Browsing: Basketball

blank

After a tension-filled offseason that left plenty of doubt about his future with the Golden State Warriors, Jonathan Kuminga earned high praise from his head coach following their season-opening win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.

Steve Kerr told reporters after the game that Kuminga has “really, really matured” coming into this season and highlighted how Jimmy Butler “has really helped” him as he looks to take his game to another level.

Kerr specifically cited the adjustments made at halftime, with Kuminga playing more in the flow of the offense in the third quarter when the Warriors were able to open up a 17-point lead at one point.

Kuminga and Kerr haven’t often felt like they were on the same page over the past four seasons.

The Ringer’s Logan Murdock reported in May that Kerr was “incensed” during a late-season game against the Portland Trail Blazers “after several instances in which Kuminga looked off Curry to create his own offense.”

Kuminga didn’t play in Golden State’s next three games, including the play-in tournament win over the Memphis Grizzlies and Game 1 of the first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets.

During Kuminga’s restricted free agency over the summer, negotiations seemed tense between the two sides to the point his agent, Aaron Turner, publicly spoke out about what they were seeking.

Turner appeared on The Hoop Collective podcast (h/t ESPN’s Anthony Slater) in September expressed a strong desire for the Warriors to include a player option in their contract offer:

“If [the Warriors] want to win now, if you want a guy that’s happy and treated fairly who is a big part of this team, we believe, moving forward, you give him the player option. You do lose a little of that trade value [giving that up]. But if it’s about the here and now, you give him that. You don’t get a perfect deal, but you get a pretty good deal and he gets to feel respected about what he gets and we all move on and worry about winning, helping Steph [Curry].”

Kuminga ultimately signed a two-year, $48.5 million contract with a team option for the second season. Almost as soon as the ink dried on the deal, there were reports that the Warriors would look to trade the 23-year-old as soon as he becomes eligible to be dealt.

Kerr told reporters after the deal was done that the next step in Kuminga’s development was everyone focusing on “getting better” because “that’s been the thing that’s held him back—what we need verse what he wants to do.”

Tuesday’s game was a positive step for Kuminga. Even when he missed five of his six shots in the first half, he had five assists and five rebounds. He was a driving force for their offense in the crucial third quarter that made the difference in the game.

Just as notable, perhaps, as Kuminga’s impact on the game was that Kerr felt confident enough to put him in the starting lineup. It was his first regular-season start since Dec. 15, 2024.

Source link

  • blank

    Brian WindhorstOct 22, 2025, 07:00 AM ET

    Close

    • ESPN.com NBA writer since 2010
    • Covered Cleveland Cavs for seven years
    • Author of two books

TEX WINTER, ONE of the 20th century’s great basketball coaches, once summed up a classic NBA paradox with five words: Everything turns on a trifle.

The league’s best teams often teeter on a knife’s edge, thriving thanks to continuity but in a constant state of fragility, which explains the current state of the weakened Eastern Conference.

The two favorites, who meet in a made-for-television opener Wednesday in New York, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Knicks (7 p.m. ET on ESPN), are in this place because of the consistency of their rosters and misfortune of fellow contenders.

The gut-churning images of Damian Lillard, then Jayson Tatum, and then Tyrese Haliburton, each taking fateful missteps and tearing their Achilles tendons in a matter of weeks in a painful playoff stretch has provided these two teams with the most precious of NBA opportunities.

The window to reach the Finals for the Cavs and Knicks, who return all of their key players with additional depth down their roster, is wide open.

For now.

Editor’s Picks

2 Related

“We have a target on our backs,” new Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “We better bring it.”

The Cavs have been accelerating toward this moment for five years, amassing a team with two All-NBA players, Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland, four players who have All-Star appearances on their résumés, and an impressive spread of depth that has ballooned their payroll to just under $400 million this season, including luxury taxes.

But because of that, they have entered the nether world known as the second apron, and they are the only team currently living there.

Last season, three teams — the Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns and Minnesota Timberwolves — were in this penal zone of tax and roster restriction, and all three fled this season by shedding key players.

Three teams that were in it the season before also bailed out after one uncomfortable year.

No one stays in the second apron long, at least not in the new rule’s infancy. So, while the Cavs’ core players are all in their 20s, keeping this group together could well be untenable unless the team starts to win bigger and now. The Celtics, for example, were in the second apron in 2023-24 and, after winning the 2024 title, they stayed in the second apron as ownership spent nearly $100 million in luxury taxes in the two-year span.

