Category: Basketball

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NCAA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Mid-Major fans and fans across the country.

Loyola Chicago is honoring Sister Jean with a statue this Friday on what would have been her 107th birthday.

So, that got us thinking: who should be the next mid-major legend to be given a statue?

Pete Carril, Greg Kampe, Bill Russell, Steph Curry, Steve Nash or Buddy the Street Dog?

Pete Carril

Carril was the architect of the Princeton offense. His Tiger teams were rock solid on defense and led the nation in scoring defense 14 times. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall-of-Famer won 13 Ivy League championships and retired as the only coach to win 500 games without scholarship players. Carril led Princeton to the 1975 NIT championship.

Greg Kampe

Kampe is gearing up for his 43^rd season with Oakland and is the longest-tenured active Division I men’s basketball coach, ranking third all-time in DI behind Jim Phelan (49 seasons), Phog Allen (49 seasons), and Jim Boeheim (47 seasons). The 2026-27 season moves Kampe ahead of Mike Krzyzewski. Kampe oversaw the Golden Grizzlies’ transition to Division I and pioneered one of the best March Madness upsets in recent memory as Oakland and hot-shooting Jack Gohlke took down Kentucky.

“Consistency is the hallmark of success,” is one of Kampe’s favorite quotes.

After all, he was voted our sexiest mid-major coach back in 2022.

Bill Russell

One of the greatest players in basketball history, Russell suited up for San Francisco before winning 11 titles with the Boston Celtics. He played with the Dons in the 1950s and guided them to back-to-back national championships in 1955 and 1956. USF won 55 consecutive games, and Russell is the career leader in rebounds for the program with 1,606. A recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Russell was a staunch advocate for social justice. The WCC adopted the “Russell Rule,” which ensures that all schools in the conference consider candidates from underrepresented groups when interviewing for athletic administrator and coaching vacancies.

Steph Curry

We all remember Curry nearly shooting No. 10-seed Davidson into the Final Four. The guard’s run in the 2008 NCAA Tournament was nothing short of miraculous. It put his name in the national lexicon of basketball before he became the NBA career 3-point leader and changed the game with his approach to shooting. Curry led the nation in scoring in 2009 and broke the single-season 3-point record in 2008. Four NBA titles and a couple of MVPs later, Curry and his legacy live on.

Steve Nash

Nash put together one of the best college careers with Santa Clara and led the Broncos to three WCC championships and NCAA Tournament appearances. He ranks among the top 10 in program history in points, steals, assists, and free-throw percentage. The two-time NBA MVP led both the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks to the Western Conference Finals and had his number retired by both Santa Clara and the Suns. He went on to become a consultant and helped guide the Warriors to back-to-back titles with Curry as one of the star players.

Buddy the Street Dog

OK, let’s have a little fun with this one. Buddy the Street Dog is the “spirit animal” for the Queens men’s basketball team. The two-foot replica of a German Shepard joined the Royals this season as they reached the NCAA Tournament in their first season of eligibility after transitioning to Division I. Buddy is awarded postgame to the player whose contributions to the team’s success may not show up in the box score (taking charges or diving for loose ball).

“We want [the players] to embody the street dog mentality of fighting for everything you can get,” Queens head coach Grant Leonard said.

Both Queens and Buddy are a perfect 1-for-1 when eligible to reach the NCAA Tournament.

Editor note: Damian Lillard and Artis Gilmore were also discussed.

Lillard is painted on a horse statue in Ogden, Utah, where he starred for Weber State.

Why a horse and not an actual statue depicting Lillard? Lillard has a fear of statues.

“I’ve always been scared of historic stuff like that. If I see statues of Jesus, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr. — all that stuff kind of gives me a funny feeling,” Lillard said back in 2012 on a trip to Washington, D.C. during his rookie season with the Portland Trailblazers.

Gilmore will have his statue at Jacksonville University unveiled next May. Nicknamed “The A-Train,” Gilmore led the 1970 national championship game, where the Dolphins fell to UCLA.

Gilmore went on to have a hall-of-fame career in the ABA and NBA. He began his college career at Garner-Webb before playing his final two seasons at Jacksonville.

Knicks coach Mike Brown is enjoying the post-championship life.

The coach and his wife Rochelle “Ro” Ledesma enjoyed some R&R in Porto Cervo, an Italian seaside resort in Northern Sardinia on Sunday in new beach photos obtained by The Post.

The couple, mostly private regarding their personal life, were seen canoodling in the ocean and laughing together while lounging under an umbrella.

Brown sported white swim shorts and sunglasses while Ledesma donned a blue bikini.

The pair’s European vacation came after a whirlwind summer for Brown.

In his first year at the helm, Brown coached the Knicks to their first championship in 53 years against the Spurs in June.

The Knicks won four of five against San Antonio, and clinched the NBA title in a 94-90 win in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

After that, Brown’s media tour included stops at “The Tonight Show” and “Good Morning America.”

He also received a standing ovation and applause — as well as “let’s go Knicks” chants — when he hit up the Polo Bar in mid-June.

Brown and his first wife Carolyn, who divorced in January 2015, share two sons together, Elijah and Cameron.

Both played collegiate sports and Elijah began his basketball career at Butler before transferring to New Mexico and then finishing his college career at Oregon.

Brown has yet to be seen in photo from the wedding of Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns and model Jordyn Woods, which took place Aug. 15 in Malibu.

Towns’ Knicks teammates, Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and OG Anunoby were all in attendance.

NetsDaily has confirmed that the Brooklyn Nets are signing Nick Pringle, a 6’10”, 230-pound 24-year-old power forward out of Arkansas, to an Exhibit 10 deal. Pringle, who went undrafted in June, played last season at Arkansas with Darius Acuff and Trevon Brazile, drafted at No. 7 and 35th.

An Exhibit 1o can be a training camp contract, but the Nets and other teams have also used it to fill out G League rosters. The plan for Pringle will become evident shortly after he’s signed. Last couple of seasons, the Nets have signed players to Exhibit 10s then quickly waived them often within 24 hours. The players’ G League rights go directly to Long Island without a stop at Brooklyn’s training camp. Each player signed to an Exhibit 10 can receive up to an $85,000 bonus if they stick with the G League club for 60 days. While some organizations will negotiate the amount of the bonus, the Nets generally provide each signee the full $85,000. G League players also receive a standard $46,350 salary plus housing expenses.

