Category: NBA

The Valkyries had just played Wednesday night in Connecticut, while the Liberty had four days off between games. 

But if you didn’t know any better, you would’ve thought New York was the one playing the back-to-back in Thursday’s 79-60 loss to Golden State. 

The Liberty knew they were facing a tall task in the Valkyries’ league-best defense. Sabrina Ionescu even acknowledged at practice Wednesday that the game would be a major stress test for the Liberty’s offense. 

And New York failed miserably as the Valkyries held the Liberty to their lowest scoring output of the season. 

“I feel disappointed with this one and a little bit embarrassed as well,” Rebecca Allen said after the loss. “I just don’t think that we should ever lose like that on home court.” 

Coach Chris DeMarco waved the white flag with 3:13 left and New York down 17, subbing off all the starters except Pauline Astier. 

The frustration with the Liberty’s poor play started to bubble to the surface in the fourth, with Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart jawing with officials. 

Jones’ foul that sent Veronica Burton to the floor was reviewed for a possible upgrade, though it was upheld as a common foul. 

With the loss, the Liberty were swept by the Valkyries in the regular-season series. Not only is Golden State the only team New York hasn’t beaten this season, but the Valkyries are also responsible for the Liberty’s three lowest scoring games of the season. 

Allen thought the Liberty played hard and “with intent” but “just didn’t find a way” on this night. 

Of course, it doesn’t help that the Liberty shot a season-low 30.2 percent from the field. 

“It was definitely a disappointing one because I feel like today was a bit of a step backwards,” Allen said. 

The Liberty moved the ball well in the first quarter and trailed by only two entering the second. Then, the offense got stagnant, and the Valkyries got hot. 

Cecelia Zandalasini went 3-for-4 from deep in the second quarter to aid in the Valkyries outscoring the Liberty 21-11. New York trailed 42-30 at halftime. 

In order to beat a team like the Valkyries, who thrive on elite defense, physicality and rebounding, a team has to beat them at their own game. 

When New York’s shots weren’t falling, the Liberty needed to tighten up their defense, grab rebounds and limit second-chance points. Getting to the free-throw line would help, too. 

That didn’t happen enough. 

The Valkyries opened the fourth quarter with six unanswered points, building their lead to 18. 

The Liberty had no answers and frustration followed. 

Stewart said she thought the Liberty overall generated good looks from 3, but the shots didn’t fall. New York went 7-for-31 from deep. Sabrina Ionescu went 1-for-9 from behind the arc and Leonie Fiebich 1-for-6. 

“With a team like this with the physicality and just really making it tough, after awhile that can make it really hard,” Stewart said. “And I think that we gave the effort and energy that we wanted but we got to knock down some shots, so we got to find an easier way to score.” 

With the playoffs around the corner, Thursday’s showing didn’t instill much confidence in the Liberty’s ceiling. After all, there’s a good chance the Liberty might have to go through the Valkyries in order to reach the WNBA Finals. 

Right now, it’s clear Golden State has the edge on New York. 

“Progress is not a linear line,” Rebekah Gardner said. “It can sometimes go up and down and today was obviously not our best day… We definitely need to sit and watch this film and it’s good that it happened now before the playoffs so we can learn from it. Obviously, the game didn’t go how we would like it to go but if we learn from it, we’ll be better moving forward.” 

NEW YORK (AP) — Cecilia Zandalasini scored 14 of her 20 points in the first half, Gabby Williams added 16 points and the Golden State Valkyries beat the New York Liberty 79-60 on Thursday night.

Golden State (28-11) improved to 3-0 against New York this season — the only team the Liberty have not beaten this season. The Valkyries held the Liberty to 70, 67 and 60 points in three games, the three lowest-scoring games of the season for New York.

New York (23-16) had scored 80-plus points in 16 straight games — the longest streak in franchise history.

Veronica Burton had a season-high 13 assists to go with eight points for Golden State, which was coming off an 89-64 victory over Connecticut on Wednesday. Tiffany Hayes had 12 points off the bench.

Jonquel Jones scored 18 points for New York, which had a six-game home winning streak halted. Breanna Stewart added 16 points on 4-of-10 shooting.

Zandalasini made four 3-pointers in the first half to help Golden State build a 42-30 lead. The Valkyries started the third quarter on an 11-6 run to go ahead by 17 points, and scored the opening six points of the fourth to go ahead 65-47.

Up next

Valkyries: At Portland on Sunday.

Liberty: Host Chicago on Saturday.

