Latest news with #NBAPlayers
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
EA Sports drops college basketball bombshell
The post EA Sports drops college basketball bombshell appeared first on ClutchPoints. It appears an NCAA college basketball video game could be coming from EA Sports after bringing back College Football. EA Sports dropped the bombshell tease on Monday, June 30, 2025. They posted an image of a basketball with their logo on it, and the caption read, 'Bring the Madness. Let's run it back.' This is huge news for college basketball fans. It has been over a decade since the last college basketball video game came out from the game studio. When did EA Sports' last NCAA college basketball game come out? It has been nearly 16 years since the last NCAA Basketball game came out from EA Sports. NCAA Basketball 10 was released on November 17, 2009, before the series' hiatus. Blake Griffin was the cover athlete of the game. He retired in 2023 after playing in the NBA for over a decade. During his career, Griffin played for the Los Angeles Clippers, Detroit Pistons, Brooklyn Nets, and Boston Celtics. EA Sports then discontinued the game after the 2010 edition. It would go on the shelf for over a decade until now. EA appears to be bringing it back. The move should not come as a surprise to fans. EA recently brought back their college football series in 2024 with EA Sports College Football 25. It was the first college football video game to come out in 14 years. NCAA Football 14 was released in July 2013, and then the series was put on the shelf for a while. Luckily, the revival was a success for the studio. College Football 26 is set to be released on July 10, 2025. The series will likely continue to go on for as long as players buy the game. Fans will have to wait and see when EA Sports announces more details regarding their NCAA college basketball game. It will probably come out sooner rather than later. If they follow the release cycle of the last games, it could come out in November 2025. Related: Backyard Baseball 01 Release Date, Gameplay, Trailer Related: New Madden 26 Superstar Mode Details Revealed
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Rockets guard Fred VanVleet elected president of NBA players union
Veteran guard Fred VanVleet is widely viewed as a leader for the Houston Rockets, and now his leadership voice has an even larger platform. As first reported by ESPN's Shams Charania, VanVleet was elected as the new president of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), succeeding CJ McCollum of the Washington Wizards. VanVleet "is regarded as someone who has seen every level of competition and exhibits advocacy for the union,' Charania writes. He adds: VanVleet was voted NBPA president during the Board of Player Representatives meeting and will begin a four-year term immediately. McCollum's term expired and he will transition to an advisory role, sources said. McCollum, who served as president for the past four years and previously was an executive vice president (2018-21), led the NBPA in negotiations to complete the seven-year collective bargaining agreement (CBA) in 2023. As Charania noted, VanVleet has set records for the highest-paid contracts by an undrafted player. He recently re-signed with the Rockets on a two-year deal worth $50 million, with a player option for the second season. The soonest opt-out date for the current CBA labor pact between the NBA and NBPA is after the 2028-29 season. Thus, VanVleet's current four-year term will overlap with the decision regarding whether to opt out and any associatied negotiations. 'It's truly an honor to be elected as president of the NBPA by my peers, and I look forward to continuing to advocate for the best interest of all the members,' VanVleet said in a statement issued by the NBPA. 'With a deep appreciation for the complexities and challenges players face on all levels of their NBA journeys, I am committed to approaching this role with the passion, dignity, and dedication every player deserves." Beyond the court, VanVleet is committed to philanthropy and advocacy. In recent years, he founded The VanVleet Family Foundation (VFF), which aims to increase access and exposure for youth through educational opportunities, athletic programs, and career development. As a father of three, VanVleet demonstrates leadership and commitment both on and off the court, according to the NBPA's statement. 'It's been a privilege to serve on the NBPA Executive Committee for the past seven years and uniquely shape the business of our game,' McCollum said in the NBPA's press release. 'I am encouraged by the future of the PA under Fred's leadership, as he has earned the basketball community's respect and has proven he is ready for this next step. I look forward to supporting him as we continue building a stronger Association that serves past, present, and future generations of players.' Under VanVleet's guidance, other members of the new NBPA Executive Committee are Grant Williams, Mason Plumlee, Jaylen Brown, Jaren Jackson Jr., Donovan Mitchell, Garrett Thompson, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Gabe Vincent. More: Rockets gain spending power by restructuring Fred VanVleet to two-year, $50-million deal This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: Rockets guard Fred VanVleet elected president of NBA players union
Fox News
03-07-2025
- Sport
- Fox News
Deandre Ayton Joins the Los Angeles Lakers
Deandre Ayton will join the Los Angeles Lakers. #LALakers #Lakers #DeandreAyton #NBA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit FOX News Radio
New York Times
