June 2025

There were 1,837 posts published in June 2025 (this is page 181 of 184).

Giannis Antetokounmpo’s decision could hold up Durant trade, much of free agent market

With 28 NBA teams eliminated from competition, the eyes of many fans have already turned to free agency, the draft, and trades to upgrade their rosters. While the draft is still more than 3 weeks away and free agency a week later, that hasn’t slowed the NBA’s rumor mill, which is in full swing.

However, fans may need to be patient waiting for action.

That’s because Giannis Antetokounmpo is the first domino that must fall in free agency. He has yet to sit down with the front office (and likely ownership) in Milwaukee and come to an agreement on his future — whatever it might be — and all the other dominoes are on hold waiting for his move. It’s something Marc Stein wrote about in his latest Substack missive.

“The expectation persists that Durant will ultimately reach the trade market this offseason, but it might not happen until there is clarity on whether Giannis Antetokounmpo will be staying in Milwaukee or seeking a trade of his own.”

The logic here is simple: The teams that might be interested in trading for the 37-year-old next season Durant would much rather be in the mix for the 30-year-old in his prime Antetokounmpo. Those teams will keep their powder dry until Antetokounmpo makes his call, then they will pivot to Durant (or another direction).

Don’t be so sure Antetokounmpo is going to push his way out of Milwaukee. He probably does, but don’t be so sure it’s a lock.

If the primary goal is to win, he could push for a trade to a place like Houston or San Antonio, where he would instantly make the franchise a contender (and those teams have the players and picks to make an enticing trade). However, that moves Antetokounmpo to the stacked West. If he were hypothetically to join Houston, his Rocket team would have to beat 68-win powerhouse Oklahoma City (which is not yet up against the tax and will run it back), Nikola Jokic and a likely deeper Nuggets team, Luka Doncic and LeBron James (likely with a real center) in Los Angeles, Stephen Curry with Jimmy Butler for a full season in Golden State, a Timberwolves team with Anthony Edwards that has been to two straight Western Conference Finals and is improving, not to mention Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs, Ja Morant and the Grizzlies, James Harden and the Clippers, and on down the line.

Antetokounmpo might look at that landscape and decide he’d rather stay in the East, especially one where Boston is without Jayson Tatum for much of the season. However, wherever Antetokounmpo might be traded to in the East — Brooklyn, New York, Toronto, even Cleveland or any other team — the price coming back to Milwaukee would gut his new roster of a good supporting cast. He would essentially be in the situation he is now with the Bucks, an MVP-ballot level player surrounded by not enough to win.

If Milwaukee can sell Antetokounmpo on a two-year rebuilding plan, would he stick around? It’s a question only Antetokounmpo can answer, and it depends on what is ultimately most important to him.

Until he makes that call, the rest of the NBA trade market is on hold.

Knicks vs. Pacers: Tyrese Haliburton takes swipe at Ben Stiller after Indiana bounces New York from playoffs

Tyrese Haliburton got the win and the last word. 

Check back in 25 or 30 years to see if the barbs Haliburton and actor/director Ben Stiller exchanged during the Eastern Conference finals will have the enduring memory of the feud between Reggie Miller and Spike Lee. But in the culture of 2025, the Indiana Pacers star scored a strong final zinger against the New York Knicks superfan. 

Prior to Saturday’s Game 6 matchup, a clip of Haliburton arriving at the Pacers’ home arena of Gainbridge Fieldhouse circulated online. The two-time All-Star cut an imposing figure walking down a corridor dressed all in black, referencing the Knicks doing the same before last year’s Game 6 playoff matchup. 

But in response to the video, Stiller focused on the duffel bag Haliburton was carrying. 

“Good thing he brought his duffel for the flight to NY,” Stiller quipped.

It was a good line from Stiller, implying the Knicks would win Game 6 and send the series back to Madison Square Garden for a decisive Game 7. But it rang hollow approximately six hours later when the Pacers won, 125-108, and eliminated New York from the NBA playoffs. 

After scoring 21 points with 13 assists, Haliburton responded while celebrating Indiana’s victory.

“Nah, was to pack y’all up,” he replied, following up an on-court win with a social-media win. 

Stiller showed he was a good sport and no hard feelings lingered, wishing Haiburton and the Pacers well in their NBA Finals matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder. 

“Congrats,” he said. “All the best in OKC.”