The Cavs have been upset as the higher seed in two of the past three seasons in the playoffs, and last season’s second-round exit to the Indiana Pacers in five games was bitter, after a 64-win season appeared to set them up for a long run.

“The question will come for us,” Cavs president Koby Altman said. “How do you navigate this collective bargaining agreement and the restrictions that we have? For us, we’ve set ourselves up to have a runway with the guys we have.”

The enhanced ESPN App

blank

Watch your favorite events in the newly upgraded ESPN App. Learn more about what plan is right for you. Sign Up Now

But all runways eventually run out of pavement, and the Cavs are nearing the end of theirs.

That’s why Altman traded for defensive specialist guard Lonzo Ball in the offseason and added multiple backup big men to give the Cavs some size after the Pacers exploited them inside.

“We’re not reinventing this thing,” Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said. “We’ve really created an identity not only on court but how we practice, how we develop, all of it. We’re going to double down on all that. But we do need to make some tweaks to how we play.”

Part of that is to put more offensive responsibility onto Evan Mobley’s plate. He will have the ball more this season and is expected to take another step as a playmaker after he juiced his scoring average to a career-best 18.5 points last season, especially with Garland out as the point guard recovers from toe surgery.

There is also more expected from forward De’Andre Hunter, whose midseason acquisition last season guaranteed the Cavs would enter the second apron.

Now with Max Strus out for months because of a foot injury, Hunter’s role will change — from Sixth Man of the Year contender to starter, after a summer of work that excited Cavs coaches.

As the Celtics and Pacers, the last two Eastern Conference champions, shed key players such as Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday and Myles Turner over the summer as they faced gap years with their franchise players Tatum and Haliburton in long-term rehab, the Knicks, too, kept their roster intact and added to it.

Though they upgraded their depth with one of the league’s best bench scorers, Jordan Clarkson, and added energetic French forward Guerschon Yabusele, the controversial firing of coach Tom Thibodeau, who took the Knicks to the conference finals for the first time in 25 years, represents the only core personnel change.

Brown, for his part, has brought with him a higher-tempo offense that he says he believes will make the Knicks less predictable and ease the burden on All-NBA guard Jalen Brunson, who led the league last season in clutch scoring and dribbling, a combination that was admirable but burdensome.

“It’s always good to have short-term memory to focus on what is going on ahead and figure out how you can be better,” said Brunson, who also led the NBA in usage rate and field goal attempts per game over the past two postseasons. “You can learn from things in the past.”

New ESPN and FOX One Bundle

blank

Bundle ESPN and FOX One and unlock more sports for one unbeatable price. Get the World Series, college football, NBA, NHL and more. Get access

The Knicks have barely, but expertly, dodged the second apron by relative pennies over the past two seasons, which has left open some trade options, such as being able to combine salaries in a deal.

But the six first-round picks they traded for Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns in 2024 — deals meant to surround Brunson with defensive protection, in Bridges, and a pick-and-roll partner, in Towns — has left them deeply invested in the current roster.

Those limited pathways first showed up in August when talks surrounding a trade for Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo didn’t progress.

One of the league’s signature stars expressed an interest in being a Knick, but the Knicks couldn’t, or wouldn’t, make a serious enough offer for the Bucks to consider.

Which puts even more pressure on the 2025-26 Knicks, who might indeed have the best chance at a Finals run in 25 years.

The Antetokounmpo interest was the type of opportunity the Knicks have searched for, in one way or another, for more than a decade as they repeatedly have failed to land a superstar.

Perhaps those talks could be revisited this season or next summer. But there is no guarantee on that or that Antetokounmpo will have the Knicks at the top of the list, should he reconsider a departure from Milwaukee, a process he probably would control with only one more season after this one on his contract.

For now, though, those big trade thoughts are secondary.

“Our team is unified and has the continuity needed to do great things,” Towns said. “We showed that last year and we’re going to build off that.”

Source link

Houston Rockets star Kevin Durant didn’t take it personally when Oklahoma City Thunder fans booed him during pregame introductions on Tuesday night.

