Michigan State men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo is unhappy with the current state of college basketball, and he’s speaking his mind.
Tom Izzo rips NCAA over college basketball teams adding NBA G League players
After a pair of college basketball programs added G League players, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo ripped the NCAA, saying it needs to 'regroup'
NCAA volleyball rankings: Updated AVCA Top 25 poll, RPI, top 16 seeds
NCAA women's volleyball selection show is Nov. 30. Which teams will hear their names? Check out the updated AVCA Top 25 poll and RPI rankings.
USA TODAY Network Big 12 basketball predictions, preseason awards, all-conference teams
We polled reporters within the USA TODAY Network who cover Big 12 schools for their preseason predictions, all-conference teams and preseason awards.
Michael Jordan is going to be part of NBC’s NBA coverage. His reason: to give back to the game
Michael Jordan made his debut as a special contributor to NBC Sports' return to NBA broadcasting on Tuesday night, saying he's doing so as a way to give back to basketball. Jordan, speaking to NBC play-by-play voice Mike Tirico in the first installment of a series the network is calling “MJ: Insights to Excellence,” said he makes a conscious decision to prioritize time with family over being seen more in the public basketball eye. “I have an obligation to the game of basketball ... as a basketball player is to be able to pass on messages of success and dedication to the game of basketball," Jordan said during a segment at halftime of the season-opening game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets.
St. John’s tops Big East preseason poll for 1st time since 1991
The Red Storm received seven of the first-place votes from the conference’s coaches Tuesday. UConn garnered the other four.
UConn’s Geno Auriemma and his squad top Big East preseason poll after 12th national title
Geno Auriemma and UConn are in a familiar place, atop the Big East preseason poll. The Huskies were a unanimous choice by the coaches Tuesday to win the conference again. The Huskies are coming off a 12th national championship led by preseason player of the year Sarah Strong.
St. John’s, Rick Pitino edge UConn, Dan Hurley in Big East men’s basketball preseason poll
St. John's and coach Rick Pitino finished atop the Big East men's basketball preseason poll, edging out UConn and coach Dan Hurley
St. John’s tops Big East preseason poll for 1st time since 1991
St. John's is No. 1 in the Big East Conference preseason poll for the first time in three decades. The Red Storm received seven of the first-place votes from the conference's coaches Tuesday. UConn garnered the other four.
NCAA president urges conferences and schools to be cautious of equity deals
The president of the NCAA is urging schools and conferences tempted by riches offered through potential deals with new equity sources to think about the long-term repercussions before jumping into the deals. “My message to everybody on this would be really simple: Be really careful,'" Charlie Baker said Monday at a Big East roundtable on the future of college basketball. With schools and conferences under increasing pressure to raise funds to pay their players, reports of them negotiating with new equity sources for college sports are becoming more frequent.
Purdue’s Braden Smith earns unanimous AP preseason All-America honors, joined by Texas Tech’s JT Toppin
Braden Smith played with Zach Edey and followed his large footsteps by becoming an All-American last season. The Purdue guard had a chance to leave for the NBA over the summer, but, like Edey before him, decided to return for another chance at a national championship under coach Matt Painter.
Florida, UConn and Duke highlight MSG college basketball schedule featuring 9 national champs
Reigning national champion Florida is one of 12 teams in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 college basketball poll scheduled to play at Madison Square Garden this season. UConn and Duke will make multiple appearances inside “The World’s Most Famous Arena,” which is set to host seven programs ranked in the top 10 and nine that have won an NCAA title. No. 5 St. John's, the defending Big East champion, will play 12 regular-season home games at MSG in its third year under Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino — the school's most since 1951-52.
Portland reaches extensions with Shaedon Sharpe (4 years, $90 million), Toumani Camara (4 years, $82 million)
There are legitimate questions about what the Portland Trail Blazers will look like on the court in a few years and which parts of their young core will be part of that future, but an athletic scoring wing and an All-Defense forward can fit in any plan.
Which is why Portland locked down two key young players on Sunday with rookie contract extensions. The Blazers and Shaedon Sharpe agreed to a four-year, $90 million extension, a story broken by Shams Charania of ESPN. The Trail Blazers have also agreed to a four-year, $82 million contract extension with defensive forward Toumani Camara, a deal also broken by ESPN’s Charania.
This is fantastic work by the Portland front office — they have locked up their two best wing players for the next five years at a price that will be less than 15% of the salary cap (hat tip to Keith Smith).
Sharpe is an athletic wing who averaged a career-high 18.5 points a game last season, adding 4.5 rebounds a night, but seems poised for a breakout season. He needs to improve his efficiency — 31.1% on 3-pointers last season and a 55.1 true shooting percentage that was a tick below the league average — and on the defensive end, but if he does, this will be a steal of a contract. His athleticism and ability to throw down dunks are not in question.
A lot of people around the league thought Sharpe's extension would end up north of $100 million, to get him at $90 million for the four years is a win for the Trail Blazers.
The Camara extension locks up a 25-year-old All-Defense Team player from a year ago who has been improving on offense each season. Camara's max extension would have been four years, $87 million, and that would have been a fair price. To get him on a contract worth less than $21 million on average is a great deal from Portland's front office.