02-07-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Sources: Damian Lillard 'elated' by Bucks' buyout. Here's why
NBA free agency is moving fast and furious. Tuesday's biggest move was a stunner in Milwaukee. Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images Alex Slitz / Getty Images League sources say Damian Lillard is elated with the Bucks' decision to waive and stretch his contract, as it puts him in the kind of basketball-first position that few All-Star level players, if any, have experienced in league history. In short, he'll be able to join the contending team of his choosing, either sometime soon or perhaps next summer, without the financial aspect of the decision playing a significant part. With Lillard owed $54.1 million for this coming season and $58.4 million in the 2026-27 campaign, there is a salary offset for any team that acquires him during that two-year period. And while the Bucks would surely prefer that Lillard sign for a significant salary as a way to alleviate some of their financial burden, the reality is that he could sign for a minimum-salary deal and still be paid the same amount. That's a powerful place to be when you're a future Hall of Famer in your mid-30s who has never won a championship. Not surprisingly, league sources say Lillard received calls from several contending teams very quickly after the news of his Bucks' ending broke. The question now is whether he wants to sign with a team now and rehabilitate while under their care or wait until next summer to reassess the situation. All in all, it's a dream scenario for Lillard. Especially considering he might have been heading for a change of scenery even before his injury. GO FURTHER Bucks waiving Damian Lillard to make room to sign Myles Turner: Sources Getty Images The Lakers' timeline situation ever since Luka Dončić was gifted to them back in early February has looked bizarre. Life was almost simpler before that trade. They could've aimed to ride out the LeBron James-Anthony Davis chapter until the wheels fell off. From there, they could've started selling Lakers mystique to new big stars in hopes of furthering their legacy and hanging more banners. Maybe it's not a foolproof plan and super easy to execute, but it's worked enough times in the franchise's history. And it worked after they signed LeBron back in 2018. Then, Dallas sent Dončić to the Lakers, which has changed just about everything. The Lakers now have to start playing for the future and present-day championship stability. The funny thing is lead executive Rob Pelinka was already trying to toe that line, as he wasn't ready to relinquish assets for another LeBron-Davis-led championship pursuit. Now, the Lakers must build around Dončić and aim for championship stability. The problem is LeBron is still very much on this team. Before free agency opened, he picked up his $52.6 million player option for the 2025-26 season. It will be his 23rd season, just a mind-boggling number when you consider his résumé, mileage and current production. GO FURTHER LeBron James is no longer the Lakers' top priority. What's next for both parties? Both Detroit and Sacramento would benefit from turning Dennis Schröder's signing in Sacramento into a sign-and-trade. Detroit would gain a large trade exception — likely $14.1 million — they could potentially use in another deal this summer to bring in talent, while the Kings could take Schröder into their existing $16.8 million Kevin Hurter trade exception and leave their nontaxpayer midlevel exception open for other free agency moves. Because Schröder's deal is for three years, a sign-and-trade would be allowable. John Fisher / Getty Images Jericho Sims has agreed to a two-year contract to return to the Milwaukee Bucks, with the second year a player option, a league source confirmed to The Athletic. Gregory Shamus / Getty Images Dennis Schröder has agreed to a 3-year, $45 million contract with the Sacramento Kings, a league source confirmed. The Kings will be Schröder's 10th NBA team and fourth in the last nine months. The common theme in the Rockets' in-house business or their outward acquisitions is experience. Fred VanVleet, Steven Adams and Clint Capela are 31. Dorian Finney-Smith is 32. Kevin Durant is 36. As long as Ime Udoka has been at the helm, his voice within the organization has risen, and the 47-year-old has been vocal about his preference for older veterans. And as such, given the aforementioned alignment with Houston's front office and ownership, the team has fulfilled his wishes. After Houston's Game 7 loss to the Golden State Warriors, Udoka's end-of-season news conference drove home the point about the need for improved IQ and the power of experience, buzzwords that typically precede roster changes. Make no mistake: The Rockets' offseason is off to an excellent start. The overarching theme in negotiations has been maintaining financial leverage, all while building a roster that is built for now and later. The two-timeline approach is risky in a vacuum, but context, mainly personnel, is important. It might not have worked out in the Bay with James Wiseman and Jonathan Kuminga, but those are different players from Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith, Tari Eason and even Reed Sheppard. Still, it's jarring to see Houston move in this manner, particularly because of how quickly its methodology has shifted. Perhaps that's why it's difficult to quantify the magnitude of its summer business to this point. For years, the Rockets' ethos was patience and perseverance, opting to accumulate losses, build through the draft and maintain enough elasticity to capitalize at an opportune moment. That moment is now. The Rockets have peeled back the curtain on what was once a rebuild, laying out a championship-capable core. Read more on Houston's active start to free agency here. GO FURTHER Rockets want to balance experience with youth, and they're off to a great start Geoff Burke / Imagn Not only is the Jonas Valančiūnas acquisition great on the floor for the Nuggets, it gives Nikola Jokić an old foil for a teammate. Jokić joked about their joint physicality last December, when he scored a career-high 56 points, along with 16 rebounds and 8 assists against the Wizards – and Valančiūnas, who was then in Washington and who spent most of the night in a pitched, hard-nosed but good-natured battle with the Joker. Valančiūnas did just fine as well, with 20 points, 12 rebounds, 5 blocks and 5 assists in an improbable Wizards win. 