The Oklahoma City Thunder (and the Seattle Supersonics before them) have 51 jersey numbers worn by the players who have suited up for the franchise since its founding at the start of the 1967-68 season. To commemorate the players who wore those numbers, Thunder Wire is covering the entire history of jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team.
And while those Supersonics jerseys may not remain part of the franchise history should a new team be established in Seattle as was the case with the return of the Charlotte Hornets, they are part of the Thunder’s history today.
For this article, we continue with the 31st jersey number in the series, jersey No. 31, with five players in total having donned the jersey in the history of the franchise.
The second of those players did so in the Seattle SuperSonics era, forward alum Derrick McKey. After ending his college career at Alabama, McKey was picked up with the ninth overall selection of the 1987 NBA draft by the SuperSonics.
The Meridian, Mississippi native would play the first six seasons of his pro career with Seattle, coming to an end when he was dealt to the Indiana Pacers in 1993.
During his time suiting up for the Sonics, McKey wore only jersey No. 31 and put up 13.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.2 steals per game.
All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.
The Brooklyn Nets have 52 jersey numbers worn by over 600 different players over the course of their history since the franchise was founded in 1967 as a charter member of the American Basketball Association (ABA), when the team was known as the “New Jersey Americans”.
Since then, that league has been absorbed by the NBA with the team that would later become the New York Nets and New Jersey Nets before settling on the name by which they are known today, bringing their rich player and jersey history with them to the league of today.
To commemorate the players who played for the Nets over the decades wearing those 52 different jersey numbers, Nets Wire is covering the entire history of the franchise’s jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team. The 17th of those 52 different numbers is jersey No. 15 which has has had a total of 14 players wear the number in the history of the team.
The ninth of those players wearing No. 15 played in the (then) New Jersey (now, Brooklyn) Nets era, guard alum Lester Conner. After ending his college career at Oregon State, Conner was picked up with the 14th overall selection of the 1982 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors.
The Memphis, Tennessee native also played for the Houston Rockets before he was dealt to New Jersey in 1988. His stay with the team would span parts of three seasons, coming to an end when he was dealt to the Milwaukee Bucks in 1991.
During his time suiting up for the Nets, wore only jersey No. 15 and put up 8.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 2.0 steals per game.
All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.
Nick Barrett didn’t qualify for the U.S. Open at Oakmont on Monday but he’s in contention for one of the bonehead moves of the year in golf.
Barrett, a 31-year-old UPS driver from Catonsville, Maryland, posted 73 in the first round at Woodmont Country Club, his final stage of qualifying, and then forgot to sign his scorecard in the allotted time. The result? Disqualification.
According to Monday Q Info’s Ryan French and the Baltimore Sun’sEdward Lee, Barrett didn’t remember to return his scorecard to the scorer’s tent until 20 minutes after finishing his round. By then, it was ruled too late.
Barrett accepted that he was responsible for the mistake.
“It’s really upsetting to go out like that because it wasn’t anything I did on the course or because I signed something wrong,” he said. “I just got caught up in the moment. That was my responsibility, and I just didn’t do it.”
“I was starting to feel a little bit more comfortable with my game,” he added. “I’m not saying I was going to go out there and shock the world, but I was feeling a lot better after playing the first round. It’s just a real shame that I couldn’t go back out there.”
Barrett previously reached the final qualifying stage for the U.S. Open in 2023 and advanced to the Round of 32 in the 2024 U.S. Mid-Amateur.
Barrett had advanced through local qualifying by shooting 68 on May 5.
“If people hear this, for me specifically, I can take this as a learning experience,” he said. “I’ve never had a problem with rules in the past, and it only takes one time for you to feel this way to never want to feel it again.”
The 2026 NFL draft is a little over one year away, and while Philadelphia likely won’t have a high first-round pick, they’ll dominate the board and should enter Day 1 with the most selections. The Eagles and 49ers made their Bryce Huff trade official on Monday night, with the defending Super Bowl champions landing a 2026 fifth-round pick, which could become a fourth-round pick if Huff is impactful in San Francisco.
Huff will be reunited with his former head coach, Robert Saleh, who is again the defensive coordinator with the 49ers and a huge reason the pass rusher logged 10 sacks in 2023.
With the trade now official, the Eagles are projected to have 13 picks in the 2026 draft. That’ll include their own 10 picks and three compensatory picks from their free agent losses in March.
