the air after a bad pass, that wide-eyed look of an off-ball teammate watching as not one, not two, but three Celtics collapse the paint and collectively send the ball into the stands. 

Yeah, there’s no Tatum, but there are three guys that are houndingly effective screen navigators, one of which is the best shot-blocking guard currently playing the game. 

There would be questions about the offensive logistics of this lineup, but the way I’m looking at it is how this becomes an opportunity for George to take the reins as a temporary top option. 

George scored a respectable 1.03 PPP in isolation last year on 52.6% eFG. He was 11th in the NBA in isolation frequency. As a pick-and-roll ballhandler, he scored an even better 1.18 PPP on 61% eFG. Even at 36, even with his injury history, Paul George can still score at a high level.

With the ball likely finding his hands in this lineup, George would have a quality roller, a reliable off-ball threat in White and two guys in Gonzalez and Walsh that are good off-the-catch shooters, but are even better at cutting into space and crashing the glass.

It’s the defensive possibilities that sell me on a lineup like this, but it would also present the opportunity to see some vintage PG-13 scoring. 

Like me, the lineup analyzer adores the defensive potential of this lineup, but surprisingly it’s even higher on the offense. That 125.54 offensive rating is the highest of the three lineups presented here, and it definitely would imply a shooting return to form for White and an even better George-ran offense than advertised. 

Conley-Harper Jr.-Scheierman-Hauser-Queta

With three guys that can handle the ball and four that can effectively fire shots from deep, this feels like the kind of lineup that offers a ship-steadying hand in Mike Conley while also encouraging guys like Harper Jr. and Scheierman to take command as go-to creators. 

The jury’s still out on what kind of role Conley will have in his 20th season. Chances are it’ll be slightly smaller than his career-low 18.4 minutes per game in Minnesota last year, but even as the 38-year-old guard’s career enters its swan song, I’m still fascinated by the things he offers even as his production has declined. 

He’s a true table-setter, he hardly ever turns the ball over, and he’s one of the smartest pick-and-roll guards of his era. He just gets the ball to the right spots. There’s not a selfish bone in his body.

This lineup opens the door for RHJ to create off the dribble, something we saw significantly with the Maine Celtics before he took on more of a 3-and-D role in Boston. Scheierman looked more and more comfortable as a connector as his second season wore on, capitalizing on a bigger role thanks to his efforts defensively and on the glass.

It’s a lineup that’d rely on one big to clean up the glass, and it seems more offensive-minded than defensive, but I look at this as one of many opportunities to foster growth and confidence in Boston’s deep group of wings. 

Guys like Conley, Hauser and Queta have pretty established identities, but there’s still a little more to discover about Harper Jr. and Scheierman’s ceilings and what they can do with more opportunity. 

With multiple scoring threats, an elite offensive rebounder and some quality defensive pieces, the lineup analyzer seems to have a modest opinion on these five together. 

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What are the non-Tatum lineups that you want to see? Comment below and let us know.

If the Golden State Warriors front office has specialized in anything over the last few seasons, it’s in coming oh-so-close to adding stars, whether in trades or free agency. Now another All-Star has joined the stunning roster of almost-Warriors.

Per @anthonyVslater, the Warriors were exploring a trade for Jaren Jackson Jr at the trade deadline before he ultimately went to Utah

(via @WindhorstESPN & The Hoop Collective) pic.twitter.com/YSefHLYrUE

— Light Years (@lightyrspod) September 1, 2026

Anthony Slater reported that the Warriors were “exploring a trade” for Jaren Jackson, Jr. at last year’s deadline, before the Memphis Grizzlies ultimately shipped the 2023 Defensive Player of the Year to the Utah Jazz for three first-round picks, two former first-round picks, Kyle “Slo Mo” Anderson and new Warrior Georges Niang, who didn’t actually take the floor for either team last season.

Could the Warriors have matched that offer? It’s possible, since three future Warriors firsts are probably better than picks from the Jazz and Los Angeles Lakers next season, and a Phoenix Suns first in 2031. Jackson made $35M last season, meaning a combination of Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield would have come close to matching his salary.

But the real question is whether this was a real possibility at all. The Warriors are notorious for talking about players they wanted, or almost got, or might get in the future. They’ve gone through this song and dance multiple times with LeBron James and Kevin Durant, not to mention other supposed targets like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brandon Ingram, Lauri Markkanen, Kawhi Leonard, Meadowlark Lemon, and Air Bud.

