{"id":828933,"date":"2026-07-28T11:16:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T11:16:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/828933\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T11:16:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T11:16:27","slug":"how-many-beasts-in-nbas-east-plus-trouble-in-belichicks-unc-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/828933\/","title":{"rendered":"How many beasts in NBA\u2019s East? Plus: Trouble in Belichick\u2019s UNC program"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pulse Newsletter \ud83d\udce3 | This is The Athletic\u2019s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here<\/a> to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

Good morning! Alex here, filling in again as Chris takes a break. Inside:<\/p>\n

Geography: Just how back is the NBA\u2019s East?<\/p>\n

Not even two months ago, it was a common opinion that the \u201creal\u201d NBA Finals were the Western Conference finals between the Thunder and Spurs. They had been the league\u2019s two best teams all season. The West seemed primed to claim a ninth title in the 13 years since the LeBron James-era Heat won their second in 2013. The balance of NBA power was in the West, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama set to keep it there for a while.<\/p>\n

Now? Not so fast, my friends. The Knicks becoming the center of the hoops universe was one thing, but Fred Katz\u00a0made a compelling case<\/a>\u00a0after James agreed to a deal with the 76ers last week:\u00a0The Eastern Conference is back, for the first time in a long time.\u00a0Once upon a time, it was James\u2019 birthright, renewed each year, to take either the Cavaliers or Heat to the finals. The conference lacked juice outside of his teams. Things feel different now:<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Knicks\u00a0are champions of the world and have most\u00a0of their key contributors back.
\nYeah, the\u00a0Sixers\u00a0will be really good, with LeBron, Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, Jaylen Brown and VJ Edgecombe.\u00a0They are a clear title contender<\/a>.
\nThe\u00a0Celtics\u00a0are still the Celtics, with a healthy Jayson Tatum, a likely better-shooting version of Derrick White and Mitchell Robinson coming over from the Knicks.
\nThe\u00a0Pistons\u00a0are\u00a0one likely Jalen Duren re-signing away<\/a>\u00a0from having the key supporting cast around Cade Cunningham back in the fold. They just won 60 games.<\/p>\n

You may or may not like any of those teams in a vacuum against the Spurs or Thunder, as you scribble it out on paper in July. But the East has both quality and quantity up top this year.<\/p>\n

Are we getting carried away, though? Just how\u00a0back\u00a0is the conference?\u00a0Let\u2019s tag in Zach Harper, author of\u00a0the excellent Bounce newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Zach, hello! When was the last time the East controlled the balance of power?<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcac \u201cProbably the last years of Michael Jordan in Chicago. The late \u201990s had a lot of good teams in the West, but it felt like Jordan and the Bulls (or whoever beat them) would win it all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you think that\u2019s happening again now, finally?<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcac \u201cPerspective matters. If Denver or Minnesota or the Lakers or even the Rockets were in the East, would we think they could win the conference? Yes. I think the East is no longer incompetent in the back half of the standings. There is depth for solid teams. But maybe only three East squads should be considered actual contenders.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the least, this upswing seems like it should be good for business. Is it?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcac \u201cIt should be great for business! We need more intrigue from the East than feeling like a team got to the NBA Finals by default. We need a tough path to winning the conference. We should have that this season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like always, it\u2019s great to have Zach. You\u00a0can sign up here<\/a>\u00a0to read him all the time.<\/p>\n

News to Know<\/p>\n

UNC GM Lombardi on leave
North Carolina placed football general manager Michael Lombardi on paid leave, the school said yesterday. The move came after a human resources complaint,\u00a0three people told our reporters<\/a>. Carolina has billed Lombardi as a key partner to coach Bill Belichick in building up the Tar Heels\u2019 roster.<\/p>\n

Shortly after taking his job prior to last season, Lombardi said the Tar Heels\u00a0considered themselves the 33rd NFL team<\/a>\u00a0because of the pro backgrounds of so many people in their building. (UNC then went 4-8.) The team also fielded a recent approach from the College Sports Commission, the enforcement body that tries to police NIL agreements.<\/p>\n

