The Clippers, the scoreboard and another questionable bill around Kawhi

The Aspiration investigation has gained a new layer. According to journalist Pablo Torre, Kawhi Leonard had a secret sponsorship deal worth millions of dollars with Daktronics - the company that built the celebrated „Halo Board” at the Intuit Dome. The Clippers paid that company 100 million dollars for the board. A long-serving Daktronics employee told Torre the firm had never run celebrity advertising, since it manufactures electronics for other companies, not for the public. An insider was even more direct: „That was one hundred percent a way to get around the salary cap.” An investigation is already under way into the alleged four-year, 28 million dollar deal with a now-defunct „green” company, and the NBA has issued no penalty at all. Commissioner Adam Silver promised a resolution this summer. When the penalty keeps being late, the question is not whether rules exist, but who they apply to.

LeBron in Philadelphia: two phone calls and a few texts

Tyrese Maxey explained how he convinced LeBron James to come to Philadelphia, and the answer is more modest than anyone expected. „It did not take much convincing. A few phone calls, a few texts. We are good friends,” he told John Clark of NBC Sports Philadelphia, then added: „He is much older than me, but I guess we are friends.” The two are linked through the same agency, and the acquaintance dates back to Maxey's college days. After the trade that also brought Jaylen Brown, the Sixers enter the 2026/27 season as the most anticipated team in the league. For years superteams have been built with presentations, projections and balance sheets - and in the end it all comes down to who picks up the phone to whom.

Rajaković: „I left Red Star because they did not pay me eight salaries”

Toronto Raptors coach Darko Rajaković went back to 2007 and the reason he left Serbia. „I left Red Star in 2007 because out of the ten monthly salaries in the contract, eight were never paid. There was no prospect and no future for me. I had no team for the next two years. Nobody in Belgrade thought to call me,” he said on the ALESTO podcast. He reduced the difference with America to one sentence: „In the US they reward you for the work. You do not have to sit in taverns and be close to this or that person to get a job.” On the EuroLeague he was both complimentary and sharp - its greatest strength is the crowd, full arenas and real passion, but organisationally it has to improve. The Balkans have been supplying world-class coaches for decades. The question nobody wants to ask is how many of them had to leave first in order to succeed.

Croatia 112, Macedonia 57: a rout in Gevgelija

The Macedonian under-16 cadet team lost to Croatia 112:57 in the third round of Group B at the European championship in Gevgelija. By half-time the deficit was 15 points (31:46), and the third quarter settled it - Croatia won it 35:14. The final margin of 55 points is almost equal to everything the Macedonian cadets scored in the entire game. With this and yesterday's defeat to Iceland, the chances of a top-two finish that leads to the quarter-finals are gone, though two group games remain. Home court, home crowd, home championship - and a balance sheet like this. That is not a story about one bad day for 16-year-old boys, but about what lies beneath them.

The junior women lifted their heads: 67:41 against Norway

The Macedonian women's junior team recorded its first win at the European championship in Division B, and a convincing one - 67:41 against Norway. After an unlucky defeat to Azerbaijan, the players of head coach Viktor Petrovski settled the game immediately: the first quarter finished 26:6, and at half-time the board read 40:11. After three quarters it was 61:28. All 12 players who got minutes contributed, and the most efficient was Iva Koleva with 16 points, six assists and four rebounds. Today at 09:00 Macedonia plays Estonia in Tulcea, in the final Group E game, aiming to secure the best possible position in the fight for places 17 to 20. The same weekend, two generations, two completely different pictures - and only one of them was on a home floor.