Braves

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In the first few days of his second presidential term, Donald Trump signed a number of executive orders that will have an impact on the healthcare industry, some issuing new policies and some rescinding policies set forth by prior administrations. This has had a devastating impact on the American people.
While the country is on pins and needles awaiting the next bomb (both literally and figuratively) to drop from the Trump administration, Michael Jordan has figured out a way to actively combat one of the casualties (U.S. Health Care) of Trump&rsquo;s plan for mass deportations of undocumented immigrants and extended tax cuts for the upper echelon of the American population.&nbsp;
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<div>From an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/01/republicans-medicaid-cuts">article in The Guardian titled:&nbsp;&ldquo;Medicaid recipients fear &lsquo;buzzsaw cuts&rsquo; for Trump&rsquo;s agenda&rdquo;</a>, it reads&nbsp;</div>
<div>&ldquo;Republicans are considering a rollback of the federal social safety net, particularly Medicaid, which has nearly 80 million enrollees in all 50 states. The budget plan proposes an $880bn reduction in funding for the insurance over the next 10 years, an amount that experts warn would hollow out the program and have ripple effects across the entire American healthcare system.&rdquo;</div>
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<div>From an <a href="https://www.maynardnexsen.com/publication-president-trumps-latest-executive-orders-impacting-health-care">article in the MaynardNexsen titled &ldquo;President Trump&rsquo;s Latest Executive Orders Impacting Healthcare&rdquo;</a> it reads &ldquo;President Trump rescinded former President Joe Biden&rsquo;s order that extended the enrollment periods for Affordable Care Act (Obama Care) plans in most states, and granted additional funding for third parties aiding enrollment in ACA insurance. While ACA enrollment nearly doubled under the Biden administration to about 24 million people, those gains are attributed primarily to government subsidies that lowered the cost of ACA premiums. The effect this rescission will have on enrollment trends is one thing to watch in the coming years&rdquo;</div>
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<div>While all this is happening in real-time, Michael Jordan opened his fourth health clinic in North Carolina on February 19 in Wilmington. This new clinic, established in collaboration with Novant Health, focuses on providing care to uninsured and underinsured patients.</div>
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<div>MJ has spoken publicly exhibiting a tremendous amount of sincerity and passion about how important these clinics are and how many people they will help. He has addressed the growing issue of healthcare disparities and affirmed his dedication to providing healthcare to all people regardless of their income or economic status in particular in his hometown of North Carolina.&nbsp;</div>
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<div>Many people are pleasantly surprised to see this side of MJ, but it goes along with what I witnessed as his teammate for the Washington Wizards.&nbsp;</div>
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<div>I recall one time in particular when I was sitting in the training room getting treatment and he was getting his knee drained, which fans didn&rsquo;t know at the time he had to often do in order to continue playing. MJ asked me about a book (Soul On Ice by Eldridge Cleaver) he saw me reading on the plane and we engaged in a deep conversation about race, politics, the community, and much more.&nbsp;</div>
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Sitting in earshot was his bodyguard, George, who chimed in and said jokingly, &ldquo;Yeah Michael doesn&rsquo;t like to tell anybody the things he does, so people don&rsquo;t think he does anything&rdquo;&nbsp;
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<div>He then proceeded to tell me a story of when MJ was all set to have this big event at an exclusive golf resort in Georgia back in the day, and he found out that they were still keeping an old tradition of not allowing Black People to join the club, but of course, they would let MJ participate. Well, long story short, right before the event, MJ informed the organizers that he was going to cancel everything if they didn&rsquo;t change their policy and of course, they capitulated to his demands.&nbsp;</div>
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<div>I remember responding saying, &ldquo;That&rsquo;s a great story that people need to hear. Why wouldn&rsquo;t you tell people that ?&rdquo; And MJ looked at me and said, &ldquo;No, I don&rsquo;t do it for that.&rdquo; I remember looking at George and him saying, &ldquo;See, he doesn&rsquo;t want to tell anybody anything&rdquo;&nbsp;</div>
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<div>I tell this story for this reason. Playing with MJ for two years with the Wizards, I saw him do a lot of things quietly that nobody knew about. And from time to time I would whisper to him, &ldquo;You&rsquo;re not gonna tell anyone about this either huh?&rdquo; And he would just smile and shake his head. In fact, he didn&rsquo;t even tell anyone that he donated his entire salary to the victims of 9-11. I remember being in the locker room when he was watching the coverage on TV and made the decision. Nobody found out until later that he did that.&nbsp;</div>
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<div>Now, for years I have been on panels and programs talking about activism and athletes and they would always bring up MJ as the antithesis to the activist athlete and his infamous statement &ldquo;Republicans Buy Shoes Too&rdquo;. They would always paint MJ as the athlete who doesn&rsquo;t care about the community or really anything outside of himself and I would always push back on that because that&rsquo;s just not what I saw when I was his teammate. Now, did he lend his voice to causes or speak out on political issues that directly impact the Black Community? No, he didn&rsquo;t. But did he do nothing behind the scenes and have no interest or care for the community? I can&rsquo;t say that because that&rsquo;s not what I saw.&nbsp;</div>
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<div>People don&rsquo;t know about MJ&rsquo;s community impact platform, known as the Black Community Commitment (BCC), which is a 10-year, $100 million initiative focused on creating equitable futures for Black Americans through education, economic justice, narrative change, and social justice.</div>
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<div>They also don&rsquo;t know about him funding nonprofit institutional grantees and grassroots organizations across the country through his Open Call Community Grants program.&nbsp;They don&rsquo;t know about his Jordan Brand Wings Scholars Program which has sent hundreds of kids to college on full scholarships. But like George told me in the training room, he doesn&rsquo;t tell anyone so people assume he does nothing in the community.&nbsp;</div>
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<div>Now, going back to MJ&rsquo;s 4th healthcare clinic.&nbsp;There is indeed currently a national healthcare crisis in the United States.&nbsp;In 2025, an estimated 27.1 million Americans of all ages are projected to be uninsured, representing an uninsured rate of 8.2%, according to data from the National Health Interview Survey. MJ&rsquo;s efforts have helped thousands of uninsured Americans actually receive care.</div>
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<div>Furthermore, as many Americans have found out the hard way, being insured does not guarantee full coverage. There is a large percentage of working-class Americans who are currently drowning in medical expenses, faced with increased costs of medications (thanks to the Trump administration), and higher co-pays all while having limited access to essential treatments.&nbsp;</div>
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<div>An article by Vishwesha Kumar of Fadeaway World, described Jordan&rsquo;s Health Clinic as,&nbsp;&ldquo;After witnessing the positive impact of these centers, Jordan donated $10 million to Novant Health to expand the project, leading to additional clinics being built in Wilmington. His efforts have helped thousands of patients receive their first-ever primary care visits, reinforcing his dedication to improving healthcare access.</div>
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The new Wilmington facility spans 7,300 square feet and includes 12 patient rooms, offering comprehensive medical services to uninsured and underinsured individuals. In addition to primary care physicians, the clinic will have a community health worker to connect patients with essential local resources. The facility will be open on weekdays, aiming to serve as a lifeline for many who struggle to access consistent coverage.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Micheal Jordan doesn&rsquo;t have to do any of this. He could ride off into the sunset and not care about what anyone thinks about him. He doesn&rsquo;t need any additional notoriety. He already has all the fame a man could possibly have. He doesn&rsquo;t need pats on the back or nods of approval from anyone. He does this because he genuinely cares.&nbsp;
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<div>&ldquo;Michael Jordan gives back but you didn't know it. Like LeBron does, but it's just seldom they show it.&rdquo;~Nas</div>
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While all this is happening in real-time, Michael Jordan opened his fourth health clinic in North Carolina.

In This Trump Era, Michael Jordan’s Free Health Clinics Are Very Much Needed

The 2024 NBA All-Star Saturday Night at the Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis saw some electrifying highlights across all four events, including a spectacular shooting display and jaw-dropping dunks. Here&rsquo;s a quick recap of everything that went down.
Team Pacers rule 2024 Kia Skills Challenge
After a tight contest, Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin and Myles Turner of Team Pacers take the crown of the NBA&rsquo;s Skills Challenge. The hometown team bested other competitors in the field including Team Top Picks (Victor Wembanyama, Paolo Banchero and Anthony Edwards) and Team All-Stars (Trae Young, Tyrese Maxey and Scottie Barnes).
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"INDYYYY" Team Pacers lifts the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KiaSkills?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#KiaSkills</a> trophy infront of the home crowd 🙌<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/StateFarmSaturday?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#StateFarmSaturday</a> on TNT <a href="https://t.co/E7AnW3heYQ">pic.twitter.com/E7AnW3heYQ</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1759037129806475764?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2024</a></blockquote>

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Team Pacers got off to a hot start, winning the first two events in the Three-man Relay and Passing Round with a total time of 1:07 (relay) and 92 points (passing round), with each amounting to 100 challenge points. Team All-Stars then got hot in the shooting round to claim the event, which was worth 200 challenge points.
With the score tied at 200 challenge points each, the two teams had a tie-breaker round, which was a half-court shot. Team All-Stars went first and nailed the shot with a total time of 58.8 seconds, but Haliburton and Team Pacers responded to hit their's more than 20 seconds quicker to win the challenge.
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HOME TOWN CHAMPS 🏆 Tyrese Haliburton hits the game-winning half-court dagger as the Team Pacers WIN the 2024 NBA Skills Challenge 🙌🏾<a href="https://t.co/jpP6fhvswH">pic.twitter.com/jpP6fhvswH</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1759036015224770883?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2024</a></blockquote>

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This was the second win of All-Star Weekend for the home team, after Mathurin also won the MVP award of the Rising Stars Challenge on Friday night.
Damian Lillard wins back-to-back Three-Point Shootout titles
The Milwaukee Bucks' Damian Lillard earned his second-straight Starry Three-Point Contest title in a thriller on Saturday night.
At the final rack and needing just one shot to seal the title, Lillard missed out on his first four attempts before sinking the last shot to defend his crown in style.
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DAME TIME ⌚️ Damian Lillard hits 26 treys to take home the 2024 NBA 3-Point Contest🎯 BACK-TO-BACK 🏆<a href="https://t.co/0fqcoAPzRI">pic.twitter.com/0fqcoAPzRI</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1759049093404303702?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2024</a></blockquote>
He became the first back-to-back winner of the event since Jason Kapono, who won in 2007 and 2008.
Lillard was joined by the Atlanta Hawks&rsquo; Trae Young and the Minnesota Timberwolves&rsquo; Karl-Anthony Towns in the final round and both scored 24 points apiece, which set the stage for "Dame Time."
Steph Curry beats Sabrina Ionescu in "Steph vs. Sabrina" Shootout
Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry needed every point he could muster to fend off Sabrina Ionescu of the WNBA&rsquo;s New York Liberty to win the first-ever NBA vs WNBA 3-Point Challenge.
Ionescu, who set the record for points scored in a Three-Point Shootout with 37, put immense pressure on Curry by tallying 26 points to start the face-off.&nbsp;
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SABRINA IONESCU. 26 POINTS. COOKING. Stephen Curry is up next on TNT! <a href="https://t.co/fvM9iOA0ZD">https://t.co/fvM9iOA0ZD</a> <a href="https://t.co/nlDCX25eIx">pic.twitter.com/nlDCX25eIx</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1759051195702706262?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2024</a></blockquote>

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However, the greatest shooter of all-time was not to be deterred as he displayed cold-blooded shooting and ended up with 29 points to win the event.
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NIGHT NIGHT 🌙 Stephen Curry WENT OFF with 29 threes to win the inaugural NBA vs. WNBA 3-POINT CHALLENGE 🏆<a href="https://t.co/kkOp7bGfHK">pic.twitter.com/kkOp7bGfHK</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1759053236214866271?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2024</a></blockquote>

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The historic first-of-its-kind event was a success, with each made shot triggering a donation from State Farm to the NBA Foundation to support economic empowerment in the Black community.
Mac McClung defends 2024 AT&amp;T Slam Dunk Contest title
Mac McClung saved his best for last as he became the first player since Zach LaVine to win the AT&amp;T Slam Dunk Contest in back-to-back years.
The Osceola Magic guard pulled off a reverse windmill dunk while jumping over NBA legend Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal to garner the only perfect score of the evening.
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HE'S DONE IT AGAIN 🤯 Mac McClung is the back-to-back <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ATTSlamDunk?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ATTSlamDunk</a> champion ‼️ Straight 5⃣0⃣'s<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/StateFarmSaturday?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#StateFarmSaturday</a> on TNT <a href="https://t.co/p2sBx7h2IM">pic.twitter.com/p2sBx7h2IM</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1759064682789269518?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2024</a></blockquote>

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McClung defeated the field of competitors that included the Boston Celtics&rsquo; and NBA All-Star Jaylen Brown, Miami Heat&rsquo;s Jaime Jaquez Jr. and New York Knicks&rsquo; Jacob Toppin to defend his title.

Here’s a quick recap of everything that went down during the 2024 NBA All-Star Saturday Night.

2024 NBA All-Star Saturday Night recap: Lillard, Curry, McClung shine

NBA all-time three-point leader and Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry and WNBA single-season three-point record-holder and New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu will compete in &ldquo;Stephen vs. Sabrina,&rdquo; the first-ever NBA vs. WNBA Three-Point Challenge, which will take place on Saturday, Feb. 17 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis during All-Star Saturday Night.
The competition will air on TNT after the Three-Point Contest and before the Slam Dunk Contest. All-Star Saturday Night will begin at 8 p.m. ET.
&ldquo;Stephen vs. Sabrina&rdquo; will follow standard Three-Point Contest rules. Curry will shoot from the NBA three-point line with NBA basketballs, and Ionescu will shoot from the WNBA three-point line with WNBA basketballs.
Ionescu challenged Curry to a three-point competition after she recorded 37 points (out of a possible 40 points) in the final round of the WNBA Three-Point Contest at WNBA All-Star 2023, setting a WNBA and NBA single-round event record and winning the contest for the first time. Curry raised the challenge once again when he was mic&rsquo;d up during Golden State&rsquo;s Jan. 25 game against the Sacramento Kings on TNT.&nbsp; Ionescu responded on social media, officially&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/sabrina_i20/status/1750731376796803252?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/sabrina_i20/status/1750731376796803252?s%3D20&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1706738564550000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0N6zsRzc9HuTqZg7tm7OY5">accepting the challenge</a>.&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
&ldquo;I think I gotta bring her out&hellip;we gotta settle this once and for all.&rdquo;<a href="https://twitter.com/StephenCurry30?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@StephenCurry30</a> challenges <a href="https://twitter.com/sabrina_i20?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@sabrina_i20</a> 👀 <a href="https://t.co/dUG2MFusAX">pic.twitter.com/dUG2MFusAX</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1750722997285961875?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 26, 2024</a></blockquote>

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Curry, a two-time NBA Three-Point Contest champion, has made an NBA-record 3,577 3-pointers in the regular season. In 2023, Ionescu set a WNBA single-season record with 128 three-pointers.
As part of the competition, Curry&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.eatlearnplay.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eat.Learn.Play.</a> nonprofit and Ionescu&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.eifoundation.org/partners/si20-foundation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SI20 Foundation</a> will receive a donation from the NBA and WNBA. In addition, each shot made by Curry and Ionescu will trigger a donation from State Farm to the <a href="https://nbafoundation.nba.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBA Foundation</a> to support economic empowerment in the Black community. Each regular three-pointer made will be valued at $1,000, the money ball at $2,000 and the &ldquo;STARRY Range Ball&rdquo; &ndash; a deep three-pointer from 29 feet, 9 inches away &ndash; at $3,000.

