Celtics guard-forward Jaylen Brown undergoes knee surgery

Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown a few days ago underwent a successful right knee arthroscopic debridement procedure. The team says he is expected to participate in training camp without limitation.

Per the Boston Globe, “a league source said that the procedure was done to alleviate pain in the partially torn meniscus that slowed Brown during the final few months of the season. A debridement procedure is a minimally invasive surgery in which the damaged part of the meniscus is trimmed or smoothed, with a shorter recovery time than a full repair.”

Per the Boston Herald, “the four-time All-Star suffered his injury before the NBA All-Star break in February and dealt with knee issues through the playoffs. The team announced the injury as a bone bruise and posterior impingement, and it later was revealed that Brown also was playing through a partially torn meniscus. He received pain management injections before the postseason, which head coach Joe Mazzulla described as “part of the rehab process for him to get back to be his absolute best.”

Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski undergoes surgery

Golden State Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski underwent successful surgery yesterday to repair a core muscle injury. He is expected to make a full recovery and be ready for the start of training camp. Podziemski previously underwent successful left wrist debridement surgery on May 27.

Podziemski, 22, scored a career-high 11.7 points to go with 5.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.1 steals in 26.8 minutes over 64 games (33 starts) for the Warriors in 2024-25. The second-year guard tallied averages of 11.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.3 steals in 32.1 minutes over 12 postseason games (11 starts).

Trail Blazers hire Tiago Splitter, Patrick St. Andrews and Quinton Crawford as assistant coaches

The Portland Trail Blazers have named Tiago Splitter, Patrick St. Andrews and Quinton Crawford as assistant coaches on Head Coach Chauncey Billups’ staff.

In addition, Leron Black has been hired as a player development coach. Black has served as an assistant coach and director of video for the Rip City Remix, NBA G League affiliate for Portland, since the 2023-24 season.

Splitter joins the Trail Blazers after leading Paris Basketball Club to a French Basketball Cup championship and into the EuroLeague Playoffs as head coach for the 2024-25 season. Prior to taking the helm of Paris Basketball, Splitter served as an assistant coach for the Houston Rockets during the 2023-24 season and spent the five seasons prior with the Brooklyn Nets—serving as an assistant coach from 2019-23 and as a pro scout with added responsibilities related to on-court development during the 2018-19 season.

A seven-year NBA veteran, Splitter joined the San Antonio Spurs during the 2010-11 season after being drafted by the franchise with the 28th overall pick in the first round of the 2007 NBA Draft. The native of Brazil played five seasons in San Antonio—helping the Spurs win an NBA championship in 2014—before finishing his NBA playing career in Atlanta (2015-16) and Philadelphia (2016-17). Splitter also boasts a storied 11-year international playing career—primarily competing in Spain for Baskonia (2000-10). He helped lead the team to numerous titles while earning All-EuroLeague honors on three occasions. As a member of the Brazilian national team, Splitter won gold medals in the FIBA AmeriCup, the Pan American Games and the South American Championships. Splitter also has national team coaching experience, most recently as head coach of his native Brazil’s gold medal under-23 men’s team in 2022.

St. Andrews most recently served as an assistant coach with the Memphis Grizzlies for the last two seasons (2023-25). Prior to his two seasons with the Grizzlies, St. Andrews spent five seasons (2018-23) with the Milwaukee Bucks—serving as a member of the Bucks’ 2021 NBA Championship coaching staff that led the team to the best regular season record in the NBA. A native of State College, Pennsylvania, St. Andrews earned his first assistant coaching role with the Atlanta Hawks in 2017 after first joining the organization in 2013 as a seasonal assistant. In 2014, St. Andrews was promoted to Atlanta’s assistant video coordinator position before being elevated to head video coordinator in 2016 and then to assistant coach in 2017.

Crawford comes to Portland after leading the Stockton Kings to the 2025 NBA G League Championship as head coach in his first season at the helm. Prior to joining the Kings, Crawford spent the 2023-24 season as an assistant coach with the Phoenix Suns, the 2022-23 season as an assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks, and three seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers from 2019-2022—including one as a member of the Lakers’ 2020 NBA championship coaching staff. Before joining the Lakers, Crawford served as the head video coordinator and player development coach with the Charlotte Hornets (2018-19). Previously, Crawford worked for the Orlando Magic, serving as head video coordinator with a role in player development in 2017-18 after spending the 2016-17 season as an assistant video coordinator. Crawford began his professional career as an assistant video coordinator with the Sacramento Kings during the 2015-16 season.

