smith Page 15 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The 2023 WNBA season's juiciest stories to follow
Superteams, and new-look squads. Scandal-riven defending champs. A former political prisoner returns. Rule changes, a pressing need for league expansion, and more. The 2023 WNBA season is here, and these are some of the most riveting storylines to follow all season long....

Tiger Woods’ ex-girlfriend loses bid to get NDA thrown out
A past girlfriend of Tiger Woods must continue to abide by a non-disclosure agreement she allegedly signed and must continue any attempts at attaining millions from one of the best golfers of all time from private arbitration. No, this isn’t the one Woods took Ambien for to spice up their sex life o...

Where are the Arizona Coyotes going?
The only thing more exciting to hockey fans than a player in free agency is an entire franchise going into free agency, which it now feels like the Arizona Coyotes have just done. And they certainly don’t mind treading all over the feelings of whatever Coyotes fans are left. It’s a cruel world, but ...

ESPN spent millions on Pat McAfee in the middle of company-wide layoffs
You have to spend money to make money. But you can’t save money if you keep spending — unless you’re ESPN....

The Texas Rangers are doing what the Mets were supposed to
If the New York Mets are going to fumble the torch for those who want teams to try and spend money (or more accurately watch it simply fall from a great height and break), we must find a new bearer to keep the dream alive. Never mix your dreams with the Mets anyway. Sure path to heartbreak. The Padr...

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...

We're all for the Miami Heat dunking on Stephen A. Smith
Longtime ESPN on-air personality Stephen A. Smith has made no secrets about where his NBA loyalties lie, and it’s in The Big Apple with the Knicks. And New York’s season ended Friday night with a Game 6 loss to the Heat. Of course, Smith took the loss personally, but that didn’t stop Miami from reco...

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....

Craig Kimbrel joins 7 other relievers with 400 saves
Phillies reliever Craig Kimbrel is the second MLB closer this season — and eighth all-time — to reach the 400-save mark. He closed out Philadelphia’s 6-4 win over the Atlanta Braves....

NFC quarterbacks, have your track shoes ready against the Cowboys in 2023
Micah Parsons will be doing what he does best for the Dallas Cowboys full-time during the 2023 season — rush the passer. Surely he will be depended on to use his linebacker skills to stuff running plays and drop into coverage from time to time, but his main job will be to chase after opposing QBs....

Why did Bronny James pick USC?
Bronny James finally made his long-rumored commitment to USC official this weekend, after months of speculation that indicated he was staying local to suit up for the Trojans. Weeks ago, James’ list of schools was whittled down to Ohio State, which sounded more like his dad living vicariously throug...

Meet the Mets…they stink
The thing about being Steve Cohen, and being the New York Mets, is that it has to work. Otherwise, it’s less likely that other owners are going to feel the need to compete with him. The MLB expanded playoffs kills a lot of that urge anyway, but if the Mets are running away with the NL East year afte...

The Edmonton Oilers keep dressing the worst player I’ve ever seen
Thanks to the flat salary cap for the past few years, and the existence of a hard cap at all for nearly two decades, a lot of NHL rosters look the same. You can’t build super teams, and if you weren’t lucky in the past few years to get a high draft pick to take a true star, you’re left with a lot of...

Overanalyzing Jordan Poole’s shot is NBA voyeurism at its finest
After nearly 48 minutes, the Los Angeles Lakers were spent as the Golden State Warriors were hitting their stride and discovering their second wind. Following a late flurry of points, the Warriors trailed by three in the final seconds when Jordan Poole launched a three-pointer from the parking lot. ...

Every Black football coach should be rooting for Reggie Barlow in the XFL Championship Game
When Fritz Pollard became the NFL’s first Black coach in 1921 people of that time viewed it as progress. Later this month, Reggie Barlow could be the first coach, of any race, to win the XFL Championship in the league’s inaugural year in its new iteration when Barlow’s D.C Defenders take on the Arli...

IDIOT OF THE MONTH: April was bad
Welcome to Deadspin’s IDIOT OF THE MONTH! We’re here to make you think about death and get sad and stuff....

Examining the 2023 NFL Draft’s most polarizing war rooms
Drafting is an inexact science. If it were an exact one, teams wouldn’t rely on so much vacuous football speak during the evaluation period. That uncertainty is what makes the draft an annual crapshoot. The 2023 edition is no different. After the top two picks, the draft pivoted into unpredictable t...

Howie Roseman continues to rough up the NFL in trades
The bully on the block in the NFL is Howie Roseman. Other NFL general managers need to hide under their desks when he calls, because he is coming for their lunch money. For the second consecutive NFL Draft, Roseman has used the three days to significantly upgrade his roster both with rookie, and vet...

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...