Stephen Curry and Sabrina Ionescu will compete in “Stephen vs. Sabrina,” the first-ever NBA vs. WNBA Three-Point Challenge

Steph Curry, Sabrina Ionescu to face off in NBA vs. WNBA 3-Point Contest

Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale is the recipient of the WNBA Cares Community Assist award for July. The award recognizes Ogunbowale&rsquo;s efforts towards education reform and dedication to using her platform to uplift female athletes around the world.&nbsp;
As the daughter of two educators, Ogunbowale is passionate about education reform and supporting schools locally and nationally. In July, Ogunbowale led the 2023 Dallas Wings' Teacher Appreciation and Back to School initiatives.
Ahead of the Wings&rsquo; Back to School Night, she surprised teachers at Speer Elementary School &ndash; a public school with 95% of enrolled students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds &ndash; in Arlington, Texas with a renovated teacher&rsquo;s lounge, in partnership with Dwell with Dignity. The refurbished lounge included new furniture and appliances, as well as signed Ogunbowale jerseys. Additionally, one teacher was selected through a contest to have their school supplies list cleared by the Dallas Wings Community Foundation.
Throughout the year, Ogunbowale has supported education reform through a variety of initiatives. Last fall, she served as principal for a day at a local middle school to learn more about the challenges Title I schools experience. She also provided lunch to teachers at a local school during Teacher Appreciation Week.
In recognition of Ogunbowale&rsquo;s efforts, the WNBA will make a $5,000 donation to the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.
Each month during the season, the WNBA Cares Community Assist award recognizes a player who best demonstrates the passion that the league and WNBA players share for giving back to their communities.

Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale is the recipient of the WNBA's Cares Community Assist award for July.

Arike Ogunbowale wins WNBA Cares Community Assist award for July

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry has been named the 2022-23 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion, the NBA announced today.
Curry was selected from a group of <a href="https://www.nba.com/news/2023-kareem-abdul-jabbar-finalists-revealed" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nba.com/news/2023-kareem-abdul-jabbar-finalists-revealed&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1684950559417000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0yR7wPqL_AlyY9Kx217W6h">five finalists</a>&nbsp;for his dedication to pursuing social justice and advancing Abdul-Jabbar&rsquo;s life mission to engage, empower and drive equality for individuals and groups who have been historically marginalized or systemically disadvantaged.
Curry prioritizes uplifting communities by fostering equity and creating access to opportunity. As a co-chair of former First Lady Michelle Obama&rsquo;s &ldquo;When We All Vote&rdquo; initiative, Curry uses his platform to drive voter registration, education and turnout, most recently during the 2022 election season. His role encouraged millions of new voters to participate in the political process and make their voices heard through civic engagement. As part of his ongoing voting-related efforts, Curry participated in the National Basketball Social Justice Coalition&rsquo;s &ldquo;Freedom to Vote&rdquo; <a href="https://twitter.com/representus/status/1470182428547244034?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/representus/status/1470182428547244034?s%3D20&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1684950559417000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2xr1diKYJYDyNGBlgPRMQb">social-media campaign</a>&nbsp;to help advocate for the passage of the&nbsp;Freedom to Vote Act in the U.S. Senate. Curry is also committed to raising awareness around issues of community safety, utilizing the Warriors&rsquo; 2023 White House visit to engage directly with President Biden and participate in a White House press briefing with head coach Steve Kerr to publicly address the matter.
Much of Curry&rsquo;s work also focuses on supporting underrepresented groups and reducing barriers to opportunity. In 2022, he graduated from Davidson College and wrote his final thesis on gender equity in sports, an issue that anchors his progressive and innovative ventures across the consumer, entertainment and non-profit spaces. Through UNDERRATED, Curry&rsquo;s lifestyle brand that empowers underrated and underrepresented individuals by opening doors for often-overlooked student-athletes, he creates equity, access and opportunity for basketball and golf athletes around the world to be seen by college recruiters, sports agents and other industry leaders. UNDERRATED has also enabled female athletes to access the same opportunities as their male counterparts, provided scholarships for athletes and offered personal development programming for young people. Among these efforts, Curry committed $6 million in funding to the men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s golf team at Howard University, which hadn&rsquo;t been active for 50 years.
Unanimous Media, Curry&rsquo;s multimedia company rooted in the mission to inspire audiences through authentic storytelling, is dedicated to collaborating with underrepresented filmmakers, creators and writers across the entertainment industry.
Through Eat. Learn. Play., Curry&rsquo;s nonprofit co-founded with his wife Ayesha, Curry works to ensure every child in Oakland has access to nutritious food they need to be healthy and thrive, resources to foster a love for learning and reading, and safe places with equitable opportunities to play. With a mission to address and overcome the systemic socio-economic barriers facing underserved communities, Eat. Learn. Play. and its partners continue making a positive impact in the lives of children and families in need. Over the last year, Eat. Learn. Play. has provided over two million meals and 500,000 books to Oakland students, funded over 1,500 teacher-led classroom literacy projects, remodeled four new playspaces complete with multi-sport courts, playgrounds, gardens and murals, and more.
Curry has selected University of San Francisco Institute for Nonviolence and Social Justice, which investigates, illuminates, and advances the theory and practice of transformational nonviolence to confront and overcome injustice and systemic violence and contribute to the just resolution of communal conflict, to receive a $100,000 contribution from the NBA on his behalf.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m passionate about the work of the University of San Francisco Institute for Nonviolence and Social Justice and its commitment to overcoming injustice and systemic violence through peace,&rdquo; said Curry.&nbsp; &ldquo;As an athlete, I consistently leverage my platform to amplify advocacy and address the pervasive issue of systemic racism. I firmly believe that we must be vocal both on social media and in real life, taking tangible actions to effect real change in our society and for generations to come. Together, with the organization's co-founder and director, Dr. Clarence B. Jones, we have initiated meaningful conversations around social justice with the school's student body, doubled the charity&rsquo;s donations through my foundation Eat. Learn. Play.'s gift matching initiatives, and continued building on its mission in my personal and professional life by holding people accountable and promoting the principles of justice, fairness and equality today, tomorrow and in the future.&rdquo;
The four other finalists &ndash; Memphis Grizzlies forward-center Jaren Jackson Jr., San Antonio Spurs guard Tre Jones, Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul and Boston Celtics forward Grant Williams &ndash; will each receive $25,000 donations from the NBA to the following social justice organizations of their choosing: VisionC (Williams), The Girls Opportunity Alliance/The Obama Foundation (Jackson), Children's Bereavement Center of South Texas (Jones) and the Social Change Fund United (Paul).
The winner of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion award was determined by a selection committee comprised of Abdul-Jabbar and notable social justice leaders Director of The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport Dr. Richard Lapchick, National Urban League President and CEO Marc Morial, UnidosUS President and CEO Janet Murgu&iacute;a, Rise Founder and CEO Amanda Nguyen and NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Mark Tatum. This year&rsquo;s youth representative and Jr. NBA Court of Leaders member was Leah Harmon.&nbsp;

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry has been named the 2022-23 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion.

Stephen Curry named Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion

The Phoenix Suns fired Monty Williams on Saturday, two years after reaching the NBA Finals and a year after he was the overwhelming choice as the coach of the year.
Williams had great success in his four regular seasons in Phoenix, winning 63% of his games. But three consecutive years of playoff frustration was likely too much for the Suns to overlook &mdash; especially after two straight years of Phoenix trailing by 30 points at halftime of elimination games at home.
ESPN and The Athletic first reported the decision.
&ldquo;Monty has been foundational to our success over the past four seasons,&rdquo; said James Jones, the Suns&rsquo; president of basketball operations and general manager. &ldquo;We are filled with gratitude for everything Monty has contributed to the Suns and to the Valley community.&rdquo;
Jones also said he made the decision to fire Williams.
The Suns had a 2-0 lead in the 2021 NBA Finals, only to lose in six games. They lost in the second round in each of the last two seasons, both times in an embarrassing home finale &mdash; last year to Dallas, this year to Denver.
&ldquo;Neither day feels good,&rdquo; Williams said after the loss earlier this week to Denver, when asked to compare last season&rsquo;s debacle to this year&rsquo;s season-ending loss.
Saturday likely didn&rsquo;t feel good, either.
The Suns now become yet another high-profile coaching opening, after Toronto fired Nick Nurse and Milwaukee fired Mike Budenholzer. Nurse won the 2019 NBA title with the Raptors, while Budenholzer was the coach who overcame Phoenix&rsquo;s 2-0 lead in the 2021 finals.
It&rsquo;s the second major move made by the Suns in the three months or so since new owner Mat Ishbia closed the sale that gave him control of the club. In February, Ishbia green-lighted a blockbuster trade that brought Kevin Durant to Phoenix and gave the Suns a core &mdash; him, Devin Booker, former No. 1 pick Deandre Ayton and Chris Paul &mdash; that the team hoped would be enough to deliver a title.
It just didn&rsquo;t work, at least, not this year. Paul got hurt in the playoffs to continue his run of bad luck on the health front in the postseason, Ayton sat out the finale and Booker and Durant simply looked gassed by the time it was over.
Williams, after the season ended, blamed himself.
&ldquo;I take that personally, not having our team ready to play in the biggest game of the year,&rdquo; Williams said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s something that I pride myself on and it just didn&rsquo;t happen. ... That&rsquo;s something I have to take a deep look at, everything I&rsquo;m doing.&rdquo;
Williams had been the coach with the fifth-longest tenure with his current team entering Saturday &mdash; just four years. Gregg Popovich has been coach in San Antonio since 1996, Erik Spoelstra in Miami since 2008, Steve Kerr in Golden State since 2014 and Michael Malone in Denver since 2015.
Phoenix becomes the fourth team to currently have an opening, along with the Raptors, Bucks and Detroit Pistons.
Of the last nine coaches to take a team to the NBA Finals, only Kerr and Spoelstra are still with the franchise they got to the title series.
The others &mdash; Boston&rsquo;s Ime Udoka, the Los Angeles Lakers&rsquo; Frank Vogel, Cleveland&rsquo;s David Blatt and Tyronn Lue, along with Budenholzer, Nurse and now Williams -- have all been fired by the team that they brought to the finals.
&ldquo;When you look at really good coaches who have lost their jobs shortly after winning a championship, that&rsquo;s something that is just different about our business,&rdquo; Williams said Friday, adding that &ldquo;it&rsquo;s just a part of our NBA economy.&rdquo;
The Suns started 16-7 this season, looking every bit like a contender again. They were only 29-30 the rest of the way.
They used 26 starting lineup combinations, and had Durant for only eight regular-season games after the trade. They had to wait about a month after acquiring him for a January knee injury to heal, and then as he warmed up for what was supposed to be his home opener with the Suns on March 8 he slipped on the court during warm-ups, hurt an ankle and missed three more weeks.
The Suns were 12-1 in Durant&rsquo;s first 13 appearances, five of those in the playoffs. And then they went 2-4 against the Nuggets, all four losses by double figures.
And Williams took the fall.
Williams was second in the official NBA coach of the year balloting in 2021, behind New York&rsquo;s Tom Thibodeau. He was the coach of the year that season as chosen by his peers in the National Basketball Coaches Association.
A year later, Williams was the NBA&rsquo;s winner &mdash; and the NBCA one yet again.
Now, he&rsquo;s out, and the Suns will start anew.
This was Williams&rsquo; ninth season as a head coach, after a five-season run with New Orleans from 2010 through 2015. He was 194-115 with the Suns &mdash; an NBA-best 168-76 since the start of the restart bubble near Orlando to end the 2020 season.
Phoenix became one of the feel-good stories of the bubble, going 8-0 to narrowly miss out on what would have been a most improbable playoff appearance. Williams got elected as coach of the bubble &mdash; &ldquo;coach of the seeding games&rdquo; was the official NBA award &mdash; and was a four-time Coach of the Month in his tenure with the Suns as well.
That started the run of success. Paul got traded to the Suns in November 2020, the franchise&rsquo;s first finals trip since 1993 was how that season ended, and last season&rsquo;s 64-18 mark was the best in Suns history.
In his nine seasons overall, he&rsquo;s 367-336 in the regular season, plus 29-27 in the playoffs.

The Phoenix Suns fired Monty Williams on Saturday, two years after reaching the NBA Finals and a year after he was Coach of the Year.

