The NBA brings Europe to the table in New York - with or without the EuroLeague

The thirty NBA club owners are gathering in New York for a meeting with something on the agenda that directly concerns Belgrade, Athens and Istanbul: the NBA Europe project, a new league of 16 teams with a planned start in late 2027. The key question is not whether it happens, but with whom - whether the NBA will come to terms with the existing EuroLeague clubs or set itself up as a direct competitor. The same session also weighs domestic expansion: Las Vegas and Seattle, with entry fees estimated at a combined 15 to 18 billion dollars, which would mean a payout of between 500 and 600 million dollars to each current owner. Balkan basketball has lived off the EuroLeague for decades. If that structure starts being broken from the outside, the question of who sits at the table is being settled now, not in 2027.

The USA took a fifth straight gold, Stewart at 26:0 at World Cups

The American women won the World Cup in Berlin 97:79 against France. France led by two points at half-time, and then came a third quarter of 30:12 and the match was over. Breanna Stewart finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds and was named the tournament's most valuable player - her record at World Cups in a USA shirt now stands at 26 wins and no defeats. Jackie Young added 18 points, Caitlin Clark 12 points in just 13 minutes. France's most effective player was Dominique Malonga with 21 points. This is a fifth consecutive and 12th overall world gold for the Americans. When a national team loses a half and then wins a quarter by 18 points, that is no longer being favourites - that is a different sport.

Ballmer finally spoke: an apology, after already receiving the heaviest penalty

After a year-long investigation, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, Steve Ballmer, commented on the penalty the league imposed on the club for circumventing the salary cap through concealed endorsement deals with Kawhi Leonard. In a long post Ballmer took full responsibility and apologised to the fans, the staff and the league. The penalty is historic: a one-year suspension for Ballmer himself, one year for Gillian Zucker too, six months for Lawrence Frank, a 30 million dollar fine, a five-year monitoring programme and the loss of five consecutive first-round draft picks, from 2029 to 2033. The club had previously announced a legal battle to overturn the decision. The apology came once every other option had been exhausted - that is the sequence worth remembering.

Dimitrijevic left the court in Nicosia, no diagnosis so far

The best Macedonian basketball player, Nenad Dimitrijevic, finished Aris's friendly against Red Star at the Nicosia tournament early. Midway through the third quarter he took a heavy block and injured his left elbow, after which he immediately left the game. There is no detailed information on the severity of the injury so far. The match itself was a write-off for Aris - 98:74 to the Belgrade side - but the score is the least important number here. Dimitrijevic is the player every Macedonian plan for the qualifiers is built around, and September friendlies are exactly where this kind of thing happens without any need for it. What is being awaited now is the medical report, not the statistics.

MZT beat Bora, but left the hall with a question mark over a knee

Macedonian champions MZT Skopje beat Kosovo's Bora 71:69 in a warm-up match that felt, in intensity, more like a European fixture than a pre-season test. Vasko Atanasov's side played without Petar Boshaleski, and Noah Farahan injured his knee right at the start. The first impression was alarming, but the American's behaviour afterwards gives hope it is nothing serious - detailed examinations are still to come. The most effective player for the winners was Warner with 21 points, followed by V. Stojanovski with 10. By quarters: 14:14, 15:20, 20:19, 22:16. Next up is the "Zoran Petkovski-Petkoto" Memorial Tournament in Bitola on 16 and 17 September. A two-point win over a Kosovan side does not say much. The injury says more.