IOC President Thomas Bachsaid the “hate speech” directed at two boxers -- Algeria's Imane Khelif and Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting -- at the Paris Games is “totally unacceptable.” Bach said, “We will not take part in a politically motivated ... cultural war.” He added, “What is going on in this context in the social media with all this hate speech, with this aggression and abuse, and fueled by this agenda, is totally unacceptable.” The women’s boxing issue was linked by Bach to what he "called a wider, Russian-led campaign against the IOC and the Paris Olympics.” Boxing is the only sport at the Paris Games “not being run by an IOC-recognized international governing body” (AP, 8/3).

Columnists around the world also wrote on the issue:

• The London Times’ Owen Slot: Distasteful, disgusting: both boxers are victims as IOC circus continues

• The London Times’ Brenda Power: If a fair fight can’t be guaranteed, women shouldn’t get in the ring

• The London Telegraph’s Oliver Brown: Thomas Bach’s comment on boxing shambles shows IOC clown cart leaving common sense behind

• The Sydney Morning Herald’s Andrew Webster: The disgusting display from world’s media following Algerian boxer’s victory

• The Washington Post’s Jerry Brewer: Olympic boxing fury is all about misplaced rage and not about facts

• The San Antonio Express-News’ Mike Finger: In Olympic boxing story, cruelty doesn't wait for the facts

• The Salt Lake Tribune's Gordon Monson: Stop the fight. Men are not boxing women at the Olympics

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said that the league is “ramping up talks with FIBA" on how to “best increase its competitive footprint in Europe either through an annual tournament or an NBA-operated league.” Current conversations are “pointed directly toward fulfilling what the league thinks is the commercial and competitive potential of basketball in Europe." Now that the league’s new media rights deals that begin with the 2025-26 season are complete, Silver said the conversations with FIBA are “much more serious.” Silver: “There’s enormous opportunity here. It’s not something where we’ll transform a league structure in the short term. But I think that there’s an appetite among our team owners for additional investment in global basketball.” Silver said that he has “no preference on whether the answer is a new league or a new competition." There also is “no time frame." But Silver said that it will "not replace the current European basketball landscape" (AP, 8/2). 

The league has been working with financial firm, The Raine Group, to explore its opportunities in Europe. Sources said that top European basketball teams do "not make as much money as NBA teams or their soccer peers.” Some, or "potentially most, even lose money.” There also is a “desire to win at the top levels of European basketball that leads teams to eat losses in the pursuit of championships.” European basketball officials said that a league led by the NBA “could change those dynamics” (THE ATHLETIC, 8/2).

SBJ and GMR Marketing on Friday convened a roundtable of corporate partners and Olympic leaders in Paris. The following is a brief snippet of the discussion; the entire conversation can be found online at SportsBusinessJournal.com on Monday.

Q: What are you looking forward to seeing in the back half of the Games?

Kate Johnson, Google Global Marketing Dir for Sports & Entertainment: The talent that's coming out of track and field right now is so awesome. We've all been on this whole Usain Bolt track for a while but it just feels like we've got some real like celebrities, like the legends joining the, you know, annals of time in this team in particular that I'm excited to see rise up.

Jessica Giordano, GMR Chief Partnership Officer: The big-name comebacks, if we can call them comebacks. So tomorrow, I think it'd be really interesting to see how the U.S. women's soccer team does. (The U.S. women beat Japan 1-0 in extra time.) Talk about pressure coming out of the terrible Women’s World Cup to be able to prove yourself that you’re still at the top of the world.

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NASCAR Holdings has agreed to another Netflix documentary, but exact plans remain unclear with the start of the playoffs just over a month away and as teams try to get a new charter agreement first, sources say.

Costing over $5M, NASCAR last year fully funded the first “NASCAR: Full Speed” documentary that aired on Netflix. The documentary focused on the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, with some lifestyle scenes as well.

President Steve Phelps has said another season was likely, and senior NASCAR executives have indeed given their blessing to doing so, according to sources familiar with the matter. But teams remain embroiled in negotiations over a new governing agreement, and some have considered whether to decline to participate in a playoffs-focused show if a new deal isn’t done by that time, sources say. The playoffs begin Sept. 8 at Atlanta.

RELATED: NASCAR continues pushing for more fan engagement

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Unless the U.S. can win both medley relays in today's final swimming session, the Australians, who have earned seven golds to the Americans’ six, are "likely to displace” them as the country with the most swimming golds at the Paris Games. The U.S. have topped the swimming gold medal table at the last eight Olympics. This year's U.S. squad, which has collected 25 medals to Australia’s 16 going into the final night, still “will top the overall tally.” But, for the last six decades, the Americans have “judged themselves by the gold standard” (BOSTON GLOBE, 8/3).

