season Page 27 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

2023 NFL Draft Winner and Losers
The first round of the 2023 NFL Draft is over and Thursday proved to be one of the needle-moving days on the league’s calendar. Lamar Jackson finally got paid and several teams addressed some of their biggest needs ahead of next season. There were only 31 first-round picks this year (haha Miami) and...

Deadspin watched the NFL Draft so you didn't have to
Welcome to the Deadspin 2023 NFL Draft tracker. If you love the NFL, but hate sitting through the NFL Draft, you’ve come to the right place. Maybe you’re out playing pickleball, or you can’t stand Roger Goodell, or the annual traditions of super-cringey interviews with players and family put you off...

Which Jimmy Butler are the Knicks getting?
Jimmy Butler is the validation I needed that NBA playoff basketball is America’s fifth major professional sports league among the “Big Four.” From the pace to the way games are scheduled as a series to the effort, it’s almost a parallel Association. Golden State has been historically bad on the road...

When David beats Goliath in the playoffs
The Miami Heat became the NBA’s sixth No. 8 seed to topple their conference’s top seed in the playoffs after beating Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks....

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 ...

So you traded the No. 1 pick — now what, Chicago?
The Chicago Bears failed in the most ideal way possible last season. They finished with the worst record in the NFL, and still found a way to unleash breathtaking athleticism from Justin Fields. ...

Milwaukee should be embarrassed
Entering the playoffs, Milwaukee was seen as head and shoulders above the rest of the Eastern Conference despite dealing with injuries to key players all season. Someone forgot to pass that memo to the Miami Heat, who have come out the gates smoking hot and now have a 3-1 lead over the Bucks....

Aaron Rodgers is finally a Jet, now hopefully he can leave us alone for a few months
Thank goodness this game of “hard to get” has finally come to its conclusion, and along with it one less reason for Aaron Rodgers to appear on my timeline. The deal has been completed between the Green Bay Packers and the New York Jets....

Giannis, please save us all from a Heat-Knicks series
My favorite part of the NBA playoffs is certainly not riding the highs and lows of the Jimmy Butler experience. As great as he plays two-three games per series, he’s better as an antagonist that a great team has to overcome. Giannis Antetokounmpo is the best player in the NBA, and with him returning...

Did not foresee the 76ers being the most impressive team in the playoffs
Game 4 against the Brooklyn Nets is a game that would normally be a disappointing loss for the “Trust the Process” era Philadelphia 76ers. The opportunity to close out a first-round series against an inferior team, along with a Joel Embiid injury to navigate....

Misfortune has once again befallen the Clippers
The poor Los Angeles Clippers have no luck. In 2019, they acquired what appeared to be the perfect tandem in Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. The Clippers are currently the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference and tied 1-1 with the Phoenix Suns in a first-round playoff series. On Thursday night at hom...

Could Trey Lance's 49ers career already be over?
At least the San Francisco 49ers appear to be attempting to keep all of their options open. That is the best way to describe the handling of their starting quarterback situation with Brock Purdy and Trey Lance both recovering from injury, and Jimmy G now in Las Vegas. ...

The Lakers need to humble the Grizzlies in Game 2 for sake of the NBA
The Memphis Grizzlies are on the brink of falling 2-0 to the Los Angeles Lakers in their first-round series, which brings a smile to the faces of many people outside Tennessee. These young Grizzlies have talked a gang of mess all season and could find themselves in a deep hole after Wednesday night’...

How’d giving away garbage bags full of draft picks work out for these NFL teams?
The NFL Draft is easily the second-most important event on the league’s annual calendar, with most teams that privately know they won’t be close to winning the Super Bowl prepping for the three-day event. Yet, there are still plenty of teams who don’t take an active role in the draft. In each of the...

Are the San Francisco 49ers jinxed at the QB position?
The San Francisco 49ers have a quarterback issue (yet again) that could linger into the regular season. News broke on Monday that last year’s rookie sensation, Mr. Irrelevant Brock Purdy, could miss the entire 2023 campaign recovering from the elbow injury he suffered in the NFC title game against P...

Overreacting to Game 1 of each NBA Playoff series
One game into each NBA postseason series feels like a good time to make some premature, bold declarations. The postseason tipped off with a fury of finishes that ranged from exciting to anesthesia. But Game 1 is a starter kit that we’ll try to extrapolate on. It would be wise to tread carefully in t...

Kevin Love’s surprise cameo starring beside Jimmy Buckets helps Miami squash Milwaukee
If you’re a casual NBA fan, you may have forgotten about Kevin Love, as it feels like he hasn’t played much since things fell apart in Cleveland after LeBron James bolted for Los Angeles following the 2018 postseason. Love stepped up, making a surprise appearance in the Miami Heat’s game one victory...

Half of the road teams took 1-0 leads in the First Round of the NBA Playoffs — welcome to April Madness
Just weeks after March Madness gave us an NCAA Tournament that provided multiple historic upsets during its first weekend, it looks like the pros in the NBA took that personally. Four of the eight matchups from this past weekend’s Game Ones were won by the road team. And one of them was the Miami He...

Russell Westbrook — flaws and all — was crucial in the Clippers’ Game 1 victory
For those who may be too young to remember Russell Westbrook’s best work, show them from the 1:08 mark in the fourth quarter of the Los Angeles Clippers 115-110, 2023 Game 1 playoff victory against the Phoenix Suns, to when the clock stops at 10.1 seconds....