Right as the school year is about to start, Marquette men’s basketball has adjusted their roster for the 2026-27 season. On Thursday, Marquette and head coach Shaka Smart announced the signing of fifth year transfer guard Colin Porter. The 5’10”, 170 pound guard spent the last four seasons at Liberty.

Shaka Smart on his new player:

“We’re thrilled to be adding the person and player that Colin is,” Smart said. “He’s a strong cultural fit who possesses excellent basketball IQ, poise and maturity. Colin’s shooting, ballhandling and passing will bolster our backcourt immediately.”

Colin Porter started every single game he played for Liberty for the past four seasons, and yes, that is all 135 games that the Flames played in that time period. He averaged at least 27 minutes a game in each of his four seasons, and capped off his time there with 11.1 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. Porter is a career 38% three-point shooter with his senior year mark of 35.8% going in the books as his worst output. Seeing as that was also his career high in attempts per game, I’m going to guess that if he gets a little bit more choosy, he’ll go back towards the 40% from freshman year or 43% from junior year.

His assist rate trailed off this past year after three straight seasons in the top 400 in the country according to KenPom.com. I don’t think there’s anything to worry about with Porter not even making into the top 500 in 2025-26, as Zach Cleveland was a top 25 assist rate guy for Liberty last season. That’s gonna make a dent in Porter’s ability to be the guy who makes the pass that leads to the bucket, y’know? Elsewhere in Analytics Town, Porter had a slightly questionable turnover rate as a freshman, coming in at 20.4% on KenPom, but he’s been under 18% in each of the last three seasons, including just 13.1% this past year for the Flames.

One thing that’s slightly bothersome? It’s not his shooting in general. As mentioned, his three-point shooting is fine to great. Porter is a career 49.5% shooter on two-point attempts, and he was north of 50% each of the past two seasons as well. It’s his shooting in specific circumstances. In 27 career games against what KenPom.com calls Tier A+B opponents — top 100 teams, adjusted for home/road situations — Porter is shooting 39-for-94 on two-pointers. That’s just 41.5%. Last year, 15 of Marquette’s 20 Big East games were A+B games, and they played five more in non-conference play, and the Big East tournament game against Xavier counted, too. That’s 21, and we can roughly presume that the 2026-27 schedule will land somewhere in that vicinity. 3.5 two-point attempts per game is more than Porter averaged in any of his four seasons at Liberty, so he was shooting more than average in those contests and coming up with more misses than his career or season averages.

If Marquette’s offensive system is still going to be predicated on getting open layups — offensive guru Nevada Smith is the head coach at Siena now, after all — and that’s going to lead to Porter taking more shots near the rim, then maybe this is all okay. It all comes down to how he’s going to be used, and to be very clear: There is zero reason that Shaka Smart is taking a transfer under these circumstances if Porter isn’t going to play some kind of a role on the 2026-27 team.

The circumstances in question? Colin Porter is only technically legally eligible right now. He just finished four years at Liberty, and if this was a year ago, that would be that. However, the NCAA approved five years/five seasons rules over the summer, and Porter is part of a lawsuit in North Carolina that contests the NCAA’s rule that the seniors from 2025-26 don’t get the fifth year. I want to be 100% clear about this: I think Porter should be eligible, because I am shocked that the NCAA was stupid enough to not anticipate the mountain of lawsuits like this that they are facing and thus just grandfather the Class of 2026 in for a fifth year. However, the lawsuits on this topic are far from being completely settled. As such, there remains a chance that Colin Porter will never suit up for Marquette. Early indications from all the courts involved seem to point towards the players seeking a fifth year will end up victorious, but Billable Hours remains undefeated, so who can say for certain?

I can say for certain that we didn’t see Nash Walker at all when Marquette went on their Canadian trip as he continues to rehab from shoulder surgery in the spring. I can also say that Colton Crowdis played a total of 2:34 in the entire three game trip, and that was also the final 2:34 of a 102-65 victory. There’s a need for a point guard option behind Nigel James on this roster. Porter being available means that maybe Nolan Minessale doesn’t have to slide over to point guard duties here and there, and maybe that means that Shaka Smart is 1) making sure he has point guard options and/or 2) sending a message to everyone on the roster that playing time is precious. If he’d rather bring Porter in during August when that could mean Minessale absorbing minutes that maybe we thought would go to Damarius Owens or Michael Porter? You see the message being sent here.