Pringle had previously played at both Alabama and South Carolina in his six-year long collegiate career. At Alabama, he teamed up with Grant Nelson who played for both Brooklyn and Long Island last season and was on the Nets summer league rosters in Sacramento and Las Vegas last month.

A native of Seabrook, S.C., Pringle played at Wofford College in 2020-21, Dodge City Community College in 2021-22, then two seasons at Alabama in 2022-23 and 2023-24, a season at South Carolina in 2024-25 before winding up at Arkansas last year. He was part of Alabama’s 2024 NCAA Final Four team, averaging 6.2 rebounds per game throughout the Crimson Tide’s run in the NCAA Tournament.

Here’s some highlights from his season with John Calipari and the Razorbacks, primarily focused on his athlaticism.

Rebounding and defense have been his forte. For his collegiate career, played in 152 games with 81 starts, averaging 16.1 minutes a game. For his career, he scored 853 points and shot 64.9% from the field, twice hitting before than 70.0% for the season. He also grabbed 654 career rebounds and recorded 125 stocks — combination of steals and blocks.

He also played three games for the Celtics Summer League team in Las Vegas, but only one where he topped 20 minutes, a loss to the Magic. In that that game, Pringle scored four points, grabbed five rebounds, handed out four assists, blocked three shots and recorded two steals in 20.3 minutes.

Seros Partners, his agent, first reported on the Nets agreement Monday. Seros also represents Mikel Brown Jr.

Although the were unconfirmed reports during Summer League that Deon Brown, a 6’4” combo guard out of St. Louis, and Ben Humrichaus, a 6’9” small forward out of Illinois, would also join the Nets on Exhibit 10 deals. Both Tyler Bilodeau, taken at No. 43 out of UCLA, and Chaney Johnson, who’s returning, have signed two-way deals, leaving one open. Nelson is seen as a strong candidate for the third if he recovers from a “shooter’s knee” issue that sidelined him last season.

Betrayal, bloodlines and a battle for the throne.

Again.

Nine years after their last Game of Thrones-esque power struggle, the Los Angeles Lakers have somehow wandered back into Westeros, only this time the drama is more scintillating and vicious than ever before. 

Forget Succession, the better comparison is House of the Dragon.  

And Jeanie Buss is Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen. 

The similarities between the Buss family and the hit HBO show have become almost absurd. 

Both stories begin with an aging patriarch presiding over a powerful dynasty and making his succession wishes unmistakably clear.

In Season One, King Viserys chose his daughter Rhaenyra to inherit the throne, just as Dr. Jerry Buss chose his daughter Jeanie to become controlling owner of the Lakers. Those instructions were later reinforced by language in the family trust requiring the trustees to take reasonable steps to keep her in control. 

But then the patriarch died and everybody started reaching for the Iron Throne. 

Dr. Buss purchased the Lakers from Jack Kent Cooke in 1979. Under his family’s leadership, the Lakers have more wins than any franchise in history over that span and 11 NBA championships, more than any other team during their tenure. 

When Dr. Buss died in 2013, the family harmony he envisioned didn’t survive him very long. The Lakers become their own version of the Dance of the Dragons, except instead of Vhagar and Caraxes scorching the Red Keep, it was Jeanie and Jim’s lawyers scorching each other with court filings. 

Jim first tried to usurp Jeanie in 2017 after Jeanie fired her brother as head of basketball operations. Together, Jim and Johnny Buss pushed for a new Lakers board that conspicuously did not include their sister. Without a board seat, Jeanie could not remain the controlling owner. She got a restraining order, took them to court, stopped the maneuver and ultimately emerged with her authority strengthened. 

Pick whichever Buss brother you want to cast as Aegon II or Aemond or even Daemon Targaryen. The analogy doesn’t need to be anatomically perfect. The important part is the recurring theme of a family fighting for the throne after their patriarch has died. 

We’ve seen this show before. 

Only now the Targaryens all have private-equity portfolios and billions of dollars to play with instead of dragons. 

Last year, Jeanie agreed to sell the majority share of the Lakers to Mark Walter at a $10 billion valuation while working out a deal to remain governor of the team until 2030. Then immediately after Walter took over, Joey and Jesse Buss were dismissed from their basketball operations positions as the new regime began reshaping the organization. 

Jeanie instantly took on the role of villain within her own family. 

Queen Rhaenyra spent Season Two of House of the Dragon learning the uncomfortable truth about inherited power: that having a king proclaim you as the rightful heir doesn’t mean everybody around you will happily kneel. 

A coup was contrived by the Hightowers (House Green) and King Viserys younger sons Aegon II and Aemond. Aegon was crowned in Rhaneyra’s place and she was exiled to Dragonstone before a war between the family broke out for the throne. 

Jeanie is now entrenched in the Lakers version. 

According to ESPN, five of the Buss siblings voted on Monday to sell the family’s remaining 17.8% stake in the Lakers to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger after Walter agreed to sell his controlling interest at a $12.5 billion valuation last Wednesday. Jeanie was the lone sibling who did not vote for the sale, and now her attorney is arguing the transaction is “void” and cannot proceed under the terms governing the family trust. 

Why would she try to stop it?

Because if that 17.8% disappears or dips below 15%, then Jeanie would fall below the ownership threshold necessary to remain Lakers governor. 

The latest coup by the Buss brothers is so wonderfully House of the Dragon that it might as well have been ripped out of the script itself. Years ago, it was Jim and Johnny trying to usurp Jeanie’s power. Joey and Jesse were perceived as part of her side of the family power structure. Now the alliances have shifted again. 

And that’s the point of George R.R. Martin’s novel A Dance With Dragons that the show is based on. There are no permanent teams when a throne is involved. Allies become enemies. Enemies become useful. Family loyalty lasts right up until somebody believes they have the opportunity to sit on the Iron Throne. 