Plenty of teams explore trades, because simply exploring a trade is easier than anything Dora the Explorer does. The Warriors are one of the few NBA teams who makes sure everyone knows they were totally seriously trying to make deals, you guys, OK? Someone or multiple someones in the front office believe it makes the Warriors look better to reveal that they failed at all their plans, as opposed to not having any serious ones to begin with.

Who knows how far their exploration went, but in the end, the Warriors couldn’t outmaneuver the Jazz or convince Jackson living in San Francisco is superior to Salt Lake City. Or even Atherton — Steph Curry is there to guard against middle-class homeowners.

Assuming Jackson was really a possibility at all, more than an “MDJ + JJJ” doodle in Mike Dunleavy Junior’s journal.

Two former Golden State Warriors employees have sued the organization over allegations of sex, gender and age discrimination harassment, retaliation and defamation, according to court documents obtained by USA TODAY Sports.

Lisa Shelley, professionally known as Lisa Meyer, and Jennifer Vasquez filed the joint complaint with the San Francisco County Superior Court of California on Aug. 25, alleging "discrimination, hostility, and retaliation," all violations of the Fair Employment and Housing Act with the California Civil Rights Department.

Shelley joined the Warriors in 2021 serving as Associate General Counsel and Director of Business & Legal Affairs and Risk Management. Vasquez joined Jan. 3, 2022 and served as Vice President of Diversity Equity & Inclusion.

"Golden State prides itself on its commitment to maintaining an inclusive environment grounded in mutual respect and professionalism. We take all workplace concerns seriously. The lawsuit filed by two former employees contains allegations that are false, misleading, and unsupported by credible evidence," the team said in a statement to USA TODAY Sports. "Many of the allegations have been previously reviewed or investigated and found to be without merit.

"Golden State intends to vigorously defend against these baseless claims and is confident that an examination of the facts will confirm that Golden State, its leadership, and the employees targeted in this lawsuit have at all times operated with the highest levels of integrity and fairness."

Here's what you need to know about the complaint:

Workplace survey complaints

According to court documents, Shelley and Vasquez made complaints concerning workplace practices and fallout from an NBA-wide anonymous employee survey that reflected significant dissatisfaction within the organization's Legal, Finance and People Operations.

Shelley and Vasquez allege that survey results showed an employee dissatisfaction within the Legal and People Operations departments and leadership sought to identify and question employees who provided critical responses, the lawsuit states.

Leadership allegedly questioned Vasquez regarding her survey responses. An investigation that ultimately found no wrongdoing, the court document says.

Discriminatory promotion, compensation practices

Shelley alleged she was not compensated accordingly for additional duties related to arena operations, including concerts, private events and special events.

According to court documents, Shelley was promised promotions she never received. She also alleges that she was up for promotion for a Senior Director of Business and Legal Affairs position but was passed over for a younger, male candidate with less experience.

Shelley alleged that their promotion process requires each candidate's photograph to be displayed to the SeniorLeadership Team during a closed-session vote, according to the court document. Employees have allegedly been denied promotion based on subjective criteria such as "likability" or "fit," which often translates to physical appearance and how they fit into the organization's aesthetic, the lawsuit said.

According to court documents, Shelley was aware throughout her employment that female employees’ bodies, weight, clothing, attractiveness and appearance were routinely scrutinized. The lawsuit said a manager in the Sales' Department allegedly commented on a female employee's ability to sell saying, "sex sells," in reference to her attire. The employee reported the comment but no action was taken, according to the lawsuit.

Further allegations say that Shelley learned that two male colleagues with less experience were paid more than she despite starting at the same title around the same time.

She warned leadership that inconsistent application of vague standards to employees in protected classes created legal risk, but concerns were disregarded, according to court documents.

Shelley alleges that a white woman was hired as Director of Guest Experience at an annual salary range between approximately $135,000 to $145,000. When later promoted and it came to fill he role, an African-American woman was considered but the organization allegedly refused to authorize a comparable salary range and limited compensation to $125,000.

Age discrimination, sexual harassment

Vasquez is over 40 years old, according to court documents. She alleged that she was ridiculed for her age. Additionally, she alleged that she "observed an overly amorous and unprofessional atmosphere among members of senior leadership" during social gatherings.