Not since the 1956 Melbourne Games has Australia “downed the USA in the pool at an Olympics.” The U.S. looks like they will “take home their worst haul of gold medals in the pool since 1988.” That is “largely because" French swimmer Leon Marchand and Canada's Summer McIntosh “keep pinching golds away from the Americans” (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 8/4).

Paris Games organizers have “cancelled training for triathletes in the River Seine again because of poor water quality," leading to “more uncertainty over whether the mixed relay will go ahead as planned" on Monday. A heavy rainstorm on Thursday night is “believed to have again dirtied the river's waters” (LE MONDE, 8/4).

Meanwhile, the currents in the Seine are a "new worry” ahead of the remaining scheduled event. In the triathlon, the athletes “swam just a mile in the river.” The marathon swimmers “will go more than six times as far,” making both the currents and the bacteria levels in the water “even bigger factors” (L.A. TIMES, 8/4).

Thousands waited out a two-hour rain delay but eventually converged at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio, on Saturday for the Pro Football HOF inductions of former NFLers  Steve McMichael, Dwight Freeney, Randy Gradishar, Devin Hester, Andre Johnson, Julius Peppers and Patrick Willis. Thunderstorms “soaked the Canton stadium about an hour before the enshrinement was about to begin," and the field and stage setup “had to be temporarily abandoned because of lightning.” Festivities “hurriedly started before fans finished streaming in the entrances” (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 8/4).

McMichael, who was diagnosed with ALS in 2020, was "supposed to be in Canton," but instead the ceremony was "brought to his home," where former teammates gathered. Jarrett Payton’s presentation speech played "on a monitor in front of McMichael.” From the outside looking in, it was a "magnificent scene.” It was "unprecedented for an inductee to be enshrined this way" (THE ATHLETIC, 8/3). Live video from McMichael's bedside was "streamed to the crowd in Canton” while ESPN's Chris Berman, who served as the master of ceremonies, “relayed the message he received from the defensive tackle about his career impact.” Berman said for McMichael, "I do not want ALS to be my legacy. What I did on the field, that's my legacy. Pushing myself to the limit ... farther than anybody else could" (ESPN.com, 8/3).

Other moments from Saturday's ceremony:

• Basketball HOFer Michael Jordan was in attendance to "celebrate his friend" Freeney (CBSSPORTS.com, 8/4).

• Johnson became the "first homegrown Texans player to be inducted" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 8/3).

• Hester became the "first primary return specialist" to make it into the HOF (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 8/3).

The Ringer’s Bill Simmons’ five-year deal with Spotify is “up in early 2025” and sources said that he has had “exploratory conversations with other companies about the possibility of launching a new platform.” Sources said that Simmons has “privately expressed frustration with confidants about Spotify’s corporate structure" in which he has “not had full personnel autonomy to bring all of the talents or shows that he wanted to add to the fold.” Simmons and Spotify have had an “ongoing dialogue about the possibility of a new deal." A spokesperson for Simmons “dismissed this story as ‘incorrect and idle speculation’” (N.Y. POST, 8/2).

The Lakers on Friday unveiled the second of three statues honoring late Basketball HOFer Kobe Bryant outside of Crypto.com Arena, with this one saluting his "enthusiastic transition after retirement into coaching his daughter’s youth basketball team.” The statue “re-creates a moment” from Dec. 29, 2019, when Bryant and daughter Gianna sat courtside to watch a Lakers home game. The statue, designed by Karon Davis and created by the artists of Rotblatt Amrany Studio, includes a plaque featuring the Mambacita logo and a description of the duo that reads: “Gianna Bryant, inspirational icon for girls in sports” and “Kobe Bryant, proud supporter of women in sports.” The first Kobe Bryant statue at Crypto.com Arena, unveiled in February, depicts Bryant in his No. 8 jersey, while the third planned statue, which will be unveiled at a later date, will show him in his No. 24 jersey (L.A. TIMES, 8/2).

Meanwhile, the home locker that Bryant used from 2003-04 to his final season in 2015-16 has sold for a record-setting $2.9M. According to Sotheby's, it is the “most valuable sports locker to ever sell at auction.” Sotheby's noted that a “portion of the sale's proceeds will ‘directly benefit’ the Los Angeles Lakers Youth Foundation” but did "not elaborate as to how much” (ESPN.com, 8/2).

The Trail Blazers and the Portland City Council have “finalized a bridge agreement” keeping the team playing at the Moda Center “through at least the 2029-30 season.” The team’s current lease terminates on Oct. 11, 2025. The actual agreement “will be approved on Wednesday” during a 2pm PT City Council meeting. The first five-year extension runs through the 2029-30 season. Should an agreement on a long-term lease not be reached within that time frame, an option exists to extend the lease through the 2034-35 season. The Blazers have “made it clear” that Moda Center, the oldest arena in the NBA, does “not measure up to other NBA arenas.” Under the new agreement, the Blazers, who own the building but lease the land, will "transfer ownership of the building to the city for $1" (Portland OREGONIAN, 8/2).

