ball Page 157 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Nikola Jokić is your 2023 NBA MVP... right?

NFLPA's team report cards a bit of an eye-opener

With the release of the NFL Players Association’s first-ever Club Report Cards, players have more power than ever before. Of course, not everything that came from these reports was shocking. No one’s jaw hit the floor when it was revealed that the Los Angeles Chargers’ medical staff was voted one of...

Who's to blame here — the GM or the WR?

It’s no secret that last season the Baltimore Ravens’ passing attack at times looked like a little brother wildly swinging at air while his older brother holds his forehead. There is plenty of blame to be passed around for the Ravens’ struggling passing offense. General Manager Eric DeCosta gave an ...

The NFL combine isn’t intrusive enough

Welcome to Deadspin’s The Sports Nihilist, where all is for naught and we are but accidental jolts of electrified meat stuck to the surface of a rock in an indifferent universe. Fuck you....

The NBA All-Hunk rankings would make George Clooney jealous

The NBA All-Hunk team was released Thursday, and I have to say, it was reassuring to discover that I have no idea what qualifies as attractive for men. It’s nothing against who’s hot or not. I’m just saying my needle isn’t moved one way or the other. ...

Reimagining the NFL Combine

Just like your local jungle gym, the NFL Combine hasn’t been modernized in decades. They’re still using the same stale gym equipment and drills Al Bundy practiced with at Polk High School to measure the relative strength and athleticism of NFL prospects. It’s past due time for the NFL combine to und...

Did Ryan Leaf just offer the best explanation for Russell Wilson's precipitous decline?

One of the biggest mysteries from the 2022 NFL season was “What the hell happened to Russell Wilson?” This was a conundrum that not even the Scooby Doo gang could solve. Danger-Russ was supposed to help the Denver Broncos compete with the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers in the AFC West, ...

Will Levis has every chance to be the star of this year’s NFL Combine

Quarterbacks are always under the biggest microscope in football, that’s a given. And there’s not a more unnecessary magnifying glass on signal callers than the NFL Combine. Going through all the scouting drills appears important for about five minutes. How many analysts quoted Tom Brady or Peyton M...

Howie Roseman’s got his hands full attempting to get the Eagles back to the Super Bowl

In this era of NFL parity, it’s rare to see the Super Bowl loser make it back the following year. Since 2000, it’s been rare to see Super Bowl losers make back-to-back appearances in the sport’s biggest game. Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman is tasked with putting his team in a posi...

Kevin Durant was everything, everywhere, all at once in his Phoenix Suns debut

Kevin Durant is a master of disguise who is already blending in seamlessly with the Phoenix Suns. Not many teams can do the DMX Challenge and present as many looks as the Suns can with their new wing roaming the floor. Most guys take a second to re-integrate into an offense or to heal from an MCL sp...

Raptors apologize for ruining Women's History Month on March 1 [Updated]

Women’s history month is already off to a cringeworthy start in the NBA, with the Toronto Raptors paying tribute (their version of one) to women all over the world. Growing up a huge pro wrestling fan, I’ve seen some bad scripts in my day, but this one takes the cake. Whoever wrote this script needs...

Please let the NFL and its owners be dumb enough not to settle with Brian Flores

Less than a month after Brian Flores’ class-action lawsuit against the league and multiple teams for their alleged racist hiring practices wasn’t mentioned at NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s annual press conference at the Super Bowl — where he was pressed again about the lack of diversity in the NF...

Zack Greinke shakes himself off, a cat on the diamond — Spring Training has been <i>weird</i> [Updated]

Every year, MLB spring training provides some sort of insight into the upcoming season, whether it be emerging stars or the adoption of new rule changes. Well if the early goings of this year’s spring training are any indicator, we’re in for some wild times. I’m at the point where nothing on my Twit...

Things you wouldn’t have believed in 2018: The Ball bros will be sympathetic figures

If Lavar Ball was to be believed, NBA fans should be nearing phase two of the Ball-aissance. Lonzo is in his sixth year, LaMelo is in his third, and LiAngelo, well, if things had panned out, he’d be somewhere in between. But LiAngelo currently has no entries on his Basketball Reference page, Lonzo i...

Gonzaga is underrated! It’ll still lose before the Final Four!

The last year Gonzaga missed the NCAA Tournament was 1998, quite a run from a lowly West Coast Conference school in the oddly placed town of Spokane, Washington to a national powerhouse. The most unique team in college sports is a fixture of March Madness, becoming more closely associated with the b...

Gather the kids for this teachable moment from Paul George

Being the go-to option sounds fun. It looks great. Michael Jordan making last-second shots; Patrick Mahomes spinning out of trouble and throwing a laser for a touchdown; Quinta Brunson delivering on another great episode of Abbott Elementary as the show’s creator and lead actor. Paul George has held...

Is the new pitch clock good for baseball?

Yeah, I’d be worried if I were a Titans fan

With NFL combine workouts slated to start tomorrow with D-linemen and linebackers taking the field, many of this upcoming draft’s top prospects had the opportunity to speak with the media about the opportunity and what they expected moving forward. It wasn’t just prospects though. Many general manag...

Down to the wire

What are the odds that the NCAA and the NBA’s scoring records would fall within a month? Nothing lasts forever, but the fact that it took a global pandemic and the NCAA granting athletes an extra year of eligibility for Detroit Mercy guard Antoine Davis to come within 26 points of eclipsing the NCAA...

Dwight Howard moved to Taiwan and became a 3-point sniper

In what universe did any NBA fan ever think they’d hear Dwight Howard’s name followed by the phrase, three-point sniper? I’m still in disbelief typing this, but it took Howard traveling to Taiwan and playing in the T1 League for this to happen. On Tuesday, Howard participated in the T1 League three-...