Coachella Let Sports Cook

…And none of us is taking it well. The latest casualty is women’s sports’ Royal Couple, Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe. The couple, who were together for 10 years and share a podcast, put out a video statement explaining the breakup, if you’re brave enough to watch it. Fly your flags at half mast. 

If my life wasn’t stressful enough, I’m still waiting for Natasha Cloud to sign with a WNBA team. She put out a statement on Threads yesterday basically saying everything will happen how it’s supposed to, so it seems the W’s best unsigned free agent is somehow less anxious than I am about it. 

Hollywood, meet Haliwood. Tyrese Haliburton is launching a production company called Zero Doubt Creative. Their first project will be a documentary on Haliburton’s return from injury, for which I will be seated. In case you were wondering. 

Marshawn Lynch has already won most American sports fans over, thanks to his charismatic pressers and Hall of Fame NFL career. But now that he’s become a TV and film star, can he win over the rest of America? The answer is obviously yes, but if you don’t believe me, this New York Times profile from Friend of OffBall Emmanuel Morgan will convince you.

Stanley 1913 and our friends at TOGETHXR announced their Changing the Game grant — an investment that will give five $20k grants to women’s sports entrepreneurs who want to create third spaces where women’s sports fans can gather. 

With the amount of star power at Coachella 2025, (Tom Brady, Shaun White, Damian Lillard) you’d think it was a Lakers playoff game. This year was a little less overt in terms of athlete appearances, but the presence of sport was still felt by attendees. And social media users. 

Cameron Brink, Paige Bueckers, Lewis Hamilton, Caleb Williams, and a few others were…  

And since the Warriors' season came to an end (no shade), Stephen and Ayesha (and Seth) got to go, too. Silver lining! 

Not to brag, but thanks to Red Bull, we went with women’s hockey trailblazer and gold medalist Laila Edwards to see which of the festival’s acts were sports fans, and we were pleasantly surprised by their ball knowledge. Not that we ever doubted them. 

(Side note: If you don’t know Laila, check out our Q&A with her from earlier this year.)

Anyway, Laila did some serious investigative journalism and learned rapper Bia wants Flau’jae to make a Coachella appearance, and frankly, I think it’s only a matter of time before the now Seattle-based rapper-slash-hooper storms her way south onto the desert stage. 

Murda Beatz (impossible to read that without hearing “Murda on the beat so it’s not nice,” I know) showed he’s a major men’s sports (and deep-cut hockey!) knower. 

And LA Dodgers’ Blake Snell pitched a fit (positive) in the desert with his wife, Haeley.  

I think we can all agree that 82 games a season is a lot of games. Especially when you have tasked yourself with sketching a new piece of art for every single one, like Toronto-based graphic designer Aidan Lising. We talked to him about his quest to tell the story of every regular-season Raptors game through art. 

OffBall: What inspired you to begin sketching every game?

Aidan Lising: In short, this year’s Toronto Raptors team wanted to be a serious franchise again and try to win.

Last season was a particularly tough watch as a Raptors fan. The team seemed rudderless, and after the All-Star break, I really didn’t care to watch the games as much. When I did, there was a blatant incentive to tank; Coach Darko Rajakovic would clear the bench in the fourth quarter, which would sometimes result in blown leads.

However, trading for Brandon Ingram at the end of last season was the first indicator of wanting to win again; we needed a scorer to complement Scottie Barnes’ playmaking. The second — and most crucial indicator — was what I gleaned from the Media day pressers and training camp interviews. I noticed all the players, coaches, and front office said making the playoffs was the floor for this team.

I thought to myself, “Well, if this team is going to be serious, then let me try my hand at drawing something after every game.” Eighty-two games later, we’re in the playoffs again. And that makes me feel happy.

OB: Any artists or designers that really inspire you?

AL: Countless ones! However, the biggest inspirations for starting this project are Jack Perkins and Brian Evinou. They have both done this exact same project for the Los Angeles Lakers and the Toronto Maple Leafs, respectively. The dedication and challenge in creating art that represents a basketball game is one thing, but to do it 82 times (sometimes more) is something remarkable.

Funny enough, about halfway through this season, I found another artist on social media, Eric Bui, who was doing the exact same project as me, but for the Los Angeles Clippers. His art is so provocative and, at times, unhinged (I mean this as a compliment). Discovering his work was very reaffirming because it reminded me that, while I love that people enjoy my work, at the end of the day, I can draw whatever I want. And that felt liberating.

OB: Which reaction to a sketch surprised you the most?

AL: The sketch that I drew while attending a game had a pretty positive reception, which was very surprising to me. I’m very critical of my own work, especially anything physical (pencils, painting, etc) - and while I was in my seat sketching, I really wasn’t a fan of how it was turning out. I honestly thought it looked bad and was tempted to only use it as a reference for a digital piece. But then I thought about just keeping it as a one-off physical piece because it was a cool break from the norm. When I posted it, people were very kind and complimentary. In my defense, it may look janky - but it’s honest and real.

OB: Do you have a personal favorite design from the season?

AL: I love all my children! But, if I had to choose a favorite — I would have to narrow it down to two (one for a win, one for a loss). My favorite for a win is probably this Brandon Ingram one, mainly because I got to experiment with lighting, and it was featured in my local newspaper, which was really cool to see.

My favorite for a loss is, hands down, this Kyle Lowry piece. He’s my all-time favorite player, Raptor or otherwise, and it was a really sweet moment to see the entire Scotiabank Arena crowd cheer him on in what could be his last NBA game in Toronto.

OB: Do you plan to sketch the postseason games? If so, can you tease any ideas?

AL: I do! But I cannot honestly tease any ideas; not because I’m being secretive, but because I literally do not know how the sketch will look until after I watch a game. It’s been my process this whole season, and it’ll probably be the same for the rest of the Raptors' postseason run.

OB: Any other postseason predictions?

AL: As of writing this (April 15, 2026), my predictions are:

• My precious Raptors will push the Cleveland Cavaliers to at least six games

• The 2026 NBA Finals will feature the Oklahoma City Thunder against the Boston Celtics