Camara was almost a throw-in part of the three-team trade that sent Damian Lillard to Milwaukee and brought Deandre Ayton to Portland, but he ended up being one of the best parts of it for the Blazers. On top of being an elite defender, Camara is improving on offense and averaged 11.3 points and 5.8 rebounds while shooting 37.5% from beyond the arc last season.
From oops to aahs, Jaxson Hayes and Lakers work to catch more of Luka Doncic's passes
Lakers center Jaxson Hayes avoided major injury on his right wrist after a hard fall in Friday’s preseason finale as X-rays taken after the game came back negative and an MRI scan revealed what Hayes on Sunday called "a light sprain."
The 7-footer missed the second half of Friday’s exhibition game with a right wrist contusion after he caught a lob from Luka Doncic and was bumped in the air while jamming a two-handed dunk in the first quarter. He stayed in the game for the second quarter and expects to be ready for Tuesday’s regular-season opener against the Golden State Warriors.
“Being a dummy,” Hayes said after practice Sunday of how he got hurt on the play. “I shouldn't have tried to catch myself, should've just fallen."
Hayes scored six points in the preseason loss to the Sacramento Kings, all on soaring dunks. He and Doncic connected on Hayes’ first basket of the game as they were playing together in the preseason for the first time.
Read more:Luka Doncic sharp again, but Kings rally to beat Lakers
Doncic’s wizardry in the pick-and-roll makes him an athletic rim-running center’s dream as the crafty point guard drops passes from every imaginable angle. But in Doncic’s first training camp with the Lakers since last year’s midseason trade, players, including new center Deandre Ayton are still adjusting to Doncic’s passes.
While coach JJ Redick said he was happy with the Lakers’ 28 assists to 10 turnovers in the preseason game against the Kings, he estimated the team missed seven assist opportunities because of misfired lobs or overly complicated passes.
“For all bigs and point guards, when you start playing with a new big or a new point guard, it's a learning period,” Hayes said. “You just learn how they like their screens. You learn how they like you to roll to the hoop. It's just little things. You learn where they like to pass you the ball. … It's just those guys [Doncic and Ayton] are figuring each other out, just like me and Luka did last year."
The chemistry between Hayes and Doncic has gotten so strong that Hayes is being recruited to join the Slovenian national team and said he is working on getting a Slovenian passport. He and Doncic are both clients of agent Bill Duffy, and Doncic and his family have been involved in the process for about a year and half, Hayes said.
Hayes watched Slovenia’s run to the quarterfinals in EuroBasket with a careful eye knowing that joining the team could be a possibility for him in the future. FIBA allows each national team to have one naturalized player, which the international basketball governing body defines as a player who obtains their passport for that country after turning 16.
Hayes said he had hopes of representing the United States, but USA Basketball does not have open tryouts for senior national teams.
“I wanted to just play on that stage,” Hayes said. “So I'm going do whatever it takes to play on that stage."
Etc.
The Lakers cut down their roster to 14 standard contract players on Saturday, waiving RJ Davis, Augustas Marciulionis, Anton Watson and Nate Williams after training camp officially ended. The team kept center Christian Koloko and guards Chris Manon and Nick Smith Jr. on two-way contracts. ... Manon was nursing an ankle injury during training camp but was a full participant in practice on Sunday. Bronny James (ankle) and rookie Adou Thiero (knee) went through a modified workout.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Where Steph Curry ranks on NBA's current, future all-time career earnings list
Where Steph Curry ranks on NBA's current, future all-time career earnings list originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Stephen Curry hasn’t just changed the way basketball is played — he has changed how it’s valued.
Spotrac released its updated list of the NBA’s highest career earners, and Curry currently sits third, behind Kevin Durant and LeBron James. Durant passed James for the top spot on Sunday after signing a two-year, $90 million extension with the Phoenix Suns, which includes a player option for the 2027–28 season.
Other members of the top 10 include Devin Booker, Paul George, Anthony Davis, Joel Embiid, Damian Lillard, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jayson Tatum — a mix of established stars and younger faces quickly climbing the list.
That younger wave could soon reshape the standings entirely. With Booker, Gilgeous-Alexander and Tatum all still in their late-20s and already on max extensions, they’re on pace to shatter the totals set by Curry, James and Durant as new TV deals and cap increases drive salaries even higher.
Curry, though, has been at the forefront of the league’s salary evolution. In 2017, he became the first player in NBA history to sign a $200 million contract, a five-year deal worth $201 million. Two years later, he became the first to make more than $40 million in a single season.
He topped that milestone again in 2021, signing a four-year, $215 million extension that made him the first player ever to sign multiple $200 million contracts. That deal helped him become the first to earn over $50 million in 2023–24, and by 2026–27, he is set to be the first player to surpass $60 million in a single season.
Over the past few years, Curry has climbed steadily up Spotrac’s career earnings rankings. He first appeared in the top 10 at No. 7 through 2022–23, rose to No. 4 through 2023–24, and reached No. 3 this year, where he is expected to remain for the foreseeable future as his current deal runs through 2026–27.
Curry’s journey into the NBA’s top three career earners reflects more than a decade of sustained excellence — and positions him to stay there as new deals reshape the league’s financial landscape.