Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant card becomes most expensive sports card ever: Source: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6571746/2025/08/24/michael-jordan-kobe-bryant-record-card-sale/

The one-of-a-kind Jordan and Bryant 2007-08 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection dual Logoman (the NBA logo patch from each of their game-worn jerseys) autographed patch card sold for $12.932 million through Heritage Auctions early Sunday morning. It’s now the most expensive sports card ever sold. Heritage’s estimated value for the card going into the auction was $6 million, just above the previous record sale for a basketball card.

Haynes was offered 35k per year by the Philadelphia Warriors, which is roughly about the equivalent of 470k today. Obviously, things have changed

Here are some clips of Haynes clowning the Lakers while beating them in 48 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-wJxY2RkLwY

After a first-round loss in which Westbrook noticeably pouted when he was taken out at the end of the game, one player told ESPN, "It's crazy. [He's] changed the entire vibe and spirit of our team."

While he'd been at the postgame lectern, there'd been a heated discussion between Westbrook and Gordon in the locker room, multiple sources told ESPN. Gordon had challenged Westbrook about his attitude.

Outside the locker room, one player relayed why Gordon might've done so.

"He's so immature," he said of Westbrook.

"I can't see another team doing it," one team source said of the Nuggets' signing Westbrook, after unceremonious endings with his previous four teams, "but I never thought we would do it."

Source

Immediately after the article, Aaron Gordon shot it down. This led people to suggest that Ramona completely made up all the quotes. This was Aaron Gordon's statement:

I caught wind of an article that came out about Russell Westbrook in our locker room after game 2. Which was a completely arbitrary article, pointless, and unnecessary, by whoever it was that put it out. Russ is one of the most talented basketball players who has ever played the game of basketball. And quite frankly he has been great for us all year long. We're brothers, we spend more time with our team than we do with our own family. Of course there's going to be disagreements. That conversation wasn't for anybody other than our own group. The internal workings of our locker room. That article is just so arbitrary and so far from the truth. Russ has been amazing for us. And not only is he a great basketball player, but he's an even better human being. And he's going to continue to be great for us. And he's going to make a huge impact. And he's going to help us win these next 2 games. And that's all I gotta say.

Source

On one hand, he suggested that the article was "arbitrary", "unnecessary", "far from the truth", but it wasn't really a concrete denial. In fact he somewhat confirmed it by saying "Of course there's going to be disagreements. That conversation wasn't for anybody other than our own group"

There has been other reporting that was in the same vein Ramona's:

Sam Amick:

All the while, Malone’s choice to continue supporting Westbrook, despite the frustration he was causing on and off the floor, led to a loss of credibility among the team’s key players. It was one thing when Malone handled Jokić and Murray with more leniency than the rest of their group, but affording Westbrook that sort of treatment, even with his Hall of Fame credentials, wasn’t received well by some.

Adam Mares:

When Russell Westbrook started over Aaron Gordon for all those games and then eventually Christian Braun I know that was something that really bothered the team... it was the beginning of the end [for Michael Malone]

And perhaps the ultimate fact check for the article is whether the Nuggets brought Westbrook back. Actions speak louder than words. And from what it looks like, the Nuggets do not want him back, and he might not even be in the NBA at all.

What do we think?

Another angle

Source: https://open.substack.com/pub/marcstein/p/sunday-best-the-latest-on-late-summer?r=nuq3a&utm_medium=ios

After Sacramento explored various trade scenarios earlier this summer involving Malik Monk, league sources say that the Kings are not actively engaged in such trade talks now.

The Kings have maintained an interest in unsigned free agent Russell Westbrook, sources say, but I'm told that they have indeed explored the possibility of creating a backcourt opening for Westbrook by other means rather than dealing Monk.

Monk is said to have made a positive impression in Sacramento not only with his play but how he has embraced his role and the franchise as a King.

Just thought about this and thought it was a pretty cool stat. Two extremely special teams for sure.

