USA TOPS CANADA IN EXHIBITION OPENER AHEAD OF PARIS
LAS VEGAS (AP) — For USA Basketball, the road to the Paris Olympics has started with a win.
Anthony Davis scored 13 points, Stephen Curry added 12 and the United States opened its tune-up schedule for the Paris Games by topping Canada 86-72 on Wednesday night.
Jrue Holiday scored 11 points and Anthony Davis finished with 10 for the U.S., which has four more exhibitions before getting to France.
RJ Barrett scored 12 points for Canada, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dillon Brooks each had 10.
President Barack Obama was at the game, as were many NBA coaches and dozens of USA Basketball dignitaries in town for the federation’s 50th anniversary celebration. Among them: Jerry Colangelo, Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Dawn Staley, Lisa Leslie, Teresa Edwards, Swin Cash, Lindsay Whalen and many more.
Cold start
The U.S. was down 11-1 midway through the first quarter, having missed its first six shot attempts. The rest of the half: U.S. 40, Canada 22, and the Americans shot 18 for 28 — 64.3% — in that span. The lead was 41-33 at the break and the Americans stretched it to 69-54 going into the fourth.
It was easy to see where the Americans, who have been together for less than a week, still are figuring things out; there were at least four occasions where simple passes ended up in the first row of seats because someone thought a zig was coming instead of a zag.
Second unit
The second unit for the U.S. — Anthony Davis, Bam Adebayo, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton and Jayson Tatum — was particularly impressive. Each of those five players had a plus-minus of plus-10 or better, meaning the U.S. outscored Canada by at least 10 points with them on the floor.
And that’s as it should be. Only the Americans can trot out a lineup of “bench players” at the Olympics, all of them being All-Stars. That fivesome has 21 combined All-Star nods, two NBA champions in Davis and Tatum, and two perennial All-Defense players in Davis and Adebayo. It’s clearly not a typical second unit.
Oh, and remember: The U.S. didn’t have Kevin Durant (calf strain) and Derrick White (not yet with the team) available Wednesday.
For Starters
The first starting lineup of the summer rolled out by U.S. coach Steve Kerr: Stephen Curry, Jrue Holiday, Devin Booker, LeBron James and Joel Embiid.
It certainly could change going forward. But if last year is any indication, it’s a clear view into Kerr’s thinking right now.
Kerr has cautioned in the past about not reading too much into lineups, especially from the first scrimmage. That said, the first five he had in the first exhibition game last summer going into the World Cup — Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson, Jaren Jackson Jr., Brandon Ingram and Anthony Edwards — were the starters in the tournament opener against New Zealand.
Next Up
The U.S. plays Australia in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Monday.
DERRICK WHITE REPLACES KAWHI LEONARD ON US OLYMPIC MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Derrick White of the NBA champion Boston Celtics has replaced the Los Angeles Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard on the U.S. team for the Paris Olympics, USA Basketball said Wednesday in the first shakeup to a roster that was announced in the spring.
Leonard missed 12 of the Los Angeles Clippers’ final 14 games this past season with right knee inflammation, though he said in recent days that he felt fine and the knee was doing well. USA Basketball said it, along with the Clippers, made the decision on Leonard’s status for Paris.
“Kawhi has been ramping up for the Olympics over the past several weeks and had a few strong practices in Las Vegas,” USA Basketball said in a statement. “He felt ready to compete. However, he respects that USA Basketball and the Clippers determined it’s in his best interest to spend the remainder of the summer preparing for the upcoming season rather than participating in the Olympic Games in Paris.”
White averaged 15.2 points and 5.2 assists for the Celtics this past season. His selection gives Boston three of the 12 players on the U.S. roster; Celtics teammates Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday also are Paris-bound.
White is expected to be in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, later this week to join the U.S. squad. The team will fly to Abu Dhabi from Las Vegas on Thursday and is scheduled to practice there Saturday ahead of exhibition games against Australia on July 15 and Serbia on July 17.
“I am happy to announce that Derrick will compete at his first Olympic Games on the heels of a championship season in Boston,” USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill said. “We look forward to him joining the team in the coming days as we continue preparations for Paris.
“I want to thank Kawhi for his commitment to the USA Men’s National Team,” Hill added. “He earned the opportunity to represent the United States, but USA Basketball and Clippers leadership felt it’s important to allow Kawhi to prepare for the NBA season.”
White — a second-team All-Defensive selection after this past NBA season, meaning he’ll clearly take some of the on-ball defending duties that the Olympic team likely envisioned Leonard having — has some USA Basketball experience, including being part of the 2019 World Cup team that finished seventh in China. He and the Celtics agreed on a four-year extension worth nearly $126 million after the playoff run, one in which he led Boston with 65 made 3-pointers on a team-best 40.4% shooting from beyond the arc.
