Team USA and Serbia bombed at the 2019 FIBA World Cup. That wasn’t the only interesting news from last week. Michael Jordan is selling part of the Charlotte Hornets, there’s a tampering charge the NBA might levy, and NBA agents are in a battle with the NCAA. Check out what happened in the hard court game this past week! And be sure to check the latest NBA Championship odds for the upcoming season!
NBA Updates of the Week – September 16th Edition
Spain Wins Second World Cup Championship Behind Gasol’s and Rubio’s Play
Two of the top players in the NBA helped Spain climb number one in the world internationally over the weekend. Phoenix Suns point-guard Ricky Rubio and Toronto Raptors center Marc Gasol led the Spanish to a second World Cup after Spain beat Argentina 95-75 on Sunday.
Rubio dropped 20 points onto the Argentinians. Ricky garnered the FIBA MVP while both he and Gasol made it onto the all-tournament team along with Argentina’s Luis Scola, Serbia’s Bogdan Bogdanovich, and France’s Evan Fournier.
U.S. and Serbia Bomb at FIBA World Cup
The United State’s beat Poland for seventh place at the tournament while Serbia finished fifth behind Australia. The U.S. got knocked out by France, the third place squad. What it means is that the -350 favorite, and around +400 second choice both got bounced before the elimination round.
Sad? Hardly. The U.S. didn’t present their best foot forward in this tournament for sure. Not only that, but Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart, and Kemba Walker, the 3 players from the Boston Celtics, were banged up for most of the tournament.
In fact, Tatum and Smart barely played. So, the real question isn’t why the U.S. lost, but whether Tatum, Walker, and Smart will be one-hundred percent for the Celts before the season starts.
As far as Serbia is concerned, they looked good early, but Nikola Jokic showed frustration throughout. He should remain one of the top dominant players in the NBA come early November.
Michael Jordan Selling Part of the Charlotte Hornets
His Airness isn’t giving up control of the Hornets, but he is bringing in a couple of money guys. Melvin Capital founder Gabe Plotkin and DI Capital founder Daniel Sundheim are partnering in Hornets Sports and Entertainment.
This could be a good move for Jordan. Money guys know how to squeeze dollars out of brands. Charlotte hasn’t been competitive for a while. Plotkin and Sundheim could help Air Jordan discover how to make the Hornets competitive. Maybe, they’ll bring in less Moneyball stuff and more go for the best player that fills the seats and gets W’s stuff. The best way to build a brand, and make money off it, is to win.
His Airness knows that. So, the partnership makes sense.
NBA Players Association Sends Letter to the NCAA
The NBA Players Association sent a letter to the NCAA on behalf of agents this past Saturday pretty much stating that they aren’t cooperating with the NCAA when it comes to college players. The NCAA wants agents to submit to a proposed certification process so that they can work with undergrad players in college.
Agents and the NBA Players Association said no-go on that idea. The reason? College coaches have accepted the one and done NCAA rule. They’ve embraced it with the best players already deciding to head to the NBA after their freshman years.
Now the NCAA wants agents to abide by some certification process even though players will only hit the hard courts in college for 4 months or so? The NCAA is desperately trying to maintain control with this latest idea.
Good of both the NBA Players Association and the players they represent to keep control in the players’ hands.
New NBA Tamper Charge Could be $10 Million
The NBA is really annoyed at all the tampering that consistently seems to hit the league during every offseason. They’re so annoyed that they’re thinking of levying a $10 million charge onto teams that participate in tampering.
That’s a pretty penny for anybody, even a billion dollar valued NBA squad. Is it fair? Eh, maybe. But, the NBA is a private organization. So, they can do what they wish.
Have a great week!