She described executives engaging in "awkward and overly familiar physical contact with one another," according to the lawsuit.

Two executives began a romantic relationship and repeatedly engaged in unprofessional exchanges and comments containing sexual double entendres in front of Vasquez, making her uncomfortable, the lawsuit said.

The court documents allege that Vasquez routinely saw instances that women of color, women with disabilities andwomen with larger body types were subjected to consistent harassment.

Termination

Shelley was terminated on Dec. 4, 2025. She alleges that her termination constituted retaliation for raising safety and workplace concerns and for her role in connection with the 2025 NBA league-wide survey, the lawsuit states. She was the second of three employees who had raised related concerns to be terminated by the organization.

In June 2026, Shelley allegedly had a conditional offer from another NBA team in California, but the offer was rescinded, believing that the withdrawal resulted directly from false and damaging statements made by Warriors personnel regarding her performance and professional conduct.

Vasquez felt her job was at risk when the new presidential administration slashed all DEI-initiatives in Jan. 2025. She was employed with Golden State for another year before Vasquez was effectively terminated, weeks after Shelley, in Jan. 2026.

Shelley and Vasquez are seeking general, special and punitive damages, costs, interest and all otherrelief available, according to the court document.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Two ex-Warriors employees sue team for discrimination, harassment

The Warriors are facing a legal fight just weeks before training camp, with two former employees accusing the organization of discrimination, retaliation and fostering a hostile workplace.

Former associate general counsel Lisa Shelley, who is also professionally known as Lisa Meyer, and former vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion Jennifer Vasquez filed the lawsuit Aug. 25 in San Francisco County Superior Court.

The complaint alleges a workplace “marked by discrimination, hostility and retaliation” and includes claims involving gender, race and age discrimination, as well as defamation.

The Warriors strongly denied the allegations.

“The lawsuit filed by two former employees contains allegations that are false, misleading, and unsupported by credible evidence,” the organization said in a statement. Golden State added that many of the complaints had previously been investigated and “found to be without merit.”

Shelley worked for the Warriors beginning in 2021 and eventually held responsibilities spanning legal affairs and risk management. According to the lawsuit, she raised concerns about workplace practices and the handling of a 2025 employee-engagement survey that workers allegedly had been told would be anonymous.

After the survey produced poor marks for several departments, the lawsuit claims an executive attempted to determine who had submitted critical responses.

Shelley was fired in December 2025 as the Warriors told her their legal department was being “reimagined,” according to the complaint.

She also alleges Golden State later damaged her prospects of landing a job with the Clippers by providing “false and damaging” information when contacted as a reference. Shelley claims she received a conditional offer from Los Angeles in June before it was withdrawn.

Vasquez, who joined Golden State in 2022, alleges she encountered a “climate of isolation and intimidation” shortly after arriving and was twice told by executives she needed to “play the game” to succeed.

Her allegations also include age-related comments and what the complaint describes as disparate treatment involving employees’ bodies, clothing and appearance, particularly women.

Vasquez says she joined Shelley in recommending an investigation into how criticism from the employee survey was handled. Less than two weeks after Shelley’s dismissal, Vasquez was informed that Golden State was eliminating its DEI function and her position along with it, according to the lawsuit. She was formally terminated in January.

The suit takes particular aim at Warriors executive Erin Dangerfield, who had served as senior vice president of people and culture. Golden State announced Dangerfield’s promotion to chief people officer two days after the lawsuit was filed.

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The legal battle arrives during an already consequential period for a franchise trying to determine what comes next around Stephen Curry. The 38-year-old superstar has repeatedly expressed his desire to finish his career with Golden State, even as speculation about his Warriors future has intensified.

Golden State is also attempting to rebound from a difficult season in which Jimmy Butler suffered a season-ending torn ACL and injuries repeatedly stripped the aging roster of its biggest names.

Now, before the Warriors can turn their full attention toward another season, they have a far more serious dispute unfolding away from the court.

The lawsuit seeks damages for lost wages and emotional distress, along with an injunction intended to prevent future workplace discrimination. It does not specify a dollar amount.

Golden State said it intends to “vigorously defend” itself against what it called “baseless claims.”

What a privilege it is to root for a team that has so much great history that we can dedicate a whole month to it on the blog and merely scratch the surface. What a pleasure it was to read Rich Jensen, Mike Dynon, and others as they walked us through the Banner Years.

