as Page 563 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Who are the top 5 defenders in the NBA?
In this current era of NBA basketball, it’s all about who can shoot and dominate on the offensive end of the court. The days of lockdown defenders have disappeared and been replaced by terms like, “it’s a make or miss league.” With all the scoring we’ve seen this season, that’s all it is. Boston rec...

Everything we know about the NFL's alleged 'five-minute warmup' decision
The severity of Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin’s injury was apparent quickly. The details of the 24-year-old needing to be resuscitated on the Paycor Stadium turf in Cincinnati weren’t widely known until about an hour later, around the same time the NFL officially decided to suspend Monday’s all-import...

Jimbo Fisher now has a creep, a racist, and a bonafide maniac on his coaching staff
After a preseason that featured an explosive back-and-forth with Nick Saban after the Alabama head coach made accusations about cheating and buying players through NIL, Texas A&M football coach Jimbo Fisher responded by producing a disappointing 5-7 season. To turn things around he’s hiring Bobby Pe...

What is going on with the scoring in the NBA?
Wednesday was a relatively slow offensive night for the NBA. Kevin Durant was the league’s best performer and all he could manage was a season-high 44 points on 68.1/50/100 shooting splits, five assists, and four rebounds. With the way that NBA players have been lighting up the scoreboards, especial...

The Red Sox actually paid someone
At Monday’s Winter Classic, John Henry appeared, as the hockey team he owns (the Penguins) was playing the Boston Bruins at the ballpark he owns (Fenway Park, as owner of the Red Sox as well). Henry is more reclusive than a lot of owners, so it’s hard to know if he’s as deluded as some billionaires ...

Was the Cavs’ ‘random’ PED test just fateful coincidence after Mitchell scored 71?
In one of the NBA’s more conspicuously timed sequences, the Cleveland Cavs were “randomly” drug tested just hours after Donovan Mitchell’s 71-point performance Monday night. It feels all too convenient for the association to “randomly” test the Cavs for performance-enhancing drugs one day after Mitc...

Wrestle Kingdom puts NJPW back on track, maybe on some new ones too
The biggest event for weirdos and insomniacs, other than maybe the Australian Open, got back to normal service last night. And that’s New Japan Pro Wrestling’s biggest event of the year, Wrestle Kingdom (bell time, 3 a.m. EST). Not only did it mark the return of actually cheering crowds for NJPW sho...
![Northwestern baseball player sued for intentional infliction of emotional distress, violation of Gender Violence Act [Updated]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/513ce786dfe4a6c7b42da7ebe0d595f4.jpg)
Northwestern baseball player sued for intentional infliction of emotional distress, violation of Gender Violence Act [Updated]
A woman filed a lawsuit against Northwestern baseball player Chad Readey, alleging violations of the Illinois Gender Violence Act and intentional infliction of emotional distress stemming from what she says were incidents of sexual harassment and abuse going back to the time the two were students in...

The USMNT's Gregg Berhalter saga just got weirder
As we covered this morning, yesterday a kind of strange story surrounding the USMNT’s Gregg Berhalter broke, because Berhalter got out in front of it. He released a statement claiming that someone had threatened to blackmail him over a domestic abuse situation from Berhatler’s teens, so the U.S. man...

God forbid ESPN shows highlights of, y’know, sports
On Tuesday night, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a career-high 55 points. He was 20-of-33 from the field, 15-16 from the stripe, and threw in 10 rebounds and seven assists for good measure. It was the kind of performance that people want to see, and will search out on social media, SportsCenter, or an...

Scott Van Pelt and Ryan Clark stepped up when the sports world needed them most
Scott Van Pelt knows how to advertise himself after developing a loyal fan base after more than two decades on ESPN’s airwaves. The Marylander’s Twitter bio says it best, he anchors the network’s flagship show, SportsCenter, starting at midnight on the East Coast. Or after the game you’re watching e...

Shannon Sharpe seems to finally be fed up with Skip Bayless — he isn’t innocent in this, though
Shannon Sharpe returned to FS1’s Undisputed on Wednesday morning after missing Tuesday’s show due to the way he was affected by what happened to Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin on Monday Night Football — and Skip Bayless’ insensitive tweet about it....

US Soccer continues to be helplessly weird
To suggest that US Soccer is a byzantine organization would be to suggest that they have any sort of rules and protocols in place. It rarely feels like they do, and sort of just make stuff up as they go, with mostly everyone screaming about protecting their phony baloney jobs. It’s how Gregg Berhalt...

LeBron James just got a feed full of Cleveland pheromones thanks to Donovan Mitchell
In lighter sports news, Donovan Mitchell dropped 71 points against the Bulls on Monday night in a 145-134 overtime win. He was 22-of-34 from the floor, 7-of-15 from deep, and 20-25 from the free throw line. It was the highest individual scoring performance since Kobe Bryant’s 81, and with that, Mitc...

Congrats, Boomer Esiason, you’ve made me defend Mac Jones
Boomer Esiason saying “there’s a douchiness” to Mac Jones’ facial expressions is like Cristiano Ronaldo calling someone a narcissist, Kobe Bryant telling a teammate they’re a ball hog, or Mike Ditka criticizing a coach for being too abrasive. The only correct response is, “MF’er, what did you just s...

Week 17 NFL Powerless Ranking: Houston Texans remain at the bottom
It’s time to check in on the teams that can’t get out of their own way. The final two weeks of the 2022 NFL season are upon us, and it’s been a wild season filled with ups, downs, triumphs, and disappointment for all 32 squads. Now let’s get into the Week 17 powerless ranking....

The whole human experience
I’ve spent a lot of time in this space trying to figure out the nature of fandom, the magnetism of sports, and where it all fits in our lives. The best I’ve come up with, and it’s probably not all that accurate, is that fandom is the allure of feeling part of something, of being part of a group, a s...
![Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin taken away in ambulance after a scary hit [Updated]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/491fac86828b0963061048002df2e566.jpg)
Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin taken away in ambulance after a scary hit [Updated]
In the middle of the first quarter of Monday Night Football, Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin collapsed after making a tackle against Cincinnati. Hamlin completed the tackle, stood up for a few moments, and fell to the turf. Medical help attended to Hamlin immediately with no quick injury designation giv...
