Court Of Gold Is Must-Watch TV

…This teacher had her students write notes to their favorite NFL teams. And the NFL teams sent packages back, and this little Lions fan couldn’t have been more excited. 

Adidas is still a pro at storytelling through design. In this Women’s Euros Away kit drop, they took inspiration from art rooted in each country’s culture. And for the first time, the kits will be available for purchase in all sizes: women’s, men’s, and kids. Ok, equality!

Everyone and their dog has got a take on the NBA All-Star format. The discourse is getting so intense Kevin Durant says we should cancel it. 

Spongebob Supremepants. The racing jacket silhouette lives on in 2025, and this one was created in partnership with Jeff Hamilton. Nickelodeon is still going strong with regard to their sporty collabs. If you’ve ever dreamed of a Spongebob x Supreme cycling collection, we’re pinching you through the screen to prove this is real.

Chiney Ogwumike, what can’t you do?! The WNBA player and basketball analyst/host/commentator is now ambassador-ing for African hoops. She’s the first woman to do so for Basketball Africa League, and she’s got big plans to open doors for girls and women.

@nhl

it’s tricky, tricky, tricky, tricky 😉 #NHL #hockey #SportsTikTok

Cinderella stories, success stories, love stories, sad stories; the 2024 Paris Olympics had it all. If you remember watching the men’s basketball tournament in particular, you’ll relish reliving it from a whole new perspective when you watch Court of Gold on Netflix, which follows the Serbian, French, American, and Canadian teams. 

At least, that’s what the series showrunner Jake Rogal hopes: “It's more than just like a basketball going through a hoop,” he told OffBall in an exclusive interview. 

In one of the most moving moments, Kevin Durant becomes overwhelmed with emotion and explains what the sport means to him. Rogal says he had no idea the profoundly poignant moment was coming. Rogal asked him why he bothers fighting fans on Twitter, and KD’s reply is enough to make even the biggest theater kid a believer in the power of sports. 

At the time of filming, the crew didn’t know how monumental this Olympics in particular, would turn out to be. They fell asleep scrolling on social media to make sure they weren’t missing key storylines, of course, but the crew was focused on avoiding the overwhelming grandiosity of their task in telling this story. 

There’s a pivotal scene in Canada’s locker room after a tough loss, where RJ Barrett is spewing expletives, others are dejected and staring into space, and 26-year-old Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is asked to offer some words of wisdom. SGA offers up that he may have taken this competition for granted and wished he’d grasped the rarity of the opportunity before it was too late. As a viewer, the intense, authentic emotion—something that isn’t always present in sports docs with high-profile athletes such as these—is palpable.

Rogal says those off-court moments, wherein we learn something new about the subjects, are the most compelling things. The games are edited in a way that feels atypical; and more personal. The whole doc feels like the fourth wall is broken. 

Watching Serbia celebrate after they proudly secure the bronze medal (“we want to be historically drunk,” they say); Wemby in tears as he loses sight of the gold that Team USA (or, in this case, namely Stephen Curry) clinches, just hits different. 

In Court of Gold, the mystique created by curated and branded social media has gone by the wayside. Intimate vignettes into the lives of Bam Adebayo, Dillon Brooks, Nicolas Batum, and Bogdan Bogdanović create a closeness to our favorite players we so desperately crave these days.

If you’re feeling far away from basketball for any reason, this will pull you right back in. 

Multiple sources have said the WNBA is set to approve Cleveland’s bid to be the latest expansion team. The Rockers, who were one of the original W teams when the league launched in 1997, folded in 2003 but will get new life under the Cleveland Cavs’ ownership group led by Dan Gilbert. After losing out on becoming the newest NWSL franchise just a few months ago, things are looking up for the land.  

Gilbert’s $250M bid sent echoes of that one cartoon cash register sound throughout the whole state of Ohio. And since they already have the infrastructure for an MNBA team, it just made sense for the WNBA to accept the offer to revitalize the former team. 

Cleveland is also the latest destination for a new bar dedicated to women’s sports. W Sports Bar is the latest pub to follow Portland’s The Sports Bra’s lead and vow to show only women’s sports on their TVs. You can donate to the cause here, if you feel so inclined. 

Back in the day, W greats Penny Taylor and Michelle Edwards played for the Rockers, who, by the way, are named after Cleveland’s main tourist draw, the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. Guess you could say we built this expansion team on rock and roll.

P.S. Please use the retro logo, Rockers