cia Page 105 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The Miami Heat feel like Riley’s ’90s Knicks
The Miami Heat are the only NBA contender built like a UFC promotion. Knowing that it was inevitable that Heat culture nearly turned that energy inward during a lousy loss to the Golden State Warriors. Udonis Haslem threatening to beat Jimmy Butler’s ass and Eric Spoelstra asking if Butler wanted to...

It’s always easy to blame the refs, but this time they’re truly awful
Complaining about officiating after a loss is one of the more annoying things that a sports fan can do. Coming from a coach or player who has just suffered a tough loss that they feel was unfairly called, the complaint may be easier to stomach, but it still doesn’t really sit right. It comes across ...

I want my win in the Azteca, Gregg Berhalter
Right off the bat, I know all the logic the US might keep something in reserve tonight at the Azteca vs. Mexico. The USMNT has not been able to thread the three-matches-in-seven days windows all that well. The Panama game is the real crunch one of the three this time, as a win there basically guaran...

Devin Booker is having a spectacular season for Phoenix but where’s the MVP love?
We often hear about consistency in sports, yet it feels like it’s rarely rewarded without the proper narrative or flair behind it. That’s the case for Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker. All Booker does is step on the court and average 26 points per game like clockwork for the best team in the NBA. He’...

Be patient, but more importantly, not cheap, Chicago
If Zach LaVine and Demar DeRozan thought backup was coming in the form of Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso, or Patrick Williams, they might want to try buddy-copping their way out of the jam Chicago is in now. Fake argue like Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, or mix karate with charisma like Chris Tucker and J...

Kevin Durant says Dirk Nowitzki is the best shooting big of all time, but it's actually Kevin Durant
I’m not surprised that Kevin Durant has a great deal of respect for Dirk Nowitzki’s game. Prior to Dirk becoming one of the best players in the league, all the basketball players who were bigger than most of the other basketball players were scoffed at for not playing with their back to the basket. ...

Has it really been a bad year for Julius Randle or was last season just an outlier?
This can’t be the season Knicks forward Julius Randle envisioned coming off a career year where he averaged 24 points per game, led his team to the playoffs, was named Most Improved Player, and became a first time All-NBA selection. The Knicks are in 11th place in the East now, with no real chance a...

Kyrie Irving outlasted the NBA and Eric Adams in a game of chicken — but nobody won
James Harden should have waited....

LeBron is gunning for the scoring title because the Lakers are irrelevant
The Lakers are the hottest kind of garbage right now. The kind of refuse you smell on Bourbon Street the day after Mardi Gras. They’re 10 games below .500, sitting in ninth place, and fighting for a final chance to disappoint their home crowd in the first of possibly two play-in games. Russel Westbr...

Social athlete-fan interactions keep getting worse
Player fan relationships moved into an entirely new realm over a decade ago when social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter began to pop up. Not long after came Instagram and later TikTok. These platforms have become staples in our lives, not just in the United States but around the ...

A tribute to the omnipresent NBA stars who never played a minute
Let’s pour one out for the lost souls of the 2021-22 NBA season. This season was a void on their resumes for a select few stars. An entire missed season can be an opportunity to step back, reevaluate and return for a bounce-back campaign. Or they can smack into the 2023 season like porcelain against...

This Kyrie situation is starting to feel like the Mayor of New York is trying to beat him in a game of one-on-one
I know this is March Madness and NFL Free Agency season, but the NBA Playoffs start in less than 30 days. That last, and most entertaining, mile of the NBA season, but maximum entertainment value is only achieved if all of the stars are playing. That appears to still be in jeopardy with Kyrie Irving...

Hornets sign Isaiah Thomas for the rest of the season
These last few years have been tough for Charlotte Hornets guard Isaiah Thomas. He’s been on nothing but 10-day contracts recently, and after consecutive 10-day deals in Charlotte, the Hornets have decided to keep Thomas on for the remainder of the year....

College hockey is just as mad in March
You and I have probably been spending the last week the same way, staring at our monitors watching St. Peter’s destroy any chance we had at winning our office bracket challenge. We’ve been so enticed by the upsets, bracket busters, and magical run by Michigan (with Juwan Howard returning to the side...

We all know Liverpool can’t win the Quadruple, but what my book presupposes…
To say winning the Quadruple–the League Cup, the FA Cup, the Champions League, and the Premier League–is a dream isn’t accurate. No fan ever really thinks of it before a season starts, or really before even February. It’s beyond fantasy. It’s not something you’d ever give the time of day. Perhaps En...

Fictional Hooper Bracket: Venice Beach Regional - Round 2
The first round of the Venice Beach Regional went mostly according to the seedings, with an easily predicted upset (12-seed Buggs beating the 5-seed Pound in a Space Jam rematch), and one I didn’t see coming (13-seed Clarence Withers toppling 4-seed Quincy McCall). At the top of the bracket, Billy H...

Don’t discuss Lia Thomas without mentioning how Caster Semenya was treated
Labeling Lia Thomas as a lightning rod is an understatement....

The return of the Celtics
It wasn’t long ago that the Boston Celtics were viewed as one of the more underachieving teams in the NBA this season. ...

Say Goodbye to J. Crossover
Damn, nobody in the NBA needed a possible 15 points in 12 minutes waiting on their bench for the playoffs?...

Golden State’s good, bad, and ugly have all been on display
The Golden State Warriors’ penchant for losing games they have in hand is almost becoming legendary. They’re the fastest gunslingers in the West, but they could teach a masterclass in shooting themselves in the foot on too many occasions this season. On Sunday night, these Warriors had a victory in ...