LeBron: I came for Maxey, Brown and Embiid's first ring

The most shocking move of the summer has been explained first-hand. On the "Mind the Game" podcast with Steve Nash, LeBron James listed his reasons for moving to Philadelphia: his friendship with Tyrese Maxey, the unexpected arrival of Jaylen Brown and - most importantly - Joel Embiid. "The only thing he hasn't done is win a title. I want to try to help him win his first," James said of the centre who has an MVP award, Olympic gold and everything else except a championship ring. Sounds generous. But 41-year-old LeBron isn't moving to the other side of America out of charity - Philadelphia has assembled one of the strongest superteams in the league.

Zvezda fall at home, Motley makes history for the wrong reasons

The EuroLeague in Belgrade started with whistles and a bloody nose. Zalgiris beat Crvena Zvezda 77-83, and Jonas Valanciunas, in his first EuroLeague game in 15 years, finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and three blocks in 21 minutes. The Lithuanian twice had to go to the bench with a bleeding nose after a hit from Jordan Nwora, and about the whistling from the stands he said only: "You can hear where you're playing." Zvezda's new signing Johnathan Motley fared even worse: two points, six turnovers, five fouls and a performance index rating of -13 in 14 minutes - the second-worst outing in the EuroLeague since the 2002/03 season. The Belgrade club will be paying him more than 1.5 million dollars. An expensive debut.

MZT defend the Super Cup in Kumanovo tomorrow, with the regional elite as the goal

Reigning double champions MZT Skopje Aerodrom open their season tomorrow at 18:00 in Kumanovo, where hosts Kumanovo await them in the "Dragan Vasilov - Cevka" Super Cup. MZT have won the trophy five years running, and captain Damjan Stojanovski says it will all come down to energy and defence. Then comes a real grind: the domestic league, the FIBA Europe Cup and the ABA League 2, with 26 games before the end of the year - one every 80 hours. Coach Vasko Atanasov makes no secret that getting back into the regional elite may be the top priority, and Andrej Maslinko is even more direct about the ABA 2: "We'll go after it to win it and get back into the elite company." The ambition is clear - but a calendar like this can break even a deeper roster.

Obradovic returns to Athens and starts like it's 2011

Legendary Serbian coach Zeljko Obradovic is back on the Panathinaikos bench and finished his first EuroLeague game with a 91-72 win over French side Paris. The 19-point margin is the Greens' biggest on opening night since October 2011 - when the team was also coached by Obradovic. Sylvain Francisco scored 18 points, and Mathias Lessort added 15 points, nine rebounds, four steals and three blocks. In his first spell, from 1999 to 2012, Obradovic won five EuroLeague titles with Panathinaikos. Some coaches come back to rescue their careers - this one came back to carry on.

ABA League postponed over a referee dispute - MZT left in limbo too

The regional league couldn't even get the first round played. Members of the ABA League voted 11 in favour with one abstention to postpone the start of both the first and second divisions, and there's no new date yet. Behind it is a pay dispute: the referees want higher fees, and the league leadership sees that as an ultimatum. The league opened a call to which 50 referees applied and drew up a list of 20, but some withdrew after receiving messages from an address that, according to the ABA, was using the league's name unlawfully - so legal action is being announced as well. For MZT, whose first home game in the ABA 2 against Sloboda Uzice is scheduled for 30 September, the question is simple: who's going to referee? A league that has boasted about spectacle for years couldn't secure the most basic thing - people with whistles.