There’s another slightly more interesting message here. Shaka Smart has gone from “nah, we’ll just improve the guys we have here” to “well, this has gone poorly” to “I have added two of the best transfer fits in the country” to “hey, I can make my roster better in November thanks to legal goofiness that has opened a loophole? Cool, let’s do it.” I know what I said about Smart’s future as the Marquette head coach back in mid-March, and I stand by it. The fact of the matter is that Smart has acted like he believes it ever since then. We’ll have to wait to see what the results look like, but the process, the path taken? These are the actions of a coach who is driven to not just win, but put the horrors of last season very far in the rear view mirror.

Let’s get you a brand new scholarship chart and get out of here, eh?

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When Shaquille O’Neal went to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1996, he knew he was about to become the NBA’s highest-paid player, but didn’t know what would come after.

O’Neal appeared as a guest on “Full Send Podcast,” where he detailed the events that resulted in him signing with the Lakers, while meeting with Hall of Fame general manager Jerry West.

“Jerry West met me in a hotel. He said, ‘I got some good news and some bad news,” O’Neal said. “I said, ‘What’s the bad news?’ He said, ‘I can’t get you the $150 [million] you asked for, but I can get you $120 million, and I got some movie deals signed up for you that’ll come up to $180 million.”

O’Neal said that after he heard the number, he told West, “S—t let me see that contract,” and couldn’t believe seeing the figure on the paper.

Once the ink dried on the paper, O’Neal was about to begin an eight-year stretch on one of the most dominant eras of basketball.

“And as I’m signing, he puts his hand on my shoulder. He said, ‘Let me tell you something, I just got this kid; in two or three years, you and him are going to win a lot of championships,” O’Neal said. “I’m like, yeah, okay, because I’m trying to sign. He was talking about Kobe.”

O’Neal and Bryant went on to become one of the greatest duos to grace the game of basketball as the two went on to three-peat NBA championships from 2000-2002.

O’Neal was the Finals MVP in all three of those series and was also the league MVP in 2000, when he averaged 28.7 points, 12.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 2.8 blocks per game.

The chemistry between O’Neal and Bryant was simple. O’Neal did the dirty work, while Bryant showed the flash.

In the playoffs, teams struggled to contain the two as Bryant would average 22.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game while playing alongside O’Neal.

The marriage of Bryant and O’Neal eventually ended in divorce when O’Neal left the Lakers and joined the Miami Heat in 2004.

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The “Summer of George” has again returned to Yankee Stadium — and this time it’s more comprehensive than ever.

The Yankees hosted their third annual “Seinfeld” bobblehead giveaway during their game against the Astros on Thursday.

The first 18,000 fans received a bobblehead of George Costanza holding a calzone, inspired by the “Seinfeld” episode “The Calzone,” where Costanza goes on a pursuit of the food.

In addition to the bobblehead this year, the Yankees are offering an eggplant calzone for the game, along with a “Hovering Angel” chocolate eclair sundae, referencing Costanza defending eating the dessert from the trash during the episode “The Gymnast” by saying it was “hovering like an angel.”

As expected, this season’s Costanza bobblehead drew enormous lines outside Yankee Stadium, even with the game delayed due to storms in the area.

Videos show hundreds of spectators lined up with umbrellas and ponchos in their attempts to dodge the raindrops while waiting outside for the bobblehead.

The bobbleheads have been a hot commodity for fans over the past three years, with ones from past seasons going for up to $200 on eBay.

Actor Jason Alexander, who played Costanza, also has a say in the process, with the production schedule taking nearly half a year.

“We come up with the idea on our end,” Craig Cartmell, the Yankees’ senior associate director of marketing, promotions, stadium events and broadcast marketing, told Newsday, “and then we work with the vendor, and the vendor goes to Warner Brothers to get their approval.

“Part of that process is Warner Brothers reaches out to Jason Alexander to make sure he’s fine with it.”

Despite all of the hype, the Yankees have insisted they will give away at most one Costanza bobblehead per season.

“I think that’s what makes it so unique,” Debbie Tymon, senior vice president of marketing, said. “One per year, I think, is perfect.”

Speedy Claxton takes pride in every aspect of the job.

The Hofstra men’s head basketball coach was one of hundreds of athletic department workers and student-athletes helping to move the university’s new students into their dorms Thursday.

“The families, they thank us so much, and they even try to tip us,” Claxton told The Post.

“We get our hands dirty. We go, load our carts,” added the coach who brought Hofstra to its first March Madness game in a quarter century. 

The warm-welcome tradition that the players and coaches get into works as a two-way street. Claxton said newcomers gladly return the favor by showing up in the stands later in the year.

“Once they come to one or two games, I think they’ll like it,” Claxton said. 

“And they’ll keep coming.”

