Good evening!

Three pieces of basketball news for today’s intro:

1. It’s real. Today, Luka Dončić and LeBron James combined forces for the first time together in Lakers colours. We can expect to see a lot more of this. 

2. Sydney Kings star and 2023 NBL MVP Xavier Cooks has been suspended from the league for a potential anti-doping violation. The Kings are scheduled to play the Adelaide 36ers in the NBL Finals on Thursday.

3. Australian basketball star Ben Simmons has signed a contract with the LA Clippers after being released by the Brooklyn Nets.

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Stat of the day

9
The number of WTA titles Swiss tennis player Belinda Bencic has now won following a victory at the Abu Dhabi Open on the weekend. The title was the 2021 Olympic gold medallist’s first since becoming a mother. 

Quote of the day

“Anytime you lose a Super Bowl, it’s the worst feeling in the world. It’ll stick with you the rest of your career. These will be the two losses that will motivate me to be even better for the rest of my career because you only get a few of these”.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes following yesterday’s 40-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Despite the loss, Mahomes remains in rare company with a 106-27 record in his career as a starter. Tom Brady’s record at the same point was 104-29.

Random fact of the day

Great Britain’s Jack Holden won the men’s marathon at the 1950 Commonwealth Games in a time of 2:32:57. Remarkably, Holden ran the final nine miles (14.4km) barefoot after his shoes began to fall apart in the rain. He finished four minutes and five seconds ahead of the next fastest runner. 

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In case you missed it…

⛳ LIV golfers have been offered a pathway to The Open, the golf major held annually in the UK. Any player in the top five of the LIV golf standings who does not already have an exemption to play in the major will qualify to play. This year’s edition of The Open will be played at Royal Portrush from 17 to 20 July. 

🏃‍♂️ World Athletics plans to implement stricter rules for transgender and intersex athletes racing in female categories. The sporting body said it was consulting on testing for a specific gene, based on research suggesting “there is already an athletically significant performance gap before the onset of puberty.” World Athletics already blocks trans women from racing in women’s events if they progress past early male puberty. If approved, the test will involve a cheek swab “once in [an athlete’s] career”.

🏏 Australia’s men’s cricket team is set to begin a two-match ODI series against Sri Lanka tomorrow. Australia will head into the series as the favourite following comprehensive victories in both Tests against Sri Lanka. The upcoming games will be a chance for Australia’s ODI side to prepare for the Champions Trophy, which begins later this month. The first ODI against Sri Lanka begins tomorrow at 3:30pm.

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Barcelona football star defends accusations of inappropriate touching

A Spanish football star has been accused of touching an opponent’s crotch during a game. Barcelona’s Mapi León and Espanyol’s Daniela Caracas clashed during a match. The footage shows León seeming to inappropriately touch Caracas.

Espanyol condemnation

Following the match, Espanyol released a statement condemning León’s actions, which the club said were “unacceptable and should not pass unnoticed". The statement said that Caracas did not react during the match but only realised the seriousness afterwards. According to the statement, the incident prompted a stream of online abuse directed at Caracas.

León defense

León responded to Espanyol’s statement with a statement of her own. She said: “At no time did I violate, nor did I have the intention to violate, the privacy of my colleague. [It] does not deserve the diffusion or the importance that the news is acquiring. Under no circumstances would it occur to me to touch any professional colleague's intimate parts. It goes against my principles and I would never do it.”

León, who plays as a defender for Spain’s national team, also condemned the abuse Caracas had been receiving but said it was not related to her actions.

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The NBL Finals Series begins tonight - here’s what you need to know

The 2025 regular season of the NBL has come to a close. Tonight at 9:30pm (AEDT), the first match of the finals series will be played between the Perth Wildcats and the South East Melbourne Phoenix. With a FIBA break for international qualifying set between 18 and 25 February, the finals will continue through to the end of March.

Wildcats v Phoenix

The Wildcats will head into tonight’s seeding qualifier as the favourites, having won five of their past six games against the Phoenix. The Wildcats finished the regular season in third, having won 18 of 29 games, and the Phoenix finished fourth with 16 wins.

The Wildcats' biggest offensive weapon is Bryce Cotton. The American has averaged 36.5 points in his last four games and was named the 2025 NBL MVP, the fifth time he has won the award. The Phoenix will look to exploit their own attackers in Matt Hurt and Nathan Sobey.

How does the finals series work?

The winner of the match between third and fourth place will book a place in the semi-final series against Melbourne United. The loser will head to a sudden-death match against the winner of the ‘Play-In Qualifier’ between the Sydney Kings and Adelaide 36ers on Thursday.

The winner of that match will book their place in the other semi-final series against the Illawarra Hawks. The semi-finals will be a best-of-three-match series, and the Championship Series will be a best-of-five.

Favourites

The Illawarra Hawks (1st) and Melbourne United (2nd) were the top two finishing teams in the competition. As a result, they both earned places in the semi-finals automatically and will be the respective favourites for both matchups when their opponent is determined.

How to watch

You can watch tonight’s NBL Finals match on Kayo or ESPN via Foxtel.

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Looking forward…(All times are AEDT)

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