July 5, 2025 • 10 mins
US correspondent Leon Busby joined Piney to recap the latest from the NBA off-season.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine
from News Talks, EDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
And Weekend Sport. Though it's time to get your state side.
Our man Lyon Buzby is here.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Hello, Leon, afternoon, Jason the Servaly mak mate. Got a
lot to hit to ray, So let's jump right into it.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Let's do it. Made NBA. We know our champions, okayc
we're into trade season in the NBA. Couple of big
ones Kevin Durant first of all, from the Phoenix Suns
to the Houston Rockets.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Yeah, so kad as he's affectially known, who's the first
big Domino to four, so the two time champion, two
time finals MVP, and he's also a fifteen time All Star.
He was traded to the Rockets, making them a genuine
contender after finishing second in the Western season. So Durant
adds vast experience to a youthful side who are on
the rise. And he also joins big Qy Stephen Adams,
(01:01):
who began his career with Katie at OKAC back in
twenty thirteen. So yeah, I think they're going to do
a lot better this year, well next season anyway. The
Eastern Rockets, definitely.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Okay, Miles Turner traded by the Indiana Pacers to the
Milwaukee Bucks.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Yes, this is a bit of a hitch scratcher. This
the Indiana Pacers there, so they just came off short
in the final duty too, oksee in Game seven. But
I guess the trader was a bit of a shock
trade because they shifted their key big man, Miles Turner
to their fierce Eastern rival Milwaukee Bucks. And if you
missed at him with star playmaker Torres Halliburton, so he
suffered a torn Archilly's meaning Hill miss likely most of
(01:41):
the entire twenty five to twenty six seasons. So yeah,
there's a lot of people sort of speculating that with
this Turner trade that they could possibly divide the locker
room and that won't be good for the Indiana Paces.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Moving forward, all right, the NBA Draft, we've been keeping
eyes on that. What were the main features from your
point of view?
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Yeah, So the NBA Draft, I've got to be honest here,
Pine it actually it was a bit of a dude.
But I'll tell you and I'll explain why. Because everyone
knew before and who was going to get first pick
overall anyway, So the Dallas Mavericks, as expected, they signed
the best college player, power forward, Cooper Flag of Duke
University to their roster, now the twenty twenty five national
(02:24):
college player. He's a skilled two way player, has huge potential,
and he's a generational player as well, So he'll make
a big difference to the man's and they'll build their
team around him. Wrong term. So, as I mentioned earlier,
after Flag was taken off the board, no one should
really name any of the other players drafted, which is
a real shame because this is a real life change
and event for most of these young men in terms
(02:45):
of providing generational wrath for them and their families who
have sacrificed so much bull then to have this opportunity now, punny,
I'm going to go a little script here. I'm going
to ask you, so I'm going to compare a professional
sports team to a board game. Are you familiar with
a board game called Katan?
Speaker 2 (03:02):
I've heard of it, but I don't think i've ever
played it.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Yeah, so AKA, for those of your listeners you have
not heard of Katan. It's a hugely popular multiplayer board
game where built where players build settlements, they trade resources
and they compete. They compete to reach a set number
of Vikki points to win. So much like a sports
team you're trying to construct. You have resources at your
disposal like athletes, financial backing, sponsorship, growing your fan base,
(03:29):
et cetera. Now, if we relate this to say, okay,
see Thunder, they're a perfect example. Over the last five
years their front office, they have moved pieces around, built
up considerable resources, and established a foundational culture within the
team environment which has finally brought them along over due,
made an NBA championship. Now, if we relate that example
close at the home, we can see that the All
(03:50):
Blacks head coach Scott Robertson, he's sort of doing the
same thing here with his staff. He's trying to build
a strong team culture within the All Blacks, utilizing all
the resources at his disposal leading up to the ultimate goal,
which is lifting the men's Rugby World Cup trophy in
late twenty twenty seven. So if we think about the
results in between now and the Rugby World Cups, it's
really the Rugby World Cup that matters, isn't it Pining?
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Absolutely right, absolutely right, Hey, just on before we move
to the WNBA Shay Gil Just Alexander and the Oka
See Oklahoma City Thunder. I see they've they've given him
a record setting contract extension. He's not going to be
not going to be short of a bob for a while,
Leon by the looks of it.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
No, No, I think he'll he'll be okay, Well, he'll
get by Okay. He signed a historic four year so
this is a two hundred and eighty five million what
they call a supermax contract extension with low Casey. So
it keeps him with the team through to the thirty
thirty one season. So he'll be paid in average seventy
one point two five million per season, making it the
(04:50):
richest annual salary in NBA history. And the new contract
kicks in for the twenty twenty seven to twenty eighth season.
