It's all happening right now in #thisleague
Rest assured, though, that The Stein Line has you covered. On every front
The NBA Draft is less than a week away now.
The NBA's 2024-25 season could end as soon as Thursday night if the Indiana Pacers fail to win their first win-or-go-home game of these playoffs.
And we've already seen one blockbuster trade this month … 15 full days before free agency officially starts.
So, yeah.
There's a lot going on.
Hopefully you will forgive me, then, that this became one of those weeks that the Tuesday Newsletter Extravaganza got shoved into Wednesday Thursday.
I promise that it's a byproduct of The People's Insider Jake Fischer and me pumping out NBA Intel pieces — mostly Jake lately — every day (and sometimes twice a day). And we will continue to do so as often as we can for the rest of the month because we know you want to know everything we're hearing.
Here are links to the last seven such pieces, all published just since last Wednesday, in case you missed them:
Also!
The past week or so has been hugely momentous for me personally and I naturally couldn't resist writing a little bit about it here.
My beloved Manchester City and I have just collaborated on two video pieces to coincide with the Blues' participation in the Club World Cup. These are the first competitive games on American soil in City's history, which led to a pair of video essays that mean more to me than I could ever possibly express. (Thank you Arielle Castillo and Mark Booth!)
First I was asked to pen a Thank You tribute to the most complete footballer I've ever seen in a City shirt: The one and only Kevin De Bruyne.
Look at that gorgeous title card!
Then on Wednesday, shortly before City's first CWC game in Philadelphia against Morocco's Wydad AC, my tournament preview from the fan perspective — stretching all the way back to City's first-ever USA tour when it played in the Trans-Atlantic Challenge Cup hosted by the glamorous New York Cosmos in 1980 — also dropped.
Links to both full essays, via Twitter, are embedded in the two paragraphs above.
And something tells me, after our nearly four years together at this address, that you understand completely why I couldn't resist sharing these glorious assignments with you and basking in the moment a bit.
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As a reminder: Tuesday editions, on this and every Newsletter Tuesday, go out free to anyone who signs up, just as my Tuesday pieces did in their New York Times incarnation.
The Stein Line has merch? 👀
We're legit flirting with the idea.
The Cotton Bureau, which works with standout NBA podcasts like The Rights To Ricky Sanchez and the Greatest of All Talk, stitched up this exquisite one-of-one trucker hat that immediately became some of the most prized headwear in my collection:
We will soon be celebrating four full years of operation for The Stein Line. Draft night, in fact, is Day 1 of Year 5 for this publication.
So maybe it is time to the enter the world of merch. Thoughts?
Numbers Game
🏀 9
Adam Silver will this week crown his ninth champion in 12 postseasons as NBA commissioner.
🏀 8
The previous eight: San Antonio (2014), Golden State (2015, 2017, 2018, 2022), Cleveland (2016), Toronto (2019), Los Angeles Lakers (2020), Milwaukee (2021), Denver (2023) and Boston (2024).
🏀 8
During David Stern's 30 postseasons as NBA commissioner, only eight franchises won championships.
🏀 8
The Lakers won eight of those titles during Stern's reign: 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009 and 2010. Next in line: Chicago with six (1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 1998), followed by San Antonio's four (1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007) and then Boston (1984, 1986, 2008), Detroit (1989, 1990, 2004), Miami (2006, 2012 and 2013), Houston (1994 and 1995) and Dallas (2011).
🏀 1979
The Buss family has held operational control of the Lakers since 1979 … longer than any other active ownership reign in the NBA. Next in line: Herb Simon and his late brother Melvin bought the Indiana Pacers in 1983.
🏀 101
The Pacers have not lost two games in a row since a three-game skid from March 6-10 (two road defeats in Atlanta and one in Chicago). Thursday's Game 6 of the NBA Finals will mark 101 days since that losing streak as Indiana faces a must-win situation to keep the Finals going.
🏀 103
A Keerthika Uthayakumar special: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams scored or assisted on a combined 103 of Oklahoma City's 120 points in its Game 5 victory.
🏀 476
One more from Stat Keeks: The Thunder have scored 476 points off turnovers in these playoffs, which is the most in a single postseason since play-by-play tracking began during the 1997 playoffs. The 2008 Celtics established the previous record with 461.
🏀 11
Cooper Flagg visited Dallas on Tuesday and Wednesday in advance of the Mavericks selecting the Duke star with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. Had he been born 11 days later than Dec. 21, 2006, Flagg would not be eligible for this draft.
🏀 2010
Why did the Magic decide now was the time to swing big on a Desmond Bane trade? One reason: Orlando has not won a playoff series since the first round of the 2010 playoffs.
🏀 164
Another tweet from Stat Keeks: Bane sank 164 3s last season in 69 games for the Grizzlies. The last Magic player to make at least 160 3s in a single season: Terrence Ross in 2019-20.
🏀 11
Father's Day is always a bittersweet day around here because, even as The World's Proudest Dad, I always spend a lot of that Sunday every year thinking about losing my father on Father's Day in 2014 during the NBA Finals. This particular Father's Day also fell on the same date as my dad's passing: June 15, 2014. So there were many mixed emotions Sunday. In short: I miss The Reuvs so much. Most of all I just wish he could see the young men that his two grandchildren from Stein Line HQ have become.
🏀 2022
Please allow me to re-share my most recent piece on my father that I published during the NBA Finals in 2022:
Just drop the link and I’ll have matching Stein Line bedding/wallpaper in a heartbeat!
I'll take hat AND a t-shirt of the Stein Line Logo!!!