Even Jeanie’s sale to Walter now feels like the betrayal of Queen Rhaenyra’s new Targaryen bastard dragon riders from Season Three. The idea was to harness enormous outside financial power while still preserving her place atop the Lakers kingdom. Instead, Walter is already selling the team to Iger and Kushner less than a year after he took control. Now, Jeanie suddenly finds herself fighting to preserve the very authority the original transaction was designed to protect. 

And as House of the Dragon reminds us, power is easy to acquire, but much harder to keep. 

You won’t find dragons flying above Crypto.com Arena any time soon, but the fight for power of the Lakers now features billionaires, lawyers, trusts, emergency meetings, sibling alliances, and nearly half a century of family history hanging in the balance. 

For nearly 50 years, the Buss family has been Lakers royalty. Dr. Buss built the kingdom. Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal and LeBron James decorated its walls with championship banners. 

But dynasties rarely fear outsiders as much as they should realize the real threat comes from within the household. 

King Viserys spent his final years believing his succession plan would preserve the Targaryen dynasty. 

Dr. Buss probably believed the same thing. 

But both fathers discovered the same truth:

You can name an heir, but you can’t make the family bend the knee.

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Florida point guard Xaivian Lee plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal, On3’s Joe Tipton reports. Lee spent one season with the Gators after transferring in from Princeton.

In 35 games last year, Lee averaged 11.6 points per game, 3.7 rebounds, 4.2 assists, shot 42% from the floor and 29.2% from three-point range. He also shot 76.5% from the free-throw line.

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Lee spent three years at Princeton before electing to hit the portal and play for the Gators last season. In three seasons with the Tigers, Lee averaged 12.7 points per game. 4.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and shot 43.1% from the floor.

Lee entered the NBA Draft process earlier this summer and went unselected during the 2026 edition. He agreed to am Exhibit 10 deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers back in June. An Exhibit 10 deal is a one-year, non-guaranteed NBA minimum-salary contract that invites a player to training camp. It is often utilized by franchises to evaluate undrafted rookies along with fringe players and allows them to retain the player’s G League rights if they are waived.

Xaivian Lee hitting NCAA transfer portal again

Earlier this year, Xaivian Lee participated in the NBA G League Combine in Chicago. Lee was not among the six players invited to the NBA Draft Combine that week, but he made his mark in the two games he played and tested well in the various workouts. He led his team in assists on both scrimmages.

Lee ranked No. 1 overall in the pro lane drill at 9.97 seconds and also finished in the top five in the shuttle run (No. 2 overall), 3/4 court spring (No. 3) and vertical jump (No. 5). 

NBA scout Cyro Asseo wrote the following on Lee: “Played as a lead guard, prioritizing playmaking for his teammates over his own scoring. He grabbed any loose boards in his path and showed he can use his quickness for more than just scoring, though his defense remains a slight concern.”

GatorsOnline’ Keith Niebhur contributed to this report

It’s been 11 months since the NBA opened a formal investigation into the Los Angeles Clippers for salary cap circumvention, and somehow Adam Silver has only made it worse. We are no closer to knowing what exactly happened, there’s backbiting occurring between the NBA and the media — but more concerning is a pervasive opacity shrouding the process, pronounced enough that it feels less like the league is leading an investigation and more like it’s trying to navigate a balancing act that will satiate the public’s need for answers while not angering Clippers’ owner Steve Ballmer.

Pablo Torre initially broke the story last year, which alleged that the Clippers used a now-defunct sponsor to funnel money to Kawhi Leonard as a fake employee, allowing the team to exceed his max-level contract. The Torre report initially got the ball rolling and led to the NBA investigation — which is ongoing now.

Since that point, the NBA has largely been quiet, Torre has continued to gather more details, expanding on his reporting, and on Monday ESPN dropped a story that intimated the investigation was coming to a close, functionally absolving Ballmer of responsibility as a result — which the NBA then refuted. It’s all a mess, so let’s try to make sense of this from all angles right now.

Pablo Torre’s reporting

In September of 2025 Torre reported that Leonard had a $28M no-show deal with Aspiration, a green energy company, which functionally listed Leonard as an employee and spokesperson — when in reality he didn’t do any work for Aspiration. This was sourced through numerous ex-employees of Aspiration, who spoke to Torre anonymously and said it was a known secret inside the company that Leonard was being paid under the table on behalf of the Clippers

In August of 2026 a new report from Torre noted that Leonard had a second undisclosed endorsement deal with Daktronics, the company that made the video board for the Clippers. The nature of this deal has not been disclosed, though Torre says it was also sourced through employees of Daktronics.

ESPN’s reporting

Initially, ESPN was extremely quiet after Torre’s initial report. Then, in September of 2025 reporter Ramona Shelburne conducted a sit-down interview with Steve Ballmer that allowed him to explain the Clippers’ side of things, which was devoid of any hard-hitting questions. It essentially allowed Ballmer to absolve himself of responsibility, saying that he didn’t know anything about the deals — other than the fact that he made introductions between Aspiration and Leonard.

Reporting on ESPN’s side was quiet until this week, when a story was published by Don Van Natta Jr., Baxter Holmes, and Shelburne — which indicated that the NBA found no wrongdoing by Ballmer. Instead, the penalty was likely going to be focused on “failure to supervise,” saying that unnamed Clippers employees operated autonomously. In addition, the report indicated that the league and Clippers were working together on a resolution to the in investigation — which frankly should never, ever happen.

“The league presented initial findings of its investigation, led by law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, to the Clippers in late July, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. In recent days, both sides have been negotiating a resolution to the investigation, the people said.”

The NBA is denying the ESPN report, which we’ll get to in a moment.

The Clippers’ side of things

From the first report, the Clippers have alleged no wrongdoing. Ballmer has positioned himself as simply a man who made introductions between Leonard and companies he did business with, having no knowledge a deal took place to pay Leonard. They’ve characterized this as a normal procedure for NBA teams to make these introductions, which is accurate — and has started a firestorm over the possibility that organizing business connections could be considered salary cap circumvention in the future.

The NBA’s side of things

Adam Silver has dragged this process out for almost a year. That enabled the Clippers to retain the No. 5 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft without punishment, while also allowing them to find a trade that will send Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors once the salary cap investigation is complete.

