Jacob Uitti

The American Basketball Association’s nine-year existence reshaped professional basketball through innovations including the three-point shot, the red-white-and-blue ball, high-flying dunks, flamboyant presentation and earlier access for college underclassmen. Players such as Julius Erving, George Gervin, Ralph Simpson, David Thompson and Spencer Haywood found opportunities in the ABA and later helped elevate the NBA. The 1976 merger brought four ABA franchises into the NBA while leaving many players without jobs, but former ABA players quickly demonstrated their quality, filling half of the 24 spots in the 1977 NBA All-Star Game.

Players describe the toll of enduring a losing MLB season, emphasizing the mental strain, clubhouse tensions, and need for self-motivation. Jamie Moyer and Alex Avila highlight how accountability, small adjustments, and maintaining belief help teams navigate long stretches of poor performance. Examples from teams such as the Mets, Mariners, Tigers, and Phillies illustrate how resilience, leadership, and incremental improvement can turn a difficult season or period into future success.

Seattle Storm co-owner Dawn Trudeau describes her typical gameday routine, from morning physical therapy and caring for her cats to checking the arena’s shops, concessions and operations before tipoff. She explains that she remains hands-off on basketball decisions, trusting the team’s staff, while focusing on building a welcoming franchise and creating better professional opportunities for women. Trudeau expresses optimism about Seattle’s young roster and anticipates a friendly rivalry with the expansion Portland Fire, despite the Storm’s limited championship prospects during its rebuilding phase.

Former NBA players describe the rituals they used to seek comfort or success, including Jason Terry sleeping in opponents’ shorts, Eldridge Recasner repeating precise routines and honoring his late father, and Tim Hardaway following fixed travel and meal habits. The article also recounts famous practices associated with Ray Allen, Michael Jordan, Rajon Rondo, LeBron James and Kevin Garnett. Terry’s championship-linked rituals, including his CATS socks and a Larry O’Brien Trophy tattoo, sometimes coincided with success but also failed, underscoring the personal and often irrational nature of sporting superstitions.

The Houston Comets defied widespread predictions that they would finish last to win the WNBA’s inaugural championship in 1997, beginning a run of four consecutive titles. The team combined veteran players such as Cynthia Cooper and Fran Harris with younger stars including Tina Thompson and Sheryl Swoopes, whose late-season return after childbirth added both talent and internal competition. Players recalled the challenges of launching a women’s professional league, the support of the Houston Rockets and the city’s enthusiastic embrace, including a championship parade. Their victory helped establish the WNBA’s legitimacy during a period when previous women’s basketball leagues had failed.

The Women’s Professional Basketball League, which operated from 1978 to 1981, established the first professional women’s basketball league in the United States and helped create a pathway for later leagues such as the WNBA. Despite talented players including Nancy Lieberman, Ann Meyers and Molly Bolin Kazmer, the WBL struggled with low attendance, rapid expansion, unstable franchises and limited resources before folding after the Nebraska Wranglers won the 1981 championship. Former players and executives recall both the league’s hardships and its pioneering camaraderie, while Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova provided crucial public support. Efforts by Legends of the Ball and a proposed documentary seek to restore the WBL’s place in basketball history.

Guardian contributors preview the 2026 men’s NCAA Tournament by identifying players to watch, dark-horse teams, vulnerable top seeds and possible upsets. Arizona is the most frequently selected champion, with Duke, Houston, Michigan State, Iowa State, Illinois, Virginia and Arkansas also projected for Final Four appearances. The panel highlights Arizona’s balance, depth and positional size, while noting injury concerns for Duke and Michigan. Vanderbilt, VCU, Saint Mary’s and Penn emerge as potential sleeper teams, and several contributors expect an unusually low or high level of upset activity, including possible deep runs by play-in teams or lower seeds. The contributors also debate NIL’s effects, agreeing that players deserve compensation but warning that the system has professionalized the sport and may make sustained Cinderella runs more difficult.

Chris Washburn recounts how loneliness, depression and widespread drug use derailed his NBA career after the Golden State Warriors selected him third overall in 1986. He played only 72 regular-season games before being banned for drug use, later experiencing homelessness, theft and prison. After 14 unsuccessful rehabilitation attempts, caring for his ill mother and wanting to support his children motivated him to stop using drugs. Now married and living in Hickory, Washburn speaks to young people about addiction and has published the memoir Out of Bounds to offer others a path toward recovery.

Alex Sarama, a 30-year-old English coach, has been appointed head coach of the expansion Portland Fire, making an unlikely rise from founding the Guildford Goldhawks youth club to coaching roles in the NBA, G League and Cleveland Cavaliers. He credits the less-developed British basketball system with giving him early opportunities, while arguing that the UK needs greater investment in coaching education. With the WNBA expanding rapidly, Sarama plans to build the Fire around shared player-development methods, detailed procedures and documented standards, while embracing courage, confidence and humility.

Former NBA and WNBA figures Michael Cooper, Kenny Anderson and Robert Parish describe how professional basketball fame brings recognition, financial scrutiny, media criticism and intrusive fan behavior. Cooper explains that being a role player allowed him to avoid some individual blame, while coaching exposed him fully to public judgment; he eventually answered criticism by leading the Los Angeles Sparks to WNBA titles. Anderson credits family and mentors with helping him handle attention from adolescence, while Parish recalls fans following him home and to airports, finding the behavior excessive despite appreciating recognition. The accounts suggest that resilience, support networks and the chance to perform again are central to coping with life in the public eye.

