🏀 A Thriller in the Big Apple!

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Let’s start today’s newsletter with a little manifesting.

It’s late October, and you’re on a pristine beach in the Caribbean. You're watching your favorite team win by 30 on a dodgy illegal streaming site. The glare of the sun might make it hard to see the screen, and it might keep buffering every three seconds, but who cares? The season just started, and in the immortal words of Kevin Garnett…

Today’s Lineup

A New Weapon 🔥: Philly just added a 20 PPG scorer to their squad.

The French Connection 🇫🇷: Wemby is officially headed to the Olympics…

W’s in the W 🏀: The WNBA playoffs continue in style!

But first, a little trivia:

Latest NBA News

Kelly Oubre to Philly

The frontrunner in the “most random former 20 PPG scorer” debate has finally found a new home. Kelly Oubre Jr. is heading to Philly on a one-year “prove it” deal after failing to attract any significant attention on the open market.

For a Sixers squad in a state of flux thanks to James Harden’s trade request, this is a great move. Oubre is a quality two-way wing who’s capable of creating scoring opportunities for himself while holding his own on the defensive end. We also love the versatility he brings to Philly, allowing Nick Nurse to run some more offensive-minded setups with Oubre at the 3 and Tobias Harris at the 4. Do I hear 6MOTY buzz? 🤔

Harden to LA talks break down

Speaking of the Beard, it looks like he won’t be heading to his preferred destination. The LA Clippers reportedly are not willing to pay Daryl Morey’s high asking price for the former MVP.

Harden is stuck in no man’s land. He’s already publicly stated his disdain for Morey and his refusal to play for Philly, but there doesn’t appear to be another team that’s truly interested in him.

Wemby X Paris 2024

“I'll be present at the Olympics, and there's no other goal than gold.”

Those were Wemby’s words when asked by the French media about playing in the 2024 Olympics. The young phenom decided to pass on this year’s World Cup to focus on his upcoming NBA debut, but he’s already locked in to play for his country on the biggest stage.

Quick sidenote: are we the only ones who really want to see Joel Embiid play for France? Just imagine a Wemby-Gobert-Embiid lineup with FIBA rules. They could probably just stand with their arms spread out and cover baseline-to-baseline.

Playoffs in the W

Liberty advance past Mystics in 90-85 OT thriller

We just witnessed a WNBA playoff classic.

First of all, despite Washington’s loss, can we talk about that performance from Natasha Cloud? On a night where Elena Delle Donne couldn’t get anything going, Cloud put the Mystics on her back with 33 points, nine dimes, and four steals. All while holding Sabrina Inosecu to just 11 points. Crazy. 😤

And throughout most of the game, it looked like that would be enough. An absolute crowd silencer courtesy of Brittney Skyes followed by some clutch late free throws from Cloud gave the Mystics a 2-point lead with under 30 seconds remaining.

But give all the credit to former MVP Jonquel Jones, who saved the day for the Liberty by grabbing a huge offensive board in the closing seconds and calmly sinking two free throws to send it to OT.

From there, New York was in control. Courtney Vandersloot ran the offense to perfection, Breanna Stewart got her 27 points the hard way, and the Liberty ran out as five-point victors.

Wings dominate Dream 101-74 to clinch series

For the first time since moving to Dallas in 2015, the Wings are in the second round. And what a way to do it!

Practically everything went right for Dallas last night. Seven players scored in double figures, Teaira McCowan dominated the glass to the tune of 16 rebounds, and Arike Ogunbowale is, of course, a Certified. Walking. Bucket.

The Dream faced the exact same problem they’ve run into every time they’ve played the Wings this season: putting the ball in the basket efficiently.

The Atlanta offense runs almost entirely through the trio of Rhyne Howard, Allisha Gray, and Cheyenne Parker, who combined to score an impressive 120 points in the series… on a less impressive 115 shots. If they want to make it further in the playoffs next year, Atlanta will need more offensive weapons.

Boardroom’s HeadlineToGo

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Sign up for their morning newsletter, HeadlineToGo, to get an inside look at the Boardroom universe. Plus, sometimes they have game-worn sneakers and signed jerseys to give away—just saying.

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Frozen Moments

• Dame finally speaks on his trade request 😮

• James Harden gets asked about the NBA’s new flopping rule 😂

• Breanna Stewart and Melo shared a moment after the Liberty’s W 🤝

What We’re Enjoying

Champions League Is Back: Whether you call it soccer or football, we can all agree that the Champions League absolutely rocks. The tournament is just kicking off as we speak, so it’s not too late to pick a team and get invested.

Signing Off

That’s all the news we have for today, y’all! Remember to keep supporting all the playoff ballers in the W—every bit of positivity makes the basketball community a little bit better.

Until next time,

-Spencer Poole

Trivia Answer: The answer to today’s newsletter is who else but Wilt Chamberlain! Kyrie and AD have both dropped 50 on opening night, but the Big Dipper’s 1962 performance leads the way with 56.