bane Page 3 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

This week in the NBA: Kevin Durant unhappy in Phoenix?; Ja Morant in more hot water; Cade Cunningham can't save Pistons
Well, it didn’t take long for Kevin Durant to find something to complain about it on his new super team....

If you’re thinking Ja Morant is going to rebrand, think again
Ja Morant hasn’t skipped a beat since his return to the Memphis Grizzlies lineup a week ago. The city of Memphis couldn’t be happier. Without Morant in, the Grizzlies’ holes were glaring. In his absence, Desmond Bane tried valiantly to hold down the fort, but the offense was abysmal without his back...

Ja Morant doesn’t have to wait until next season for redemption
Ja Morant spoke to the media Friday for the first time since the end of last season and the announcement of his 25-game suspension that ends Monday. The Memphis Grizzlies’ All-NBA guard said all of the right things while acknowledging that his behavior is critically more important than a soundbite. ...

The Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers can afford to gamble
A couple of early season behemoths in the NFL rolled the dice with house money Friday as the San Francisco 49ers’ defense got scarier with the addition of edge rusher Randy Gregory, and the Miami Dolphins’ offense folded Chase Claypool into a ridiculously talented group of skill players. The two tra...

The $100M questions for the NBA free agents who cashed in
Before anybody evaluates contracts or shouts that Fred VanVleet is overpaid from the mountaintop, let’s take a moment to congratulate all of the free agents who just guaranteed themselves and their families generational wealth. Tyrese Haliburton, Jerami Grant, Desmond Bane, Kyrie Irving, Cam Johnson...

Marcus Smart might be exactly what the Memphis Grizzlies need
After nine years in Boston, Marcus Smart was sent packing to Memphis. On the surface, it might sound like a raw deal for Smart, but his arrival in Tennessee could be the best thing to happen to the Memphis Grizzlies since Ja Morant fell in their laps four years ago. Smart isn’t a superstar, but much...

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 ...

These 10 NBA teams have the brightest futures
There are many elements to consider when predicting who will succeed in the future of the NBA. To tank the 10 teams with the brightest futures, we focused on three to five years in the future while thinking about each team’s draft capital, promising young players, cap flexibility, and free agent des...

The New York Rangers eat dirt like the frauds they’ve always been
It’s important to review recent New York Rangers history to know why they ended up with a handful of their own dicks in the first round, to a New Jersey Devils team that is far more equipped for what wins in the NHL these days. Two years ago, James Dolan took a break from his normal paint-huffing ro...

The Lakers need to get their stuff together if they wanna advance any further
Once again the Los Angeles Lakers found themselves in a game that they desperately needed to win, clutching victory with one hand hoping that the opposing team would fall off of the cliff first. That is certainly a path to a 108-102 overtime victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves who were missin...

Don’t be so quick to count out the Western Conference's top-seeded teams
A large swath of NBA media is out on the top seeds in the Western Conference — and it makes sense, because, for the first time since the 1996-97 season, the East is far and away superior....

These are the top 10 young cores in the NBA right now
The “middle class” of the NBA is slowly eroding. Surprisingly, it’s not totally a bad thing. Almost every team has a talented young core with potential, raising parity within the NBA. Even the teams at the bottom of the standings have enough young players to have something to look forward to in two ...

Best games on the NBA schedule this week: The West is rising
Don’t let anyone tell you the NBA schedule during the regular season is a poor entertainment product. Of course, a single game does not impact a team’s overall record the same way that it does an NFL team. In the NBA teams play multiple games per week. That is not changing anytime soon, especially w...

Raise your hand if you want a Denver Nuggets-Memphis Grizzlies Western Conference Finals
If you directly asked the NBA powers how they would feel about a Memphis Grizzlies-Denver Nuggets matchup in the Western Conference Finals, I think they’d offer a “We’d love that.” However, if you asked the same people the same question in an anonymous poll, I’m pretty sure the responses would be so...

The best NBA games to watch this week
Of course, a single game does not impact a team’s overall record the same way that it does an NFL team. In the NBA, teams play multiple games per week. That is not changing anytime soon, especially with the Golden State Warriors needing to host as many events as possible in their palatial $1.4 billi...

Can Paul George and Kawhi Leonard social distance their way to a title?
The Los Angeles Clippers are a bifurcated roster. Without one or both of their wings, they are in a steep nosedive. There are three different incarnations of Ty Lue’s rotation. The Kawhi Leonard Clippers are almost mechanical in their execution as the two-time champion keys the offense. Paul George’...

The New York Rangers have gone back to what worked, but kind of didn’t work, but they’re winning so screw you, New York numbah 1 baby
As the New York Rangers lurched and stumbled their way to the conference finals last year (two seven-game series to get there, and needing the Penguins to dress up the beer guy as a goalie to get by them. And a farting beer guy!), it was harder and harder to convince anyone that they were all smoke ...

Best in the West
The Golden State Warriors lost again last night. On Tuesday, the Phoenix Suns dropped a game to the lowly Houston Rockets for the second time this month. Those two wins account for 22.2 percent of the Rockets’ victories this season....

Sports franchises approach every contract negotiation like its Black Friday
You may be looking for a new television or Macbook today and on Cyber Monday, but general managers in professional sports are looking for those types of deals 365 1/4 days a year. Money ain’t a thing for the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees, but the other pro sports franchises in America hav...

The NBA’s Western Conference is going to be like bumper cars with all the movement this season
It’s October, so Halloween season is upon us, but it’s also time for the NBA to return. All the talk and some drama will be shoved aside as teams return to the court, hoping to do what the Golden State Warriors did last season in raising the Larry O’Brien NBA Finals trophy....