Le Journal

Last season, the Phoenix Suns managed to turn disappointment into an art form. The most expensive roster the league has ever seen could not even sniff the Play In, let alone the postseason. A masterclass in how fast things can go sideways. Most of us have tried to memory hole that year and move on, but every so often, a new detail leaks out. Another breadcrumb. Another explanation. Another quiet “why”. This time, it came from Brent Barry. He popped up on an episode of the No Dunks Podcast and peeled back the curtain a bit on how that team actually functioned behind the scenes. And the picture he painted helps explain how something with that much talent unraveled the way it did. View Link “The situation there overall, I would tell you guys, being on the inside, was it was a team that just didn’t know how to get along,” Barry stated. “They were all cordial towards one another. They all came to practice and were friendly, but it was one of those situations where you’re just not invested.” “I thought it was going to be a slingback from what happened with Frank Vogel and the disappointment from the year before that there would be some piss and vinegar in the team and that these guys would want to show like, hey, we’ve got the highest salary in the league,” he continued. “We’ve got to figure this thing out together. Let’s use our superpowers to do that. Let’s use our superpowers for good. Unfortunately, they used them the other way and found ways to dismantle that roster. And sadly, they just didn’t commit to one another.” “If clearly those guys don’t have a hierarchy and you’re not, as a member of the team, as a player, you’re not aware of which of the guys were leaning on the most, it confuses the rest of the team. And I think we had a lot of guys who didn’t exactly know what the expectations were. And again, this comes back to really good coaching and leadership. You have to define those for a team. And at no point did we do that for the Phoenix Suns last year.” This was incredibly revealing. It highlights the contrast between last season and this one in bold print. Starting with Bradley Beal, it became clear that he never fully bought into operating within a true team structure. He had been the alpha in Washington for so long that the adjustment never really took. When reports surfaced that he took offense to his head coach asking him to play more like Jrue Holiday, that told you everything you needed to know. That was a crack in the armor. I have said it plenty of times. I liked the player. I did not like the contract or the situation. But once that detail came out, it reframed things. This was not only about fit on the court. It was about mindset. When a player resists being part of something collective, when the instinct is “me” over “we”, the whole thing starts to wobble. That mentality bleeds. And last year, it bled everywhere. And if you take Barry’s comments one step further, they also shine a light on the challenge Kevin Durant brought with him. You can talk all day about his greatness on the court, and none of that is up for debate. But the laissez-faire approach, the mentality of wanting to hoop and nothing else, showed up in exactly what Barry was describing. That disengagement, that singular focus, warped the hierarchy of the team and bled into the locker room. That’s the lack of investment. With great power comes great responsibility, or at least it is supposed to. That has never really been Durant’s lane. He wants the praise. He wants the contract. He wants the freedom. He does not want the accountability that comes with steering a group. Last season made that painfully clear. When the players carrying the largest financial weight do not define or embrace their role, everyone else drifts. Structure erodes. Accountability disappears. What you end up with is a roster full of mercenaries. Guys playing for themselves, not for each other. The coaching…

At long last, we finally got to see Jalen Green in a Phoenix Suns jersey again. It was only the third time it has happened this season, and from where I sit, the early returns lean positive. Yes, it is one game. Nowhere near a real sample size. But there were moments that sparked excitement, moments that made you slow down and think, and moments that naturally open the door to bigger conversations about what this could become. The final stat line? 20 minutes played, 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, and a pair of turnovers. Suns head coach Jordan Ott bringing Jalen Green off the bench in his first game back felt like the right call. He is coming off what was most likely a Grade 3 hamstring injury, and easing him back matters. He needed his legs under him again, because his legs are the superpower. That showed up immediately on Tuesday night. For everything this Suns team does well, speed is not high on the list. They play at the 20th fastest pace in the league. Jalen Green changes that dynamic. He brings real burst. Watching him blow by defenders and get into the paint felt different, and it mattered. That pressure is going to pay dividends. What stood out even more was his decision-making. Time and again, he got downhill, drew help, and kicked it out to shooters instead of forcing a look. That can be his secret sauce this season. Collapsing defenses and creating space for everyone else. It is also why I expect Devin Booker’s shooting efficiency to level out. He does not have to fight two defenders every possession anymore. View Link Green’s handle looked tight. The jumper looked clean. He went 2-of-4 from deep and did not force anything. No rushed threes. No momentum killers. That was a concern coming out of Houston. We did not see it here. And that alone is encouraging. The other question going into the night was simple: Whose minutes would he take? This is not a fringe rotation guy. This is someone who is going to play real minutes, one of the highest usage players on the roster, and someone the organization needs to evaluate over the rest of the season to truly understand who he is and how he fits. You are not bringing him back to play 20 minutes once a week and call it a day. My assumption is this will be matchup-driven, with Jordan Ott doing some minute math on the fly. Shaving here. Adjusting there. Collin Gillespie. Jordan Goodwin. Grayson Allen. Those minutes are all going to feel the squeeze at different times. Last night, though, it was Ryan Dunn. He played fewer than 9 minutes. Want a wild stat? That is the first time all season he has played fewer than 10. The same number of times as his jersey number. 