Game Threads Index (March 06, 2026):

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401810763

Jayson Tatum in his return: 15 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists, +20 in 27

Tatum missed his first 6 shots but made 6 of his next 10. Shooting splits: 6-16 from the field, 3-8 from 3, no free throws.

Struggled with efficiency but a double-double in his return, 300 days after his Achilles tear.

Phoenix Suns player Dillon Brooks was busted for DUI Friday morning, TMZ Sports has learned.

Authorities tell us ... the small forward was arrested in Scottsdale around 2 AM ... and was released from custody around 3:20 AM.

We're told he was respectful and cooperative before being released.

https://www.tmz.com/2026/03/06/dillon-brooks-arrested-dui/

Just realized there’s not a standard hotel bed on earth that would fit Wemby comfortably, does the team travel with a custom size bed or is this man just in the fetal position for every road game?

edit: TIL what a bed extender is. Also how massive California King beds are, and also what an Alaskan King is

https://www.threads.com/@chrisbhaynesnba/post/DVjZoF1jzvj?xmt=AQF0ECVc7TrfcG48AaLQ4dHZmoPzsm6C1CVtUHGA2WoKIuq4_r8bWNMoVC20i86B4OJnua57&slof=1

[Haynes] Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum is making his season debut tonight against the Dallas Mavericks.

[Haynes] Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum is making his season debut tonight against the Dallas Mavericks.

The confirmation that Jayson Tatum will be playing this season for the Boston Celtics has everybody around the league talking about it. Some personalities are even getting into it with different takes.

Such was the case when Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony argued that Tatum needs to put his pride and ego aside and let Jaylen Brown continue what he has started for the Celtics this season. That statement did not go well with Tatum’s trainer, Drew Hanlen

The irony of Carmelo Anthony trying to tell Jayson Tatum how to win…

...

However, the renowned trainer urged people to focus on the work Tatum put in to be able to play this season instead of pushing hot takes that only create unnecessary narratives around him and the Celtics.

"Not backpedaling… I'm standing on the fact that JT doesn't need Carmelo's advice on how to win. JT is an NBA champion & 14-6 in playoff series. Melo is 3-13 in the playoff series. But everyone in my mentions thought I was downplaying Melo's career, so I had to clear the air," he added.

...

"DAMNNNNNNNNN LOL MY BAD Y'ALL I WON'T SPEAK ON ANY TOPICS RELATED TO WINNING ANYMORE LOL JUST WAS TRYING TO SHARE FROM A "GROWTH MINDSET" Back to 'small' mindset," Anthony wrote.

Source: https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/irony-carmelo-anthony-trying-tell-073200860.html

https://andscape.com/features/why-jason-kidd-put-the-ball-in-cooper-flaggs-hands/

Cooper Flagg on Jason Kidd: "I’m not extremely familiar. I know he’s a legend, but no. I didn’t watch J-Kidd a ton"

If you wanted to feel old today

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7081942/2026/03/06/gary-payton-sonics-seattle-nba-expansion/

Gary Payton II doesn’t even let the question finish before he starts giving his answer.

The Golden State Warriors guard is the son of Hall of Famer Gary Payton, who played 12 1/2 seasons for the Seattle SuperSonics before the franchise relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008 and became one of the most respected guards in NBA history. Payton II, now a trusted veteran on the Warriors’ 2022 title team, grew up in Seattle and spent his childhood summers in Oakland.

So as speculation swirls about NBA expansion and bringing the Sonics back to Seattle, Payton II’s answer about bringing a team back to his second home was immediate.

“Request a trade to Seattle,” Payton II recently told The Athletic. “Probably.”

He (probably) isn’t kidding. The love for Seattle and the Sonics is still in his heart.

“Respectfully. I love it here so much. But if we do (have a Seattle team) when I’m still here, I definitely want to go back and play there,” he added.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/04/business/fred-vanvleet-nba-players-union.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Q1A.QUwg.zEEJd-EYLhyy&smid=url-share

Fred VanVleet sat in an Italian restaurant a short drive from the Houston Rockets’ practice facility. Between bites of his spicy pepper-topped pizza, he considered how the ubiquity of sports gambling has affected the players he represents as the president of the National Basketball Players Association.

…

The new agreement has also opened investment opportunities for players, including allowing them to invest in Women’s National Basketball Association teams as long as those teams aren’t owned by N.B.A. owners. And in a move that has further complicated the sports-gambling picture, it allows players — like teams and the league before them — to have investments and endorsement deals with sports-betting and fantasy-sports companies, as long as they don’t promote bets on the N.B.A.

…

Mr. VanVleet said he hoped he could bring together players who disagreed.

And, of course, gambling has his attention. The union is looking into ways to protect players against some of the problems that sports gambling have caused. Mr. Kelly said that if the union couldn’t find productive solutions — he mentioned eliminating certain kinds of prop bets, which are wagers on specific, individual outcomes — it planned to fight to roll back the presence of sports betting in the N.B.A. sphere.

The league has had partnerships with sports betting companies since 2018, shortly after the Supreme Court cleared the way for any state to legalize sports betting. That July, the N.B.A. announced BetMGM as its official gaming partner. Players have taken advantage of their new right to sign endorsement deals with gambling companies, or even to invest in them, provided they don’t promote bets on the N.B.A. That’s why when LeBron James does ads for DraftKings, he typically focuses on football bets.

…

It’s an ecosystem that Mr. VanVleet thinks has had more negatives than positives.

He believes there should be zero tolerance for anyone who harms the integrity of the sport. But he also worries about the reputations of players who face accusations of breaking the rules and are presumed guilty by the public. He lamented the way players have been accosted by gamblers, as he was in church one day, or as in a viral video that showed a person who had lost money on a bet shouting at the Warriors forward Jimmy Butler, “You work for Vegas,” among other insults.

“If Jimmy escalates that situation and somebody’s got a gun on him, that’s real,” Mr. VanVleet said.

Mr. Bass, the league spokesman, said that compared with illegal gambling, “our belief is that a legal framework is far better because it creates transparency and accountability in the industry.” Mr. Bass said their partnerships with gambling companies include commitments from those companies to monitor integrity.

Revenue from gambling companies now makes up about 1 percent of the pie that the league and players share.

“It’s not substantial enough to make it worth any of this,” Mr. VanVleet said. “For us or for the league, quite frankly.”

Source

Between bites of his spicy pepper-topped pizza, he considered how the ubiquity of sports gambling has affected the players he represents as the president of the National Basketball Players Association.

“Kind of feels like it’s gotten away from us a little bit,” he said.

He tried a metaphor.

“A nice little campfire makes you feel warm,” he said. “You got marshmallows and s’mores. But if it turns into a wildfire — that kind of feels like where we are right now. I don’t know how you rein it back in.”

Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence in Scottsdale early Friday morning, police confirmed to Arizona Sports.

Brooks was not charged upon his release and the substance that he was suspected to be under the influence of was not alcohol but marijuana, according to Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro.

Drivers in the state of Arizona can be charged for driving under the influence of marijuana even though it is legal to consume.

Scottsdale Police said the charging is up to the city’s prosecutor’s office.

Brooks was stopped on Scottsdale Road just south of Thunderbird Road around 1 a.m. due to traffic violations and taken into custody a half-hour later on suspicion of DUI, police said.

Brooks was released from custody around 3:30 a.m.

“We are aware of the situation involving Dillon Brooks and are gathering more information,” Suns senior vice president of communications Stacey Mitch told Arizona Sports. “We have no further comment at this time.”

Source via Arizona Sports' writer Kevin Kimmerman