Mavericks and Pistons to play NBA Mexico City Game 2025 in November

The NBA Mexico City Game 2025 will feature the Dallas Mavericks and the Detroit Pistons playing a regular-season game at the Arena CDMX in Mexico City on Saturday, November 1.

The matchup will mark the league’s 34th game in Mexico since 1992 – more than any country outside of the U.S. and Canada – and coincide with traditional “Día de Muertos” (Day of the Dead) celebrations locally for the second consecutive year. The “Dia de Muertos” theme will be showcased through a variety of in-arena activations during the game, including a specially themed basketball court and several fan engagement initiatives.

The Mavericks, who will be playing their eighth game in Mexico, currently feature 10-time NBA All-Star Anthony Davis, nine-time All-Star Kyrie Irving and four-time NBA champion Klay Thompson and hold the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.

The Pistons, who will be making their third appearance in Mexico, completed one of the largest year-over-year turnarounds in NBA history last season and made the NBA Playoffs for the first time since 2016. They are led by 2025 NBA All-Star and All-NBA Third Team member Cade Cunningham and a young core of standouts that include Jalen Duren, Jaden Ivey, Ausar Thompson and Isaiah Stewart.

Referees who will officiate the 2025 NBA Finals

The NBA has announced the list of game officials assigned to the 2025 NBA Finals.

The championship series between the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder tips off on Thursday, June 5 at 8:30 p.m. ET in OKC, televised on ABC.

“We are grateful for these 12 individuals and their dedication to serving the game at the highest levels throughout the season,” said Byron Spruell, NBA President, League Operations. “Being selected to work the NBA Finals is the top honor as an NBA official, and I congratulate this exceptional group on a worthy achievement.”

NBA Finals officials were selected based on their overall performance throughout the first three rounds of the playoffs. Officials were evaluated by the NBA Referee Operations management team after each round to determine advancement in this year’s postseason.

The referees assigned to the 2025 NBA Finals are:

Tony Brothers (14th Finals)

David Guthrie (8th Finals)

James Capers (13th Finals)

Ben Taylor (1st Finals)

Marc Davis (14th Finals)

Josh Tiven (6th Finals)

Tyler Ford (1st Finals)

James Williams (5th Finals)

Scott Foster (18th Finals)

Sean Wright (2nd Finals)

John Goble (9th Finals)

Zach Zarba (12th Finals)

Knicks fire head coach Tom Thibodeau

The New York Knicks have relieved head coach Tom Thibodeau of his duties.

“Our organization is singularly focused on winning a championship for our fans. This pursuit led us to the difficult decision to inform Tom Thibodeau that we’ve decided to move in another direction,” said Knicks President Leon Rose. “We can’t thank Tom enough for pouring his heart and soul into each and every day of being the New York Knicks head coach. He led us not only with class and professionalism for the past five seasons, but also to tremendous success on the court with four playoff berths and four playoff series victories. Ultimately, we made the decision we feel is best for our organization moving forward. Tom will always be a part of our Knicks family and we truly wish him nothing but the best in the future.”

Via the NY Post:

Thibodeau, after all, set a high bar in his five seasons. He took over a franchise in the dumps in 2020 and guided it to four postseasons with four series victories, including the high-water mark just last month by besting the Celtics.

But as it happened previously in Minnesota and Chicago for Thibs — who was fired from those spots despite solid basketball results — relationship and communication issues surfaced.

Part of what makes Thibodeau a great coach also turns him into a grating boss — it’s his unyielding commitment to the job, and without much compassion for emotions outside of it, plus an unwavering belief that he’s correct.

There’s also less give-and-take with Thibodeau, who isn’t known as a collaborative coach.

That can turn off the new-age player and, according to sources, multiple Knicks were frustrated with the coach.

Via the NY Daily News:

Under Thibodeau, the Knicks reestablished a winning culture, snapped a seven-year playoff drought, and made back-to-back second-round appearances before breaking through to the conference finals for the first time since 2000.

But the front office gave Thibodeau weapons he failed to maximize — assets that cost five first-round picks (Mikal Bridges) and two core rotation players (Karl-Anthony Towns) — only for a healthier, upgraded version of last year’s team to once again fall to the same Pacers.

Now, the Knicks are searching for a head coach who can better elevate the talent at hand — though roster changes are all but inevitable in what’s already shaping up to be one of the most active NBA offseasons in recent memory.

