Playoff basketball is back

Playoff basketball is back on Wednesday as the WNBA’s postseason gets underway.

The first two rounds of the eight-team tournament are single elimination. (The top two seeds have byes to the semifinals.) The Lynx, behind Maya Moore, are the No. 1 seed for the fifth time in seven years. But Tina Charles and the New York Liberty are the hottest team on the planet. It should be a fun, fun bracket.

Here are five things to know about the playoffs. Here’s how to watch. LeBron will be watching!

Kristaps Porzingis is making Latvian basketball great again. That team is playing against Mother Russia as I write this newsletter, but Porzingis has been a top-five player in the tournament (and is its biggest star). He went full Porzingod against Great Britain on Monday.

Speaking of Eastern Europe, Lauri Markkanen has given Bulls fans a lot to be excited about as Finland’s alpha dog.

¡Madre mía! This Marc Gasol pass is increíble.

Jeff Van Gundy coached a ragtag team of American players to the FIBA AmeriCup championship despite trailing Argentina by 20 in the title game. The Notorious JVG is totally going to coach in the NBA again.

There is evidence to suggest that Kyrie Irving doesn’t actually believe the Earth is flat, only that he was angry no one cared about his thoughts on social issues and he was trying to make a point. The sports world hangs on LeBron’s every word about, well, everything, and it looks like that made Kyrie a bit annoyed that no one asked him about anything ... until the Flat Earth stuff.

Speaking of Kyrie, here are the most important bits from his press conference with Gordon Hayward.

James Harden donated $1 million to Harvey relief, then told fans he’d never leave Houston.

Dave Fizdale, who is great, shares more thoughts on Confederate statues in Memphis.

Did Klay Thompson rob a bank? Jury’s out. Either way, the scouting report on these dogs trying to defend Klay is in.

A truly excellent mom thought Isaiah Thomas was a random kid.

The special challenges of Somalia’s women’s basketball league.

Interesting thought experiment from Mike Prada on how soccer’s transfer rules would translate in the NBA.

Will LaMelo Ball forfeit his college eligibility by selling signature Big Baller Brand shoes? If so, what will he do between high school and the NBA?

Why yes, Lonzo Ball is going to be on the next season of Fuller House. (Yes, they are continuing to produce seasons of Fuller House.)

Meanwhile, Lonzo caught heat for declaring that Nas is irrelevant and calling Future and Migos real hip-hop. Nas is in the Iverson Zone: You can’t ever talk about him in polite company if you ever want peace.

The Warriors as Spongebob Squarepants characters. Draymond Green as Plankton is everything.