Author: Michelle Hernandez

Only basketball fans are familiar with a particular type of frustration. You construct the roster in your mind; you have the components, the reasoning, and the background knowledge to support it. When the simulation runs, you get 58 victories. Technically, not too bad. However, it’s never 73. The 73-9 Game, a free browser challenge created by HoopsMatic and HoopsHype that debuted in July 2026 and quickly amassed over a million plays in its first eighteen hours, revolves around this silent cruelty. The idea seems fairly straightforward. You receive $100 million to put together a starting five and attempt to defeat…

Basketball fans all over the internet are quietly engrossed in a small browser game that appears to be quite straightforward. You receive $100 million. You turn a wheel. Five players are chosen by you. The game then determines if your custom-built superteam could defeat the Golden State Warriors of 2015–16, who had the best record in NBA history after finishing the regular season 73–9. The majority of people lose. Actually, almost everyone. It began to gain traction in the middle of 2026, somewhat influenced by a related idea known as 82-0, in which players attempt to build an unbeaten team.…

Some sports moments feel more like plot twists that no one had time to prepare for than like business decisions. That kind of moment occurred when the Los Angeles Lakers were sold for $12.5 billion. Even those who have dedicated their careers to anticipating these moves were caught off guard. When word leaked out that Mark Walter was selling the Lakers to venture capitalist Josh Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob Iger, of all people, he had owned the team for just 14 months. Conversations could be cut off mid-sentence with just that combination. Instead of the Lakers, the two…

Every serious basketball player has a moment in their adolescence when a coach, parent, or agent sits them down and tells them the value of their name. In college, that kind of talk used to occur. It is currently taking place in the tenth grade. A subtle but significant change has been occurring within the basketball community since California allowed high school athletes to make money off of their name, image, and likeness, and as more states have followed. Players who used to rush toward the NBA Draft, viewing it as the only way to get out of debt, are…

A number landed in NBA circles on a Wednesday morning in mid-August, halting conversations in their tracks. Twelve and a half billion dollars. for a basketball squad. The same basketball team that had sold for $10 billion less than ten months prior, setting a record at the time. Above all, people are still struggling to comprehend how quickly it is happening. After purchasing a majority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers from the Buss family in October 2025, Mark Walter, the CEO of Guggenheim Partners, agreed to sell that stake to venture capitalist Josh Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob…

Nearly every Oklahoma City Thunder game has a moment that the broadcast misses. Something quieter has already occurred before the fast break even begins, before Jalen Williams is finishing at the rim or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is slicing through the lane. There is a defensive plan in place. A ball handler has been directed in the wrong direction. Almost by design, a turnover has been created. That is the fundamental inversion of what Mark Daigneault has created in Oklahoma City: transition basketball, which appears chaotic but functions more like clockwork, and offense that starts with defense. Daigneault, who turned forty this…

A particular type of celebrity wedding operates more like a cultural event than a private ceremony; before anyone even exchanges vows, the guest list shares a story. That was precisely what happened at Karl-Anthony Towns and Jordyn Woods’ wedding in Malibu, California, on August 15. It was also difficult to ignore how flawlessly it depicted the current state of pop culture, fashion, and sports: all dressed in black, tangled up together, and decorating the same table. About 250 guests were seated in front of white floral arrangements during the outdoor ceremony, which had a view of the Pacific Ocean. The…

It appeared that Adam Silver had discovered something that the other commissioners had not. Both players and owners respected him for his communication skills and calm demeanor. He made a statement in 2014 when he expelled Donald Sterling from the league: “This office has standards, and they will be enforced.” It took years to establish that credibility. Erosion is occurring much more quickly. Adam Silver’s owner issue didn’t come up out of nowhere. It built up gradually at first, then all at once. The Los Angeles Clippers case is the best place to start. Steve Ballmer was found not to…

Ten days after the New York Knicks paraded through lower Manhattan, the NBA made a decision that is subtly telling. Instead of enjoying the national attention that comes with a new champion, the league took flights to Singapore. It organized a regional strategy meeting, a Rising Stars competition, and an investor conference. That choice wasn’t made by chance. For many years, Asia has been a challenging topic for the NBA. In the past, China appeared to be the clear solution to all of the league’s revenue-related queries. Then came 2019, a single tweet about Hong Kong, and years of broadcaster…

There is more going on between Jeanie Buss and her siblings regarding the Los Angeles Lakers than just a legal dispute. Through carefully timed leaks, conflicting statements, and lawyers writing letters to other lawyers, it’s a controlled demolition of trust. It resembles a PR war disguised as a disagreement over governance. As is often the case with these things, the basic facts arrived quickly and in a disorganized manner. The Buss family had agreed to sell its remaining 17.8% of the Lakers to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner, whose $12.5 billion purchase of Mark Walter’s majority stake had already shocked…