Speaking to reporters after the Rockets’ season-opening 125-124 loss in double overtime, Durant suggested that the booing isn’t a true representation of how the city feels about him, saying, “It’s part of the brand of OKC to boo me when my name gets introduced, but I think it’s all love after that.”

KD noted that the reception he receives while out and about in OKC is different than the vitriol thrown his way on the court, saying, “Walking onto the court, at the hotel, walking around town, every time I come here, it’s just so much love and respect. People always telling me they appreciate my time here. And I feel the same way.”

After spending his first NBA season with the Seattle SuperSonics, Durant played the next eight seasons for the Thunder following the Sonics’ relocation to OKC.

Durant was a beloved figure during his time in OKC, but the perception shifted significantly when he left to sign with the Golden State Warriors in free agency in 2016.

blank

Rockets-Thunder Full Highlights

Along with Russell Westbrook, Durant was the face of the franchise in OKC, and he helped lead the Thunder to a ton of success, including a trip to the 2012 NBA Finals.

However, before finishing the job and winning a championship in Oklahoma City, Durant joined a Warriors team that had just won a title in 2015.

Adding insult to injury, Durant reached the NBA Finals in each of his three seasons in Golden State, winning a pair of championships and NBA Finals MVP awards.

Since leaving the Thunder, Durant has played for the Warriors, Brooklyn Nets, Phoenix Suns and now Rockets, but no matter what uniform he is wearing, the on-court reception from OKC fans is always the same.

Nearly a decade since leaving Oklahoma City, Thunder fans still try to make it known to KD that they feel betrayed by his departure and the circumstances surrounding it.

However, it is fair to wonder if Thunder fans can now start the healing process and potentially transition from having contempt for Durant to appreciating what he did while he was in OKC.

That is because the Thunder won their first championship last season since moving to Oklahoma City, meaning fans finally have the thing that some of them may have felt KD stole from them by leaving.

On top of that, the Thunder are built to dominate the NBA for years to come thanks to the presence of reigning NBA and NBA Finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and two other stars in Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren.

Despite being without Williams on Tuesday, the Thunder persevered and came from behind to beat the Rockets in double OT, beginning their title defense in style.

As for Durant, he finished with 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting to go along with nine rebounds and three assists, and he looks poised to help the Rockets be one of the main challengers to the Thunder in the Western Conference this season.

Source link

blank

Following the Golden State Warriors’ 119-109 season-opening win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night, Warriors star Jimmy Butler revealed the bet he made with teammate Draymond Green.

While speaking to reporters after the game, Butler divulged that he bet Green he would have a higher free-throw percentage than Stephen Curry this season:

When asked by a reporter if he believes he can come out on the winning side of the bet, Butler said, “Of course I think I can.”

Curry was later informed of the bet by reporters and asked if it is “plausible” for Butler to shoot a higher percentage from the line. With a smile, Curry replied, “No chance.”

Over the course of his 15-year NBA career, Butler has consistently been a strong free-throw shooter, making 84.4 percent of his attempts from the charity stripe overall.

However, Curry is the all-time NBA leader in free-throw shooting percentage at 91.2 percent, and he has led the league in that category five times, including last season when he shot 93.3 percent.

In qualifying seasons, that was the second-best mark of Curry’s illustrious career, behind only the 93.4 percent he shot in 2010-11.

Both Butler and Curry got off to perfect starts Tuesday night with Butler going 16-for-16 from the line and Curry going 8-for-8.

While they are technically tied, the fact that Butler made all 16 of his free-throw attempts against the Lakers means he has a bit more margin for error moving forward than Curry does.

As strong as Butler has always been from the line, he has never shot better than 87.0 percent in a season. That could prove to be an issue, as the only time Curry made fewer than 88.5 percent of his foul shots in a season was 2011-12 when injuries limited him to only 26 games.

Although Butler is 36 and Curry is 37, they both continue to play at a high level, which is why they managed to reach the second round of the playoffs last season.

The Warriors will continue to go as Butler and Curry go, and they both excelled in Tuesday’s win, as Butler led the team with 31 points, while Curry added 23 points.

Butler and Curry may not necessarily need any additional motivation outside of chasing a championship late in their careers, but perhaps the bet will give both of them an extra push to lock in even more than usual at the free-throw line.

Source link

blank

Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick didn’t mince words for his team’s issues coming out of halftime in their 119-109 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night.

