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FINAL FRIDAY SUMMARIES: AN extended wrap of many of the key events in basketball this past week, from losing Steph Talbot to an ACL, Sam Mackinnon out as Brisbane Bullets GM and much much more. Boti Nagy and Bob Craven are all over it, Jade Melbourne's prospects and Simon Mitchell's departure all here!!

AUSSIES in the WNBA are making news, particularly in Seattle, but it's a case of the good news and the bad news.

The bad news is that Opal and ex-Seattle Storm, Steph Talbot, is done for the year.  Three weeks after signing a two-year contract with the WNBA's LA Sparks, Steph tore an ACL while playing for Adelaide Lightning in the WNBL and will miss the upcoming WNBA season.

She was MVP of the WNBL in 2020 and 10th in 3-point shooting last year in the WNBA while playing for Seattle Storm.

She also was Australia's representative in the FIBA Women's World Cup All Star Five after leading the Opals to Bronze in Sydney.

She would be at her third Olympics next year in Paris if she can make it back in time. But the injury usually takes a year of rehab and recovery so it will be close, making it even more of a tragedy for one of the sport's best players and people.

The good news for the Storm is they have signed burgeoning young Opal prospect Jade Melbourne to a two-year contract for US$268,767. 

No WNBA team has gotten as much mileage from Australian exports as the Storm, who struck gold when they drafted GOAT and HOFer, Lauren Jackson, in 2001 and who appear to have found another gem in 2019 with rising star Ezi Magbegor.

The Storm drafted Magbegor but did not sign her right away as she was very young.  Drafting her gave the Storm her exclusive WNBA rights for a year, with the intention that she would play the next season in Australia, then sign a multi-year rookie contract with the Storm and be a part of their roster. 

The Storm is doing the same thing now with Melbourne, drafting her last year and signing her earlier this month to play for them, starting this upcoming season in April.

Melbourne, only 20-years-old, will conceivably compete for minutes as a reserve behind WNBA all-star Jewell Loyd and fellow Aussie Sami Whitcomb as the Storm attempt to move on without legendary point guard Sue Bird, who retired last year. 

Whitcomb is from California and is a naturalised Aussie citizen who has been a past captain of the Opals team and was a starter on Australia's Bronze Medallists at October's World Cup in Sydney. 

She had a lot of positive things to say about Melbourne joining her with the Storm.  In a recent interview, Whitcomb said: "She's probably more of a 2 than a 1, but she can play either - she just plays ... she's a tough player and very skilled already. She works hard, she's fast, she shoots (and passes) well and is good in transition."

This season with the Canberra Capitals, she started all their games in her third pro season and averaged 13 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 5.5 assists. She recorded just the third triple-double in the WNBL in the past 10 years, compiling a line of 19-14-12 in a 78-72 loss to Adelaide.

SAM Mackinnon is officially out of the Brisbane Bullets where his role as GM of Basketball has been made redundant.

An Olympian and a league MVP and multiple championship winner as a player, Sammy's record as an administrator is less profound as the Bullets come of the most shambollick year of any club in NBL history.

With Justin Schueller's appointment, the club has now had four coaches in just over a season, with James Duncan shown the door, Mackinnon having his crack at it and Greg Vanderjagt finishing the season but only after players intervened.

The Bullets hierarchy planned to have Vanderjagt as an "interim" before it brought in yet another American, a plan the players effectively scarpered.

It was a shemozzle and a mess of epic and unprecedented proportions so some heads had to roll.

Unfortunately the biggest one there is still attached.

How will a rookie coach such as Schueller - even with Darryl McDonald's help as lead assistant - handle the abundance of alpha males that Bullets team houses?

Congratulations though to Brisbane fans for toughing it out and voting with their feet and continuing to show up to home games while this sideshow of insanity played out.

USA superstar and 10-time NBA All-Star Carmelo Anthony is now a FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Global Ambassador, with the event tipping off on August 25 in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.

He joins Argentinian superstar Luis Scola and Spanish legend Pau Gasol as Global Ambassadors, promoting the World Cup and participating in activities in the buildup to FIBA's flagship men's competition.

"I've proudly represented the USA on the world's largest stages, and the World Cup is the toughest competition in international basketball," Carmelo said.

"It's all about striking a perfect balance of personnel, talent and having that great chemistry. I'm looking forward to supporting all the players at the World Cup this year and celebrating the sport on a global scale."VICTORIA's State Basketball Centre at Wantirna South is continuing its expansion and soon will house an additional 12 courts, bringing the total up to 18.

It additionally will house a new high-performance training and administration facility for basketball, including WNBL and NBL teams, new administration facilities to support organisations such as Basketball Victoria, Basketball Australia, Knox Basketball and WNBL / NBL teams AND a new café, town square and car parking upgrades with landscaping.

The home of basketball in Victoria also will be a much sought venue for teams from around Australia.

The Boomers last night comfortably accounted for Bahrain at the SBC 83-51 and conclude their FIBA Asia qualifiers on Sunday at the same venue against Kazakhstan.

AUSTRALIA BOOMERS 83 (Blanchfield 20, Humphries 18, Kay, Vague 13; McCarron 8 rebs; McCarron Adnam 5 assts) d BAHRAIN 51 (Chism 15, Haji 14; Chism 11 rebs; Isa 5 assts).

SOUTH East Melbourne is in the market for a new NBL coach after Simon Mitchell, who was out of contract after four years at the helm, decided not to reapply for the role.

Having lost his joy for the role - his anecdote post the Phoenix's double-overtime win over defending champion Sydney a very telling one - he felt it time to step back and look again at his future proepcts.

Another past coaching great, Joey Wright, and I discussed this on our Time Out show, available through Facebook at Piranha Media's page.

BRETT Rainbow is predicting a huge NBA career for Slam Dunk winner Mac McClung.

NEXT WEEK AT BASKETBALL ON THE INTERNET: "By George, Cayla is killing"

"Bob Craven and Kareem Abdul Jabbar"

"Five less fashionable NBL guys always worth watching"