basketball Page 104 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Dirk Nowitzki is the GOAT for the Mavericks and will soon have his jersey retired
The Dallas Mavericks aren’t wasting any more time. They will honor the GOAT of their franchise on Wednesday when they hang Dirk Nowitzki’s No. 41 jersey in the rafters of the American Airlines Center in Dallas....

Give DeMar DeRozan his flowers for putting the Bulls in first place
What a three-game stretch for the fifth-leading scorer in the NBA, DeMar DeRozan. Mr. Anti-analytics has been letting his mid-range shot fly all season, propelling him to a scoring average of 26.9 points per game. With 28 points and six assists on Monday DeRozan was the Chicago Bulls’ leader in poin...

Welcome to Russell Westbrook's world: A place where turnovers and missed shots don’t matter
Russell Westbrook had another stinker Sunday against the Timberwolves, although the Lakers won, 108-103. Westbrook nearly had a double-double with points and turnovers in this game. Russ scored 20 but had nine turnovers in the process with only five assists. After the game, Westbrook clapped back at...

Sorry Kirk Herbstreit, damn near all of the college football bowl season is meaningless
A postseason is not an exhibition, it’s a tournament to declare a champion — except in major college sports. Men’s college basketball has the NIT, and college football there’s bowl season. Both were more prestigious decades ago, but at least no one is harping about the sanctity of the NIT anymore. C...

Steph Curry breaks own record while showing the Jazz they aren’t among the elite out west
Stephen Curry and the Warriors were at it again on New Year’s day, taking down Donovan Mitchell and the Jazz, 123-116. In the process of showing Utah they aren’t quite on Golden State’s level, Curry set another 3-pt record by making a three in his 158th consecutive game. Curry set the record initial...

IDIOT OF THE YEAR: The worst of 2021
Happy holidays, you filthy animals, and welcome to Deadspin’s annual IDIOT OF THE YEAR extravaganza. Within these hallowed slides are 50 of the year’s least bearable dorks, whose transgressions range from “just kinda silly,” to “dangerously stupid,” to “Trevor Bauer.”...

Magic wants no part of scripted series about the Showtime Lakers
It’s a shame that Magic Johnson wants no part of this new HBO series about the Showtime Los Angeles Lakers of the 1980s. The trailer for Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, was released in early December, and the series will debut on HBO Max in March 2022....

LeBron James sets his sights on Kareem’s points record you never thought would be broken
Remember, LeBron James is not a pure scorer, so we’ve been told since his high school days. What was supposed to make his game special was his once-in-a-generation athleticism to go along with his Magic Johnson-like court vision. James dunking on the world and launching passes from one side of the c...

Madden NFL paved the path for other video game sports franchises
When you think of video games and sports, you think of John Madden. (Thank god this is written, and I don’t have to try to do the voice.) The first sports video game I ever played was Madden NFL 92 when I was 6, and even though it’s not my preferred game anymore, there’s no doubt it’s still the de f...

Out of shape? James Harden says absolutely not after returning home for Christmas to pound on the Lakers and Clippers
Christmas at home might be the turning point in James Harden’s 2021-22 season. The Brooklyn Nets played at Crypto.com arena against the Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas Day, against the Los Angeles Clippers on Dec. 27, and in between those two games, Harden’s high school in Lakewood, Calif., retired ...

Draymond Green and Karl-Anthony Towns in war of words over Russell Westbrook comments
During a recent Twitch interview with Adin Ross, Minnesota Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns was asked his opinion on Russell Westbrook and kept it 100. Towns and Ross were on the topic of stat chasing, and Towns, while also praising Westbrook for being a great player, did acknowledge that he ...

IDIOT OF THE YEAR #7: Kyrie Irving, who dunked mercilessly on rational thought
Welcome to Deadspin’s IDIOT OF THE YEAR festivities! Nos. 50 through 11 are available for your enjoyment here. And our top 10 thus far:...

Lakers on their way to wrong kind of history
Injuries and the novel coronavirus have played a role in it, to be sure, as has the fact that they’re now up to 22 players used this season and it’s not even January, but the Lakers stink....

Monday night's Bulls-Hawks game showed how Omicron is owning the NBA
Just two days after the Omicron variant ruined the highly-anticipated Christmas Day lineup that the NBA unveiled months ago, the Chicago Bulls traveled to Atlanta to face the Hawks in a game that had the communications staff of both teams Googling the names on their rosters....

The IIHF thinks women are more contagious than men
In theory, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) isn’t a for-profit agency. Much like FIFA. This is a laughable farce, of course. But there is relief that the facade of shepherding the game and promoting its growth crashed to the sidewalk long ago. They’re barely trying to hide it anymore....

Shaq has a Christmas gift for you, Candace Parker, and anyone else who thinks he can’t shoot
For the avid NBA fan, the stars shined brightest during the league’s Christmas Day slate of games, even if there were a few missing in action thanks to covid. Retired NBA stars even joined in on the action over the holiday weekend and got their shine on as well. Lakers legend and NBA on TNT analyst ...

IDIOT OF THE YEAR: 40 of the dullest tools from 2021's shed
Happy holidays, you filthy animals, and welcome to Deadspin’s annual IDIOT OF THE YEAR extravaganza. Within these hallowed slides are 50 of the year’s least bearable dorks, whose transgressions range from “just kinda silly,” to “dangerously stupid,” to “Trevor Bauer.”...

2021's most inspiring sports figures
Just a few short years ago, there was a push for athletes to be nothing more than mute entertainers. Luckily enough, they refused to “shut up” or “stick to” whatever sport they played....

Centers aren’t extinct, they’ve just evolved
As humans, we tend to eulogize the extinct with reverence. The Dodo Bird. The Rocky Mountain Locust. The Golden Toad. And why wouldn’t we? It was us who eradicated these precious, sentient creatures. Some theorists would argue it had to do with their inability to adapt. But what if things are adapti...

Malik Monk’s cryptic tweet is absolutely about him still being in health-and-safety protocol, right?
Los Angeles Lakers guard Malik Monk is still in health-and-safety protocol and appears to be a bit bored. Monk has not has not played in a game since Dec. 12. He had reportedly tested out of health-and-safety protocol last Thursday, and would’ve only missed one game, but then there was a change in p...