Leonard is a two-time NBA champion, six-time All-Star and six-time All-NBA player, but injury issues have been a recurring theme in his career. USA Basketball had monitored him closely in recent weeks, making sure he was doing well enough to be on the court after his season with the Clippers ended prematurely.
He has missed 256 regular-season games over the last seven years, including all of the 2021-22 season with knee trouble. He appeared in 68 games this past season for the Clippers, his most since playing in 74 for San Antonio during the 2016-17 season.
“This is just my journey,” Leonard said earlier this week, discussing his injuries. “I can’t lay out the perfect script for me. Last year I tried to play as much as possible, felt great and at a certain period of time I couldn’t go. I tried the best that I could, but it’s just my journey. I don’t want to be in a situation that (I’m) in, but I’ve got to take it for what it is. And a lot of people are watching, supporters or doubters. But I motivate a lot of people, so I’ve got to keep doing what I’m doing.”
Leonard — part of a 592-person Olympic team formally named by the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee earlier Wednesday — had said earlier this week that his knee was fine and he was able to resume on-court training about three weeks ago to get ready for the Games.
“I’m ready to go,” Leonard said then. “I’m playing now so, I’m happy.”
A couple of days later, hours before the first U.S. exhibition game against Canada and one day before the team departs for Abu Dhabi — the first of two international stops for more games and practices before arriving in France for the Olympics — Leonard was gone.
Leonard’s departure leaves the U.S., at least until White arrives, with 10 available players. Kevin Durant will not play against Canada because of a calf strain and could not compete in the team’s four-day training camp in Las Vegas that ended Tuesday. USA Basketball is working under the expectation that Durant will be ready for increasingly more on-court activity in the coming days.
Leonard had been invited to be part of USA Basketball teams in the past and had to decline for various reasons, primarily injury issues or long playoff runs.
“I always wanted to play against other talent overseas or just other basketball styles and players,” Leonard said. “It is one of the reasons why I play the game.”
CANADA FINALIZES ITS MEN’S OLYMPIC BASKETBALL ROSTER, WITH 8 RETURNEES FROM WORLD CUP TEAM
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Canada finalized its men’s basketball roster for the Paris Olympics on Wednesday, with eight of the 12 players selected having been part of the run to a bronze medal at last summer’s World Cup.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Dillon Brooks, Kelly Olynyk, Lugentz Dort, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, RJ Barrett, Dwight Powell and Melvin Ejim are the eight Olympians who were on the World Cup roster a year ago when Canada won a wild bronze-medal game over the U.S. 127-118 in overtime. It was Canada’s most significant international medal since winning silver at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
The four players on the Olympic team that weren’t part of the World Cup: Jamal Murray, Khem Birch, Trey Lyles and Andrew Nembhard.
“Leading our Senior Men’s National Team into the Paris 2024 Olympic Games is an incredible honor,” Olynyk said. “Since I began playing basketball, my dream has always been to represent Canada at the Olympics. Last year’s third-place finish at the FIBA World Cup was an important step, proving that we belong among the world’s best teams. However, it also showed us that we still have work to do as we pursue our ultimate goal of winning gold in Paris.”
The team opens its exhibition schedule Wednesday in Las Vegas against the United States.
Gilgeous-Alexander is now a second-generation Olympian; his mother, Charmaine Gilgeous, ran for Antigua and Barbuda in the 1992 Barcelona Games. Same goes for Barrett; his father, Rowan Barrett, was on the 2000 Olympic team for Canada and serves as the general manager for Canada’s men’s national team. And for Ejim, it’s a sibling thing; his sister, Yvonne Ejim, will play in France this summer as part of the Canadian women’s basketball roster.
“Representing your country at an Olympic Games is one of the greatest honors in sport and something each of these players will never forget the first time they step onto the court,” Rowan Barrett said. “As we build on our success last summer, maintaining the continuity and cohesion we established with that team was vital to assembling this Olympic roster.”
The team is coached by Jordi Fernandez of the Brooklyn Nets.
“When we opened camp in Toronto last week, I challenged each of the players to improve 1% each day, and every day since I’ve witnessed the work and dedication they have put in,” Fernández said. “With 17 days to go until our first game of the tournament, that’s an opportunity to get 17% better. From the players to the coaches to the staff, the incredible opportunity ahead of us to do something truly historic for Canada this summer is not lost on anyone.”
