Monaco Thrown Out Because the Account Was Empty, and Wembanyama Signed Everything: A Basketball Summer Where Money Talks Louder Than the Game

Monaco thrown out of the French league because the account was empty

A club that spent years as a regular at the top of the EuroLeague is now out of the French championship - and out of the second division too. The French basketball federation announced that Monaco had failed to submit the required documents on time and will play in neither the first nor the second division. The financial regulator DNCCG rejected the club back on 3 July, judging its economic guarantees insufficient. The project run by former NBA star Jamal Mashburn and a group of American investors envisaged a budget of 10 to 12.5 million euros - and collapsed at the most banal point imaginable: according to reports, the American bank meant to hold the guarantees stated there simply were not enough funds in the account. Monaco is announcing an appeal. But the picture is already clear: basketball is short of money, not of stories about money.

Wembanyama signed everything there is to sign - and got his own shoe

After his first NBA Finals appearance, Victor Wembanyama is using the summer to close every deal. First a supermax extension with San Antonio starting once his rookie contract expires, and now a long-term extension with Nike, with his own signature shoe as part of the arrangement. The Frenchman finished the same season with the DPOY title - Defensive Player of the Year. Twenty-something years old, and already holding more negotiating power than entire European leagues. That is the difference between a sports system that produces value and a system hoping somebody notices the talent.

Durant in Detroit? The Pistons are lurking if Houston bores him

Houston has so far batted away every question about Kevin Durant's availability, but according to insider Brett Siegel, Detroit would be first in line should the 37-year-old forward want out. The reason is not only the market - it is the fit with Cade Cunningham, who took the team to 60-22 and first place in the East before losing a seven-game conference semi-final to Cleveland. Cunningham averaged 23.9 points, 9.9 assists and 5.5 rebounds across 64 games. Durant would be exactly what they lack - a second player who decides a game once the defence tightens. Will it happen? In an NBA summer, every conversation is a trade until proven otherwise.

Macedonia's juniors keep losing: 83-73 to Great Britain

Macedonia's men's under-18 basketball team lost to Great Britain 83-73 at the European Championship, Division B, in Croatia. And this is not a story about a side outplayed from the start - Macedonia opened the first quarter 21-18 and was still in the game after the third period. The problem was concrete and measurable: in the first half the opposition took 25 rebounds to our 13. When a team loses nearly twice as many positions under the basket, the result is arithmetic, not bad luck. The juniors play their last match tomorrow, fighting for the best possible final placing. The question nobody asks out loud: how many halls in this country run regular basketball work with under-18 generations?

Gurović ran into a burning car in Belgrade and pulled the driver out

Former Serbian international Milan Gurović was driving home when the car in front of him lost control and stopped by the roadside, just metres from his vehicle. Seconds later a fire broke out. Gurović ran over and pulled the driver out. According to eyewitnesses, within about thirty seconds the vehicle was completely engulfed in flames. "It all happened in a few seconds. If he had been even slightly late, the consequences would have been tragic," witnesses said. Basketball people in the Balkans almost always reach the headlines through contracts and transfers. This time somebody reached them by stopping when others drove past.