rant Page 24 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

We really need to be more measured in how we discuss testy exchanges between players and media
The result of ESPN’s Jenna Laine posting the video of Giovani Bernard’s locker room exchange with media, following the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 34-24 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, was proper accountability being taken....

Lillard nominating himself as the second-best shooter in NBA history was the ultimate heat check
Damian Lillard’s Trail Blazers career has reached an inflection point where his legacy is solidifying. We feel it, fans feel it, the record books are feeling it and Dame is sensing it. On Monday night, Lillard eclipsed Clyde Drexler to become the franchise’s all-time leading scorer. Lillard’s career...

The Nets soap opera has been replaced by prestige drama
Previously on The Brooklyn Nets…...

The NBA’s war on load management is pointless
Load management is going to happen in the NBA regardless of the league’s best efforts. Organizations have been taught to value the postseason over everything because of ringzzzzz culture, and that mindset only gets reinforced by teams like the Phoenix Suns busting their asses to win 64 games a year ...

Best in the West
The Golden State Warriors lost again last night. On Tuesday, the Phoenix Suns dropped a game to the lowly Houston Rockets for the second time this month. Those two wins account for 22.2 percent of the Rockets’ victories this season....

Which NBA title contender will Jae Crowder join?
Championship NBA teams have always revolved around star players, but the glue guys/role players make it possible for franchises to become title contenders. There are stars all over the Association, but only those with the best supporting casts can make deep runs into the postseason year after year. ...

I’m not ready to go all in on the Brooklyn Nets — no matter how good they look currently
After so much turmoil to start the 2022 campaign, the Brooklyn Nets have finally begun to look like the contenders many expected. The Nets have had two different four-game win streaks since Nov. 27, winning eight of their last nine. Suddenly Brooklyn is five games over .500 (17-12) and in fourth pla...

World Cup 2022 Diary: Day 21 - It's no Kane do for England again and Ronaldo walks off a loser... again
First things first: As the sport of soccer mourns, take a moment to remember Grant Wahl, a journalist of the highest order....

Remembering Grant Wahl
It would be folly and insulting to not write something about Grant Wahl. With the story breaking, and all that surrounded it last night on social media, it was hard not to feel a terrible chill. Given how thorough and great of a journalist Mr. Wahl was, the fact that his last newsletter was about th...
![Soccer reporter Grant Wahl dies in Qatar [Updated]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/ab38dca4d7c34ec5ddb57dc4e1524cfd.jpg)
Soccer reporter Grant Wahl dies in Qatar [Updated]
America’s most prominent soccer reporter, Grant Wahl, has passed away while covering the World Cup in Doha, Qatar, according to his brother, Eric....

A decade-plus of Eastern Conference mediocrity can’t be easily forgotten
It’s weird how much energy goes into debating which conference is the NBA’s best. It makes sense in college football because schools can’t play all 100-plus teams each year, and strength of schedule determines playoff spots. But in basketball, with all 30 organizations facing each other at least twi...

World Cup 2022 Daily Diary: Day 17 - Quarterfinals are set
Oh we got narratives! New ones! Old ones! Tired ones! Exciting ones! If you can find better narratives than here…fuck it!...

The transfer window coinciding with bowl season is as profoundly stupid as it sounds
Unlike most people, I enjoy bowl season. Despite how irrelevant it is to the final outcome of the season, eclectic matchups are the best kinds of matchups. They determine bragging rights for people whose values still align with those of their conference. Programs who only schedule cream puffs when i...

The first post-Lincoln Riley season at Oklahoma couldn’t have gone worse
While Ohio State fans hold the most recent grudge against Lincoln Riley, Caleb Williams, and USC, the fanbase that’s still the most upset about the Trojans’ success this year resides in Norman. Williams was supposed to be the third Heisman winner in crimson and cream under Riley, and it’s OU that sh...

Jeff Bagwell, you won the World Series, clown!
I didn’t realize that Jeff Bagwell had become that guy at the end of the bar who tells you about the time he saw the original The Wall Tour every single time you enter the place. Not what I would have picked for him during his playing days, but here we are. ...

Come home, Kevin Durant
The NBA’s greatest epics have been built around a meteoric star crash landing in a small market, galvanizing the city around their greatness in hopes of delivering glory. Think LeBron James in Cleveland, Dirk Nowitzki in Dallas, Tim Duncan in San Antonio, Isiah Thomas in Detroit, Hakeem Olajuwon in ...

For whom the Bellingham tolls — how the US can beat England…maybe
The kicking rocks and bemoaning the gods are in the past now for the USMNT. They let two points slip against Wales, while the one they gained is certainly valuable. They’re still very much in the tournament, but the draw against Wales means that the game against England is no longer a free hit. Had ...

Luka Dončić can’t do it all himself
The Dallas Mavericks’ struggles this season are well-documented and likely won’t be put to rest anytime soon. Their All-World leader, Luka Dončić, is off to another hot start, but that’s only translated into a 9-7 record, and the team barely keeping their heads above water. While Dončić is playing a...

Girls of Summer
Olivia Pichardo is no stranger to baseball, having applied her trade on diamonds around New York from a young age. A dream that started as a young girl in Queens has just become a reality, reaching another milestone for women in sports. Pichardo will be the first female to play Division I baseball, ...