REPORT: NBA AGREES TO TERMS ON 11-YEAR, $76B MEDIA RIGHTS DEAL
The NBA has agreed to terms on its new media deal, an 11-year agreement worth $76 billion that assures player salaries will continue rising for the foreseeable future and one that will surely change how some viewers access the game for years to come.
A person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press that the networks have the terms sheets, with the next step being for the league’s board of governors to approve the contracts.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Wednesday because they weren’t at liberty to discuss such impending matters.
The deal, which set NBA records for both its length and total value, goes into effect for the 2025-26 season. Games will continue being aired on ESPN and ABC, and now some will be going to NBC and Amazon Prime. TNT Sports, which has been part of the league’s broadcasting family since the 1980s, could be on its way out, but has five days to match one of the deals.
The five-day clock would begin once the league sends the finished contracts to TNT.
The Athletic was the first to report on the contracts.
In the short term, the deal almost certainly means the league’s salary cap will rise 10% annually — the maximum allowed by the terms of the most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NBA and its players. That means players like Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dallas’ Luka Doncic could be making around $80 million in the 2030-31 season and raises at least some possibility that top players may be earning somewhere near $100 million per season by the mid-2030s.
It also clears the way for the next major item on the NBA’s to-do list: Expansion.
Commissioner Adam Silver was very clear on the order of his top agenda items in recent seasons, those being preserving labor peace (which was achieved with the new CBA), getting a new media deal (now essentially completed) and then and only then would the league turn its attention toward adding new franchises. Las Vegas and Seattle are typically among the cities most prominently mentioned as top expansion candidates, with others such as Montreal, Vancouver and Kansas City expected to have groups with interest as well.
As the broadcast rights packages have grown in total value over the last 25 years, so, too, have salaries because of how much that revenue stream ends up fueling the salary cap.
When NBC and Turner agreed to a $2.6 billion, four-year deal that started with the 1998-99 season, the salary cap was $30 million per team and the average salary was around $2.5 million. The average salary this season exceeded $10 million per player — and it’s only going to keep going up from here.
When that NBC-Turner deal that started a quarter-century ago expired, the next deal — covering six seasons — cost ABC, ESPN and Turner about $4.6 billion. The next was a seven-year deal, costing those networks $7.4 billion.
The current deal, the one that will expire next season, smashed those records — nine years, nearly $24 billion.
And now, that seems like pocket change.
From the deal that started in 1998-99 to the one now struck to begin in 2025, the total value has climbed by about 2,800%. Factoring for inflation even between then and now, the value goes up about 1,400%.
SIXERS SIGN 16-YEAR VETERAN G ERIC GORDON
The Philadelphia 76ers announced the signing of 16-year veteran Eric Gordon on Wednesday.
Terms of the deal with the 35-year-old shooting guard were not disclosed.
Gordon averaged 11.0 points and shot 37.8 percent from 3-point range in 68 games (24 starts) for the Phoenix Suns in 2023-24.
“Eric is a proven shot-maker whose ability to create space and punish defenses that overextend will help solidify an already dynamic offense,” Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey said. “He plays bigger as the moments get bigger which will be key for our playoff run. I’ve known Eric for many years — he is devoted to his craft and continuously works on his game, allowing him to have such a long and successful career. We are lucky to have him in Philly.”
Morey was the general manager in Houston for part of the time when Gordon played for the Rockets.
Drafted No. 7 overall by the Los Angeles Clippers in 2008, Gordon was the Sixth Man of the Year in 2016-17 with the Rockets. He ranks ninth among active players with 2,028 career 3-pointers.
Gordon has career averages of 15.7 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 886 games (652 starts) with the Clippers (2008-11, 2023), New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans (2011-16), Rockets (2016-23) and Suns.
REPORT: ANTHONY EDWARDS SIGNS MULTIYEAR EXTENSION WITH ADIDAS
Minnesota Timberwolves superstar Anthony Edwards has signed a multiyear extension with sneaker brand Adidas that is worth around $50 million, The Athletic reported Wednesday.
Edwards has been with Adidas since entering the NBA in 2020. His first shoe, the AE1, was released in November 2023 and became a best seller, per the reports.
Edwards signed a five-year maximum extension with the Timberwolves last year worth more than $200 million with another $45 million available in incentives.
Just 22, Edwards is a two-time All-Star and an All-NBA selection this past season. He is a member of Team USA and competing in this summer’s Olympics in Paris.
He averaged a career-best 25.9 points per game in 2023-24 to go with 5.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game.
He’s averaging 22.9 points, 5.2 points and 4.1 assists per game since being selected No. 1 overall in the 2020 draft.