So will Haliburton start trading digs with any celebrity Thunder fans during the NBA Finals? Maybe with legendary WWE broadcaster Jim Ross? Is “Saturday Night Live” alum and “Barry” star Bill Hader on social media? Would sniping back and forth with actor James Marsden bring the same juice?

Perhaps an opponent will rise once the NBA Finals begin on Thursday.

Knicks vs. Pacers: Tyrese Haliburton takes swipe at Ben Stiller after Indiana bounces New York from playoffs

Tyrese Haliburton got the win and the last word. 

Check back in 25 or 30 years to see if the barbs Haliburton and actor/director Ben Stiller exchanged during the Eastern Conference finals will have the enduring memory of the feud between Reggie Miller and Spike Lee. But in the culture of 2025, the Indiana Pacers star scored a strong final zinger against the New York Knicks superfan. 

Prior to Saturday’s Game 6 matchup, a clip of Haliburton arriving at the Pacers’ home arena of Gainbridge Fieldhouse circulated online. The two-time All-Star cut an imposing figure walking down a corridor dressed all in black, referencing the Knicks doing the same before last year’s Game 6 playoff matchup. 

But in response to the video, Stiller focused on the duffel bag Haliburton was carrying. 

“Good thing he brought his duffel for the flight to NY,” Stiller quipped.

It was a good line from Stiller, implying the Knicks would win Game 6 and send the series back to Madison Square Garden for a decisive Game 7. But it rang hollow approximately six hours later when the Pacers won, 125-108, and eliminated New York from the NBA playoffs. 

After scoring 21 points with 13 assists, Haliburton responded while celebrating Indiana’s victory.

“Nah, was to pack y’all up,” he replied, following up an on-court win with a social-media win. 

Stiller showed he was a good sport and no hard feelings lingered, wishing Haiburton and the Pacers well in their NBA Finals matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder. 

“Congrats,” he said. “All the best in OKC.”

So will Haliburton start trading digs with any celebrity Thunder fans during the NBA Finals? Maybe with legendary WWE broadcaster Jim Ross? Is “Saturday Night Live” alum and “Barry” star Bill Hader on social media? Would sniping back and forth with actor James Marsden bring the same juice?

Perhaps an opponent will rise once the NBA Finals begin on Thursday.

Baseball: Detroit Tigers sweep San Francisco Giants, making their fourth win in a row

Sunday, June 1, 2025

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On Wednesday, May 28, in Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan, USA, during 2025 Major League Baseball season the Detroit Tigers swept the San Francisco Giants making their fourth win in a row. Detroit won 4-3 now having the best Major League Baseball record with 37 wins and 20 losses. A rookie right-handed pitcher, Jackson Jobe got the start for the Tigers.

Justyn-Henry Malloy hit a single to lead the Tigers in the fifth inning for a four run margin to push the Detroit Tigers over to beat the Giants. Detroit made all of its hitting in the fifth inning with help from Colt Keith‘s double for two runs and Malloy’s two outs, single for two runs.

Colt Keith hit off of right handed starting pitcher, Landen Roupp, and Justyn-Henry Malloy hit off of the right handed relieving pitcher, Randy Rodríguez. Pitcher, Brenan Hanifee with a win loss record of 3-2 let one hit get by and sent one batter striking out in one inning. Pitcher, Tommy Kahnle had his seventh save after not allowing two runners that he had in the eighth inning with no outs and pitched a perfect ninth inning.


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Man starts car collision at Liverpool FC trophy parade

Sunday, June 1, 2025

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Image: DannyDouble.

On Monday, May 26, just after 6pm local time, in Liverpool, England, a motorist, allegedly a 53-year-old man local to the area, drove their Ford Galaxy car into pedestrians at the Liverpool FC trophy parade where hundreds of thousands of people celebrated the Liverpool FC winning the English Premier League football championship. Dave Kitchin from the Northwest Ambulance Service stated that three adults and one child were trapped under the vehicle, and numerous others were injured: altogether, twenty people were treated for minor injuries, and twenty seven had to be taken to the local hospitals, with a few more patients going to the hospitals by themselves. The alleged driver of the car, a white British man, was arrested shortly after the incident; on Thursday, May 29, he, Paul Desmond Sanders Doyle, 53 year old, of Burghill Road, West Derby, has been charged with dangerous driving as well as multiple counts of intending to cause, or wounding with intent to cause, or causing, grievous bodily harm.

