The Bounce Newsletter 
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Hey, it’s Zach Harper! I’m back from Europe! Big thanks to Jason Jones for writing killer editions of The Bounce in my absence. We know the season is right around the corner because social media is letting us know Ben Simmons is working out and ready. 🙄
City or 💩-y?
New city unis are tanking for Cooper Flagg
Maybe jersey designs are just broken in general. I remember not loving what Adidas did with the NBA uniforms, especially when they tried to make fetch (sleeved) jerseys a thing. When the NBA uniform contract went to Nike, I got excited. Nike generally has good ideas with uniforms — just look at some of the cool stuff they’ve done with the University of Oregon! But in the era of statement, icon and whatever other jersey names they can come up with instead of saying “home and away,” we’ve seen some real struggle designs.
The latest peek at the City Edition jerseys for the upcoming season left many of us saturated in disappointment. Of the 30 sneak peaks revealed this week, I’d argue that maybe five of them are in “I don’t mind it” to “these are legitimately good” territory. Here are the five I can accept/enjoy (courtesy of NiceKicks):
On a scale of 1-10, I’d give the 76ers a 9.5, the Grizzlies a 9, the Spurs a 9.5, the Jazz an 8 (we’ve seen it before, but it distracts from the bad modern jerseys) and the Blazers a solid 7, maybe 7.5. San Antonio and Philadelphia absolutely nailed their designs. I love the concept of what Memphis is going for here. I’ve always thought Portland had one of the best looks on the court, so this is close enough, even though it’s a little uninspired. Now, let’s get to the ones I hate the most!
I am not here to argue with you if you like them. I hate them. The Celtics get a 0/10 for channeling the Seahawks, highlighter Jazz and the Timberwolves into one jersey. There is a way to do a cool H-Town jersey. This isn’t it, Houston (1/10 for you). The Pelicans continue to struggle with their jerseys (2/10), and the Lakers have no clue what they’re doing here (1/10, and it would be less offensive to go back to MPLS jerseys at this point). Also, the Wizards (1/10) are channeling some bad wannabe script like a tattoo shop in 2009.
Here are the remaining jersey grades/roasts:
Final thought: I do not care about the deeper significance of certain designs or colors used. Bad is bad. 🤝
Worst Summer Ever?
Does it feel like the Celtics won the title?
Remember when the Celtics dominated the 2023-24 season, marched through the playoffs, cruised to the championship and received their much-awaited validation? Everything in that sentence seems to have happened except for the validation part. The Celtics have truly had the weirdest championship summer I can ever remember. It’s only getting weirder as their title defense nears.
Last week, the New York Post reported the Celtics are being sold because Wyc Grousbeck’s dad is not happy with the team losing money. I have no idea if it’s true, but it added to the weirdest summer possible for a dominant team. Here’s the timeline since the title:
I’m truly baffled at how unsatisfying this summer appears to be for the Celtics. At this rate, there will be a typo in the banner on opening night.
WNBA Finale
What to know as regular season ends
Today is the last day of the 2024 WNBA regular season, and we’ve got quite a bit of drama piling up as we head into a very important playoff stretch. The playoffs begin Sunday, and these are the big-ticket items to know heading into the final regular-season action.
- Expansion! The city of Portland will get the 15th active WNBA squad in 2026. The team will make its debut along with Toronto that season. And we have the Golden State Valkyries starting in 2025. Congratulations to the Rose City on joining the W!
- Playoff spots clinched: The Liberty and Lynx are 🔒at No. 1 and No. 2. The Sun keeps the No. 3 seed if they beat the Sky. They’ll drop to 4 with a loss and an Aces win over the Wings. The Storm, Fever and Mercury are your 5, 6 and 7, respectively.
- No. 8 seed up for grabs: If the Dream beat the Liberty tonight, they take the No. 8 seed. If the Dream lose and the Mystics win, they take the No. 8 seed. If the Dream lose, the Mystics lose to Fever, and the Sky beat the Sun, then Chicago gets the No. 8 seed. I’m 65 percent sure I’ve done the tiebreakers correctly here.
- Aces looking to 3-peat: Nobody has won three straight WNBA titles since the Comets won four straight from 1997-2000, the first four titles in league history.
- Might be the Liberty’s time: If the Liberty win tonight, they’ll have the second-most wins in a season ever and the fifth-best win percentage in league history. Is this their year for a title run?
- The Fever are dangerous: Caitlin Clark’s team has won 13 of 20 since starting out 7-12. Could Clark keep the hype rolling with some postseason upsets?
- Sheryl Swoopes does not like the Caitlin Clark effect: We’re getting quite the library of quotes from Swoopes downgrading the Clark experience. Recently, she said CC’s averages of 19.5 points, 8.4 assists, and 5.7 rebounds are good but not dominating. We thrive on hate!
- A’ja Wilson is the best in the world: She’s running away with the league MVP for her third such award in seven seasons. She set the single-season scoring record. Dropped 1,000 points in a season for the first time in W history. Don’t bet against her and watch to see how her tweets match Bam Adebayo’s tweets. 👀
Bounce Passes
Shoutout to Fred Katz moving from the Knicks beat to national writing. Shoutout to Josh Hart supporting Fred. Shoutout to James Edwards III going from the Pistons to Knicks beat.
Will the Giannis-Dame pick-and-roll be unstoppable next season?
Okay, LeBron James is just messing with us, isn’t he? 👏Well done.
Most-clicked in Monday’s newsletter: Is this last dance for the Timberwolves?
(Top photo: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images )