GRIZZLIES’ ZACH EDEY CONSENSUS ROOKIE OF THE YEAR BETTING FAVORITE
Zach Edey clearly has made a good first NBA impression with bookmakers.
Edey is now the consensus betting favorite for Rookie of the Year after his outstanding summer league debut with the Memphis Grizzlies.
A polarizing draft prospect because of questions over how his game would translate to the NBA level, Edey was considered a long shot for Rookie of the Year when betting for the award opened late last month, with ESPN BET offering odds as high as +2000 on the former Purdue star.
But two days after recording a double-double against the Jazz, Edey (+600) was listed as the co-favorite — along with Washington’s Alex Sarr — for Rookie of the Year at ESPN BET as of Wednesday morning.
Edey also is +600 for Rookie of the Year at both DraftKings and FanDuel and is a slight favorite over Sarr at both sportsbooks.
Sarr, the No. 2 pick in last month’s NBA draft, is +650 at DraftKings and +700 at FanDuel. Zaccharie Risacher, drafted first overall by the Hawks, is +700 at DraftKings and +750 at both ESPN BET and FanDuel.
Edey, who became the first player in more than 40 years to win The Associated Press’ men’s college basketball player of the year award in back-to-back seasons, was taken by Memphis with the ninth pick and was labeled as a “special fit” for the Grizzlies by general manager Zach Kleiman.
The 7-foot-4 Edey certainly looked special Monday in the Grizzlies’ Salt Lake City summer league game, finishing with 14 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks in 34 minutes. He also forced overtime with a buzzer-beating tip-in, earning praise from Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins.
“[There were] so many encouraging signs from the game the other night,” Jenkins said the following day on the ESPN broadcast during the Grizzlies’ summer league game against the Philadelphia 76ers. “Obviously he has that tip-in. Just the fire that he plays with. … We’re going to try to expand his game a little bit more. I think he can be a threat on the inside in the post, bringing that back a little bit.”
WNBA NEWS
ATKINS SCORES 26 FOR THE MYSTICS, WHO OVERCOME CAITLIN CLARK’S 29 POINTS TO BEAT THE FEVER 89-84
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Ariel Atkins scored 26 points, including a key basket in the final minute, and the Washington Mystics held off the Indiana Fever 89-84 on Wednesday to spoil Caitlin Clark’s 29-point performance.
Washington led 76-55 after three quarters before Indiana rallied behind 15 fourth-quarter points from Clark.
Clark became the first WNBA player with 29 points, 13 assists, five rebounds, five 3-pointers, five steals and three blocks in a game.
After Clark capped a 14-0 run with a free throw to pull Indiana within 85-82 with 1:05 left, Atkins answered at the other end with an off-balance shot in the lane.
Clark made two more free throws and a jump ball was called with 20.3 seconds left. Indiana forward Aliyah Boston tapped it back, but Atkins grabbed it and fell to the ground before a timeout was called with 16.9.
Julie Vanloo secured an inbounds pass and made two free throws with 16.2 left for a five-point lead to secure it.
Stefanie Dolson and Vanloo each scored 13 points for Washington (6-17). Aaliyah Edwards added 12 points and Myisha Hines-Allen had 10. The Mystics were without Shakira Austin, Brittney Sykes and Karlie Samuelson.
Kelsey Mitchell scored 15 points and NaLyssa Smith added 11 for Indiana (9-14). Lexie Hull, who made her first start of the season, finished with five points in 20 minutes.
KAHLEAH COPPER SCORES 32 AS MERCURY DOMINATE WINGS
Kahleah Copper poured in 32 points as the host Phoenix Mercury swamped the hapless Dallas Wings 100-84 on Wednesday afternoon in the final of four games between the teams this season.
The Mercury (12-10) won their third straight game and captured the season series 3-1.
Phoenix led by three points at halftime, by 14 after three periods and poured it on in the fourth, building a 94-70 cushion with just under six minutes to play.
Brittney Griner added 23 points for the Mercury, Natasha Cloud had 14 and Mikiah Herbert Harrigan 12 points. Diana Taurasi missed her second straight game with a foot injury.
Odyssey Sims and Natasha Howard scored 19 points each to lead Dallas (5-18), which has dropped five of its past six games and has just two wins since May 26. Teaira McCowan added 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Arike Ogunbowale had 13 point and 13 assists.
The first period featured three lead changes over the initial five minutes before the Wings ran off an 8-2 burst, capped by a cutting layup by Howard, to go up 20-13 at the 3:13 mark. Dallas led by as many as 11 points in the period before settling for a 29-21 going into the second quarter.