Philadelphia has a bulging Super Bowl window, and they’ll have an advantage over their NFC East counterparts in amassing elite and versatile talent. Brandon Lee Gowton reports that while the Eagles will have 13 total picks as of June 2, the entire division (Commanders, Cowboys, Giants) will have a combined 18 draft picks.
This week, WWE stars will grab a possible career-changing victory.
Money in the Bank 2025 is on the horizon as one of WWE’s major premium live events features the famed titular matches. The men’s and women’s Money in the Bank matches each feature six competitors fighting it out to be the one to climb the ladder and retrieve the briefcase hanging above the ring. Secure it and the winner has a contract that can be used for a WWE championship opportunity at any point in the next year.
Qualifying matches have taken place in recent weeks, and the final spots in the men’s and women’s matches will be secured on Raw, six days away from Money in the Bank. Here’s who will have a chance to snag the coveted briefcase.
Money in the Bank 2025 men’s qualifiers
Solo Sikoa (defeated Jimmy Uso and Rey Fenix)
LA Knight (defeated Aleister Black and Shinsuke Nakamura)
Penta (defeated Chad Gable and Dragon Lee)
Seth Rollins (defeated Finn Balor and Sami Zayn)
Andrade (defeated Jacob Fatu and Carmelo Hayes)
TBD (CM Punk or El Grande Americano or AJ Styles)
Money in the Bank 2025 women’s qualifiers
Alexa Bliss (defeated Chelsea Green and Michin)
Roxanne Perez (defeated Natalya and Becky Lynch)
Rhea Ripley (defeated Kairi Sane and Zoey Stark)
Giulia (defeated Zelina Vega and Charlotte Flair)
Naomi (defeated Jade Cargill and Nia Jax)
Stephanie Vaquer (defeated Ivy Nile and Liv Morgan)
When is WWE Money in the Bank 2025?
Money in the Bank is Saturday, June 7 at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California at 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT).
WWE Money in the Bank 2025 match card
Match order TBD
Men’s Money in the Bank match (Solo Sikoa vs. LA Knight vs. Penta vs. Seth Rollins vs. Andrade vs. TBD)
Women’s Money in the Bank match (Alexa Bliss vs. Roxanne Perez vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Giulia vs. Naomi vs. Stephanie Vaquer)
John Cena and Logan Paul vs. Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso
Women’s Intercontinental Championship match: Lyra Valkyria (c) vs. Becky Lynch
Sean O’Malley is set to take on Merab Dvalishvili in a rematch on June 8, headlining UFC 316. The pair previously fought at UFC 308, where Dvalishvili won a dominant decision to become the bantamweight champion.
O’Malley is seeking revenge and is also looking to get his belt back. The theme of the fight is that it’s a striker vs grappler showdown.
‘Suga’ is known for his slick striking, and 12 of his 18 wins have come by knockout. Dvalishvili, meanwhile, is a pressure fighter and can tire his opponents out with his relentless action.
‘The Machine’ relied heavily on his grappling in their first fight and nullified O’Malley’s offerings.
Dvalishvili, though, is looking to switch up his gameplan ahead of the rematch and is looking to showcase his striking skills.
‘Suga’, however, thinks that’d be a bad idea for the current champion to try. Speaking to UFC Countdown, he said:
“It’s no secret, it’s striker vs. wrestler, it’s finisher vs. decisioner. His game plan is to get hold of me and hold me. My goal is to out there and put his lights out.”
He added, “This fight, he said I’m going to prove how crazy I am, I am going to box with him. If that’s his game plan, that would be stupid. I know I can put Merab’s lights out. UFC 316, I am going to finish Merab, the fact that he beat me and I go out and finish him makes it that much sweeter.”
The UFC 316 card has two title fights this weekend. Apart from O’Malley vs Dvalishvili, the women’s bantamweight title will be on the line.
Julianna Pena will take on Kayla Harrison. Kevin Gastelum will fight Joe Pyfer in a middleweight clash. Patchy Mix will make his UFC debut against Mario Bautista, and Vicente Luque vs Kevin Holland will conclude the main card.
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 2, 2025, where it first appeared.
Paige Bueckers is currently working through her rookie season with the Dallas Wings.
The former UConn Huskies star was drafted by the Wings with the No. 1 overall pick. After four years at UConn, Bueckers was set to make an immediate impact on the struggling WNBA team.
During her rookie season with the Wings, Bueckers suffered a head injury, keeping her sidelined and currently on concussion protocol.
As Bueckers works her way back into the lineup, looking to get clear from the WNBA’s protocol and return to action, she was involved in some big news outside of the white lines.