Now that the calendar has turned to September, we turn our attentions forward. The past is prologue according to Bill Shakespeare. There’s a lot to go through, so rather than try to sum it all up into one overarching preview article, we’re going to take a whole month to preview the upcoming season.

We’ll look at new faces, familiar faces returning to form (hopefully), people in different roles, developing talent, coaching strategies, and roster decisions (and much, much more).

We will debate each other, dive deep on specific topics, and of course make fun of ourselves and our takes from 12 months ago (so young and naive).

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Training camp is just around the corner. Let’s take this journey together. Go Celtics!

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Celtics fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

All apologies to our early voters in this week’s poll. The Celtics weren’t eliminated in the first round in two straight years; they were eliminated by the Knicks in Round 2 in 2025 and lost to the 76ers in seven games back in May.

That’s our bad, but it sure felt like two straight too-early exits.

Obviously, there’s context to both playoff losses. New York seemed to have Boston’s number two years ago when they came back from 20 points in Games 1 and 2 at TD Garden and the Celtics lost Jayson Tatum to his Achilles’ tear in Game 4. And after going up 3-1 in Tatum’s return to the playoffs, Philly got hot and JT sat out the series finale.

The Celtics will now head into head coach Joe Mazzulla’s fifth season without Jaylen Brown. They’ll lean into the same identity that unexpectedly won them 56 games last year and if you buy into CelticsBlog’s Trevor Haas theory, they should be even better:

1) Jaylen Brown had a terrific season last year and took his game to the next level as the clear-cut No. 1 option.

2) Jaylen Brown is an excellent basketball player, but Jayson Tatum is an even better all-around basketball player.

3) Jayson Tatum looked sharp in his return and is poised to have a monster season as the clear-cut No. 1 option.

4) While Paul George has his limitations, a healthy Jayson Tatum and a healthy Paul George pairing is more dangerous than just Jaylen Brown by himself.

Mazzulla won Coach of the Year for last year’s overachievement and if they’re better on paper heading into 2026-2027, the expectations are even higher now. That’s just the price of constantly raising the bar on yourself.

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But what if Boston falls short again? Mazzulla’s job seems safe, right? Banner 18 buys him time and beers with the fans. Nobody expected much after all the injuries and roster turnover. Now, after the Eastern Conference has beefed up in Philadelphia and Cleveland and the defending champion Knicks still in their way, this could be the biggest test of Mazzullaball since he took the helm in 2022.

Tacko Fall is back in the NBA. 

The 7-foot-6 big man signed a training camp deal with the 76ers, the franchise announced Tuesday. 

Fall, one of the tallest players in league history, hasn’t appeared in an NBA game since late 2021, when he played 11 games for the Cavaliers.

Since then, the Senegal native has spent time in the Chinese ​Basketball Association and Australia’s NBL. 

Fall, 30, previously played two seasons with the Celtics in 2019-2020 and 2020-21, where he appeared in 26 total games. 

The addition signals Philadelphia’s need for backup center help behind the oft-injured Joel Embiid, who hasn’t appeared in more than 39 games since the 2022-23 season.

As the 76ers’ roster stands now, free agent addition Ariel Hukporti and second-year big man Adem Bona are set to back up Embiid. 

Fall’s deal is non-guaranteed, meaning he will have to earn his way onto the 76ers’ roster. 

He spent last season with the Ningbo Rockets in China and has averaged 11.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.1 blocks in 18.1 minutes per game during his four years overseas.

Fall has averaged 2.2 points and 2.4 rebounds in 37 career NBA games.

The Sixers have high expectations heading into the 2026-27 season after adding Jaylen Brown, Fall’s former teammate in Boston, and LeBron James over the offseason.

The Lakers coming up short in their pursuit of Jonathan Kuminga, who’s joining the Timberwolves, will have a trickle-down effect on the rest of their roster. 

One of the biggest questions moving forward: Who will be the Lakers’ fifth starter once the 2026-27 season starts? 

If Kuminga was on the roster, he would’ve been in the first unit alongside Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Walker Kessler and presumed starter Quentin Grimes. 

But with Kuminga headed to Minnesota, there’s a glaring hole in the depth chart with a month before training camp starts. 

Who should be considered for the final starting spot, and who should ultimately have the edge?

