Jalen & Cody Williams … on the Edge of being the NBA’s newest sibling duo

THE LINEUP 🏀

What’s inside today’s edition?

Prospects In NYC: On the ground with this year’s top prospects as they tour the Big Apple

Draft Class breakdown: The class of 2024 features collegiate and international stars

JJ introduced in LA: The Lakers introduced rookie head coach JJ Redick on Monday

Commissioner’s Cup: The Liberty and Lynx go for the Cup tonight. Plus, key WNBA storylines

Draft rewind: We throw it back five years at a time for some Draft day memories

BUT FIRST … ⏰

The Draft begins tomorrow …

Stay tapped into the NBA App for the latest news and access from the 2024 NBA Draft.

1. ON THE GROUND (AND UP HIGH) WITH NBA DRAFT PROSPECTS

One more sleep until dreams turn into reality.

The first round of the NBA Draft presented by State Farm gets underway Wednesday (8 ET, ABC/ESPN) at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., and the prospects are already enjoying the Big Apple.

See tomorrow’s stars in a new light as they soak up the New York City scene just days before their lifelong aspirations take flight.

From France To The Empire State: Alex Sarr and Zaccharie Risacher of France — the top two projected picks according to NBA.com’s Consensus Mock Draft — visit the Empire State Building and discuss their intersecting journeys.

• 🗣️ Sarr: “We played against each other when we were 13, actually in Voiron … It’s really special, and I’m glad we came all this way together.”
• 🗣️ Risacher: “It’s such a great feeling. We played together on the national team for three years in a row, and now we’re here on the top of New York.”

NYC From 100 Floors Up: Colorado freshman and potential Lottery pick Cody Williams visits the Edge with his brother and current Thunder wing Jalen Williams.

• 🗣️ Jalen: “I’m actually frozen by fear.”
• 🗣️ Cody: “Oh! …. nope.”

NYC vs. Chicago Pizza: Projected Lottery pick Matas Buzelis of the G-League Ignite tries New York pizza and compares it to Chicago deep dish.

• 🗣️ Matas: “That’s disrespectful. You’re disrespecting the pizza culture. You don’t ever eat it with a fork.”

Other Can’t-Miss Content

• Showing Out At The NBA Store: Former Tennessee star Dalton Knecht and UConn standout Donovan Clingan stop by the NBA store for a meet and greet with fans
• Edey Rookie Trivia: How many ROTYs since 2000 can Zach Edey name?
• Bronny’s Favorite Player: You’ll never guess Bronny James’ favorite NBA player

2. 2024 DRAFT CLASS BREAKDOWN

From college campuses to international arenas, this year’s Draft class has taken a myriad of paths to get here.

Prospect Breakdown: Where are this year’s 77 Draft prospects from?

• 60 College Players: Seniors (26), Juniors (12), Sophomores (6), Freshman (16)
• 14 International Players: Australia (3), France (3), Germany (3), Serbia (2), NBL (1), NBA Academy Africa (1), New Zealand (1)
• 3 G League Ignite Players

Global Game: How the Draft has gone worldwide.

• Loaded Lottery: Four of the 14 projected Lottery picks in NBA.com’s Consensus Mock Draft hail from international clubs, including the top two projected picks – Alexandre Sarr and Zaccharie Risacher
• Potential History: If one of them is selected first overall, they will join Victor Wembanyama (2023 No. 1 pick) as the first consecutive top picks to both hail from France and not have NCAA experience
• Top 10 Experience: At least two international players have been selected in the top 10 in each of the last 11 years
• Century Streak: At least 10 international players have been selected in the Draft every year since 2000
• International Record: A record 27 international players were selected in the 2016 Draft, including a record 15 in the first round

College Kings: The most popular college programs in the Draft.

• Schools With Multiple 2024 Prospects: Kentucky (5), Connecticut (4), Baylor (3), Colorado (3) and two each from Arizona, Creighton, Duke, Kansas, Marquette, Memphis, Oregon, Pittsburgh, USC, Virginia and Washington State
• Round 1 Record: Since 1989 (when the Draft expanded to two rounds), Duke and Kentucky are tied for the most first-round picks with 46
• Single Draft Record: In that same span, Kentucky holds the college record for the most picks in a single Draft, with six each in 2012 and 2015
• Kentucky’s Streak: At least one player from Kentucky has been selected in the Draft for 16 straight years, the longest active streak among colleges
• Big Blue Backcourt: Four Kentucky guards – Reed Sheppard, Rob Dillingham, Antonio Reaves and D.J. Wagner – could get drafted, headlined by Sheppard and Dillingham as projected Lottery picks
• UConn: Donovan Clingan and Stephon Castle are each projected to be selected within the top 14 picks, which would give UConn multiple Lottery picks for the first time since 2012

3. JJ REDICK INTRODUCED AS LAKERS HEAD COACH

On Monday, the Lakers introduced JJ Redick – a 15-year NBA veteran who retired in 2021 and has since served as an analyst for ESPN – as their new head coach.

Redick, 40, called the 2024 NBA Finals after his recent promotion to ESPN’s lead broadcast team, but said the opportunity to coach the Lakers was too good to turn down.

• 🗣️ Redick: “I am incredibly humbled to join the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the most iconic and successful sports franchises in the world …”
• 🗣️ “This job was about the Lakers … I’ve gotten to do some amazing stuff in my life — this might be the best.”

Only 19 NBA players have made more career 3s than Redick, and although the former two-time First-Team All-American at Duke doesn’t come with NBA coaching experience, he’s confident in his abilities.

