Rumors

Victor Wembanyama is relishing the opportunity to face his mentor, Rudy Gobert, in the upcoming Western Conference Semifinals of the 2026 NBA Playoffs, presented by Google. “It’s even more fun if I’m meant to play against Rudy,” he previewed the French matchup during a media session following team practice on Friday. “As a role model, there are a lot of things that he inspired me, but I’m sure he inspired more people in terms of taking care of their bodies. He should be a role model for all big men,” he stated, highlighting Gobert’s influence on his career and the league at large.

EuroHoops.net

As the crew analyzed the Blazers’ best-of-seven series against the San Antonio Spurs in the opening round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs, presented by Google, Barkley drew a striking parallel between the Israeli star Deni Avdija and the late Hall of Famer Drazen Petrovic. “Drazen Petrovic is one of the best players I’ve ever seen from an offensive, aggressive standpoint,” he noted, emphasizing the specific mental shift he sees in Avdija’s game. “Let me tell you something, he wants to score every single time. He’s going straight, he ain’t deviating off that line, and he ain’t going around you, he ain’t going left. He’s like, ‘Hey, I’m going right to the basket.’”

EuroHoops.net

Zaccharie Risacher opened up about his declining minutes and the mental toll of the 2025-26 NBA Regular Season’s conclusion following his postseason debut with the Atlanta Hawks. Speaking to BeBasket after his side’s losing effort against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Saturday to open a best-of-seven series in the opening round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs, presented by Google, the 21-year-old French small forward admitted that the situation is difficult to manage. “You can’t let yourself get down by things you can’t control. Of course, you can imagine it’s not an easy situation to manage. But here I am, still here, even more motivated, I’d say. I have to try to turn this to my advantage. Obviously, it’s tough, but I’m trying to make it a strength,” Risacher described his approach to the current situation with the team coached by Quin Snyder.

EuroHoops.net

Myles Turner: So, I think it was a way of trying to fire us up, but in a room full of ego, he kind of came with the whole ‘Google me’ thing, and I don’t think it went over as well as he might have thought it would. And again, it was a little unoriginal too, because the guy from Indiana, the coach, had just done that. It was a cringe moment for everybody at that time, because we were all kind of looking around like, ‘All right, guys. Well, I guess let’s go beat Boston now.’ You know what I mean? It was tough.”

YouTube

NBA Communications: The NBA today announced the 36 officials who have been selected to officiate the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs presented by Google.

Twitter

Awful Announcing: Shams: In a team meeting, according to six people in the room, Doc Rivers hit the Milwaukee Bucks with "Look at my resume, Google me. I took teams to the playoffs and championship that weren't supposed to be there." That was not well received internally. And that was just another example of the disconnect between players and coach.

Twitter

Disney and Fubo announced the closing of their deal merging Hulu + Live TV operations with Fubo, with Disney owning a 70% stake in the new company. The newly combined Fubo and Hulu + Live TV business creates the second largest virtual pay-TV provider in the U.S., with nearly 6 million subscribers in North America. That trails only Google’s YouTube TV, estimated to have more than 10 million paying subs, which is currently involved in a carriage-renewal fight with Disney.

Variety.com

In addition to the NBA App, NBA.com and team apps and websites, Tap to Watch will provide access to game telecasts through national and local media partners and via other NBA partners such as Google, Meta, X, Snap, Reddit, Roku, Dapper Labs and more. Further integrations with FanDuel, Fanatics and Yahoo Sports, as well as other digital and connected TV partners, will roll out during the season.

NBA.com

Yet according to Grady Burnett, a former Google and Facebook executive who is the co-founder of this venture that’s known as Project B, a women’s league is still being built and a men’s league could still be created as well. As Burnett told The Athletic, Project B is set to begin with the women’s basketball league, in large part, because of the immense growth and interest in the sport. It will feature six teams of 11 players each that play seven two-week tournaments in cities across Asia, Europe and the Americas, and is already two years in the making. Burnett believes it can be a multi-billion dollar business.

New York Times

Warriors G Steph Curry has signed a long-term partnership with Google. Terms were not disclosed. Through the deal, Curry will become a “Performance Advisor” on Google Health products, including Google’s new “personal health coach”; adopt Google’s Pixel suite (phone, watch, earbuds) for communication purposes; and use Google Cloud AI services to aid in his basketball training and business dealings.

Sports Business Journal

A recent email regarding Ken Belson’s upcoming book — EVERY DAY IS SUNDAY: How Jerry Jones, Robert Kraft, and Roger Goodell Turned the NFL into a Cultural & Economic Juggernaut — shares a quote Commissioner Roger Goodell private made in the aftermath of Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas. “We’re not competing with the NBA or MLB,” Goodell said. “Our competitors are Apple and Google.”

NBC Sports

The Rundown: Prediction market Kalshi aired one of the first instances of an AI-generated commercial during Game 3 of the NBA Finals, running an “unhinged” 30-second spot created with clips created using Google's Veo 3 video model on ABC.

therundown.ai

NBA Communications: The NBA today announced the list of officials who have been selected to work the Conference Finals of the 2025 NBA Playoffs presented by Google.

Twitter

The team guided by David Adelman went up 2-1 in a best-of-seven series of the Western Conference Semifinals of the 2025 NBA Playoffs presented by Google. “They’re aggressive, physical, handsy, in the passing lanes. I don’t even know what they’re doing. If I did, I would not make those kinds of mistakes,” noted the Serbian superstar, “I need to figure out what they are doing.” In a rough shooting night, Jokic posted a 20-point, 16-rebound double-double alongside six assists, two blocks, and two steals over 43 minutes. “Basically, I was the worst player on the court today. But we got the win. That’s the most important,” he downplayed his contributions.

EuroHoops.net