Lakers’ options 

Sandro Mamukelashvili

Along with Reaves, Grimes and Kessler, Mamukelashvili was one of four players who the Lakers signed to four-year deals with player options for the 2029-30 season, which highlights how much the Lakers value him. 

And it’s easy to see why. 

Mamukelashvili has emerged as a reliable three-level scorer, good passer and strong rebounder after playing for the Bucks, Spurs and Raptors since being the No. 54 pick in the 2021 draft. 

Coming off of a career-year with the Raptors in which his scoring average (11.2 points), field goal percentage (52.3%), assists average (1.9), steals average (.8) and blocks average (.5) with Toronto in 2025-26 were all career-best marks, Mamukelashvili has a blend of offensive skills that’s unique for his size (6-foot-9, 240 pounds).

Coach JJ Redick said after the 2025-26 season ended that the Lakers needed to be better with dribbling, passing and shooting. Mamukelashvili helps in all of those areas as a big man who can pass, run the floor, dribble and shoot at a high level. 

At 27 years old and entering his sixth season in the NBA, Mamukelashvili should be entering the prime of his career. 

Jake LaRavia

LaRavia, along with Doncic, Reaves and Jarred Vanderbilt, is one of just four players who finished in the top-11 in total regular season minutes played from the 2025-26 team that’s on the roster entering this season.

Even when he struggled (he shot a career-low 32.1% on 3-pointers), LaRavia still received consistent playing time (career-high 25.1 minutes per game in 82 games).

He brings value as a connector with his passing, cutting and defensive versatility without needing consistent offensive touches.

At 24 years old (he turns 25 in November) and entering his fifth season in the league, LaRavia should have room to grow in multiple areas.

Ziaire Williams

Williams’ appeal starts with his physical profile: he’s 6-foot-9 with a good lateral quickness for his size. 

In light of Williams telling the Southern California News Group that he’s bulked up to “about 215 pounds” after being listed at 185 pounds last season, he should be able to credibly guard bigger forwards better compared to previous years.

Perimeter defense and versatility is Williams’ calling card. 

But his 3-point shooting is the swing skill, after he knocked down a career-high 34.3% of his 3s last season.  

Matisse Thybulle

Thybulle is the best perimeter defender among these four players.

His 2 steals per game last season was tied for the second-most in the league with Hawks wing Dyson Daniels and Pistons wing Ausar Thompson among players who appeared in at least 20 regular season games despite averaging just 16 minutes.

And he led the league in steals (4.5) and deflections (8.7) per 36 minutes in 2025–26 among players who appeared in at least 20 games.

His length (7-foot wingspan on a 6-foot-5, 202-pound frame), motor and reflexes at his size has helped him remain one of the league’s most disruptive perimeter defenders despite being limited to 45 regular season games over the last two seasons.

And he’s worked to become an improved 3-point shooting, shooting 37.4% from beyond the arc after he joined the Trail Blazers in February 2023.

The Verdict

Among these four options, LaRavia is the best for the final starting spot.

LaRavia may not bring the offensive versatility that Mamukelashvili does, and may not be as good of a perimeter defender as Thybulle, but he’s a better defender than Mamukelashvili and has more experience guarding bigger forwards than Thybulle.

He has the size and defensive versatility the Lakers need from their fifth starter while also adding the connective offensive skills the Lakers need from his position. 

The familiarity of playing alongside Doncic and Reaves is a bonus. 

After LaRavia, Williams would be the next-best option in the first unit. 

But entering camp, LaRavia should be penciled in as the Lakers’ fifth starter.

Expectations are difficult to deal with. There are many stories of young teams arriving too early and then never reaching the heights they overachieved to get to. Look at Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook’s Oklahoma City Thunder, who lost in the NBA Finals in 2012 and then disbanded 4 years later. It’s hard to keep a linear trajectory that leads to a championship and then a dynasty.

The San Antonio Spurs will be counting on linear improvement after losing to the New York Knicks in last season’s Finals. The Spurs are firmly in championship-or-bust mode, with a roster filled with key players who are barely old enough to order a drink at the bar. Those expectations come with a lot of weight. But Spurs fans think the team can handle that.

