The WNBA has gotten a huge boost in popularity with rookies like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Rickea Jackson and Kamilla Cardoso joining. Have you paid more attention to the W this year?

Marilyn Dubinski: I haven’t watched it any more then I usually do (which is almost never, especially since the Stars moved to Vegas), but they are definitely all over my Twitter X timeline and sports news in general, and as a result I feel a little more in tune with what is going on. Ironically, I never liked trash talkers, so that initially made me dislike Caitlin Clark when she was in college. However, all the unnecessary hate she has received, particularly from people I used to admire like Sheryl Swoopes, has made me a fan as I appreciate the way she has brushed it off and kept playing.

Mark Barrington: I’ve only watched a little bit. Honestly, I saw the women players much more on the Olympic court in Paris than I’ve seen them in regular season WNBA games. I think the women’s game is very competitive and watchable now, but I just have limited sports bandwidth now and I just can’t pick up another sport. But every time I watch, it’s a fun experience, so I suspect over time I may become a bigger fan.

Jesus Gomez: I used to watch the WNBA a lot more in the past before taking some time away from it. At some point a couple of years ago I tried to get back into it and bought league pass but there was no app for my TV so I gave up on it. This would have been the perfect time to get back into, especially since I’ve always been a Fever fan, but 1- I don’t want to be a fairweather fan, so I felt guilty going back just as Clark entered the league and 2- I spent the last couple of months trying to cut down on watching basketball after years of watching arguably too much. But the league is clearly fun and filled with exciting talent, so I think next season I’ll make it a priority to keep up with the WNBA.

Did the Olympics provide any indelible moments or were there a forgettable Games, as many have suggested?

Dubinski: From a basketball standpoint, not really. Team USA did what they were supposed to do by winning, but even with a team built almost entirely of NBA superstars, they had to work for it, which shows the rest of the world is catching up. The lasting memory for me will be it showed Victor Wembanyama can and will step up in big games with something to play for on the line (even while the rest of his teammates’ nerves got the best of them). Outside of basketball, Simone Biles cementing her status as the GOAT was awesome, but other than that, it doesn’t seem like much else about these Olympics will stick over time.

Barrington: I watched the Olympic basketball tournament and the best part was that both men’s a women’s final games were classics, with the underdog French team coming close to a historic upset in each case. The tournament up to that point was pretty much a grind, as the men’s team ground down the less talented opponents, with only the Serbians providing significant resistance. Jokic is the best basketball player on the planet (for now), but he couldn’t overcome the stacked US men’s team by himself. The women’s team was pretty dominant until the finals, when an inspired French squad fell just short at the buzzer.

I watched a lot of other sports, and there was a lot to interest me. I learned about a lot of different sports and was impressed with the quality of competition, even from countries that haven’t got the kind of resources that the US and European teams enjoy.

Gomez: There were some fun moments, but overall it wasn’t a super enjoyable iteration for me and I watched less of it than I ever had. Part of it was a poor performance from some Argentinean teams/athletes, and part of it was prioritizing a return to watching soccer over anything else in my allocated sports-watching time.

What have you watched/listened/read/done to replace the entertainment you get from the NBA in the last couple of months?

Dubinski: I don’t know how it took me this long to notice this series, but I have started binge watching Chicago Fire, Chicago PD and Chicago Med, which have all been going for double-digit seasons now, and of course they’re great considering they’re produced by Dick Wolf — the same guy known for creating Law & Order and FBI. I also started re-reading my favorite book of all time, The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, when I didn’t have electricity during Hurricane Beryl. I have the complete 1000+ page version, so it’s still a work in progress, but I can never put that book down once I get started. And of course, college football is finally here! That’s my other favorite sport and what really gets me through the final stretch of the NBA offseason.

Barrington: The Olympics were pretty amazing as I had the games on all the time for the entire two weeks or so. I’m fundamentally a dull person, when I’m not watching sports, my favorite pastime is sitting alone in a dark room by myself just thinking about stuff. I read a lot of science fiction: I enjoy the work of John Scalzi, and I just started on Adrian Tchaikovsky. Sometimes I just catch up on my streaming. New episodes of “Only Murders in the Building” are out! Did you know there’s a channel on Pluto TV that’s just classic Dr Who? It’s fun to have that on in the background and see how they can weave interesting stories with practical effects that are usually a bunch of actors in extremely cheaply made costumes. If you’re interested in simple things, you’ll never be bored.

Gomez: I’ve been watching a lot of soccer. Copa America got me hooked and then I returned to watching the Argentinean league and, to my surprise, I enjoyed it despite the lack of stars. I’ve also been cooking more while listening to old episodes of You Made It Weird, Pete Holmes’ podcast. The show has shifted more towards spiritual discussions instead of comedy in recent years, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but the earlier episodes featuring some of the biggest comedians of today back when they weren’t household names are hilarious and interesting. If you are intrigued and don’t mind some NSFW moments, give the whole two-and-a-half hours of the episode “Kumail Nanjiani Returns” a listen.