0 before last night. And it made sense. Philadelphia plays with small, twitchy guards. Dunn struggles there. He bites on first steps. That is not the matchup for him. So Ott countered by sliding Jalen Green into that role off the bench instead. As the season moves along, this is going to be something to watch closely. Whose minutes change, when they change, and why. I also have to give Green credit for what he did on the defensive end, especially late while guarding Tyrese Maxey. That is not a friendly assignment. Maxey lives on first steps and chaos. If that matchup had fallen to Ryan Dunn, I think we would have seen a couple of clean blow-bys for easy buckets. Green, who is longer than people give him credit for, held his ground. He stayed attached, disrupted the rhythm, and at least made Maxey work for it. Through one game, this did not look like the traffic cone we were warned about. The only real criticism I have for Green is tied directly to his speed. He can get to the rim almost whenever he wants. Sometimes it feels effortless. The issue is what happens after that. There are moments where he arrives at the cup without a plan. We saw it late in the game on what I would call his lone untimely shot. The Suns were up 7 with three minutes to play. Green blew past his man and got exactly where…

The Buffalo Bills have reached out to the Indianapolis Colts with intentions to request an interview with defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo as the franchise begins a search to fill its head coaching vacancy, per sources. In the wake of another heartbreaking playoff loss, Bills ownership made it clear they are ready to turn the chapter. The Bills fired Sean McDermott following last Saturday’s overtime loss to the top-seeded Denver Broncos. Bills owner Terry Pegula mentioned the divisional round defeat ultimately accelerated ownership’s decision to move on from McDermott and search for new leadership. Over nine seasons, McDermott compiled an impressive 98-50 record and guided the Bills to seven playoff appearances. Buffalo posted an 8-8 playoff record during that span and made it as far as the AFC Championship twice, ultimately falling short to the Kansas City Chiefs both times. Make no bones about it, the Bills have been perennial contenders in the last decade, but just couldn’t get over the hump on their quest to hoist their first Lombardi trophy. The unpopular decision to move on from McDermott has thrust Anarumo, one of the league’s most respected defensive architects, onto Buffalo’s radar. A Staten Island native, Anarumo has built a four-decade coaching resume and earned a reputation as one of football’s most versatile defensive minds. Anarumo is known for disguising coverages, deploying timely blitzes and tailoring schemes to fit personnel rather than forcing rigid systems. At 59, Anarumo has spent the last 14 seasons in the NFL with stops that include the Miami Dolphins, New York Giants, Cincinnati Bengals, followed by his first season with the Colts in 2025. In just one season under Anarumo, the Colts emerged as one of the league’s premier run-stopping units, ranking seventh in rushing yards allowed per game (101.9) and tied for second in yards per carry (3.9). The Bills’ Achilles’ heel this season was their inability to defend the run, finishing among the NFL’s five worst run defenses. For a roster built to compete deep into January, Anarumo’s track record suggests he could provide an immediate solution. Buffalo was not alone seeking to request an interview with the Colts’ DC. Anarumo drew interview requests this offseason from the New York Giants and Tennessee Titans, before the Giants ultimately hired John Harbaugh and the Titans landed Robert Saleh. For a longtime coach whose schematic creativity resonates in NFL locker rooms, Anarumo seems to be on the cusp of getting his first opportunity to lead a franchise. The Bills’ opening may be the most intriguing opportunity among the six current head coaching openings. Anarumo recently settled in Indianapolis, but the appeal of leading a roster headlined by an MVP-caliber quarterback like Josh Allen in his prime years, parlayed with the league’s top pass defense would be difficult to ignore. Buffalo’s championship window remains open, but the challenge becomes finding the correct voice to maximize their potential in 2026. Anarumo is not the only name under consideration. Buffalo is also evaluating internal continuity with offensive coordinator Joe Brady, plus familiarity with former Giants head coach Brian Daboll, who spent four seasons as the Bills’ offensive coordinator. Another candidate on the Bills radar includes Commanders running backs coach Anthony Lynn. For a franchise searching for answers beyond another playoff appearance, it’s become a Super Bowl or bust mentality for the front office. Anarumo’s blend including 36 years of experience, adaptability and versatility aligns with what the Bills have lacked when it matters most. Both of Indy’s coordinators have emerged as prime candidates to take positions elsewhere, but Anarumo could become the solution to help Buffalo finally get over the proverbial hump.