'I had a couple of really good wrestling moves down there with Jonas,' Jokić said afterward. 'I think Jonas's wrestling, it's always interesting. I always talk to him normally, and it's always a little bit physical. I mean, it should be. We're big boys from Europe. We're kind of used to being in the contact. I think that's how it's supposed to be. Good rivalry.' GO FURTHER Nuggets waste Nikola Jokić's career night in inexplicable loss to woeful Wizards New Knicks signee Guerschon Yabusele is a good player and a good fit that fills a need. He can play the 5 and run next to Karl-Anthony Towns or Mitchell Robinson. Opponents need to guard him beyond the arc. I'm not obsessed with the second-year player option, given the Knicks' potential 2026-27 payroll. But sometimes that's the cost of doing business for a good player. Isaiah J. Downing / Imagn While everyone else is focused on the Bucks right now, the Dario Sarić for Jonas Valančiūnas trade is an absolutely incredible deal for the Denver Nuggets. They just traded $5 million in dead weight to the Sacramento Kings to get the best backup center of the Nikola Jokić era. Denver now is $2.4 million below the luxury tax line with at least on roster spot to fill. If that spot is a veteran minimum deal for $2.3 million, they will just barely stay under the tax and avoid the repeater penalty this year. Isaiah J. Downing / Imagn The Denver Nuggets have acquired Jonas Valančiūnas from the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Dario Sarić, team sources confirmed to The Athletic. The Nuggets have had an incredible two days. Getty Images The Bucks made two moves that make sense individually but also raise an eyebrow when looked at collectively. They will pay Myles Turner an average of nearly $27 million per season and will get an above-average starting center for that contract who fits well on a Giannis Antetokounmpo team and should be a very capable replacement for Brook Lopez. They will also stretch-waive Damian Lillard, which means the Bucks will have a $22,516,574 cap charge on their books for each of the next five season. That makes sense too since he was essentially going to be an empty $54.13 million cap hit next season as he rehabbed from a torn Achilles. The last season of that contract was unlikely to be very productive either since he would be 36 and returning in his first season from that injury. The Bucks clearly want to remain competitive next season with Antetokounmpo and that makes sense too since they want to take advantage of his prime, let alone any concerns about losing him down the line. Still, they will now effectively be spending $49 million per season for the last two years on Turner's deal, and have another year of $22.5 million on the books after that. That could be about 12 percent (or more) of the cap in the 2027-28 season, which is more than a nontaxpayer midlevel exception would earn. We shall see if this set of moves will be worth it. Getty Images This is why I criticized the Pacers for taking Andrew Nembhard's salary from $2 million to $18 million for 2025-26 when they didn't have to in his extension last summer. It set the Pacers up to be way into the luxury tax, and you know when it came down to it that Indiana would blink rather than pay it. Keeping Myles Turner on the books for this year at $24 million would have been no sweat if Nembhard was still on his cheap rookie deal, but the Pacers turned the final year of it into a much bigger salary. That extension looked extravagant at the time — $56 million in new money for just two years — and despite Nembhard's playoff heroics, the Pacers are paying the price for it now. GO FURTHER The NBA offseason's most under-scrutinized moves, from Immanuel Quickley to Max Christie One thing you gotta hand to the Bucks: Any time it seems they need to operate with urgency to show a multi-time MVP they're trying to build a contender, they do it. In terms of the cap mechanics of how Milwaukee will pull this off: Waive and stretch Damian Lillard. Sign Tauren Prince with the minimum exception. Sign Gary Trent Jr. and Kevin Porter Jr. into the room exception. Right now, that leaves Milwaukee with $19.6 million in cap room. They likely will get to the $24 million they need to sign Myles Turner to a four-year, $107 million deal by moving off of Pat Connaughton's $9.3 million salary. In the absence of a Connaughton trade, Milwaukee can get to $24.6 million in cap room by stretching Connaughton's contract, so that seems the most likely mechanism for this deal to get done. Milwaukee will also need to either pull its qualifying offer to Ryan Rollins or waive Chris Livingston to get there. It appears the Bucks will just barely exceed the limit on stretched salary if they stretch Connaughton in addition to Lillard, unless there is a buyout agreement with one or both to reduce