“We were contacted at just after 6pm today, Monday 26 May, following reports a car had been in collision with a number of pedestrians on Water Street”, Merseyside Police said on Monday. “The car stopped at the scene and a male has been detained. Emergency services are currently on the scene.” Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims clarified on Tuesday “It is believed the driver of the Ford Galaxy car involved in the incident was able follow an ambulance onto Water Street, after the road block was temporarily lifted so that the ambulance crew could attend to a member of the public who was having a suspected heart attack”.

On Thursday, Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims provided an update on the incident “A total of 79 people who were injured continue to be in contact with our officers and staff, and seven people remain in hospital, receiving the expert care of our NHS colleagues. … I would encourage anyone who has not yet contacted police who may have relevant information to please come forward and contact us. Information, including video footage, can be passed to us via the Major Incident Police Portal As always, my thoughts remain with victims and everyone impacted.” Sarah Hammond, Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS Mersey-Cheshire: “The investigation is at an early stage. Prosecutors and police are continuing to work at pace to review a huge volume of evidence. … Please allow the legal process to take its course without undue speculation.”

United Kingdom‘s Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the incident was “shocking.” Liverpool FC is helping with the police about the incident, which happened toward the ending of the parade.





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How NBA’s conference finals were full of Warriors’ 2020 draft ties

How NBA’s conference finals were full of Warriors’ 2020 draft ties originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The 2025 NBA Finals have been set, with the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder representing the Western Conference, and the No. 4 seed Indiana Pacers coming out of the Eastern Conference. Each team took different paths to get here. 

The Thunder made their first Finals appearance since a young Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden led them there in 2012. The Pacers’ run has been 25 years in the making, last getting this far in 2000 behind the duo of Reggie Miller and Jalen Rose. To do so, Indiana and Oklahoma City had to get through a conference finals with a whole ton of ties to the 2020 NBA Draft, one in which the Warriors can’t escape, five years later. 

It all starts with the team the Thunder took down in five games. The Minnesota Timberwolves won just 19 games in the 2019-20 season, two seasons after being the No. 8 seed under Tom Thibodeau behind a trio of Jimmy Butler, Andrew Wiggins (hey, more Warriors ties!) and Karl-Anthony Towns. Minnesota with the top pick in the draft made Anthony Edwards its new face of the franchise, and Ant-Man already has become one of the faces of the entire NBA at 23 years old. 

Edwards is a dog whose bite matches his bark, a bona fide superstar who backs up his words. Part of that he credits to Warriors coach Steve Kerr for the way he pushed him in his pre-draft workout when Golden State was selecting one spot behind Minnesota. Kerr knew Edwards wanted to soon enough be mentioned with the greats like Steph Curry and Kevin Durant, but how he attacked his workout was nothing compared to those two. The taste of defeat in the conference finals for a second straight year will sit with Edwards for the time being, though the Timberwolves obviously already have gotten everything a franchise hopes for in having the No. 1 pick. 

In technical terms, the Timberwolves made two more picks five years ago, taking Aleksej Pokusevski (No. 17) and Daniel Oturu (No. 33). Neither ever wore a Timberwolves jersey. Pokusevski was traded to the Thunder, and Oturu was sent to the LA Clippers. 

They did bring in one more player, Leandro Bolmaro, with the No. 23 pick as part of a three-team trade, but this point is all about what happened five picks later. The Los Angeles Lakers originally drafted Jaden McDaniels, but in the same three-team trade that involved Pokusevski and Bolmaro, the Timberwolves traded for McDaniels from the Thunder. 

Like that, the Timberwolves added two players in the 2020 draft who are starters on a team that made back-to-back conference finals, one who is an All-NBA player and another who is an All-Defensive player. Yet they still aren’t the winners of the draft five years ago when it comes to these conference finals. 

Their victors, the Thunder, have owned a wealth of draft picks that go deeper than Cat Stevens’ first cut. It’s not like OKC crushed this draft on its road back to the Finals. 

The Great Poku Experiment brought social media buzz and not much else. They first had the No. 25 pick, Immanuel Quickley, that was sent to the New York Knicks, and also in a sense had the McDaniels pick on paper. The Thunder acquired two players in the second round, and those selections didn’t amount to any results. 