A statement by the NBA late Monday vehemently denied the ESPN report, but failed to address specific details of what the league denied.

Once again, the NBA is asking for patience from the public on an investigation that has taken longer than it ever should have, essentially saying we’ll get all the answers once the investigation is complete. Still, there is no timetable on how long this is going to continue to drag on.

The factors at play now

One of the key reasons Adam Silver is so reviled as NBA commissioner is that his approach to everything when it comes to the league is that profit and expansion is more important than anything else, even competitive balance or fairness. Silver is light on punishment, even in the case of former Suns owner Robert Sarver who was fined $10M and suspended for one year after an investigation by the league found that he had routinely and often been racist, misogynistic, and inappropriate in the workplace. The punishment stopped short of forcing Sarver to sell the team, which he later did of his own will.

Sarver was a small player in the NBA’s circle of important owners. Steve Ballmer is a whale. The former Microsoft executive is the richest NBA owner by a significant margin, with a net worth of $152B — while also being critical to Silver’s goals when it comes to using the myriad business relationships Ballmer has to further the goals of the league.

Essentially Ballmer is the last owner Silver would ever want to punish for anything. As commissioner he doesn’t want to bite the hand that feeds, but these allegations are extremely damaging to the perception of the NBA. If the result of this investigation is too soft it will further erode public faith in the NBA as a whole, but too harsh at it will anger the league’s cash cow.

That balance is reportedly being worked on behind closed doors, according to the ESPN report from Monday. It makes it seem as if the Clippers have been found guilty of cap subversion; everyone in the room knows it, but now they are desperately trying to find a resolution together that will satiate the public without damaging Ballmer’s reputation or hurting his team too much. With pockets as deep as Ballmer’s, there’s functionally no fine imaginable that would be large enough to hurt him. Even if we imagine the same $10M fine that Sarver received, it would be the equivalent of 0.06% of his net worth — the same as a $60 fine for someone who earns $100,000 a year.

We all know what should happen. If the Clippers actively engaged in salary cap circumvention at any level, then they should be docked draft picks or forced to play under the NBA’s luxury tax for a set period. That will not happen. Silver does not want to harm the Clippers, not really. Nor will there be any suspension of Kawhi Leonard beyond a slap on the wrist, because to do more could void the trade to Toronto and hurt the Clippers as a result as well.

Nobody is going to be happy with the result of all this, except for Adam Silver and Steve Ballmer. That is how this is being engineered, and it’s by design. It’s a feature of the Silver-run NBA, not a bug.

The NBA was verging on being a failing business when Jerry Buss bought the Los Angeles Lakers from Jack Kent Cooke in 1979 for $67.5 million. Pro basketball only had a small television footprint at the time, attendance was falling, teams were claiming to lose money, and the league couldn’t untangle itself from the perception that its players would rather do an eight ball than dive for loose balls. The NBA’s meteoric rise over the next 20 years happened for a variety of reasons, but the story of its success goes hand-in-hand with Buss turning the Lakers into arguably the premier franchise in American sports.

The Lakers drafted Magic Johnson about a month after Buss’ acquisition closed, and the rest is history. Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led Los Angeles to five championships, and when they were done, it didn’t take the Lakers long to reboot around Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, and Phil Jackson for another five championships. The Lakers were just about a model franchise until Buss died in 2013 and left the team to his six children. Since then, the team has a sub-.500 cumulative record, one championship, and a behind-the-scenes power struggle among the siblings worthy of prestige TV.

The Buss family drama should have ended when the siblings agreed to sell the franchise to Mark Walter for $10 billion last year. Only one problem: that sale included a provision that said Jeanie Buss would continue to serve as the team’s governor for five years. That seemed like a pretty sweet deal for Jeanie until Walter turned around and flipped the franchise to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger earlier this month for $12.5 billion. Jeanie’s place with the franchise going forward seemed to be in peril after that deal, and it got even weirder on Monday.

ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the Buss siblings sold off the remaining 17.8% of the franchise it owns to Kushner and Iger. Five of the siblings wanted to sell. Jeanie didn’t. Jeanie’s lawyers are now arguing that the siblings cannot legally sell their shares without Jeanie’s approval because it goes against the family trust, according to a report by CNBC.

The Lakers finally thought they were out of this mess when Walter bought the team last year. The backstabbing between the Buss siblings had been legendary since their father died. Jeanie fired her brother Jim Buss in 2017 and replaced him with Magic Johnson as team president. Jim and his brother Johnny Buss then unsuccessfully tried to overthrow Jeanie by kicking her off the board of directors, but it went against the terms of the trust. Jeanie responded by filing a restraining order against her brothers. The end result was that Jeanie would serve as the controlling owner as long as the family owned the Lakers. Jeanie blessed the sale to Walter a year ago under the condition that she would have a few years left as governor. Now all that appears to be out the window pending even more lawsuits.

Lakers fans thought they had a dream ownership situation when Walter agreed to buy the team a year ago. He had been a terrific owner for MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers, spending a record amount of money on contracts that helped the team win the last two World Series. It appears that Walter’s empire started to crumble when the DOJ began breathing down his neck for loan fraud related to the Lakers purchase. Now he’s also in talks to sell his shares of English football powerhouse Chelsea. Walter needs to get liquid quickly, and it’s hard to beat cashing out an investment that makes you $2.5 billion in under a year. That’s what he originally bought the Dodgers for back in 2012.

The federal investigation sure seems like it played a role in Walter’s sale to Kushner and Iger. It isn’t lost on anyone that Donald Trump’s DOJ is investigating Walter to the point that he had to sell the Lakers to brother of his son-in-law (Jared Kushner is heavily involved in the White House’s Middle East diplomacy). The idea that the Lakers and Dodgers would both be able to out-spend their rivals quietly started to crash and burn when the feds began poking around Walter’s empire, even if no one realized it at the time. It’s left the franchise in an extremely vulnerable position with Kushner’s private equity firm now controlling the team with no experience in owning sports franchises.