Suns fire coach Monty Williams after 4 seasons with the club

On Monday morning, the WNBA announced the decision to expand its charter flight program ahead of the 2023 season. The expansion doesn't quite reach complete coverage yet, though a meaningful step has been taken.&nbsp;
Starting this season, the league will charter flight for all postseason games through the WNBA Finals, the Commisioner's Cup Championship Game and select regular-season games when teams have back-to-backs on the schedule.&nbsp;
It's a welcome improvement, especially in light of the regular season expanding from 36 to 40 games this year. That will naturally lead to some condensed scheduling in certain parts of the season, further highlighting the need for better travel accomodations.&nbsp;
You can read the full press release below:&nbsp;
NEW YORK, April. 10, 2023&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;The Women&rsquo;s National Basketball Association (WNBA) will be expanding its charter flights program for players this season, it was announced today by the league.&nbsp;
The charter program will include flights for all postseason games beginning with the start of 2023 WNBA Playoffs through the WNBA Finals, the WNBA Commissioner&rsquo;s Cup Championship Game, and select regular season games where teams have back-to-back games on the schedule.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We continue the hard work of transforming the business of the league, and the ability to expand this program is a direct result of that,&rdquo; said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. &ldquo;Since joining the league a few years ago, a goal of mine has been to enhance the overall player experience and, in that regard, make incremental improvements where we are able to do so and when we believe the economic model would support it for the long-term. I&rsquo;m pleased that we are able to broaden the program this year for the players. As the league continues to grow, we will look to do more in the future.&rdquo;
Previously, the WNBA approved charter flights in specific instances during select games in recent years and in 2022 expanded the program to include the WNBA Commissioner&rsquo;s Cup Championship Game and all WNBA Finals games.
About the WNBA
The WNBA, which will tip off its 27th&nbsp;season on May 19, is a bold, progressive basketball league that stands for the power of women. Featuring 12 teams, the W is a unique sports property that combines competition and entertainment with a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and social responsibility. Through its world-class athletes, the in-game fan experience, TV and digital broadcasts, digital and social content and community outreach programs, the league celebrates and elevates the game of basketball and the culture around it.&nbsp;
In 2020, the WNBA and the Women&rsquo;s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) signed a groundbreaking eight-year CBA that charts a new course for women&rsquo;s basketball &ndash; and women&rsquo;s sports overall &ndash; with a focus on increased player compensation, improvements to the player experience, expanded career development opportunities and resources specifically tailored to the female professional athlete.
Key elements of the agreement are supported through the league&rsquo;s partnership platform, WNBA Changemakers, with AT&amp;T, the WNBA&rsquo;s Marquee Partner and inaugural Changemaker, as well as fellow inaugural Changemakers Deloitte and NIKE, Inc, and subsequent additions Google and U.S. Bank. During the 2020 season, the WNBA and WNBPA launched the WNBA Justice Movement forming the Social Justice Council with the mission of being a driving force of necessary change and continuing conversations about race and voting rights, among other important societal issues.

The WNBA will charter flight for all postseason games through the Finals, the Commisioner's Cup Championship Game and more.

WNBA announces expansion of charter flights program

Women&rsquo;s college basketball believes it has the makings for a hit reality TV show with star power driving a marketable product that has a growing audience.
So they&rsquo;re taking the ensemble on the road for the Sweet 16.
The NCAA changed the format of the tournament this year, featuring two regional sites instead of the traditional four. The games in Greenville, South Carolina, and Seattle are the latest step to grow the sport and show the ladies can stand on their own.
South Carolina coach Dawn Staley believes the question of whether women&rsquo;s hoops merits its own March Madness TV contract has already been answered, even though the women&rsquo;s tournament loses money under the current deal.
&ldquo;Somebody&rsquo;s watching women&rsquo;s basketball,&rdquo; Staley said. &ldquo;Somebody feels like we&rsquo;re in high demand, and obviously the decision-makers that put us on now realize that they&rsquo;ve got to keep putting us on.&rdquo;
The women&rsquo;s title game will be broadcast on ABC &mdash; the first appearance on network television since 1995. Women&rsquo;s basketball is part of a current contract that bundles all NCAA championships under one deal except for men&rsquo;s basketball and football.
The NCAA is expected to decide by the fall if the women&rsquo;s tournament will become a separate entity after hiring Endeavor, a consulting firm, to determine how to take championships to market.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s an exciting time. Year over year, we continue to demonstrate the value that women&rsquo;s basketball brings to that space,&rdquo; said Lynn Holzman, the NCAA vice president of women&rsquo;s basketball. &ldquo;It&rsquo;ll be exciting to see what the results are of this for the sport itself, but also for the NCAA more broadly in our championships.&rdquo;
TV ratings have been trending up over the last two years. This year&rsquo;s regular season was the most viewed on ESPN networks in eight years and was up 11% from last season. That came on the heels of last season&rsquo;s title game between South Carolina and UConn that averaged 4.85 million viewers &mdash; the most for a women&rsquo;s championship game since 2004. The first round had a 27% ratings increase from last year.
&ldquo;People enjoy watching close games. They like the fact that there&rsquo;s some semblance of uncertainty of who&rsquo;s going to win,&rdquo; UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s been so many changes in the top 10 all year long. ... Teams are in, they start out at the top they go out they come back in. I think all that creates a level of excitement.&rdquo;
People aren&rsquo;t just tuning in during March Madness, they have also been showing up.
Attendance at the NCAA Tournament has continued to rise the past five seasons, growing by 60% in the first two rounds from an average of 4,464 in 2016 to 7,240 this year. This season had the highest attendance ever for the first two rounds.
&ldquo;It makes us very bullish on women&rsquo;s basketball,&rdquo; Holzman said. &ldquo;It is demonstrative of the growth we&rsquo;ve been seeing in the sport.&rdquo;
Now the NCAA hopes that growth is reflected in increased television revenue.
ESPN pays $34 million per year for the championships package, which it agreed to in 2011, including women&rsquo;s basketball. But the law firm the NCAA hired to investigate equity issues in 2021 said in its report that estimated women&rsquo;s basketball annual broadcast rights would be worth $81 million to $112 million.
The NCAA said the 2019 women&rsquo;s tournament lost $2.8 million and those losses have multiplied the last two years since the the sports governing body increased spending after disparities between the men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s tourneys were pointed out.
If the NCAA can get close to the numbers projected in the 2021 report, it might be able to offer revenue shares &mdash; known as financial units &mdash; to women&rsquo;s teams in the tournament in a structure similar to what the men receive from their March Madness tournament.
Men&rsquo;s teams earn a slice of the money pie for their conference for every game they play excluding the championship. Each unit is paid by the NCAA over a six-year cycle. This year the NCAA will dole out $170 million to conferences from the men&rsquo;s tournament.
It&rsquo;s fair to say the women have a lot riding on this weekend at the two regional sites.
The NCAA is hoping the success of the Final Four &mdash; which sells out every year &mdash; translates to its new &ldquo;mini Final Fours.&rdquo;
Holzman believes the new format gave fans a better chance to know where their teams would be headed. The NCAA vice president of women&rsquo;s basketball also anticipated greater economic impact on host cities would lead to more bids to host in the future.
But for some coaches, it&rsquo;s all about location.
The regional sites the next two years will again be held in cities on opposite coasts. The closest team playing in Seattle this year is Colorado, located 1,300 miles away.
Texas coach Vic Schaefer is &ldquo;a little concerned&rdquo; about the distance some teams will have to travel, but eager to see how the tournament unfolds.
&ldquo;The powers that be believe it&rsquo;s going to be great, and I&rsquo;m hopeful that it will be,&rdquo; Schaefer said. &ldquo;Those are two opposite ends of the spectrums, west and east, three time zones between both of them. And there&rsquo;s just nothing in the Midwest. And we have a lot of teams in the Midwest. We&rsquo;ll see.&rdquo;

The NCAA is expected to decide by the fall if the women’s tournament will become a separate entity.

Women hope Sweet 16 next step to own March Madness TV deal

Diamond Sports Group, the largest owner of regional sports networks, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday. The move came after it missed a $140 million interest payment last month.
Diamond owns 19 networks under the Bally Sports banner. Those networks have the rights to 42 professional teams &mdash; 14 baseball, 16 NBA and 12 NHL.
(Editor's Note: Those NBA teams are the Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans Pelicans, Oklahoma City Thunder, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs.)
The company said in a release Tuesday night that it expects to continue to operate during the bankruptcy process and that coverage of games should not be affected.
Diamond Sports also said it is negotiating a restructuring agreement with debt holders that will eliminate most of its debt. Under an agreement with creditors, it would become a separate company from Sinclair Broadcast Group.
&ldquo;DSG will continue broadcasting games and connecting fans across the country with the sports and teams they love,&rdquo; Diamond Sports CEO David Preschlack said in a statement. &ldquo;We look forward to working constructively with our team and league partners and all DSG stakeholders throughout this process and beyond.&rdquo;
Diamond said in a financial filing last fall it had debt of $8.67 billion. The bankruptcy filing was made in the Southern District of Texas.
Sinclair Broadcast Group bought the regional sports networks from The Walt Disney Co. for nearly $10 billion in 2019. Disney was required by the Department of Justice to sell the networks for its acquisition of 21st Century Fox&rsquo;s film and television assets to be approved.
Diamond has nearly $1 billion in rights payments, mostly to baseball teams, due in the first quarter this year. The company is current on payments to hockey and basketball teams, but it might withhold payments from some baseball teams where it is trying to renegotiate a better deal.
Major League Baseball has set up a local media department in case it has to take over broadcasts for teams. Games would air locally via MLB Network or streamed on MLB.TV in case that happened.
&ldquo;Diamond Sports Group&rsquo;s bankruptcy declaration today is an unfortunate development that we have been expecting. Despite Diamond&rsquo;s economic situation, there is every expectation that they will continue televising all games they are committed to during the bankruptcy process,&rdquo; MLB said in a statement late Tuesday night. &ldquo;Over the long term, we will reimagine our distribution model to address the changing media climate and ultimately reach an even larger number of fans.&rdquo;
Diamond Sports isn&rsquo;t the only company experiencing financial woes with its regional sports networks. Warner Bros. Discovery, which has an ownership stake in three of the AT&amp;T SportsNet networks, has given the Colorado Rockies, Houston Astros and Pittsburgh Pirates until March 31 to reclaim their broadcast rights. WBD Sports is ending its investment in the networks.

Bally Sports expects to continue to operate during the bankruptcy process and that coverage of games should not be affected.

Bally Sports files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, 16 NBA teams affected

Brittney Griner&rsquo;s return to the WNBA this summer after being traded in a&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-brittney-griner-sports-government-and-politics-54de0cc371615a7165053a76eff17380" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dramatic prisoner swap in December</a>&nbsp;with Russia has collided with free agency, creating potential travel complications for the league out of safety concerns for her.
If Griner, who is a free agent but has said&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/brittney-griner-makes-first-public-statement-announces-intent-to-play-next-season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">she&rsquo;ll return to Phoenix</a>, needs special travel accommodations &mdash; such as chartered flights &mdash; the league will have to come up with a plan for the 6-foot-9 star. Griner&rsquo;s safety when traveling will be a top priority for the team and the league.
&ldquo;We are very cognizant of BG&rsquo;s unique situation,&rdquo; WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert told The Associated Press. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been planning and we&rsquo;ve been thinking it through with security experts. BG&rsquo;s side, our side. We&rsquo;ll find the right time to comment on it when she signs with a team.&rdquo;
That could come Wednesday, when free agents can officially sign.
While the Griner situation is unique, other marquee players raised the issue of charter flights, which teams have deemed too costly.
The current collective bargaining agreement requires that all teams fly commercial and doesn&rsquo;t allow teams to charter flights. Any change in that would have to be approved by both the union and the league.
&ldquo;No one wants to make this work more than me,&rdquo; Engelbert said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s why we&rsquo;re working so hard to transform the economic business model. We&rsquo;ve had positive changes over the last couple years, but we&rsquo;re not going to jeopardize the financial viability of the league. We are on the cusp of something big here.&rdquo;
HOW MUCH WOULD IT COST THE WNBA TO CHARTER FLIGHTS?
Engelbert says it would cost the league about $25 million each season for each of its 12 teams to charter flights to every game. That number has increased about $5 million from previous estimates by the commissioner due the new 40-game WNBA schedule this season, fuel costs and other factors.
The estimated cost per franchise to charter flights would be approximately $2 million. Air travel expenses currently for each team is about $150,000, according to two people familiar with the costs. The people spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they weren&rsquo;t authorized to publicly address the issue.
&ldquo;We did it last year for the Finals and we have experience on how much it costs for routes we need to fly,&rdquo; Engelbert said. &ldquo;We are monitoring and updating our analysis. We are going to try and get an economic model to fund this as soon as we can.&rdquo;
WHAT HAPPENS IF A TEAM CHARTERS FLIGHTS?
If teams violate the current CBA, they could be fined.
The New York Liberty were fined a WNBA record $500,000 in 2021 for chartering flights to away games during the second half of that season.
HAS THE WNBA CONSIDERED SUBSIDIZING FLIGHTS?
Coveted free agent Breanna Stewart, who has narrowed her choices to a few teams including New York, started a social media campaign to try to help get chartered flights for the league.
She tweeted, &ldquo;I would love to be part of a deal that helps subsidize charter travel for the entire WNBA. I would contribute my NIL, posts + production hrs to ensure we all travel in a way that prioritizes player health + safety, which ultimately results in a better product. Who&rsquo;s with me?&rdquo;
Many current and former WNBA and NBA players offered their support. Though any change to travel restrictions would have to be voted on by the union and the league.
&ldquo;We would need a commitment to it in perpetuity,&rdquo; Engelbert said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s 250-300 million dollars. Look at the gate and media deal and sponsorship dollars. We&rsquo;re not close to being able to afford $250 million over the next decade.&rdquo;
DO WOMEN&rsquo;S COLLEGE TEAMS CHARTER FLIGHTS?
WNBA players are used to flying charter flights. That&rsquo;s how they traveled in college.
Title IX legislation requires universities to have equal opportunities for their men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s athletic programs. The NCAA flies both the men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s teams on charter flights for the tournament if they are more than 400 miles from the site of their game.
That legislation doesn&rsquo;t apply to the pros, so NBA teams chartering between cities has no effect on what WNBA teams do.

If Griner, who is a free agent, needs special travel accommodations — such as chartered flights — the WNBA must come up with a plan.

