Rumors

Shaquille O’Neal is tired of seeing Robert Griffin III post about Angel Reese. O’Neal called out Griffin, a former NFL quarterback turned media personality, saying on Bailey Jackson’s “Off the Record” podcast that if Griffin continues “messing with her,” he would punch Griffin in the face. O’Neal’s comments come after Griffin shared a racist edit of Reese’s “NBA 2K26” cover in an attempt to highlight and stop the racist treatment toward Reese. However, Griffin drew backlash for amplifying the image with his message on X on July 10, to his 2.2 million followers. “RGIII, tweet another monkey post about my girl Angel Reese, and I’m gonna punch you in your f—— face. OK? It’s enough. Like, I don’t usually do stuff like this, but just stop it, bro,” O’Neal said Tuesday. “You got your job, you got your podcast, leave my Angel Reese alone. I’m the one calling her and telling her not to respond.”

New York Times

Jabari Smith, at $24.4 million, would have been the highest paid NBA player as late as the 2007-08 season. Stephen Curry was the NBA’s highest paid player during the 2019-20 season and the first to crack the $40 million threshold; that would make him just the 29th-highest paid player next season. The NBA will have 16 players earn at least $50 million during the 2025-26 season; the NFL, MLB and NHL will have six between them.

New York Times

Matt Barnes: But with new ownership—who’s obviously tied to Magic Johnson—and Magic is tied to Rob in the Commanders deal... do we smell what The Rock is cooking? Or am I crazy to think that Magic could be on his way back to the Lakers at some point? Maybe with Bob Myers—a fellow Bruin, the great mind behind the Golden State Warriors—who’s just sitting at home collecting checks, looking good on ESPN, owning NFL teams. As a Laker fan, what would you think?

YouTube

Kenny Beecham: We’d love to see Windy with his top button unbuttoned. But to your point, LeBron James and other stars complain NBA media coverage has become too negative. Your take? KB: I think there has to be a healthy balance about being critical of players in the sport. They’re doing such superhuman types of things that I always get back to talking about how amazing these things are. For instance, a lot of the conversation was about how bad the OKC Thunder played [in Game 6]. But I’m more focused in my coverage about how amazing it is that the Pacers were able to come back from losing the last two games when their star player had a calf injury, and they were able to play this diplomatic brand of basketball where nobody on their team had over 14 shots. So I always steer closer to talking about the greatness that is the sport. If you compare the coverage between us, baseball, NHL, and the NFL, we definitely tend to be more negative than positive. I want to steer closer to the positive.

Front Office Sports

Woike will replace Lakers reporter Jovan Buha, who announced Friday that it was his final day at The Athletic after seven years. Buha said in his post that he will continue covering the Lakers via YouTube and his podcast. Since the NY Times acquired The Athletic in 2022, the outlet has, in some cases, pivoted away from expansive local coverage to a more national lens, particularly in sports besides the NFL. However, the Lakers are a nationally relevant franchise and command their own beat.

Front Office Sports

Prime, NBC, and ESPN would be “compelled” to talk to James, say my sources. “That’s a meeting you have to take just to see what he wants to do,” said one executive who declined to be named. But ESPN might have the toughest recruitment given the bad blood between James and Smith. James physically confronted Smith in March over comments about his son Bronny. Smith told Rolling Stone there’s still hard-feelings. “I don’t like him, and he don’t like me,” said Smith. Other factors are at work here, too. Flanagan tells me Tom Brady’s monster, 10-year, $375 million deal to call NFL games for Fox Sports has effectively reset the industry. It also opened the eyes of some superstars about the lucrative opportunity in sports media. Even the GOAT himself—Michael Jordan—is coming to TV as a “special contributor” to NBC’s NBA coverage this season (However, a source told FOS that reports of MJ’s $40 million annual payday are false).

Front Office Sports

Steve Nash: That’s a great point, because what you’re saying is—no matter what you have, you need more. No matter what. Like, it never ends. LeBron James: And it... I don’t know, man. It’s just like—you sit here and you tell me Allen Iverson, Charles Barkley, and Steve Nash weren’t unbelievable? Like, oh, they can’t be talked about or discussed with these guys because that guy won one ring, or two rings, or whatever? That’s just weird to me. It’s like saying Peyton Manning can’t be in the same room with Brady or Mahomes because he only has one ring. They never discuss that in their sport. Or telling me that Dan Marino’s not the greatest slinger of all time, or that he can’t be in the room with those guys because he didn’t win a championship.

YouTube

Prior to his arrival as the NBA’s next rising superstar, Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards also had dreams of making highlight-reel plays on the gridiron. Being a standout football player from a young age, it comes as no surprise that Anthony Edwards could manage becoming a dual-sport athlete, but given his massive success in The Association, he’ll have to keep dreaming about a life out on the field. This upcoming season, Edwards and Adidas will partner for an upcoming signature football cleat.

Clutch Points

During the NFL season, we saw a huge uptick in the trend of players wearing customized sneakers-turned-cleats during their games on Sundays. Eagles’ Jalen Hurts was consistently rocking the newest Air Jordan footwear on the field, while players like Stefon Diggs and Tyreek Hill continued to show out with their custom creations.

Clutch Points

Breakfast Ball: "If we were going into a Super Bowl and it was Packers vs. Steelers you guys would celebrate that. People wouldn't talk about Pittsburgh being a small market. It's been intentional to create a CBA that allows more teams to compete." — NBA Commissioner Adam Silver on Thunder vs. Pacers in the #NBAFinals

Twitter

Curry said he would "for sure" consider a broadcasting job, though he won't rush into it. "I would be more patient," said Curry, who noted former National Football League quarterback Tom Brady moved directly into the Fox broadcast booth after retirement and his current teammate Draymond Green has been a TNT Sports NBA analyst for years as an active player. "I think about what would be the right opportunity for me, 'cause anything that I do, I want to be all in on it," Curry said. "Right now, just doing your homework on the different pathways and options that might be available."

NBC Miami

A lopsided Western Conference Finals ended on a low note Wednesday night. Wednesday’s Timberwolves-Thunder NBA Western Conference Finals Game 5 averaged 4.62 million viewers on ESPN, topping only Nuggets-Lakers Game 2 on an NFL Sunday in September 2020 (3.28M) as the least-watched WCF game since 2013 (Grizzlies-Spurs Game 2: 4.62M).

Sports Media Watch

Stu Jackson: Lakers coach JJ Redick was in attendance watching the Rams' OTA workout today. He also spoke to Rams players today. Sean McVay said he first connected with Redick prior to him taking the Lakers job. "Always respected him from afar. A well-thought-out guy, a great willingness to look inwardly (for) areas of improvement, understanding how you bring people together. Really enjoyed him coming out."

x.com

YouTube released its first-ever weekly podcast chart, ranking the top-100 most-popular podcast playlists on the platform in the U.S. based on watch time, and five sports podcasts cracked the top 100. Pro Football HOFer Shannon Sharpe is on two of the shows, with “Club Shay Shay” ranking seventh and “Nightcap” -- which features Sharpe and former NFL WR Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson -- ranking 28th. The "Pat McAfee Show" ranks 12th, “Gil’s Arena” starring former NBAer Gilbert Arenas ranks 20th and Barstool Sports’ “Pardon My Take” ranks 81st (YouTube).

Sports Business Journal