Dan Hurley Signs 2-Year Extension With UConn Through 2031-32 Season
UConn head coach Dan Hurley signed a two-year extension to remain under contract with the school through the 2031-32 season.
The deal extends his current salary of $8 million.
“Dan has proven to be the very best coach in men’s college basketball, and we’re thrilled to keep him home at UConn for the next six years,” UConn athletic director David Benedict said in a statement. “His teams embody everything that UConn is about: resilience, competitive excellence and the pursuit of championships. In this chaotic era of college sports, it has never been more important to maintain continuity as we strive to compete at the highest level in everything we do.”
Hurley signed his previous deal in 2024.
Hurley has a record of 199-75 with the program and lead UConn to back-to-back national titles in 2023 and 2024.
“It’s an incredible honor to coach the game I love at a place like the University of Connecticut and to be part of a community that means so much to me and my family,” Hurley said in a statement. “We understand our responsibility to the people of Connecticut and to the incredible supporters of UConn Basketball and will continue to bring a relentless, obsessive approach to winning and championship-level success.”
Game 5 of the WNBA Finals between the Golden State Valkyries and Atlanta Dream averaged 1.4 million viewers on USA Network, CNBC, and Peacock streaming.
It was the most-viewed Game 5 in league history, with the previous Game 5’s being winner-take-all games.
Game 5 was the second smallest audience of the series after Game 2.
This year’s Finals is the second since the league changed the series to a best-of-seven format.
Collin Gillespie is showing Jalen Green how to run the Suns
PHOENIX, AZ – OCTOBER 30: Collin Gillespie #12 of the Phoenix Suns handles the ball during the game against the Denver Nuggets during the 2026 Emirates NBA Cup on October 30, 2026 at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, Arizona. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Kate Frese/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
The season is young for the Phoenix Suns, and every game offers another chance to learn more about this team and whether it can execute its vision in a way that translates to winning. Thus far, it’s been rough. Phoenix is off to a 1-3 start, and if you take a look at the defensive rating, it certainly feels like Halloween. Because those numbers are downright spooky. Last in defensive rating at 125.8, last in opposing three-point percentage at 43.9%, last in opposing second-chance points at 22.3.
You don’t want to make rash decisions based on individual performances during the infancy of a season, but at some point you need to recognize that whatever this version of the Suns is isn’t working. At least not yet. Should patience be exercised? Perhaps, and we begrudgingly know it will. Until an internal threshold relative to either games or minutes has been crossed, this experiment in futility marches forward, with each night serving as a quiz to examine.
What did Friday’s night pop quiz teach us? It reinforces something we’ve known since we first started watching, playing, and consuming this glorious sport: teams function better when roles are clearly defined. “Positionless” basketball is a lazy term for those who support teams that do not possess defined roles. For teams with duplicative archetypes in the same starting lineup. “It’s gonna make sense,” one will say of the starting five. “Why?” a curious and befuddled onlooker will question. “Because the NBA is now ‘positionless’”.
I’m guilty. I’ve bought into the cheap trick and five-dollar fantasy that positionless basketball could equate to success. I purchased some stock in the belief that a Booker/Beal backcourt could be productive, and it’s why I’ve been cautious about the Booker/Green backcourt since its inception. Fool me once, shame on me n’ such. Sure, you can have a pair of combo guards in the backcourt, but they still need to have defined roles, defined areas of space in which they operate, and one better be pretty damn good at being the primary ball handler. Some call those roles “positions”.
Positionless basketball is something that has become a product of the AAU circuit, where young players are encouraged to pad their statistics because, ultimately, those numbers help them get noticed and create opportunities to make it big one day. With the NIL era upon us, getting noticed has become even more financially important. Somewhere along the way, traditional point guard play, facilitation, and distribution have become less of a priority. Those are the things that make everyone around you better, even if they don’t always show up in the box score.
Within the concept of positionless basketball, there still needs to be an understanding of roles and, more importantly, who is actually capable of executing them. What we witnessed Friday night, and quite frankly what we’ve seen throughout a season and a half, is another reminder that this offense simply functions better when Collin Gillespie is involved. He’s not a traditional point guard, but he excels in that role. That’s what the Suns need right now.
Why? Because Jalen Green was having an off night, something that has unfortunately plagued him throughout his career. Consistently, he’s been inconsistent. 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting against OKC, 2 points on 1-of-6 shooting against Denver. When you look at his career scoring trend, you see dots scattered about like duck shot on an outhouse.