The timing of all this is fascinating from an on-court perspective. The Lakers essentially mortgaged their future this summer to build around Luka Doncic with two years remaining on his contract. Los Angeles knew it needed a strong defensively center, so it traded two future first-round picks and two swaps for Walker Kessler. The Lakers then handed out four-year contracts to Sandro Mamukelashvili and Quentin Grimes while giving Collin Sexton two years, while most other NBA free agents were only getting one year deals.

The Lakers are all-in. They can’t trade a future first-round pick for the next seven years. Lead executive Rob Pelinka improved this team in some potentially meaningful ways, but they still lost LeBron James in free agency, still play in the loaded Western Conference, and still need to find answers in the forward room before anyone is ready to deem them a true championship contender.

It would make sense if the new ownership group wanted to replace Pelinka with one of their own guys, but does that really make sense when a new front office would immediately be strapped for future assets that Pelinka traded away? The Lakers were already going to be facing a ton of pressure on the court this season, and that only multiplies with new owners coming in.

Lakers fans are understandably uneasy about all of this, but you can argue the franchise is in a better place today than it was a month ago. The weird split power dynamic between Walter and Jeanie Buss is gone, the familiar cronies that lined the family business under Jeanie have no stake in the game anymore, and the new owners are apparently flush with cash. While it’s totally understandable to have some discomfort with a Kushner as the lead owner, it doesn’t sound like his group made this deal to strip the team for parts.

I don’t think this is a Tom Dundon situation. Kushner and Iger wanted a premium brand. Iger saved Disney twice. Jerry Buss turned the Lakers into a premium brand, and his kids have essentially presided over its downfall since he died. The Showtime era Lakers died with Dr. Buss. The fact that the team can still attract mega-watt superstar power and win a championship after his passing is a testament to the brand having lasting appeal even after the kids tried to run it into the ground.

The short-term future of the Lakers will be decided more by if Matisse Thybulle and Ziaire Williams can shore up the wing defense than the sale. This season hangs in the balance with Doncic’s health, Austin Reaves’ potential ascension to All-Star status, and Kessler’s ability to be worth everything they traded for him. If the swing factors swing in the Lakers’ favor, I would expect Kushner and Iger to be happy to write Doncic a huge check for an extension, and to keep this team intact up to the same point where most every other NBA owner is willing to go right now — which stops at the second apron.

It’s for the best that the Lakers family ownership dynamic is finished. The NBA has simply outgrown that model, and the Buss kids were never going to stop fighting. Walter’s sale is a curveball, but the Lakers should have more stability with Kushner and Iger than they would have had with Walter under federal investigation. The leadership should be more professional than it ever was with the Buss kids in charge.

It remains to be seen how Kushner will run the team, and the first real question starts with Pelinka’s job as lead executive. Walter’s Dodgers spared no expense in making sure the entire organization was acquiring top of the market talent in every department, and not just on the field. Will Kushner be willing to eventually replace Pelinka with the best candidate available? Will Doncic be signed to a long-term extension by then?

I wouldn’t say the Lakers are in big trouble yet, but the stakes of this season just got even higher.

We’ve reached the doldrums of the NBA calendar. The only excitement currently is the investigation into the Kawhi Leonard-Clippers possible cap circumvention and whatever the hell is going on with the sale of the Los Angeles Lakers.

But now that the schedule is out and you’ve had time to process and digest things, how are you feeling about the Sixers? What’s on your mind as we sit here in mid-August?

Hit me with your thoughts and questions below and I’ll do my best to respond to as many as possible!

It’s August, free agency is all but done, the schedule has been released, and therefore we are in the official doldrums of the NBA offseason. At Pounding the Rock, we often like to find fun projects or series to do to pass the time. We’ve especially enjoyed bracket-style tournaments over the years that have included Manu Ginobili’s best plays, the Spurs’ best playoff plays, and last year, we held a 1-on-1 tournament pitting the top 32 Spurs of all time against each other. (That would be an interesting revisit in a few years when I’m sure some current players will have entered or risen up the rankings a bit.)

This summer, the Spurs returned to the upper echelon of the NBA with a Finals run that officially returned them to that NBA villain role we all enjoyed back in their championship days. With that in mind, we decided a fun project would be to return the favor by pitting people who have been villains to the Spurs over the years up against each other in a bracket-style tournament. Readers will vote for the biggest villain in a poll, and the winner of each match-up will advance to the next round, with the eventual winner crowned as the biggest Spurs villain of all time.

There will be four categories that will consist of eight entries each for a total of 32:

• Spurs Killers — players who have specifically given the Spurs the most trouble over the years and/or made devasting shots or plays that will haunt our minds for all eternity.
• Former Spurs — players who once played for the Spurs but became villains either because of betrayal, trash talk, they hate on the Spurs, etc.
• Dirty Players — players who committed dirty plays against the Spurs, injured (or attempted to injure) a player, altered a playoff match-up, etc., and we will never forgive them.
• Spurs Haters — a more open category that can include players as well as coaches, owners, etc. from outside the organization who openly and publicly trashed the Spurs for whatever reason.

We have our own ideas but would also like your input before setting up the bracket. Give us some of your thoughts for each category and include why you have that person. Some may be extremely obvious, but there also may be ones that you specifically remember that many others may not, so include them all. Put your ideas in the comments below, and the most liked or frequently suggested may get used in the final bracket! Hopefully this will be another fun series while we wait for Training Camp to get here at the end of September.

Los Angeles Lakers governor Jeanie Buss is trying to block her siblings' sale of her family's remaining stake in the NBA franchise.

Josh Kushner, the brother of US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared, and former Disney chief executive Bob Iger agreed a deal last week to buy the controlling interest in one of the world's most iconic sports teams from Mark Walter for$12.5bn (£9.3bn).

Walter bought his share from the Buss family last year for about $10bn (£7.45bn) in a deal that ensured Jeanie remained as governor until 2030.

The Buss family, who have been either a primary or minority owner of the Lakers since 1979, released a statement on Monday saying they had voted to sell their remaining 17.8% stake to the incoming owners.

"We have decided as a family to sell the remaining Buss Family Trust shares to the Bob Iger group as part of the ongoing transaction," the statement read.

"We love the Lakers, Lakers fans and will continue to support Los Angeles; but it is time to use this opportunity to move on and exit gracefully while we still can."

