FIRE US UP!!! We got NBA hoops in ~48 hours and the winner-take-all game for the WNBA Finals tonight. Basketball is in a great place, and we want to share our favorite off-the-court stories from the best sport in the world!

Today’s Lineup

🌎 Going Global

One reason we are so thrilled with where the game of basketball 🏀 is at right now is the international component. The All-NBA First Team featured a Canadian, a Serbian, a Greek and a Slovenian. The last American MVP was James Harden in 2018 (side note: remember how good Prime Harden was?).

And as international players become more and more apart of the NBA product, we appreciate how the NBA is returning its product to the rest of the world in the form of games. For example, the Celtics and Nuggets just played two preseason games in Abu Dhabi, marking the third consecutive year the NBA has traveled to the United Arab Emirates. In last year’s regular season, the Magic and Hawks squared off in Mexico City 🇲🇽 while the Cavaliers and Nets went to Paris 🇫🇷 

This year, we’re looking forward to the Washington Wizards matching up against the Miami Heat in Mexico City. It’s especially exciting because the Heat’s Jaime Jaquez has family ties to Mexico—some stuff is bigger than the game! Additionally, the game coincides with Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), a Latin American holiday.

Meanwhile, your favorite 7’5” Frenchmen returns to his homeland. Victor Wembanyama 👽 and the San Antonio Spurs will play two regular season games in Paris in late January against Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers. We’d wager the NBA makes the Spurs play a game a year in France for the foreseeable future 😂 

🙏 Philanthropic Philly Star

While Tyrese Maxey is lightning quick on the hardwood, he was seemingly everywhere this summer doing good. As a result, the NBA honored Maxey with the Bob Lanier Community Assist Award which celebrates a player’s commitment to positively impacting their community during the offseason and comes with a $10,000 donation from the NBA to a charity of the player’s choice.

This summer the Philly guard hosted the inaugural Tyrese Maxey Foundation Friends and Family Weekend in Philadelphia and invited kids aged 7-12 to participate in his “1% Better Skills Camp” featuring basketball skills training, giveaways and lunch with Maxey and coaches from the camp.

On top of that, Maxey hosted a similar event in Dallas the next week which also featured a free golf clinic for youth in the area. Between the two weekends, Maxey hosted over 700(!!) kids between the two events—that is a fleet of kids whose summers were made by spending time with an NBA star. And you can’t put a price tag on that.

Gatorade baths and field-storming are some of the best celebrations after a big win, but our favorite post-game move right now is the Minnesota Lynx performing the Electric Slide after every home win 💃 🕺 

The vibes are immaculate, the choreography is in sync, and the crowd sticks around after the buzzer to join in. 10/10 celebration right here. The winner-take-all game of the WNBA Finals tips off at 8:00PM EST, and we wonder if the NY Liberty 🗽 will take home the title or if the Lynx will get to slide into the history books 🏆

Signing Off

We’re fading away smoother than DeMar DeRozan on an island 🏝️ but we’ll be back in your inbox in ~16 hours. So don’t fret, friend ✌️

-Conor Geelan