…JuJu Watkins is back hooping after 588 days away and looked like her old self in USC’s win over UNLV. After the game, she got teary-eyed (even though she denied it) while discussing her road back from her torn ACL. Now that JuJu shares a backcourt (and a SLAM cover) with Jazzy Davidson, the haters are sick. 

We’ve all seen Jude Bellingham in his new Calvin Klein campaign, but Friend of Offball™ Daniel Yaw-Miller saw David Beckham. Well, he saw Bellingham stealing from Sir David’s fashion playbook and educated us all in his SportsVerse newsletter. Sometimes lightning does strike twice. 

Bad news: Russell Westbrook is still retired (and free to shoot all the Honor The Gift content he pleases). Good news: The Thunder are honoring Westbrook by retiring his jersey in February, and he got emotional when his old GM Sam Presti told him. Relish the good old days of the Westbrook-Durant-Harden Thunder by reading Jonathan Abrams’s newly published book, “When We Were Young And Fearless.” I won’t tell anyone if you cry because I’m crying too. 

I’m still not over the NYC Marathon, and I never will be. While sifting through all the FOMO(are we still saying that?)-inducing photos and inspirational stories, I learned that Kansas City Current co-owner Chris Long ran with his daughter, Abigail, 25 years after he ran it with his wife and Current co-owner, Angie Long. Can Abigail suit up for the NWSL playoffs this week?

It’s allegedly the WNBA offseason, but Caitlin Clark didn’t get the memo. She dropped the Caitlin 1 “Jinx” for Halloween, gifted the Iowa women’s basketball team special black-and-gold Caitlin 1s, and published her first children’s book. As much as I adore those Nick Offerman “Nothing Special To See Here” Nike ads, there’s definitely something special to see here. 

“Go Off” is a special edition of our daily newsletter, featuring my thoughts, takes, and general vibes, presented to OffBall readers every Wednesday.

There are so many reasons to have a cat. They curb loneliness (which I’m told is an epidemic these days). They are a low-maintenance pet. Since fewer people are buying homes, more people are living in apartments (the perfect situation for a cat). I consider myself to be a dog sun, cat rising, and yet here I am, with an adopted cat — whom I rescued almost a year ago — snoozing behind me as I write this. It appears to me that there’s been a recent exponential growth of cat ownership, especially in sports. Why is that? Is it my own recency bias? Or perhaps my algorithm at work? Let’s discuss. 

At the time the Buffalo Bills posted that non-sponsored or branded content, with seemingly no call-to-action (something I’m very in favor of, by the way), I had already been ruminating on this topic for weeks. Bijan Robinson (one of my favorite interviewees ever because the man has a heart of gold, by the way) said his first purchase after his sizable contract was a cat, and it warmed my heart. (Although now legally I have to tell you to adopt, don’t shop.)

I swear, cats used to be more of a theater kid thing. Jocks have always liked dogs, artists have always liked cats. But I think more recently cats have broken containment. 

Plus athletes live incredibly busy and regimented lives, cats might offer lowkey moments of liveliness. For overseas players, like Nigel Hayes-Davis, they offer easy companionship in a foreign place. 

Some of the cat lovers are true to this, not new to this. Long-time cat enthusiast Myles Turner has a foundation (named after his cat, Casper) to find stray cats homes. This clip of Jannik Sinner talking about his cat, Yeti, is one of the most endearing clips out there.

Spurs’ Julian Champagnie has had his cat, Yogi, for three years, and apparently he’s the best cat in the world — congrats to Julian on that, and I’m sorry to all the other cats who’d hoped to win the award. Although I’d argue that Gabby Williams’ cat is the one with the trophy.

Alysa Liu having two cats, Sesame and Chia, is the least surprising thing in the world to me. I fully believe she may have been a cat in another life. She does things her way, makes no concessions, embodies whimsy and grace in a way the rest of us wish we could. So it was no surprise that her Interview Mag chat happened at a Cat Cafe. 

Dallas Wings’ Awak Kuier has given full on tutorials about how to disable the cat’s kill drive, and she’s tested her hypothesis on every cat. 

After the Knicks championship run, OG Anunoby selected five cats (his “Starting Five”) at an NYC shelter and asked the internet to adopt them. Which they promptly did. He’s even encouraging owners to provide their cats with necessary preventative veterinary care, like he gets with his trainers. 

Jamaal Williams, Tyleik Williams, Sydney Brown, Jaylen Warren the list goes on. 

And it makes sense. You can’t force a cat’s affection like you can a dog. Their approval and love are things to be earned. And since athletes spend their whole lives working to earn something, it makes sense they’d look for that in a pet. 

Though Detroit Lions’ Isaac TeSlaa offers a simpler reason: they’re too busy for other kinds of pets. Also fair. 

I could once again be falling victim to recency bias or to my algorithm (see above), but Yaxel Lendeborg has taken the league by storm. Every clip is funnier, more endearing, and/or more real than anything we’ve seen from NBA players in years. Frankly, he won me over on draft night, but still. 

He’s not your typical rookie. He’s 24 years old, for starters. By comparison, the majority of rookies join the league by 20. 

He’s also great at basketball, which isn’t technically always the case. Even for first-rounders. 

Not only was he at multiple Valkyries games, and in their locker room celebrating, he was trash-talking the other team. 

He’s the kind of player you hope never gets media trained. Not only because you’ll get a good sound bite, but Brands Hate Him For This One Simple Trick: he’s not going to lie or put on a show for anyone. 

And society yearns for a real poster. Someone who uses social media however they want. Like they used to do back in the day. And folks? We got our guy.