Sara Godinez-Espinosa, a research technician with the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program (RRAP), sets an adult colony of branching coral called Acropora kenti into a bin at the National Sea Simulator near Townsville, Australia. | Harriet Spark for Vox CAIRNS, Australia — “I just got a whiff,” said Peter Harrison, a marine scientist, as he leaned over the edge of the boat and pointed his flashlight into the dark water. “It’s really coming through now.”  It was shortly after 10 pm on a cloudy December night, and Harrison, a coral researcher at Australia’s Southern Cross University, was about 25 miles off the coast of northern Queensland. He was with a group of scientists, tourism operators, and Indigenous Australians who had spent the last few nights above the Great Barrier Reef — the largest living structure on the planet — looking for coral spawn.   And apparently, it has a smell.  Over a few nights in the Australian summer, shortly after the full moon, millions of corals across the Great Barrier Reef start bubbling out pearly bundles of sperm and eggs, known as spawn. It’s as if the reef is snowing upside down. Those bundles float to the surface and break apart. If all goes to plan, the eggs of one coral will encounter the sperm of another and grow into free-swimming coral larvae. Those larvae make their way to the reef, where they find a spot to “settle,” like a seed taking root, and then morph into what we know of as coral.  Key takeaways The Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest living structure, will likely collapse by the end of the century without immediate and steep cuts to carbon emissions. An enormous group of scientists, backed with nearly $300 million, is working tirelessly to delay that decline through an initiative called the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program. At the core of their approach is assisted reproduction — i.e., helping coral have more babies — which they do at sea and in one of the world’s largest research aquariums. The broader reef conservation industry in Australia has not fully reckoned with the climate reality it faces, and that undermines efforts to slash emissions, the only long-term solution to save reefs. Spawning on the Great Barrier Reef has been called the largest reproductive event on Earth, and, in more colorful terms, “the world’s largest orgasm.” Coral spawn can be so abundant in some areas above the reef that it forms large, veiny slicks — as if there had been a chemical spill. This was what the team was looking for out on the reef, and sniffing is one of the only ways to find it, said Harrison, who was among a small group of scientists who first documented the phenomenon of mass coral spawning in the 1980s. Some people say coral spawn smells like watermelon or fresh cow’s milk. To me it was just vaguely fishy.  “Here we go,” said Mark Gibbs, another scientist onboard and an engineer at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), a government agency. All of a sudden the water around us was full of little orbs, as if hundreds of Beanie Babies had been ripped open. “Nets in the water!” Gibbs said to the crew. A few people onboard began skimming the water’s surface with modified pool nets for spawn and then dumping the contents into a large plastic bin. That night, the team collected hundreds of thousands of coral eggs as part of a Herculean effort to try to keep the Great Barrier Reef alive. Rising global temperatures, together with a raft of other challenges, threaten to destroy this iconic ecosystem — the gem of Australia, a World Heritage site, and one of the main engines of the country’s massive tourism industry. In response to these existential threats, the government launched a project called the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program (RRAP). The goal is nothing less than to help the world’s greatest coral reef survive climate change. And with nearly $300 million in funding and hundreds of people involved, RRAP is…