It was a weird NBA season
The annual NHL players poll is out…
In Boston’s win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night, Alex Bregman hit two home runs and notched a career-high five hits—MLB's first five-hit game this season—before heading out on paternity leave. The Red Sox third baseman’s wife gave birth to their second child yesterday.
Dad strength—it’s a real thing.
In today’s edition:
- 🏀 Recapping a weird NBA season
- 🌯 The Burrito Boys, a soccer Cinderella story
- 🤔 College baseball’s next big star?
On the clock: This newsletter takes ~4.17 minutes to read (1,108 words).
🏀 ODDBBALL
It was a weird NBA season
The NBA playoffs are about to tip, capping off a 2024-25 regular season that would be right at home on a Weird Al album (“my-my-my-myyyy bolog-NBA”).
By the numbers
Ratings went on a roller-coaster ride: After double-digit viewership declines through the first two months of the season, ratings finished relatively close to even, or 2% below last year.
The 3-point pace was historic: NBA teams made 13.5/game and attempted 37.6/game, both the highest totals ever. In fact, every team in the league now tosses up more 3s/game than the 2015-16 Warriors in their record-breaking season—and for the first time in history, missed 3s are now more common than missed 2s.
Lopsided games: The OKC Thunder notched 54 wins by 10+ points this season, breaking the record of 50 that had stood for 50+ years. For context: The team that shares their name with a weather term had more double-digit wins than any other Western Conference team had total wins😳.
Sus personnel moves: The Luca trade happened—a still sore spot for Dallas fans (but not Nico Harrison, who has no ragrets). The Denver Nuggets fired head coach Mike Malone and GM Calvin Booth with three games left in the season, in a pair of decisions analysts described as “unprecedented” since they came so close to the Nuggets appearing in the NBA playoffs. And the Memphis Grizzlies dumped head coach Taylor Jenkins late in the season in what many also considered an interesting move; the team was 44-29 at the time.
Stars appear to be fading: LeBron failed to average at least 25 points/game for the first time since his rookie season (2003–2004), while Lakers star Luka Dončić this year became the first player other than Steph Curry and the aforementioned King James to top the list of the NBA’s best-selling jerseys.
…or are they? Spurs guard Chris Paul became the only NBA player in history to start all 82 regular-season games in their 20th season or later.
The playoff picture: The Warriors topped the Grizzlies in the Play-In Tournament to set up a Round 1 matchup with the Rockets, while the Magic beat the Hawks and will face off against the defending champion Celtics. The Hawks and Grizzlies will now play separate games tomorrow to determine the #8 seeds in each conference. See the full playoff picture + expert predictions.
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⏱️ Catch Up Quick
Headlines de la semaine
🏟️ The venues for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics have been finalized. On Tuesday, the Olympic Organizing Committee confirmed that events will be held at several of LA’s most famous locations, in addition to other areas across Southern California. The new locations include Dodger Stadium (baseball), the Universal Studios lot (squash), Venice Beach (various events), the Lakers’ Crypto.com Arena (boxing finals), and the Anaheim Ducks’ Honda Center (indoor volleyball). Several other iconic LA venues were confirmed earlier, including the Rams/Chargers’ SoFi Stadium (swimming), the Clippers’ Intuit Dome (basketball), and USC’s LA Coliseum (track and field).
🥊 The UFC’s media rights have hit the open market. The fighting league’s exclusive negotiating window with ESPN officially expired on Tuesday, opening the door for other suitors to bid on broadcasting rights. The UFC signed its current deal with ESPN in 2018, with the five-year, $1.5B contract later extended for two years (through 2025). The UFC is reportedly looking for a new deal worth ~$1B/year, with CEO Dana White saying he’s open to signing with any major network or streaming service—or even splitting UFC rights among multiple suitors.
⛵ Oxford got boat-raced by Cambridge at their annual Boat Race. The two iconic universities have competed against each other at the Boat Race in London’s River Thames in an annual event dating back to 1829, making it one of the world’s oldest—and most famous—amateur sporting events. This year’s Boat Race, held on Sunday, saw Cambridge claim victory over Oxford for the eighth straight time on the women’s side, and third straight time on the men’s side.