On Monday, Wings reporter Joey Mistretta revealed that Panini America is honoring Paige Bueckers with a basketball card.
The rookie card is available for a limited time, seemingly urging fans to make a move and purchase a piece of memorabilia from the Wings star.
Paige Bueckers recently returned to Connecticut, where she led the Dallas Wings to their first win of the season with 21 points. @PaniniAmerica is honoring Bueckers’ return with a basketball card. The card is available for a limited time.#WingsUppic.twitter.com/4NwAP34OnY
The “instant card” released by Panini America, “the world’s largest sports and entertainment collectibles company,” officially dropped after the Dallas Wings rookie scored 21 points in a 109-87 victory over the Connecticut Sun.
According to an official release, “The Panini Instant collection exists to commemorate milestones and achievements in real time, so fans don’t have to wait months (or even seasons) to capture their favorite moments.”
Throughout her rookie season with the Wings, Paige Bueckers has posted 14.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game.
As explained by Panini America, the card which will be available in limited time and limited quantity will range from $9.99 and up, depending on the type of product chosen by fans online.
The Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks will play a preseason exhibition game in Las Vegas.
This is a decision made not by the NBA, but by the two teams that completed one of the most controversial trades in sports history just months ago when the Mavericks dealt Luka Dončić to the Lakers.
Since that trade, the Lakers flamed out of the first round of the playoffs, and the Mavericks won the NBA Draft lottery. Dallas will presumably select Duke phenom Cooper Flagg, who will be immediately handed the torch that Dončić carried as the team’s franchise player and long-term hope for championship success.
Will Luka Dončić actually play in October’s Lakers-Mavericks exhibition in Las Vegas? (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Allen J. Schaben via Getty Images
Will Flagg, Dončić or both see the court in the game scheduled for Oct. 15 at T-Mobile Arena? Who knows?
But the Lakers and Mavericks seem content to cash in on the hype in a matchup that should garner considerably more attention than your average NBA preseason contest.
“Teams arrange their own schedules, pick their own opponents and have their own reasons for doing so. … There are few rules for the preseason. They don’t even play games if they don’t want to. The NBA doesn’t mandate a minimum number of games, just that teams can’t play more than six each year. The rest is up to the teams themselves.”
When will the Lakers and Mavericks play in a game that actually counts? That’s yet to be determined. The NBA schedule generally isn’t set until August. Until then, both teams will maintain their collective buzz amid the bright lights of the Las Vegas Strip.
The Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks will play a preseason exhibition game in Las Vegas.
This is a decision made not by the NBA, but by the two teams that completed one of the most controversial trades in sports history just months ago when the Mavericks dealt Luka Dončić to the Lakers.
Since that trade, the Lakers flamed out of the first round of the playoffs, and the Mavericks won the NBA Draft lottery. Dallas will presumably select Duke phenom Cooper Flagg, who will be immediately handed the torch that Dončić carried as the team’s franchise player and long-term hope for championship success.
Will Luka Dončić actually play in October’s Lakers-Mavericks exhibition in Las Vegas? (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Allen J. Schaben via Getty Images
Will Flagg, Dončić or both see the court in the game scheduled for Oct. 15 at T-Mobile Arena? Who knows?
But the Lakers and Mavericks seem content to cash in on the hype in a matchup that should garner considerably more attention than your average NBA preseason contest.
“Teams arrange their own schedules, pick their own opponents and have their own reasons for doing so. … There are few rules for the preseason. They don’t even play games if they don’t want to. The NBA doesn’t mandate a minimum number of games, just that teams can’t play more than six each year. The rest is up to the teams themselves.”
When will the Lakers and Mavericks play in a game that actually counts? That’s yet to be determined. The NBA schedule generally isn’t set until August. Until then, both teams will maintain their collective buzz amid the bright lights of the Las Vegas Strip.
By almost all previous accounts, ESPN has no plans to interfere with “Inside the NBA” when the iconic studio show transitions from TNT to its own networks next season.
But concerns linger that ESPN will do something to mess things up, specifically around the timing of the show. Will ESPN — a network that doesn’t do dedicated NBA postgame coverage — continue to allow “Inside the NBA” to run as usual after games?
Per a report on Monday, it will. Front Office Sports reported further details about the show’s move to ESPN’s networks starting in the 2025-26 season — most notably that “Inside the NBA” will be allowed “extensive” postgame run after games that air on ESPN networks, including its parent network, ABC.
