Brunson Under the Knife After Carrying the Knicks to the Title

New York is still celebrating its first title in half a century, and the city's hero is already on the operating table. Jalen Brunson played the entire playoffs with pain in his left forearm and wrist, yet averaged 28.4 points, 6.1 assists, and 3.2 rebounds in the 19 games on the way to the championship ring. The surgery is scheduled, and the recovery will take at least two months - a good chunk of the summer break. At a time when stars skip games for "load management," a man who played broken all the way to a title is a story the NBA hasn't had in a long time.

Giannis, Dončić, and Jokić Might Not See the World Cup in Qatar

The absurdity of the qualifiers: the three best basketball players on the planet could watch the 2027 World Cup from home. After losses to Romania and Portugal, Greece dropped to fifth place in Group I, and only the top three go to Qatar - Giannis misses the World Cup unless Spain, Ukraine, and Georgia are steamrolled. Slovenia lost twice in the July window, and Dončić announced back in May that he won't play this summer - four teams fighting for one spot. Serbia with Jokić is in the best shape, third in its group, but Lithuania is breathing down its neck with two head-to-head duels to come. The final windows are in August and November 2026 and February 2027. Europe sends only 12 national teams - and no one has a reserved spot, however heavy the jersey.

The EuroLeague Opens Its Doors for a Billion Euros - Rome, Berlin, and London Wait in Line

The EuroLeague has officially opened the process for new franchises and the figures are serious: expansion to 24 clubs by the 2027/28 season, up to eight new long-term franchises, and already over 20 formal offers with a total value of more than 1.2 billion euros. The greatest interest came from projects in Rome, Berlin, and London - the three biggest European markets without a stable elite club. The existing 13 shareholder licenses are being converted into franchises free of charge, and the first new franchises will be awarded from September. European basketball has finally gotten what people talked about for years - money knocking on the door. The question is whether it will also enter arenas outside the big metropolises.

MZT Returns to Europe - Back in the FIBA Europe Cup After Two and a Half Decades

European basketball will be played again at the "Jane Sandanski" arena next season. MZT Skopje will officially compete in the group phase of the FIBA Europe Cup, a competition it hasn't played since the 2000/01 season, when it eliminated Vojvodina in what was then the Korać Cup. The new format has 48 teams in eight groups, meaning at least ten European games for coach Vasko Atanasov's team - on top of the ABA2 league and the domestic championship. Among the confirmed rivals are Ostend, Split, Girona, and Iraklis, and the opponents will be known at the draw on July 16 in Munich. Aerodrom waited a quarter of a century for this. Now it's up to the stands to show it was worth it.

Macedonia Awaits the Draw for the Second Round - Denmark and Switzerland Among the Possible Rivals

The Macedonian national team qualified directly for the second round of the pre-qualifiers for EuroBasket 2029, along with Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Norway. FIBA has already lined up the eight teams that dropped out of the World Cup qualifiers: Denmark and Romania in Group "D," Switzerland and Great Britain in "E," Cyprus and Austria in "F," Belgium and the Czech Republic in "G." At the draw on July 16 in Munich, the four winners from the first round will be distributed into these groups, and only the group winners advance directly to the EuroBasket qualifiers. The road is long and narrow - but this time Macedonia at least enters it with wins behind it, not with prayers.