Redick told reporters after the game that they are a “terrible third-quarter team,” calling it an issue that dates back to last season and they need to “rethink some things” about their approach to make sure it doesn’t keep happening.

The Lakers trailed by one going into halftime before allowing the Warriors to open the third quarter on a 23-7 run that extended their lead to 17 points. Golden State put up 35 total points in the period, its highest scoring output in a single quarter in the game.

The Lakers actually finished with the seventh-best third quarter defense by points allowed per game last season, but they had some blunders along the way.

For instance, they allowed 32 points in the third quarter in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a game the Lakers led 58-54 at halftime. They went on to lose 116-104.

One potentially alarming stat from Tuesday’s game is the plus-minus in the third quarter for the Lakers’ starting unit. All five players were at least minus-10, with Gabe Vincent at minus-16 in just over six minutes.

DonÄić was the only Lakers starter who played the entire third quarter. The Warriors’ 35-point outburst included only four points from Stephen Curry. Jonathan Kuminga was tremendous with 13 points on 5-of-5 shooting.

The primary concern for the Lakers coming into this season, before it was revealed LeBron James would miss time with a sciatica injury, was how their defense would hold up.

Los Angeles’ defense actually held up well down the stretch last season, but it seemed like an odd outlier given that players like DonÄić and Austin Reaves don’t have stellar reputations on that end of the floor.

Redick did show the ability to coach around those limitations during the 2024-25 season. He will have to find a way to do it again as the Lakers move forward, particularly while they are without James to raise the ceiling for their offense.

The Lakers will look to rebound on Friday when they host the Timberwolves in a rematch of their playoff series that Minnesota won in five games.

Source link

blank

Sol Ruca announced Tuesday on NXT that she will not be able to defend the Women’s North American Championship against Blake Monroe at Halloween Havoc on Saturday due to an injury.

Ruca’s tag team partner, Zaria, offered to defend the title against Monroe on her behalf, and Sol agreed to the proposal.

While no specifics were given about the nature or severity of the injury, Ruca was wearing a knee brace and using a crutch. She also said she suffered the injury during the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship match she and Zaria had against Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss last week on SmackDown.

Ruca added that she is unsure when she will be cleared to compete, noting that she only knew she would not be able to wrestle at Halloween Havoc on Saturday.

The originally scheduled match between Ruca and Monroe had been in the works for the past few weeks, stemming from a backstage encounter during which Monroe expressed her belief that Ruca was greedy for having both the Women’s North American Championship and Women’s Speed Championship.

Zaria stood up for Sol, leading to a singles match between Monroe and Zaria that saw Blake use unfair tactics en route to victory.

Ruca attempted to prevent Monroe from using a steel chair, but when the referee was distracted, Monroe poked Zaria in the throat with a hair pick and then hit her with a DDT to pick up the victory.

Zaria got her chance at redemption the following week when she was part of a battle royal to determine the No. 1 contender for the NXT Women’s Championship.

Ruca was present at ringside to root Zaria on, but Monroe showed up and attacked Sol, which prompted Zaria to eliminate herself in order to save her friend.

After adequately getting under the skin of both Ruca and Zaria, Monroe was granted a women’s North American title shot at Halloween Havoc, giving her a chance to secure her first taste of championship gold in WWE.

However, if Monroe is victorious, it will now come at the expense of Zaria rather than Ruca.

Source link

blank

Draymond Green had some fun at LeBron James’ expense following the Golden State Warriors’ 119-109 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in the season opener for both teams.

After the game, Green joked that James’ “old ass was over there in his Phil Jackson chair” watching on the bench due to the sciatica that prevented him from playing against his longtime rivals.

The reference is about the custom chair that Jackson used later in his career that sat much higher and had more padding than the standard NBA-provided chairs.

Jackson dealt with several health issues later in his coaching career, including two hip replacement surgeries in the span of eight months from November 2006 to June 2007.

James appeared to be carefully managing his sciatica injury while sitting on the bench during Tuesday’s game. He maintained a very still posture throughout, rarely reacting to what was happening on the court.

This marked the first time in James’ NBA career that he missed a season-opening game. The future Hall of Famer’s return timeline hasn’t been officially established, but he is reportedly targeting mid-November to get back into action.

