NBA schedule analysis: 10 games I'd pay to watch
On Opening Night this October, the NBA's new broadcast partner is giving us... well, the same thing we got the last time we invited the peacock into our home to watch some basketball: the Olympics. We get Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and LeBron James. Only a year older.
If only NBC could have thrown in the Celtics, just so seeing Jayson Tatum on the bench could complete the Paris grand slam.
I get it. You have to show the defending champ's ring ceremony, and throwing in Durant's first game as a Rocket adds a second attractive element to the season's curtain-raiser between Houston and Oklahoma City.
And Curry vs. James just doesn't get old, even if they will be meeting for the 56th time. Seriously, the Joe DiMaggio Commemorative for the California rival Warriors and Lakers.
But let's be honest. The NBA has a new look, even if we have to wait until Day 2 on ESPN to witness it.
Here are the 10 regular-season matchups to which I'm most looking forward to watching:
Oct. 22: Spurs at Mavericks
Cooper Flagg draws Victor Wembanyama for his NBA debut in what could be the most highly anticipated matchup of the entire season. A day late, but surely not a dollar short. What's more: Spurs coach Mitch Johnson's first bright-lights opportunity to show us he's not going to be the next Jerod Mayo.
Nov. 3: Bucks at Pacers
Among the biggest head-scratchers of the offseason was Myles Turner's decision to leave a team with a future (Pacers) for a team with a past (Bucks). In this homecoming, some will let him know what they think about the choice. But most will applaud the decade that went into putting Indiana basketball back on the map... only to see Caitlin Clark ride into town and steal it away. Hmm, maybe THAT'S why he left.
Nov. 24: Jazz at Warriors
Just a guess here that the suddenly twitchy Danny Ainge is the one who lands Jonathan Kuminga at the 11th hour. Wherever the polarizing young prospect hangs his baggage, rest assured Warriors fans won't be "Ku"-ing in his first game back in San Francisco. Here's hoping new Valkyries mascot Violet The Raven doesn't get the wrong message and swoop down from the rafters.
Nov. 25: Clippers at Lakers
Somewhere outside the arena, Gavin Newsom will have a photo shoot in front of a sign that reads: "First LA, then the world." Hey, Gov, it was referring to this suddenly rejuvenated rivalry.
Nov. 26: Rockets at Warriors
Every Durant return to San Francisco is a spectacle. What makes this one special is that he'll be trying to prove he can be the difference-maker for Houston in a potential postseason rematch of Golden State's 7-over-2 upset last spring.
Dec. 23: Thunder at Spurs
By this point, Wembanyama will have waited more than a year for a rematch with fellow beanpole Chet Holmgren after a humiliating head-to-head last October. Although just one-third of the way into the new season, the chances of one or the other already being hurt are far greater than snowy holidays in Texas.
Jan. 19: Thunder at Cavaliers
Who would have guessed Thunder-Pacers in the Finals would turn into great theater? I suggest we give this matchup of preseason conference favorites a look-see before concluding that we'd rather see the Knicks and Nuggets in June.
Jan. 24: Lakers at Mavericks
Will Dallas fans recognize a trimmed-down Luka Doncic? That said, having already had a shot at both the Thanksgiving and Christmas buffet tables, will Doncic even be trimmed-down anymore? And if that weren't enough, you've got the first-ever duel of the most popular rookies of the last two seasons: Flagg vs. Bronny James.
Feb. 1: Thunder at Nuggets
All summer long we heard an echoing through the Rockies. The sound of home runs by the opposition at Coors Field? No. Rather: "SGA no MVP!" It's time to duke it out.
April 12: Magic at Celtics
A potential tune-up for Tatum as he prepares -- in his mind -- to return from his blown Achilles and save the season for the Celtics in the upcoming playoffs. I can already hear Mark Jones proclaim: "This is not a team you want to see in the postseason." And given the relative weakness of the East, he just might be right.