I can’t blame the young lad. This team wants Jalen Green to be a facilitator, to essentially play point guard. And when you’re forced into an unfamiliar role, it takes time to adjust. Unfortunately, point guard is one of the most difficult positions to play in the NBA. It requires selflessness, court awareness, and the ability to process information at an incredibly high speed.
You can almost feel Jalen thinking out there early this season. He’s trying to read the defense, make the right decision, and execute what’s being asked of him. And the best flashes we’ve seen? They come when he stops thinking and starts reacting. That’s his superpower. His instincts, explosiveness, and ability to attack without hesitation are what make him dangerous.
It reminds me of Ryan Dunn, who’s being asked to become a true 3-and-D player despite that not necessarily being what his natural skill set lends itself to. Once again, the Suns find themselves asking a player to become something he isn’t, rather than maximizing what he already does well. And in the process, they’re diminishing the very qualities that make him valuable.
Green is better off the ball, operating as a piece of the offense rather than being the driving force behind it. Therein lies the roster construction conundrum we’ve been staring at for two seasons: 57% of your cap is tied up in duplicative players. Because the same could be said about Devin Booker. He excels when his role is not the offensive facilitating fulcrum. That, my fellow Suns’ citizens, is criticism I’ll save for another day…
We heard throughout the offseason that Green had spent time working with Steve Nash, with the goal of improving his ability to read opposing defenses and make quicker decisions. Early this season, it’s apparent that his processing is taking a split second too long. His assist percentage is 14.1% (33rd percentile), his assist-to-turnover ratio is 1.3 (14th percentile), and his assist points created is 6.0 per game (25th percentile).
In the NBA, where you’re facing elite athleticism and basketball IQ night after night, a split second can make all the difference in the trajectory of a career. Unfortunately, when you’re looking for someone to make high basketball IQ plays with split-second decision-making, Green typically isn’t the first player who comes to mind.
It’s a reminder that Jalen Green entered the NBA following his time with the developmental G League Ignite as a player whose greatest asset was his elite athleticism. He jumped off the high school screen with his explosiveness, his ability to finish around the basket, his shooting potential, and his impressive physical tools. He possessed the kind of raw talent that makes scouts salivate and front offices dream about what a player could eventually become.
His career thus far has been relatively average, with much of his scoring production coming through volume rather than efficiency. The physical gifts are undeniable. The challenge has been turning those gifts into consistently productive basketball.
Collin Gillespie took an entirely different path. He went from fighting for an opportunity on a two-way contract to earning a fully guaranteed deal and eventually a contract extension. And what keeps him on the floor? It certainly isn’t elite athleticism. It’s his defensive effort, his ability to read the floor offensively, his understanding of how to operate within a system, and his efficiency, particularly from beyond the arc.
So why am I bringing up the career paths of these two players? Because they represent two fundamentally different approaches to succeeding in the NBA. Green entered the league relying on extraordinary athleticism and the freedom to operate outside traditional positional responsibilities. Gillespie has built his career by understanding those responsibilities, embracing them, and executing within the structure around him. One was given opportunities because of what his physical gifts suggested he could become. The other earned his opportunities by consistently demonstrating that he understood exactly what his team needed him to be.
Collin Gillespie is more comfortable handling the ball, navigating his way through defenses, creating mismatches, and reading what the opposition is doing as those opportunities develop. Through four games this season, his assist percentage is 18.1% (38th percentile), his assist-to-turnover ratio is 3.3 (36th percentile), and his assist points created is 14.5 per game (64th percentile). Not gaudy numbers, but certainly improvements over what Green has provided in this small sample size to start the 2026-27 season.
Friday night was a reminder of this. Against Denver, during his first six minutes on the floor, Green and the Suns were a -3. Gillespie entered, and over the next nine minutes, Phoenix was a +7. That trend continued throughout the game. The team was chunky when Green was on the floor, fluid when Gillespie was present.
When Green entered, the offense tended to sputter. This isn’t solely his fault. The entire starting five was having trouble producing, as apparent from the rotations showcased above. When he and Devin Booker shared the court, roles were not defined, and the team had a -19.8 net rating.
When Booker was off the court and Green was tasked with the “bring the ball up the court” duties, the ball became sticky. The offense was less fluid. He’d dribble for a while, attack the basket, get blocked, and that was the possession. No movement, no opportunity for anyone else to get involved.
Green killed the Suns’ momentum on that possession. Dribbled into a crowded paint, never looked to kick it out, and forced a shot that got blocked. Murray answered with a three.
Green has to recognize when the defense collapses and move the ball. That’s a 5-point momentum swing.
