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Say what you want about the NBA, it still values its titans
For all the misguided complaints about the melodrama that can be the NBA at times, or the claims that its “wokeness” will be its ruin, or how the league beats itself up over load management or whatever else, it still offers something that none of the other three non-NFL leagues can. And that’s regul...

Why are hockey 'tough' guys always the biggest cheap-shot crybabies?
For a sport that really loves to tout how tough its players are, hockey players don’t seem to have much tolerance for anything that makes them feel bad in the slightest. At least on the ice. Morgan Rielly of Toronto was just the latest to wet himself when an opponent reminded him just a little too m...

The NBA trade deadline was a bit of a dud, but here's a look at who won and who flopped horribly
After last year’s insane trade deadline, which featured Kevin Durant being dealt to the Phoenix Suns, this year brought a bunch of smaller, shrewd moves that moved teams into contention. We have tracked the trades and broken them down by time-tested winners and losers rubric to track how the day wen...

Keeping track of all the NBA trades before the deadline ends
The NBA Trade Deadline is officially upon us. While the deadline may not be as exciting as years past with big stars going on the move, it’s a deadline that’s as important as any in recent memory. Both conferences are up for grabs, with no real contender running away with it. Can someone make a move...

Carl Weathers and the professional athletes who became actors
Acting and sports have a lot in common. It takes a ton of body control to do either, both are consumed by millions, and the biggest stars usually have a ton of charisma. These are the athletes who broke out of their sports and became big stars in Hollywood. ...

Pacers acquire Pascal Siakam, last piece of Raptors' 2019 championship squad
The Raptors’ fire sale continues. The Indiana Pacers are finalizing a trade to acquire Toronto Raptors forward Pascal Siakam, according to a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. According to Woj, the Pacers will send Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora, and three first-round picks in the deal. The New Orlea...

The Maple Leafs have their problems, but paying their good players isn’t one of them
The free-agent apocalypse that was going to arrive in Toronto next summer has apparently disappeared. Before last summer, Auston Matthews and William Nylander were a season away from unrestricted free agency, and John Tavares and Mitch Marner were two years away. The latter two are still in that spo...

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...

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...

IDIOT OF THE YEAR: The annual descent into madness continues (40-31)
Welcome once again, dearest and most beloved reader, to Deadspin’s vaunted IDIOT OF THE YEAR awards, the global phenomenon in which we say churlish things about people we dislike. Huzzah!...

Raptors may countersue Knicks for defamation
The Toronto Raptors are exploring the possibility of countersuing the New York Knicks, according to The Athletic. ...

Darko Rajakovic using food as Raptors' motivator
Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic is getting creative to attempt to create a winning streak– by offering to buy the team dinner if they beat the Miami Heat on Wednesday night. ...

The Maple Leafs are in their own heads
The Toronto Maple Leafs fixated on the wrong things? I know, it’s a crazy time and we’ll have to get through it together, with intellect and a savoir-faire. ...

IDIOT OF THE MONTH: Who’s worse — the alleged sex pest or the Nazi enthusiast?
Welcome to Deadspin’s IDIOT OF THE MONTH, beautiful reader! We’ve got a good one for you this time. ...

When did the New York Knicks become a franchise worth stealing ideas from?
Is the NBA truly a copycat league? And if so, what would the Toronto Raptors want with New York Knicks intel?...

Building and destroying men: The Greater Toronto Hockey League's assault on childhood
Scott Fraser inhales deeply. “I got way too many things in the vault, brother.”...

The Leafs sign Ryan Reaves, solving a problem they don't have
At least the Toronto Maple Leafs never disappoint. At least anyone who isn’t a Maple Leafs fan, that is....

The Toronto Maple Leafs are about to do something stupid
The rest of the employees of the Springfield Power Plant gathering around the control center of Sector 7-G, with Lenny narrating for everyone the normal practice, “Get ready everyone, he’s about to do something stupid…” is what the NHL is now, gathering around The Six and wondering just what the Tor...

The Toronto Maple Leafs disappoint their fans by winning
No one does a post-mortem like the Toronto Maple Leafs. For the past six years, it’s been an April tradition. The Leafs spit up all over themselves in the playoffs, and then the next week the rest of the playoffs are drowned out by the wailing from southern Ontario about who needs to be traded, who ...

You have never been as excited about anything as Naples was about the Scudetto yesterday
Napoli clinched the Scudetto yesterday afternoon with a 1-1 draw away to Udinese. How might you have been able to discern that if you lived in Naples and weren’t watching the match? Definitely had to look closely:...