Jokic Brought Down France in Front of 20,000 in Belgrade, Harden Joined the Half-Billion Club

Jokic carried Serbia past France in front of 20,000 in Belgrade

The duel all of Europe was waiting for ended 90-87 to Serbia at the Belgrade Arena. Nikola Jokic was a step away from a triple-double - 20 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists in 29 minutes. Serbia led for most of the game, France came back after a scattered third quarter, and in the final second Aleksa Avramovic blocked Sylvain Francisco's three-point attempt. This was a friendly ahead of the qualifying window for the 2027 World Cup - but 20,000 people in the stands for a friendly says everything about what basketball means in this region.

Wembanyama with 10 points and 6 turnovers: the wait continues

Victor Wembanyama played the weakest version of himself - 10 points, 4 rebounds and six turnovers in 24 minutes, shooting 1 of 6 from three. France were led by Amine Noua with 14 points, while Rudy Gobert finished with six points in 13 minutes. The two teams play another match in Orleans. The story about "the best thing basketball has seen" gets a new episode every summer, and every summer some older, more complete player shows him that NBA dominance does not transfer automatically to a European court with European referees.

Harden signed 97 million and joined the half-billion club

James Harden signed a three-year deal worth 97 million dollars with the Cleveland Cavaliers. That takes his total career earnings to 511 million dollars - the fourth player in NBA history above half a billion, after LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry. Harden turns 37 on 26 August and becomes the second player in league history to sign over 90 million guaranteed after a 37th birthday. Last season, in 44 games for Cleveland, he averaged 20 points, 6.8 assists and 4.9 rebounds. The league pays for the name and for that last year when he still can, and Cleveland clearly reckons that year has not passed.

Berrocal named 15 for Austria, Moses Wright is the new American addition

Head coach Josep Maria Berrocal announced the roster for the second match of the pre-qualifiers for the 2029 European Championship. Macedonia travel to Austria on 30 August in Vienna, with Cyprus also in Group F. If in the previous two matches against Luxembourg and Ireland the shirt was worn by Americans Nate Sestina and Dwayne Stewart Junior, now it is Moses Wright. From the domestic pool there are Nenad Dimitrijevic, Viktor Tasovski, Vojdan and Luka Stojanovski, Andrej Jakimovski and a string of other names. Preparations begin on 24 August at the T Arena in Skopje. One naturalised American after another - that is the model we work with, and the question of how long it will last goes unanswered by the federation.

MZT builds a new roster: Farrakhan, Nikolic and Warner around the Stojanovski brothers

The coach of MZT Skopje, Vasko Atanasov, says after the first week of preparations that the team is healthy and the roster is different from previous ones - with veteran leadership and players who know how to win. The pillars remain Vojdan and Damjan Stojanovski, while Noah Farrakhan arrives at point guard. Also signed are experienced centre Dimitrije Nikolic and the versatile Leslie Warner. The goal, as always, is to go after every trophy. The same promise from Aerodrom every summer - the difference will be shown by the first real European match, not by a statement from training camp.