Brittney Griner’s return, free agency raises charter flight concerns

Fresh off the 2023 Basketball Africa League Combine and heading toward the NBA Paris Game between the Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons in France, retired 13-year basketball pro Joakim Noah is soaking up every second of the international scene.
With Noah on site for both, Basketball News had the chance to catch up with the longtime Bull and former national-champion Florida Gator to discuss the rise of the BAL, the Paris Game on Thursday, basketball expanding to a global stage and much more.
Being at the BAL Combine and seeing the momentum of the league going into its third season, what's the energy like there?
Joakim Noah: "Well, it's very special to be in Paris. This is a full-circle moment for me personally, and to be able to come to the Combine and to see the energy of the young men trying to get jobs and work in the BAL, I thought it was really special. Obviously, we're building a professional league and it's growing. To build something sustainable... to see the growth from year-to-year is really special, but also to see the energy of the kids who want to be a part of it. Kids who are from all around the world, and everybody, you can feel that the kids are just in really high spirits and want to be a part of it. This is obviously so much bigger than basketball, and everybody who was at the Combine felt that way."
There are many former players who are heavily invested in the BAL, including guys you've played with and against like Grant Hill, Dikembe Mutombo, Ian Mahinmi and Luol Deng to name a few. All of you coming together and contributing to this, how does that feel?
Noah: "I think the contributions of some of the players that were able to invest is great because it also changes our mindset. Because you know, we were raised as competitors and competition can be very divisive, and just to be able to be in a position to be able to grow and unite is special. Not everybody has an opportunity to have that, to be at the table with the big dogs and see how we can grow something from scratch is really special. And now that we have this platform, especially for African players, it's really powerful."
What is the ultimate goal for the league?
Noah: "I think just to have a really powerful league on the continent where African kids don't feel like they have to go anywhere to get paid off of basketball. The game is growing, it's the fastest growing sport in the world and a lot of the talent comes from the motherland. So just to be a part of this and to watch the growth and seeing it at the highest level, but also on a grassroot level, is what it's all about. And now, we're able to have those conversations at a table altogether and look at the big picture and see where the growth needs to happen.
"I mean, Africa's so big, so different culturally. I'm learning a lot, and I feel like not only am I involved in something that I know a little bit about &mdash; because basketball has been my whole life &mdash; but I feel like I found my purpose. And there's a lot to be proud of with that. I didn't grow up on the continent, I wasn't born on the continent, but this is my heritage, and I feel like a lot of people feel that way. I felt that at the Combine (Monday). It's like, people came from all around the world to be a part of this and the energy was that the people who were involved really understand that big picture, and just want to see this game grow. And it's bigger than them just playing and getting a check. A lot of the time with basketball, that's what it becomes, but with this opportunity, I think that people really feel the purpose and I'm proud to be a part of that."
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/2023_01_16_bal_combine_-151-1.png" alt="" width="732" height="366" />
You kind of mentioned it, but internationally, the game is becoming so popular and has a ton of momentum. Even in the NBA, you're seeing more of that at a rapid pace, as there were 58 European players and nine different players from France on opening night. We know that Victor Wembanyama is at the top of NBA Draft conversations. In general, the way basketball is growing across the world, why do you think it's happened so fast and is this going to continue in that trajectory?
Noah: "You know, I remember being in Paris and going to my first NBA game and seeing Michael Jordan play and the power of his influence all around the world. My father brought me to the game in Bercy. And 25 years later, the Bulls are coming to play in Paris again. The French players have had that kind of access. And now, the future of not just French basketball, but the future of basketball is this kid Wemby, who's an unbelievable talent. He grew up seeing a lot of winning, not just in basketball, but you think of France with winning the World Cup. He was raised and he saw what winning is all about and he knows that it's very possible.
"So when I was coming up, [Tariq] Abdul-Wahad was the only NBA player. And I remember seeing Tony Parker coming up at 15 years old playing at ABCD Camp and seeing the career that he had, that was my inspiration. And now, there's just a whole generation of French players and they're just taking it to the next level. But France is a country that has all the resources to be the best. They have everything. They have the coaching, they have the structures, they have the stadiums. They have everything. So you see the growth, and that's what we're trying to do in Africa. The structures aren't there yet, and we have to build it step-by-step."
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
You brought up the Paris game. The Bulls are going to be taking on the Detroit Pistons, and Killian Hayes is a French player who's found his stride this year. How special is it to play in your home country in such an event?
Noah: "Well I can't even imagine how he feels, but it's a beautiful story being able to play in front of your family and friends in your country. Nothing gets better than that. So it's gonna be really special for him. And just understanding that there's gonna be younger kids there watching him, and he's gonna be inspiring as well. So not only is it an unbelievable feeling to play on that court, but understanding every layup, every dunk, every opportunity that he gets on the court is inspiring for the next generation."
Going back to finding your purpose in working with the BAL, but on a broader subject, what has your transition to retirement been like? It sounds like you have a solid feel of what you're trying to accomplish post-career.
Noah: "Oh, a hundred percent. I think that everybody who's in this position, our careers are short. It's crazy to know that I won't be playing basketball anymore. It happens so fast. You have a dream from when you're a kid and not everybody gets to live out their dreams as players, and I was able to do that. I got to do it at the highest level, and I'm really proud of that. Now, I have my family. I just got married this summer, I have my kids. So I'm really happy, trying to find that balance of working and working on my purpose work and raising my family."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Joakim Noah (<a href="https://twitter.com/JoakimNoah?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JoakimNoah</a>) lending a hand to the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JrNBA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JrNBA</a> ‼<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAParis?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAParis</a> <a href="https://t.co/23ejEVVfqz">pic.twitter.com/23ejEVVfqz</a>
&mdash; NBA Cares (@nbacares) <a href="https://twitter.com/nbacares/status/1615701027122036736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2023</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

Do you still keep in touch with your college teammates like Al Horford who's still playing and Corey Brewer who's coaching in New Orleans and your old Bulls teammates?
Noah: "Oh of course. These are people that I shared some of the most special times of my life with. I love Corey. We just sat down not long ago. Obviously, I have strong relationships with everybody and was able to do a beautiful trip with Derrick [Rose] to Africa, where he brought the Simeon (Academy) kids to Senegal this summer. These are all trips, these are all moments that I'm really proud of the relationships that I build off the court. And I just want to keep building."
If there are any players in the NBA today that you have your eye on, who would you say stands out?
Noah: "I love Bol Bol. Bol Bol is probably my favorite player to watch right now. I love to see his growth. Obviously, his back story is unbelievable. His father was so much more than just a basketball player. And just to see him become the player that he is and you just see him... you're not used to seeing somebody who's that tall &mdash; 7-foot-2 African guy &mdash; with handles, with that kind of ability. It just shows how much the game has grown. I just love watching him play. He's just a really exciting player. I wish him nothing but the best."
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
More infomation regarding the BAL and the NBA Paris Game:
<ul>
<li>The third BAL season will tip off on March 11 and once again feature the top 12 club teams from 12 African cities playing games in Dakar, Senegal; Cairo, Egypt; and Kigali, Rwanda over three months in 2023</li>
</ul>
<ol>
<ol>
<li>The 12 club champions will be divided into two conferences.&nbsp;</li>
</ol>
</ol>
<ul>
<ul>
<li>The Sahara Conference will play a 15-game group phase at the Dakar Arena in Dakar from March 11-21.</li>
<li>The Nile Conference will play a 15-game group phase at the Hassan Mostafa Indoor Sports Complex in Cairo from April 26 &ndash; May 6.&nbsp;</li>
<li>The top four teams from each conference will advance to an eight-game, single elimination Playoffs and Finals at BK Arena in Kigali from May 21-27.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Each of the 12 BAL teams will have up to 13 players, at least eight of whom will be citizens in their respective team&rsquo;s home country and up to four of whom can be from other countries, with no more than two players per team from outside of Africa.&nbsp;</li>
<ul>
<li>One roster spot on each team is reserved for an NBA Academy Africa prospect as part of the BAL Elevate program, which will once again provide an opportunity for the next generation of African prospects to participate in a professional league, showcase their talent on a global stage and help their respective teams compete for the 2023 BAL Championship.</li>
</ul>
<li>The BAL, a partnership between the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the NBA, is a professional league featuring 12 club teams from across Africa that completed its second season in May 2022.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Headquartered in Dakar, Senegal, the BAL builds on the foundation of club competitions FIBA Africa has organized in Africa and marks the NBA&rsquo;s first collaboration to operate a league outside North America.</li>
<li>On May 28, Tunisia&rsquo;s US Monastir defeated Angola&rsquo;s Petro de Luanda 83-72 to win the 2022 BAL Finals in front of a sold-out crowd of 10,000 at BK Arena.&nbsp;</li>
<li>The 2022 BAL season featured players from 23 countries across Africa, Europe, and the U.S, reached fans in 214 countries and territories in 14 languages - including all 54 African countries - and generated more than 600 million online engagements.</li>
</ul>
NBA Africa
<ul>
<li>With the support of strategic partners, in May the NBA launched NBA Africa as a new, standalone entity that conducts the league&rsquo;s business in Africa, including the BAL.</li>
</ul>
o&nbsp;&nbsp; The investors&rsquo; and strategic partners&rsquo; expertise in a wide range of industries and established relationships with African businesses, governments and NGOs will help accelerate the NBA&rsquo;s growth across the continent.&nbsp;
o&nbsp;&nbsp; The funding will contribute to the growth of the BAL, help expand the NBA&rsquo;s presence in priority African markets and Africa&rsquo;s basketball ecosystem, and deepen the league&rsquo;s engagement with players and fans through initiatives such as the launch of additional NBA Academies and social responsibility initiatives that improve the livelihoods of African youth and families.
<ul>
<li>The strategic investors include a consortium led by Babatunde &ldquo;Tunde&rdquo; Folawiyo, Chairman and CEO of Yinka Folawiyo Group; and Helios Fairfax Partners Corporation (HFP), led by Tope Lawani, Co-CEO of HFP and Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Helios Investment Partners.</li>
</ul>
o&nbsp;&nbsp; NBA Legends Junior Bridgeman, Luol Deng (South Sudan), Grant Hill, Ian Mahinmi (France; ties to Benin), Dikembe Mutombo (Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Joakim Noah (grandfather from Cameroon) have also invested in NBA Africa and will use their collective influence to contribute to our growth goals.
<ul>
<li>In July, the NBA announced that former President Barack Obama has joined NBA Africa as a strategic partner and will help advance the league&rsquo;s social responsibility efforts across the continent, including programs and partnerships that support greater gender equality and economic inclusion.</li>
<li>In December, global economist and New York Times best-selling author Dr. Dambisa Moyo and Academy Award-winning actor and social activist Forest Whitaker joined NBA Africa as strategic investors.</li>
</ul>
The NBA Paris Game 2023
<ul>
<li>The NBA Paris Game 2023 will feature the six-time NBA champion Chicago Bulls and the three-time NBA champion Detroit Pistons playing a regular-season game at the Accor Arena in Paris on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023.</li>
<li>The NBA Paris Game 2023 will mark the first NBA game in Europe since 2020 and the league&rsquo;s 12th game in France since 1991.&nbsp; The NBA Paris Game 2020 &ndash; the first regular-season NBA game in Paris &ndash; took place Jan. 24, 2020, and featured the Charlotte Hornets and the Milwaukee Bucks.</li>
<li>The NBA Paris Game 2023 will mark the Bulls&rsquo; third game in Paris, having played two preseason games in the French capital in 1997.
<ul>
<li>The Bulls are among the top three most-popular NBA teams in international merchandise sales (No. 2 in Europe), among the top five most-popular teams on NBA League Pass outside the U.S. (No. 5), and among the top five most-popular NBA teams on social media in terms of following (No. 2 on Facebook, No. 4 on Instagram, No. 4 on Twitter)</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The Pistons will be playing their first game in France, having previously played regular-season games in London (2013) and Mexico City (2019).</li>
</ul>
NBA in France
<ul>
<li>NBA games and programming have aired in France since 1985.</li>
<li>During the 2022-23 NBA season, fan in France can watch the NBA on beIN SPORTS, the NBA&rsquo;s exclusive Broadcast &amp; Digital partner in France, and NBA League Pass. beIN SPORTS airs up to 14 live games per week during the regular season, as well as the Play-In, Playoffs, all Conference Finals, Finals, All-Star Weekend, the Draft and Classic Games.</li>
<li>The 2022-23 regular season features 45 games that will air in primetime in Europe, the Middle East and Africa as part of &ldquo;NBA Saturdays and NBA Sundays presented by NBA 2K23,&rdquo; marking the 10th consecutive regular season that the league has scheduled weekend games that air in primetime in EMEA.</li>
<li>France ranks fourth among European markets in League Pass subscriptions.</li>
<li>Boulogne-Levallois Metropolitans 92 games &ndash; featuring French star and top 2023 NBA Draft prospect Victor Wembanyama &ndash; are available for free on the new NBA App throughout the 2022-23 including the LNB All-Star Game and select LNB Betclic ELITE Playoffs and Finals games.</li>
<li>The NBA&rsquo;s localized social media channels in France (Facebook and Twitter) have more than 1.5M collective followers.</li>
<li>The NBA Paris Game 2023 will mark the second regular-season game in France, the 12th NBA game overall in France (dating back to 1991) and the 94th NBA game in Europe (dating back to 1984).</li>
<li>Opening-night rosters for the 2022-23 NBA season featured 58 European players, including nine players from France.
<ul>
<li>France has had more players drafted into the NBA than other country outside North America and has been the most-represented European country in the NBA for each of the last 16 seasons.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The <a href="https://pr.nba.com/nba-fanatics-paris-store-open/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://pr.nba.com/nba-fanatics-paris-store-open/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1674099893476000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2Pk9FJqixBAsT8n3qeg9n7">NBA Paris Store</a> &ndash; the first in France &ndash; opened&nbsp;in July 2022 and has featured player appearances by Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat and Alex Caruso of the Chicago Bulls. Top selling teams Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls, Golden State Warriors, Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors.</li>
<li>The NBA works with 18 marketing partners in France: adidas, EA, FDJ/ParionsSport, Foot Locker, Hennessy, Hotels.com/Expedia, ISG, Kellogg&rsquo;s, Microsoft, Mitchell &amp; Ness, New Balance, New Era, Nike, Rakuten, SAP, Tissot, Under Armour, Yop, and 2K Sports</li>
</ul>

Spencer Davies speaks with Joakim Noah ahead of the 2023 NBA Paris Game about his BAL passion, international hoops and more.

