But throwing ridiculous money at aging superstars who’ve postponed retirement for nine-figure per-year paychecks can only earn the league so much credibility. To gain real cred, they need the best players now, not the best players of a decade ago. So they set their sights on Victor Wembanyama, who since being drafted No. 1 overall in 2023 has won three NBA MVPs, two titles and emerged as the most popular player in the world.

‌Their pitch: 5 years, $2 billion, or about $1.5 billion more than the NBA’s supermax contract allows… All of this is a massive hypothetical, of course, but it’s not unrealistic,” said Hart in an interesting column.

BACK to REALITY: As we know and have seen from the inner workings and past history of LIV Golf Tour, that’s NOT the way to get it done.

What is the way for Saudi Arabia to make a mark on the basketball world?

Here’s some free advice, as the end game is building awareness and participation in the sport by men, women, boys and girls:

1. Begin working with Euroleague Basketball to form both coaching clinics and player clinics, much like the way the NBA proved highly effective with the NBA Coaches World Tour in the early ‘90s and then with Basketball without Borders, beginning in 2001. (To refresh memories, the Nba sent the likes of the late, great Dr. Jack Ramsay, and former players like Bill Walton, Calvin Murphy and dozens of others to events which coincided with a local basketball championship or tournament which attracted hundreds of youth and pro coaches).
2. Sponsor global basketball events much like the way Turkish Airlines sponsors the EuroLeague and sponsored and advertised at the 2002 FIBA Worlds in Indianapolis.
3. Participate in existing regional (Middle East and Asia Region) tournaments at youth and senior levels. Potentially host a regional tournament or eventually a qualification tournament
4. Invest in and build a state of the art facility – designed with perfection to play in and host major basketball tournaments and other sporting events. As we know, an Arena can act like a giant Town Hall to modernize an entire segment of a city.
5. Potentially include the Sports Facility in Neom, a futuristic international economic center – already visualized – and being constructed in the temperate Northwest of Saudi Arabia.
6. Host the NBA/FIBA “Basketball without Borders” event to make a statement about Saudi Arabia-Europe-Middle-East-Israel-Asia-Africa investments and better diplomatic and business relations.
7. Eventually bid for and host EuroLeague regular season games, NBA preseason and a Euro Final Four or Regional Olympic or Worlds qualifying tournament.
8. Continue to train local players and pro teams to improve towards world class level of play, seeking the “next” version of Yao Ming, Hakeem Olajuwon, Dirk Nowitzki, Manu Ginobili or Tony Parker.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: In case you didn’t notice, the Boston Red Sox have won a season-high eight consecutive games, MLB’s longest active winning streak. The Sox are on their longest winning streak since 6/25-7/2/21 (8 games). … The Red Sox (20-14, .588) own the 5th-best record in MLB. … The Red Sox are 16-6 in their last 22 games, dating back to April 14. Only the AL East’s Baltimore Orioles are better in that span. … After concluding their set with the Philadelphia Phillies (which coincides with Boston vs Philly in the NBA Eastern Semis), the Sox will be 8-3 in series play and 6-1 in their last seven series. … Reliever/closer Kenley Jansen last night recorded his 399th career save, recently surpassing Craig Kimbrel for most among active pitchers and 7th most in MLB history. … The Red Sox have two rookies with active on-base streaks of 15+ games (Triston Casas and Yoshida) … It’s just the 2nd time in club history the Red Sox have concurrent on-base streaks of 15+ games by rookies with the other being Jacoby Ellsbury (26 games) and Dustin Pedroia (19) in 2007 (source: Elias). … Triston Casas’ 17 game on-base streak is the 2nd longest in the AL, trailing only Houston’s Yordan Alvarez (26). … Both Casas and Yoshida earned a day off yesterday when the Sox defeated the Phils, 7-4.

Speaking of Phils or maybe Two Phil’s – Mage, a 15-1 mid-to-long shot, crossed the finish line to win the 149th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on Saturday. Mage overtook Two Phil’s down the stretch to win the first leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown. For the effort, Mage was able to dip the aching hooves in Palmolive. … Humans were rewarded, too, as those with winning betting slips earned some hefty returns. … Mage paid $32.42, $14.58 and $9.08. Two Phil’s returned $10.44 and $6.52 at 9-1 odds. Angel of Empire paid $4.70 to show. … A $2 exacta paid $330.44 and a Superfecta paid $15,643.65 for a $1 bet.

TIDBITS: Our friends at Sportico recently posted the 20 most valuable soccer clubs. Here’s the Top 5 – (you’ll have to subscribe to Sportico for the other 15).

Top 5 Most Valuable Soccer Clubs (according to Sportico) (in billions)

1. Manchester United – $5.95b
2. Real Madrid – $5.23b
3. FC Barcelona – $4.95b
4. Liverpool – $4.71b
5. Bayern Munich – $4.46b

In terms of the USA-based Major League Soccer (MLS), the Los Angeles FC rated as No. 16 with a value of $900m. The LA Galaxy weren’t far behind with a value of $865.

On the latest Sports Business Journal’s SBJ Live, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert told SBJ’s Austin Karp that expansion is a high priority and the league has narrowed a list of a hundred potential cities “down to 20 or so.” … That’s 100 cities – as in one hundred – vying for a WNBA franchise! … By comparison, as my mind recalls, the most the NBA saw was about a dozen legitimate requests in 1986 when the league began expansion planning to what would become four additional franchises: Charlotte, Miami, Minnesota and Orlando.

TO RICK PITINO: “Bronny James ain’t coming through that door!” … LeBron James’ heralded son, Bronny, made public his plans to attend USC and wrote a letter of intent. … Aunt Becky (Lori Loughlin) was not involved in the decision nor transaction. … A Rick Pitino signing of Bronny to headline St. John’s at Madison Square Garden would’ve earned the troubled coach his stripes on his new and latest gig.

TL