🏀 Redeem Team 2.0?

TGIF, Enjoyers!

It would make us SO happy if you picked up a ball and just dribbled a bit on this beautiful Friday. If you’re not near a ball, watching these handles highlights will suffice. We’re talkin’ bout that ‘tween ‘tween curl cross SNATCHBACK!

(Too much? Okay, too much.)

Today’s Lineup

Redeem Team 2.0: Our ideal 🇺🇸 lineup for the 2024 Olympics 🏅 

Playoff Time: The WNBA Playoffs continue with some BIG matchups ⭐️

All-Access: The Suns are making their games free to watch 📺

Before we dive in, let’s quickly test your NBA knowledge:

Dreaming of Paris… 💭🇫🇷

With a disappointing fourth place finish at the FIBA World Cup, and with Dillon Brooks’ villain arc finally completed, one mind is firmly set on the 2024 Paris Olympics. Whose mind, you might ask? LeBron James.

Reports say King James and a handful of other American stars are lined up to join the 2024 Olympic team, so we thought we’d pick our ideal (semi-realistic) depth chart for Paris 2024:

Point Guard: Steph Curry, Damian Lillard, Tyrese Haliburton
Shooting Guard: Devin Booker, Donovan Mitchell, Anthony Edwards
Small Forward: Jayson Tatum, Jimmy Butler, Mikal Bridges
Power Forward: Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Jaren Jackson Jr.
Center: Anthony Davis, Bam Adebayo, Draymond Green

There’s just one problem. None of the top nine rebounders per game last season were American. Since 2018, only one American center (Anthony Davis) has made any of the three All-NBA teams. And in the FIBA World Cup, defensive woes and rebounding problems plagued the USA all tournament long. Does the United States have a big man issue?

Even at the college level, the last two Naismith Players of the Year have been foreign big men—Purdue’s Zach Edey is Canadian and Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe is Congolese. But other countries quake at the thought of Frank Kaminsky, right?

In 2024, Nikola Jokic will suit up for Serbia, Domantas Sabonis for Lithuania, and Joel Embiid for either Cameroon or France. USA has the talent at all five positions to win gold, but the likes of AD and Bam Adebayo will have to show up big in the Parisian paint. And even if all our biggest stars actually rep the red, white, and blue, they’ll still need to buy into team basketball to compete against teams with more tenured chemistry. May the best squad win! 🥇 

Around the W

The first round of the WNBA playoffs continues! Here are all the things you need to know heading into this weekend’s slate of games.

Friday, September 15th

Washington Mystics at New York Liberty (7:30pm ET on ESPN2)

The Mystics and Liberty went 2-2 against each other this year, and it’s been a really competitive series—a tight one-point victory and some buzzer-beater shots leave very little to be desired. It naturally follows that this is one of the most hyped-up playoff matchups. So what should we expect? Can the Mystics actually upset the Liberty?

Keys to the matchup:

1. Health: Mystics center Shakira Austin will not play in the series' first two games. Austin has been in and out of the lineup with a hip injury that kept her out for quite some time during the season. This presents a mismatch that Liberty forward Jonquel Jones will surely try and take advantage of.

2. EDD vs. Stewie: A healthy Elena Delle Donne will prove to be a difficult matchup for New York’s Breanna Stewart, who struggled against Delle Donne in their most recent regular season matchup. The Liberty will have to pass the ball and make sure everyone gets opportunities to score.

3. Shooting: Sabrina Ionescu just had the best three-point scoring season of her professional career, shooting 44.8% from three. Unlocking her shot will be a key part of the New York offense, and we’ll see if some of Washington’s shooters (like Natasha Cloud) can keep up.

Atlanta Dream at Dallas Wings (9:30pm ET on ESPN2)

It’s been the tale of the Wings this season, and Atlanta is going to have to work to make this a series. The Wings took the regular season series 3-0, including a dominant win in their final regular season matchup. Can the Dream make this a series? Or will the Wings prevail?

Keys to the matchup:

1. Shooting: The Wings will clog the paint on defense, so Atlanta is going to have to knock down shots on the perimeter if they want to steal a game.

2. Ball movement: Part of the Wings’ success this year comes from playing unselfish basketball. Arike Ogunbowale and Satou Sabally have been their most important players as a result of passing the ball and creating better looks and opportunities for each other.

Sunday, September 17th

Before the weekend wraps up, we have two Game 2s in a Sunday doubleheader! Both of these matchups were a blowout in Game 1, with the Sun and Aces both winning in dominant fashion. Since the first round is a best-of-three series, both of these teams have a chance to sweep on Sunday and move on to the semifinals. Can they do it? Or can Minnesota and/or Chicago push it to a third and final game?

• Minnesota Lynx at Connecticut Sun (1:00pm ET on ESPN)

• Chicago Sky at Las Vegas Aces (3:00pm ET on ABC)

Stay tapped in to Enjoy Basketball throughout the playoffs as we continue to bring you coverage of the WNBA Playoffs!

Latest News

The Phoenix Suns are generously providing free TV antennas to local fans to ensure they can watch their games on local channels without cable subscriptions. This initiative aims to make basketball more accessible to the community and enables fans to support their team during TV broadcasts.

Phoenix owner Matt Ishbia’s commitment to expanding the Suns’ reach is a slam dunk for both the team and its supporters, and we hope more teams follow their example! Basketball is for everyone. ❤️

Frozen Moments

• Did Steph Curry get shorter or… 😂 

• Kai Jones might be getting a little too confident.

• Frank Kaminsky praised this electric crowd atmosphere!

What We’re Enjoying

The design for the new LeBron 21s just came out. GAS! 🔥 

Plus, Rob Mahoney wrote a great article for The Ringer on whether LeBron can get the best out of Christian Wood.

Signing Off

Enjoy the weekend, folks! There’s a lot of football on this weekend, so just remember that if LeBron James and Allen Iverson chose the gridiron instead of hoops, they would be fantasy league winners for sure. 🔑 

-Conor Geelan

Trivia Answer: The answer is Hakeem Olajuwon, and it’s not even close! The Dream had 24(!!!) such games, whereas the next most prolific player, David Robinson, had just 5!