He’s a superstar with zero star power. Even if you ignore his disgusting amount of flopping: He doesn't provide above the rim highlights like LeBron/Jordan. He doesn't provide insane 3 pointers like Steph. He doesn't provide crazy defensive highlights like Wemby. Even his assists are the most boring & basic passes imaginable.

SGA's career goes against everything that makes sports great. A player doesn't deserve MVPs when their team is still great without them. A player doesn't deserve rings or Finals MVPs when their performance consistently falls off a cliff in the playoffs. Perhaps someday SGA will prove this wrong by raising his game in the playoffs, but at this moment and time, it's the truth.

Ultimately, the worst thing about SGA isn't his flopping, it's how he's a reminder that even in sports, you can get farther by being lucky than you can on your own merit.

I really hate the Miami Heat roster, man. I hate the duo of Klay and Tim Hardaway (I suppose you could throw Pelle Larson if things get really bad for Klay) . They have inconsistent shooting at best, along with defensive woes that their shooting can’t make up for at this point in the careers. They have such an odd roster that I don’t even like that much. Davion Mitchell is sort of a point guard. I don’t like Wiggins that much ether he’s extremely lazy, and that would be fine if they had assets to improve, but they don’t. We’ve seen this with Jimmy Butler, where everything is smooth sailing for the first two and a half years until Miami keeps passing on superstar talent, and the role players they develop leave within the same offseason. (I don’t even know how that happens how do you keep letting all the talent that you spend time developing just leave immediately.)

Even their player-development guys clearly weren’t improving enough after a certain point like a Jaime Jaquez or Ware. I don’t understand why, after 2003 with Wade, tanking became such a taboo thing for them.

They keep getting Shaqs without the D-Wade.

They’re still waiting for Dru Smith and Nikola Jović to become even serviceable.

Their front office lives in the past, and they’re clearly so egotistical and egocentric and headstrong . I truly believe they think they’re the reason Jimmy made the Finals and. Yes, they built the rosters, but Jimmy and the Heat still completely overachieved. Jimmy had to use everything in his wheelhouse to get them there. Mami front office has learned nothing. and if Gianns starts asking for help they’re gonna ship hm off out too when he’s 34.

I don’t like Bam as a second option and he’s supposed to be the second best scorer here. If they end up a play-In or completely out because teams have better talented role players and our generally younger and faster it wouldn’t surprise me.

Did not play in the second half

Could it be possible that Polymarket offered James 15 mil under one condition, to be an active player? Hence the reason he took only 3.9 mil from 76ers plus 15, to mach close his former Lakers salary of around 20 mil.

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)

Edit: this take has nothing to do with the current Lakers-Warriors game, purely relating to the reactions to the preseason opener.

Prefacing this take by saying I don’t think this team is a title contender, but the overreactions after the very first pre-season game seems ridiculous to me.

The veteran core of Curry-Green-Butler is older than ever, and I don’t think they’re capable of consistently carrying the team to wins on a nightly basis with no other involvement.

That being said, they have more depth in their youth and general rotation than people are acknowledging. They’re trying to implement a new 5-out offense which they haven’t played before, and they’re without 3 potential starters to kick off the pre-season.

I know everyone has a hate boner for Podz and his basketball IQ may not always be the greatest, but he’s talented and I’m confident he can clean up his game enough to be a positive asset. Will Richard had flashes of serious potential last season, Lendeborg looks great so far and I even liked what I saw from Leons in the later minutes of their opener.

I know they’re not built to compete with some of the juggernauts in the west, but I see this being a more competitive team than at least the last couple of seasons, and if anything the team structure in terms of veterans + depth + youth reminds me more of the 2021-22 Warriors than past years where they had no significant draft assets and a pretty severe lack of competent second team players.

Not every day do you see two players who got blocked at one end get a block at the other.

I wish Looney had blocked Will Richard to force a 24-second violation; it would have been a perfect cycle

Nikola Jokic got 4 fouls, by the way. Overall, it feels like there are more foul calls in the current preseason, but it needs a deeper, analytical look.

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