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<\/a>The Champion Thunder. Photo by Karen Salkin, as is the one above.<\/p><\/div>\n
But basketball is actually still pretty relevant right now because the Summer League just began, so everyone can get good glimpses of the upcoming rookies I\u2019m going to tell you about.<\/p>\n
First, one general observation, which I really appreciated. And that is that the broadcasts of both the NBA play-offs and Draft, (and actually the tennis, as well,) featured great music! It made me move at least a little<\/em> bit in the midst of all my couch potato-ing.<\/p>\n NBA CHAMPIONSHIP<\/strong><\/p>\n Even though I really wanted the Finals to be contested between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Denver Nuggets, I also thought it would be the most fair for the Oklahoma City Thunder to win the Championship because they were far and away the best team all year. So I was fine with that outcome.<\/p>\n The Pacers surrounding Haliburton when he went down with his tragic injury. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n And even though I was happy that they beat the Indiana Pacers, I\u2019m still sick for the Pacers\u2019 main star, Tyrese Haliburton<\/strong>, who tore his achilles tendon during the very last game of the play-offs. It was devastating. Probably still is because that particular injury usually takes at least a year from which to fully recover. How incredibly sad. And it\u2019s not just Tyrese who suffered that tear in the play-offs. Bucks\u2019 star Damian Lillard<\/strong> and Celtics\u2019 main dude Jayson Tatum<\/strong> did, too. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a way to prevent it from happening time and time again, though\u2014I think it\u2019s just the luck of the draw. But it\u2019s definitely something for the NBA medical staff to look into.<\/p>\n And by the way, I\u2019m impressed with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, (more easily, for people in sportscasting, referred to as \u201cSGA.\u201d) He won both the Finals<\/em> MVP and the overall season<\/em> MVP titles, plus he led the league in scoring this year! And he did it all so peacefully! I\u2019ve always been aware<\/em> of him, but barely ever even heard mentions of him in the sextet of years he\u2019s been in the NBA!<\/p>\n NBA DRAFT<\/strong><\/p>\n This headline of the 2025 NBA Draft for me is that this seems to be the nicest group of guys ever! Mr. X, who usually doesn\u2019t watch the Draft with me, but did this time, even noted that, as well. And the mind-boggling thing about it all is that most of these guys are basically still kids! (Seriously\u2014the majority are still in their teens!)<\/p>\n ESPN sports analyst Brian Windhorst<\/strong> said, \u201cFor every team that is rising in the NBA, one must be falling.\u201d And that\u2019s basically how the Draft works\u2014the lower teams each season get to draft the most promising new guys, so over time, there\u2019s a shift in who\u2019s at the top.<\/p>\n This is how it all unfolded over those two nights, including some of my random thoughts as they came up:<\/p>\n Luka Doncic good-naturedly showing his phone that he broke when he smashed it upon learning that he was traded from his beloved Dallas Mavericks. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n I hate Dallas Mavericks G.M., Nico Harrison<\/strong>, for trading their star, my beautiful Luka Doncic<\/strong>, to the Lakers in the middle of the year. He even idiotically said later, \u201cI did know that Luka was important to the fan base; I didn\u2019t quite know to what level.\u201d How does Nico still have a job?! But it was most likely saved by that team winning the Draft Lottery, which means they won the prize that is Duke\u2019s Cooper Flagg<\/strong> with the #1 pick.<\/p>\n I\u2019m so confused by who some of the family members were! I wound-up hours behind on the action because I had to keep looking everyone up on the internet, mainly to see if some of the women in attendance were mothers or girlfriends!<\/p>\n #3 pick VJ Edgecombe<\/strong> is darling\u2014still a teen, he had already<\/em> set-up scholarships for kids in his native Bahamas! So of course<\/em> I love him. He also appeared to have the most grateful family, with his older brother seeming to be one of the two the happiest-for-their-bro siblings. (The next day, he said of his humble beginnings, \u201cI won\u2019t take anything for granted\u2014every penny counts, every second on earth counts.\u201d That\u2019s a lesson for all<\/em> of us!)<\/p>\n Ace Bailey<\/strong> and his dad were adorable together.<\/p>\n When Stephen A. Smith<\/strong> was going on and on, (all night, actually,) about how happy he was when Jeremiah Fears<\/strong> was drafted, fellow analyst Bob Myers<\/strong> said, \u201cOkay, we got it; we\u2019re well aware of how you feel.\u201d<\/p>\n Collin Murray-Boyles and Chloe Kitts, (with a cameo from his grandma on the bottom left.) Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n Collin Murray-Boyles<\/strong> has a gorgeous *girlfriend! And it\u2019s cute that he hugged his grandma before her. He\u2019s also now the most grateful. *[Note: I found-out later that she\u2019s<\/em> more famous and feted than he<\/em> is! She\u2019s Chloe Kitts<\/strong>, a gold medal-winning college basketball player herself. Since I don\u2019t follow women\u2019s hoops, I had no idea of anything about her many accomplishments.]<\/p>\n The only one crying more than I<\/em> was when Khaman Maluach<\/strong> was drafted #10 was Khaman himself. I love that he and Cooper Flagg are best friends, meeting for the past year at Duke. What a thing for them to share this life-changing experience. I\u2019m shocked by just how darling he is. He\u2019s eighteen and he hadn\u2019t seen his mother since he was twelve!<\/p>\n Khaman Maluach upon hearing his name called when he was drafted. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n Derik Queen<\/strong> must have lost thirty pounds since April!<\/p>\n Carter Bryant<\/strong> is the absolute sweetest.<\/p>\n Thomas Sorber<\/strong> was crying like a baby to have done this for his mother, who raised him and his bro from when he was six and his father died from cancer. He said, \u201cI did this for you, Ma. Just know you might not have to work another day in your life.\u201d<\/p>\n Frenchman Joan Beringer<\/strong>, another very sweet guy, just started playing basketball\u2026three years ago!!! And even that is only because\u2026his feet grew too big for his soccer shoes! So he had to switch sports to accommodate his tootsies! And now he was drafted #17.<\/p>\n Danny Wolf’s brother when Danny got chosen. The image of the 2025 Draft! Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n I can say this because they\u2019re members of my tribe: With picks #25 and #26, the Brooklyn Nets took 2 Jewish guys! And they both played for Israel at one point. That\u2019s all so perfect for my hometown. I\u2019m glad that Ben Saraf<\/strong> and Danny Wolf <\/strong>will have each other in the tough world of sports. (Danny\u2019s brother crying for him is actually the best image of the entire draft!)<\/p>\n After pick #30, the Draft moved on to the next night, for only the second year, for Round 2. Last year, they did it all in some very light conference room someplace, which made the guys who were drafted then have a much lesser draft experience, once that basically sucked. So I was absolutely thrilled that they let the second round guys have the same experience at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn that their higher-ranked bros had. They must have read my rant last year, and realized the error of their ways!<\/p>\n Rasheed Fleming<\/strong> appears to be a really nice guy. And what a gorgeous voice he has!<\/p>\n It always boggles my mind that, with sixty new guys being drafted each year, that means that the same number of current<\/em> players need to be axed! How does that work? They never even get mentioned again.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>