Through four games, albeit with a small sample size, Green possesses a minus-28.3 net rating compared to Gillespie’s minus-2.3. And when you examine the on/off numbers, they speak for themselves.
The defensive side of the ball will always be the weaker part of this argument because Green has the opportunity to provide more defensively due to his size. For all the heart Gillespie has, he’ll never possess the physical tools to be an elite defender, yet he’s still third in the league with 3.0 steals per game.
When you look up and down the roster at the statistical output, particularly defensive rating, nobody on this team looks good. That’s what happens when you have the worst defense in the league. But there’s a significant difference between Jalen Green’s 133.3 defensive rating and Gillespie’s 120.7. So even on that end of the floor, Gillespie has been the better option.
I’ve hit you with a ton of advanced metrics and lineup data, but do we really need all of that? We know what our eyes are telling us, and at the end of the day, they’re telling us that there’s considerably more fluidity offensively and more intensity defensively when Gillespie is on the floor instead of Green.
This isn’t to suggest that the two players can’t coexist on the roster, because at this point in the season, they’re going to have to. The Suns will continue evaluating Green to determine whether he fits into what this team currently is and what it could eventually become. When you’re carrying a $36.3 million price tag, naturally, there’s going to be increased scrutiny surrounding your performance.
We need to see a larger sample size, right? But in reality, do we? Because we’re beginning to witness some of the same trends we saw last season with Green…
Remember the beginning of last year, when the Suns seemed to have a clear understanding of who they were? Green was injured for much of that stretch. When he returned, the team experienced some destabilization as it attempted to integrate him into the rotations and figure out how he fit.
What’s going to happen in the upcoming games? We might not know, but we saw a hint Friday night of what Jordan Ott is beginning to experiment with. Collin Gillespie closed the game while Jalen Green watched from the bench because Ott recognized that, within the confines of that particular matchup, it gave the Suns their best opportunity to win. How long until there’s a realization that, from an organizational standpoint, this might be the Suns’ best opportunity to win moving forward?
Not surprisingly, the team is standing with Green. “We’ve got a ton of confidence in JG,” Collin Gillespie said of his teammate following the loss to Denver. “We’re riding with JG 100 times out of 100.”
Moving Green to the bench is something I believe could benefit him. He’d be operating in a role much more conducive to his skill set, allowing him to focus on what he does best. But there’s also the potential for his ego to take a hit, and that’s the human element of this entire situation. It’s something we as fans have very little connectivity to when it comes to understanding the inner workings of the Phoenix Suns. There’s more to this than plugging and playing names into a roster. There are personalities involved, relationships to manage, and aspects of humility that need to be considered as well.
Again, we’ve now experienced this for 36 games if you go back to last season, and the results continue to be disjointed and disconnected on both ends of the floor. Green isn’t the sole reason for that, either. When Devin Booker scores three points in one game and then follows it up with another performance in which he doesn’t appear particularly aggressive, finishing with only 20 points, there are clearly greater issues at play. There’s one common concern running through all of it: your highest-paid players aren’t providing the effort and production you need from them consistently.
Maybe it’s too early to draw conclusions. My guess is that the franchise will give this another eight to ten games before seriously considering any drastic changes. Putting the human element aside for a moment, you eventually have to recognize who a player is, what he brings to the table, and whether his production matches the price you’re paying for it.
We’re only four games into the season, but Jalen Green is shooting 28.6% from beyond the arc, possesses an assist percentage of only 14.1%, and has a defensive rating that’s in the shitter. Those aren’t encouraging numbers for someone who’s supposed to be your starting “point guard”, especially when the offense continues to struggle with connectivity and the defense remains a significant concern. For context, Devin Booker isn’t exactly lighting things up defensively himself, carrying a defensive rating of 137.2.
At some point, the Suns have to decide whether they’re more committed to the idea of what Jalen Green could become or the reality of what Collin Gillespie already provides. Green can still be valuable, and finding a role that maximizes his strengths should remain a priority (although, at that price tag…yikes). But Phoenix needs someone who can organize the offense, make quick decisions, execute on the defensive end, and bring consistency to a lineup desperately searching for it. Gillespie has demonstrated that he can do those things. The question is how much longer Jordan Ott is willing to experiment before acknowledging what’s already working.
(Photo by David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Kimi Antonelli does not need a win to clinch his maiden Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship at the Mexico City Grand Prix.
But securing pole position in Saturday’s qualifying session would put him one step closer to securing the result he needs to clinch that first championship.
Antonelli can clinch the title with a P9 result in Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix, if George Russell wins the race itself, but he could certainly be in the fight for pole position given how Friday’s pair of practice sessions unfolded. Antonelli was second fastest in FP1, and fourth fastest in FP2, with Charles Leclerc leading both hours.