‘Pretty’ big day 

No neigh-sayers here.

Bethpage Polo at the Park is gearing up for its most lavish match of the year Sunday — Pretty Women Day, where fans have been dressing as Julia Roberts from the 1990s classic rom-com for more than a decade.

“It’s probably the most popular Sunday of the year. Everybody dresses to the nines. A lot of them wear the brown polka-dot dress she wore,” player George Fox told The Post. 

“Even one of our umpires wears polka-dots.” 

You’ll hear plenty of diehards imitating Roberts character, Vivian, by doing a “woot woot woot!” at 3 p.m. inside Bethpage State Park. 

Fox said Roberts is more than welcome to join.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The Illinois men’s basketball team is adding a new face to the fold, as transfer guard Quentin McCoy joins the roster as a late addition.

McCoy’s an in-state add, as he grew up in Chicago and played his high school basketball at Lindblom Math and Science Academy.

The latest in Illinois head coach Brad Underwood’s group of “Everyday Guys,” McCoy spent his first two seasons of college hoops with the Arizona State Sun Devils, yet only played in nine total games for the team.

In his college career, the young guard only attempted one shot, so he’s coming to Champaign as a bit of a fresh canvas.

As for his measurables, he comes in at 6’3” and 175 pounds according to Illinois men’s basketball’s announcement.

McCoy joins a pretty stacked group of guards on the Illini’s roster, including Andrej Stojakovic, Quentin Coleman, Stefan Vaaks, Lincoln Williams, Blake Fagbemi, Lucas Morillo and Ethan Brown.

Based on the social media graphic put out by the team, it appears as though McCoy will wear No. 5, last worn by guard AJ Redd last season.

Roster moves

The Arizona Diamondbacks made the following roster moves. The D-backs’ 40-man roster is at 39.

• Recalled from Triple-A Reno: RHP José Cabrera
• Optioned to Triple-A Reno following yesterday’s game: RHP Drey Jameson

The first of an expected flurry of moves for this series, what with the sudden double-header on Saturday, and the need for further starting pitchers. First up is Cabrera, who made four starts for Arizona leading up to the All-Star break. They were… just about okay, I suppose. A 5.60 ERA, but that was suppressed by throwing five shutout innings in his major-league debut. Once word got around, the three which followed were considerably less effective, allowing 11 ER over 12.2 innings. A big factor was a K:BB there of just 9:7, as major-league hitters simply laid off his pitches. Doing a better job there will be key tonight in San Francisco.

The series with the Cubs is in the books, and it went well for the D-backs in their wild-card race, combined with results elsewhere. Both the Phillies and Padres lost their series to teams below them in the standings, while Arizona beat a team above them. That closed the gaps to three and one games respectively, and also put a significant dent in the strength of schedule remaining. Now, the Phillies have far and away the toughest stretch run: ranked #3 with a .525 average opponent’s record. The Padres are about even, #16 at .499. But with the Cubs now crossed off, the D-backs have dropped to 24th, at just .485.

Of Arizona’s 28 remaining games, only 9 are against teams above them in the standings (series against the Yankees, Phillies and Padres). They also face the Marlins, who are above .500, at 68-66. But the remaining sixteen games are against sides with losing records. Those start with the four-game series here against San Francisco, while they won’t get to start Eduardo Rodriguez, I’d love for Arizona to take three of the four contests. Meanwhile, the Phillies have today off, before starting a series on the road against the Angeles tomorrow. And the Padres are similarly traveling, but face a tough set against the AL best Rays in Tampa. It’s a good chance for the D-backs to close ground there.

[Dollywood Day #3, for as long as the D-backs keep winning. Dolly Parton peforms on the Oprah Winfrey television show, Chicago, Illinois, February 11, 1992.]

After the Big Ten, the SEC, and the Big 12 acted earlier this week, the ACC has joined the movement to ban pro athletes from returning to college.

In the ACC’s case, this applies to the NFL, the NBA, and the WNBA. The Big Ten applied its rule strictly to the NFL, while the SEC moved to ban people from the NBA, WNBA, and NFL, and the Big 12 just banned it all. You professional rowers who thought you were coming back to Oklahoma State? You can suck it!

It would probably be good if the Power 4 coordinated and got the same rule across the board, but at least everyone is mostly on the same page: there is a difference between professional and collegiate athletics.

Here’s what Duke football coach Manny Diaz had to say about Thursday’s move by the ACC:

“I don’t blame the players. I don’t blame the individual schools because no one’s breaking a rule. But if something doesn’t pass the smell test, then why don’t the grown-ups in the room be the grown-ups in the room and let’s just say that’s not something that we stand for.

