Basketball News: WNBA Record, Mathurin Deal, Canada's World Cup Push – Press Monitor Review
Stay ahead of the game with Press Monitor's curated media monitoring of Canadian print media. Here are the top basketball stories from today's papers, tracked by our media intelligence platform.
1. Bennedict Mathurin Signs $16M Deal with Pelicans
The Standard (St. Catharines) reports that the New Orleans Pelicans and high-scoring wing player Bennedict Mathurin have agreed on a two-year, $16-million (US) contract. The 24-year-old Montrealer was traded from Indiana to the Los Angeles Clippers last season, during which he averaged 176 points. The six-foot-five, four-year NBA veteran has career averages of 16.2 points and 4.7 rebounds since being selected sixth overall by Indiana in the 2022 NBA draft.
Why it matters: The Montreal native joins his third team in a year, signaling a new chapter for Canadian talent in the NBA.
Key detail: The two-year, US$16-million contract includes a player option. Mathurin averaged 17.6 points last season and has career averages of 16.2 points and 4.7 rebounds since being drafted sixth overall in 2022.
Source: The Standard (St. Catharines), also covered by The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, and others.
Next step: Watch for Mathurin's role in New Orleans' rotation this season.
2. WNBA Regular-Season Game Sets Viewership Record
A front-page report in The Welland Tribune reports that the Indiana Fever-Chicago Sky WNBA game Sunday averaged 3.3 million viewers on NBC and Peacock to make it the most-watched regular-season WNBA game since the league's inaugural season in 1997. It averaged 3.82 million viewers at its peak. It was behind only the June 21-22, 1997 opening weekend games that featured the New York Liberty-Los Angeles Sparks with 5.04 million and Charlotte Sting-Phoenix Mercury with 8.59 million viewers, both on NBC.
Why it matters: The Indiana Fever-Chicago Sky game averaged 3.3 million viewers, the most-watched regular-season WNBA game since 1997.
Key detail: Peaked at 3.82 million viewers, trailing only two opening-weekend games from the league's inaugural season.
Source: The Welland Tribune (front page), also reported by The Standard, Hamilton Spectator, Toronto Star.
Next step: This momentum could boost WNBA media rights negotiations.
3. Canada's NBA Stars Missing from World Cup Qualifiers
Canada’s men’s basketball team will once again be without familiar faces as it continues to push toward a berth in next year’s World Cup. The team will feature Canadians hooping overseas like big man Mfiondu Kabengele and players like Trae Bell-Haynes, Marcus Carr and longtime participants Kyle Wiltjer and Thomas Scrubb.
Why it matters: Canada's men's basketball team faces Panama and Argentina without key NBA players, relying on overseas pros.
Key detail: Only Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Lu Dort are available from the NBA. The roster includes Mfiondu Kabengele, Trae Bell-Haynes, Marcus Carr, Kyle Wiltjer, and Thomas Scrubb.
Source: Cape Breton Post, also covered by Winnipeg Sun, The Province, Chronicle Herald.
Next step: Canada needs wins to secure a World Cup berth.
Closing: Which story impacts your industry most? Let us know. For daily print media monitoring on basketball and more, Press Monitor delivers the intelligence you need.
