houston Page 7 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Hakeem Olajuwon charges $50K to teach what cannot be taught — good for him
One of the best/least consequential storylines in all of sports is of the big man who goes to Hakeem Olajuwon’s Dream Shake academy to learn one of the most lethal, and unteachable, moves in the history of the NBA. At $50,000 a session, it’s as close to a Ponzi scheme as you’re going to get without ...

Just how far can the Orioles go?
It would be folly to pin too much on just a handful of games, no matter how good the Baltimore Orioles have looked. But then again, October doesn’t really adhere to trends or reason or logic either. When you get to this point in the season and try to look forward, you can throw darts at stardust, an...

The Houston Astros don’t deserve a first-round bye
With playoff baseball rapidly approaching and the standings nearly complete, this feels like a good time to point out a flaw in the new six-team format (other than increasing the number of games per round). If you’re going to hand out first-round byes, give them to the two best teams in each league....

Houston Rockets abandoning decency by trying to trade Kevin Porter Jr.
Stadium’s Shams Charania reported on Wednesday that the Houston Rockets are looking to trade Kevin Porter Jr. The Rockets are even ready to send several second-round draft picks along with him. In return, Houston is reportedly looking for a player who can “play immediately.”...

Kevin Porter Jr. dodged accountability for far too long
The arrest of Kevin Porter Jr. on charges of felony assault and strangulation related to the beating of his girlfriend Kysre Gondrezic early Monday at the Millenium Hilton in Manhattan. was the last straw for the soon-to-be-former Houston Rocket. Prosecutors say Porter punched Gondrezick with an ope...

The Astros are just going to win again, aren't they?
There’s been a lot to get excited about in the American League, and a lot of new....

The Texas Rangers are backing up
For avid horseplayers, there comes a point in most races, especially when your steed has shot out to the lead from the opening of the gates, where it becomes pretty clear you’re going to lose. Somewhere on that far turn, your horse’s gait is shrinking, the jockey is working just a little too hard fo...

Houston is getting the Oilers back ... for a day, at least
Unfortunately, there is no reason for the Houston Cougars to have an oil derrick on their helmet and trademark law wouldn’t permit it anyway. Still, the nostalgia was clear as a cloudless blue sky as the program elected to don the old Houston Oilers colors for its first game as a member of the Big 1...

What a race we could've had in the AL West, and Nebraska goes loopy for volleyball
As someone who likes to spend a fair amount of time complaining about crusty baseball men and crusty baseball thought, I also spend a fair amount of time dabbling in both. As a crank, one can’t help but look at the AL West and wonder what might have been. ...

Julio Rodriguez refuses to make any outs
Baseball fans can lose track of the Mariners, all tucked away down there, pretty easily. They’re on late at night, and they don’t come with any of the glamor of some of the other West Coast teams. Though they entered this season as one of the more promising units after last year’s exploits, a pretty...

The bubble is bursting on NBA draft picks
A rather innocuous roster move by the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday could foretell the future for teams loaded with future draft picks. The Thunder waived TyTy Washington Jr., the 29th pick of the 2022 NBA Draft who played his first season with the Houston Rockets. Both the Rockets and Thunder hav...
![James Harden's Daryl Morey comments will cost him $100k [Updated]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/d3847cc53204d78a7eaacfe79e6981f5.jpg)
James Harden's Daryl Morey comments will cost him $100k [Updated]
Update Aug. 22: The NBA announced it would fine Harden $100,000 for indicating that he would not perform the services called for under his player contract unless traded to another team. Since Harden referred to Philadelphia 76ers president Daryl Morey as a liar and essentially threatened to sit out ...

The Baltimore Orioles and Cincinnati Reds are cowards
The MLB trade deadline passes, with perhaps the most major deal being the Astros acquiring Justin Verlander. And really, who doesn’t want to relive 2017 except everybody? The Mets clearly have punted on next season too, considering the money they’re kicking to Houston to cover an option year that Ve...

Rangers, Astros, and Angels, oh my!
At 40-20, the Texas Rangers looked to be a lock for the postseason. The Dallas-area MLB team always appears to have a loaded farm system, and those moves looking toward the future paid off at the same time the big-money signings stayed healthy. In addition to all that, pitching whisperer Bruce Bochy...

NBA needs to up the ante with its international game slate
What happens when a seventh seed and a 13th seed meet on a basketball court in a country that doesn’t have an NBA franchise? Who knows, but we’re going to find out....

Last year Deshaun Watson apologized, this year he's playing the victim
Deshaun Watson is great at reading defenses — he’s completed 67 percent of his passes and thrown for over 100 touchdowns and 15,000-plus yards in his career. But, what Deshaun Watson is not great at, is reading the room. He has a history of it....

Once again in MLB, it’s better to be worse
MLB owners have been dead set on rewarding their own mediocrity, because the larger economy and society as a whole has basically been set up to reward shitfucks like them for barely being able to remain upright, and intaking oxygen. The expansion of the playoffs was meant to get more money from TV c...

Dillon Brooks has got to be kidding
Making it to any professional sport and sticking around for a considerable amount of time requires a certain level of talent, dedication, and confidence in oneself. We often see players pump themselves up, making proclamations of being the best, although others don’t view them in that same light. Th...

John Wall’s talents on display in Las Vegas
After a short stint in Los Angeles with the Clippers last season, John Wall was traded to his former team, the Houston Rockets, then released a few days later. Now Wall is a free agent and holding a private workout for teams in Las Vegas Sunday in hopes of sparking interest and signing with someone ...

The Rockets have become the NBA’s most polarizing team
The Houston Rockets have been stuck in zero gravity since their post-Harden rebuild began two years ago. Despite their lottery successes they still have no direction. The Rockets lit the fuse this summer expecting a controlled explosion and witnessed the creation of the NBA’s most opulent sparkler....