james Page 45 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Retiring Russell’s jersey number should have happened a long time ago
Shame on the NBA....

NBA players way too excited over fellow pros balling out in ProAm leagues
It’s become a tradition more irrelevant than any other....

The NBA retires Bill Russell’s number
The NBA retired its first number ever Thursday, and Bill Russell’s No. 6 couldn’t be a better choice — if it’s not the only choice. A transcendent figure as a player, as a coach, and as a civil rights leader, Russell’s legacy takes dictionaries’ to define. Of the four major professional sports in Am...

How bloated are the preseason win totals for the NBA teams fans love to hate?
When oddsmakers release NBA win-total futures, most casual fans scan right to their teams’ over/under and say, “My team’s better than that.” After a prolonged and misguided rant about sharps who do this for a living doing their job, the next move is to find the franchises they hate and bitch about t...

Kevin Durant is an airhead
That is if reports are to be believed, and it would depend on which side this slithered out from. Smart money is on the Brooklyn side, but then again watching Kevin Durant throughout his career, this is the kind of hijinx he would think shines kindly on him....

How can Steph Curry be the petty king when that’s already Kevin Durant’s lane?
Steph Curry’s new moniker, The Petty King, feels contrived. He’s on this post-Finals MVP mission to call out everyone who’s ever slighted him. Cool, man, your legacy is as pristine as they come. Why didn’t this persona come out before his long-sought Finals MVP, when you were still vulnerable? ...

Will Liverpool’s season be defined by children?
It depends on how you define drama whether or not you find any in the Premier League season. We pretty much know that either Manchester City or Liverpool will win the title. Some combination of Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs, and maybe United will fill out the other Champions League places. Perhaps Newcast...

Here’s where the losers of the Juan Soto sweepstakes stand now
Light up a cigar, kick your feet up, and take a massive breath. The Juan Soto saga is over. I doubted it would happen at all, but in the end, the San Diego Padres wound up getting both Soto and veteran teammate Josh Bell for comparatively very little. Congrats to the Padres! The deal was amazing! Th...

Well, it wasn’t the massive haul we were expecting…
Juan Soto’s time with the Nationals will be talked about like Alex Rodriguez’s stay with the Rangers. A generational talent who’s MVP-worthy no matter what team’s jersey they put on 100-plus times a year. It was incredibly relevant in real time, but as those moments get further into the past, it bec...

Reminder to everyone employed by the Bills: Never touch Josh Allen
Maybe the Buffalo Bills need to string Christmas lights onto Josh Allen’s red practice quarterback stop sign jersey. It’s 2022, there has to be a way to put a sensor on the defensive players so it beeps when Allen is approaching like a blind spot device on a new car....

The NBA found its pretense to probe the Philadelphia 76ers
Over the last few years, jilted NBA Governors have raised a bigger stink over their players mingling with other teams’ representatives before the free agency period has officially begun. In 2019, the NBA passed stricter tampering rules, including an increase in the maximum fine for tampering to $10 ...

The best sports calls of the 21st century
Is there anything that defines a moment in sports history quite like the announcers’ call over the sounds of a raucous crowd and a celebrating team (and your own sobs)? Do you believe in miracles, the band is on the field, the Giants win the pennant, pretty much anything Jack Buck ever said — they’r...

Is this the beginning of the end of Brittney Griner’s detainment?
From the beginning, Brittney Griner’s status has been the most unique American hostage situation in modern history. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, her celebrity status, and her identity as a Black lesbian woman have heightened the urge to get her home as quickly as possible in a wartime climate th...

Bronny James might be in for a gap year if the NBA age limit isn’t lowered
The biggest hurdle Bronny James will have to clear to make the NBA might be one that his dad can’t boost him over. Partially lost in NBA commissioner Adam Silver’s many comments during the summer league a couple of weeks ago was his support for lowering the age limit from 19 to 18, something that ne...

How do you foul out in a Drew League game?
NBA stars have largely disappeared from the Rucker Park, Barry Farms and Drew League runs of the past they used to regularly lace up for. LeBron James’ 42-point show at The Drew League a week ago was a clarion call for his NBA peers. After two years of being disrupted by the pandemic, the Drew Leagu...

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...

LeBron James told the truth about Brittney Griner and Boston… people got mad — in other news, water is wet
The first step is always the hardest because people hate admitting their faults, especially in a place like America where denial is a part of this country’s DNA....

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...

NBA player movement junkies stuck smoking roaches this offseason
Rudy Gobert being the biggest name to change teams during free agency made this iteration feel like an overhyped, under-delivered trade deadline. While there’s still quite a bit of time left in the offseason, all but a star is running it back with last year’s team. Unless the Brooklyn Nets find a tr...