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Rafer Alston turns 50 today! You may look at him as an 11-year veteran NBA point guard, who saw most of his action with the Houston Rockets. But for those of us obsessed with And1 Mixtapes and the streetball movement in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, Skip 2 My Lou was one of the most influential basketball figures of that era. I watched him in the NBA. I watched him on VHS tapes given out for trying on And1 shoes at a Footaction store. I had every shoe And1 put out for him in every color. Rafer, aka Skip, was one of the greatest shows on a basketball court. Happy birthday to a legend.
What’s LeHoldup?
Maybe LeBron should expand his options
As we exist inside the fourth week of LeBron James not deciding/announcing where he intends to play next season, I’ve had a hairbrained theory manifest itself. That’s what happens when you’re just waiting without any real updates and you live in a world in which you’re forced to pontificate. Well … forced might be dramatic. Highly urged to pontificate!
As I’ve tried to put myself in LeBron’s shoes in this decision and pretend to know who he is or what’s actually important to him, I’ve increasingly found myself poking holes in every organization he could join. This is supposed to be his final spot … we think? And he’s going to want to nail that decision. I understand people think he’s drawing this out for attention. Maybe he is on some level.
He also might not be sure about the six options we think he’s deciding among. The Warriors are old. The Cavaliers probably aren’t good enough and might be a mess. The 76ers are still dependent on Joel Embiid for a title run. The Heat really don’t have much outside of Giannis and Bam. The Nuggets are not as solid as we thought before the playoffs. And the Timberwolves may not have the goods to get past the Thunder and Spurs.
However, as LeBron continues to figure out where he might want to be next, we don’t want to be totally negative. I also didn’t want to limit LeBron to the six reported options. Let’s be positive and give LeBron a reason to sign with any of the 30 teams:
Some really good options for LeBron here. Golden State and Cleveland have mostly been the betting favorites for his services. However, Miami recently pulled ahead of everybody after the team accidentally published a news conference link.
Does this mean anything? Not really. I believe Rich Paul when he says LeBron won’t be rushed in this decision. And I believe he hasn’t made up his mind, nor do I think anybody has true insight into what he’ll choose.
But … he has to sign some day soon, right?
Where will LeBron James end up?
The Athletic NBA Staff and Jeshua Kidd
The last 24
😞 Not so good? Our John Hollinger has his list of biggest disappointments from Summer League. They include Dailyn Swain and … Darryn Peterson.
💰 Budget conscious. The Thunder have shed some good players this offseason, including Lu Dort. They’re in cost-cutting mode, Fred Katz writes.
🎯 Improvement coming? The Rockets have been held back by outside shooting. They just hired the best shooting coach ever.
🙌 What an honor! The Basketball Hall of Fame is honoring an active player for the first time with the “Stephen Curry: Beyond the Arc” gallery
Stream the NBA on Fubo (try it for free!) and catch out-of-market games on League Pass.
Investigation station
We’re nowhere near a Clippers resolution
When Adam Silver stated that he was hopeful the LA Clippers cap circumvention investigation would wrap up this summer, so many of us scoffed at the notion. This thing has been going on since September. Of course, this should be wrapped up by the end of summer, right? There have even been comments by Silver that this needs to be done by the start of next season.
Uh … what? How could this be? Of course the investigation should be decided and ruled upon by next season! I don’t think anybody believed it wouldn’t until Silver made those comments. The Raptors and Clippers even agreed to a deal sending Kawhi Leonard back to Canada for a season or three with the assumption that this thing would be decided eventually. And of course, the decision would not be so severe that Leonard’s deal would be voided, right?
Well, the venerable John Hollinger reminded everybody the other day of just how long this investigation is from being over, even after the investigation is concluded. Even if it ended today, we could be months away from a resolution.
Remember, the investigation isn’t the end of the process as much as the beginning of the next process. The NBA’s collective bargaining agreement specifies that a cap-circumvention case must be tried before a system arbitrator and then potentially go through an appeals process before any penalty can be handed down by the commissioner. Are we sure this is all getting done in two and a half months?
All of the jokes about the investigating law firm grabbing billable hours during this whole ordeal have been grossly understated. What’s interesting is, the bylaws of the NBA don’t require a smoking gun in these types of allegations for full punishment. Circumstantial evidence can be enough. This isn’t a true court-of-law situation of “innocent until proven guilty.”
