Yesterday, the WNBA’s Toronto Tempo announced Sephora Canada as the team’s first founding partner and official beauty partner. It’s a major step forward for sports newcomer Sephora — which recently signed a multiyear U.S. partnership with Unrivaled — as it quickly covers ground in women’s basketball, where the next generation of beauty shoppers is sitting courtside.

It’s only January, but the women’s basketball space is already buzzing with madness usually reserved for March.

Six-time NBA All-Star Jimmy Butler might’ve played his last game with the Miami Heat after receiving a team-issued seven-game suspension for eyebrow-raising comments about his on-court unhappiness in the 305. So much for “no shenanigans.”

Nonconference basketball was wild — remember when the now-No. 1 UCLA women snapped then-No. 1 South Carolina’s 43-game winning streak? But conference play is when stars shine the brightest.

Stockings were hung by the chimney with care because on Christmas Day, NBA and NFL action would be there. So today unwrap this present — a complete primer for all of the glorious games, tackling both the gridiron and the hardwood.

In a recent SB Nation interview, Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell confirmed the new 3v3 pro women’s basketball league boasts a salary pool exceeding $8M. That’s a $242K average salary for the league’s 33 players (and $222K if all 36 spots are filled), exceeding the WNBA’s current $214K max salary. This doesn’t consider player equity or revenue sharing, which is worth millions.

Women’s college basketball jump-started conference play with two thrilling top-25 matchups, while the men’s side saw chaos in the non-conference slate this weekend.

The NBA’s in-season tournament is wrapping up just in time for the holidays with tomorrow’s 8:30 p.m. ET winner-take-all NBA Cup finale that will feature a pair of No. 1 seeds: the Milwaukee Bucks and the Oklahoma City (OKC) Thunder.

The NBA Cup, the league’s second annual in-season tournament, is heading to Sin City, with four teams vying for a spot in Tuesday’s grand finale. What happens in Vegas…will send every player on the championship-winning team home with a sweet payday, so let’s toss up the ball and preview tomorrow’s semis tilts.

With the four-game NBA Cup group stage in the rearview mirror, we’re in the midst of four do-or-die quarter-final matchups. Swap your holiday countdown cal for a basketball — ’tis the (NBA) season after all.

LSU basketball star and Puma athlete Flau’jae Johnson announced a player exclusive shoe deal on Friday, shortly after UConn phenom Paige Bueckers’ historic player edition shoe with Nike last week. These moves are the new normal in college basketball, where women are outperforming men in terms of NIL and shoe deals.

From the soon-to-be 14th WNBA team Toronto Tempo’s rather quick name drop, to tonight’s expansion draft, to major news in Seattle, the W offseason headlines are flying fast and furious. How’s that for pace?