Sports & Entertainment Beat

Welcome back to the Spotlight! Even though the NBA season ended over a week ago, I’d be remiss if I didn’t recognize the building excitement for the New York Knicks’ prospects—on and off the court—for next season. If someone were to tell you that you could go to work with three of your best friends from college (and make tens of millions of dollars in the process), you’d sign up for that every day of the week and twice on Tuesday. That’s exactly the situation Knicks’ all-star point guard Jalen Brunson finds himself in as he is now set up to play next season with his fellow Villanova University teammates (and NCAA Champions) Mikal Bridges joins Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo. Hopefully they can leverage their chemistry to relive their championship glory, but for now, through media appearances including Brunson and Hart’s podcast “The Roommates Show” and countless other opportunities that await them, they can leverage their chemistry for entertainment and marketing value as well. Speaking of chemistry, honorable mention to the Los Angeles Lakers who now also have biology going for them as Bronny James was drafted to play on the same team as his father LeBron. All interesting dynamics to behold and something sure to provide fireworks for audiences and sponsors in the days ahead. That reminds me, for the immediate days ahead, brief note that in preparation for America’s 248th birthday (roughly the age of our next President, it seems) the Spotlight will take a breather and return the week of July 8. 

• • This Christmas, the Kansas City Chiefs will have a doubleheader, playing the Pittsburgh Steelers in the afternoon, and then taking center stage in a schmaltzy Hallmark Channel movie, “Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story.” I can’t imagine where they might have gotten the inspiration for that film from…
     
  • The torch for the Summer Olympics is being lit next month in Paris, France. NBC has lined up an impressive list of celebrities for its broadcasts of the Games—lest they be torched in the ratings.
    
    
  • Major record labels—themselves wading into the artificial intelligence space of late—filed a lawsuit alleging copyright infringement by a pair of A.I.-based tech companies that allegedly train their software on the labels’ music. Incidentally the labels are represented by venerable trial lawyer Chad G. Petey. 
    
    
  • Cash hungry media company Buzzfeed has put up its popular celebrity and chicken wing-centric show “Hot Ones” up for sale at the price of a cool $70 million. To sweeten the deal, they’re reportedly willing to throw in free carrots and celery.