hoot Page 22 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Oh no MJ, please don’t even think about trading for Russell Westbrook
MJ, please don’t do this....

Duke's Jon Scheyer faces an impossible task
As of this past Saturday, we have officially entered the Jon Scheyer era in Duke basketball. A first-time head coach, hand-picked by Mike Krzyzewski as his successor, Scheyer has been rising the ranks as an assistant coach with the Blue Devils since 2013....

Stop laughing at the Lakers for two seconds and give the Phoenix Suns a standing ovation
For those of you who were still awake when the Los Angeles Lakers sandcastle of a 2021-22 season finally washed away, we had a good time didn’t we? The jokes have been piling up all season with this new roster that improved on none of their weaknesses from last season and also had none of their stre...

Could the Kansas Jayhawks beat the G-League Ignite?
While TV talking heads and sports scribes fixated on Coach K and UNC, it took until the second half of the national title game for most fans to notice that Kansas was in the Final Four. College basketball’s 2022 National Champion hid under the radar all season. Not only because the Jayhawks are a va...

It should be demolition derby time for this Lakers team after finally being put out of their misery
A season that started out with so much hope in Los Angeles came to an end Tuesday night against the Lakers’ I-10 rivals, the Phoenix Suns, 121-110. The Lakers have three remaining games on the schedule, but the 11-point loss to the Suns eliminated LA from play-in contention. So, the Lakers have abso...

Paul George looks like he hasn’t missed a beat
The Clippers appear to be operating like a team that’s extremely aware of its mortality. Paul George returned from injury Tuesday to help lead LA to a comeback win over the Utah Jazz, scoring 34 points in 31 minutes. If his right elbow — which could’ve been repaired via surgery but he opted to play ...

The Ja Morant/Allen Iverson comparisons are actually kind of legit
Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant is having a sensational season. Morant has led his team to the second-best record in the NBA and they’ve eclipsed 50 wins for the first time since the 2014-15 campaign. And Memphis still has the chance to set a franchise record for regular season wins (56) with seve...

I apologize for ruining March Madness
I feel like this is somehow my fault....

Washington seems intent on screwing up the Kristaps Porziņģis trade
The Washington Wizards are still playing basketball, and I thought I’d inform you because you may have forgotten about them like the empty La Croix can on your coffee table that’s been there so long it’s basically a centerpiece. “Ignored garbage” is probably the most apt way to describe this team af...

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...

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...

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...

Fictional Hooper Bracket: The Rucker Region - Round 2
The only havoc in the first round of the Rucker Regional was a 5-12 upset, which has become almost commonplace in March Madnesses everywhere. We’ll see how things tighten up heading into the Silver Screen 16 with matchups like Kyrie Irving alter ego Uncle Drew getting his first real test of the tour...

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. ...

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 ...

The people who wanted Juwan Howard and Penny Hardaway fired a few months ago… where’d they go?
What started with a press conference and a “postgame scuffle” has turned into predictable praise. Because when you win, people conveniently forget that just a few weeks earlier they wanted you unemployed....

After an all-time bad freshman campaign, where does Emoni Bates go from here?
Jalen Duren and Chet Homgren’s matchup in the Round of 32 provided a preview of two future lottery picks in the upcoming NBA Draft. Holmgren and Duren didn’t exactly light it up, but they gave scouts a glimpse of two future franchise cornerstones....

The Cavs have again swept up the ashes left by LeBron’s departure, and built something impressive
They did it again, damn it. The Cleveland Cavaliers have somehow avoided the hellish purgatory typically levied against small-market teams in between superstar stints. The first time LeBron James left, after an initial seven-year stretch with Cleveland, it only took four seasons and four top-four Lo...

<i>Winning Time</i> Episode 3: 'The Best Is Yet To Come'
Damn, even legendary Chick Hearn is a bastard? Winning Time is hell-bent on tearing down all the NBA totems. Even the adored voice of the Lakers for 40-plus years, Hearn, is caught calling black security guards “gorillas.” Writers Max Borenstein and Rodney Barnes show us the circus behind the curtai...