Mitch McConnell has released a photo and the first statement on his condition:
"I was briefly unconscious and was taken to the hospital. While receiving excellent care over the past several weeks, Iβve also had to deal with a mild case of pneumonia."
The Lakers acquire one of the top available backup centers, and Looney, a three-time NBA champion, provides experience and pick-and-roll play for Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves after all of those years running screens for Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala in the Bay Area.
Free agent center Kevon Looney has agreed on a one-year, $3.9 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, Life Sports Agency CEO Todd Ramasar tells ESPN.
After sitting here watching NBA free agency this year and overall NBA movement over the past 2 years somebody has to say it....
The new CBA was sold as parity, but the first and second apron are starting to function like a hard cap on player value, team continuity, and player movement.
Teams are no longer making purely basketball decisions. Theyβre making fear-based apron decisions. That means good players get squeezed, homegrown cores get broken up, fan-favorite teams lose their identity, and the overall product loses some of the nostalgia and continuity that made people fall in love with the NBA in the first place.
This isnβt about players not understanding business. Itβs the opposite. We understand that the NBA is a business. Thatβs why the @TheNBPA has to operate with elite business acumen, elite negotiating strategy, and real foresight.
The owners and the league walk into these meetings with killers that continue to run circles around us time and time again with elite lawyers, economists, cap experts, media strategists, and long term business operators. Players deserve a PA that is just as sharp, just as prepared, and just as aggressive about protecting our upside.
Too often, it feels like players are informed after the fact instead of being truly educated and empowered before decisions are made. That cannot continue.
The next CBA is a do or die moment for us as players. It's only going to get worse for us. We need transparency, accountability, and a serious re evaluation of who is representing us and how they are representing us.
This is not anti parity. This is pro player, fan, and product. The league is strongest when players are valued properly, great teams can stay together, and the people representing us are operating at the same level as the people sitting across the table.
Just in: The Los Angeles Lakers are trading Deandre Ayton to the Washington Wizards for Jaden Hardy and two Wizards second-round picks in 2031 and 2032, sources tell ESPN.