rant Page 22 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The NBA regular season would be more palatable with stars on shitty teams
It’s no secret that this current iteration of the NBA has struggled to make its regular season meaningful. Star players miss games night to night, and the matchups we anticipate because they could be a preview of the postseason all of the sudden are rendered moot. Only two things really move the NBA...

When it comes to load management, Steph Curry says it's not the players who want it
The gentrifiers of Brooklyn caught a raw deal on Monday night. The Los Angeles Lakers are in New York on a back-to-back, meaning that LeBron James and Anthony Davis were only going to play one game. People who purchased tickets for the Brooklyn Nets game received the short end of the load management...

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...

A rising tide lift all boats and it's time we threw Jason Whitlock’s ilk overboard
Choosing between women’s and men’s sports is a false choice. If you’re a certain blogger for Glenn Beck’s conservative Blaze media, revisionist history can be a comfort zone that vilifies feminism in sports as your woke sports boogeyman, but makes you look like a headass instead. Jason Whitlock’s re...

We've got 2 words for ya: Sixers-Nets
We need a Philadelphia 76ers vs. Brooklyn Nets series in the postseason. For the trolling, if not the talent. These teams squared off Wednesday night with only Philly at full strength since Kevin Durant is still sidelined for Brooklyn. Although he wasn’t on the court, Durant managed to make his pres...

Who wants to tell Bob Myers that nobody cares?
There’s nothing more inside sports than talking shop about general managers and team presidents. Obviously, their job is vital to the success of the organization. It’s just, no one really needs to know more than that. Golden State Warriors GM Bob Myers has been leaking his contract negotiations to t...

NBA All-Star Draft a change for the better
For sports fans who believe that NBA basketball has been “too playground” since Larry Bird retired in 1992, this year’s All-Star game is doing the opposite of reaching out to those fans....

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 case for trading LeBron James for Evan Mobley
I’ve seen kiddie pools deeper than the unseasoned jambalaya VP Rob Pelinka has assembled for the Lakers around LeBron James. As a consequence, James’ enduring existence on a sub-.500 borderline playoff squad has created a rift where trade speculation festers and boils. During a recent appearance on ...

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...

Nic Claxton is a major reason why the Brooklyn Nets have played so well lately
Thursday night’s playoff rematch between the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets will be like many big-time NBA regular-season matchups — incomplete....

The Popeye’s meme kid grew up to become a D-II college football player with an NIL deal
It’s funny how life works sometimes. One minute you’re a nine-year-old kid who becomes a social media meme for giving the stink eye to a camera at Popeyes, the next, you’re a college freshman signing a name image and likeness deal with the same fast-food chain that made you famous. Thus, the full ci...

Who are the top 5 defenders in the NBA?
In this current era of NBA basketball, it’s all about who can shoot and dominate on the offensive end of the court. The days of lockdown defenders have disappeared and been replaced by terms like, “it’s a make or miss league.” With all the scoring we’ve seen this season, that’s all it is. Boston rec...

What is going on with the scoring in the NBA?
Wednesday was a relatively slow offensive night for the NBA. Kevin Durant was the league’s best performer and all he could manage was a season-high 44 points on 68.1/50/100 shooting splits, five assists, and four rebounds. With the way that NBA players have been lighting up the scoreboards, especial...

Was the Cavs’ ‘random’ PED test just fateful coincidence after Mitchell scored 71?
In one of the NBA’s more conspicuously timed sequences, the Cleveland Cavs were “randomly” drug tested just hours after Donovan Mitchell’s 71-point performance Monday night. It feels all too convenient for the association to “randomly” test the Cavs for performance-enhancing drugs one day after Mitc...

God forbid ESPN shows highlights of, y’know, sports
On Tuesday night, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a career-high 55 points. He was 20-of-33 from the field, 15-16 from the stripe, and threw in 10 rebounds and seven assists for good measure. It was the kind of performance that people want to see, and will search out on social media, SportsCenter, or an...