--Dave Del Grande, Field Level Media
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Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
World's first robot OLYMPICS get off to a rocky start: Humanoids from 16 nations crash and collapse as they attempt to compete in boxing, athletics, and football
It sounds like an event from the latest science fiction blockbuster. But the world's first robot Olympics have officially kicked off in China this week. The three–day event, called the World Humanoid Robot Games, will see humanoid robots from 16 countries compete across a range of events. The AI bots will go head–to–head in sports such as football, track and field, boxing, and table tennis. They'll also tackle robot–specific challenges – from sorting medicines and handling materials to cleaning services. However, human athletes can rest easy for now. At one of the first events – five–aside football – 10 robots the size of seven–year–olds shuffled around the pitch, often getting stuck in a scrum or falling over en masse. Meanwhile, over in the athletics, one mechanical racer barrelled straight into a human operator, who was dramatically knocked to the ground. At one of the first events, five–aside football, 10 robots the size of seven–year–olds shuffled around the pitch, often getting stuck in a scrum or falling over en masse The teams come from countries including the United States, Germany, and Brazil, with 192 representing universities and 88 from private enterprises. The games began in Beijing today, with over 500 androids alternating between jerky tumbles and glimpses of real power as they competed in events from the 100–metre hurdles to kung fu. 'We come here to play and to win. But we are also interested in research,' said Max Polter, a member of HTWK Robots football team from Germany, affiliated with Leipzig University of Applied Sciences. 'You can test a lot of interesting new and exciting approaches in this contest. 'If we try something and it doesn't work, we lose the game. 'That's sad but it is better than investing a lot of money into a product which failed.' In a 1,500–metre race, domestic champion Unitree's humanoids stomped along the track at an impressive clip, easily outpacing their rivals. The fastest robot, witnessed by AFP, finished in 6:29:37. However, it's worth pointing out that this is a far cry from the human men's world record of 3:26:00. The Beijing municipal government is among the organising bodies for the event, underscoring the emphasis Chinese authorities place on the emerging robotics industry and reflecting the country's broader ambitions in AI and automation. China's robotics push also comes as the country grapples with an ageing population and slowing economic growth. The sector has received government subsidies exceeding $20 billion over the past year, while Beijing plans to establish a one trillion yuan ($137 billion) fund to support AI and robotics startups. China has staged a series of high–profile robotics events in recent months, including what it called the world's first humanoid robot marathon in Beijing, a robot conference and the opening of retail stores dedicated to humanoid robots. However, the marathon drew criticism after several robot competitors emitted smoke during the race and some failed to complete the course, raising questions about the current capabilities of the technology. Still, while some may view such competitions and events as publicity stunts, industry experts and participants see them as crucial catalysts for advancing humanoid robots toward practical real–world applications. Morgan Stanley analysts in a report last week noted a surge in attendance to a recent robot conference from the general public compared to previous years, saying this showed 'how China, not just top government officials, has embraced the concept of embodied intelligence.' 'We believe this widespread interest could be instrumental for China's continued leadership in the humanoid race, providing the necessary talent, resources, and customers to boost industry development and long–term adoption,' they said. Booster Robotics, whose humanoid robots are being used by a Tsinghua University team in the football competition, views soccer as an effective test of perception, decision–making and control technologies that could later be deployed in factories or homes. 'Playing football is a testing and training ground for helping us refine our capabilities,' said Zhao Mingguo, Chief Scientist at Booster Robotics. WHO IS SOPHIA THE ROBOT? Sophia first emerged in 2016 as a super-intelligent human-like head with a realistic face that was able to blink, look from side to side and talk. The humanoid robot, created by Hong Kong firm Hanson robotics, can chat, smile mischievously and even tell jokes. The robot made history in October 2017 when she became legal a citizen of Saudi Arabia. The stunt made Sophia the world's first robot to be granted legal citizenship. While Sophia has some impressive capabilities, she does not yet have consciousness. Hanson Robotics claims fully sentient machines could emerge within a few years. Sophia herself has insisted 'the pros outweigh the cons' when it comes to artificial intelligence. 'Elders will have more company, autistic children will have endlessly patient teachers,' Sophia said.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Maga hats, anti-Ice banners and plenty of confusion: did MLS create its own political mess?