The WNBA’s current growth in popularity, revenue and expansion builds on decades of work by pioneering players and coaches. Nancy Lieberman, Cheryl Miller, Sheryl Swoopes, Lauren Jackson, Lusia Harris, Ann Meyers and Lynette Woodard are highlighted for their records, barrier-breaking careers and contributions to professional women’s basketball, even when they played before the WNBA existed or joined it only late in their careers. Their legacies helped create the league and culture now represented by stars such as Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.

Cal Raleigh has become a Seattle Mariners folk hero since his 2022 walk-off home run ended the franchise’s 20-year playoff drought. Nicknamed the “Big Dumper,” he is leading MLB in home runs and RBI as of July 1, 2025, while also earning recognition for his defense and role in guiding Seattle’s pitching staff. His six-year, $105 million extension keeps him with the Mariners through 2030, fueling hopes that his offensive production and leadership can help the team return to the postseason and eventually win its first World Series.

Small-market NBA teams such as Oklahoma City, Cleveland, San Antonio and Milwaukee have played prominent roles in the playoffs despite lacking the nightlife, celebrity culture and media attention associated with major cities. Former players Reggie Theus, Michael Ray Richardson and Robert Parish describe smaller markets as offering closer team relationships, more normal lives and stronger community bonds, while acknowledging that big cities provide greater visibility, entertainment and historical prestige. Winning remains the decisive factor: success can create fierce fan loyalty and unite an entire region, as Oklahoma City’s playoff run has done for Oklahoma.

The NBA playoffs have transformed a season criticized for weak ratings and uninspiring early storylines into a thrilling postseason filled with upsets and clutch moments. Jalen Brunson is leading the Knicks through difficult wins over Detroit and Boston, Tyrese Haliburton has delivered a dramatic game-winner for Indiana, and Aaron Gordon has hit two decisive shots for Denver. Stephen Curry’s injury threatens Golden State’s run against Minnesota, while Anthony Edwards has already helped eliminate the Lakers and could propel the Timberwolves deeper into the playoffs. The performances are elevating several players into potential national sports stardom.

Tarik El-Abour, an autistic baseball player who signed with the Kansas City Royals in 2018, offers a direct counterexample to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s claim that autistic people cannot work, play sports or live independently. Diagnosed at age three and non-verbal until around six, El-Abour developed a professional baseball career and is seeking another opportunity in the majors. He says autism helps him focus and embrace the repetition required by baseball. The piece also cites autistic athletes Tony Snell, Joe Barksdale and Armani Williams, arguing that autistic people’s achievements undermine Kennedy’s dismissive portrayal and highlighting El-Abour’s pride in his identity and career.

Former NBA players Xavier McDaniel, Scott Williams and Cedric Maxwell describe the psychological toll of playing for losing teams, including declining motivation, negative team culture and harmful habits. They emphasize that roster character, effort, leadership and compatibility can determine whether a season succeeds. Their advice to younger players is to focus on self-improvement, resist destructive influences and remain true to themselves while waiting for a team’s fortunes to improve.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is favored to win the NBA MVP award over three-time winner Nikola Jokić because Oklahoma City has the league’s best-level record, he leads the NBA in scoring, and the Thunder are far ahead of Denver in the standings. Jokić nonetheless has an unprecedented statistical case, ranking in the top three in points, rebounds and assists while recently recording the first 31-point, 21-rebound, 22-assist game in NBA history. The close race also reflects voter fatigue and a recurring preference for a fresh challenger over an established star, although Jokić may still be the player many would choose as the league’s best overall.

The feature revisits seven influential NBA players whose achievements risk being overlooked by modern fans: Jack Sikma, Tiny Archibald, Bob McAdoo, Adrian Dantley, Alex English, Mark Price and Dave Bing. It highlights their championships, All-Star selections, scoring records and distinctive careers, while emphasizing the importance of remembering NBA history before the Kobe Bryant era and the internet’s shortened attention span.

Bryce James, the younger son of LeBron James and brother of Lakers guard Bronny James, has committed to play college basketball at Arizona. The 6ft 6in shooting guard is regarded as a talented but less highly rated prospect than his brother, with strengths including shooting, finishing and a developing all-around game. His limited playing time and injury-affected senior season have raised questions about his NBA potential, though scouts praise his size, shooting touch and fundamentals. Bryce may need several years of development in college, and while an NBA career is far from assured, his family background could keep him under close scrutiny and make a future reunion with LeBron a possibility.

Former NBA players and executives propose changes aimed at improving fan engagement and television ratings. Robert Parish argues that teams should reduce load management and prioritize player availability, while Bob Whitsitt suggests expanding the NBA Cup and replacing All-Star Weekend with its championship game, supported by a larger prize. Tim Hardaway Sr proposes narrowing the three-point line and restoring stricter defensive rules. Larry Sanders advocates removing the one-year eligibility rule so players can enter the NBA directly from high school. Xavier McDaniel criticizes the modern reliance on three-point shooting and calls for more inside play. Additional suggestions include enlarging the court and penalizing flopping, although Whitsitt cautions against frequent rule changes because the league remains fundamentally strong.

WNBA and Olympic champion Breanna Stewart discusses co-founding Unrivaled, a Miami-based three-on-three women’s basketball league designed to give players more opportunities to compete, earn money and build visibility in the United States during the WNBA offseason. With six teams, player equity, reported average salaries of about $250,000 and broadcasts on TNT and Max, the league aims to complement rather than compete with the WNBA. Stewart sees winning the inaugural Unrivaled championship as the final piece of a personal “triple crown” alongside Olympic and WNBA titles.