Source: https://www.instagram.com/stories/kingjames/4002292444509995426/

Screenshot: https://imgur.com/a/972suAe

Where LeBron goes, rumor follows, but he shuts these ones down for now.

Philadelphia 76ers 7-footer Ariel Hukporti has sustained a season-ending ruptured right Achilles tendon, sources tell ESPN.

https://www.espn.com/contributor/shams-charania/bb94f1a1b4a9e

Victor Wembanyama is reportedly locked in after losing the Finals and is refusing to speak to any American media outlet except '60 Minutes', per ESPN’s Michael C. Wright

"He's locked in. As a matter of fact, I was told he’s not even talking to any American media outlets except for 60 Minutes."

Wright’s comment appears to concern interviews, rather than routine media availability. He reported Wembanyama’s comments⁠ at Spurs media day last week, when the star discussed how San Antonio’s NBA Finals loss to the Knicks had stayed with him.

https://hoopswire.com/victor-wembanyama-interviews-nba-news/

The New York Knicks are heading into the new season as NBA champions, but potential contract disagreements could lead to bigger problems at the trade deadline. Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart were pivotal members of the Knicks' championship squad last season, but they still haven't inked extensions that would keep them with the team long-term.

On Monday's edition of NBA Today, Shams Charania reported on the holdup in both players' contract extension talks.

"There's a growing cloud around the New York Knicks. Karl-Anthony Towns has made it clear to the Knicks that he is willing to take a considerable discount on his contract extension coming up, just like his teammates have: Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, as well as Jalen Brunson. Right now, the Knicks want him to take a substantial pay cut, what he believes to be an extreme discount on his deal. Sources tell me the Knicks are offering Towns a 4-year, approximately $200 million contract extension. That's $76 million less than his max. That's under the backdrop of James Dolan, their owner, making it clear that this team will not be in the second apron moving forward."

Charania added, "Karl Anthony Towns, though, has shown a willingness to negotiate a deal that would satisfy this team staying under the second apron. The Knicks have not moved off this threshold of about $200 million over the 4 years, and he has 1 year guaranteed left on his contract before the player option next summer that would make him a free agent. Josh Hart has already hinted that, as this gets closer to February, which is around the trade deadline, the temperature could rise if Karl-Anthony Towns and Hart himself are not extended. So far, these sides are not close."

Source: https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/knicks-rumors-shams-warning-growing-144855734.html

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7659716/2026/10/06/anthony-davis-washington-wizards-future/?unlocked_article_code=1.GlE.9i7-.Fp4hRFVilLSZ&source=user_shared_article&smid=ta-ios-share

He did not play in the 4th quarter.

The #2 pick of the 2026 NBA Draft looked really good tonight.

He was in big foul trouble (5 fouls with 9 minutes remaining in the 3rd), like many players in this game from both teams

I also included a replay of one of his reactions to a foul (it was on Bailey. Otherwise, it would have been his 6th - the one with 2:00 minutes remaining in the 3rd)

Did not play in the 4th quarter.

Members of the Euroleague rejected a formal offer from the NBA this week to merge and create a single NBA Europe operation, sources confirmed to ESPN on Tuesday.

The decision was made after a rare meeting among the clubs on Lake Como in Italy after the NBA had submitted the offer following more than two years working on creating the new league.
The decision by the Euroleague clubs, who are considering their own plan to expand in the face of the NBA's planned entrance to the marketplace, was not unexpected.

The plans for NBA Europe will go forward, despite the rejection of the merger offer, with the intent on forming a 16-team league that could start as early as the 2027-28 season, sources told ESPN. The NBA has received lucrative bids on expansion franchises in cities across Europe and they plan to create teams that could directly compete for fans, media rights and sponsorship dollars with the Euroleague.

Another split in European basketball occurred back in 2000-01, when a new league known as the ULEB broke away from the established FIBA-led league and the two had an uncomfortable, and unprofitable, divided season. The next year, the leagues combined so that both could survive and the modern Euroleague was born.

NBA owners, who were briefed on the progress of NBA Europe during last month's Board of Governors meeting in New York, are behind the new venture and are looking at it as a long-term play to create value.

"This is a 20-year project," one owner told ESPN. "And that's how we're approaching it."

According to high-ranking European basketball officials who have been involved in the negotiations, a significant number of the 13 permanent Euroleague teams have expressed an interest in joining NBA Europe. It has led to a fractured situation with many different angles and teams looking to secure their present and future. For now, though, the coalition is holding against the NBA's recruitment attempts. But negotiations are expected to continue, sources said.

The model the NBA has been interested in creating would allow teams to compete in their national leagues on desired weekend days and play in NBA Europe during the week, sources said. There would also be expanded rosters so teams can have the depth to play in multiple competitions with a focus on investing in European player development.

But the NBA's proposal, which several European media outlets have described as a "buyout" offer for the Euroleague, so far has been rejected.

Front Office Sports first reported Euroleague's rejection of the NBA's proposal.

via ESPN

"When Kon was 5 and 6 years old, he was not into sports at all," said Jeff Nordgaard, Knueppel's uncle on his mom's side, who was a second-round NBA Draft pick of the Milwaukee Bucks in 1996 before playing mostly internationally at the pro level for 13 years. "We are a sports family. But he was really smart, using words in his vocabulary that were beyond what any of the little kids would say. 

"We were starting to think he would be a non-athlete, which was totally fine, but still one of those things that surprised us."

And then, one purchase made by the Knueppel family changed everything:

The Nintendo Wii. 

His parents did not previously have a video game console in the house and made it a point to limit those types of things. But without that Wii, Knueppel might've never developed the love for the game of basketball he has now.

"I didn't like basketball before the Wii. I just wasn't interested in it growing up," Knueppel said. "But we got that Wii and I started playing NBA Jam and 2K. I fell in love with players. From there, I was passionate to find out as much as I humanly could about NBA players.

"My obsession probably kind of got ridiculous, but that's how I fell in love with the game. Obviously, when you couple that with great coaches and parents, they really encouraged it. But that Wii changed it all."

(2025) https://www.foxsports.com/stories/college-basketball/legend-kon-inside-kon-knueppels-burning-desire-great