Wife of Chiefs coordinator shot; son arrested
Mia Bieniemy, the wife of Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, was shot at their home in Virginia on Sunday night,\u00a0an NFL source confirmed with our reporter<\/a>. Afterward, police in Loudoun County, Va., arrested the couple\u2019s son, Elijah, and said they did so in connection with a shooting in which an adult female suffered \u201cmultiple gunshot wounds.\u201d Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Mia was in stable condition and that she was \u201ca saint, one of God\u2019s good blessings.\u201d<\/p>\n

More news<\/p>\n

The Commanders\u00a0fired<\/a> tight ends coach Ben Steele after he was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated.
\nQuarterback\u00a0Daniel Jones\u00a0will be a \u201cfull go\u201d at Colts training camp\u00a0after rehabbing from a right Achilles rupture<\/a>, he said. Wideout Alec Pierce\u00a0will start on the PUP list<\/a>.
\nICE\u00a0said it deported<\/a>\u00a0former Colts linebacker\u00a0Daniel Adongo, who allegedly overstayed a visa. A former rugby player from Kenya, he played for the Colts in 2013 and 2015.
\nStanford football players\u00a0moved to organize a bargaining unit<\/a>. It was not clear how many players had signed onto the union effort, who their counterparty would be or what various courts, boards and governments might do to stop them.
\nOutgoing Michigan AD Warde Manuel\u00a0will get $7.1 million and assorted perks from the university after he steps down at the end of the year.\u00a0Full backstory here<\/a>.
\nThe ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee\u00a0wants to talk<\/a>\u00a0with\u00a0FIFA president Gianni Infantino\u00a0about his relationship with the Trump administration.
\nThe Trail Blazers and Portland\u00a0continued to clash over the team\u2019s arena<\/a>, leaving the franchise\u2019s future in Oregon uncertain.
\nWatch Guide<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa\u00a0MLB: Cubs at Cardinals
7:45 p.m. ET on TBS
Big October ramifications, as the Cubs try to solidify a postseason spot and the Cardinals look to hang in there amid a glut of teams for the third NL wild-card position.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa\u00a0WNBA: Fever at Storm
9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
Seattle took a league-worst 6-23 record into the All-Star break. For Indiana,\u00a0a healthy-looking Caitlin Clark<\/a>\u00a0is back in the mix with Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston.<\/p>\n

Pulse Picks<\/p>\n

A terrific story by Mike DeFabo<\/a>\u00a0on the Steelers\u2019 new coach:\u00a0\u201cMike McCarthy\u00a0came home to Pittsburgh, his family and the\u00a0grief he can\u2019t escape.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tim Britton\u2019s effort to\u00a0turn\u00a0MLB trade deadline returns\u00a0into an actual science<\/a>. What would the Tigers get for Tarik Skubal? We may know soon, but Tim offers a good idea.<\/p>\n

WNBA commissioner\u00a0Cathy Engelbert\u00a0may be unpopular with the league\u2019s players, Candace Buckner writes,\u00a0but she\u2019s not paid to be their friend<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Where could the U.S. find more\u00a0rugby players? Well, in basketball,\u00a0reports Daniel Gallan<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The going\u00a0rates for a men\u2019s college basketball roster,\u00a0explained by Brendan Marks and CJ Moore<\/a>. Your price of admission to be competitive this year? $10 million.<\/p>\n

Most-clicked in yesterday\u2019s newsletter:\u00a0Once again, Kerry Wood\u2019s\u00a0behind-the-back pitch<\/a>\u00a0for the Savannah Bananas.<\/p>\n

Most-read on the website yesterday:\u00a0The news report about Mia Bieniemy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udceb That\u2019s all for now! Say hello at thepulse@theathletic.com<\/a>, and check out our other newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pulse Newsletter \ud83d\udce3 | This is The Athletic\u2019s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":828934,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":["post-828933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=828933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828933\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/828934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=828933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=828933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=828933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}