According to Quantum Mechanics, there should be a non-zero chance that an NBA basketball undergoes quantum tunneling.

Since the chance of a macroscopic object undergoing tunneling is vanishingly low, we have not seen this happen within an NBA game yet. But assuming that the NBA keeps going on for an infinite amount of time, a ball tunneling should occur at least once.

Surprisingly, The NBA Rulebook currently does not take quantum tunneling into consideration, leaving it exposed to some potentially difficult or even perhaps impossible to call plays.

For example, if a shot is blocked and the ball quantum tunnels immediately after, what team gets the possession? Would a physicist need to extrapolate the projectiles position based on the contact force and angle to determine if it was out of bounds? How would this take into account that a teammate might have been able to save it just before? Should then it just be a jump ball?

Imagine this happening in the Finals or so....

Question: What are some controversial, difficult, and near impossible to call plays if a basketball were to quantum tunnel in today's, Classical Physics governed NBA.

Source: https://open.substack.com/pub/marcstein/p/sunday-best-the-latest-on-late-summer?r=nuq3a&utm_medium=ios

Houston's Kevin Durant remains eligible for a two-year deal worth nearly $120 million with his new team, but the next notable on-deck signee could well be the Mavericks' P.J. Washington, who becomes eligible Friday for a new four-year deal just shy of $90 million.

League sources tell The Stein Line that an extension for Washington is likely.

While he is no longer an automatic starter in Dallas after the Mavericks stunningly won the draft lottery in May and the right to select Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 overall pick, Washington only just turned 27 himself on Saturday and has no shortage of admirers in front offices around the league.

With an annual salary that comes in at lower than $25 million, Washington would certainly still rank a player coveted by rival teams ... but it's important to note that he would be ineligible to be dealt for six months after signing the extension provided that any new deal inked stretches beyond three seasons or features a raise higher than 20% in Year 1 from his 2025-26 salary of $14.2 million. Washington thus appears likely to spend all of Flagg's rookie season as his teammate in Dallas no matter what.

Source: https://marcstein.substack.com/p/sunday-best-the-latest-on-late-summer

"I'm told that the Hawks are eager to see more of Young alongside versatile swingman Jalen Johnson - who was limited to 36 games last season before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury - as they make determinations about their big-picture future."

Steph Curry was struggling with 17 points on 6/19 FG (31.6%), 4/14 from 3 (28.6%), 1/1 FT, along with 5 Rebounds, 2 Asissts (4 TOV), 1 steal, 1 block in 39:16 minutes played.

Klay Thompson with 14 points on 6/17 FG (35.3%), 2/10 from 3, along with 2 Rebounds (1 Off. Reb), 2 Assists (3 TOV), and 1 steal

Andre Iguodala, despite being blocked by LeBron in the 4th quarter ("BLOCKED BY JAMES"), had a nice game off the bench, with 4 Points on 2/6 FG, 0/3 from 3, 0/5 FT, but 9 Rebounds (2 Off. Rebs), 4 Assists (no TOV), 2 Steals, and 2 Blocks in 37:53 minutes played.

Cavs upset the Warriors, the first to ever comeback from being down 1-3 in the NBA Finals

I'm thinking of Guerschon Yabusele, was very raw when he was drafted by the Celtics, was out of the league by 2019, grinded for a bit in China and Europe, building up his game, culminating in a very strong showing in the Olympics for France and a dunk on Lebron, playing his way back into the NBA with the Sixers, and now he got paid 11 million by the Knicks.

Are there any other names that could make a good return to the NBA after getting better overseas?

Source: https://www.hoopshype.com/story/sports/nba/rumors/2025/08/24/cavaliers-knicks-have-checked-in-on-malik-beasley/85807457007/

The Knicks and Cavaliers have checked in on Malik Beasley, sources told @hoopshype. Knicks executive Gersson Rosas signed Beasley to a four-year, $60M deal with the Timberwolves. Knicks and Cavs have minimum deals to offer. Beasley is no longer a target of a federal investigation.