The question is whether the NBA wants to eventually get into a legal battle with Steve Ballmer and the Clippers. Because once a decision has been made, it will become an arbitration case, and that’s where Ballmer and his unlimited wealth could try to drag this out in a legal type of setting. Or … as Hollinger wrote, maybe there’s a “plea bargain” of sorts?
Seemingly, the only pathways to an expeditious resolution are if the investigation produces no evidence of wrongdoing — can you imagine if, after all this time, Wachtell comes back and says, “We got nothing?” — or if Steve Ballmer and the Clippers basically “plea bargain” to certain penalties and don’t go through the remaining steps of the process.
This feels like the most likely scenario to me, based on absolutely zero of my own reporting. This is just me thinking at some point the NBA will want to get this decided. Maybe it’s agreeing to certain suspensions that don’t involve Kawhi? Maybe Leonard goes unscathed? Maybe a future pick is taken or multiple picks are taken but some are eventually given back? Then the trade between the Clippers and Raptors can go through. Or maybe there’s a breaking point … oh, I don’t know … like the start of the 2026-27 season … at which Toronto just decides to throw a “my bad” at Brandon Ingram and Gradey Dick for the trade attempt?
This may never end. As of right now, this investigation has been long enough for 4 1/2 marriages between former Nets big man Kris Humphries and Kim Kardashian (72 days) and roughly 6,146 stints with Chris Paul on the Lakers before the deal was vetoed by the NBA (76 minutes).
Are either of those good units of measurement? No, but it’s still not as ridiculous as this investigation being far from over.
Big W Weekend
WNBA All-Star Q&A with Sabreena Merchant
Tonight and tomorrow are All-Star Weekend in the WNBA, as we celebrate the league and get ready for the stretch run. This has been a super dramatic season so far with lots of chaos and lots of hooping. The Minnesota Lynx have been the best team and just this week got Napheesa Collier back from injury. The Golden State Valkyries are in their second year, but they’re second in the league standings. Of course, we’ve had plenty of drama surrounding Caitlin Clark and now she’s one tech away from a suspension.
In the 3-point contest, rookie Azzi Fudd will try to take home the trophy. It will be a little easier with Sabrina Ionescu not there, although she claims she was never invited. As the celebration for the W begins, we have a lot of questions about what’s happened so far and what’s to expect the rest of the way. There’s no better person to answer this than The Athletic’s Sabreena Merchant, who was nice enough to drop some knowledge in our Q&A.
What’s the best story in the WNBA as we get to the All-Star break?
Sabreena: The Lynx. Olivia Miles has become your favorite player’s favorite player, dazzling with her flair and command during a sensational first half of her rookie season and prompting some serious reconsideration of why she wasn’t taken first in the 2026 WNBA Draft. Behind Miles and two other All-Stars, the Lynx are unexpectedly atop the WNBA standings, despite a huge offseason exodus, and now they welcome back the back-to-back MVP runner-up Collier, who casually dropped 24 and 10 in her first game of the season Wednesday. How Miles and Collier function together is what I’m most looking forward to in the second half.
On a scale of 1-10, how annoying is the conversation around Caitlin Clark right now?
Sabreena: An 8. Every conversation about Caitlin, basketball or otherwise, turns into a Rorschach test about race and politics and is threatening the experience of watching Caitlin. And that’s a real shame, because watching Caitlin from 2023-24 was some of the most fun I’ve ever had as a sports fan. She isn’t blameless — her flopping on the court is at Luka Dončić levels, and I say this as a Lakers fan — but she’s been thrust into this role as the avatar of the sport, and it’s a lot for anyone to handle.
Who do you think wins it all and who do you think disappoints in the playoffs the most?
Sabreena: I’m still riding with the Aces until someone dethrones them. Their defense is concerning, but we’ve seen them level up when the situation demands it, and the experience/talent of their core, plus the fact that A’ja Wilson is the best player alive, makes it hard to pick against them. It would be disappointing if a team projected to contend lost in the first round, like New York and Atlanta last season. In that vein, I worry about the Fever if they get Dallas in the first round, which is the current 4/5 matchup. One of those teams would have a very long offseason.
The WNBA All-Star Game will be tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