And then as we look at the past season, Hgear
was paramount to okay See winning their first title, and
this extension solidifies his role as a cornerstone of the
funder franchise, reflecting the TAM's commitment to building around them
as they continue to develop their roster. The financial commitment
(05:11):
also indicates the Thunder's confidence in his ability to lead
the team to future successes, especially after a record sitting season.
So in summary, this year's new contractor is a significant
mast for both the player and okay see marking a
new era of potential success for the franchise. Now, pony,
can I just bring up a real funny story quickly
before we go to WNBA. Yeah, so the champions Thunder team,
(05:35):
they were actually the second youngest team ever to win
an NBA title. Now there's a really funny story to
this whole thing. So what happened is, as we know,
when they end up winning the championship and the team
all they go back to the locker room and they celebrate,
they get up the old champaign bottles. Right, this team
was so young, fourteen of the fifteen players had no
(05:55):
idea how to pop corks or for champaign battles. Most
weren't even going onto YouTube inch of tutorials. So thankfully
the oldest player on the team, Alex Caruso at thirty one,
had previously won an NBA tital so he probably shared
the sco on how to get it done. How funny
as that.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
I thought you were going to say they weren't legally
old enough to have a sip of it, which is
probably true in some cases as well, but yeah, brilliant stuff.
Let's go to the WNBA. It seems to be all
about the Indiana Fever. Leon.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Yeah, so earlier the Smith Indiana Fever upset the defending
champion Minnesota linked fifty nine to seventy four to win
the Commissioner's Cup. So when we relate that to the NBA,
they have the NBA Cup, which is like the n
season tournament. So what's even more impressive though, was Indiana
did it without their superstar, the face of the Caitlin Clark,
who's dealing with another injury. Have we now missed ten
(06:47):
games this season? So sticking with the fever, Sophie Cunningham,
she's a teammate of Caitlin Clark. She'd me making headlines,
but unfortunately for all the wrong reasons. So having been
involved with on court violent incidents, the controversial comments on
expansion plans to eighteen teams by twenty thirty, Cunningham has
become somewhat polarizing to w NBA fans. The former Phoenix
(07:09):
Mercury player was traded to Indiana on January thirty one
this year and it certainly made a presence start on
and off the court. She's productive as a two way
plan seems to be. I guess cashing inside to speak
on numerous social media platforms due to her actions, which
many of her growing fan base are appording Piney. I
guess it's the world we live in now that even
bad news is good news. That people are at least
(07:32):
talking about you.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Yeah, well that's they say that the anything worse than
being talked about is not being talked about, or some
words to that effect. And what's up with this Red Panda? Good?
What's this?
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (07:45):
I shouldn't really laugh because it was an unfortunate intluence.
So yeah. So. One of the more usual headlines that
came out this week was the injury sustained by legendary
halftime entertainer. She's known as Red Panda, and she performed
during the Commissioner's Cup Final during the half time entertainment slog.
She lost their balances to really fractured her risk while
performing the fifty something fourth generation acrobat and unicycle artist.
(08:10):
It's been over eleven hours in hospital and was released
to begin her rehab expected to take a few months,
but our agency she was grateful for all of the
kind wishes and alba overwhelming support, which meant the wilcare.
So after the final ended, the Victoria's Indiana Fever ten
sent their love on socral media and thoughts to the
beloved Chinese American performer. So am I sending to another
(08:31):
wise unforeseen misst deer Pony.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Yeah, well we wish you're all the beast in her recovery.
And finally to the NFL, which is not far away
from starting. I know you're looking forward to this, as
am I a major signing in college though, that you've
got to tell us about.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Yes, So there was a young offensive tackle. His name's
fridix Ojo, so he made headlines this week. So he's
what they call a five star recruit from Texas and
he's entering a senior year at a high school. So
he's still in high school. But he committed to a
fully guaranteed three year contract with the Texas Tech University
and worth over five million dollars. Now they're highly sought
(09:09):
after six foot seven, one hundred and thirty kilogram recruits.
Signed the contract just days ago on his seventeenth birthday. So,
as I've mentioned before, the sporting landscape in American college
sports has totally changed since NIL, which its name, image
and likeness, the transfer portal, and more recently the federal
courts allowing colleges to directly pay their athletes as historical
(09:30):
and there's no limit to what these student athletes can
now end. So the money being thrown around is real
crazy pinty, but I feel it's a positive. As the
NC double A once considered a titan in college sports,
it's really weakened with the PowerShift to the colleges now,
oh oh, other things. You alluded to the role that
the best news of a college football and the NFL
(09:52):
regular season kicks off on only sixty days time life
doesn't get any bit of their pinting.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
I know you've got to love on you all ly on.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
You're chalking off the days we'll talk to you as
it draws closer the NFL season in early August. Always
good to get the the state side lowdown from you,
Leon Busby, our American sport expert here on Weekend Sport.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, listen live
to News Talk set B weekends from midday, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio,
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine
from News Talks, EDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
And Weekend Sport. Though it's time to get your state side.