According to our last SB Nation Reacts survey, just over half of Spurs fans think the team will improve on their 2025-26 record of 62-20. Every team in the NBA will be pushing harder than ever to make sure they don’t accomplish that. Being the new shiny young team will draw every other franchise’s best effort. And, with fewer teams tanking due to a change in the league’s rules, there will be even more nights where they’ll face a team really going for it.

Of course, a lot of players will be gunning for the Spurs’ best player, too. Victor Wembanyama drew a lot of criticism for his overaggressive play in the playoffs. Teams are going to be coming at him and hoping they can get under his skin as a way to combat the impact he makes on both ends. It will take a lot of maturity for him and the rest of the team to respond to this onslaught from the rest of the league.

Luckily for the Spurs, they brought in some reinforcements that should help them stay level-headed. Tobias Harris is one of the league’s most respected veterans. While Harris hasn’t necessarily won a lot of playoff series, he has consistently been a member of winning teams. Those are the kinds of players who can raise the floor of a team during the dog days of the regular season, improving the overall record.

San Antonio is also now one of the deepest teams in the NBA. The addition of Tarris Reed Jr. gives them the third big man they desperately needed last season. The team is loaded with wings and guards that can fill in if injuries arise or a player needs a rest. That is a major key to matching the 62 wins they had last season.

FanDuel has the Spurs’ win total at 60.5, just slightly under what they had last season. Even without beating their 2025-26 record, San Antonio is still one of the favorites to win the NBA Finals at +230 on the site.

Jalen Brunson might not be the first NBA Finals champion Knick to make an appearance on a New York crime procedural this fall.

New York hero OG Anunoby is slated to make a guest spot on CBS’ “Elsbeth” for its fourth season, Deadline reported Tuesday.

The outlet added that Nicole Scherzinger, Nicholas Braun and Jemima Kirke are also slated to guest on the show that stars actress Carrie Preston in the titular role of Elsbeth Tascioni, who is “an astute but unconventional attorney, utilizes her unique point of view to corner brilliant criminals alongside the NYPD.”

The date and episode number for Anunoby’s appearance are not yet clear.

The guard made his acting debut on Apple TV’s “Your Friends and Neighbors” in a cameo alongside NBA podcaster Zach Lowe and Fox Sports host Rachel Nichols.

Anunoby’s “Elsbeth” appearance appears that it will also coincide with Brunson making a stop on “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.”

Brunson and “SVU” star Mariska Hargitay have developed a friendship over the years, as the Knicks star is a fan of the program and the actress is an avid supporter of the blue and orange, regularly making appearances on Madison Square Garden’s Celebrity Row.

Hargitay teased on the “Today” show in August that Brunson was primed to make an “SVU” cameo soon.

“Don’t tell anyone but see him on ‘SVU,’” she told Savannah Guthrie. “Don’t tell anyone, but we got some things in the works.”

Days later, Hargitay told Variety that “it’s definitely happening.” 

The 2025-26 Knicks became New York heroes when they ran roughshod over the Eastern Conference in the playoffs before beating the Spurs in five games in the NBA Finals for their first crown in 53 years.

Anunoby (Game 4 winning tip-in) and Brunson (Finals MVP) played enormous roles in securing the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

The Cleveland Cavaliers announced on Tuesday morning that they have agreed to a multi-year deal with DAZN for the team’s local broadcasts starting this upcoming season.

Cavaliers Basketball. Now on DAZN. #LetEmKnow

SIGN UP TO LEARN MORE: https://t.co/RDPBbNjpIXpic.twitter.com/9rBBCV3uNh

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) September 1, 2026

In the team’s official post on X it stated, “Fans in-market can stream all Cavs regular season games not selected for exclusive national broadcast, including 15 games for free this season, preseason games and team-produced original content.”

Another move hidden behind the new streaming host is that the Cavaliers plan to move the in-game production within the Rock Entertainment Sports Network, allowing for major changes to how games will be presented on DAZN.

This will allow for new visual overlays, augmented reality elements for a new gameday experience, and the implementation of AI components. Along with that, “Games will be moving from six to 19 cameras around the arena to collect new angles for fans at home.”

The team’s in-game broadcast team including play-by-play announcer John Michael, analyst Brad Daugherty, reporter Serena Winters and pregame and postgame host Cayleigh Griffin, will return.

Further details of the extent of the service are yet to be announced.

The Cavaliers previously were streamed on the Bally Sports/Fanduel TV Network from 2021 through the 2025-2026 season.