rnc Page 9 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

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....

Deadspin’s 2023 Men's NCAA Tournament Automatic Bid Tracker
The Men’s NCAA Tournament is just over the horizon and as its 32 automatic bids are earned in rapid-fire over the next week, it can be too much to track on your own. That’s what this space is for. One of these 32 automatic bids from a smaller conference is likely to become a Cinderella, but first ga...

LeBron James is hurt and it’s 2021 all over again for the Lakers
The reason why the Los Angeles Lakers traded for Russell Westbrook in 2021 has reared its ugly head merely two games after the All-Star break. Following two wins, LeBron James could be out with an injury for “multiple weeks.” The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that James played through the foot ...

Mid-majors to watch in this year’s NCAA tournament
March Madness is just around the corner. Conference tournaments will be underway and soon enough, we’ll be down from 350-plus teams contending for a championship to 68. The high-level conference teams that’ll compete for a title have been well-documented and we’ll no doubt see some of them make it d...

Darvin Ham says Lakers' goal is playoffs — but the team faces a post-All-Star break gaunlet
The Los Angeles Lakers are entering a critical time in their schedule after the All-Star break. With just 23 games remaining in the regular season, the Lakers are five games under .500 (27-32) and have a seven-game stretch where they’ll play all Western Conference foes, starting with the Golden Stat...

If Chris Paul, Suns can’t win a championship with Kevin Durant, it’s time to drop the 'Point God' moniker
Once the Phoenix Suns pulled off the blockbuster trade of the year for Kevin Durant, many pundits began to pencil them in as the Western Conference representative in the NBA Finals. Looking at their core of Devin Booker, Chris Paul, DeAndre Ayton, plus Durant, it’s easy to see why they’d be catapult...

MLS doesn’t know what fans want
It tells you pretty much everything you need to know about Major League Soccer that A) the season starts in five days and you likely didn’t know that, and B) with only five days to go is when the league actually finalized what the playoff system for this season will be. That’s right, teams didn’t kn...

Ime Udoka, who? Joe Mazzulla is coaching in the NBA All-Star Game
When Joe Mazzulla was announced as the Boston Celtics interim head coach in September, many had no idea who the 34-year-old was. But, I did. Back in 2008, his 13 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists performance in 31 minutes off the bench sent my Duke Blue Devils home in the second round of the NC...

2023 NBA Anti-All-Stars: The dregs of the East
The NBA All-Star Game is an honor bestowed upon the most distinguished hoopers every season. Unfortunately, that’s not what we’re doing here. Their time will come. However, the NBA’s worst rotation players deserve to receive their dead flowers too. Stare into this dark void with me and commemorate t...

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...
![Alex Ovechkin’s leave of absence does little to change his chase of Gretzky [Updated]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/1e4b9aa0deb3010df4dbc9e365b5cd20.jpg)
Alex Ovechkin’s leave of absence does little to change his chase of Gretzky [Updated]
Alex Ovechkin has transcended hockey since he entered the league officially in 2005. He had to wait an extra year because of that pesky canceled season after he was drafted the year prior. He also missed three months due to another lockout in 2012. Not to mention the coronavirus pandemic disrupting ...

NBA Schedule: The best games to watch for All-Star Week
Did you take a puff of your inhaler? A shot of dark liquor?...

Nick Bolton cements himself as the next great young NFL linebacker
Andy Reid broke into coaching in the college ranks, spending a decade on recruiting trails and visiting high schools around America hoping to find the next great offensive lineman. His final position in the collegiate ranks was at Missouri, which wasn’t a great team during Reid’s three seasons in Co...

James Harden attempts to turn babyface following Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving trades
In the aftermath of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant’s blockbuster trades, a former member of those Brooklyn Nets teams is speaking out and attempting to clear his name of any wrongdoing. James Harden was part of the big three for Brooklyn that was a Durant big toe away from advancing to the Eastern Co...

The SEC gaining Texas and Oklahoma a year early only makes it stronger
The 14-team Southeastern Conference has one more year on the open circuit. The baker’s dozen plus one number of full-time members lasted 12 years, when Texas A&M and Missouri departed the Big 12 for the SEC. Old habits are hard to break and instead of poaching schools that already felt like outsider...

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...

'Visit Saudi' sponsorship furthers FIFA’s tone-deaf record ahead of Women’s World Cup
The Women’s World Cup is nearing, and as is tradition, FIFA marked the occasion with controversy. Host countries Australia and New Zealand are urging the soccer federation to back out of its sponsorship with Visit Saudi. The main issue with the deal is Saudi Arabia’s ever-present, awful record of wo...

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...

The best games on the NBA schedule this week — only one back-to-back
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...

Another AFC championship loss and the Chiefs’ run will begin to resemble the Pistons of the 2000s
Over the last five years, the Kansas City Chiefs have been the closest thing we’ve seen to a dynasty in the NFL. Having won only one Super Bowl, the clock is ticking on their opportunity to claim the dynasty title. Playing in five consecutive AFC title games is an accomplishment but bringing home ju...