Our man Lyon Buzby is here.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Hello, Leon, afternoon, Jason the Servaly mak mate. Got a
lot to hit to ray, So let's jump right into it.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Let's do it. Made NBA. We know our champions, okayc
we're into trade season in the NBA. Couple of big
ones Kevin Durant first of all, from the Phoenix Suns
to the Houston Rockets.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Yeah, so kad as he's affectially known, who's the first
big Domino to four, so the two time champion, two
time finals MVP, and he's also a fifteen time All Star.
He was traded to the Rockets, making them a genuine
contender after finishing second in the Western season. So Durant
adds vast experience to a youthful side who are on
the rise. And he also joins big Qy Stephen Adams,
(01:01):
who began his career with Katie at OKAC back in
twenty thirteen. So yeah, I think they're going to do
a lot better this year, well next season anyway. The
Eastern Rockets, definitely.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Okay, Miles Turner traded by the Indiana Pacers to the
Milwaukee Bucks.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Yes, this is a bit of a hitch scratcher. This
the Indiana Pacers there, so they just came off short
in the final duty too, oksee in Game seven. But
I guess the trader was a bit of a shock
trade because they shifted their key big man, Miles Turner
to their fierce Eastern rival Milwaukee Bucks. And if you
missed at him with star playmaker Torres Halliburton, so he
suffered a torn Archilly's meaning Hill miss likely most of
(01:41):
the entire twenty five to twenty six seasons. So yeah,
there's a lot of people sort of speculating that with
this Turner trade that they could possibly divide the locker
room and that won't be good for the Indiana Paces.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Moving forward, all right, the NBA Draft, we've been keeping
eyes on that. What were the main features from your
point of view?
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Yeah, So the NBA Draft, I've got to be honest here,
Pine it actually it was a bit of a dude.
But I'll tell you and I'll explain why. Because everyone
knew before and who was going to get first pick
overall anyway, So the Dallas Mavericks, as expected, they signed
the best college player, power forward, Cooper Flag of Duke
University to their roster, now the twenty twenty five national
(02:24):
college player. He's a skilled two way player, has huge potential,
and he's a generational player as well, So he'll make
a big difference to the man's and they'll build their
team around him. Wrong term. So, as I mentioned earlier,
after Flag was taken off the board, no one should
really name any of the other players drafted, which is
a real shame because this is a real life change
and event for most of these young men in terms
(02:45):
of providing generational wrath for them and their families who
have sacrificed so much bull then to have this opportunity now, punny,
I'm going to go a little script here. I'm going
to ask you, so I'm going to compare a professional
sports team to a board game. Are you familiar with
a board game called Katan?
Speaker 2 (03:02):
I've heard of it, but I don't think i've ever
played it.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Yeah, so AKA, for those of your listeners you have
not heard of Katan. It's a hugely popular multiplayer board
game where built where players build settlements, they trade resources
and they compete. They compete to reach a set number
of Vikki points to win. So much like a sports
team you're trying to construct. You have resources at your
disposal like athletes, financial backing, sponsorship, growing your fan base,
(03:29):
et cetera. Now, if we relate this to say, okay,
see Thunder, they're a perfect example. Over the last five
years their front office, they have moved pieces around, built
up considerable resources, and established a foundational culture within the
team environment which has finally brought them along over due,
made an NBA championship. Now, if we relate that example
close at the home, we can see that the All
(03:50):
Blacks head coach Scott Robertson, he's sort of doing the
same thing here with his staff. He's trying to build
a strong team culture within the All Blacks, utilizing all
the resources at his disposal leading up to the ultimate goal,
which is lifting the men's Rugby World Cup trophy in
late twenty twenty seven. So if we think about the
results in between now and the Rugby World Cups, it's
really the Rugby World Cup that matters, isn't it Pining?
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Absolutely right, absolutely right, Hey, just on before we move
to the WNBA Shay Gil Just Alexander and the Oka
See Oklahoma City Thunder. I see they've they've given him
a record setting contract extension. He's not going to be
not going to be short of a bob for a while,
Leon by the looks of it.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
No, No, I think he'll he'll be okay, Well, he'll
get by Okay. He signed a historic four year so
this is a two hundred and eighty five million what
they call a supermax contract extension with low Casey. So
it keeps him with the team through to the thirty
thirty one season. So he'll be paid in average seventy
one point two five million per season, making it the
(04:50):
richest annual salary in NBA history. And the new contract
kicks in for the twenty twenty seven to twenty eighth season.