But as we saw last week at the United States Grand Prix, Antonelli does have a habit of turning it on during qualifying. Antonelli was in the middle of the pack during FP1 in Austin, but a thunderous lap at the start of Q3 was enough to secure pole position, and put him on a path to victory.
A similar performance today could put him on a path not just to victory, but to a title.
Mexico City provisional starting grid
Here is the provisional starting grid for the Mexico City Grand Prix, which will be filled in throughout the session:
Ja Morant will miss at least a month due to a left hamstring strain, the team announced Friday.
Trail Blazers guard Ja Morant sustained a left hamstring injury during last night’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies. Imaging revealed a grade two left hamstring strain.
While he will be re-evaluated in a month, he could well be back not long after Thanksgiving.
Ja Morant Injury Update: The Blazers say Ja has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 hamstring strain. A G2 strain is also known as a partial or incomplete tear. Since 2005-06, the average time lost for an in-season G2 hamstring strain in the NBA is 34.7 days (~14 games).
Thursday night was Morant’s return to Memphis, but it ended early when he asked out of the game in the fourth quarter and was grabbing the back of his leg. He returned to the bench before the game ended, but he had a huge wrap on his left leg.
Expect Jrue Holiday to move into the starting five. This puts more on the plate of Scoot Henderson, who started the season coming off the bench and hadn’t looked sharp, averaging 7.5 points per game on 34.4% shooting. The Trail Blazers now need more out of him.
Morant looked good to start the season, as close to his vintage self as we have seen in a long time. He is averaging 16.3 points and 6.3 assists per game while shooting 58.8% overall and 44.4% from beyond the arc. He had a more mature game, where he could still snake his way to the paint and get good shots, but relied more on floaters in the paint than just banking on his athleticism and driving into the teeth of larger defenders at the rim.
“I feel like a lot of people think like I’m just supposed to score 25 or score 30 every time, and I’m really a point guard. You know what I’m saying?” Morant said after the Trail Blazers beat the Lakers earlier this week. “So coming into it, I know I could make their jobs easier, release some pressure on them. Obviously, adding Dame back as well takes a lot of pressure from Deni having to handle a lot. We can get him, you know, way easier looks, and you know, vice versa. I don’t have to handle. Dame don’t have to handle. We still can get in a lot of stuff to get the job done.”
It was working beautifully, but it is now on hold for at least a month.
Kyrie Irving, Mavericks Aligned On Future Despite Strong Trade Interest
Kyrie Irving would command a robust trade market if the Dallas Mavericks made him available, sources told ESPN. For now, Irving and team president Masai Ujiri have both signaled a shared commitment to building alongside Cooper Flagg.
Ujiri said the front office believes Irving can thrive in the new system under coach Dusty May.
“We truly believe in [Irving],” said Ujiri. “We truly believe that he can succeed on our team. I truly believe that if we have the right players playing, we can really grow as a team in a new system with Dusty and a new culture we’re trying to build. I truly believe that.”
Irving holds a $42.4 million player option for next season, giving him control over his future.
The option could also allow Ujiri to delay any trade talks until next summer. Sign-and-trade or extend-and-trade scenarios could then become possible.
Irving has expressed no desire to leave Dallas, even after the Luka Doncic trade and two straight seasons without a playoff berth.
“I’m in love with this place just because of how welcoming it was, not just from a franchise aspect but also the fans,” said Irving. “A lot of support around the city.”
Irving missed all of last season while recovering from a torn left ACL suffered in March 2025. Irving remains on a minutes restriction as a precaution.
Blazers Exercise 2027-28 Options On Donovan Clingan, Yang Hansen
The Portland Trail Blazers have picked up their 2027-28 team options on centers Donovan Clingan and Yang Hansen.
Clingan, now in his third season, has appeared in 147 games with 117 starts for Portland. Clingan holds career averages of 9.5 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 23.7 minutes.
Clingan broke out in 2025-26, averaging 12.1 points, 11.6 rebounds and 1.7 blocks.
Yang is in his second season after Portland selected him in the 2025 NBA Draft. Yang is averaging 2.3 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.5 assists in 7.1 minutes across 44 career games.
The Zibo, China, native also started 19 games for the G League’s Rip City Remix last season. Yang averaged 16.8 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.5 blocks in 30.8 minutes with the Remix.