Whoever takes over next will need a sharper vision for how this Knicks offense should function.

Utah Jazz hire Austin Ainge as President of Basketball Operations

The Utah Jazz have hired Austin Ainge as the team’s new President of Basketball Operations.

“We’re absolutely thrilled to welcome Austin Ainge as our new President of Basketball Operations,” said Ryan Smith, governor of the Utah Jazz. “Austin is one of the brightest minds in the NBA—his 17 years with the Celtics have given him incredible insight into every part of an organization. I’ve known Austin for 15 years, and I’ve watched him grow into an accomplished, innovative, and strategic basketball executive who’s ready to lead this organization.”

Ainge joins Utah following a long stint with the Boston Celtics.

“We are thrilled for Austin as he embarks on his new journey with the Jazz,” said Brad Stevens, the Celtics President of Basketball Operations. “He’s clearly ready for this next step, and I know how much he’s looking forward to leading a team. He’s obviously very bright and has experienced success as a player, coach and executive at various levels of the game. On top of that, he leaves no stone unturned – he’s a strategic thinker that’s motivated and is an extremely hard worker. We will miss him in Boston, but could not be happier for Austin and his family.”

“This is an incredible opportunity to lead Utah Jazz basketball operations,” said Austin Ainge, president of basketball operations for the Utah Jazz. “I couldn’t be more excited about the bright future of this organization. I look forward to partnering with Ryan and Ashley Smith and our other leaders within the Utah Jazz and will utilize my experience over the last 17 years building a championship-caliber organization. I have lived this my whole life, constantly studying teams, talent, chemistry and the selflessness necessary to win. I look forward to bringing that to Utah and am excited to give Jazz fans a lot to cheer about as we build our program back up.”

Heat announce home game portion of 2025-26 preseason schedule

The Miami Heat have announced their 2025-26 preseason home schedule, with three games being played inside the Kaseya Center.

The HEAT will play the Milwaukee Bucks on October 6 (7:30PM), the San Antonio Spurs on October 8 (7:30PM) and the Memphis Grizzlies on October 17 (8:00PM).

Game tickets for the three home games at Kaseya Center will go on sale this Friday, June 6, beginning at 12PM.

The complete Heat preseason schedule, and broadcast information, will be released at a later time.

Lakers announce home game portion of 2025-26 preseason schedule

The Los Angeles Lakers have announced four games they will host as part of the 2025-26 preseason schedule.

Fans will get a first look at the Lakers 2025-26 roster as the team hosts four opponents across three cities between Oct. 3-17.

The slate is highlighted with a matchup in Las Vegas, where the team will host the Dallas Mavericks Oct. 15 at T-Mobile Arena. The marquee contest builds on the tradition of bringing Lakers basketball to Las Vegas.

Preseason tips off for the Lakers Oct. 3 in Greater Palm Springs at Acrisure Arena when the team hosts the Phoenix Suns. The organization has history in Coachella Valley, the former home of Lakers training camp in the Showtime era. In 2023, the Lakers returned to Coachella Valley after a 26-year hiatus, bringing the Purple and Gold back to the desert with a sold-out preseason showing.

Los Angeles will host a pair of preseason games on its home court at Crypto.com Arena, featuring contests versus Golden State Oct. 12 and Sacramento Oct. 17.

A very successful Knicks season is complete

The New York Knicks had, by any standard, what should be considered a successful season. They were solid in the regular season, overachieved a bit in the playoffs, and finished just two wins short of an NBA Finals appearance.

Via the NY Post:

This was not about a moral victory.

It wasn’t about taking solace in anything after a hard-fought series.

Jalen Brunson wanted to make that clear.

He didn’t view the Knicks reaching the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 25 years as any sort of achievement.

The Knicks captain, however, felt it was appropriate to acknowledge what went right this year for the Knicks, even if they fell six wins short of their ultimate goal.

“I’m not sure ‘accomplished’ is the word I would use here, but I think the way this team progressed this year, for me it was fun,” Brunson said after the Knicks were eliminated by the Pacers in six games Saturday night. “There were a lot of people saying we couldn’t do a lot of things. A lot of negativity around what we were trying to accomplish and the way we put blinders on and went to work, that’s something I was proud of with this team. I’m proud of how we stayed the course.”

Knick fans can certainly be, understandably, disappointed that the team fell short of a finals appearance, but they should realize that their squad did them proud.