ball Page 122 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

LeBron James to the Mavs will only happen in Kyrie Irving’s delusional dreams
Kyrie Irving may have finally lost his ever-loving mind. Rumors of a reunion between Irving and LeBron James have been tossed around like cornhole sacks over the past few months. But that scenario usually involves “Kai” heading west to join James and Anthony Davis in Los Angeles. It was reported Mon...

MLB’s shift ban hasn’t solved baseball's real problem, but it also probably can’t
A little more than two months into the MLB season, the first with a shift-ban that keeps two infielders on each side of second base, and the league will probably declare victory. There are more hits, and left-handed batters are seeing more grounders and line-drives are resulting in base hits, which ...

Kyler Murray’s career is trending in the wrong direction
Kyler Murray was considered one of the most promising young NFL quarterbacks not too long ago, and now he’s viewed in a much less favorable light around the league. After a messy contract dispute with the Arizona Cardinals, Murray got his money, and now some think they may have overpaid the former R...

Zlatan Ibrahimović retired from soccer, and the world is a bit duller today
To say we’ll be Zlatan-less is probably wide of the mark. Whatever Zlatan Ibrahimović goes on to do, you can be sure it’ll be loud and full of bravado. But he won’t be on the field, which is a loss for the sport, if only because there simply can’t be anyone like him again. First off, no one’s going...

Jimmy Butler was good enough in Game 2
There was a little too much fouling of 3-point shooters for my taste on Sunday night, but other than that, the Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets played quite the thrilling Game 2. The Nuggets threw run after run at the Heat, who ate every blow and kept countering. Eventually the Heat put the Nuggets on ...

We still can’t have normal conversations about Nikola Jokić
SBNation writer Mat Issa tweeted out an observation following Game 1 of the NBA Finals. He noticed that the Denver Nuggets were able to get a defensive stop because of something that Nikola Jokić did at the free-throw line....

A month before the start of the Women’s World Cup, TV rights are still a mess
In the moments after England won the Women’s European Championships last summer, BBC presenter Gabby Logan issued an inspiring call for the accomplishment to be a mere stepping stone in the growth of the women’s game. Would have been nice if her employers were listening ahead of the 2023 Women’s Wor...

5 activities better suited for an MLB stadium series than Pickleball
Here at Deadspin, we’ve penned so much inflammatory shit about pickleball that I feel bad degrading Americans for working out. If you want to spend your summer playing jumbo Ping-Pong, that’s OK. Lather up a sweat, burn some calories, and spend $89.95 on a paddle that assuredly won’t collect dust in...

How much buffoonery will UEFA allow from scum like José Mourinho?
José Mourinho has always been an asshole. Fans of the beautiful game have known this for the better part of two decades after he jumped onto the scene and won the Premier League title with Chelsea in 2005. He’s also a damn good coach — no one will ever doubt that. His pedigree of employers would cha...

Frank Vogel is an upgrade over Monty Williams — for a discount price
A year after getting unceremoniously released through the trap door LeBron James has designed into the floor beneath the head coach’s seat on the bench, Frank Vogel has re-emerged as the head coach of the Phoenix Suns. The 49-year-old Vogel and the Phoenix Suns are familiar with each other’s games. ...

Phoenix Suns hiring Frank Vogel to succeed Monty Williams
The Phoenix Suns plan to hire Frank Vogel as their next coach, according to ESPN’s NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski....

Miami Heat can’t survive NBA Finals with a punchdrunk Jimmy Butler
Jimmy Buckets was in standby mode for Game 1. Maybe it was the altitude that Ball Center resides at, or the altitude of expectations, but regular season Jimmy Butler pulled up for Game 1. Butler seemed more intent on picking his spots and taking the Denver Nuggets’ temperature. Likewise, the Miami H...

If Adam Silver thinks Ja Morant’s punishment will distract from the Finals, you know it’s harsh
As far as bad omens go, NBA commissioner Adam Silver saying he’s going to save sharing the results of the Ja Morant investigation until after the Finals because it would be unfair to the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat is pretty bad. Silver’s comments about the pending discipline for one the league’s ...

Jimmer Fredette is still out there nailing jumpers
Former BYU and Shanghai Sharks star Jimmer Fredette will be donning the red, white, and blue this summer. Fredette is a member of the United States Men’s 3x3 team. That team will attempt to win a gold medal in the FIBA 3x3 World Championships. The tournament began on May 30, and a champion will be c...

The Denver Nuggets did something no team has done in a long time — beat the Miami Heat in Game 1
The last time the Miami Heat lost the first game of a series they got swept. Game 1 is always important, but Thursday night was essential for the Denver Nuggets — a franchise that is making its first appearance in the NBA Finals. It’s why Mike Malone knew his team was a must-win scenario....

Heat can't get past Nuggets on guts alone
For once a Miami Heat 2023 playoff game played out the way that was expected. The Denver Nuggets are bigger, more talented, and won Game 1 of the NBA Finals by a double-digit margin — 104-93....

Sometimes basketball is as simple as having taller guys everywhere
I wouldn’t pretend to be a basketball expert. My colleague Stephen will be around later to do that stuff. I do know there are myriad ways of designing an offense and defense and how to guard pick-and-rolls and rotations and a bunch of other things that coaches play with throughout a playoff series. ...

Jeff Van Gundy wages war on NBA halftime and free throws
ESPN NBA color analyst Jeff Van Gundy has never been shy when it comes to speaking his mind and voicing his opinions on the game of basketball. As a former head coach in the association and broadcaster for over a decade, he knows the game’s ins, and outs better than most. However, his latest comment...

Karim Benzema is the latest to take the blood money
And people thought MLS was a retirement league. ...

Remember former USMNT striker Chris Wondolowski? He just led a team to victory as a goalkeeper
The Soccer Tournament, or TST for short, started its inaugural 32-team, 7-on-7 showcase earlier today and it’s a clusterfuck. And like all televised abnormalities of society, at least we get to watch. The nature of the tournament gives way for more unique scenarios to happen, like a goalkeeper scori...