Ever since NBC strategically leaked its $2.5 billion-a-year bid for the NBA’s coveted “B” package, back in June, the sports media industry has waited deliberately to see how Warner Bros. Discovery would reciprocate. C.E.O. David Zaslav, of course, had previously and famously pooh-poohed the exorbitant cost of NBA rights, and even suggested that his conglomerate could survive without them. Meanwhile, the Journal’s report of the NBC bid tested this hypothesis, sending WBD’s stock further downward and unleashing a chain reaction of derivative events including, but not limited to, public mourning about the potential finale of the beloved Inside the NBA, Charles Barkley’s announced forthcoming retirement from broadcasting, Zaz’s courtside support of the Knicks’ playoff run, and—lo and behold—his suggestion that his lawyers would be reviewing their contract to deploy the company’s vaunted matching rights.