Joakim Noah Q&A: NBA Paris Game, investing in BAL, basketball's growth

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Jalen Brunson scored a career-high 38 points, Julius Randle had 25 points and 13 rebounds, and the New York Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs 117-114 on Wednesday night.
Brunson added seven rebounds and six assists for the Knicks, who won their third straight since a 122-115 loss in San Antonio last Thursday. Brunson missed that game during a three-game absence with a sore right hip, but returned with 24 points in a victory over Phoenix on Monday and made the big plays late in this one to surpass his previous regular-season best of 34 points.
Brunson made the go-ahead basket with 3:02 to play, then knocked down a pair of jumpers to push the lead to 116-112 with 1:17 to go.
The Spurs cut it to two and forced the ball out of Brunson's hands to regain possession with a chance to tie, but they were called for a 5-second violation trying to get the ball in with 5.7 seconds remaining. Evan Fournier made one free throw to make it 117-114, but the Spurs couldn't get off a last 3-point attempt in time.
Keldon Johnson scored 26 points for the Spurs, while Josh Richardson had 20.
The Knicks led by 13 in the first quarter before settling for a 39-29 advantage. The Spurs charged ahead with a 13-0 run in the second to go ahead 44-41, but the Knicks recovered and were up 62-55 after Brunson had two baskets in the final 35 seconds of the first half.
Both teams shot better than 60% in the third quarter, with Randle's jumper as time expired making it 94-89.
TIP-INS
Spurs: G Devin Vassell was out again because of left knee soreness. He played Monday after missing the previous two games for the same problem. ... The Spurs practiced at Baruch College while in the city and coach Gregg Popovich joked he looked for a picture of U.S. Rep.-elect George Santos in the gym. Santos has admitted to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/george-santos-house-of-representatives-d65613ce8bcda757bf3b89c3d0fcfa82">lying about having earned a degree</a> in finance and economics at the school. &ldquo;I thought maybe he had played sports or something while he was there,&rdquo; Popovich said, &ldquo;Because that&rsquo;s where he went to school, right?&rdquo;
Knicks: Obi Toppin and Derrick Rose were active but did not play. Toppin had been inactive the previous 13 games because of a nondisplaced fracture of his right fibula. Coach Tom Thibodeau said he needed to do more at practice before he was ready to get into a game. Thibodeau said the backup forward would play when ready, but stopped short of assuring a return to his previous minutes, with Randle flourishing with a heavier workload.
PACKING THE PLACE
The Spurs said more than 53,000 tickets have been sold for their Jan. 13 game at the Alamodome against Golden State, guaranteeing it to be the third-largest attendance for an NBA game. The record is 62,046 at the Georgia Dome for a Bulls-Hawks game on March 27, 1998.
&nbsp;

Jalen Brunson scored a career-high 38 points, Julius Randle had 25 points and the New York Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs 117-114.

Brunson scores career-best 38, Knicks edge Spurs 117-114

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) &mdash; Snowflakes were just starting to fall in earnest as students hurriedly erected tents with the intent of camping out for a basketball game more than 24 hours away.
The overnight party was eventually called off over concerns about the snow and frigid temperatures from the late autumn storm. But it still illustrated that there&rsquo;s nothing else in West Coast college basketball to rival what Gonzaga has created over the last two decades.
&ldquo;I am an undergrad degree-holder of the institution and so have been part of it for over 35 years and I&rsquo;ve seen sort of what it was before we have experienced the modern era of basketball and what it has been during that time,&rdquo; Gonzaga President Thayne McCulloh said. &ldquo;And then some of the things that we now find ourselves challenged with and have opportunities around and it&rsquo;s very clearly been an important dimension of who we are and how we&rsquo;re seen.&rdquo;
Gonzaga is no longer the plucky up-and-comer with the frequently mispronounced name, and it no longer really fits in the &ldquo;mid-major&rdquo; category, not with its resume. And with college sports realignment back in play, the Zags are being talked about as a potential target for bigger conferences that once never would have looked to Spokane.
The possibility of a future somewhere other than the West Coast Conference is on the table for Gonzaga, which has been a member since 1979.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s always the need to look and the need to evaluate and it&rsquo;s not simple math, it&rsquo;s calculus,&rdquo; Gonzaga athletic director Chris Standiford said. &ldquo;I think you just have to stay open-minded and you have to be willing to look at the existing ecosystem and recognize that it&rsquo;s not static, it&rsquo;s very dynamic. And you have to anticipate what some of that dynamism means, and not be complacent.&rdquo;
The talk surrounding Gonzaga is not new. There has been talk in the past of a move to the Big East or the Mountain West. More recently, the Zags have been linked to the Pac-12 and Big 12 following the latest realignment moves involving those conferences.
All those moves were based on football. Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC; USC and UCLA to the Big Ten; the Big 12 adding Cincinnati, UCF, Houston and BYU, which is a WCC member in basketball.
But the realignment juggle may be hitting its peak with regards to football. That&rsquo;s left the question of what&rsquo;s next and what still could be done with college basketball, the next most profitable college sport.
Gonzaga wouldn&rsquo;t bring television market size. It would definitely offer brand relevance.
The Zags&rsquo; basketball resume is impressive: two national championship game appearances for the men, 23 straight NCAA Tournament berths, 21 WCC regular-season titles. The women&rsquo;s basketball program is also regularly ranked in the AP Top 25 and has made three Sweet Sixteen trips and one Elite Eight appearance.
The Bulldogs are regularly strong in other sports like baseball and soccer, all helping to create national recognition.
&ldquo;I think that&rsquo;s probably the lesson that I get taught over and over is we underappreciate the power of our brand nationally,&rdquo; Standiford said. &ldquo;I think it means a lot to the sport of college basketball. I think it means a lot to the collegiate model because it inspires people to recognize that you still have a pathway to get there and it&rsquo;s not economically driven, it&rsquo;s opportunity-driven.&rdquo;
One of those opportunities for Gonzaga could be with the Big 12, whose commissioner has not been shy about expressing his desire to have a presence on the West Coast. In Las Vegas earlier this month, Brett Yormark reiterated statements he&rsquo;s made several times about the future of the Big 12 being larger than the four schools joining in 2023.
&ldquo;We want to go coast-to-coast at some point in time,&rdquo; Yormark said. &ldquo;We would love to get into that fourth time zone and we will at some point.&rdquo;
Yormark also said he views basketball as being undervalued and that he would be open to adding a member that doesn&rsquo;t play football: &ldquo;If there is a stand-alone basketball opportunity that creates value enterprise, value for the conference, absolutely.&rdquo;
His statements appears to point toward Gonzaga, which seems to stand alone in its potential value because of its basketball program, at least out West. But the Pac-12 is also evaluating its future with the pending departure of the Los Angeles schools.
Any substantial consideration by the Pac-12 likely must wait until its next media deals are finalized. The Big 12 finished its TV deals earlier this year.
When asked generally if Gonzaga feels wanted, Standiford simply replied, &ldquo;yes,&rdquo; although there are no offers from potential suitors yet.
There is also the possibility that Gonzaga ends up staying put, deciding the WCC &mdash; all of its member schools are private, faith-based institutions &mdash; is the right fit.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not as easy or as simple as I think perhaps some people might want to think it is,&rdquo; McCulloh said. &ldquo;We are still a small- to medium-sized university that&rsquo;s in a town called Spokane and our success as an institution has been very interrelated with our community and with our alumni.&rdquo;

Qith college sports realignment back in play, the Zags are being talked about as a potential target for bigger conferences

Gonzaga ponders future with realignment beckoning

On Monday, Nike announced that it officially cut ties with Kyrie Irving due to him sharing a link to the documentary "Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America," which many have labeled antisemitic. The news comes after Nike had suspended Irving and canceled his signature sneaker line.&nbsp;
The relationship between Irving and Nike began to deteriorate prior to the recent controversy. Last July, Irving said that the Kyrie 8 sneakers were "trash" and that he had "nothing to do with the design or marketing" of the shoe, but that "Nike plans to release it without my okay."
However, Nike co-founder Phil Knight specifically mentioned Irving's scandal as the reason the company was parting ways with him.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
&ldquo;Kyrie stepped over the line, it&rsquo;s kind of that simple,&rdquo; says Nike co-founder Phil Knight. &ldquo;He just made some statements we can&rsquo;t abide by and that&rsquo;s why we ended the relationship.&rdquo; <a href="https://t.co/VWWAEbsIku">pic.twitter.com/VWWAEbsIku</a>
&mdash; CNBC (@CNBC) <a href="https://twitter.com/CNBC/status/1590741070018641931?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 10, 2022</a></blockquote>

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After nearly a decade-long run of success with Nike, Irving is officially a sneaker free agent.
In response to this, during Wednesday's game against the Charlotte Hornets, Irving wore the Kyrie 3s with the Raygun colorway, but employed black tape to cover the Nike Swoosh logos. Additionally, he handwrote in marker the messages "I AM FREE" and "Thank you God... I AM" and "Logo Here" on the side of his shoes.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Kyrie Irving covered up the Swoosh on his Nike Kyrie 3 with some messages following his official split with the company. Irving is a sneaker free agent <a href="https://t.co/xyKS4qN1qd">pic.twitter.com/xyKS4qN1qd</a>
&mdash; Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) <a href="https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1600692264774287360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2022</a></blockquote>

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(The Brooklyn Nets also won 122-116, with Irving leading all scorers with 33 points and finishing one assist shy of a double-double.)
Irving&rsquo;s agent, Shetellia Riley Irving, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/05/business/nike-kyrie-irving.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told The New York Times</a> that the sides &ldquo;mutually decided to part ways and we just wish Nike all the best.&rdquo;
On my radio show, "The Collision: Where Sports And Politics Collide,&rdquo; my guest was Torraine Walker, the <a href="https://twitter.com/TorraineWalker" target="_blank" rel="noopener">founder of Context Media Group</a>. We examined what Nike&rsquo;s decision to break ties with Irving means in the grander scheme of things, what actually constitutes antisemitism and if an ADL-style punishment is the answer. This was a great discussion.
Etan Thomas: What was your response to Nike dropping Kyrie and his response to being free? Were you surprised they did that?
Torraine Walker: "No I wasn&rsquo;t really surprised. I know once this controversy blew up that there was going to be some type of corporate response to it. I didn&rsquo;t think it would go to this extreme, but at the same time, I can&rsquo;t really say that I&rsquo;m surprised. Whether we like it or not, sports and politics are often divisions, and anything that looks like it&rsquo;s going to affect the brand, the bottom line, is going to be dealt with harshly when you&rsquo;re dealing with corporations.
"But the one thing I think this really lays out is, it shows the difference between ownership and sponsorship. A lot of times, we get caught up in the idea that someone who is the face of a brand has some type of bargaining power to the level that they can make contractual decisions. So this 'Hebrews To Negroes' controversy was so big that Nike could not ignore it.
"The other side is this &mdash; I think this is a great opportunity for Kyrie and also other athletes to look at basically creating their own brand and basically having some ownership in the products they are endorsing and have their faces on. Now, the question is, will the public get on board with that? Let&rsquo;s be honest, Nike has such a stronghold on the market and such strong brand loyalty and brand recognition that it&rsquo;s going to be difficult for someone who is coming into the market to do that. But I&rsquo;m not surprised at all that Nike did what they did."
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Thomas: What role did the media have in really magnifying this issue and controversy?&nbsp;
Walker: "The media had the primary role in keeping this 'controversy' going as long as it did. I can see the point where the posting of the documentary may have ruffled some feathers, or it made some people feel like it was an antisemitic thing. But usually when something like this happens, if an athlete or celebrity does something that people take offense to, people get offended, the athlete releases a statement, there&rsquo;s usually a cooling off period and, then, it goes away.
"But for some reason, there was this drive in the media to make this thing bigger than it was. They took a two-day story and made it into a month story, and I still don&rsquo;t fully understand the motivation behind that. I know a lot of organizations were pushing this. And I wonder if people inside the Nike organization was pushing this as well because, if I&rsquo;m not mistaken, Kyrie&rsquo;s contract is coming up anyway.
"But I think with the media, this was just the an opportunity for them to jump on an antisemitic angle with Black people and a Black man specifically, and they can run with it. So they saw a hot story and narrative that they could really push, and that&rsquo;s why we are where we are with this situation with Nike dropping him today. So to answer your question, the media had a huge role in this."
Thomas: What do you think about Kyrie and what he did with his shoes on Tuesday night &mdash; putting the tape over the logo and writing "I Am Free." What was your reaction to that?&nbsp;
Walker: "I was in favor of it, and I&rsquo;m glad he did it that way. My question is, how long will this be sustainable? It&rsquo;s easy to create a moment, it&rsquo;s easy to get people&rsquo;s attention, but can you direct that attention into something that will then be tangible for you to really be 'free?' And what does 'freedom' look like? Freedom looks like something different to everybody. Does this mean he is free from having to hold his tongue on issues he is concerned about? Does this mean he is free to create his own sneaker line? Does this mean he is free psychologically? I would love get clarification on that. I think it was a powerful statement, especially the timing, but would love to see it turn into something tangible."
Thomas: You mentioned something before, and it's the question that I continued to ask throughout this entire process: what is considered "antisemitic?" I think right now, there is a wider and wider bucket of what is being casted as antisemitic. On my show, "The Rematch," I spoke with an actual Rabbi, Harry Rozenberg, and we talked about this. He said, "Well, I may have a different opinion than your's, and feel very strongly and emotionally about my different opinion, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean your's is antisemitic." So I&rsquo;m asking you, in your opinion, what exactly is antisemitic?
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Walker: "Well, in my opinion, being antisemitic means you are making hateful statements about Jewish people, or you are calling for their extermination &mdash; which is what a lot of white supremacists and neo-Nazis call for. I don&rsquo;t believe that having questions about Judaism or having questions or issues as a Black man in America with the relationship between Black people and Jewish people is necessarily 'antisemitic.'
"And what&rsquo;s happening now is, any questioning of anything having to do with Jewish people or the state of Israel is being seen as antisemitic, and I don&rsquo;t think that&rsquo;s fair and it doesn&rsquo;t make for a rational conversation. It has become this thing where even if you mention it, you are labeled as antisemitic, and that shuts down any conversation. So to answer your question, my definition of antisemitism is violent hatred of any person who is Jewish. That&rsquo;s my definition of it."
Thomas: Well, I couldn&rsquo;t agree more. I had a debate with Dave Zirin, my regular co-host on The Collision, when he guested on The Rematch, and we disagreed for literally the entire interview. We just had a different view of everything that had occurred, and this is when everything first happened.
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I mentioned my debate with Harry Rozenberg and we disagreed at times &mdash; we definitely disagreed when it came to discussing Palestine and Israel &mdash; but we also agreed that everything isn&rsquo;t in the "antisemitic" bucket. I think one of the things that happens is, when you label something as "antisemitic," it&rsquo;s kind of a lazy argument because it shuts down all conversation. Once you say something is antisemitic, then there is no conversation. But I think there are different things that can and should be discussed without the label of "antisemitic."
Walker: "Absolutely, and like I said earlier, when you are an African-American, your ideas on what 'antisemitism' means and what discrimination feels like is very different than what someone else from a different demographic may be familiar with. And this is not to say that people who are Jewish have not dealt with discrimination and bigotry in Europe and America &mdash; they definitely have &mdash; but that conversation has to change a little bit when we&rsquo;re talking about Black people.
"Because, we have to be honest: Black people are still collectively at the bottom of the economic ladder in America. And our relationship with someone who may be a landlord or someone who is exploiting them, it may be coming from an attitude of pushing back against exploitation. It doesn&rsquo;t mean that it&rsquo;s antisemitic, and a lot of times that gets lost in this conversation.
"But I do think that one thing that has come out of this conversation with Kyrie and Nike and Kanye [West] and [Dave] Chappelle, to an extent, is that these conversations are beginning to happen and they have to happen in order for any meaningful, impactful dialogue to take place. You can&rsquo;t just label something as antisemitic and then shut down the conversation and punish anyone who brought it up like Nike did with Kyrie."
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Thomas: I agree 100%. And yes, Nike&rsquo;s decision to drop Kyrie in the wake of him sharing the documentary "Hebrews To Negroes" has actually made them become part of the problem we&rsquo;ve seen with the ADL. Punishment over dialogue. Labeling over discussion and understanding.&nbsp;
Van Jones also took it upon himself to apologize to the Jewish community on behalf of the entire Black community for statements made by Kanye West &mdash; even though I don&rsquo;t know who appointed him as spokesperson for the Black community. But before we finish, let me make this point clear: a lot of people are, and have been, conflating Kanye West a.k.a. Ye and Kyrie Irving, but they are two COMPLETELY separate issues. One is NOT like the other and should NEVER be lumped together in any way, shape or form.
Walker: "I definitely agree."
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Etan Thomas speaks with Torraine Walker to discuss Nike parting ways with Kyrie Irving, how he responded and what it could mean.