The man in the Make America Great Again hat could not have been more direct. 'I'm being evicted from the premises because we can't wear Donald Trump hats in public,' he said to his camera from the stands at a St Louis City game in late July. A security official lingered in the background, asking him to leave as he delivered his next line: 'Trump is not welcome here.' The man, Michael Weitzel, is a season ticket holder who was eventually led outside the gates of the stadium as the security official told him that he sympathized, that he was a 'Trumper' too, but that he had to follow policy. Weitzel's video is fairly tame, as these things go – the situation never escalates beyond a somewhat exasperated conversation. It went viral nonetheless, with a parade of influencers and publications that don't ordinarily pay much attention to Major League Soccer suddenly taking a very keen interest in what seemed to be a landmark one-sided enforcement against political speech. Some even called it a first amendment issue – which it isn't, because the first amendment concerns government action and MLS is a private business. What it is, though, is the latest of a long line of incidents to shine a spotlight on MLS's fan code of conduct, which has banned political displays in some form for much of the league's history. Regardless of wording, the policy has seemingly always been a controversy magnet. It is also emblematic of one of MLS's foundational challenges as it pursues its goal of being one of the top leagues of the world – how to live up to both the norms of global soccer, and those of major American sports leagues, even when the two are wildly different. League commissioner Don Garber defended the policy earlier this year when asked by the Guardian about anti-Ice signs and banners that were confiscated at various games – actions that have caused a revolt among multiple supporters' groups. 'We want our stadiums to stay safe,' Garber said. 'We want to ensure that we're having displays that are not going to incite anyone, and at the same time not take care of one audience, and at the same time having to deal with another audience that might be on the other side of this issue. The best way to do that is to have the policy we have.' MLS has discouraged political displays in its fan code of conduct for many years, with the removal of banners reading 'Refugees welcome' from a Toronto FC game in 2015 standing as an early example. The league's policy at the time simply asked fans to create an environment 'free from … political or inciting messages'. A new wording, instituted at the start of the 2019 season, was slightly more specific, banning the use of 'political … language and/or gestures'. In each case, MLS, its clubs, and the security officials hired for each game were given a wide berth to determine what was and was not political. This was swiftly identified as a problem by the Independent Supporters' Council (ISC), an organization representing the league's supporters' groups. 'We, as an organization, feel strongly on ensuring that displays of human rights are not mistaken for political statements,' a 2019 ISC statement read in part. 'Political engagement is sometimes necessary in securing human rights for all, but that does not make the message of human rights inherently political.' The statement turned out to be prescient. Months after it was issued, the league drew the ire of several groups by banning the display of the 'Iron Front' symbol, a logo featuring a trio of encircled arrows pointing diagonally downward. The symbol was first used by an anti-Nazi paramilitary group during the second world war. It is now a lesser-known but graphically impactful way of expressing anti-fascist sentiment. MLS determined that the symbol represented a political movement (antifa), and banned it. The fans resisted. Within months, the ban was dropped, and the policy changed to the version that rules the league today. This version outlaws 'electioneering, campaigning or advocating for or against any candidate, political party, legislative issue, or government action.' The new language seemed like it might have clarified things by inserting more specific language. Yet situations like Weitzel's, or the anti-Ice banner removals, or the New England Revolution's removal of a 'Free Rumeysa' banner, continue to raise questions about the scope of the policy, and how it is best enforced. 'I think it's a quite confusing and unclear rule,' said Emerson Sykes, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU, who is a soccer fan and has researched MLS's policy and its recent headline-grabbing controversies. 'I think when you apply these rules to these different situations, the problem with vague rules comes into play, specifically the issue of consistent enforcement. So there's the rule and then there's how it's actually experienced by folks. The same banner in one place might not mean the same thing in another place and that's just the nature of speech and what makes it very difficult to enforce these kinds of rules. That's why we really don't let the government do it. This is a private entity, so they're allowed to do it, but some of the same pitfalls show up.' MLS, for its part, is aware of the difficulty of enforcement across 30 teams in 28 cities spanning two countries, in venues where different private security companies may be making the decisions on the ground. A source with knowledge of the league's thinking on the policy, who was granted anonymity to protect relationships within the game, told the Guardian that league officials believe the St Louis situation could have been handled differently, but that they consider it and other headline-grabbing situations like it to be the exception rather than the norm. Still, it's hard to imagine that situations like that won't come up again, especially amid the second Trump administration's headlong dive into authoritarianism. The United States' political candidates, legislative issues, and actions increasingly have a direct impact on MLS's own fans – perhaps moreso than at any point in the history of the league. This is especially true of Hispanic and Latin American communities that MLS has previously estimated comprise about 30% of its fanbase. These are communities which have been the target of repeated raids by Ice, and who have been specifically demonized by Trump and his most senior advisers. In MLS, though, fans and officials must walk a tightrope. The source familiar with MLS's thinking said that often, an acceptable fan display comes down to framing. 