Green and the Warriors were probably happy they didn’t have to deal with James. They held the Lakers to 8-of-32 shooting from three-point range and forced 20 turnovers to start their season off on a high note.

The Lakers’ lack of depth without James really showed up in this matchup. Luka DonÄić was great with 43 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists in 41 minutes. Austin Reaves added 26 points and nine assists. The rest of the team had a total of 40 points.

These two teams don’t meet again until Feb. 7 at Crypto.com Arena.

Source link

blank

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James’ absence was felt by his head coach in Tuesday’s season-opening loss to the Golden State Warriors.

Speaking to reporters after the 119-109 defeat (starts at 2:40 mark), JJ Redick said he did allow himself one moment in the first half when the Warriors’ zone defense was stopping the Lakers that he thought “it would be great to have LeBron” in the high post.

Redick did emphasize that he was “focused on the the group” they had out there and trying to make that work.

The Lakers didn’t get a lot of production outside of Luka DonÄić and Austin Reaves. They combined for 69 points, 18 assists and 17 rebounds. Deandre Ayton was the only other player to score in double figures, putting up 10 points in 34 minutes.

James’ health was a major storyline going into the 2025-26 season, as head coach Redick told reporters he was dealing with nerve irritation in his glute that forced him to miss practice time.

ESPN’s ShamsCharania reported on Oct. 9 that James was expected to miss three-to-four weeks because of sciatica on his right side.

Throw in the reality James turns 41 years old in December, and any questions about his health are going to raise concern even if he has displayed incredible longevity and durability during his career.

While the Lakers have DonÄić to carry the offense while James is sidelined, it is still difficult to envision them realistically competing in the daunting Western Conference if they both aren’t healthy and playing at their best.

Tuesday’s game was representative of the struggles that Redick and his staff will have to figure out until James returns. Their offense should be better going forward because DonÄić isn’t going to shoot 2-of-10 from three-point range on most nights.

Reaves did his job as the primary No. 2 option to DonÄić, but the floor for this Lakers team will be determined by how well the role players fare. They struggled to get anything going in a tough matchup against a Warriors team they will be jockeying with for position all season in a deep Western Conference.

Source link

blank

Los Angeles Lakers star guard Luka DonÄić downplayed the severity of a groin injury he received treatment for following L.A.’s 119-109 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night.

Speaking to reporters after emerging from the training room, DonÄić said: “It’s probably nothing. Just felt it a little bit because my hip went [the opposite] way. Felt it a little bit, but it’s probably nothing.”

With LeBron James out due to sciatica, DonÄić was the unquestioned focal point of the Lakers’ offensive attack on Tuesday, and he delivered with a game-high 43 points to go along with 12 rebounds and nine assists.

DonÄić sat out the first three preseason games for rest purposes following his busy summer playing for the Slovenian national team in EuroBasket. Lakers head coach JJ Redick announced that he would make his preseason debut against the Phoenix Suns on Oct. 14 and would play in one of the final two preseason games.

The Lakers are set to be without James for two to three weeks, making DonÄić’s presence even more important. The 26-year-old will undoubtedly be the go-to guy offensively in his first full year with the franchise.

DonÄić was sent to Los Angeles in February from the Dallas Mavericks in one of the most shocking trades in NBA history. He played in 28 games for the Lakers last season and averaged 28.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 1.6 steals. The team fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs in five games.

The Lakers’ hopes of contending for a title this season rest on the shoulders of DonÄić and James, so it’s imperative that they stay healthy.

DonÄić’s comments suggest he isn’t concerned about his groin ailment, so all signs point toward him continuing to lead the way until LeBron is back in the fold.

Source link

blank

Check on your local Unc. They are likely confused by seeing their nephew giving postgame quotes on getting old in the NBA.

Let them know it’s just the newest TikTok brain rot—an AI-generated NBA press conference where a pixel-perfect player, sometimes real, sometimes historical, leans into the mic and sighs: “I’m getting old.” Cue a timeline reel from draft to today, with someone who looks like an NPC eulogizing their “NBA career.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Shawn Farrington (@pr1nceshawn)

The clips are most often scored to “Good Old Days“ by Macklemore featuring Kesha, equally soulless syrup that peddles nostalgia. The video fades between fake career highlights while the player’s AI “voice” cracks under reflection.