Then there’s the No. 49 pick. The team was the Philadelphia 76ers, and the player they landed on was Isaiah Joe. But his time in Philly was only two seasons for a total of 96 games, averaging 3.7 points with a 34.9 3-point percentage. The 76ers waived him on Oct. 13, 2022. The Thunder then signed him three days later for a total of $6 million over three seasons. 

Joe last July signed a four-year, $48 million deal as a key cog in the Thunder’s machine. They developed a 6-foot-5 guard into someone who has shot 42.3 percent on threes for them the last three seasons and averaged a career-high 10.2 points per game. The Warriors were on the clock one spot ahead of Joe being selected by the Sixers. 

Golden State grabbed point guard Nico Mannion, who played one season in a Warriors jersey and has spent his time playing in Italy since his rookie year. Just three picks after taking Mannion, the Warriors went with a shooter who was a project everywhere else in Justinian Jessup, and he’s still yet to play an NBA game. 

Back in the Eastern Conference, the Knicks have only one player on their roster drafted in 2020. Precious Achiuwa originally was drafted by the Miami Heat 20th overall, traded to the Toronto Raptors one year later, and then wound up in New York as part of a deal that saw the Knicks send Quickley up north. 

But the Knicks, as they somehow always do whether they’re good or bad, will find their way back into this story. 

This year’s conference finals featured the NBA MVP (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) and the two best players from the 2020 draft. The top dog from the draft is Edwards, however, Tyrese Haliburton has made his case. 

Haliburton wasn’t a top three, five or 10 pick in the draft. He barely remained in the lottery before being taken by the Sacramento Kings at No. 12. While he was more than one team’s loss, including the Kings after trading him to the Pacers in a package highlighted by Domantas Sabonis, Haliburton would have been the perfect Warrior. 

And he isn’t the Pacers’ lone win, looking back at a bizarre draft. 

Now it’s time for the Knicks to re-enter the conversation. Thoughts of Obi Toppin hammering home East Bay Dunks at Madison Square Garden didn’t translate to stardom. He started only 15 games and averaged 7.0 points in three seasons with the Knicks after being drafted No. 8 overall, but Toppin now has settled into his own the past two seasons as a Pacer, scoring 20 points in a critical Game 4 against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round. 

Aaron Nesmith tallied 16 minutes for the Boston Celtics against the Warriors in the 2022 Finals, with the majority coming in garbage time of a Game 2 blowout loss for Boston. He was an afterthought when that next offseason, the Celtics traded him to the Pacers for one season of Malcolm Brogdon. Yes, Brogdon won Sixth Man of the Year for the Celtics that season, but has played 63 games between two teams since.

Meanwhile, Nesmith, the No. 14 pick in the 2020 draft, has turned into the Pacers’ starting small forward, giving them three players from the lottery of five years ago. The Timberwolves’ duo of Edwards and McDaniels is hard to beat. The Pacers came out of the 2020 draft with only Cassius Stanley (No. 54 overall), and now have a trio of Haliburton, Toppin and Nesmith that made two straight conference finals before the franchise’s first trip to the Finals in 25 years, giving them an edge that’s hard to argue against. 

Everything is circular. There’s only one way for all this to end, bringing it back to the Warriors. 

The story has been told enough: The Warriors chose James Wiseman at No. 2 overall, and let’s just say it didn’t work out. The Wiseman era was interrupted by injuries, sure. The Warriors won a championship without him, and the results spoke for themselves when he did play. 

Wiseman was traded to the Detroit Pistons the next season and spent all of last year there. He played a career-high 63 games in 2023-24, but then was looking for his third team while still 23 years old at the time. The Pacers inked him at the opening of free agency, and Wiseman lasted one game on his newest team – to no fault of his own. 

Another injury wiped out another full season. Wiseman scored six points in the first quarter of the Pacers’ season opener, and then … snap! Wiseman slowly collapsed to center court in Detroit after missing a three. He tore his Achilles, ending his season, and the Pacers traded him to the Raptors at this season’s deadline in exchange for a trade exception. 

After all that, Wiseman has a chance to technically be the one and only two-time champion from the Class of 2020 in seasons he played a combined four minutes and 28 seconds. For all that he’s endured, Wiseman deserves the good fortune of a possible Pacers championship and a second ring to wear if they win and choose to award him one.

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