Washington State and Oregon State are “in discussions with multiple conferences -- in both the Power Four and Group of Five -- about strategic partnerships that could take effect as early as the 2025 season," with Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould “running point," according to a source. The source added that those discussions are "not specific to WSU and OSU potentially joining one of the power leagues,” although that option "'definitely' has not been dismissed." Other “creative ways to work together” could provide “a stepping stone to the future.” WSU and OSU have until the summer of 2026 to find a permanent home. One option is to “join the Mountain West in a traditional realignment move.” Another would be to “rebuild the Pac-12 with schools from the Mountain West and perhaps other leagues.” A source said that the Big 12 is "'not interested' in adding the Cougars and Beavers as members" (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 8/2).

Oregon, Washington, UCLA and USC were officially admitted into the Big Ten conference on Friday, marking the “dawn of the new era of one of college sports’ top two leagues spanning from coast to coast.” Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti said, “The fit is just great; the venues, the feel in all the different competition. ... There’s a lot of excitement about that. To me, it seems like overall this is why it made sense last summer when this all happened, is the fit seemed so perfect” (Portland OREGONIAN, 8/2).

Notre Dame’s football independence “won’t change anytime soon,” with its media rights agreement with NBC “set for the next five years and its unique CFP financial status secured.” No other individual school “has a seat at the table” on the CFP boards or its own television deal. ND AD Pete Bevacqua said, “I feel stronger about our place as an independent than maybe I ever have.” Bevacqua on the school's relationship with the ACC, which houses its Olympic sports, said, “We’re all-in on the ACC. (Commissioner) Jim Phillips is a wonderful leader, and his commitment to the schools is unyielding. I know he’s going to do everything he can to protect the conference” (THE ATHLETIC, 8/2).

The NFLPA has advised the NFL, the Cardinals and Fanatics that they are "not still permitted to sell” rookie WR Marvin Harrison Jr.’s jersey (X, 8/3). Fanatics has sued Harrison Jr. for breach of contract based on a deal that was "allegedly done while he was playing at Ohio State." The case remains pending (PRO FOOTBALL TALK, 8/3).

Pellegrino Matarazzo, an American who manages Bundesliga club TSG Hoffenheim, has emerged as a "top head-coaching choice" for the USMNT. German outlet Bild reported the USSF is "offering" Matarazzo the job which has been opened since Gregg Berhalter was fired in July (N.Y. POST, 8/3).

Saturday's Real Madrid-Barcelona match at MetLife Stadium was "delayed nearly an hour" due to "severe weather." Referees stopped the game in the 12th minute after lightning struck in the area, and "confused players started leaving the pitch just as a torrential downpour began," while fans were advised to "exit their seats and seek covered shelter" (THE ATHLETIC, 8/3).

“There’s definitely a little component of NASCAR or Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots. There’s going to be crashes and burns, and things will change rapidly.” -- Eric Giddens, NBC’s canoe analyst, on the debut of kayak cross at the Paris Games (WASHINGTON POST, 8/3).

“Washington as an institution, whether it knows it or not, is a Big Ten institution. Washington has more in common with the other Big Ten schools than the eight other Pac-12 schools that aren’t going with the four to the Big Ten” -- Washington AD Pat Chun, on the move to the Big Ten, which became official on Friday (SEATTLE TIMES, 8/2).

SLATE goes with, "Au Revoir to the Double Pike?" The women's vault final on Saturday saw Simone Biles win her seventh Olympic gold, but to do that she "had to bring out the biggest guns she had." For years, fans have seen Biles "push the difficulty of the sport of gymnastics beyond its conceivable borders over and over again for one reason and one reason only: because she can." Nobody on Earth "needed her to learn, much less compete, a triple double on floor, but she did." There is "still no dispute that Simone Biles is the greatest gymnast in history," but at the Paris Games she "got to cap off an inimitable career by fending off some real competition for once, competing at full difficulty not just because she can, but because she must."

On the Olympics:

• An Olympian undertaking: How many events can you get to in a single day?

• Champagne, Soft Piano and No Lines: Luxe Life at the Olympics.

• After U.S.’s shocking Olympic medal, will rugby be next big thing in women’s sports? 

Also:

• As USC, UCLA officially join Big Ten, emails show dismay, shock and anger around move.

• The retirement home for NFL players that never was.

• This basketball coach wants to sell his program for $100M.

• Sean and Erin McDonough lead drive to eradicate the disease that took their father.