basketball Page 59 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

What is going on with the scoring in the NBA?
Wednesday was a relatively slow offensive night for the NBA. Kevin Durant was the league’s best performer and all he could manage was a season-high 44 points on 68.1/50/100 shooting splits, five assists, and four rebounds. With the way that NBA players have been lighting up the scoreboards, especial...

Was the Cavs’ ‘random’ PED test just fateful coincidence after Mitchell scored 71?
In one of the NBA’s more conspicuously timed sequences, the Cleveland Cavs were “randomly” drug tested just hours after Donovan Mitchell’s 71-point performance Monday night. It feels all too convenient for the association to “randomly” test the Cavs for performance-enhancing drugs one day after Mitc...

LeBron James just got a feed full of Cleveland pheromones thanks to Donovan Mitchell
In lighter sports news, Donovan Mitchell dropped 71 points against the Bulls on Monday night in a 145-134 overtime win. He was 22-of-34 from the floor, 7-of-15 from deep, and 20-25 from the free throw line. It was the highest individual scoring performance since Kobe Bryant’s 81, and with that, Mitc...

The whole human experience
I’ve spent a lot of time in this space trying to figure out the nature of fandom, the magnetism of sports, and where it all fits in our lives. The best I’ve come up with, and it’s probably not all that accurate, is that fandom is the allure of feeling part of something, of being part of a group, a s...

IDIOT OF THE YEAR 2022: The complete rankings
Happy new year and welcome to the grand finale of Deadspin’s IDIOT OF THE YEAR festivities — here’s hoping 2023 will be better. It probably won’t....

IDIOT OF THE YEAR No. 3: Kyrie Irving
Do you know how easy it is to say “I’m sorry!” or that you’re not antisemitic? Apparently, it was a tremendous challenge for Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving. Everyone’s allowed to make mistakes, but hot damn, you’re not allowed to be that negligent with a public spotlight and not face consequences. ...

Who do you trust less: The Nets or the 76ers?
Can I interest you in a non-sexual game of “would you rather?” I know watching people ponder is not as fun as watching them squirm, but this is a sports site, not the living room of your college slum. So, who would you rather trust: The Brooklyn Nets or the Philadelphia 76ers?...

Eastbay brought the mall to your home
As an unemployed 12-year-old with homework, no driver’s license, and being required to ask a parent/guardian for permission to leave the home, shopping at the mall was a luxury....

Wait, Luka Dončić did what?
How long are the Mavs going to keep doing this? We’re 11 years removed from 2011 (almost 12), and the organization still has a franchise player surrounded with just enough talent to keep him from demanding a trade. If you missed it, Luka Dončić broke the Dallas record for points in a single game, po...

The James Harden and Houston Rockets reunion is a pie-in-the-sky dream
James Harden is a deeply unserious franchise cornerstone. However, in the midst of a pivotal, legacy-defining season for his career, Harden may be eyeing a return in free agency to the Rockets franchise he forced his way out of two years ago, according to a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. ...

True Basketball Crime: Aaron Gordon hit-and-run dunk over Landry Shamet shattered the Suns
Christmas Day 2022 will always be remembered for how we nearly lost Landry Shamet to a senseless posterization....

IDIOT OF THE YEAR No. 10: John Stockton
For a player with such a high IQ on the basketball court, John Stockton’s lack thereof when it comes to science is simply astonishing. Stockton’s public image took a hit with many in 2022 for his vaccine idiocy, especially early in the year....

IDIOT OF THE YEAR: The standings so far
Merry Christmas and welcome to Deadspin’s IDIOT OF THE YEAR party! As we gear up for the unveiling of our top 10 next week, here are the first 40 dummies on our list. Enjoy....

Sports is sometimes disheartening as a profit-margin-focused enterprise, but it does produce some great stories
Yes, sports is like all other major American industries — run by a handful of people who made out like bandits in this economic system of great wealth disparity. Because they have accumulated such vast wealth, they believe that is a sign of intelligence and that hubris frequently leads to poor decis...

The NBA’s poverty franchises
The competitive lifespan of an NBA franchise is delicate. A team’s championship relevance depends on many factors, including the front office’s competence, coaching staff, and the totality of star power on the court. “Poverty” in the NBA sense can be defined by the corrosion of the team’s ethics and...

The road not taken: How Carlos Correa and other agreements voided or reversed have altered destinies
Days after agreeing to a 13-year, $350 million deal to serve as San Fran’s shortstop of the foreseeable future, former Astros SS, Carlos Correa regurgitated his Giants agreement and opted to occupy third base for the Mets for the next 12 years instead at a marked down $315 million rate. Correa’s abo...

Who is the NBA’s most clutch player of the season?
The first-ever Jerry West Clutch Player of the Year will be awarded this season. Arguing over clutch players has become a staple of sports shout-talk TV, so it was probably only a matter of time until the NBA introduced an official award hoop heads could scream about. This wasn’t a thing we wanted, ...

Devin Funchess is thinking about going back to his first love
Long before he signed on to play football for the Michigan Wolverines, and eventually become a second-round draft pick for the Carolina Panthers, Devin Funchess was a basketball player....

The Phoenix Suns are about to be owned by a real weirdo
To attain the kind of wealth that would allow one to purchase a sports franchise must automatically designate one as being off-kilter in some ways. There can be no normal billionaires, and now sports teams are valued at such ridiculous heights that only the richest of the rich can afford them. Which...