And then as we look at the past season, Hgear
was paramount to okay See winning their first title, and
this extension solidifies his role as a cornerstone of the
funder franchise, reflecting the TAM's commitment to building around them
as they continue to develop their roster. The financial commitment
(05:11):
also indicates the Thunder's confidence in his ability to lead
the team to future successes, especially after a record sitting season.
So in summary, this year's new contractor is a significant
mast for both the player and okay see marking a
new era of potential success for the franchise. Now, pony,
can I just bring up a real funny story quickly
before we go to WNBA. Yeah, so the champions Thunder team,
(05:35):
they were actually the second youngest team ever to win
an NBA title. Now there's a really funny story to
this whole thing. So what happened is, as we know,
when they end up winning the championship and the team
all they go back to the locker room and they celebrate,
they get up the old champaign bottles. Right, this team
was so young, fourteen of the fifteen players had no
(05:55):
idea how to pop corks or for champaign battles. Most
weren't even going onto YouTube inch of tutorials. So thankfully
the oldest player on the team, Alex Caruso at thirty one,
had previously won an NBA tital so he probably shared
the sco on how to get it done. How funny
as that.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
I thought you were going to say they weren't legally
old enough to have a sip of it, which is
probably true in some cases as well, but yeah, brilliant stuff.
Let's go to the WNBA. It seems to be all
about the Indiana Fever. Leon.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Yeah, so earlier the Smith Indiana Fever upset the defending
champion Minnesota linked fifty nine to seventy four to win
the Commissioner's Cup. So when we relate that to the NBA,
they have the NBA Cup, which is like the n
season tournament. So what's even more impressive though, was Indiana
did it without their superstar, the face of the Caitlin Clark,
who's dealing with another injury. Have we now missed ten
(06:47):
games this season? So sticking with the fever, Sophie Cunningham,
she's a teammate of Caitlin Clark. She'd me making headlines,
but unfortunately for all the wrong reasons. So having been
involved with on court violent incidents, the controversial comments on
expansion plans to eighteen teams by twenty thirty, Cunningham has
become somewhat polarizing to w NBA fans. The former Phoenix
(07:09):
Mercury player was traded to Indiana on January thirty one
this year and it certainly made a presence start on
and off the court. She's productive as a two way
plan seems to be. I guess cashing inside to speak
on numerous social media platforms due to her actions, which
many of her growing fan base are appording Piney. I
guess it's the world we live in now that even
bad news is good news. That people are at least
(07:32):
talking about you.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Yeah, well that's they say that the anything worse than
being talked about is not being talked about, or some
words to that effect. And what's up with this Red Panda? Good?
What's this?
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (07:45):
I shouldn't really laugh because it was an unfortunate intluence.
So yeah. So. One of the more usual headlines that
came out this week was the injury sustained by legendary
halftime entertainer. She's known as Red Panda, and she performed
during the Commissioner's Cup Final during the half time entertainment slog.
She lost their balances to really fractured her risk while
performing the fifty something fourth generation acrobat and unicycle artist.
(08:10):
It's been over eleven hours in hospital and was released
to begin her rehab expected to take a few months,
but our agency she was grateful for all of the
kind wishes and alba overwhelming support, which meant the wilcare.
So after the final ended, the Victoria's Indiana Fever ten
sent their love on socral media and thoughts to the
beloved Chinese American performer. So am I sending to another
(08:31):
wise unforeseen misst deer Pony.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Yeah, well we wish you're all the beast in her recovery.
And finally to the NFL, which is not far away
from starting. I know you're looking forward to this, as
am I a major signing in college though, that you've
got to tell us about.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Yes, So there was a young offensive tackle. His name's
fridix Ojo, so he made headlines this week. So he's
what they call a five star recruit from Texas and
he's entering a senior year at a high school. So
he's still in high school. But he committed to a
fully guaranteed three year contract with the Texas Tech University
and worth over five million dollars. Now they're highly sought
(09:09):
after six foot seven, one hundred and thirty kilogram recruits.
Signed the contract just days ago on his seventeenth birthday. So,
as I've mentioned before, the sporting landscape in American college
sports has totally changed since NIL, which its name, image
and likeness, the transfer portal, and more recently the federal
courts allowing colleges to directly pay their athletes as historical
(09:30):
and there's no limit to what these student athletes can
now end. So the money being thrown around is real
crazy pinty, but I feel it's a positive. As the
NC double A once considered a titan in college sports,
it's really weakened with the PowerShift to the colleges now,
oh oh, other things. You alluded to the role that
the best news of a college football and the NFL
(09:52):
regular season kicks off on only sixty days time life
doesn't get any bit of their pinting.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
I know you've got to love on you all ly on.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
You're chalking off the days we'll talk to you as
it draws closer the NFL season in early August. Always
good to get the the state side lowdown from you,
Leon Busby, our American sport expert here on Weekend Sport.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, listen live
to News Talk set B weekends from midday, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio,
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