The NBA opens with two bangers, plus ranking the top 25 college football stadiums

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Good morning! Don’t be late today.

While You Were Sleeping Hooping: The NBA opens with a bang

Much of the fanfare around last night’s NBA opening games focused on NBC, the legacy network returning to basketball coverage. As a reward, the broadcasting giant received an absolute banger in its first game back. 

On last night’s action, quickly: 

The Oklahoma City Thunder commemorated their title run last year by beating franchise legend Kevin Durant and the visiting Houston Rockets in double overtime. It didn’t end up mattering, but we also saw a brief controversy as Durant went full Chris Webber and wasn’t penalized for it. You can see the title vision for both teams after just one game.

In the nightcap, the Golden State Warriors reminded us they’re still here and elite, no matter how old their core is. A 119-109 victory over the LeBron James-less Los Angeles Lakers was impressive, and seeing Jimmy Butler’s full immersion with Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Jonathan Kuminga (especially) was exciting. Luka Dončić still had 43 points in the loss, and some familiar Lakers issues popped up.

We have a full run of games tonight. Check out our initial Power Rankings before you settle in. Let’s keep moving.

Bucket Lists: College football’s best stadiums, ranked*

If you’ve read The Pulse for any amount of time, you know my cheesy fervor for the shared experience of sports. I could give a TED Talk on how live sporting events are the last place in our society where 50,000-100,000 people, of theoretically mixed political backgrounds, come together to root for a single cause. There is power in that. 

If you want to drill further, college football may be the best example of this. Which is where this morning’s release of The Athletic’s top 25 college stadiums comes in. 

A preview of the top five: 

1. Tiger Stadium — LSU
2. Beaver Stadium — Penn State
3. Notre Dame Stadium — Notre Dame
4. Ohio Stadium — Ohio State
5. Michigan Stadium — Michigan

I bet reading that created a lot of strong feelings. Triggered much, college football fan?? 

To exonerate myself of any election interference claims, this list comes via a complex voting system, in which 28 Athletic staffers — who have attended games in 123 of 136 FBS stadiums — ranked their top 10 venues, plus five honorable mentions. Those were translated into a points system that spit out the top 25. 

One note before I resume homerism: 

• Three stadiums on this list I desperately want to visit for a game: Beaver Stadium, Autzen Stadium (Oregon) and Kidd Brewer Stadium (Appalachian State). I am accepting all invites.
  

See the full list here. There’s a survey at the bottom where you can rank your top 10 stadiums, too. Results will run Friday, and we’ll include in The Pulse. Now let’s go to 3-year-old Chris for more:

Courtesy of The Branch Family

Outside of a few years spent away, I have been going to LSU games in Tiger Stadium since preschool. I was asked to include a favorite memory, which is impossible: 1997 Florida, 2007 Florida, 2023 Alabama … they’re all favorite children. 

If I miss any stretch of games, it is the energy I hanker for. There is nothing better than actually affecting the game at hand. Or at least that’s what I tell myself as a scream on a third down. 

Thanks for letting me reminisce. Geaux Tigers, go college football. Back to the news:

News to Know

Wilson calls former coach ‘classless’
Broncos head coach Sean Payton and former Broncos/current Giants quarterback Russell Wilson are still beefing via the media two years after Wilson’s Denver stint. On Sunday, after the Broncos’ wild win over New York, Payton said he wished New York had benched Wilson in favor of Jaxson Dart “long after our game.” Wilson responded yesterday on X by calling Payton “classless,” among other jabs. Messy. Full context inside.

Suzuki gets Angels job
Former MLB catcher Kurt Suzuki is the new manager of the Los Angeles Angels, the team announced yesterday. Suzuki, 42, played 16 years in the majors, an incredible run for a catcher, and has spent the last three years in the Angels front office. He beat out Albert Pujols, among others, for the job. See our full update.

More news

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