However, Jeanie's lawyer has now said she plans to fight her siblings' plan to sell.

The Buss family trust comprises of Jerry Buss' six children, with Jeanie serving as the governor of the Lakers since her father's death in 2013.

Jeanie's lawyer Adam Streisand said in a letter to her five siblings that any vote for a sale "would be and is void" because her approval as one of three co-trustees, along with siblings Joey and Janie Buss, is needed for such a move.

"Co-trustees are bound to vote to ensure that the minimum 15% ownership requirement is maintained in order to ensure that Jeanie Buss may remain controlling owner," the letter said, according to ESPN.

"Any attempt by the co-trustees to aid or abet the co-trustees as such, would constitute a breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty and be in contempt of court.

"On behalf of Jeanie Buss, I demand that your clients make clear publicly that Jeanie Buss is the controlling owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and that your clients shall take no action on this supposed 'vote' to sell the 17.8% stake."

Jerry Buss bought the Lakers in a $67.5m deal (£50m) in 1979 that included the Los Angeles Kings hockey team and a Los Angeles arena that is known as the Kia Forum.

After he died in 2013, ownership was passed to his six children before a deal was completed with Walter, who also owns a stake in the LA Dodgers with Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly.

The LA Lakers have 17 NBA titles - 11 of which were won under the ownership of the Buss family - one less than the record tally held by the Boston Celtics.

The deal involving Kushner comes after he was part of the recent controversy surrounding Fifa president Gianni Infantino and an aborted plan to sell off stakes in the governing body's competitions to private investors.

Thrive Eternal, an American venture capital firm founded by Kushner, was expected to lead the proposed investor group for the Fifa Forward Enterprise proposal.

If it is approved by the NBA's board of governors next month, it will become the most expensive sports team sale ever reported - and Walter will have made a quick $2.5bn (£1.9bn) profit on his investment.

• Done in a weekend - the $12.5bn LA Lakers sale that shocked the NBA

Excitement for the upcoming Sixers season is at an all-time high. Many are dreaming of what it’s going to look like seeing LeBron James in a Sixers uniform and how the loaded starting lineup of stars operate together on the same floor. There are many swing factors that could determine the ultimate outcome of this season. One major piece to the puzzle that will determine the Sixers’ floor and ceiling will be the development of their young talent alongside their stars.

While most all of the attention on the Sixers is centered around their star-studded starting five (and for good reason) the team has accumulated their fair share of young talent, all of which still have plenty of room for growth.

VJ Edgecombe

Edgecombe is the most obvious example of young and blossoming talent on the roster. Coming off a First Team All-Rookie season which both started and ended on a high note, Edgecombe’s all-around two-way skillset is a picture-perfect match as the fifth starter alongside the teams four All-Stars. We’ve already seen Edgecombe drop 30 points on the road in Boston in the playoffs and be tasked with slowing down some of the best guards the NBA has to offer, so what does growth in his game look like for the 2026-2027 season? Two major areas that will be under the microscope for VJ are his long-range shooting — in particular off the catch — along with his overall growth as an impactful defender in year two.

There will be no shortage of open looks for VJ this year given who accompanies him in the lineup, so a shooting leap would serve him very well as far as making a consistent impact offensively in the halfcourt. The quartet of Edgecombe, Brown, Maxey and LeBron is very likely to be the most devastating four-man lineup in transition in all of basketball, and I’d venture to say probably one of the best ever as there is no shortage of athleticism, speed and hit ahead ability amongst that group.

Defensively, Edgecombe will be tasked most nights with defending the opposing teams’ best guards, something that he did a lot in year one with mixed results. Added strength, a year of experience, as well as a bigger ask to assume this role all should aid in his favor as he looks to be a key cog in what many hope is a memorable season for the Sixers.

Outside of Edgecombe though, the Sixers also have rookie guard Labaron Philon, third-year guys Adem Bona and Justin Edwards, as well as Jabari Walker, and Dominick Barlow, who was a bit of a revelation for much of this past season with the Sixers. All of these guys bring different skillsets to the table, and all will be called upon throughout the coming season to provide and impact off the Sixers bench.

Labaron Philon

Philon could already stake a claim to being the second-best pure passer on the roster as well as the team’s top true PG option off the bench. He’s capable of playing both on and off the ball as he showed throughout his two years at Alabama. Philon carved out a large role as a freshman with the Crimson Tide as a secondary ball handler and pesky perimeter defender playing alongside Alabama PG and All-American Mark Sears. If Philon wants to establish a consistent rotation role in his first season in the NBA, he is going to have to lean on a lot of those same attributes, while also being a source of instant offense and reliable ball handling — two things we know he is overqualified to do.

Adem Bona

Bona is likely to begin the season in a competition to be the Sixers’ primary backup center to Joel Embiid — a role that we all know the vast importance of given Embiid is likely to miss some games to manage his body for the long haul. On paper, Bona is really an ideal fit alongside all of the other Sixers starters. As I touched on earlier, the quartet of Brown, Maxey, Edgecombe and LeBron is going to be one of the deadliest transition forces in the game. Bona is an excellent fit to blend in with that run-and-gun style as there are few if any big men in the NBA that can change ends as fast as Bona can. Bona allows for the Sixers to deploy a variety of different coverages on the defensive end given his ability to move his feet on the perimeter as well as protect the rim.

Main areas of focus for Bona to grow as a player should be his hands on the offensive end and his rebounding on the defensive end, both of which go hand in hand in a way. Bona’s biggest issues offensively come when he is struggling to catch the ball and finish non-dunk attempts around the basket. This also shows up on the glass as effort is never an issue with Bona, but technique and gracefulness in securing the board can be a problem at times. Bona should have plenty of lob and dump off opportunities with the personnel the Sixers have at their disposal. He’s also been in the gym this offseason repping his corner three-point shot, an element of his game that is unforeseen to this point in his NBA career. If he debuts a new willingness and capability to knockdown a perimeter jumper from time to time that could add a new dynamic to both his game and how the Sixers can operate with him on the floor, but I would proceed with cautious optimism.