salary. Another alternative may be to trade Connaughton for a lower-salaried player and then buy that player out at a reduced number. For instance, Milwaukee could trade Connaughton to the Clippers for Drew Eubanks, buy Eubanks out at half of his $4.75 million presuming he'd make the rest up on the market, and stretch that amount. Also, note that Lillard cannot re-sign in Milwaukee in 2026, if you were thinking that was a possibility. I'm legitimately SHOCKED. I didn't even know the Bucks were an option for Myles Turner. That's a huge loss for the Pacers. It's gonna be awfully tough to compete with a $23 million dead cap hit for each of the next five years in Milwaukee. No, I don't mean Kyle Kuzma, either. The Bucks waiving and stretching Damian Lillard will leave that money on their books for half a decade, and it can't be traded or otherwise maneuvered off the books. Bucks general manager Jon Horst has always been aggressive in the moments when his team has needed to make a big move and keep Giannis Antetokounmpo in a competitive situation. Damian Lillard tearing his left Achilles tendon in Game 4 of their first-round series appeared to be a blow that would keep the Bucks from being able to keep Milwaukee in conversation for a contending spot in the Eastern Conference. But Horst once again surprised the whole league with an impressive maneuver to acquire Myles Turner, a highly talented replacement for center Brook Lopez, and reconfigure the Bucks' roster for a chance to once again compete for homecourt in the Eastern Conference. It also helps that he stole an important piece from the team that just represented the East in the NBA Finals. The Bucks' move to waive Damian Lillard, while shocking on the face of it, is a reprieve of sorts for the 34-year-old, who can now rehab his Achilles with no clock, knowing he'll likely be a top free agent target in the summer of 2026 and free to play wherever he wants. While there were high hopes for a Dame-Giannis partnership when the Bucks acquired Lillard just before the start of training camp in 2023, the on-court product never meshed as well as everyone thought it would. Page 2
Yahoo
26-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
"I don't see why not" - When Kobe Bryant predicted the rise of international players in the NBA
Having spent a good portion of his childhood in Italy, Kobe Bryant was exposed to a style of basketball that was different from the well-known Western approach. As he embarked on his remarkable journey to stardom, Bryant not only honed his skills but also observed the profound impact the NBA had on basketball cultures around the globe. In 2001, with an insightful perspective, KB predicted an influx of international players entering the NBA in the near future. Looking at the current landscape of the NBA, it is clear that his foresight proved to be accurate, with a diverse array of talent from various countries now playing in the league. Advertisement "I don't see why not," Bryant told CNN when asked if he thinks players from other countries could possibly play in the NBA. "I mean, it's just a game. No matter where you're from, it doesn't matter. If you pick up a basketball, and go on your driveway or go to the playground, and play basketball. The more you play, the better you get." "If you look at the NBA now, you have a Chinese player [Wang Zhi-Zhi] playing for the Dallas Mavericks," he pointed out. "What happens is through communication through Satellite TV, people can now see the how the NBA is played and they get a chance to learn from these players. As a result, you'll see a lot more of foreign players coming into the NBA now." Kobe never counted out what willpower could do Renowned for his remarkable perseverance and mental toughness, Bryant faced criticism throughout his illustrious career, especially during his formative years. Like many basketball superstars, Kobe was also once just another aspiring athlete, dreaming of making it to the NBA. Advertisement Bryant recognized that while American players have a huge advantage in gaining opportunities to enter the NBA, this should not deter aspiring basketball players from other countries. The Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard firmly believed that with relentless dedication to improving their skills and an unwavering sense of hope, international athletes could also find their way into the NBA. "It's more so your willpower and your drive to improve," the Lakers superstar remarked as he affirmed any international player could compete in the NBA. "You know, if you want to be a NBA basketball player, and you set yourself in the mind frame that you're not going to be denied, and that's what you want to accomplish, then you're going to accomplish it." NBA is now plagued with international stars Kobe's vision of a more globalized NBA has indeed come to fruition. In recent years, the number of international players coming into the NBA has remarkably surged. Moreover, many of these talented foreign athletes are not just playing; they are dominating the game. Advertisement This incredible trend can be attributed to the NBA's proactive efforts to cultivate a more diverse and competitive environment. It's a vision that the legendary Kobe predicted many years ago. As a result, the NBA is not just a showcase for American talent but a melting pot of extraordinary skills and characters from all over the world. It not only illustrates the universal appeal of the NBA but also enhances the excitement and competitiveness of the sport. Related: Kobe Bryant swore to never play with a dominant center after Shaquille O'Neal left: "Michael didn't, and Kobe didn't want to either"
