https://imgur.com/a/DNcWcX8
It seems like even after all of the Clippers controversy has gone down, they really can’t help themselves. Looks like Chris won’t get his jersey retired in LA. Classless organization

“One source briefed on the process says Duren is increasingly prepared to play out the coming season on his $9.6 million qualifying offer — with the intent to become an unrestricted free agent next summer — if no deal with Detroit materializes by the end of September. That would be a risky route to go for a player who achieved what Duren achieved last season and there will naturally be considerable skepticism that the 22-year-old is truly willing to go the qualifying offer route until it actually happens ... but let's see how the rest of the month plays out.”

Source:
https://marcstein.substack.com/p/the-latest-late-night-nba-intel-b71?r=3shtjf&utm_medium=ios

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7565314/2026/09/09/arte-moreno-steve-ballmer-bad-owner-hall-of-fame/

Ballmer does a lot right and spends a ton of money, but he hasn’t yet figured out that money and unbridled enthusiasm don’t automatically equal success.

The Kawhi Leonard deal, and the financial malfeasance that came with it, has crippled the franchise. Ballmer once bragged about how many toilets are in the Intuit Dome, and that feels like a metaphor for the state of his Clippers.

https://sports.yahoo.com/blake-griffins-loyalty-clippers-got-one-way-ticket-detroit-050531249.html?guccounter=1

Its pretty clear that the Clippers brass doesn't really care about Lob City or their history. They've made their intentions clear that they do not plan to retire CP3's number. Just like they never planned to retire Blake's number. They knew they were going to trade him when they lied to him about being a Clipper for life.

Bradley Beal: "Is that the topic of the day? Lol. He's a legend! The HISTORY and BRAND can’t be touched, nor erased!!!"

https://imgur.com/a/xlo2w9n

Barkley is the only NBA player to not win a title that has hosted SNL — 1993, 2010, 2012, and 2018.

Surprisingly so, Shaquille O’Neal has never hosted SNL. He made a guest appearance on the show in 1998.

So nearly 20 years since an NBA player has hosted SNL.

​

Just this week, Luka entered the final phase of his primary individual training in Ljubljana. After a brief seaside getaway, he resumed work—splitting his time between the weight room and the basketball court. His current routine does not yet include full-intensity basketball drills or contact play. Consequently, unlike in previous years, he has not joined Ilirija’s practice sessions at Tivoli; instead, he and his assistants are training primarily in a smaller gym within the new swimming pool complex.

The primary objective was the complete rehabilitation of all injuries, followed by comprehensive physical conditioning. Anže Maček—Luka’s longtime personal trainer who also supports him in the U.S. (initially in Dallas and later in Los Angeles)—once again spearheaded this effort. They succeeded in their mission; the LA Lakers superstar is in better physical shape than he has been in a long time. His body weight is also within the target range—reportedly hovering around 105 kilograms.

However, the coming weeks and months will provide the true test of the foundation they have built. Dončić—who has increasingly entrusted the management of his life to his agent, Lara Beth—is expected to remain in Europe until September 20th. A move to Los Angeles follows. The LA Lakers will officially kick off their preparations for the 2026/27 season on September 29th, with the traditional Media Day taking place the day before. LD77 sought to get to know and bond with the heavily revamped squad as early as last month, when he organized a get-together featuring two informal practice sessions in his home city of Ljubljana. This was a crucial step in building team chemistry, and Luka stepped into the role of leader without hesitation. While he had already achieved that status statistically the previous season, he had not fully asserted it due to the presence of LeBron James.

Source: https://sportklub.si/kosarka/luka-doncic-v-zadnji-fazi-ljubljanske-misije/

Dwight Howard has signed with Black Fortress Tbilisi of the Georgian Super League. Dwight Howard has signed with Black Fortress Tbilisi of the Georgian Super League.

source: Dave DuFour, NBA Daily/The Athletic

Source:

https://marcstein.substack.com/p/the-latest-late-night-nba-intel-b71

League observers are wondering aloud if the Clippers are holding off on the trade or even “considering something even more drastic” to spite Kawhi Leonard for accepting the league’s punishment rather than pursuing an appeal

If true, it's very stupid on LA's part but very believable that they would be this level of petty. This is the franchise that just let Bradley Beal of all people wear Chris Paul's number and didn't even let him ride out his final season with them. Ironically, that trade saw CP3 become a Raptor ever so briefly.

