Locker Page 81 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

It has somehow been one year since Kobe & Gigi Bryant’s tragic deaths, and tributes pour in
On this day last year, 9 people were killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gigi, were on board and among the victims. Kobe was 41. Gigi was 13....

Repeated COVID outbreaks won't stop Michigan from lusting after NCAA Tournament cash
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: the University of Michigan can’t play games due to the coronavirus....

The NBA, for some dumb reason, still thinks having an All-Star Game makes sense
The NBA is still trying to conjure the All-Star game for March, and likely in Atlanta, according to ESPN, which seems patently ridiculous. We don’t know how things will look with the coronavirus next week, so we definitely have no clue what they’ll look like in March. But we can guess that it probab...

Barfstool CEO Erika Nardini is either evil, the most ignorant person on Earth, or both
A paycheck is a paycheck. I’m sure that’s what Erika Nardini would tell anyone who questions why she’s the CEO of Barfstool. It’s what makes the world go round. We know that here very well....

Aaron Rodgers is in the middle of a midlife crisis
The end of any season sends every player into a reflective period. Well, except for maybe Gronk. So let’s say it sends every player who can spell “reflective” into a reflective period. Months of work, hours of anticipation, to what ends up being the last game, and the assuredness that it all led to ...

Coach K should apologize to student reporter for being a condescending jerk
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski showed his tail on Saturday when addressing a question from a student reporter after the team’s loss to Louisville....

Dwight Howard comes up on the short end of a call, literally
Tangling in the paint in the second quarter in Detroit, Dwight Howard was called for a foul for getting his arm up in Isaiah Stewart’s face as he tried to box out while Tyrese Maxey got a shot off in the lane....

The Sixers look just fine without James Harden, thank you very much
The 76ers may have won the James Harden trade after all....

Trevor Bauer’s inability to not be a jerk could cost him; Laine traded for Dubois
Trevor Bauer remains unsigned, and Ken Rosenthal reported on the Mets’ interest in the Cy Young winner on Friday night, including Bauer putting some spin on a big reason that a New York team would be reluctant to sign him, namely his own description of himself as being “good at two things in this wo...

From White House visits to NCAA reform, what should sports expect from a Joe Biden administration?
President Biden doesn’t seem to care about sports as much as his predecessor, and that’s probably a good thing....

The Tokyo 2020/2021 Olympics are off ... or not ... maybe
It would be very….I guess we call it “this age” as 2021 hasn’t really separated itself from 2020 yet, for leagues like the NBA, NHL, various soccer leagues, and UEFA as a whole to avoid the Olympics like the plague, and then watch them canceled....

Marcus Smart calling out Joel Embiid for flopping is a breathtaking self-own
The hypocrisy of Celtics guard Marcus Smart is mind-boggling....

Collin Sexton totally got in the way of Brooklyn Nets’ ‘Big 3' debut
We tuned in to see the return of Kyrie Irving as he was finally going to join James Harden and Kevin Durant in the most offensively-gifted trio in NBA history. What we wound up getting was a coming-out party from a rising star, as Cleveland’s Collin Sexton crashed Brooklyn’s bash as the Cavs defeate...

A history of presidential pardons in sports, from George Steinbrenner to Brian Urlacher's shady brother
As former wrestler and renowned social scientist The Iron Sheik once noted: “THE POLITICS AND THE WRESTLING SAME THING.” This holds true even when we zoom out to the sports world at large, where the fates of athletic luminaries often intertwine with the whims of the federal government. These whims o...

Joe Biden’s inauguration means it’s time to deep-six all things 45 & celebrate the G.O.A.T. 46ers
Joe Biden is the 46th President of the United States, which means, among other things, that we’ve reached the end of “TRUMP 45” jerseys being presented at the White House — at least by teams that visit the White House, which now figures to be a regular thing again....

Deadspin’s prop bets you can bank on - Inauguration Day
We’ve got two and a half weeks till Super Bowl LV. Luckily, you don’t have to wait to place some prop bets....

The Blue Jays finally find someone to take their money, join select club of teams trying
For most of the offseason, the Toronto Blue Jays have been desperately waving money and prospects at any passerby, hoping to attract just about any available player with a pulse to come try some Tim Horton’s and Molson Dry (mmmmm...Molson Dry…). They were in on D.J. Lemahieu, Francisco Lindor, Cory ...

Steph Curry randomly dumpsters Acie Law, who did nothing to deserve this
Stephen Curry is used to being flagrantly disrespectful on the court with his handle and ability to drain a shot from 40-plus feet. But the stray shot Acie Law caught from the two-time MVP after the Warriors’ MLK Day win against the Lakers might be Curry’s best work....

Mets fire creep Jared Porter hours after report of his sex harassment
It had been one of the few Mets offseasons with a glow. A new owner who, at least at the moment, wants to run the team like it should be run. The acquisition of possibly the most fun player in the league in Francisco Lindor. But this is the Mets, and stepping on a rake is never more than two strides...

Why Martin Luther King Jr. would be happy to know that sports are still saving America
If Martin Luther King Jr. hadn’t been assassinated by the predecessors of the political party that will misuse his quotes today, he’d have been 92, and I imagine rather pleased with the role that sports have played in society....