rant Page 17 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Here comes Newcastle… maybe
As Manchester City have bulldozed their way through the second half of the season that gives off the feeling that they’re simply strolling to a Treble, if bulldozing, and strolling can be the same thing, there’s been a question of what anyone can do to stop them in the years to come. Sadly, for ever...

The Kyrie Irving to LA, Damian Lillard to Boston rumors will dominate the NBA offseason
At the risk of being a hypocrite and drowning Denver in a flood of Los Angeles Lakers’ developments, the departure from the postseason has stirred up the underbelly of latent Kyrie Irving free agency rumor-mongering. Even in defeat, the superstar carousel never ends in Los Angeles — or Boston for th...

Jimmy Butler completely sonned Grant Williams, Boston Celtics in Game 2
Forget what you’ve heard. The Miami Heat’s Jimmy Butler is the most dangerous weapon left in the NBA playoffs. Boston Celtics forward Grant Williams found that out the hard way during game two of the Eastern Conference Finals Friday night. Williams chose the trash talk route and, of all people, chos...

These 10 NBA teams have the brightest futures
There are many elements to consider when predicting who will succeed in the future of the NBA. To tank the 10 teams with the brightest futures, we focused on three to five years in the future while thinking about each team’s draft capital, promising young players, cap flexibility, and free agent des...

James Harden wants to escape the NBA title rat race
In his prime, James Harden was the star of the show. His ball dominance was unparalleled. Harden’s expression of basketball is a sublime experience. His ball handling and passing artistry are one of a kind. During his penultimate season in Houston, Harden’s 40.3 usage rate in 2018-19 nearly set an N...

Boston Celtics are consistently inconsistent
The Boston Celtics are going to Celtic from time to time. The problem has reared its ugly head for a third consecutive series, and there appears to be no stopping it. After about 77 minutes of well-played basketball, they were due for a head-scratcher. It arrived in the second half of Game 1 of the ...

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...

Is Victor Wembanyama’s size a gift or a curse? Let's debate
The following conversation is based on real-life arguments and was conducted by two professionals. Please, don’t attempt to replicate any discussion as takes of these temperatures should be handled with gloves and safety glasses and under the care and supervision of adults. Today’s social experiment...

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....

The final Brick for Vic stock report: NBA Draft Lottery edition
Stand on your head for one night because this is when everything gets flipped upside down so the NBA bottom feeders can plant the flag on a summit. Tuesday’s NBA Draft lottery is an especially important inflection point in NBA history. There won’t be any wavering over who will be the top pick in nex...

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...
