Basketball Page 928 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Here's How The WNBA's No. 2 All-Time Scorer Announces Her Retirement
Here's a snippet of a Twitter conversation that the New York Liberty's Katie Smith, who is the No. 2 all-time scorer in WNBA history, had with one of her followers last month:...

"He's A Greedy Fucking Pig": Listen To Eric Murdock Rant On Mike Rice
On June 29, 2012, his next-to-last day at Rutgers, Scarlet Knights assistant Eric Murdock stormed into the athletic department and unleashed a profane, frustrated, 11-minute rant against head coach Mike Rice. Rice remained in his office with the door shut....

WNBA Debuts Ref Cam, For A More Complete WNBA Viewing Experience
Finally, fans get what they've been clamoring for for years: a way to get closer to the WNBA action....

No One Notices The Spurs Because No One Notices San Antonio
Here's a working barstool-grade theory as to why, during its dynastic run to four (perhaps soon five) titles since 1999, America still embraces the San Antonio Spurs with a yawn and a why are you still here? squint. This phenomenon has flustered if not baffled sports cognoscenti for years. But they ...

The Independent Review Into PAC-12 Referee-Bribing Allegations Is In
And it makes no sense. The PAC-12 "engaged" the oddly-named firm Ice Miller, LLP to conduct an independent review into allegations that former head of officiating Ed Rush bribed game officials into T'ing up Sean Miller for disputing a call at the end of Arizona's semifinal loss to UCLA in this year'...

Brittney Griner Throws Down Two Dunks In Her WNBA Debut
Former Baylor superstar and all-around badass Brittney Griner made her WNBA debut for the Phoenix Mercury last night, and she made quite the impression. Griner, who became known for her ability to dunk while at Baylor, threw down two dunks in her first game as a pro and became the first WNBA player...

College Hoops Coach Who Made Players Run Until One Pooped Keeps Job
University of Wisconsin—Green Bay men's basketball coach Brian Wardle made news last month when it got out that he may have made his players run hills so much that one of his players, Ryan Bross, shat his pants, and that he may have then proceeded to heckle the poor pants-shitter all season long. ...

Which NBA Draft Prospects Are Fudging Their Height With Thick Shoes?
Every year at the NBA draft combine, each prospect gets his height measured with shoes on and off. The difference between the two measurements is usually negligible, but not all the time! On this week's excerpt from Slate's Hang up and Listen podcast, Mike Pesca figures out which of this year's pros...

Skylar Diggins Got A Mercedes From Jay-Z's Sports Agency
Last month, former Notre Dame and soon-to-be WNBA superstar Skylar Diggins became the third athlete to sign with Roc Nation Sports, Jay-Z's latest vanity project/sports agency. Yesterday, the people at Roc Nation celebrated Diggins's graduation from Notre Dame by doing exactly what you'd expect an a...

Fired UT Employee May Have Had Inappropriate Relationship With Athlete
The University of Tennessee has fired its director of the office of student judicial affairs, Jenny Wright, after she refused to cooperate with an investigation into whether or not she was involved in an inappropriate relationship with a student-athlete....

Brittney Griner First Came Out To Her Mother In The Ninth Grade
It's been a few weeks since Brittney Griner casually came out by announcing she was already out. Today, in a first-person essay for The New York Times, she provides the backstory, which begins with a conversation she had with her mother when Griner was in the ninth grade:...

Brittney Griner Signs With A Chinese Team Because It Pays A Lot More
Brittney Griner, the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft, has signed with Chinese team Zhejiang, for whom she'll play during the WNBA offseason. This happened days ago and Chinese media is all over it, yet there's not been a single major American outlet reporting it. Why? The fact that her Chinese team wil...

UWGB Hoops Coach Brian Wardle Will Make You Run Until You Poop
It takes a special kind of asshole coach to make you run hills until you vomit. But it takes an even MORE special kind of asshole coach to make you run hills until you shit your pants and then mock you all season long for shitting your pants. That's the accusation leveled against UW-Green Bay men's ...

Here's A Picture Of Rick Pitino's New Tattoo
Pitino promised us that he would get a tattoo to commemorate his team's 2013 championship run, and he has followed through on that promise. It's a perfectly fine tattoo, I guess. Although we were hoping for something with a little more oomph. ...

Rutgers Gives Mike Rice $475,000 To Go Away
Sometimes it pays to be an abusive anger-management candidate who gets a power trip from destroying young men. It sure did for Mike Rice when he was first hired by Rutgers, and it pays off again: Rice will receive nearly half a million dollars, as Rutgers avoids going to court....

Brittney Griner Outs Herself As Already Out
It's been two days since Brittney Griner was unsurprisingly picked No. 1 overall in the WNBA draft by the Phoenix Mercury. As far as anyone can tell, Griner has not publicly mentioned her sexuality before. Now, in the most subtle of ways, the former Baylor star just did....

10 Years Later, Steve Alford Has Been Shamed Into An Insincere Apology
This was Steve Alford, speaking last week during his introductory press conference as UCLA's new head basketball coach. Alford was asked about his handling of sexual assault allegations against Pierre Pierce when Pierce played for Alford at Iowa 10 years ago:...

FIU's Beach Towel Court Is A Reality
We knew this was coming, and we had originally anticipated that the final design of FIU's beach-themed court would be a bit more traditional than the proposed designs that were tweeted out by then-coach Richard Pitino. Not so. FIU has gone full Margaritaville on us. ...

Peyton Siva Learns An Important Lesson: Never Sext With Self-Proclaimed "Twitter Models"
Senior point guard Peyton Siva paced the Cardinals last night like he has all season. To go with a Big East Tournament MVP, a lovable father, and a National Championship, he can add this: he had his spot blown up by a "Twitter model" whose whole game seems to be putting athletes and rappers on blast...
