rant Page 17 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Ja Morant keeps showing us who he is — believe him
If Ja Morant was a bank robber, he’d probably livestream it. If Ja Morant stole cars, he’d more than likely post pictures of them. And if Ja Morant was possibly obsessed with drinking and clubbing and had an addiction to brandishing guns, in all likelihood, he’d show us. Oh wait, that’s been happeni...
Ja Morant can’t stop shooting himself in the foot
In response to a new video depicting Ja Morant showing off a firearm, the Memphis Grizzlies suspended their franchise point guard from all league activities until further notice. What a suspension means when he has the next four months off is unclear, but Morant is treading on dangerous ground. Not ...
The idea of Kevin Durant was always better than the real Kevin Durant
Whenever someone talks about Kevin Durant, they bring up what he is capable of doing a lot more than they bring up what he actually does. I could retire if I had a dollar for every time Stephen A. Smith has said “6-foot-11, can pull up from 30.” But he doesn’t actually get the job done very often....
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. ...
Shohei Ohtani isn't this generation's Babe Ruth — he's even better
It’s easy to connect Shohei Ohtani to Babe Ruth, because Ruth is the only figure that we think even compares to Ohtani. Baseball hasn’t had a dominant two-way player since the Great Bambino, so that’s what the numbers have to be compared to. It used to be that Ruth’s pitching exploits were kind of a...
Gabriel ThreeYaksAndADog will miss all of next season, and the Colorado Avalanche era may already be over
In the salary-capped NHL, you get one, or two shots with one roster, and then you basically have to reshuffle everything around your core stars, and hope that new hand still produces a flush. It’s a constant game of draw poker. ...
Lakers-Warriors Game 4 doubled as a West Coast DJ set
It is a shame that TNT has the Eastern Conference Finals this season. I have enjoyed New Edition at halftime during the Boston Celtics vs. Philadelphia 76ers second-round matchup, and once the Miami Heat finish off the New York Knicks I do want to hear all of the Slip and Slide and Rick Ross catalog...
Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia is doing a bad job of proving he’s not Robert Sarver
Monday morning, people weren’t talking about how the Phoenix Suns beat the Denver Nuggets in a crucial Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinals. They skipped over the fact Devin Booker and Kevin Durant combined to score 72 points on a night that Nikola Jokic proved that he’s the rightful MVP with...
Phoenix Suns' Landry Shamet made the haters eat crow in Game 4
For those who wish to offer Landry Shamet a public apology, feel free. People with questions about the Phoenix Suns’ depth most certainly did not expect him to carry the team when Devin Booker picked up his fourth foul at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Without Shamet’s showcase from beyond the...
It’s going to take a lot to subdue Kevin Durant and Devin Booker
One of the most glorious occurrences in all of sports is when an NBA player goes on a heater in the playoffs. Think Donovan Mitchell and Jamal Murray in the Bubble, or Damian Lillard against the Nuggets a couple of years ago when he dropped a double-nickel while hitting shots that take a level of ma...
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...
Another year, another Chris Paul injury
One of my favorite title teams ever was the 2006 Miami Heat, and it wasn’t because of Dwyane Wade or Shaquille O’Neal. There were three elder players on that squad who I thought deserved the validation that comes with a ring, and it was great seeing happiness ooze out of Gary Payton, Jason Williams,...
James Harden actually rose to the occasion with Joel Embiid out
James Harden deserved to take a bow on Monday night, even if he decided to wait until he put back on his enormous pants to do so. In a game in which the Philadelphia 76ers were undermanned with their MVP candidate dealing an injury more serious than what was first made public knowledge, Harden was t...
Credit the Warriors for their resilience as much as their shooting
Stephen Curry signed his rookie contract extension with the Golden State Warriors on Oct. 30, 2012. That day was the start of the 2012-13 NBA Regular Season. At that time Curry had never been named an NBA All-Star or to an All-NBA Team. The Warriors went on to make the playoffs for the first time si...
These 9 NBA veterans are crucial to their team's playoff success
Older generations have always had critiques of where the game is going. Each generation, old heads critique how soft and easy the game has become. You can track this through podcasts, interviews, and any episode of the NBA on TNT with Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal. While revisionist history a...
Never trust an NBA Eastern Conference team
It’s getting pretty freaking unfunny how quickly the playoffs can flip narratives. The NBA’s Eastern Conference is supposed to be the superior of the two, with the three best records belonging to Milwaukee, Boston, and Philadelphia, and four of the top six marks overall. The first round was going to...
The NFL Draft will win the day, but the NBA has already won the week
Thursday night will be one of those evenings when sports fans show their appreciation for the inventor of the “previous channel” button. Round One of the 2023 NFL Draft will be on ABC, while Game 6 of the First Round matchup between the No. 2 Boston Celtics and the No. 7 Atlanta Hawks (Boston leads ...
Let’s ban Minnesota sports teams from the playoffs
As you get older, all you really ask of sports is to keep you entertained and to provide something interesting to talk about from time to time. You want good teams playing a lively style, and you want them playing another team with perhaps a good story and some verve to them. At the very least, you ...
LeBron turns back the clock
It was a 30 and over night on Monday during the NBA Playoffs. For those who didn’t burn “Many Men” onto a blank CD, and dance with a crush to “Into You,” the night wasn’t for you. The evening began on Biscayne Bay in Miami with 33-year-old Jimmy Butler dropping 56 points on the Milwaukee Bucks. It e...
The worst is the villain — in this case Aaron Rodgers — getting away with it
We here on the shores of Lake Michigan have been eating it from our neighbors to the north, the Green Bay Packers, for 25 years or so. When it goes on that long, you really stop dreaming of revenge or the tables ever turning your way, and certainly of things evening out. But there’s always a faint e...