Basketball Intelligence For 1/24/26
The day's best basketball news and reporting.
THE BASKETBALL INTELLIGENCE NETWORK
FEATURES OF THE DAY
Knicks Big Men & the Shadows of the Past
Omar Zahran, Medium
The Eligibility Era: 4 Solutions to the G League/NCAA Issue
Jacob Sutton, JSutt Hoops
Jalen Brunson and the toddler obsessed with his 3-point celebration
Anthony Gharib, ESPN
TEAM NEWS
ATL: New Hawks center Christian Koloko knows how to adjust on the fly
Lauren Williams, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
BOS: Celtics Rookies Guide Boston to Epic Comeback vs. Nets
Jared Weiss, heavy.
CLE: Game Night Observations: Evan Mobley’s Dominance and Stacking Days
Danny Cunningham, The Inside Shot
CLE: ‘Top two-way player there is’: The standard Evan Mobley is chasing — and learning to sustain
Ethan Sands, cleveland.com
Still, one night doesn’t define development. Consistency does.
Mobley doesn’t need to channel O’Neal every evening. What Cleveland needs is the assertive version of him to show up every night, regardless of who shares the floor. That’s where the tension in his growth lives — the balance between versatility and identity.
“I think he’s versatile,” Atkinson said. “I don’t think there’s one thing to say, man. He’s not Yao and has the jump hook, right? Or [DeMar] DeRozan’s got the spin move. It’s not that. I think he’s versatile. I think he works within the flow of the offense, but it’s almost a curse of versatility. ... his biggest skill is winning.
CLE: The Cavs’ quest for identity: How a philosophical shift left Cleveland as a finesse team in a new tough-minded NBA
Terry Pluto, cleveland.com
DAL: Cooper Flagg’s impressive rookie season has put him in elite company — and given Mavs fans hope again
Dan Devine, Yahoo Sports
Remaining Team News, Around the League, and NBA Draft for paid subscribers
