ass Page 136 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Dallas Stars coach benches rookie before homecoming game in front of friends and family
Twenty-three-year-old Riley Tufte got called up to the Dallas Stars’ roster last week to play for their fourth line. He saw a few minutes of playing time in victories against the Flyers and the Red Wings, but the big game for him was going to be his homecoming to face the Minnesota Wild in his home ...

Sean Payton agrees with you about NFL officiating this season
For any NFL fans out there who think that officiating hasn’t been at the level it should be, you are not alone. Earlier today, New Orleans’ Sean Payton was interviewed on the Dan Patrick Show and he was asked about how long it takes him to get over a loss. Payton responded that it usually takes abou...

Is Enes Kanter being punished?
Ime Udoka’s rookie season as head coach of the Boston Celtics hasn’t been a smooth one. A couple of weeks ago, one of his role players felt the need to publicly call out the team’s stars following a bad 128-114 loss to the Chicago Bulls. Now Udoka finds himself the focal point of a Twitter rant comp...

The WNBA unveils new playoff format
The WNBA announced a new playoff format today that will increase the number of potential games in the tournament and completely get rid of single-elimination games. It will remain an eight-team playoff, with teams seeded based on overall standings over a 36-game regular season, but the first- and se...

NBA GMs are apparently feeling unfairly maligned
NBA general managers are circling the wagons. ...

NWSL comes to the conclusion of its landmark season
In a lot of ways, having the Washington Spirit in the NWSL final is perfect for the league. No matter where the league goes from here, what it becomes, the 2021 season will be viewed as a turning point. While the stories themselves were horrifying, heartbreaking, and infuriating, sunlight is always ...
![Ref allegedly uses N-word during Tennessee high school basketball game [UPDATED]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/2caaeeea486c3f05f6b12ba0b82d0bc2.jpg)
Ref allegedly uses N-word during Tennessee high school basketball game [UPDATED]
The story out of Smyrna, Tenn., on Wednesday night appears to be both rage-inducing and fairly self-explanatory, but there’s a lot more that needs explanation, and a lot of questions that need answering. ...

Stephen A. Smith got it right in his rant against the Brooklyn Nets
Welp, that’s it. It’s time to shut down the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Stephen A. Smith is done and never going back after the Nets’ lackluster performance Tuesday night against the Golden State Warriors....

It’s fine, this is fine. No really, it’s fine
In the euphoria of the US’s latest “Dos a Cero” triumph over Mexico, most US fans probably joked with their friends that they would follow this up with a turgid and flat performance in Jamaica. Joke to mask the pain, because we all suspected it, just at differing levels. Maybe some thought they woul...

If an athlete buys an ownership stake in a team and no one knows it, does it make a sound?
What’s the point of owning a sports franchise if you can’t make irresponsible trades, overpay role players, furtively watch from a dimly lit owner’s box or make Roger Goodell eat shit?...

Every player can’t be the MVP, so let’s stop chanting it at everybody
There’s a growing trend that’s gained too much momentum lately in arenas around the NBA. Fans chanting “MVP” for any player that gives even a halfway decent performance on a given night. This isn’t meant to discourage fans from chanting, but I’m only asking if we can think of something more suited f...

Giannis may seem like body armor dunking a basketball, but he has some of the same mental health issues as others
That singular focus on greatness, nothing else matters, no price is too steep, and there is always more sweat to be poured into the workspace... it turns out is not healthy. For one, where does an obsession like that even come from? For Giannis Antetokounmpo it came from a place of fear....

DeMar DeRozan took that personally
DeMar DeRozan is taking it personally. The 32-year-old Chicago Bulls forward put up 38 points in a convincing victory against the Lakers last night, after racking up 35 against the Clippers at the Staples Center. The “Bulls are back” whispers are a little more audible these days, as fans ever-so-ten...

Adam Silver doing his best Vince McMahon impression in NBA’s new deal with UAE
I’m not sure what’s more obvious: A media outlet taking the NBA to task for a multiyear partnership with the United Arab Emirates, or the inevitable controversy that will come of it. It doesn’t take long to unearth copious amounts of dirt about the UAE’s record and ongoing pursuit of human rights vi...

The NBA future is... WOWZA!
The NBA has never felt younger and more reliant on up-and-coming stars than it does today. Teams are beginning to utilize the draft more and more. We’ve seen plenty of tank-a-thons by teams in the last five years, and these efforts have panned out to varying degrees. For some, it has materialized in...

Kyle Kuzma, the latest NBA player to beef with Cleveland
Kyle Kuzma is feeling himself a bit with the Washington Wizards’ hot start to the 2021-22 season. The Wizards are surprisingly tied atop the Eastern Conference with the Brooklyn Nets. Falling into a good situation after being traded from the Los Angeles Lakers, Kuzma was not in the mood to take any ...

The NBA has new long-range shooting royalty in ‘King’ Buddy Hield
Move over, Splash Bros — you’ve got competition in Northern California in the three-point shooting department. Buddy Hield has hit 1,209 buckets from downtown in his first 400 NBA games, which is the most of any player in that amount of time in the league’s history. Hield beat out Stephen Curry (1,1...

Damian Lillard should have forced his way out of Portland
Hindsight is 20/20. But even then, sometimes people just don’t want to see what’s right in front of them....

Steve Ballmer has done it this time, giving Clippers fans money to cheer
It took seven years, but Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer has finally resorted to paying fans....

Michael Jordan blows gasket in box over Kelly Oubre’s ill-fated shot
If you’ve ever wondered why some players, no matter how talented, seem to bounce around from team to team like a ping pong ball, I present to you Kelly Oubre Jr. Oubre signed with the Charlotte Hornets in the offseason, making them his fourth team since he entered the NBA in 2015....