Even still, Bona is slotted to play a large role on a Sixers team with real championship aspirations and his improvement could go a long way in solidifying the second unit.

Jabari Walker

Walker has a very clear path to providing value to the Sixers as a bench reserve. His rebounding, which is already a major strong suit in his game, and in his improvement defensively and as a corner three-point shooter should offer a boost. Think P.J. Tucker for what an ideal role for Walker would look like alongside the Sixers stars. The biggest area Walker must improve if he wants to snatch more minutes and a larger role would be defensively as that is the primary area of his game that can be exploited. He’s a bit of a tweener who doesn’t have the vertical or raw size presence of a true big but also not the foot speed of a forward or wing.

Justin Edwards

Edwards is a fellow Klutch sports client along with Walker, James and Maxey. Edwards’ skillset profiles as a typical athletic 3-and-D wing. He didn’t quite have the leap many fans and himself I’m sure were hoping for in year two. Edwards I think will strongly benefit from remaining in a very low usage role and will likely see a big jump in his shot quality, especially playing alongside James and Embiid more in the coming season. Edwards becoming more consistent as a shooter and more impactful as a defender, in particular navigating screens, would serve him and the team well going forward. The hope is that in year three, Edwards can turn his flashes and moments into more consistent game in and game out play when his number is called.

Dominick Barlow

The last player I am going to touch on is Barlow. He was a pleasant surprise for the Sixers this past season. Barlow, who started the season with the Sixers on a two-way contract, went on to play in 71 games for the Sixers, including 59 starts, parlaying his promising season into a standard NBA deal which included a second-year team option for this coming season that the Sixers picked up.

Barlow is one of the players that I think most stands to benefit from the addition of James. While Barlow’s minutes might take a hit, his overall play and effectiveness should improve. One of Barlow’s best attributes offensively is that he is a phenomenal cutter and who better at hitting cutters than LeBron James? Barlow is excellent as an off-ball cutter and always moving and at times that wasn’t promptly rewarded this past season. His fit alongside James on both ends of the court is ideal in both the full and halfcourt.

Barlow has been seen throughout this offseason reworking his jump shot, the biggest and most obvious area for improvement in his game. If Barlow can turn himself into a passable three-point shooter and improve in a meaningful way from his 26% three-point stroke, he becomes such a perfect role player for any team but in particular this Sixers team. They could deploy him in a multitude of lineups and in a multitude of ways, whether it’s in small ball looks alongside Dean Wade and James in the frontcourt or in bigger lineups with Wade and Barlow as your forwards and James running the show.

Barlow’s effort, energy, defensive versatility and play finishing made him a stalwart in the Sixers rotation last season. The team would be wise to maximize him as a key reserve this coming season pairing a good chunk of his minutes alongside James and Embiid.

With the 2026-2027 NBA schedule released and just a little over two short months until opening night, one of the most highly anticipated seasons in Philadelphia 76ers history is nearly upon us. While the headlines and fanfare will be about the Sixers’ loaded core group, the development and deployment of Edgecombe and the team’s young pieces off the bench could help swing the pendulum and help get them to their desired goal: an NBA championship.

When the Toronto Raptors released their 2026-27 schedule, they also unveiled their NBA Cup schedule and opponents. Since the in-season tournament’s inception during the 2023-24 season, the Toronto Raptors’ track record has been – uninspiring.

To their credit, last year’s team managed to navigate itself into uncharted waters before running into its Big Apple kryptonite.

Raptors NBA Cup historic records:

• 2023: 1-3
• 2024: 1-3
• 2025: 4-1 (lost to the New York Knicks 101-117 in the Knockout stage)

The Raptors’ newfound success in the tournament mirrors a change in perception, particularly with how players and fans view the NBA Cup. The tournament, which was initially met with relentless criticism, particularly during its launch, has slowly garnered credibility and respect. It helps that teams are using it to showcase their long-term ambitions.

It doesn’t get any better than when the New York Knicks played the San Antonio Spurs in the 2025 NBA Cup championship. The high-profile matchup ultimately foreshadowed the NBA Finals, both its participants and eventual winner. This means the 2026 NBA Cup championship has a bit of prestige now. There’s an expectation that the absolute best teams should be there fighting for the crown.

It’s not even about winning the title either. Simply being a participant in the tournament’s endgame sets teams up to be major players in the ensuing playoffs. In 2024, the Oklahoma City Thunder fell in the NBA Cup championship, but ultimately finished as the top seed in the Western Conference before defeating the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Finals. Before that, the Pacers reached the 2023 NBA Cup championship and battled all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals.

It’s clear: the NBA Cup is now a litmus test, and it’s something the Raptors must take seriously. If anything, it’ll help the front-office speed up its evaluation of the current roster. The window that Kawhi Leonard creates grants a genuine peek at a Larry O’Brien title that awaits on the other side, but it’s also a small opening that requires urgency.

This year’s group also sets the stage for a manageable road to the NBA Cup championship game. It’s arguably the least competitive collection of opponents, at least according to win percentage. Toronto shouldn’t have a problem dispatching the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks. The Orlando Magic have a competitive team that could push the Raptors, but Leonard should push them over the top. The Detroit Pistons obviously present a problem, but if the Raptors are serious about a deep playoff run, then this will be a great opportunity to prove it.

Previous Records

• 2023: Boston (57-25), Orlando (34-48), Chicago (40-42), Brooklyn (45-27) – 0.553 win%
• 2024: Milwaukee (49-33), Detroit (14-68), Miami (46-36), Indiana (47-35) – 0.475 win%
• 2025: Cleveland (64-18), Washington (18-64), Indiana (50-32), Atlanta, (40-42) – 0.524 win%
• 2026: Pistons (60-22), Orlando (45-37), Milwaukee (32-50), Brooklyn (20-62) – 0.478 win%

Warriors' Yaxel Lendeborg receives votes for two NBA rookie superlatives originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Warriors enter the 2026-27 NBA season with a lot to prove after missing the playoffs last season. Yet to sign any new players, Golden State’s roster looks very similar to how it did last season, with the franchise set to rely on aging stars Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler. But rookie Yaxel Lendeborg quickly could prove himself as a pivotal piece, receiving votes for two NBA rookie superlatives ahead of the campaign.

