The basketball gods are just being mean to Philly now

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

BASKETBALL IS BACK! The preseason officially began on Saturday. Here’s a Vine showing Andre Iguodala hitting Stephen Curry with a perfect behind-the-back pass to the corner. One note: Curry was not in the game.

ONE OTHER NOTE: The Toronto Raptors, a team of young men from the United States, Canada, Lithuania, Brazil, Cameroon, Poland, and Angola, linked arms for both anthems on Saturday.

PHILA-D’OH!-PHIA: Ben Simmons has a fracture in his foot. No timetable for his return, but he’s going under the knife this week and the word is he could miss three months. Unbelievable. Kyle Neubeck of Liberty Ballers is calling for special patience.

PREVIEW PARADE: On Friday Professor Flanns and I hit the Kings (with a Bill and Ted analogy that stretched the bounds of rational thought) and the culture-changed Brooklyn Nets. We’ve also got season previews from Nets Daily and Sactown Royalty.

LIGHTNING CRASHES: Zach Lowe on watching the Russell Westbrook Show in OKC.

SMART FIX: A deep look at Marcus Smart’s attempts to fix his jumper from CelticsBlog’s Jared Weiss.

THE NETS’ D-LEAGUE AFFILIATE: AT LEAST IT’S NOT THE MONGOLIAN LEAGUE!

HE’S WITH HER: LeBron James, who spoke at rallies for Obama in ‘08 and ‘12, writes an op-ed explaining why he’s endorsing Hillary Clinton. Notably, he makes a positive case for Clinton as someone committed to helping those in need in lieu of an anti-Trump case.

SPEAKING OF LEBRON ... Attention, Dan Gilbert. LeBron is mad at the Cavaliers for being unable to reach a deal with J.R. Smith.

NO BROOMS IN CHICAGO: The Minnesota Lynx swept the Phoenix Mercury en route to the WNBA Finals (Maya Moore is too dope), but the Chicago Sky prevented the same treatment by beating the L.A. Sparks 70-66 in Game 3 on Sunday. Game 4 is at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday. The WNBA Finals begin Sunday.

YES, PLEASE: Hint of a whisper of a rumor that the Bucks and Hornets have discussed Greg Monroe for Jeremy Lamb and Spencer Hawes.

WHAT ARE YOU THINKING, STEVEN ADAMS? (No, really. What are you thinking?)

NOTED: Eight games for Darren Collison, who copped to domestic abuse charges in the offseason.

HUH: To each his own, but I don’t quite understand Joakim Noah bowing out of a dinner with cadets at West Point, where the Knicks hold training camp. A meal with cadets from the service academy that is hosting your training camp isn’t exactly an endorsement of war, and I’d bet most of those cadets — who will wrap up their college education with a substantial commitment to the armed forces — are just as anti-war as Noah! I feel like a smart, opinionated dude like Noah could have had some useful conversations in such a setting. But again, to each his own.

CULT TV HERO ROY HIBBERT: Parks and Recreation is over, so Roy Hibbert is now appearing on The Eric Andre Show. (Not Safe For Work, Not Safe People Who Don’t Like Worms, Not Safe For Basically Anyone I Mean Come On It’s The Eric Andre Show For Crying Out Loud.)

LET’S CHECK IN WITH DAVID STERN.

AND FINALLY: David West on his small but deep multi-year “anthem protest,” one that started back in New Orleans, has never let up and hadn’t been noticed until Saturday, when he did it in the Warriors’ preseason opener. You really need to read this.

Take care. See you next time.