Ace Dybantsa: “I tell parents, never be afraid to punish the kid,” he said. “Because I can’t whoop his ass. I live in America. There’s something called child abuse. My dad whooped my ass when I was young, but I was in the Congo; they didn’t care. So, take something that he loves the most — basketball and his cell phone. It worked. I just don’t play. I’m about tough love.”

Ace’s methods were, and are, well-known.

“I mean, you’ve heard the stories,” said AJ, and yes, you have.

The most infamous one: When AJ got a C-minus in a class, Ace called his son’s AAU coach, and told him they’d be driving from Brockton to the AAU team’s next tournament that weekend, in the Philadelphia area — except that AJ was not, under any circumstances, allowed to play. It’s a six-hour drive from Brockton to Philly. Ace and AJ made the drive. Went to the gym. AJ warmed up with his teammates. But when the game began, he sat. And he cried in the back seat on the six-hour drive home.

“I turn around and say, ‘You get the picture?’” Ace recalled.Ace got AJ and his sisters up early to train. They couldn’t lie to their dad if they skipped parts of the workouts when he wasn’t there, because he had cameras installed in the kitchen, which overlooked the yard.

“When I was 13, 12, he’s knocking on my door. ‘Yo, we better go work out,'” AJ said. “And, you know, ‘Everybody go to the weight room.’ But after I got on a routine, you know, I started to realize, like, hard work is what it takes.”

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7649979/2026/10/15/aj-dybantsa-wizards-path-byu-brockton/?unlocked_article_code=1.I1E.7AQQ.qV8Lvki_ny34&source=user_shared_article&smid=ta-ios-share

Source: https://bsky.app/profile/lawmurraythenu.bsky.social/post/3mxuumyx4kk2c

The Oklahoma City Thunder have lost rookie Otega Oweh for the season due to a torn Achilles.

_______

OKC continues the trend of having one incoming rookie constantly out for the season

https://www.local10.com/news/local/2026/10/14/former-nba-star-amare-stoudemire-is-now-a-south-florida-cop/

​

The Los Angeles Lakers have officially released their players’ physical measurements for this year’s training camp.

As shared by Lakers reporter and insider Jovan Buha, some players have gained or lost weight entering the team’s training camp.

Luka Doncic records slight decrease in weight entering 2026-27 season

Luka Doncic weighed 242 pounds (109.8 kg) as he entered the Los Angeles Lakers’ 2026 training camp.

The Slovenian superstar recorded a slight decrease from last year, when he weighed 244 pounds (110.7 kg) at the Lakers’ training camp.

Source: https://basketnews.com/news-257290-luka-doncic-new-weight-for-lakers-revealed-ahead-of-new-nba-season.html

Jalen Duren at Half against the Timberwolves: 24 PTS | 3 REB | 1 AST | 8/9 FG | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 8/8 FTS | 95.8% TS |

source: https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401914125

PG — Shai (67%)
SG — Ant (73%)
SF — Luka (37%)
PF — Giannis (70%)
C — Jokic (63%)

via NBA.com

Brunson got 20% of the vote at point guard, Tatum got 33% of the vote at small forward, and Wemby got 37% of the vote at center.

Looking online, it seems like this wasn't the first occurrence of this. Some poor employee is getting fired

I think he is healthy now.

The processing time on Streamable took forever

The Knicks are waiving Tony Bradley and Ochai Agbaji along with Eubanks, sources said.

https://www.espn.com/contributor/shams-charania

https://imgur.com/a/33ED34V

Full quote

Everyone immediately looks at Julius Randle and he is certainly one of the culprits of it, but I know that this kind of quote came out last night and everyone's excited about it.

We kind of talked about the Timberwolves being a very moody team all of last season. They were just were a group that, it's not like they hated each other or they were fighting all the time or anything, but they could be Eeyore every once in a while.

They could just kind of, you know, waffle through and Julius certainly was a part of that when his name got brought up in the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade talks. He didn't really like that at all and he wears his heart on his sleeve, so you could see that.

But Naz Reid could get moody. Jaden McDaniels could get moody. There's a lot of kind of quiet, brooding personalities that were in the locker room last year. You bring LaMelo Ball in here and he's much more upbeat and energetic.

And so, there's definitely been a vibe shift when you you trade Naz, you trade Julius and then you go with with some of the new guys that are in here. But yeah, that that moody kind of descriptor was an accurate one for that team and certainly Julius was right at the top there, but I think Naz Reid was involved in that a little bit as well.

The New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers are both actively exploring trades involving former first-round picks as they work through final roster decisions ahead of the 2026-27 NBA season.

According to Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints, the Knicks have discussed moving Pacome Dadiet, while the Lakers have been exploring the market for Dalton Knecht.

For New York, moving Dadiet could help solve its final roster dilemma. After waiving Drew Eubanks, Tony Bradley, and Ochai Agbaji, the Knicks have narrowed their competition down to James Wiseman and Bruce Brown.

New York currently has enough room below the second apron to keep only one of them. Trading a guaranteed player such as Dadiet could create a pathway to retain both.

Dadiet is due roughly $3 million this season and has a team option for 2027-28.

The 21-year-old, who was selected by New York with the No. 25 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, appeared in 29 games last season and averaged 1.7 points, 0.9 rebounds, and 0.4 assists.

The Lakers face their own roster crunch, as Knecht has been viewed for weeks as the player most likely to be moved before opening night.

Los Angeles entered training camp with 16 players competing for 15 standard roster spots, with Knecht and Jaden Hardy among the players whose futures have been closely watched.

ClutchPoints previously reported that the Lakers had explored consolidation trades and had been trying to move Knecht for some time.

Knecht, the No. 17 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, saw his role decline significantly last season. He averaged 4.2 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 0.4 assists in 54 games after posting 9.1 points and 2.8 rebounds as a rookie.

The 25-year-old is earning approximately $4.2 million this season, while the Lakers face a decision on his $6.45 million team option for 2027-28.

Source: https://basketnews.com/news-257425-lakers-knicks-actively-shopping-former-first-round-picks-before-season.html

Former NBA guard Jeremy Lin is one of the latest athletes to try his hand at broadcasting. ESPN announced on Thursday that Lin has been hired as a contributor to NBA Today and a game analyst for the 2026-27 NBA season. In addition to Lin's arrival, ESPN also hired former floor general and head coach Jason Kidd, who was fired by the Dallas Mavericks earlier this offseason. The Hall of Famer will be a member of the new NBA Countdown lineup, and he will serve as a game analyst throughout the year.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25510512-jeremy-lin-jason-kidd-join-espn-nba-analysts-ahead-2026-season