The NBA Playoffs Rule

…He just plays one in the new romantic drama Winter Games, which is in development now. It’s a rom-dram about a skier and a hockey player who fall in love. Basically, Teller is about to ask: “What if we kissed in the Olympic village?” 

We’re three days out from the biggest weekend for fighting since your family reunion. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will see consecutive boxing matches. Like every Cinco de Mayo weekend, Canelo Alvarez will fight. Plus, Times Square will be transformed into a boxing ring for one of the fights. Slow-walking tourists and all. 

Sexyy Red says she’s pulling up to Shedeur Sanders’ first game with the Cleveland Browns. This will be the last update on Shedeur Sanders for a while. 

Azzi Fudd put her very own “Boardroom” together, and she built the ultimate A team. She’s got Paige as her COO, A’ja as her CMO, Alicia Keys on the aux, KK Arnold on Vibes, and Sue Bird on conflict resolution. Doesn’t matter what that team is selling, we’re buying. 

Thanks to Beats, hooper Angel Reese and F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo are voice actors now, and they’re actually pretty good. Can someone get us on a PR list for their Pill People?

Don’t blink and miss the first round of the NBA playoffs, because there’s been a much-needed vibe shift.

After what some people considered a lackluster NBA season with down ratings, uneven performances, and fan sabbaticals, the ’yoffs are giving fans what they desperately needed. 

These games have already been more intense than those served up by the NCAA tournament, with several teams overcoming huge deficits to force final-seconds drama. As friend-of-the-newsletter, Katie Heindl put it, the 2025 NBA playoffs (at least so far) are an indulgence, and indulge we have!

The Pistons vs. Knicks series has had it all: celebs like Big Sean and Timothée Chalamet, officiating controversies, and quality 90s nostalgia. Pacers vs. Bucks has seen lots of jawing between a rookie and a vet, followed by a heartbreaking injury. 

Speaking of jawing, the fighting Dillon Brookses vs. the fighting Draymond Greens has been as contentious as you’d expect. Last night, Jimmy Butler and Dillon Brooks had words, Stephen Curry and Dillon Brooks had words, and Tari Eason and Draymond Green had words (Draymond also had five fouls, including a flagrant 1 and a technical). The Clippers vs. Nuggets series has seen the return of the Klaw, aka Kawhi Leonard, some distracting souvenirs (horse heads, to distract Jokic), and speaking of Jokic, his famous passes (or non-passes, actually). 

We’re even seeing things from a new perspective. Literally. The world was introduced to the Hawk-Eye camera, whose top-down angles provided the forensic evidence for two game-deciding plays. Replay will never be the same. Nor perhaps will the two aggrieved L.A. fan bases.

The explanation for how fun the good vibes are, according to some, is because the refs are taking every AAU dad’s advice and “letting the boys play.” 

Adam Silver probably doesn’t care what the explanation is, but rather that we’re just out here enjoying it. Enjoying a sport you love, huh? It might just be crazy enough to work…  

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These kids are the future—nay, the present—of European soccer. 

What were you doing when you were 17? If you weren’t playing in the Champions League semis, we don’t care. Just kidding, of course we do. Just not as much as we care about Lamine Yamal, the FC Barcelona brace-faced phenom. Dubbed “The Chosen One, after Messi” by CBS Sports Golazo, he’ll play in his first UCL semi-final Wednesday, and like always, (and despite not being able to order a drink at an American bar, or vote, were he a citizen here) he’ll probably play a pivotal role. 

Ok, 17 is crazy. No one is doing all that at 17. What about 18? At 18, were you preparing to face PSG in the UCL semi-finals? Arsenal defender Myles Lewis-Skelly is. British Rap artists probably weren’t writing songs about you either. Unless they were, in which case, we need the deets on that. Send us an email. 

19-year-old Désiré Doué, on the other hand, is just living a normal life. He’s gallivanting around Paris, wearing cool sunnies, watching anime– oh wait, no, no, he’s also about to play in the UCL semis, opposite Lewis-Skelly. Today, in fact. 

Alright well, maybe the lesson here is not to compare ourselves to others. We’re all on our own paths and timelines. 

@brianbosche

I brought my 35mm film camera to Olympiacos vs. Real Madrid in the @EuroLeague playoffs. Here’s how the shots turned out 🏀🇬🇷 📸 Yashica Zoo... See more