Phoenix rallied to tie the game at 37 when Cloud canned a 3-pointer with 4:29 to play in the second quarter. Dallas went back up by three points, before the Mercury rallied to tie at 42, and then the Wings moved in front at 44-42 on a layup by Copper with 1:11 left. Phoenix led 49-46 at the break.
Copper led all scorers with 18 points in the half, while Griner had 13 for the Mercury, which shot 61.3 percent in the half. Howard paced Dallas with 12 points and Sims added 10.
The Wings were still within 54-51 Howard hit two of three free throws with 8:23 to play in the third quarter. But Phoenix pushed the margin to a 15 points after a 3-pointer by Herbert Harrigan with 51 seconds left in the period and led 80-66 heading into the final quarter.
JACKIE YOUNG, ACES DEAL STORM HOME DEFEAT
Jackie Young scored 17 of her team-high 27 points in the third quarter Wednesday as the Las Vegas Aces rallied from a six-point halftime deficit for an 84-79 win over the host Seattle Storm.
A’ja Wilson added 24 points and 20 rebounds for Las Vegas (14-7), which won for the eighth time in nine games. It was the first career 20-20 game for Wilson, who missed a short stretch of the third quarter after an inadvertent elbow bloodied her nose. Kelsey Plum chipped in 13 points and Chelsea Gray netted 11.
Jewell Loyd scored a game-high 28 points for Seattle (14-8), which lost for only the second time in seven games. Skylar Diggins-Smith added 16 points and eight assists, while Ezi Magbegor contributed 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Storm pulled within 82-79 on three foul shots by Loyd with 45 seconds remaining and then forced a miss to regain the ball. They had two chances to tie the game on their next-to-last possession, but Nneka Ogwumike and Loyd each missed 3-pointers. Wilson grabbed a rebound and sealed the outcome by making two foul shots with 2.3 seconds left.
The teams’ third matchup of the season was controlled in the first half by Seattle’s defense. The unusual part was that it didn’t do so in its normal fashion — via steals and blocked shots — but by forcing one miss after another.
Las Vegas made only 6 of 22 shots in the first quarter and trailed 17-13, then fell behind 28-20 at the 6:22 mark of the second period when Loyd tossed in a 3-pointer. Loyd sank two foul shots with 3.4 seconds remaining in the half for a 36-30 Storm lead at the break.
But the game turned in the third quarter as the Aces rode Young’s hot hand. She accounted for 10 points in less than three minutes, giving them the lead for good on a 3-pointer with 4:32 left, and led them to a 60-55 edge going to the fourth period.
SKY OUTLAST DREAM BEHIND CHENNEDY CARTER’S 19 POINTS
Chennedy Carter scored 19 points and rookies Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso both notched double-doubles to boost the host Chicago Sky to a 78-69 victory over the Atlanta Dream on Wednesday.
Chicago outscored Atlanta 24-15 in the fourth quarter on the way to its third victory in the past four games.
The Dream have lost eight of nine, a slide that includes an eight-point home loss to Chicago on July 2.
Marina Mabrey converted a three-point play to break a tie and put the Sky ahead 68-65 with 4:17 remaining in the game. Chicago (9-12) never relinquished the lead after that but the Dream stuck around.
Allisha Gray’s layup off a backdoor cut feed from Maya Caldwell drew Atlanta (7-14) to within a point with 1:23 to go.
Dana Evans missed a free throw after referees whistled Atlanta coach Tanisha Wright for a technical foul, but the Sky recovered as Carter and Reese scored baskets on the next two possessions to help Chicago pull away.
Reese snagged a game-high 13 rebounds to go with 11 points that left the crowd in suspense. Reese extended her WNBA record to 14 consecutive games with a double-double thanks to a pair of free throws with 6.4 seconds left. The run includes three double-doubles against the Dream, who were led by Gray’s 20 points.
Naz Hillmon and Haley Jones added 12 points apiece for the Dream.
Atlanta remained without second-leading scorer Rhyne Howard, who has been sidelined since June 19 with a left ankle injury.
Jordin Canada (finger) and Aerial Powers (calf) were out for the Dream, as well. Cheyenne Parker-Tyus returned from a foot injury, grabbing a team-leading eight rebounds.
Cardoso contributed 10 points and 11 boards for the Sky.
Sparked by 15 points from Carter, Chicago took a 38-34 lead into the break. After scoring the first seven points of the game, the Sky withstood a run from the Dream, who benefited from a balanced attack to grab a 28-22 advantage with 6:11 left in the second quarter.
Carter scored seven of her team’s next 16 points to close the half, including a trey that put the Sky ahead by six with 2:17 to go before the break.