Nike employs ADL tactics as it officially drops Kyrie Irving

NEW YORK &ndash; New York Liberty guard/forward Jocelyn Willoughby has been named the recipient of the August WNBA Cares Community Assist Award presented by State Farm for her commitment to challenging racial and economic injustices, and providing resources to help vulnerable individuals in New York and society at large.
Willoughby&rsquo;s focus in the community includes education, food insecurity, and equal housing opportunities for all communities. Alongside her teammates and Liberty staff, Willoughby hosted two sessions with participants from the Vera Institute, which aims to zero out the incarceration of girls and gender-expansive youth in the country&rsquo;s juvenile legal system by 2030. The participants watched practice and participated in group activities and a discussion with the team.
Willoughby&rsquo;s commitment to giving back to youth included an appearance at Breakaway Hoops camp, where she interacted with the youth in attendance. Breakaway Hoops provides premium basketball camps, leagues, clinics, and remote training for families throughout NYC. Additionally, she joined her teammates and Liberty staff in serving dinner to over 115 members of the unhoused NYC community at the Bowery Mission.
The WNBA Cares Community Assist Award presented by State Farm&reg; is awarded monthly during the season to the player who best reflects the WNBA&rsquo;s passion to make a difference in the community.

New York Liberty guard/forward Jocelyn Willoughby has been named the recipient of the August WNBA Cares Community Assist Award.

Jocelyn Willoughby receives August WNBA Cares Community Assist Award

The NBA has completed the process of changing the transition take foul rule, ending years of discussion about what to do with the long-maligned tactic.
And, also as expected, the play-in tournament is going to be around for the foreseeable future.
The league&rsquo;s board of governors finalized those two matters Tuesday, approving a plan to award one free throw when teams are disadvantaged by the take foul &mdash; as well as removing the &ldquo;experimental&rdquo; designation from the play-in element to the postseason.
&ldquo;Generally, it was upbeat coming out of our meeting," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. &ldquo;People are thrilled that as we head into next season, it looks like we&rsquo;ll be on our normal track in terms of when the season starts, in terms of our protocols around the game, particularly around the health and safety of our players."
It wasn't a surprise that the league changed the penalty on take fouls; <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-sports-basketball-adam-silver-37d2184d33dd03487ee33c5ff5d7f470">Silver told The Associated Press in early June</a> that it would change, though he cautioned that the new rule might still be tweaked in future years.
The take foul &mdash; in which the defender does not make a play on the ball &mdash; is what the league classifies as one that occurs either &ldquo;during a transition scoring opportunity or immediately following a change of possession and before the offensive team had the opportunity to advance the ball.&rdquo; The exception is in the final 2 minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime.
The new penalty for such a foul is one free throw, which may be attempted by any player on the offended team in the game at the time the foul was committed, along with continued possession.
Silver addressed a number of other topics, including:
REVENUE
The NBA is coming off a massive financial year, with revenue topping $10 billion for the first time and basketball-related income reaching $8.9 billion, another record.
Silver said the numbers are particularly strong considering the league is still dealing with a pandemic, and it wasn't that long ago when some questioned whether sports could survive the coronavirus &mdash; at least in the sense of whether people would want to gather again.
&ldquo;The numbers did surprise me to a certain degree because it exceeded projections, and the projections represent where we think our business is going," Silver said. &ldquo;I think it's quite remarkable from where we came 2 1/2 years ago."
KEVIN DURANT
Kevin Durant is under contract for four more years with the Brooklyn Nets, and his <a href="https://apnews.com/article/brooklyn-nets-nba-sports-basketball-kevin-durant-da572379d0eabc5025a2106344695f6f">trade request</a> has been one of the biggest stories of the offseason.
It hasn't been one that Silver has particularly enjoyed.
&ldquo;This needs to be a two-way street," Silver said. &ldquo;Teams provide enormous security and guarantees to players, and the expectation in return is that they&rsquo;ll meet their end of the bargain. There's always conversations that go on behind closed doors between players and representatives and teams, but we don&rsquo;t like to see players requesting trades and we don&rsquo;t like to see it playing out the way it is."
PLAY-IN TOURNAMENT
The play-in tournament has generally been considered a success, so it was no surprise that the league is keeping it around.
The play-in tournament &mdash; in its current form &mdash; has been used in each of the last two seasons, where the teams that finish seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th in the East and West meet to determine the final two playoff spots in each conference.
The No. 7 team plays the No. 8 team, with the winner clinching the No. 7 seed in the playoffs. The No. 9 team plays the No. 10 team, with the loser eliminated and the winner moving on to face the team that lost the 7-8 game. The winner of that matchup is the No. 8 seed.
It&rsquo;s been a hit, primarily because it tends to give a March Madness feel &mdash; four elimination games before the playoffs even begin &mdash; and gives more teams incentive to not tank for better odds in the draft lottery.
There was a play-in element in 2020 as well in the restart bubble at Walt Disney World, when Portland beat Memphis for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference. Memphis could have gotten the No. 8 seed that year by beating Portland twice; the Blazers had to win only one game to claim the spot.
LOAD MANAGEMENT
Load management &mdash; the fancy term given now when a player gets to sit out a game to rest &mdash; has been a challenge for the league and its teams in recent years. Silver said it will continue to be discussed with the players' association as the sides get more into negotiations for the next collective bargaining agreement.
The league has taken steps, driven by sleep science and other data, to try to make the schedule more player-friendly in recent years. The stretches of four games in five nights have been eliminated, instances of back-to-back games have dropped and the league has even tinkered with keeping teams in the same road city for consecutive games in an effort to limit travel over the course of a season.
That said, sometimes, a player still sits. Silver suggested it might be time to consider adding money as an incentive for playing more often.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m all in favor of guaranteed contracts," he said. &ldquo;But maybe that on top of your typical guaranteed contracts, some incremental money should be based on number of games played and results of those games. I mean, it&rsquo;s that&rsquo;s how most industries work, where there&rsquo;s financial incentives &mdash; even among highly paid executives for performance."
ABA PAYMENTS
The NBA and the NBPA announced a new program &mdash; jointly funded &mdash; to provide payments to approximately 115 ABA players who played at least three seasons but didn&rsquo;t qualify for NBA pensions. They&rsquo;ll get &ldquo;recognition payments&rdquo; of $3,828 per year of service.
&ldquo;Our players have a genuine sense of appreciation for those who paved the way and helped us achieve the success we enjoy today,&rdquo; NBPA Executive Director Tamika Tremaglio said. &ldquo;We have always considered the ABA players a part of our brotherhood and we are proud to finally recognize them with this benefit.&rdquo;
Silver said the league and the players &ldquo;felt a need to act on behalf of these former ABA players who are aging and, in many cases, facing difficult economic circumstances.&rdquo;

“Generally, it was upbeat coming out of our meeting," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said of the Board of Governors.

NBA stiffens take foul penalty, will keep Play-In tournament

Last night, the Golden State Warriors won their fourth NBA championship in eight years, defeating the Boston Celtics 103-90 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals.&nbsp;
Overwhelmed with emotions, Steph Curry couldn&rsquo;t hold back the tears, Draymond Green couldn&rsquo;t stop smiling and Klay Thompson didn&rsquo;t want to leave the stage. This group has been through tremendous ups and downs over the last eight years. Just two years ago, the Warriors actually had the worst record in the league. To bounce back from that and win an NBA title when much of the world had counted them out is definitely a great feat in itself.&nbsp;
"A lot of chatter. A lot of doubters," Klay Thompson said after the Game 6 win. "But you know what, you just put that in your fuel tank and you just keep going. And it does definitely hit different."
Klay Thompson has been through so much over the last three years &ndash; missing back-to-back seasons after suffering a torn ACL followed by a torn Achilles &ndash; which sheds light on why this championship win was much more emotional than the previous ones. Just about every player grew visibly emotional when a reporter asked about Thompson&rsquo;s incredible road back to once again become an NBA champion. Some got misty eyed, some had to take deep breaths to collect themselves, some gave a few hard blinks to keep the tears from flowing; others were so happy for Klay, they just let their emotions flow.&nbsp;
"The anguish that Klay has felt over the last three years &ndash; people can guess as to what it is like, but we saw it up close," head coach Steve Kerr said on Thursday after the win. "Between a second year-long injury and losing what he loves to do most in life, playing the game, it's been a rough go for him. So his return was special for us on and off the floor because of what he's meant to the organization, what he's done for this team, and then, of course, his play."
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BasketballNews.com caught up with Warriors legend and Hall-of-Famer Chris Mullin to discuss the Golden State's fourth championship and Klay Thompson in particular.&nbsp;
Etan Thomas: I want to go back to when Klay got injured in back-to-back years. A lot of people doubted if he&rsquo;d be able to return at all &ndash; if his career was over. But to see him now, winning another championship and how crucial he was to this team, how amazing of a story is that?&nbsp;
Chris Mullin: &ldquo;I was actually at Game 6 when he hurt his ACL. That was devastating itself at that time because they had a good chance to win that championship &ndash; even with KD being out. I can&rsquo;t remember a Finals where two of the main players on a team both go out with big-time injuries like an Achilles and an ACL, so that was devastating from a team standpoint.
&ldquo;But for Klay to work so hard to battle back from that injury, then almost a full year goes by and he was ready for training camp the following year, and that&rsquo;s when he was playing pick up in LA. That&rsquo;s when I was covering the NBA Draft for NBC &ndash; the local affiliate with the Warriors &ndash; when news came in that he tore his Achilles, and I was just devastated for him. The timing of it was crazy. The Warriors were making their draft pick, trying to figure out who fits best with the team, etc. and one of their star players has back-to-back catastrophic injuries.&rdquo;
Etan Thomas: It didn&rsquo;t seem like the organization ever gave up on him, although a lot of people in the sports world were beginning to have their doubts.
Chris Mullin: &ldquo;You&rsquo;re right. They didn&rsquo;t give up on him at all, and you have to credit Bob Myers for that. He didn&rsquo;t overreact and go pick someone in his position to replace him just in case he couldn&rsquo;t come back, which a lot of teams would&rsquo;ve done.&nbsp;
"But what I was more impressed with was how Klay handled that second injury especially. When he came back this season around mid-season or whenever it was, I was at that game. We interviewed him on the floor pre-game, and the first thing I noticed was that he was in tremendous condition and shape. We all know when you come off an injury, you have your physical therapy and all the grueling work you have to do to get over your injury, but you are limited in what you can do to actually be in shape &ndash; especially NBA-game shape &ndash; so you have to be creative. It&rsquo;s not like you can run sprints like [usual]. But he was lean and in great shape and I remember thinking, &lsquo;Wow, that&rsquo;s really a testament to his dedication and commitment and work ethic and perseverance.&rsquo;&rdquo;
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Etan Thomas: That&rsquo;s true. We&rsquo;ve all seen guys come back from injury so out of shape that it takes them a while to get back in game form after they come back.
Chris Mullin: &ldquo;Exactly, but he was ready to go. He may have even been in better shape than before he got injured. But another thing I saw: the mental and emotional effect of that level of catastrophic injury, especially [two injuries] back-to-back is huge, and I think that&rsquo;s why you&rsquo;re seeing such a&hellip; not that he hasn&rsquo;t always been grateful, but he&rsquo;s even more so now. He&rsquo;s so thankful just to be healthy, just to be out there. He&rsquo;s not the least bit worried about, like, an off night or a loss. Of course he wants to win and play well, but honestly, as you mentioned, a lot of people thought he was done, especially after the second injury. Most people would&rsquo;ve been done. Klay&rsquo;s about where he was prior to those injuries, which is absolutely amazing. He only played about 30 regular-season games this year and right through the playoffs and the Finals, he&rsquo;s as good offensively as he&rsquo;s ever been, and next year he will probably be even better. He&rsquo;s&nbsp;been through so much and you can just see the joy he has to be out there, if that makes sense.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Etan Thomas: It definitely does. The first game of the Finals where they lost at home, it was definitely a big shocker for everyone. But if you remember toward the end of the game when it looked out of reach, Steve Kerr kept Klay in the game. He was having a really tough shooting night, but they kept going to him, almost in an attempt to help him find his rhythm. What did you think watching that? Because a lot of people, myself included, questioned if that was the best move to leave him in there at that time.
Chris Mullin: &ldquo;I think most people like you &ndash; and understandably so &ndash; were all thinking the same thing: get him out of there because God forbid he gets injured again during &lsquo;garbage time.&rsquo; But Steve Kerr, probably more than most coaches, is really in tune with the players. Klay is a very mental-rhythm, flow type of player. They both are; I mean, Steph was 0-for-9 from the three in Game 5, which was probably the worst thing in the world for the Celtics going into a closing game, as we saw he was back to cooking last night. But that&rsquo;s the way they are, and they like reps. Going back to Klay, yeah it could&rsquo;ve been a risky move; there have been a few nights where Steph was in late and I&rsquo;m like, &lsquo;Come on, Coach, he needs to get out of there.&rsquo; So I get it, but no one knows these guys better than Steve and he is one of those coaches who are in constant communication with his guys and listens to his players, and that&rsquo;s one of the things that makes him such a good coach.&rdquo;
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Etan Thomas: When a shooter is off like Klay was in that first game, what advice would you give them? Would you tell him to get reps, like Klay did? Some coaches say if your shot is off, do something else like drive; others say you just keep shooting. What is Chris Mullin&rsquo;s advice?&nbsp;
Chris Mullin: &ldquo;I am fortunate enough to be able to watch Klay all the time, and I see the work he puts in. Of course, the old fundamental thing to do if you&rsquo;re not shooting the ball well is you get a layup or get a free throw to get yourself back in rhythm. And he plays on both sides of the floor and is a good defender and rebounder, so he&rsquo;s definitely not one dimensional. Sometimes, guys&rsquo; offense will dictate their defense and you definitely don&rsquo;t want to do that. But he puts the time in. His mindset is that the next shot is going in because of how much time he&rsquo;s put in. I mean, if young players saw how many shots he shoots everyday regularly &ndash; and how many shots he shoots after an off game &ndash; they would understand. You can&rsquo;t will yourself out of a shooting slump, you have to put the time in and Klay is the perfect example of that.&rdquo;
Etan Thomas: My son, Malcolm, likes to play as the all-time Warriors on NBA 2K and he puts Steph at the 1, Klay at the 2, you at the 3, KD at the 4 and Wilt at the 5, then he comes in with Mitch Richmond and Tim Hardaway later. But you don&rsquo;t miss on the game. He asked me, &ldquo;Could he shoot this well in real life?&rdquo; And I told him, &ldquo;Probably even better!&rdquo;
Chris Mullin: &ldquo;(Laughing) You&rsquo;re too kind. Those were the good ole days.&rdquo;
Etan Thomas: No, it&rsquo;s true! But we were talking about how good y&rsquo;all were with Run TMC, and you know kids look up everything nowadays. He asked me how it was possible that you were all in the top-11 in the league in scoring in the same season when you were teammates, but you only played together for two years? So I gotta ask you that, from Malcolm.
Chris Mullin: &ldquo;That&rsquo;s a great question from Malcolm. It&rsquo;s funny, when me, Mitch and Tim were at the Hall of Fame, someone asked me that and that was the first time someone had asked me that. And I was like, &lsquo;Yeah, that&rsquo;s not right. That&rsquo;s actually terrible.&rsquo; But you can tell your son that the economics were different back then and when teams didn&rsquo;t want to pay, they moved players. They would have a set dollar amount they wanted to keep to and&hellip; it was a terrible mistake, that&rsquo;s what it was.&rdquo;
"Ironically, Malcolm can see the way we were playing then is exactly the way the teams who are winning are playing now. We were just a little bit ahead of our time. We couldn&rsquo;t get over the hump the two years we were there together, but that was our style. We didn&rsquo;t light it up from three like Steph and Klay and these guys do, but yeah, we started this style. Those were great years, but yes, it&rsquo;s a basketball tragedy that we only played two years together."
Etan Thomas: A lot of people don&rsquo;t like that style that you all ushered in, the Warriors style. I wrote an article where <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nick-van-exel-rod-strickland-steve-francis-on-steph-currys-greatness" target="_blank" rel="noopener">I interviewed Nick Van Exel, Rod Strickland and Steve Francis about Steph Curry&rsquo;s greatness</a> and the article did really well and was very well received, but I did see quite a bit of comments saying they ruined basketball or knocking that style of play. I mean, that&rsquo;s the reason Charles Barkley hates the Warriors so much because he is so against that style.
Chris Mullin: "Yeah, it&rsquo;s the evolution of the game. You can&rsquo;t look at Klay Thompson or Steph Curry and not be happy for them. Even if you are Charles Barkley. It&rsquo;s funny, there will be people who genuinely hate the style, but they are such likable guys, it&rsquo;s hard to hate them. Some players [are] easy to hate, let&rsquo;s be honest. But Klay&rsquo;s comeback story is so amazing and so inspirational, his story should be used for motivation and inspiration for basketball eternity."
Etan Thomas: I agree. In fact, he should write an inspirational book about battling back from injuries that could be a top-seller, like how Lance Armstrong did (before all the other stuff came out). The same way that book inspired so many people, Klay should definitely do that too.
Chris Mullin: "I agree. And the fact that they won [makes even better]. Not only did he defy all the odds personally because of how he battled back from two basketball cataclysmic injuries and become an NBA champion, but they also defeated the notion that a lot of people &ndash; including but not limited to Charles Barkley &ndash; had that a team who shot that many threes couldn&rsquo;t win a championship. And for decades, that was true until Steph and Klay came along. So not only did they disprove that, but they have won multiple championships with this style. It&rsquo;s been so fun to watch, I couldn&rsquo;t be happier for the guys."
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After back-to-back catastrophic injuries, Klay Thompson returned to form and won his fourth title. Chris Mullin discusses his journey.

