ill Page 195 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

In honor of the Magic retiring Shaq's number, here is every NBA team's retired jersey numbers
With the announcement that the Orlando Magic will retire Shaquille O’Neal’s jersey, the NBA has finally done it! All 30 teams have officially retired a jersey number for a specific player (Yes, before Shaq, the Magic’s only jersey retired was No. 6 for “The Sixth Man,” a.k.a the fans)....

Advice to sports media people: Hype any team but the Clippers
There are certain teams as a sportswriter that you simply should not trust. Despite the way the Detroit Lions are playing, their fans won’t hesitate to tell you a size-14 steel-toe boot is about to drop at any moment. We all know what tortured souls I’m talking about so let’s spare them further angu...

Naomi Osaka has returned to tennis, but will tennis treat her right this time?
Naomi Osaka is a lot of things. She’s a woman. She’s a mom. She’s great at her job. She’s Black. She’s Asian. And when you’re more than what simple people can comprehend, they usually don’t know how to treat you. Here’s to tennis learning from their mistakes when it comes to Osaka — but we shouldn’t...

NFL scriptwriters couldn’t have penned a better ending to the regular season than Bills-Dolphins
Give the NFL credit. The league obviously hired writers from disparate backgrounds to arrange the season’s plotlines. On Sunday, the Week 18 finale will climax with an end-of-season clash of genres between the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins, who couldn’t be more different. The Dolphins even have a...

NCAA-ESPN's new broadcast deal is great for women's sports
The NCAA and ESPN agreed to an eight-year, $115 million annual deal to broadcast 40 different championships including the women’s college basketball tournament....

Trevor Bauer wants back in the majors, but does MLB want him?
Toxic ex-MLB pitcher Trevor Bauer — who sued Deadspin and lost — is hoping to find another gig in the majors....

Sorry, but I’m contractually obligated not to take it easy on Rory McIlroy
Golf is so much more fun when the players are petty. From Ryder Cup shenanigans to guys getting pissed about the pace of play, the game is infinitely more entertaining when there’s a clearly defined heel who fans can collectively hate. That’s why the past year-plus of golf was great television. ...

Atlanta and the Dodgers have opted for playoff-only starters
While Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery still wait for their free-agent payday, two powerhouses that were also in need of starting pitching have chosen other routes. Oh, the Dodgers did splash free-agent cash, it was just for one pitcher who’s never pitched in the majors (Yoshinubu Yamamoto) and one...

The Bucks need to beat the Pacers at least twice before we dub their feud a ‘rivalry’
In order for a rivalry to become a full-blown blood feud, there needs to be a little back and forth in the games themselves. The Knicks and Celtics, on paper, should hate each other, but on the court, New York is never seriously competitive so it doesn’t really resonate. ...

Bill Belichick can go quietly — or go kicking and screaming
Nobody leaves a job with quite as much oomph as Bill Belichick. Twenty-four years ago this week, Belichick handed a note with a scribbled message signaling to New York Jets officials at a press conference, stepped to the podium, and delivered his infamous remarks. ...

Wanna watch a smart woman totally body two stupid hockey men?
There is a segment of hockey fans that have always wanted to watch the bubble of hockey men discussing hockey things get totally pierced by even just the smallest bit of logic. For that is the true enemy of most things that have been hockey ethos. So a hearty thank you to Jennifer Botterill, who dur...

Katt Williams channels his inner <i>Last Dance</i> Scottie Pippen on Shannon Sharpe's podcast
Katt Williams had some pissed-off at The Last Dance type of energy during his appearance on Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast. Before the episode had been entirely uploaded, clips of him skewering Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer, and Rickey Smiley were going viral on social media....
![Fire at Tyreek Hill's house caused by child playing with lighter: Investigators [Update]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/d03ac1bdc9ff186ddc11f06b6d952aea.png)
Fire at Tyreek Hill's house caused by child playing with lighter: Investigators [Update]
Updated Jan. 9: The Jan. 3 fire at Tyreek Hill’s house — caused by two children playing with a lighter they thought was a toy — caused $2.3 million in damages, according to the incident report obtained by TMZ Sports. ...

Luke Littler: 16-year-old dart prodigy, or Robin Williams from <em>Jack</em>?
The darts world is abuzz over Luke Littler, a 16-year-old prodigy on the verge of winning the World Dart Championship. The Englishman burst onto the scene in this tournament, going from relative unknown to the sport’s Bobby Fischer (minus the racism and genius though I’m not sure those two can be tr...

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is ascending into the MVP conversation
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the NBA’s dullest superstar, which has allowed him to sneak up behind the league while they sleep on his ascendance. On Tuesday night, SGA propelled the Oklahoma City Thunder to their latest signature win. After a two-week stretch in which they’ve made mincemeat of the NBA...

NHL contenders have something of a goalie crisis
The NHL is almost certainly delighted that it’s seen an uptick in scoring the past three seasons (though down a skosh this season from last). It probably should pull a muscle patting itself on the back for the crackdown on goalie equipment leading to lower average save percentages across the Origina...

Bill Belichick said he'd reveal his future on TacoCorp's MyFace offline social network
There have been persistent rumors that this could be Bill Belichick’s final season as the HC of the New England Patriots. The team is 4-12 heading into the final week of the NFL regular season, and has seen uneven QB play since Tom Brady left town....

Billionaire NFL owner gets $300K fine for Tepper Tantrum
Billionaire Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper received a slap on the wrist from the NFL Tuesday evening for his “unacceptable conduct” during the Panthers’ 26-0 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. ...

John Fisher might not have the money to move the A’s to Vegas
There’s generally little hope for fans when it’s already been announced that their team will move to another city. That hope evaporates more when a league approves it, as MLB has done with the A’s move to Vegas. And yet, there’s always a sliver of light that can’t be extinguished when an owner is so...

The Bears are deluding themselves into thinking Justin Fields is their QB of the future
Near the end of Justin Fields’ triumphant win over the Atlanta Falcons, Chicago Bears fans serenaded him with a passionate “We want Justin” chant. The chorus reached a fever pitch on a night when Fields threw for north of 260 yards and one touchdown in a blowout win over the Atlanta Falcons. Through...