The Bounce Newsletter 
| This is The Athletic’s daily NBA newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Bounce directly in your inbox.
Congrats to Germany on its EuroBasket victory!
Let It Fly
From 36 feet … and beyond
If you’ve been lucky enough to be in attendance for a buzzer-beater, you know the emotions they spark. The ball going through the hoop for the home team as the clock hits zero sends the crowd into a frenzy. The same shot can silence thousands when it’s the road team converting as time expires.
There are, however, levels to buzzer-beaters. The half-court heave. The toss from three-quarters away. Those are the kind of buzzer-beaters that look like something from a movie.
And it’s possible we’ll see more of them going forward. The NBA announced a change last week, and now, shots from 36 feet and beyond with three seconds or fewer left in a quarter will not count against a player’s statistics. They will only count as team attempts. (For reference, half court is about 47 feet from each basket.)
Our James Jackson broke down who in the NBA has been the most successful in these situations, as well as some of the most memorable heaves in recent years.
Taking away the individual penalty for attempting one late should allow players to show off a part of their game that they actually work on.
Post-practice half-court shooting contests are common. Over the years, I’ve regularly waited for a player to finish up their half-court contest before conducting an interview.
Some of these contests were just for fun. Others had friendly wagers involved. There are players who can make these shots, and I expect some to make it part of their last-second game plans if there’s no statistical penalty.
As I thought about this change, one half-court shot about 15 years ago in Sacramento stood out. This was back when most teams still placed reporters courtside during games, something that’s not the norm anymore.
It was Dec. 29, 2010. Memphis guard O.J. Mayo gave the Grizzlies a 98-97 lead with 1.5 seconds to play. DeMarcus Cousins inbounded the ball to Tyreke Evans for what appeared to be a formality before the buzzer.
Evans, however, was able to get off a running shot from beyond half court that swished through the net. He ran and jumped on the scorer’s table to celebrate and stumbled. I stood up and stuck up my hand to break his fall, but he regained his balance.
My friends thought I was giving Evans a high five. No, I was protecting myself and my laptop.
It’s a memorable moment that happened because Evans took a chance.
I’m not expecting a bunch of 50-foot game-winners this season. Some might be halftime baskets or at the end of a quarter.
There’s no penalty for the players, though, so let’s see those heaves.
Last 24
Who blinks first in The Bay?
🏀 Stalemate. Jonathan Kuminga wants security. The Warriors want flexibility. What will the solution be?
📈 Rising prices. As the WNBA’s popularity grows, the cost to attend games is going up.
👀 Not so fast. John Hollinger breaks down why voiding Kawhi Leonard’s contract would be a huge problem for the league.
🏀 Dirk is ready. Dallas Mavericks great Dirk Nowitzki is preparing for his upcoming analyst role for Amazon, and he’s a believer in Cooper Flagg.
🏀 Takeaways. Seven observations from EuroBasket and who might bring momentum from the tournament to the NBA season.
WNBA Playoffs
Home away from home
The Golden State Valkyries are one of the best sports stories of the year. They became the first WNBA expansion team to make the playoffs in its inaugural season and also set a WNBA attendance record while selling out all 22 home games at Chase Center in San Francisco.
The switch to a 1-1-1 format for the first round of the playoffs guaranteed the eighth-seeded Valkyries a home playoff game against the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx. Down 1-0, Golden State will have home-court advantage Wednesday night in Game 2, but the Valkyries won’t be playing at Chase Center.
Because of a scheduling conflict, the game will be played about 45 miles southeast at the SAP Center in San Jose (home of the NHL’s San Jose Sharks). The Laver Cup indoor tennis tournament is booked for Chase Center. It was booked in early 2023, before the Valkyries were announced as a new team in October 2023.
Who would have guessed this would even be an issue, given Golden State’s expansion status? The Valkyries are supposed to be at home, with their season over, not playing at home in the playoffs.
But don’t be surprised to see the Bay Area rally to the South Bay and show some support. There’s no baseball in town – the A’s play in Sacramento, and the Giants are on the road. It’s also not an NFL game day, so the Valkyries should feel the love from the fans, even if they aren’t home in San Francisco.
They’ll need it after losing 101-72 in Minnesota on Sunday. Blowouts, however, were the norm in the four Game 1s.
No. 2 seed Las Vegas routed Seattle, 102-77, and No. 3 Atlanta defeated No. 6 Indiana, 80-68. Only one Game 1 was decided by fewer than 10 points, when the fifth-seeded Liberty beat No. 4 Phoenix, 76-69, in overtime. And the Liberty have their own issues, with Breanna Stewart’s Game 2 status uncertain due to a leg injury.
Here’s the Game 2 schedule (all times Eastern, and all games on ESPN).
Tonight:
- Atlanta at Indiana (Dream lead 1-0), 7:30 p.m.
- Las Vegas at Seattle (Aces lead 1-0), 9:30 p.m.
Wednesday:
- Phoenix at New York (Liberty lead 1-0), 8 p.m.
- Minnesota at Golden State (Lynx lead 1-0), 10 p.m.
More WNBA: The Dream’s playoff chase was part of a ‘progress plan’
Star Power
Fight night
The Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford fight brought the stars to Las Vegas over the week. That included Chicago Sky standout Angel Reese, who met Crawford before the fight. A clip of the meeting circulated on social media afterward.
Icons meeting icons.
Angel Reese meets Terence Crawford backstage. #CaneloCrawford pic.twitter.com/VjIwqlE9gc
— Netflix (@netflix) September 14, 2025
My first thought: Geez, Crawford is short (don’t tell him I said that). But fighters in his weight class usually are when standing next to someone the height of Reese, who is 6-foot-3 and was wearing heels. Crawford is 5-8.
Being a part of the celebrity scene at a fight keeps the famous fight fans in the spotlight. That was true for Reese. Now her attention shifts to a big offseason, as her status with Chicago seems unclear.
The Sky suspended Reese for the first half of a game last week for comments deemed detrimental to the team. Reese ended up missing Chicago’s season finale with a back injury. Many Sky fans let their thoughts about the situation be heard (and seen).
Chicago finished 10-34, tied with the Dallas Wings for the worst record in the WNBA. Reese, who is under contract next season but has a team option on the deal in 2027, played in 30 games, averaging 14.7 points, 12.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.
Streaming links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
(Top photo of Kevin Huerter: David Banks / Imagn Images)