It’s called the Sora “I’m Getting Old” edit, and it’s the newest remix of AI simulation that’s taking over your For You Page. When exactly is that asteroid arriving?

From Steph to Sora

Like most memes, this one connects to a real-world origin story.

It’s inspired by a postgame interview with Steph Curry during the 2024–25 season. After dropping 46 points, he smiled wearily and said, “Man, I’m getting old,” brushing sweat from his forehead.

That offhand remark has become AI shlock. Fans clipped it, chopped it, screwed it and slowed it down with self-aggrandizement. But once OpenAI’s Sora, the video generation model, entered the public beta, the internet did what it does best: dumbed it down, down, down.

Anyone can feed Sora 2 a prompt like “Generate a 4K press conference of me retiring from the NBA, age 37, wearing a vintage Heat jersey, with confetti falling”—and the result feels eerily real, except for the “Heat championship” part.

From there, users began inserting themselves, historical figures, or even fictional characters into the edit format. Americans under 30 might not know the years of Abe Lincoln’s administration or any legislation he passed, but best believe, they’ll use his likeness for clout.

It’s absurd, uncanny and shows the line of singularity between the kids and the uncs.

How It Works

To understand the “I’m getting old” trend, you must familiarize yourself with another AI app, this time it’s Sora 2, OpenAI’s latest video generator.

This is a simulation engine. It lets you Photoshop reality.

The template: A reflective close-up → a reporter’s question → a humble answer → grainy highlight reel → title card that reads “The Good Old Days.”

Here’s how it happens: You record a short clip of yourself talking, or just feed the app a few selfies and voice lines. Sora’s new “Cameo” feature builds a high-fidelity likeness with face, voice and micro-expressions that can be dropped into any generated scene. From there, a single prompt does the rest.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Annie Elise (@_annieelise)

Seconds later, you’re staring at an eerily real version of yourself, tears pixelated under soft stadium lighting, with Macklemore reminiscing about something that never existed.

The most unsettling part of Sora 2 is the audio. The app moves your mouth and matches tone, breath and even reverb to the generated room. The player in the video sounds like you, looks like you and blinks at the right moment, as if AI learned how to remember.

AI Nostalgia?

Younger Americans don’t flinch at AI’s artifice. Kids under 21 were raised inside it. What older heads call “uncanny,” youngbloods call “content.” For those raised on social media, the line between real and rendered was never there to begin with.

Obviously, there’s appeal. The strange power of AI-generated nostalgia lets us grieve lives we never experienced.

Media theorist Mark Fisher once described hauntology—the idea that culture is haunted by lost futures. The Sora edits are hauntological sports cinema: highlight reels from Hall of Fame careers that never existed, narrated by players who didn’t exist.

The “I’m getting old” line hits because it sounds like what every athlete eventually says when they’re past their prime. It’s a universal sports truth, along with “father time is undefeated.” When spoken by an AI double, it becomes something else we don’t quite have context for yet.

We know it’s fake. We just don’t care.

The Aura of the Unreal

The inspiration behind The Matrixand The Truman Show, French philosopher Jean Baudrillard would call AI revisionist history simulacra. Or, copies without originals. You can create a basketball career conjured entirely from coding.

In Simulacra and Simulation, Baudrillard wrote that the image “no longer even hides the truth—it hides that there is none.” The “I’m getting old” edits mimic authenticity without ever touching it. It’s a commodification of illusion.

There’s rebellion in that. Like the 6-7 meme before it, the “I’m getting old” trend folds parody into performance. In the age of “fake news,” Baudrillard might say the Sora filter can even replace ESPN or other frameworks of media authority. In the future, could simulation no longer be an escape from reality but its continuation?

When the Bit Dies

Every meme has its expiration date. And Sora’s is right around the corner. Once big brands start using Sora edits to announce product drops like, “We’re getting old…so we made a new flavor of Gatorade,” it’ll die.

The same way “6-7” lost its punch when adults said it unironically, “I’m getting old” will too.

In its infancy, we’re still enjoying the absurdity. These fake retirements remind us of why we watch sports in the first place. Sports can be the closest a human gets to cinema. Ignore the old heads. Enjoy it while it lasts. Make your own fake legacy video. Drop your AI championship montage. Because one day, when Sora has moved on, you’ll look back on these clips and think: We were really onto something.

Even if none of it was real.

Source link