Steph Curry shares new all-time starting five. Plus, Jaylen Brown v. Nike in Beef Court!

The Bounce Newslette | This is The Athletic's daily NBA newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Bounce directly in your inbox.

This is a safe space, right? ... So, it's safe to admit we all want to see Mike Tyson knock out Jake Paul?

Steph's Change of Mind

Curry has a new all-time starting five

The internet loves starting-five debates. That means arguments about who you'd want to roll out on the floor in any given basketball game. While we civilians and casuals argue ours all the time, it means a little bit more when an NBA All-Star is willing to participate in the conversation. When an all-time great decides to give their all-time starting five? Now we have a discussion with some weight behind it.

Steph Curry is one of the greatest players to ever lace them up. The four-time champion is one of the most influential players ever — on and off the court. Steph has seen it all and done it all. Recently, he sat down with Dude Perfect , the internet legends who have been dominating YouTube and online views for a decade and a half. Asked who the best five-man NBA roster ever would include, Steph said: "Shaq at the center, Tim Duncan at the power forward, Bron at the three, MJ at the two and me at the one."

That's a pretty ridiculous starting five and definitely hard to argue. Shaq might be the most dominant center ever. Duncan is the best power forward ever. LeBron is LeBron. Jordan is Jordan. And Steph versus Magic Johnson is an interesting conversation, to say the least. But there's some additional intrigue here: This lineup has changed for Steph since last year.

There's this video of the Steph surrounded by puppies (seriously) while giving his starting five back in July 2023. He still had Shaq at the center, Duncan at the four and Jordan at the two. He initially had Larry Bird at the three but has since replaced him with Kobe Bryant. And he had Magic Johnson at the point. So, in the last year, he has taken Kobe and Magic out of his five and replaced them with LeBron and himself. What's changed in that year?

Well, we did see a bromance form when Steph and LeBron won the Olympic gold medal together in August. They both had big moments in Paris, where they took over key stretches to keep Team USA at the top of the basketball world. It feels like forever ago since LeBron blocked Steph in Game 6 of the 2016 NBA Finals, looked back at him and talked trash.

At times over the years, it felt like some pettiness built as each kept the other from a title or three (sorry, LeBron). As both players reach the end of their careers yet maintain high-level play beyond reason, we've seen them come to appreciate each other quite a bit. Now Steph is throwing himself and LeBron both into his all-time five. Good luck arguing against that one.

The Last 24

Get your eyes ready for the NBA Cup tonight

Will Seattle get another NBA team someday? Jason Quick explores the topic .

Rookies on the rise! Is Sixers guard Jared McCain the best rookie? Sam Vecenie has answers

More injuries. Warriors guard De'Anthony Melton has a sprained left ACL. Thankfully, it's not torn.

Luka Dončić at No. 53. "The Basketball 100" celebrates the Mavs star. You'll like this more than scrolling down, Mavs fans.

Don't miss this game tonight. Lakers at Spurs , 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN or Fubo . Wemby just went for 50. Now he faces LeBron and AD.

Beef Court

Jaylen Brown vs. Giannis and Nike

Remember the other day , when Giannis Antetokounmpo was on his way to dropping 43 points on the Celtics, and his Bucks were winning by double digits in the first half? After Antetokounmpo caught Jaylen Brown with an elbow on offense, he did the old "extend the hand for a handshake apology, only to pull it away like he's smoothing out his hair" move when Brown went for it. The Celtics won that game, and afterward, Brown was asked about that moment. He called Giannis "a child."

Then, Wednesday night, Giannis dropped 59 points on the Pistons in an overtime win. It prompted the Nike Basketball social media account to post this:

It was a clear shot at Brown's comments. Brown then quote tweeted that with this rebuttal:

Now we're getting spicy! This is what The Bounce likes to see. Why? Because it means we get to take this to court — Beef Court! In which we settle beefs between players! We don't smooth things out. We adjudicate which side is right and which side is wrong, ruling with an iron fist and banging a gavel loudly because that's fun. Let's get to the courtroom!

Case for Giannis and Nike: You could say Antetokounmpo was just trying to be playful toward Brown and the Celtics after a possibly inadvertent elbow. Thankfully, it didn't do damage to Brown. Also, Antetokounmpo is kind of a corny guy. You see that in news conferences and a lot of content involving him. There is a lot of what the internet would call "dad humor" when it comes to Antetokounmpo. That fake handshake is about as "dad" as it gets.

Nike's part in this was simply defending one of its biggest NBA athletes (who now has six versions of a signature shoe with the company). When you factor in that Brown accused Nike of keeping him off Team USA last summer, Nike Basketball throwing a bit of a clapback makes some sense. Antetokounmpo went out and dropped nearly 60 points on Detroit days after this accusation by Brown. I get it.

Case for Jaylen: As much as I like pettiness and chaos, it is weird energy for a brand account to be indirectly talking trash like this. Even with social media strategy being so bizarre in the first place right now. There have long been conspiracy theories that Nike has major influence over Team USA roster selection. Even if it's not true, the accusation is always going to be there. Brown has since channeled his summer beef with Nike into launching his own shoe brand. I'll admit, the shoe looks kind of dope . We'll see if it's the launch of something special or another Big Baller Brand.

Brown is justified in having beef with Antetokounmpo. He's a physical player who sometimes borders between reckless and dirty. There are plenty of supercuts out there of Antetokounmpo making questionable plays. Getting hit with an elbow and then being expected to accept a corny gesture by Antetokounmpo wouldn't fly with me either.

Beef Court verdict: We're going to side with Brown here. You shouldn't need 59 in overtime to beat the Pistons, Nike stepping in is weird and Brown has two playoff series wins over Giannis versus one playoff series loss.

Clutch Issues

Are the Mavs bad or unlucky in the clutch?

When you have Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving on the same team, you expect to be pretty dang good in the clutch. Those tight final five minutes of a game with the balance within five points? That's when the blood pressure rises and/or the veins get icy. Dončić and Kyrie are two of the best at remaining calm and plunging daggers into the competition. Last season, the Mavericks were 23-9 in games that triggered clutch situations. The Mavs also had 11 clutch games in the playoffs and went 6-5. Their offense and defense were both dominant in the clutch. The bottom line is that the Mavs are a team you expect to trust in the clutch. Dallas played in the only game on the schedule last night, visiting the lowly Jazz , who are off to a horrendous start. The contest came down to a clutch situation , and that's when this moment happened:

In case you're struggling to figure it out, Dončić is "guarding" John Collins . He starts inching out to the 3-point line where Collin Sexton is, but that just leaves Collins alone in the paint. Jordan Clarkson fires a pass with about eight seconds left, Collins gets an easy dunk and we catch Dončić sleeping on the job. Dončić found Naji Marshall in the corner for the game-winning 3-pointer, but it didn't go in. Dallas fell to 5-7 as the Jazz technically improved to 3-8.

Six of Dallas' seven losses have come in clutch situationsAfter being so good last year, they're off to a 1-6 start in the clutch. They've lost four straight games by a grand total of eight points. How? Well ... Dončić playing defense like this doesn't help. And they've missed some bad shots in the clutch. They've also missed some good shots. The luck element just isn't going their way. And the Mavs are not alone: The New York Knicks are 1-5 in clutch games and Milwaukee is 1-3.

The Mavericks need to get it together to get back to competing for the West by season's end. Maybe get Dončić an espresso when the games get tight?

Love The Bounce? Check out The Athletic's other newsletters.

(Top photo: Ezra Shaw / )