Chris Mullin on Klay Thompson's 4th title: 'He's been through so much'

It&rsquo;s only a matter of time until the East Asia Super League is a household name globally.
The EASL launched in 2017 as an invitational tournament for the top-two teams from the best men&rsquo;s leagues in China, Japan, Korea and the Philippines. The East Asia Super League marked the first time that the premier teams from China&rsquo;s CBA, Japan's B.League, South Korea's KBL and the Philippines' PBA faced off against each other. These tournaments became massively popular in Asia, most recently drawing 117 million viewers over a six-day span in 2019.
Past EASL events featured notable players such as Lance Stephenson (Liaoning Flying Leopards), Shabazz Muhammad (Shenzhen Leopards), KJ McDaniels (TNT KaTropa), Jared Sullinger (Shenzhen Aviators), Jameel Warney (Seoul SK Knights) and Domantas Motiejunas (Shandong Golden Stars).
Now, for the first time, the EASL is becoming an actual league with a home-and-away season that tips off in October. Eight teams will compete over the course of six months, culminating in a Final Four tournament with a $1 million prize for the winning team. It&rsquo;s essentially the Asian-basketball version of soccer&rsquo;s UEFA Champions League.&nbsp;
With a valuation of $100 million, a 10-year exclusive deal with FIBA and high-profile investors such as Jalen Green, Baron Davis, Metta Sandiford-Artest and Shane Battier, there&rsquo;s no question that the East Asia Super League is gaining momentum.
&ldquo;I think the league is really going to be the first Asia-originated sports property that&rsquo;s going to be capturing the hearts and minds of fans globally,&rdquo; EASL Commissioner Matt Beyer told BasketballNews.com.
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In order to do that, the EASL is getting creative and taking cues from some unlikely influences. One might expect an up-and-coming basketball league to follow the same blueprint as the NBA or EuroLeague. Instead, Beyer is channeling Formula One and K-Pop as he looks to grow the East Asia Super League.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re taking a lot of lessons from the K-Pop industry and, with our content, from Formula One and what they&rsquo;ve done with their &lsquo;Drive to Survive&rsquo; reality series,&rdquo; Beyer explained. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re trying to make the league relevant to as wide of a fan base around the world as possible.&rdquo;
After years of struggling to increase viewership and find mainstream success (particularly in the United States), Formula One racing finally took off in recent years. F1 races saw their average viewership jump from 547,722 in 2018 to 928,000 in 2021. What was the key to their success? A reality show on Netflix called &ldquo;Drive to Survive.&rdquo;&nbsp;
The show gives an inside look at the Formula One World Championship, focusing primarily on big personalities and behind-the-scenes drama. Fans became invested in these characters, which gave them a rooting interest and a reason to watch the races. It has been an absolute game-changer for Formula One, and other sports leagues have taken notice.
Soon, the EASL will launch a reality show of their own that will spotlight three-to-five players from each team, documenting their lives on and off the court.
&ldquo;We're about to announce a partnership between two really big production companies &ndash; an experienced Asian content production company and a US-basketball-storytelling production company &ndash; to do a 10-episode, 30-minutes-per-episode type reality show that we're working on distributing on one of the major global platforms such as Amazon Prime, Netflix, etc.&rdquo; Beyer said. &ldquo;For our non-core markets, we&rsquo;ve also considered distributing the reality show together with our broadcast rights. There are a lot of things that need to happen between now and when that show hits the market, but basically we want fans globally to be able to access the East Asia Super League through this type of product and use it as an inroad to hook them. Like, &lsquo;Hey, this league is pretty cool. I've never thought about Asian basketball, but these guys that are featured in the show are interesting and I want to keep following this.&rsquo;&rdquo;
As the league looks to market its players as characters and generate support from a global audience, that&rsquo;s where Beyer hopes to learn a thing or two from the K-Pop industry.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I just visited Korea right after the country opened up in April,&rdquo; Beyer said. &ldquo;As we&rsquo;re doing our media-rights deals in Korea, we&rsquo;re looking at the entertainment groups like CJ E&amp;M and YG and these groups that have manufactured the highest-grossing K-Pop bands globally. How do we take the principles of K-Pop and variety shows and put that into a sports context? The way that I look at it is we have so much to learn in terms of how to create a storyline around a player or make a fan club around a certain group of players or a certain concept. For us, it&rsquo;s really about being sponges. While our team may know a lot about basketball and making highlight reels and all of that, we need to figure out how to leverage those best practices that have been tried and true in the entertainment industry and transfer them into sports.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The reality of the situation is that Asian basketball will benefit from having this platform where the top teams get together and play on a regular basis, and that will help Asian basketball as an aggregate and help their national teams perform better in key global competitions. But at the same time, there&rsquo;s still a huge gap between the level of talent in the NBA and the level of talent in Europe or Asia, so if we want to be a globally relevant league, we&rsquo;ve gotta pick up the slack somewhere and it&rsquo;s not necessarily all on the court.&rdquo;
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Beyer, who previously worked as a player agent and a translator for NBA teams, hopes the EASL can attract all kinds of fans &ndash; whether they&rsquo;re watching because their favorite team is competing or because they really like a certain player after watching the league&rsquo;s reality show and social-media content.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We want fans to understand the personalities in the East Asia Super League,&rdquo; Beyer said. &ldquo;We want people to be able to access the league and basketball however they feel comfortable. That&rsquo;s sort of our mentality: we&rsquo;re here to serve the fans and we&rsquo;re here to add value to our commercial partners. It may not be in the same way that domestic leagues in our markets operate, and it&rsquo;s certainly not the way that the NBA operates. But we want to make sure that in our ecosystem, there&rsquo;s something for every fan.&rdquo;
The pandemic forced the East Asia Super League to shift its approach. Not only did they abandon the tournament format in favor of a home-and-away season, they started prioritizing content.&nbsp;
&ldquo;For us, it was really an opportunity to change from an events company to thinking and acting more like a media company,&rdquo; Beyer said. &ldquo;From 2017 to the end of 2019, everyone was just totally focused on preparing for a big tournament, executing said tournament, wrapping up the tournament and then we&rsquo;d start preparing for the next tournament. During COVID, we started to really focus on producing short-form content and presenting Asian basketball from a lifestyle perspective and doing storytelling around the players in a way that had never been done before in Asia. I think storytelling is really important, and we want to be the best basketball storytellers out there.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Since pivoting, the response from fans has been overwhelming.
&ldquo;From when we did our first short-form video in June 2020 to now, our engagement is up over 1,200%. Our video plays are up over 2,000% and our cumulative social-media following is right now very close to a million followers,&rdquo; Beyer said. &ldquo;We're growing at about 20,000 followers per week. So, the fans love it and they want more. And we're gonna have so much more to give the fans once our games start on October 12. I just feel like the top is gonna be blown off at that point.&rdquo;
There&rsquo;s no question that the EASL is on the rise, and Beyer is already thinking about how the league will expand going forward.
&ldquo;We're going to offer a really awesome product for fans in this first season, and then we're going to grow and expand rapidly,&rdquo; Beyer said. &ldquo;By season three, we&rsquo;re going to expand to a 16-team format and it will be four small groups of four teams playing into a Final Four competition. The city that holds the Final Four competition will rotate on an annual basis. We&rsquo;re going to keep upping the prize in subsequent seasons too. It starts at $1 million and we're going to increase it after we operate a few seasons.&rdquo;
The EASL recently made headlines when they added Jalen Green as an investor-ambassador. Green, who is of Filipino descent, became the highest-drafted Asian-American player when the Houston Rockets selected him No. 2 overall in the 2021 NBA Draft. Bringing in Green, Davis, Artest and Battier is a significant step for the EASL, and the league may add more notable investors soon since they are in the middle of another fundraise.&nbsp;
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&ldquo;To be a globally relevant sports property coming out of Asia means that these alliances with NBA players and other global superstars are really important for us,&rdquo; Beyer explained. &ldquo;I've known Metta for over 10 years from his trips to China when he was still an NBA player and when he went over to play in China [in 2014]. We've always kept in touch and I've always thought Metta is a good guy. He loves Asia so much, and he's benefited so much from China in his career, so he really wanted to be a part of this. With Baron, he was the first NBA player to sign with Li-Ning, and he&rsquo;s a guy who's always tried to sort of do things his own way and be a little bit different. He&rsquo;s also someone who has a startup ecosystem that he's really fostering with his own Baron Davis Enterprises. And then with Shane Battier, he played alongside both Metta and Yao Ming for such a long part of his career and did so many tours to Asia with Peak.&nbsp;
"They had all heard about the East Asia Super League, so it was more so just trying to explain the vision. I think they all understand the potential of the markets. And they also feel that the leagues need innovation to really take it to the next level. We&rsquo;re all thinking: how can Asian basketball become as relevant in society as the NBA is in the US?&rdquo;
Beyer is setting lofty goals for the East Asia Super League, believing that it can become one of the biggest basketball leagues in the world.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We want to be the premier basketball league in Asia,&rdquo; Beyer said. &ldquo;We want to be a pioneer in terms of true sports entertainment for the Asian fan. But we also want to be a top-three league in the world in terms of fan-base size and commercial revenue by 2025.&rdquo;
Part of Beyer&rsquo;s confidence is because of his belief in Asia overall.
&ldquo;I mean, the 21st century is really Asia&rsquo;s century,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The growth is all in Asia and the opportunity is really in Asia; that&rsquo;s just where the money is going to be going forward, especially if you contrast that with the direction that the European market for basketball is going at the moment. Asia is on the rise; everyone knows it for pretty much every other part of the global economy, and for the sports economy, it's coming&hellip; If you're bullish on Asian markets taking more of an emphasis on experiential economy and health and wellness and that entertainment generally is growing in the region, then you should bet on the East Asia Super League.&rdquo;
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Basketball is insanely popular in Asia, which also makes the EASL a safe bet to succeed. Beyer has been blown away by the passion and support he&rsquo;s seen throughout Asia, particularly in the Philippines.
&ldquo;Just about everyone &ndash; men and women &ndash; between 6 and 60 years old in the Philippines loves basketball,&rdquo; Beyer said. &ldquo;The population is a little over 100 million. I saw a statistic that, on average, 52 million people across the country watch a live basketball game on broadcast every single week. I mean, that's half of the country! It's impressive. If you look at most NBA teams&rsquo; Facebook, I would say they have more fans from the Philippines on there than from the US. That&rsquo;s the reality of the situation. And if you look across the region, the media-rights values for basketball are growing.&rdquo;
The NBA&rsquo;s Facebook, Instagram and TikTok accounts have more than 24 million combined followers from the Philippines &mdash; the most of any country outside of the United States. And based on average viewership and reach, the Philippines draw the second-largest average audience for NBA games behind only the US.
&ldquo;The fan support we have in the Philippines, I think, is among the most amazing things I&rsquo;ve witnessed from the data side for the demographics of the NBA,&rdquo; said Kevin Esteves, the NBA&rsquo;s associate vice president of digital strategy and analytics. &ldquo;For that country to represent such a significant portion of the consumption we have on a person-to-person basis, they just love the NBA; they love the stories and the players. Our content performs exceptionally well there. We see support from countries all over the world &mdash; in Europe, Australia, Africa and so on &mdash; but the Philippines really stood out to me. I think that ties back to a lot of the globalization that the NBA has done, with some of its global games being held in Manila. That&rsquo;s been critical and we&rsquo;ve seen that show up in the numbers."
"The NBA is the most popular sports league in the Philippines, with 98% awareness among the general population," <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mortenjensen/2022/03/06/nba-seeing-uptick-in-international-league-pass-consumption/?sh=5fa733e51d51" target="_blank" rel="noopener">added</a> Matt Brabants, the NBA's senior vice president and head of international content partnerships.
However, these fans also love the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), which has posted incredible ratings in recent years. The PBA Governors Cup between Barangay Ginebra and Meralco recently drew 3.6 million viewers (or 17% of the total population watching TV).
Dating back to the EASL's tournaments, there's been no shortage of viewers or interest.
&ldquo;Our first tournament had 21 million viewers, and our most recent one in September 2019 had 117 million viewers over the course of a week,&rdquo; Beyer said. &ldquo;The support is really special. I think when you have any kind of start-up business, you have to see how the market reacts to it. We did a lot of due diligence prior to starting this to understand that this would be a concept that people would like and that fans would get behind, but you never really know how everything is going to go until the rubber hits the road.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had a soccer version of this with the AFC Champions League in Asia since 1996, but there&rsquo;s never been anything in basketball that brought everyone together like this. In 2016 when we started to go out and do fact-finding on this, that was [the big question]: &lsquo;Why hasn&rsquo;t this happened already?&rsquo; And then we realized that these leagues don&rsquo;t really have much interaction and there had been no dialogue. Really, just being there to facilitate the dialogue and bring people to the table in and of itself was sort of a revolutionary thing at that point.&rdquo;
After getting all of the decision-makers on the same page, Beyer spent the last five years building trust with the leagues, teams and FIBA.
&ldquo;We had to build trust, so putting together the tournaments between 2017 and 2019 was the way to do that, and it was also a marketing tool to the stakeholders that we can make this happen,&rdquo; Beyer said. &ldquo;We have revenue-sharing deals for commercial revenue with the leagues. We have appearance fees and prize money for regular-season wins. We have this big $1 million prize at the end of the season. We handle all of the travel costs for the teams. We really derisk this for every single party involved so that participating in the East Asia Super League isn&rsquo;t something where we&rsquo;re twisting anyone&rsquo;s arm. It should be something fun for the teams and it should be an honor for the teams.
"It's really about proving yourself against your regional competition. This is exciting, it&rsquo;s different. If you're always playing against the same competition in your backyard, it becomes a bit of a vacuum, an echo chamber. Being able to go out and see a diverse group of opponents is something special, and it just hasn't happened in this environment. It has never been done before."
The East Asia Super League is demanding your attention. Soon, with an assist from Formula One and K-Pop, it very well could be the next big thing in basketball.
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With a valuation of $100 million, a 10-year exclusive deal with FIBA and high-profile investors, the EASL is gaining momentum.

