jr Page 15 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

After winning the Victor Wembanyama lottery, San Antonio’s work is only just beginning
The conventional thinking is that Victor Wembanyama will be in safe hands with Gregg Popovich in San Antonio. But there’s no guarantee that the Wembanyama era will be anywhere as fruitful as Pop’s last dynasty or that he’ll have the best career out of any prospect in this draft, but I wouldn’t bet a...

Good effort JJ, but invoking America’s gun problem is not the way to defend Ja Morant
JJ Redick is correct that there is a macro issue in this country with politicians using firearms as campaign posters. A majority of Americans would agree with him on that. In one space of that mass of plutocracy, policy, and posturing is Ja Morant posing with one of this country’s most polarizing an...

This cast of the Lake Show is as triggering as it is good
I’m finding it increasingly difficult to cope with America’s ongoing nightmare. No, not COVID, though I did just go to a wedding and got the “Hey, heads up, it was a super spreader” text today. That said, I’d let an infected cough in my mouth right now if it meant a Los Angeles Lakers playoff exit a...

LeBron James vs. Nikola Jokić, and the other Lakers-Nuggets Western Conference Finals storylines
We did not get Kevin Durant vs. Stephen Curry in the Western Conference Finals. Instead, the participants in the series are the best teams in the conference — the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers....

Can Denver avoid the choke when it counts most in the Western Conference Finals?
The NBA is down to its final four as this year’s conference finals have brought about Déjà vu, although this isn’t an illusion of the mind. Less than three years ago, we saw the same teams representing the NBA’s Eastern and Western Finals. In the west, we’ve got the Lakers and Nuggets in a rematch f...

The NBA's young stars balled out in the second round of the playoffs
The boisterous people of Sacramento were not a part of the second round, but the basketball as a whole was no less exciting. As predicted, the Miami Heat and New York Knicks matchup was late 1990s NBA without the fights, but the 2020s NBA was at its best in the other series....

Joel Embiid is right
Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokić are starkly different people. Yes, they are MVP centers who were not raised in America, but the similarities largely stop there. One player is from Africa and the other is from Europe. One player is the most physically dominant in the NBA, the other combines size, court ...

JJ Redick and the Raptors would be more <i>90 Day Fiancé</i> than ‘happily ever after’
I want to believe that these two parties are smart enough to know that they are better off without each other. They have achieved great success separately, and a union at this time can only cause harm to both. A business relationship should exist between JJ Redick and the Toronto Raptors. That busin...

Real Madrid and Manchester City trapped each other, or so they’d have you believe
When you’ve been as dominant in the Champions League as Real Madrid have for the past decade, or as dominant in the Premier League as Manchester City have, you can convince everyone that whatever you do is part of the plan, part of a higher genius we can’t quite understand. It must be, otherwise, ho...

Jamal Murray has been instrumental in Nikola Jokić’s playoff transcendence
Nikola Jokić’s first two MVP seasons were snapped short by title contenders with heavier artillery in the lineup. A year ago, Golden State broke their spirits by targeting Jokić defensively. In 2021, a shorthanded Denver Nuggets team got trounced in a four-game sweep by the Phoenix Suns. ...

Bronny James won't be USC's only son of an NBA star
During halftime of the 2022 NBA All-Star Game in Cleveland, there was an infamous moment that occurred on stage as the league was celebrating the players who made the NBA 75 list. Cameras caught LeBron James, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Steph Curry, Ray Allen, and Dwyane Wade getting together to ta...

In star-studded matchup, it was Lonnie Walker IV who led the way late for Lakers
Lonnie Walker IV had found himself going from the Los Angeles Lakers’ starting five to the bench, as he missed 14 games earlier this season due to knee tendinitis, and L.A. overhauled its roster during the trade deadline. Having lost his spot in the rotation in February, he made a post on his Instag...

Why did Bronny James pick USC?
Bronny James finally made his long-rumored commitment to USC official this weekend, after months of speculation that indicated he was staying local to suit up for the Trojans. Weeks ago, James’ list of schools was whittled down to Ohio State, which sounded more like his dad living vicariously throug...

Bill Belichick’s level of pettiness is something to be marveled at
Bill Belichick’s penchant for trading back in drafts is typically justified by his accumulation of more picks, which he then wastes on an abundance of offensive linemen, safeties, and the occasional ex-lacrosse All-American. ...

Pistons terminate Assistant GM Rob Murphy day before explosive reports are published
After a nearly six-month investigation, on Wednesday the Detroit Pistons made the decision to terminate assistant general manager Rob Murphy. He had been on administrative leave since October 2022 after accepting that role in June. Murphy was placed on leave after being accused of harassment by a wo...
![College athletics is a perfect breeding ground for gambling scandals [Update]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/3cb9df7f9558ba1253c34f502be74833.jpg)
College athletics is a perfect breeding ground for gambling scandals [Update]
Updated Nov. 15, 2023: Ex-Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohannon and his associate Bert Neff Jr. will be banned, pending an appeal, from Ohio sportsbooks due to an alleged inside information scheme involving a Crimson Tide baseball game, according to the Ohio Casino Control Commission....

Denver Post columnist pens love letter to Nikola Jokić's undies
The low point of the NBA season has been the interminable debate over the MVP. From Kendrick Perkins and JJ Redick stirring an empty pot about prejudice giving the leg up to Nikola Jokić in the MVP race to Doug Gottlieb bashing his own skull in, blithering on about how race helped Joel Embiid win MV...

Aaron Rodgers lures old friend Randall Cobb to New York Jets
“Won’t you be my neighbor?” Aaron Rodgers probably said over the phone to another former teammate, coaxing them to join his circus in the New Jersey suburbs. This time falling for the optical illusion was reportedly Randall Cobb, who will stay on the same squad as the 39-year-old quarterback after a...

Overanalyzing Jordan Poole’s shot is NBA voyeurism at its finest
After nearly 48 minutes, the Los Angeles Lakers were spent as the Golden State Warriors were hitting their stride and discovering their second wind. Following a late flurry of points, the Warriors trailed by three in the final seconds when Jordan Poole launched a three-pointer from the parking lot. ...

Lakers and Warriors have been getting old without getting older
Fending off the advance of time is an impossible feat. The Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors both spent their first-round series successfully keeping the sand in their hourglasses from pouring out. Both the Warriors and LeBron James have aged gracefully over the years, but in the next rou...