'Abolish Ice,' the source said, is a message that the league considers to have nothing to do with the game, does not overlap with human rights, and is a straightforwardly adversarial political statement. The Nashville SC supporters' banner reading 'We're not all here,' meanwhile, is deemed to be acceptable – a reference to the fact that Ice is affecting the community of fans in the stands, without referencing the agency directly. Similarly, they said that while the league would most likely consider an anti-supreme court message in the wake of the overturning Roe v Wade to have been against policy, a banner that read 'abortion is healthcare' would be deemed more acceptable. Ultimately, the source stressed that the league's focus above all else is on risk management on a game-by-game basis. Political messages, which can be inciting on their own, can get taken to a new level in the middle of the heightened emotions of a full stadium, where alcohol is commonplace and judgements are impaired as a result. Sign up to Soccer with Jonathan Wilson Jonathan Wilson brings expert analysis on the biggest stories from European soccer after newsletter promotion 'I understand the need to bring the real world into sports and the power that can come from that kind of advocacy,' said Sykes. 'And I also understand that these leagues are not political entities. … Most of them are trying not to necessarily alienate huge swaths of people based on politics when they don't really need to in order to sell their products. I am in no way discouraging or disparaging athlete activists, they are some of my favorite people in history, but I do understand why a league would be hesitant to have their stadium and their games become political side shows. At some level it's inescapable because politics is everywhere, identities are everywhere, but it is not a political forum. It is not a political debate. It's not a political rally. It's a sporting event and so it's understandable that some different rules might apply.' MLS is in regular communication with the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL about security procedures, yet the league is an outlier even among those North American men's major leagues. All have fan codes of conduct either league-wide or for individual teams, but few of those codes of conduct mention politics – and when they do, it's often specifically about banning political signs or banners, not a blanket ban on political displays. Among the most popular women's leagues, the NWSL's fan code of conduct closely mirrors that of MLS. The WNBA's doesn't mention politics. Elsewhere in soccer, none of Europe's five major men's soccer leagues (the Premier League, Serie A, Bundesliga, La Liga and Ligue 1) have an official policy concerning political speech from fans, though individual clubs may. For some clubs, political displays from fans are expected or even encouraged, with traditions dating back generations. But comparisons are difficult, in part because of how the game has evolved with most clubs around the world, which were often founded as cultural institutions, while MLS and every other North American major sports league have only ever intended to be business-first. 'The norms around fan conduct very so widely across countries and across leagues,' Sykes points out. 'It can be difficult to draw any direct lines and it's really so context specific – what MLS thinks is going to be inciting versus what is actually inciting is one question but also what's going to be inciting in one stadium and one city or in one league might be very different from another.' Aside from the NWSL, MLS's political policy falls most closely in line with entities that oversee international soccer: Concacaf, Uefa, Caf, the AFC, OFC and Fifa. In each of those cases, the confederations have faced numerous allegations of inconsistency. This was most recently notable in Qatar for the 2022 World Cup, where Reuters and other outlets reported that stadium security allowed fans wearing 'Free Palestine' shirts into games, while removing those who wore shirts supporting Iran's 'Woman, life freedom' protests. In both of those cases, the line between the political actions of a government and a human rights issue is blurred. In the United States in 2025 it is much the same. 'Make America Great Again' is of course associated closely with one particular political figure, but you'd be hard-pressed to argue it isn't a social and cultural movement as well (not to mention the fact that Trump is no longer a candidate for office, as Sykes points out, thus theoretically making him exempt from MLS's policy). Ice is a government entity empowered by legislation, but people are protesting its actions, which just one report links to at least 510 credible human rights violations. Multiple MLS officials who spoke on background for this piece stressed that the process of enforcing the policy is collective between the clubs, supporters' groups, security and the league office, but it's still unclear if there is a way to enforce MLS's no politics rule without occasionally curtailing the ability of fans to speak out in favor of human rights. It also opens up plenty of room for hypocrisy. MLS has banned both Israeli and Palestinian flags from its venues, with special dispensation given in the case of an Israeli or Palestinian players' presence on a roster, and usually only when displayed in a supporters' section and hung from the stadium. The ban on political speech has been used as justification for this. Yet the US flag, representing a country that is responsible for no shortage