East Asia Super League: Inside a basketball startup with a unique vision

Adam Silver was on his phone constantly in late December. At that time, the NBA had more than 100 players sidelined by virus-related issues, along with some head coaches, assistant coaches, referees and team staffers.
The NHL had just paused its season. The NBA commissioner wondered if his league would follow suit.
&ldquo;I was very concerned,&rdquo; Silver said. &ldquo;And we had numerous discussions with our governors about whether we were doing the right thing.&rdquo;
With a lot of help from dozens of newly signed players, some of whom might already be forgotten, the NBA played on.
It could be argued the untold MVP&rsquo;s of this season were the more than 100 players signed to short-term hardship contracts to fill in when almost every team was decimated by the Omicron variant and other virus issues in December and January.
Those fill-ins kept the season from veering off the rails. And they&rsquo;re really why the NBA Finals matchup between the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors is being played exactly as planned when the schedule was being put together last summer.
&ldquo;I think that everyone understood that if we did have to pause the season, it would have a huge potential economic impact on the league as well or force players and the league to have to move into the summer, which is not ideal,&rdquo; Silver told The Associated Press. &ldquo;So, without those players, we wouldn&rsquo;t be here today.&rdquo;
Around the league, 605 players &mdash; a record &mdash; got into at least one game during the regular season, up 12% from last season. There were 633 players who were known to be under contract at some point, up 15% from last season&rsquo;s figure.
And when the variant was at its worst, the league was at its busiest: over a 10-day span of late December, 93 different 10-day contracts were signed.
&ldquo;Strangest season I&rsquo;ve been a part of so far,&rdquo; 19-year NBA veteran LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers said during the season. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to just talk about the injuries but COVID protocols. You have guys go out for false positives. You have had guys go out for real reasons. ... We&rsquo;ve had a little bit of everything.&rdquo;
To put how many players were needed in some perspective, consider that over a five-season span &mdash; 1982-83 through 1986-87 &mdash; the Celtics used a total of 27 players.
This season, they used 28.
And that doesn&rsquo;t count four Celtics who were signed and never got into a game. The Celtics&rsquo; total of 32 players who were under contract &mdash; some very briefly &mdash; at some point this season was the highest in the NBA, one more than Portland and two more than Indiana, Milwaukee, and New Orleans.
&ldquo;Obviously to play basketball during unprecedented times the last two years has been tough for individuals, families, etc.,&rdquo; Boston guard Jaylen Brown said. &ldquo;But I think the NBA and the players association have done as good a job as possible to keep things going and to accommodate everything as best they possibly can. There&rsquo;s been ups and downs. There&rsquo;s been questions, things that haven&rsquo;t made sense. But I still give credit where credit is due.&rdquo;
The NBA had to postpone a total of 11 games that were originally slated from mid-to-late December, and the rescheduling of those forced eight other games to be shifted in order to keep teams from playing in overly adverse circumstances like having three games in three nights.
Otherwise, games were played like normal. Only it wasn&rsquo;t normal.
&ldquo;A global pandemic was not something you&rsquo;d expect would be part of a season,&rdquo; Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. &ldquo;But it was, and it is, and it got people to find some solutions and keep working.&rdquo;
Former NBA All-Stars such as Joe Johnson &mdash; who made his only shot attempt in his one-game appearance with the Celtics &mdash; and Isaiah Thomas were called back to the league to help amid the depletions. The Warriors&rsquo; Quinndary Weatherspoon got to make his season debut on Christmas Day.
&ldquo;Surreal,&rdquo; he said.
Washington signed center Jaime Echenique and he played three unremarkable minutes; no points, no stats of any sort. But he made history, becoming the first Colombian to appear in an NBA game.
&ldquo;If I&rsquo;m dreaming, don&rsquo;t wake me up,&rdquo; Echenique said.
It&rsquo;s the players like Echenique who kept the season going. The schedule that the league drafted nearly a year ago &mdash; long before Omicron, long before anyone knew what the season would bring and how the virus would go &mdash; had Monday listed as a travel day for the NBA Finals teams before Games 2 and 3.
The Celtics and Warriors traveled Monday &mdash; as scheduled.
The NBA is about to make it through a season as planned, thanks to some former All-Stars and more than a few players who weren&rsquo;t household names.
&ldquo;I know Chris Paul, for example, made the point in one of our meetings of saying what an incredible debt of gratitude we owe to these players,&rdquo; Silver told AP. &ldquo;And he even was reminding his other NBA players, &lsquo;Don&rsquo;t forget to thank those players.&rsquo; We were relying on a terrific group of outside advisors made up of top doctors and scientists who were predicting that if we could tough it out for a few weeks, we&rsquo;d be able to make it through.
&ldquo;But without the service, largely of those G league players, we wouldn&rsquo;t have been able to do it.&rdquo;

With a lot of help from dozens of newly signed players, some of whom might already be forgotten, the NBA played on.

NBA Finals, season on schedule thanks to replacement players

When Ish Wainright first walked into the practice facility in Scottsdale, Arizona, Phoenix Suns head coach Monty Williams had no idea who he was.
Signed on a two-way contract by Phoenix this season, Wainright&rsquo;s path to the biggest stage is an awe-inspiring one. After playing for the Baylor Bears throughout his collegiate career, Wainright went overseas and did well for himself in Germany. He did enough to catch the eye of NBA teams, and suited up for the Toronto Raptors in the Las Vegas summer league and preseason. Eventually, though, it led to the Suns taking notice and bringing him aboard a special organization in the Valley.
Four days ago, Wainright&rsquo;s NBA dream was officially realized, as the Suns converted his two-way deal into a standard contract &mdash; a move that makes him eligible for Phoenix's postseason roster. Wainright took the spot of Frank Kaminsky, who was released as he continues to nurse a stress reaction in his knee.
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All along the way, Wainright&rsquo;s infectious personality and tireless work ethic have left their mark within the Suns&rsquo; organization. A restricted free agent after this season, Wainright could now be Phoenix&rsquo;s newest version of the Cameron Payne success story from a few years ago.
Within a short period of time, Wainright has gained the trust of Williams and the Suns&rsquo; coaching staff. In a pinch, Wainright can play multiple roles for Phoenix. Whether it be as a small-ball 5 or a burly forward who can space the floor, the Suns&rsquo; 27-year-old rookie has already found his niche. The job for Wainright is simple within the Suns&rsquo; already well-flowing two-way operation: defend at a high level, move the ball around and hit the open-shot opportunities.
A well-known gym rat in the Suns&rsquo; training facility, Phoenix&rsquo;s player development staff have helped Wainright quickly become a knockdown three-point shooter from the most important spot on the floor. Converting an impressive 42.9% on corner threes, Wainright is now a player teams can&rsquo;t sag off of. If anything, Wainright&rsquo;s added development makes him a piece that could easily see the floor for Phoenix in the postseason. For example, with Wainright&rsquo;s shooting and frame, he could be a reserve secondary option for a potential Finals rematch against the Milwaukee Bucks.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
NBA career-high 20 PTS, 8 REBS and 4 AST for Phoenix Suns rookie and Uganda National Team star Ish Wainright against the Clippers last night. Knocked down 4-of-8 threes, put pressure on the rim, active defensively (3 STL). Incredible success story and an even better person. <a href="https://t.co/cme5sx5KE8">pic.twitter.com/cme5sx5KE8</a>
&mdash; Mike Schmitz (@Mike_Schmitz) <a href="https://twitter.com/Mike_Schmitz/status/1512099222421532673?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 7, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Wainright and his head coach are both in agreement on his role, which has a complete buy-in all levels. If anything, Wainright is the latest shining example of the Suns&rsquo; system mining another rotation gem.
&ldquo;I think the thing that I&rsquo;m seeing with him, he&rsquo;s not bringing the ball down. When he catches it in the shot pocket, he keeps it there and it&rsquo;s all legs and follow through as before I think it would&rsquo;ve been a wind up to a shot. And he&rsquo;s worked on it,&rdquo; Williams said of Wainright&rsquo;s shooting development.
&ldquo;Coach [Steve] Scalzi spends every day, every minute with Ish working on all of that stuff. But in our economy, the corner three is probably where he&rsquo;s going to get his shot when he does get in. So, he&rsquo;s got to be efficient from that spot.&rdquo;
Wainright relayed similar thoughts to Williams. It doesn&rsquo;t bother Wainright that he doesn&rsquo;t get many shot opportunities or minutes because he&rsquo;s a complete team player. Loved in a tight-knit locker room already, it speaks volumes to Wainright&rsquo;s character.
On the doorstep of making another dream into reality, Wainright knows his moment is about to be realized &mdash; signed to a regular NBA contract.
Now, on a playoff roster who's the favorite to win the NBA Finals, the Baylor alum has found a potential long-term home on the highest level of basketball.
&ldquo;My mom actually heard the conversation at my door. I heard her before I could react to anything. I heard her scream, but just having an organization and team believe in you, trusting you it means the world,&rdquo; Wainright said of learning his contract had been converted to the main roster.
&ldquo;The journey that I&rsquo;ve taken to get to this point, it means a lot. I&rsquo;m in a daze still, to be honest with you. It probably won&rsquo;t kick in until Sunday when I&rsquo;m looking at my jersey like, &lsquo;Woah.&rsquo; I&rsquo;ve dreamed about playing in the playoffs, the Finals, winning a championship. Dreamed about playing in the NBA, especially for one of the greatest teams in Suns history and also the No. 1 team in the world. It means a lot.&rdquo;
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Ish Wainright is the latest success story from the ever-growing list in Phoenix. Now, Wainright's NBA dream is becoming a reality.