• 🗣️ Redick: “I have zero coaching experience in the NBA, but I would argue that I’m very experienced … I got to play for Coach K for four years, spent 15 years as a player …”
• “Honestly, the last three years have been invaluable in preparing me for this moment. Being able to connect with players, talking with them on the podcast … calling games, analyzing the game … all of that has helped prepare me to be an NBA head coach.”

Despite his success in media, Redick remained interested in a potential coaching career, and after interviewing with the Raptors last year, he began prepping to take the sideline.

• 🗣️ Redick: “It was after I interviewed for the Toronto job last year, that I knew I wanted to be a head coach in the NBA, and so the last year I spent a lot of time talking to coaches, talking to GMs and picking their brain.”
• 🗣️ “I’ve visualized every scenario – for the last year, that’s what I’ve done in terms of coaching. The fun part for me is actually having that become reality and learning.”

Now, Redick envisions taking the floor for his NBA coaching debut with the 17-time champion Lakers and feels he’s ready for the job.

• 🗣️ Redick: “It’s very simply … walking out for your first regular season game and sitting there and putting your hand over your heart for the national anthem. What is that feeling going to be like?”
• 🗣️ “Sitting in this seat, I know what the expectations are … It’s my job, it’s our staff’s job, it’s Rob’s job, to deliver a championship caliber team. That’s what I signed up for.”

4. LIBERTY, LYNX BATTLE FOR WNBA COMMISSIONER’S CUP

Tonight, the New York Liberty host the Minnesota Lynx in the Championship Game of the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup presented by Coinbase (8 ET, Prime Video).

What is the Commissioner’s Cup? This is the fourth year of the WNBA’s in-season competition. From June 1-13, each team played the other five teams in their conference in regular-season games also designated as Commissioner’s Cup games.

• Liberty: Led by two-time MVP Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Sabrina Ionescu, NY went a perfect 5-0 to represent the Eastern Conference for the second straight year
• Lynx: Led by three-time All-Stars Napheesa Collier and Kayla McBride, Minnesota went 4-1 in the West, edging out Seattle by beating them head-to-head in order to reach the championship game for the first time

What’s on the line? A $500,000 prize pool for the winning team and bragging rights as Commissioner’s Cup champions. New York is the defending champion, preceded by Las Vegas (2022) and Seattle (2021).

Top Storylines: What’s stood out as the 2024 WNBA season nears its midpoint?

• Best Start Ever: The Liberty are 15-3 (.833) through 18 games, which is not only the top win percentage in the WNBA this season, but the top win percentage in franchise history through 18 games
• Coming In Hot: The Lynx enter the Commissioner’s Cup Championship Game riding a six-game win streak – the longest active streak in the league and Minnesota’s longest since 2021
• Cast Your Ballot: Las Vegas’ A’ja Wilson and Indiana’s Caitlin Clark lead all players in All-Star votes in the early returns. Cast your ballot by June 29 to send your favorite players to Phoenix for All-Star 2024, which will feature the U.S. Women’s National Team vs. Team WNBA
• Record In Sight: Wilson (27.8 ppg) is on pace to shatter the single-season scoring record (25.3 ppg by Diana Taurasi in 2006)
• Elite Company: Wilson (27.8 ppg, 11.4 rpg) and Collier (20.9 ppg, 10.4 rpg) are both on pace to join Sylvia Fowles (2011) and Chamique Holdsclaw (2003) as the only players to average 20/10 for a season
• Rookie Class Shining: On Sunday, Angel Reese recorded her eighth straight double-double – tied for the second-longest streak ever and one shy of Candace Parker’s record nine straight in 2015. In 15 games, Clark became the fastest player to reach 200+ points, 75+ rebounds and 75+ assists in WNBA history
• Record Ratings: The June 16 matchup between Clark’s Fever and Reese’s Sky was the most watched WNBA game in 23 years

5. DRAFT ANNIVERSARIES

Ahead of Wednesday’s opening round of the 2024 NBA Draft, we throw it back five years at a time for some draft day memories.

2019: Two of the most electrifying players in the NBA today – Zion Williamson (1) and Ja Morant (2) – were the first players selected five years ago

2014: The two players that have won the last four Kia MVPs were in the same draft class a decade ago – 2023 winner Joel Embiid (3) and 2021, 2022 and 2024 winner Nikola Jokic (41) – although neither attended the draft in person. Andrew Wiggins – with Embiid at a pre-Draft appearance – went No. 1 overall

2009: Blake Griffin – the star of NBA Twitter and YouTube with his monster dunks – led the class while James Harden (3) and Steph Curry (7) were game-changers with step-back and pull up 3s as they combined for five scoring titles. Jrue Holiday (17) may have gone outside the lottery, but just won his second chip

2004: Three-time Defensive Player of the Year Dwight Howard was the first player called 20 years ago and remains the final high school player to be selected No. 1 overall. Andre Iguodala, a four-time champion with the Warriors, went ninth

1999: The last players to share Rookie of the Year honors – Elton Brand (1) and Steve Francis (2) – led this deep draft class. It also included three Sixth Man of the Year winners (Lamar Odom, 4; Jason Terry, 10; and Manu Ginobili, 57) and one Defensive Player of the Year (Ron Artest, 16)

1994: Another tie for Rookie of the Year honors – between Jason Kidd (2) and Grant Hill (3) – marked only the second of three times the award was shared

1989: The man behind the killer crossover – Tim Hardaway (14) went in the middle of the first round, with Pervis Ellison, Danny Ferry, Sean Elliott, Glen Rice and J.R. Reid going 1-5

1984: One of the most storied draft classes of all time was led by Hakeem Olajuwon (1), followed by fellow Hall of Famers Michael Jordan (3), Charles Barkley (5) and John Stockton (16). From 1991 to 1998 either Olajuwon or Jordan not only won the title, but was named Finals MVP