of geopolitically fraught conflicts, gets a moment in the spotlight at nearly every game with the playing of the national anthem, a tradition across all North American major sports leagues. Political statements as passive as wearing a hat or holding a banner might get a fan kicked out of an MLS game, but team owners may donate many millions of dollars to political candidates and Pacs without consequence. MLS could rescind its policy or leave it up to individual clubs, but doing so could open the door to any number of conflicts between fans in an era of heightened political tension, in a culture unused to those sorts of things happening at sporting events, with a president who will seize upon it for personal gain. In the minds of MLS, this not only makes games less safe, it also would bring the league further from the financial and cultural juggernauts of the nation's other sports leagues – a unique factor that few other domestic soccer competitions in the world deal with in quite the same way. Ultimately, one source said, MLS is more concerned with its own position than its fans' beliefs.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Michael Phelps is right. USA Swimming's failure runs deeper than medals
In three years' time, the swimming programme for the Los Angeles Olympics will unfold over nine days and nights on the grandest stage the sport has ever known. A purpose-built pool inside SoFi Stadium in Inglewood will be the centerpiece of a 38,000-capacity open-air natatorium, transforming the $5bn home of the NFL's Rams and Chargers into the largest swimming venue in modern history. For the United States, a rare Summer Games on home soil should be a coronation, a chance to showcase the depth of its talent in the country's most spectacular arena. Yet Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of them all, fears the US swimming program is in no shape to seize the moment. Phelps has launched a withering attack on USA Swimming's leadership, accusing it of 'weak' stewardship, 'poor operational controls' and presiding over years of organizational drift. The 23-times Olympic gold medalist said he would think twice about letting his own sons join the system in its current state. His concerns, he says, stretch back to his own competitive career, when athlete voices were too often brushed aside in the name of keeping the peace and presenting a united front. 'This isn't on the athletes,' he wrote in a lengthy Instagram statement. 'This is on the leadership of USA Swimming.' The decline he sees is cultural and structural as much as competitive. In 2016, Phelps was part of a US swim team in Rio that, by his measure, was 'arguably the most successful in the sport's history', winning 57% of the medals available in the pool. Eight years later in Paris, that share fell to 44% – the lowest for Team USA since the 1988 Olympics – a downtick he cites as evidence the cracks in the system have widened. An open letter he sent earlier this year to USA Swimming, co-signed by other medallists, world record holders, coaches and staff, was, he says, ignored. His prescription is sweeping: an independent review of the board, improved athlete services and renewed grassroots investment to reverse flagging membership. Other greats share his alarm. The 12-times Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte recently posted a meme, also shared by Phelps, likening USA Swimming to an interred corpse, while three-time Olympic champion and NBC analyst Rowdy Gaines has gone public with his concerns in an op-ed for Swimming World magazine. Gaines calls the organization's year-long absence of a CEO a 'leadership void' at the worst possible time. He warns that even the table-topping nine gold medals won at this summer's world championships in Singapore – despite the severe gastroenteritis outbreak that badly compromised the US team – should not mask 'deeper structural issues under the surface'. Both men see LA 2028 as a deadline: the last chance to repair the system before the lights go up in Inglewood. Notably, Phelps's broadside does not directly address the most damaging area of USA Swimming's recent history: its handling of sexual abuse, harassment and athlete safeguarding. Earlier this year, incoming CEO Chrissi Rawak resigned after just nine days when the organization learned of an undisclosed SafeSport complaint against her from her coaching days. The US Center for SafeSport itself, which handles such allegations, has been in an ongoing state of turmoil: its own chief executive was dismissed amid scrutiny of hiring practices, including an investigator who himself was later charged with multiple sex crimes, including rape, sex trafficking and soliciting prostitution. Survivors have reported retraumatization through flawed investigations, and their trust in both SafeSport and USA Swimming's vetting processes remains fragile at best, if not fractured beyond repair. These controversies form the unspoken backdrop to Phelps's and Gaines's governance concerns. Their focus is on performance, leadership and resources, but the weaknesses they describe – poor oversight, slow action, lack of accountability – are the same flaws critics have long identified in the organization's handling of abuse cases. If USA Swimming cannot convincingly address either set of problems, the sport risks arriving at the once-in-a-lifetime platform of a home Games with not only a competitive deficit, but a deficit of credibility. A home Olympics is an exceptional and defining moment for any sport. For American swimming, LA 2028 offers the chance to inspire a new generation, boost grassroots participation and cement the sport's place in a crowded US sporting landscape. It is also, as Gaines notes, a one-shot opportunity: miss it and the momentum may be lost for decades. That is why the absence of a clear vision, not least a permanent leader, concerns those who understand both the stakes and the clock. SoFi Stadium may promise the grandest stage in Olympic history, but whether USA Swimming will be ready for it remains an open question.
