ick Page 245 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The two trains of thought are colliding on the Kevin Durant-Jaylen Brown trade
The Boston Celtics have reached their offseason garden of forking paths. After falling short in the NBA Finals, they now seem willing to break up their young tandem, and potentially a fulcrum of their asphyxiating defense. ...

Which state can field the best starting 5?
Now that the Warriors have returned to glory post-Durant, NBA fans just survived one of the most unbearable periods of the NBA. One filled with superteams and razor-thin parity between the three to four coastal teams with stacked talent (Warriors, Lakers, Nets), and the rest of the small-market team...

What if the Saudis come for tennis next?
Let’s paint a picture for a moment. It’s two, maybe three years from now. The Saudi Golf League has taken off, gotten its sponsorships and TV deals, and superstar commitments. It’s expanded its tournaments, the majors are now allowing defectors to return, and — all in all, it’s a success....

Nonsensical arguments are only cute when they’re harmless, Chuck
A few months ago, amongst the very early Saudi golf league discussions and defections, Charles Barkley said that he gets it — “If somebody gave me $200 million, I’d kill a relative,” he told Pat McAfee. “Even one I like.”...

Darwin Núñez’s courting of Liverpool holdouts is underway
It must be a slow period for sports in the U.K. as well. There’s not a dart league or a cricket game (match?) going on either? It could be the record-breaking heat that’s made fans more irritable than normal. Whatever it is, overreacting to a player’s preseason debut during a couple of friendlies is...

Jimmy Garoppolo is free to seek a trade — where does he fit best?
It’s been a wild ride for Jimmy Garoppolo in San Francisco, to say the least. He’s been nothing short of a savior for the franchise, returning them to their status as a powerhouse in the NFC. But all good things must come to an end, and that time has officially come....

Danny Ainge has turned the Utah Jazz into a League Pass offseason team
Now in his third decade as a general manager or team president, Danny Ainge is in the next stage of what’s been a blessed NBA existence. As a supporting player on a pair of championship Celtics teams, he was one of the league’s first 3-point specialists, and reached the NBA Finals with Portland, the...

Not so fast Justin Jefferson, Davante Adams isn’t the only WR you’ll need to pass for best in the NFL
Minnesota Vikings star wide receiver Justin Jefferson is calling his shot by saying he’ll be the best at his position by the end of the 2022 NFL season. Jefferson’s bold proclamation has been the talk of Twitter, but he might not be far off. The third-year wideout offered up his thoughts in a recent...

Juan Soto is on the trade block — and GMs better be prepared to break the bank
Washington Nationals outfielder Juan Soto is a 23-year-old superstar. In just four and a half years in the bigs, he has established himself as one of the best pure hitters in the game. He’s a perennial MVP candidate, a master of plate discipline — and now he’s on the trade block....

Stubbornness and health — that’s all Russell Westbrook has left
Short guards are notorious for aging poorly in the NBA. When quickness is your best asset, losing a step can be fatal. Only the craftiest players — think Jason Kidd, or Chris Paul — can remain effective. Whether it’s changing their playing style, using so many defensive tricks it borders on dirty pl...

NFL behind push to make flag football an Olympic sport
Intramural teams around the country, you’d better start training! The NFL has just joined the effort to get flag football officially recognized as an Olympic sport for the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles....

Has anyone noticed Carl Nassib isn’t on an NFL roster?
My adult life has been littered with the word privilege. When I was growing up, it was first discussed when my parents explained why my Sega Genesis was off limits as well as the living room television. Privileges can be held over a child, and if that child goes above and beyond acceptable behavior,...

'Fair' has got nothing to do with it
An organization can do everything right during a rebuild: Hire a good, young coach, make shrewd, smart personnel decisions, lead the NFL in rushing, make the playoffs. Those are all signs of a team trending upward....

We have some issues with ESPN’s Top 10 QB list for 2022
It’s mid-July, and we’re getting ever so close to NFL training camps opening, and you can feel the anticipation. Along with that comes a whole host of pundits writing lists ranking players at various positions — most notably, quarterback. ESPN caused an uproar over the weekend when it released its T...

The Jimmy G to Tampa Bay rumor was asinine, but another NFC team makes sense
Now that San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is on the mend following shoulder surgery in March, trade rumors are starting to resurface, with one sounding too ridiculous to be true. The rumor that Tampa Bay is interested in bringing Garoppolo to Florida has been floating around....

Duncan Keith, a shutdown corner on ice
The popular thesis on Duncan Keith, who reportedly is retiring after 16 seasons, was that he was a product of the “new” NHL, after the Great Bettman Lockout II in 2005. The thought was that someone his size would never have survived in the clutch n’ grab n’ hogtie era that came before, given that he...

A.J. Brown is off and running in Philly after laying the smack down on Micah Parsons
Philadelphia Eagles’ new star wide receiver A.J. Brown is diving-in headfirst to the NFC East rivalry with the Dallas Cowboys. Brown participated in a charity softball home-run derby hosted by teammate DeVonta Smith. In the final, it was Brown against Micah Parsons, with A.J. coming away the victor ...

You can’t run from yourself and beat Novak Djokovic
We’ll never know what Nick Kyrgios really thinks, late at night when he’s all alone and there’s no one to impress or deflect to (and he may have a lot of those nights to himself soon). Maybe he genuinely doesn’t care that he lost his first Grand Slam final, considering the way that most people have ...

Somebody please tell Tyreek Hill that flattery will only get Tua so far
Since arriving in Miami, Tyreek Hill has been endlessly podcasting and writing checks his quarterback can’t cash. He said Tua Tagovailoa is more accurate than his former quarterback Patrick Mahomes. He gushed over his arm strength. On Saturday’s show, he said, “Reporters, analysts, Twitter trolls. A...

The Big3 needs a fix — here's an idea
A gray-bearded, 46-year-old Cuttino Mobley playing basketball, by itself, is a little interesting, but not a needle-mover....