🏒 HOCKEY TALK
The annual NHL players poll is out
The tribe has spoken: The results of the annual NHL Players Association poll, where 663 NHL players are asked a series of hockey-related questions, were published this week.
- Most complete player: Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins) topped the list for the sixth-straight year, capturing ~34% of the vote.
- Best playmaker: Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning (~48%).
- Best overall goalie: Andrei Vasilevskiy, also of the Lightning (~31%).
- Best overall forward: Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers (~74%).
- Best overall defenseman: Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche (~72%).
- PWHL rulebook changes you’d like to see in the NHL: The jailbreak goal (where a minor penalty ends if shorthanded team scores; ~30%), 3-2-1-0 point system (~24%), and first-place finishers choosing their playoff opponent (~17%) were the top three.
One fun thing: David Pastrnak (Boston Bruins) and Auston Matthews (Toronto Maple Leafs) were tied for best fashion sense in the league, with both snagging ~16% of the vote.
Looking ahead…NHL playoff hockey kicks off this weekend. All 16 teams are set, after the Montreal Canadiens clinched the final spot with a 4-2 win over the Hurricanes last night (a game that forced a rescheduling of a political debate between five leaders of Canadian political parties). See the full playoff picture here.
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💬 Word on the Street
Overheard
“It's not easy to get on a bus and travel all those hours to win a game against pro players.”
The Burrito Boys just wrapped up another impressive run at America’s oldest ongoing national soccer competition.
Prior to being eliminated last night, El Farolito SC, a soccer team run by a San Francisco taqueria of the same name with a world-famous burrito, was the only remaining amateur club left competing for the US Open Cup, which now has 32 teams left (16 qualifiers, and 16 MLS teams).
- It marked El Farolito’s second straight year of being the last remaining amateur team in the 111-year-old tournament, which is open to both pros and amateurs alike—similar to the FA Cup in England, or Copa del Rey in Spain.
- El Farolito’s path through this year’s tournament featured wins over two professional clubs—including a comeback win over Monterey Bay, one of the top teams in the USL Championship (one level below MLS).
Looking ahead…US Open Cup action will continue over the next several months, with quarterfinals in July, semifinals in September, and the finals on October 1.
📰 News
What else is happening
- 🙌 Jackie Robinson Day was celebrated around the MLB on Tuesday (~9-min video).
- 🏀 The 2025 WNBA Draft drew 1.25M viewers, the second-highest total in history behind last year's 2.45M.
- ⛳️ The Masters’ final round on Sunday was the most-watched golf broadcast on any network since 2018, averaging 12.7M viewers.
- 🤸 The 2025 NCAA gymnastics championships begin today; Livvy Dunne and LSU will look to defend their title.
- ⚽ The Champions League semi-final is set; it’ll feature Arsenal, Paris, Barcelona, and Inter.
🌐 Web Gems
Cool things to click
⚾ Read: About Stanford’s Rintaro Sasaki, a Japanese transplant turning into college baseball’s next big thing.
😬 Political ad fodder: Vice President JD Vance fumbles the college football championship trophy.
🤫 Shhh: Rory McIlroy’s silence during his Masters final round with Bryson DeChambeau was actually part of a strategy, according to his sports psychologist.
📸 Explore: Photos from the Masters taken by credentialed photographer Ken Griffey Jr. (yes, that Ken Griffey Jr.).
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🤔 Trivia
Last call for bets: The franchise roulette wheel is about to stop spinning
How Franchise Roulette works: We provide three facts about a professional sports franchise—then you tell us which franchise we’re talking about. Eligible franchises are those currently playing in the Big 4 (MLB, NHL, NFL, NBA).
Today’s team:
- Won a championship three years after starting play as an expansion team. It’s also the only men's major pro sports team in its state to ever win a championship.
- Plays at a home stadium named after a bank.
- Has changed its logo/uniform color scheme four times. One of those variations heavily incorporated the color purple.
Hint: MLB
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🤔 Answer
The Arizona Diamondbacks