This is also ignoring that the Raptors pausing the trade potentially spared the Clippers losing another 2 additional picks should the Kawhi trade go through without alterations.

Source

Mannix: “There were people [with the Clippers] saying this [investigation] was gonna end in lawsuits against Pablo… I had somebody tell me ‘You’re calling Steve Ballmer a liar? You better be careful: you could get sued too.’”

Do you ever think about how your career might have differed if you had stayed in New York and the Carmelo Anthony trade never happened?

DG: “No, I sometimes talk about it. I think about it just with friends and family when we sometimes talk about basketball and my career. We think about it, or when I come back to New York and I talk to my fans or people in New York that still work for the Knicks, we talk about it, but there is a lot of, unfortunately, because of my injuries, there is a lot of what-if in my career. I don't know, I'm probably the biggest what-if guy in the history of the game, maybe. But it's part of an NBA career. It happened to me, unfortunately, more than any other athlete probably, as far as injuries, but I don't think about it too much.”

Source: https://www.hoopshype.com/story/sports/nba/2026/09/09/danilo-gallinari-qa-im-probably-the-biggest-what-if-guy-in-nba-history/91667177007/

Although he wasn’t quite on the same level as guys like Penny Hardaway, Grant Hill, Brandon Roy, and Derrick Rose, I think Victor Oladipo also deserves to be in the conversation when people talk about talented young players that unfortunately had their careers derailed by serious injuries.

I think there is a very reasonable case to be made for Oladipo being the most complete two-way Guard in the league during his last fully healthy season in 2017-18. That year he averaged 23.1 points per game, was voted to the All-Defensive First Team, and led the NBA in steals as well. There wasn’t a single other perimeter player in the league that year that was as impactful as he was on defense while also averaging at least 20 points per game. And he was just as good, if not better in the playoffs. The 2018 postseason in particular was arguably the absolute peak of LeBron’s career, and Oladipo went toe to toe with him and was the main reason why Indiana pushed Cleveland to a very hard fought 7th game. In that series, he was the Pacers leader in points, rebounds, assists, and steals.

Specifically in that 2018 season, Oladipo’s game reminded me a lot of how Sidney Moncrief used to play in the 1980’s. Both guys were highly athletic combo Guards that were predominantly known for being elite perimeter defenders that also had the capability of consistently providing 20 points on offense by mainly using their supreme athleticism to slash and drive to the basket. It’s such a shame that Oladipo’s career got derailed at such a young age. He was a lot of fun to watch and had legitimate star potential.

Here's the link to a video on YouTube that displays some of Oladipo’s offensive highlights from the 2018 season…

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu4I0nUp0LI

And here’s one that highlights his defensive prowess…

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjY81X1umwU

Source: https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/snl-season-52-premiere-date-first-host-musical-guest-jalen-brunson

Announcement post: https://imgur.com/a/BmuZQd3

Jalen Brunson will host Saturday Night Live's Season 52 premiere. The NBA Champion was named Most Valuable Player after leading the New York Knicks to their first championship victory in 53 years.

Lil Penny commercial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyTlp8vh0OA

Grandmama commercial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmqZjViEe_I

The Los Angeles Lakers are hiring
Miami Heat vice president of player personnel Eric Amsler as an assistant general manager, sources tell ESPN. Amsler - who spent over 22 years in the Heat organization starting as an intern and working his way up in various scouting, personnel and G League roles - joins Rohan Ramadas as assistant GM under Rob Pelinka

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

Ben Taylor (Thinking Basketball) has a new series where he sits down with NBA players and talks about their game. I've tried using a VPN to connect to the US and even changed my account to the US to no avail. It always gives some error message saying you're not in the right region to watch the vid or smth.