LeBron James looked all 41 years of his life on these highlight plays
LeBron James is essentially outlasting every elite athlete in the history of sports by playing his 24th season for the Philadelphia 76ers this year. James turns 42 years old in Dec., and if he fulfills the second year of his contract next season, he will have played 10 more seasons than Michael Jordan. James’ peak wasn’t as high as MJ’s by most models, but he’s trying to win the GOAT debate on longevity, and he’s certainly made it a worthwhile discussion.
Father Time doesn’t lose, and that’s even the case against a freak of nature like LeBron. James showed some signs of age on Wednesday night as his 76ers needed a big fourth quarter comeback just to get by the Indiana Pacers without Tyrese Haliburton and Ivica Zubac. James was solid in the win with 13 points, 10 assists, five rebounds, and three stocks, but he was also on the wrong end of two highlight plays that the internet is still talking about a day later.
Early in the second quarter, James was speeding down the court for what should have been a fastbreak dunk. Instead, Indiana’s Jalen Slawson, who is only on a two-way contract, beat him to the rim for the chasedown block. He did a LeBron to LeBron! Watch the play here:
LeBron was never caught from behind for years and years and years. There’s only so much he can do before he turns 42, though, and this time another super athlete like Slawson got the best of him. Look at Slawson talk trash to LeBron at the end of that clip. Have some respect for your elders, young man! I say this as a big Slawson fan, he was on my ‘too good for Summer League’ list this year.
As if that wasn’t ba enough, LeBron got got even worse late in the fourth quarter. Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard squared up James and hit him with a dirty crossover that sent the 40-something tumbling. Nembhard missed the shot, so this clip isn’t as humiliating as it could have been.
The Sixers came back and won to improve to 4-1 on the year. That’s great. LeBron has stayed durable while so many other players have gone down with injuries early this season, and he’s poised to be a key piece of a team with championship aspirations come playoff time.
Everything LeBron is doing at this age is crazy, but he’s still showing plenty of signs of slowing down. The end is near, but LeBron is fighting for his athletic life unlike anyone we’ve ever seen before.
Tyrese Haliburton Out Indefinitely With Left Hamstring Strain
Tyrese Haliburton has suffered a strained left hamstring and will miss time.
No timeline for his return has been set. Team doctors and Haliburton are still working to determine how long he will be out, sources said.
Rick Carlisle told 107.5 The Fan in Indianapolis that the team is bringing in a hamstring specialist they’ve used before.
Haliburton appeared in Indiana’s first four games, including Sunday and Monday on a back-to-back, which were his first games in 16 months after he tore his Achilles in the 2025 NBA Finals.
Haliburton said he felt “a little beat up” following Monday’s game in Milwaukee and he was on the injury report Wednesday.
Haliburton is averaging 21.8 points, 9.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds in 33 minutes per game.
In January 2024, Haliburton missed 10 of 11 games with a hamstring injury. He reaggravated it in the playoffs and sat out the final two games of the Eastern Conference Finals against Boston.
Four of Indiana’s five starters appeared on the report for Wednesday’s game.
Ernie Johnson Ending Run As ‘Inside The NBA’ Host After 2026-27 Season
Ernie Johnson’s long tenure as host of “Inside the NBA” will end after this season. The 70-year-old Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer announced the decision Wednesday in a social media video, saying the choice was his own and that “it’s just time.”
Johnson made clear he is not leaving broadcasting entirely. He will continue working, including on CBS and Turner Sports coverage of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
“Just to be clear, I’m not retiring,” said Johnson. “Just cutting back. … So this is by no means the end. It’s just a turning of the page. And I’ll forever cherish every chapter we have written with ‘Inside the NBA.'”
Johnson noted he has faced heart issues in recent years. He said he is doing well, but the experience underscored the value of time with family.
ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro praised Johnson in a statement.
“Ernie Johnson is one of sports media’s most respected and beloved figures,” said Pitaro. “For more than three decades, he has been the heart of ‘Inside the NBA,’ helping create one of the most iconic and entertaining studio shows in sports. We are grateful for Ernie’s extraordinary contributions and look forward to celebrating him throughout the season.”
Johnson joined Turner Sports in 1989 and took over as host of the show the following year. Alongside Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal, the program has captured more than 20 Sports Emmy Awards.
The show moved from TNT Sports to ESPN and ABC beginning last season. It is scheduled for 25 regular-season appearances in 2026-27, plus the playoffs through the NBA Finals.
Barkley has also said this will be his final season on the program. The Hall of Famer has reversed similar announcements in past years.
Wednesday marks the third edition of “Inside the NBA” on ESPN. The broadcast features the Indiana Pacers hosting the Philadelphia 76ers and the Oklahoma City Thunder visiting the Dallas Mavericks.