From the report:
“There will be an extensive post-game show, say sources. ESPN’s goal is to let the post-game segment run as long as it does now on TNT.”
That’s cause for relief for the show’s loyal viewers, many of whom have watched some combination of Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal guide and entertain them after NBA games for decades. The show is appointment viewing for fans, even when the games that the show covers are not.
Despite that reassurance, there’s been legitimate reason for concern that ESPN won’t give “Inside the NBA” the runway that it’s enjoyed at TNT. ESPN’s track record with decisions around NBA studio content is dicey at best and a big reason that chairman Jimmy Pitaro outsourced it to “Inside the NBA” when he saw the chance.
“We have the same crew of people doing the show,” Smith said. “But the timing: Are we a half hour now? Are we forty-five minutes? Fifteen minutes?
“Those are the things that you can control when you own your I.P. But we don’t. That was the only part that made me uncomfortable and disheartened, because I felt that the four of us should have went into ABC to negotiate that deal. I’m not saying that our executives don’t know how to do that, but we are the I.P. now.”
Will unfiltered Charles Barkley run on ABC airwaves?
Podcaster and former ESPN writer and personality Bomani Jones floated concern about “Inside the NBA” running as a dedicated postgame show on Monday while raising another question: Is ESPN really going to let Charles Barkley speak unfiltered in postgame coverage over the traditional and inherently more conservative airwaves of ABC?
Will TNT’s ‘Inside the NBA’ hit the same on ESPN?
“If you’re not gonna do the Inside the NBA postgame show, you’re getting rid of the best part of it.” pic.twitter.com/yqIygZDPGt
— The Right Time with Bomani Jones (@righttimebomani) June 2, 2025
“My concern about taking ‘Inside’ to ESPN, ESPN historically has not done postgame shows,” Jones said in an edited clip from his show Monday morning. “If you’re not gonna do the ‘Inside the NBA’ postgame show, you’re getting rid of the best part.
“It doesn’t seem like it’ll be a gratifying experience. But they also can’t put that on ABC. That would be preposterous.”
What happens to SVP, other ESPN shows?
There’s also the subject ESPN’s existing coverage. ESPN has an established postgame routine that features one of its own strongest brands, “SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt.”
Is ESPN going to preempt Van Pelt in favor of an outsourced product? SVP’s show frequently features an immediate postgame interview with the star of the game, which is also the turf of “Inside the NBA.” Doing both shows at the same time on different ESPN networks doesn’t make much sense.
Then there’s ESPN’s much-maligned existing studio coverage that handles pregame and halftime coverage that’s also the turf of the “Inside the NBA” team.
ESPN previously announced that “NBA Countdown” and “NBA Today,” will continue to air in some form. So “Inside the NBA” isn’t fully replacing ESPN’s NBA studio coverage.
Reports continue to indicate that ESPN will not tinker with “Inside the NBA.” But the network has yet to provide details of its plans about how and when the show will air. (Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for TNT)
Michael Loccisano via Getty Images
How will these properties all co-exist?
The FOS report didn’t address specifics. And ESPN did not comment on how “Inside the NBA will be scheduled.” But thanks to its extensive collection of networks, ESPN does have options. If the game airs on ABC, ESPN would have the option of tossing postgame “Inside the NBA” coverage to ESPN.
Would it use a similar strategy to juggle “Inside the NBA” with SVP’s “SportsCenter”? Airing both in competing time slots on different ESPN networks seems equally preposterous. They’re both marquee, spotlight shows that demand access to postgame coverage from the arena.
It would appear to be a one or the other decision for ESPN, with Monday’s FOS report suggesting that “Inside the NBA” will have priority over SVP in whatever decision is made.
But again, ESPN has not confirmed scheduling specifics. It has confirmed in previous statements that “TNT Sports will continue to independently produce ‘Inside the NBA'” in addition to providing the following broader framework for when the show will air:
“The legendary ‘Inside the NBA’ studio team will appear on ESPN and ABC surrounding high-profile live events, including ESPN’s pregame, halftime and postgame coverage of the NBA Finals on ABC, conference finals, NBA playoffs, all ABC games after January 1, Christmas Day, opening week, the final week of the season and other marquee live events.”
Will ESPN’s established studio show be relegated to covering games that aren’t considered “marquee” or “high-profile?”
A lot of these questions remain unanswered, perhaps because ESPN hasn’t yet figured the details out. Until it does and we see “Inside the NBA” on ESPN’s networks, we won’t be fully sure what the merger will look like.
