2 Page 137 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The most dazzling tournament runs (by players who didn’t win it all)
One byproduct of college basketball’s March Madness’ 68-team, single-elimination format is it provides an avenue for players from programs major and mid-major to upgrade their stature. When certain players get their opportunity, they unlock a level few mortals can reach and sustain for multiple week...

The Western Conference had better hope that Zion returning to New Orleans is another false alarm
A lot happened this past weekend. So much that Duke fans cried and Duke haters laughed at the same time for about five minutes following Duke’s 94-81 loss in Mike Krzyzewski’s last game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, before LeBron James got to work scoring 56 points to help get the Los Angeles Lakers’ t...

And your SEC women’s hoop champion is… Kentucky?
For the first time in 40 seasons, the Kentucky Wildcats emerged as champions of the SEC conference tournament. The Wildcats have been NCAA Tournament regulars, but Sunday’s final marks only their third conference regular season or tournament championship. The Wildcats’ conference championship wouldn...

A loss to the Lakers is further proof that the Warriors have no chance in the playoffs without Draymond Green
Jan. 9 was the last time Draymond Green played for the Golden State Warriors this season. He had missed the previous two games, and took the court that day for a total of seven seconds just so he could be alongside Klay Thompson who played in his first game since the 2019 NBA Finals....

America has failed Brittney Griner
Brittney Griner should be at home right now....

Brittney Griner being held in Russia after airport security allegedly finds vape cartridges
Seven-time WNBA All-Star Brittney Griner is being held in Russian custody, according to a report from the New York Times on Saturday morning....

Pro golfers are just like us… sometimes
Ten inches — it was a putt that should have been nothing for the world’s current top golfer, Jon Rahm. But something just went wrong. He didn’t take a full stance, strolling up to the ball on the green to tap it in. The ball traveled about three inches before coming to a stop, turning what would hav...

The biggest NFL Combine busts
The NFL Scouting Combine starts this week, and top prospects from colleges throughout the country will travel to Indianapolis to perform a series of physical challenges and medical evaluations that may determine their future in the NFL....

Jaylen Brown injury speaks to the fragility of Boston’s makeup
I almost wrote about the Celtics on Tuesday because I heard about these projections that had them with heavy title odds, but when I went to FiveThirtyEight to try to find them, it felt like I was trying to decipher binary code. So I held off to wait to see if anything came of the research I loosely ...

Making a case for the Utah Jazz
It wasn’t supposed to go this way. This essay was going to make a case for why the Utah Jazz could finally win a championship this season. But when it was all written out, the facts just didn’t line up. Can the Utah Jazz do it? Can they win it all? It seems unlikely, doesn’t it? Especially with the ...

Memphis Grizzlies are the NBA’s March Madness Contenders
A self-made superstar has propelled the Memphis Grizzlies’ upward trajectory....

The raging debate over the size of Kenny Pickett’s hands
Sure, the 2022 QB class isn’t the best we’ve ever seen. There’s not a Trevor Lawrence to fight over or a Joe Burrow to trade picks for. But is it really so bad that we have to continue to manufacture drama over poor Kenny Pickett’s hand size?...

From zero to hero: NFL stars whose stock dropped at the Combine
The combine giveth and the combine taketh away. As prospective NFLers from colleges throughout the country come together to mark down 40-yard dash times, 225-lb bench press reps, broad and vertical jumps, and more, there’s a real pressure to perform, particularly for those right on the cusp of getti...

Why you never dance with devils
The reckoning has finally come for the sports organizations that have played footsie with autocratic nations. And not just FIFA and the International Olympic Committee, but for the Premier League, Formula One, and any sports league that has cashed checks from questionable international sources while...

Oh, damn, MLS started this weekend
Part of it was due to still being on vacation, and the other part was my general obliviousness. But I only realized at the last minute that MLS started its season this weekend, about 12 minutes after the last one ended with NYCFC’s manager in his undies in the rain in Portland, thanks to having to w...
![FIFA doesn’t want to ask itself the hard questions [Updated]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/a44dd2b11a33459944cad5312eacef87.jpg)
FIFA doesn’t want to ask itself the hard questions [Updated]
It is so simple, at least to anyone not entangled in the middle of the mess. All of Poland, Czechia, and Sweden have said they will refuse to play Russia in World Cup qualifiers at the end of March. While a ban from FIFA isn’t going to end Russia’s occupation of Ukraine, there is no pressure point t...

So that James Harden guy is pretty good
Yes, it’s only one game. But what a game it was....

NBA Power Tankings: Who's No. 1 (No. 30)?
Oh goodie, misery. The last portion of the NBA season kicked off Thursday, and that means Cancun is in sight for at least 10 franchises. With their seasons already in the blender, they might as well add ice, Cointreau, Casamigos, agave, and an FT of lime juice before kicking back in the training poo...

Fedor Smolov is that guy
After years of political tension between the countries, Russia officially invaded Ukraine on Wednesday, bringing swift sanctions and reaction from around the world, as countries almost unanimously opposed the actions spearheaded by Russian President Vladimir Putin....