Receiving one vote for lottery pick that will have the biggest impact on winning this season and three votes for which rookie will prove to be the biggest draft steal, Lendeborg’s dominant summer league campaign — where he averaged nearly 15 points per game and won the competition’s MVP award while guiding the Warriors to the title — turned heads.

While the Warriors do not normally utilize rookies on a regular basis, Lendeborg’s track record as a college basketball player and his older age for a rookie, 24-years-old, could force Golden State to play their hand. Helping Michigan win only its second national title in basketball, and being a big part of the team, trying to build around Lendeborg is something the Warriors could consider.

Coming in tied for third on the lottery picks to have the biggest impact on winning this season, Lendeborg joins Cameron Boozer, Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa and Morez Johnson Jr. On the biggest draft steal list, Lendeborg came in second, just behind Brayden Burries, while coming in ranked ahead of Darius Acuff Jr., Caleb Wilson and Kingston Flemings.

Starting his college basketball career playing at the junior college level for Arizona Western in Yuma, Lendeborg transferred to UAB ahead of the 2023-24 season and spent two seasons there before joining Michigan for his final season of eligibility. Flying under the radar for most of his college tenure, Lendeborg’s breakout season for the Wolverines, where he averaged 15.1 points and 6.8 rebounds, propelled him into first-round draft pick conversations.

The Warriors face a tough season ahead, but if Lendeborg can step up and be a star from the jump, Golden State could surprise a lot of people and be very competitive in a tough Western Conference.

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The Dallas Mavericks have had a real roller coaster ride over the last few years. First, there was the shocking trade of Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.

This did not go over well at all, leading to a near-revolt by Mavs fans.

Then, lightning struck, and Dallas won the lottery and drafted Duke’s Cooper Flagg. Coach Jason Kidd saw greatness in Flagg, and helped him to a superb rookie season, even in the absence of the All-Star point guard, and fellow member of the Brotherhood, Kyrie Irving, who missed last season while recovering from a knee injury.

Dallas hired Masai Ujiri, who fired Kidd and hired Michigan’s Dusty May, and the team set about rebuilding as much as possible, despite limited options.

And now, Irving is set to return, and that changes a lot of things, especially for Flagg.

The two have been working out this summer, and for Dallas, that should be exciting. Irving will obviously be the point guard, but with everything that Flagg learned last year, the Mavericks will functionally have two points.

From the team’s point of view, having these guys work together in the preseason is great. Assuming Dallas doesn’t trade Irving – there’s a solid argument for doing it, but the Mavericks have said that they aren’t interested – they’ll be the fulcrum of the team.

And now, Irving is picking up where Kidd left off, essentially tutoring Flagg on the finer points of NBA play.

With a new coach and up to nine new players, Dallas still has a lot of work to do, but there should be a lot of energy and excitement, and with Irving and Flagg as leaders, things are really looking up.

• Cooper Flagg Trains With Kyrie Irving Ahead of Second Season
• INTERVIEW: John Poulakidas on Shooting Mechanics, Fitting in w/Kyrie Irving, Cooper Flagg & More
• Cooper Flagg NBA patch reaches $3m bid but owner won’t sell one-of-one card
• “Been able to get in the gym with Kyrie this summer!”
• Flagg’s reflect on ‘super fun’ Family Feud experience
• Cooper Flagg Reveals 3 Things He’s Worked on Entering Second Season With Mavericks
• Mavericks Receive Encouraging Update On Dereck Lively II Heading Into Training Camp

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We continue our journey through the Phoenix Suns archives, once again searching for statistical anomalies hidden throughout the organization’s 58-year history.

Two weeks ago, it was free throws. The Suns sit atop the all-time leaderboard with 61 made free throws in a regular-season game and rank second with 80 attempts. For good measure, we also noted that they are tied for first in free throws made in a playoff game with 57.

Today, we’re heading to the other end of the spectrum.

Make no mistake about it, the Phoenix Suns are not an organization with a long history of elite rebounders. If I asked you to name the top three rebounding seasons in franchise history based on rebounds per game, could you get all three right? Probably not. It’s something I wrote about three summers ago, and it remains true today. Among the NBA’s 30 teams, the Suns rank 25th in the highest single-season rebounding average in franchise history.

To find the game in which the Phoenix Suns grabbed the most rebounds in franchise history, you have to go all the way back to December 10, 1969, when they defeated the Baltimore Bullets, 137-107. This was before offensive and defensive rebounds were tracked separately, so only total rebounds were recorded. The Suns finished with 77 of them, led by franchise great Paul Silas, who corralled 16. Jim Fox added 15, Neal Walk had 13, and Connie Hawkins finished with 11.

Phoenix grabbed 76 rebounds against the Seattle SuperSonics in March 1972 and reached 75 a couple of times in 1971. What’s interesting is that 29 of the 30 best rebounding games in franchise history occurred between 1968 and 1973. The lone exception came in December 1988, when the Suns grabbed 70 against the Denver Nuggets.

Yes, the NBA was much different back then. It still shows that the Suns haven’t been an elite rebounding team in more than 50 years. That’s right. If you rank every franchise by its highest single-season rebounding average, the Phoenix Suns come in 26th, thanks to Paul Silas’s performance in 1971.

That isn’t necessarily the statistical anomaly, though. What further fortifies the point is where the best rebounding game in Suns history ranks among every game ever played. The NBA record is 112 rebounds, set by the Boston Celtics on Christmas Eve in 1960. Bill Russell grabbed 29 himself.

So where do the Suns land? Their franchise record of 77 rebounds ranks 405th all time. Take that in for a second. There have been 404 games in which a team grabbed more rebounds than the best rebounding performance in Phoenix Suns history. Point fortified.

The anomaly isn’t that the Suns once grabbed 77 rebounds in a game. It’s that 77 stands as their best ever. For a franchise that has existed for nearly six decades, the absence of dominant rebounding seasons is almost as remarkable as any individual record. Some organizations become known for defense, others for shooting or star power. Historically, rebounding has never been part of the Suns’ identity, and the numbers tell that story better than any memory ever could.