After winning the FIBA World Cup, what can you say about Germany’s basketball future? Franz Wagner: I think success like that with the national team sparks a lot of excitement back home, and more kids will start playing basketball at home. I think that’s one of the coolest things about being part of the national team. We’re inspiring the next generation, and hopefully, in 10-15 years, we’ll have a lot more German players, not just in the NBA but in the best leagues around the world. I don’t think people from the United States realize how big a thing that was for us to win the World Cup. When I grew up, that was not an option. That was not something that you dreamed of because it was that crazy. So, honestly, I still haven’t really realized exactly what we did.
June 6, 2025 | 7:10 pm EDT Update
Toronto a potential trade suitor for Kevin Durant?
Toronto has likewise been painted by numerous NBA figures as a potential trade suitor for Kevin Durant … particularly if Giannis Antetokounmpo doesn’t reach the open market. The Raptors, furthermore, would figure to have a more realistic shot at assembling a competitive trade offer for Durant compared to the mammoth offers that the Bucks would inevitably seek for Antetokounmpo’s services.
Rival teams skeptical Giannis Antetokounmpo will request trade?
Honestly, right now I’d say the prevailing sentiment from rival teams that I’m speaking to—around the combine two weeks ago, two and a half weeks ago—there was no shortage of optimism, of hope, of excitement from other teams that they were going to be able to potentially make an offer to get Giannis Antetokounmpo into their franchise, into their building. Of late, I’d say that that confidence has been replaced with skepticism. To a man, from talking to agents, team executives, whoever, there is not a lot of belief right now at this juncture. It’s only June 5th—anything could happen—and I’ve been told all along that if there is a decision, a formal decision made to shut or open the door on trade conversations for Giannis this summer, that it would likely happen closer to the end of June and when the offseason really, really begins.
But I’d say for now, for now, talking to people around the league, the assessment and the expectation is that they’re going to believe it when they see it—that someone who has valued being the franchise face, that the central lynchpin of the Bucks franchise, is going to want to play somewhere else.”
ESPN Cleveland: “If you’re asking me if the Cavs are active in trade talks, I have to give you a straight answer, yes I think they are,” – @WindhorstESPN 👀
The NBA got the finish it needed in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, but it was not enough to keep Pacers-Thunder from opening at a non-COVID low. Thursday’s Pacers-Thunder NBA Finals Game 1 averaged a 4.7 rating and 8.91 million viewers on ABC, marking the lowest rated and least-watched Game 1 of the Finals of the Nielsen people meter era (1988-present) outside of the two COVID-affected series, Bucks-Suns in July 2021 (4.5, 8.70M) and Heat-Lakers in the “bubble” on the final day of September 2020 (4.1, 7.69M).
Indiana’s last-second win, which peaked with 11.07 million during the final minutes, was the least-watched Finals game of any kind since that 2021 opener — and the ninth-least watched in the people-meter era. Ratings declined 18% and viewership 19% from Mavericks-Celtics last year (5.7, 10.99M). The declines would have been sharper if not for the Pacers’ comeback. Viewership was down 23% from last year until the 10:45 PM ET quarter-hour (from 11.2 to 8.6 million), after which point it increased by 15% over the final minutes of last year’s Boston blowout (from 9.0 to 10.4 million).
Game 1 of the NBA Finals delivered elite drama from a basketball perspective as Tyrese Haliburton’s final-second shot led a stunning Pacers comeback over the Thunder. However, in the hours preceding that moment, the overall presentation left a lot of fans wondering what has happened to some time-honored traditions. The longstanding Finals patches are now on the back of the jerseys; they used to be on the front. And there are no indications on the floor that it’s the NBA’s marquee event.
The league removed the “NBA Finals” decal from the court over a decade ago, citing “player safety.” “There were a lot of considerations taken into account in making this decision, including player safety,” an NBA spokesman said in 2014 of removing playoff decals. “We decided to remove the playoffs logo from the court for a variety of reasons, including cleaning up the playing surface.”
June 6, 2025 | 5:07 pm EDT Update
StatMuse: Only guards in NBA history to average 30/5/5 in a playoffs (over 15 GP): Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant.
