morant Page 4 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Holding Ja Morant responsible is necessary — releasing his strip club photos is not
Over the last few weeks, Ja Morant’s transgressions have vaulted his name, his team, and the NBA into a space that transcends sports. And when you’ve reached that point, it’s because you’ve done something that’s either heartwarming as the end of a Christmas movie on Lifetime, or been involved in som...

Young people make mistakes, but Ja Morant had better learn quickly from his latest one
I’m not here to psychoanalyze Ja Morant, ask if he has any gang affiliations, or question the influence that his parents are playing in his life. I will say, however, that if Morant was trying to emulate mid-2000s Michael Vick by having an illicit business on the side we probably would have heard ab...

NBA Disarray Rankings: Ja Morant and Russell Westbrook are the captains of their teams’ demises
This is the juncture in the seesawing NBA season when champions begin raising their games and pretenders plummet into sinkholes. Disarray isn’t a permanent status. Over the course of an 82-game season, lulls, injuries, suspensions and a lack of focus can derail even the steadiest contenders. However...

NBA Schedule: Make some time to watch the Knicks
Bing-bong, bang-bang, pick whatever onomatopoeia you desire to properly emphasize the 2022-23 New York Knicks, as long as you acknowledge that this team is for real. They have won nine games in a row and are 4.5 games ahead of a play-in tournament appearance....

Luka Dončić vs. Devin Booker might as well be on the WrestleMania 39 undercard
NBA fights are bogus....
![Ja Morant deactivates Twitter, Instagram accounts after flashing gun on IG Live [Updated]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/47fa80ff88a8faef795a98158e30e421.png)
Ja Morant deactivates Twitter, Instagram accounts after flashing gun on IG Live [Updated]
It’s not that I don’t think Ja Morant can read a room. I think he can, which is why his Instagram Live story where he appears to hold a gun is so maddening. If you’re unaware, Morant has been in the news this week because details emerged from an incident where he allegedly punched a teenager and fla...

These are the athletes that could reasonably fight in the next <i>Creed</i> movie
The Creed and Rocky franchises have not only felt like an expanding cloth weaving through the sports zeitgeist for nearly 50 years. Beyond its cultural footprint, its nine installments have launched or sunk the burgeoning acting careers of several retired and active athletes. From former Raiders lin...

Ja Morant’s recklessness is seeping off the court
One of the observations that persists among people who watch Ja Morant play is, “Oh my god, he’s going to break his hip if he keeps going to the rim like that.” It’s hard for normal people to understand how someone is not only that fast and explosive, but that coordinated. Morant attempts stuff not ...

The NBA old heads have spoken — and they think LeBron is currently the Association's best player
It’s official, the old heads of the NBA heads have welcomed LeBron James as one of their own. The Athletic recently polled 101 former NBA players, asking which current player is the best player in the Association. In a league that has an abundance of under-30-year-old talent that it is bursting out ...

These are the top 10 young cores in the NBA right now
The “middle class” of the NBA is slowly eroding. Surprisingly, it’s not totally a bad thing. Almost every team has a talented young core with potential, raising parity within the NBA. Even the teams at the bottom of the standings have enough young players to have something to look forward to in two ...

YouTuber wins NBA Dunk Contest
Nobody should be surprised that Mac McClung won the dunk contest. If you’re a hoops fan, McClung has been in the public eye for some time now because he can dunk well enough to go viral. Add in that he’s a 6-foot-2 white guy, and you have a recipe for internet fame....

Nuggets’ All-Star power outage is either disrespect from the league or a playoff omen
Nikola Jokić’s season has been one for the ages. The Denver Nuggets are first in the West, first in offensive efficiency, Jokić is a god according to almost every analytics metric as well as the runaway favorite to become the first MVP in three consecutive seasons since Larry Bird ran the table betw...

The best games on the NBA schedule the week of Feb. 6 — the NFL season is over, get used to it
Sunday is the season finale for NFL 2022. All that is left until post-Labor Day is free-agent signings, trades, the NFL Draft, and position battles in practice. Sure some of you are looking forward to the speculation, but that can’t possibly compare to seven hours of actual game action. For those of...

Player and team activism may be lost on you, but you’re not everyone
A week ago tonight I sat here and wrote about why I didn’t want to touch on the Memphis Grizzlies getting into a verbal altercation with Shannon Sharpe during a game against the Los Angeles Lakers. The point of that article was to illustrate why it’s important to stay current on issues that actually...

Best games on the NBA schedule this week: The West is rising
Don’t let anyone tell you the NBA schedule during the regular season is a poor entertainment product. Of course, a single game does not impact a team’s overall record the same way that it does an NFL team. In the NBA teams play multiple games per week. That is not changing anytime soon, especially w...

Shannon Sharpe apologizes for tirade against Grizzlies
Shannon Sharpe’s sideline tirade directed toward the Memphis Grizzlies turned the retired NFL tight end and Undisputed co-host into a trending figure during Friday night’s NBA on ESPN matchup. Sharpe’s feud with the Grizzlies just before halftime distracted from what was an otherwise entertaining ga...

Shannon Sharpe, Memphis Grizzlies nearly scuffle at halftime: 'They didn't want this smoke'
The Memphis Grizzlies have always exuded extreme black Air Force energy. It’s one thing for their trash talk to agitate LeBron. However, their penchant for trash talk nearly approached Malice at the Palace levels on Friday night before halftime of a Friday night ESPN matchup against the Los Angeles ...

’90s rules, agency wars, and other ideas for an NBA midseason tournament
I know I’m not the only one rolling my eyes at the NBA trying to come up with a midseason tournament format worthy of getting players to compete at the highest level. This is going to be like summer camp for teams once they’re eliminated, and if I was in the league, I’d think about throwing a contes...

Raise your hand if you want a Denver Nuggets-Memphis Grizzlies Western Conference Finals
If you directly asked the NBA powers how they would feel about a Memphis Grizzlies-Denver Nuggets matchup in the Western Conference Finals, I think they’d offer a “We’d love that.” However, if you asked the same people the same question in an anonymous poll, I’m pretty sure the responses would be so...

The best NBA games to watch this week
Of course, a single game does not impact a team’s overall record the same way that it does an NFL team. In the NBA, teams play multiple games per week. That is not changing anytime soon, especially with the Golden State Warriors needing to host as many events as possible in their palatial $1.4 billi...