“They’re kicking somebody off who has gone through summer conditioning and an offseason program, and I think there’s morale issues. There’s real-life consequence. This is not pro sports where we check the waiver wire and we just cut a dude and bring a dude in. I’d be curious to see what’s actually happening at all these schools. Not just the NFL guys, all the other eligibility cases. Did that take somebody’s spot or not?”

Well put. Now we sit back and await the next wave of lawsuits.

Update – the Big East will monitor the situation, but has not followed the Power Four and moved against pro athletes returning to college competition.

• ACC becomes final power conference to ban players who were on NFL rosters from returning
• ACC officials, coaches join pro athlete eligibility conversation. What they said
• ACC joins Big Ten, SEC banning pro players from returning to college

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The Lakers’ failed pursuit of Jonathan Kuminga, who is signing a two-year deal with the Timberwolves, has left them with a hole in the frontcourt. 

And with their payroll $8.1 million from the NBA’s $209 million first-apron threshold, they’re hard-capped for the 2026-27 season. With their roster already having 16 players signed to guaranteed contracts, the Lakers’ options for other roster additions are limited. 

But they still have clear needs with a month before training camp kicks off. 

The most glaring hole in their roster is a starting-caliber, athletic two-way wing/forward — an archetype Kuminga would’ve filled.

But another area of need is big man depth behind marquee free-agent acquisition Walker Kessler and three-time NBA champion Kevon Looney, who signed a veteran’s minimum contract.

How could the Lakers address those needs?

Big man trade targets 

The Lakers’ tradable draft picks are limited: They own their own 2033 second-round draft pick; they possess a pair of second-round picks from the Wizards in 2031 and 2032 after swapping Deandre Ayton for Jaden Hardy; and the lone first-round pick they’re able to outright swap in a trade is in 2032. 

Outside of that, their other trade assets are mostly players who could be on expiring contracts if their team options for 2027-28 are declined (such as Hardy and Dalton Knecht). 

These limitations, in addition to a big man market that has a high demand but low supply of quality options, are why the Lakers don’t have many trade options for big man depth. 

But if they decided to go that route, two potential targets would be Bucks center Jericho Sims and Bulls big man Jalen Smith.

The 6-foot-10, 250-pound Sims fits the athletic, rim-running big man that’s an ideal fit next to superstar guard Luka Doncic. He’s a strong finisher and rebounder, especially on the offensive glass.

And with Sims, 27, slated to be the third big man behind Myles Turner and Kel’el Ware in Milwaukee, the Bucks may be willing to trade Sims and his expiring $2.8 million salary to another team.  

The 6-8 Smith, who’s coming off a career year in Chicago (10.2 points, 6.7 rebounds) would provide the outside shooting Sims lacks. And despite being undersized for a traditional center, he’s capable of playing at the 4 and 5, which would open up versatile offensive lineups for the Lakers.  

Big man free-agent targets 

After the Heat picked up Nick Richards on a veteran’s minimum contract on Thursday, the list of free- agent big men became even shorter and more bleak. 

The most significant option for the Lakers could be Dwight Powell, the 6-10, 35-year-old big man who was teammates with Doncic for 6 ½ seasons in Dallas.

Notably, Powell has played the most games as a teammate alongside Doncic (389) among the 98 players Doncic has played alongside in his eight-year NBA career. 

Besides Powell, the other realistic options are veteran journeymen Drew Eubanks, Bismack Biyombo and Mason Plumlee — demonstrating the lack of quality big man free-agent targets.

Wing trade targets 

Trade options for a wing/forward who can step in as a reliable rotation player — let alone a starter — without jeopardizing the Lakers’ potential access to the mid-level exception next summer is limited.

Kings forward De’Andre Hunter and Bucks forward Kyle Kuzma, who was with the Lakers from 2017-21 and won the 2020 championship with the franchise, stand out as the best trade options. 

Hunter ($24.9 million) and Kuzma ($20.5 million) are entering the final season of their respective four-year, $90 million deals.

Trading for either would likely require the Lakers to send a combination of Hardy, Knecht or Jarred Vanderbilt, in addition to draft picks. 

The Lakers previously had interest in trading for Hunter ahead of the deadline in February before the Cavaliers sent him to the Kings as part of a three-team deal with the Bulls.

There isn’t any known current interest in Hunter or Kuzma from the Lakers’ side, but they would likely be their best external backup options this summer with Kuminga no longer available.

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