steph Page 34 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Kobe on Dwight Howard: 'This shit ain't gonna work'
Anybody who watched the late Kobe Bryant’s career knows he was all business and no-nonsense on the basketball court. So, it’s no surprise that the tandem of Bryant and Dwight Howard didn’t work out when the Lakers acquired the big man back in 2012. Current ESPN analyst and former NBA player Jalen Ro...

Being a Black head coach in the NFL is a Catch-22
Brian Flores’ racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL has multiple elements to it. On different levels, Flores is alleging, and claiming to have receipts for, behavior in the league that’s long been suspected, but would be damning to have shown as true — especially to the extent that Flores is...

Is tanking illegal?
Among the many incriminating allegations in former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores’ lawsuit against the NFL’s obvious and rampant discrimination lies what could perhaps be the most legally damning accusation: Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered to bribe Flores to “tank” games in the 2019 season in ...

If the Rams win the Super Bowl, they only have one Super Bowl
I’m not here to argue with Lakers fans. I know patience is a virtue, but I’m not virtuous enough for that. I do want to go on the record that if the Rams win the Super Bowl, they have one Super Bowl. My unique set of circumstances — St. Louis sports fan, Trail Blazers fan — makes me highly specializ...

Like Colin Kaepernick, Brian Flores is the latest Black person getting overlooked for a job they deserve
On the first day of Black History Month, just two years after America had a supposed “racial awakening” following the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and the shooting of Jacob Blake, former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores followed in Colin Kaepernick’s footprints by ex...

Brian Flores sues NFL, claiming racial discrimination
This is not a drill, the NFL is being taken to court for its abysmal record when it comes to diversity in hiring for leadership positions. A class action lawsuit has been filed and the class representative on the lawsuit, former Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores....

Shohei Ohtani is on the cover of MLB the Show 22, much to the chagrin of Stephen A. Smith
When you talk about an audience gravitating to the tube, or to the ballpark, to actually watch you, I don’t think it helps that the number one face is a dude that needs an interpreter so you can understand what the hell he’s saying....

Jimmy G repays Deebo Samuel’s praise with hospital pass
If you’ve tuned into sports media at all over the last couple of weeks, you’ve undoubtedly heard the barrage of criticism being hurled at Jimmy Garoppolo, the San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback. It’s arguably been more criticism than any quarterback has faced amidst back-to-back playoff wins. It has b...

Like it or not the Splash Bros are back in full effect
It’d been two and a half years since the world had seen the Splash Brothers together on an NBA court when Klay Thompson made his return to the game earlier this month. Thompson was out 941 days with the torn ACL & Achilles. Now nine games into his comeback, Thompson is averaging 15.8ppg and shooting...

Tom Brady’s legend will last a lifetime
We’ll see when Tom Brady’s career is actually over, but his name will be part of the conversation in the NFL for decades to come. There’s plenty of room to debate about the greatest of all time, and there’s plenty of time to have that debate, but there’s no question at all that Brady leaves the game...

Kansas City has its own version of the ‘Super Bowl Shuffle’ and it’s… something
This Kansas City Chiefs team is already legendary. Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Co. led by Andy Reid, will never have to buy a plate of Jack Stack in K.C. again. I personally know way too many Chiefs fans, so it’s nice to see them not have to pretend Elvis Grbac, Alex Smith, or Trent Green were...

Jeff Garcia goes after Mina Kimes in rant straight out of 1995
I thought we, as a sports community, were moving away from the “You didn’t play the game so you can’t comment on it,” way of thought. Maybe that’s just my echo chamber that doesn’t include a voice like former NFL quarterback Jeff Garcia....

Washington’s season has been an utter disappointment
What happened to this being the breakout season for the Washington Wizards? The NBA franchise representing the America’s capital started this season 10-3, appearing to be the D.C. squad ready to bring the franchise to an elusive conference final....

Difficult Super Bowl Trivia: Part 3
Last year’s Super Bowl, a 31-9 win for the Buccaneers over Kansas City, was the first time in five years that the Big Game was decided by two or more touchdowns. It was easy to forget a lot of what happened as soon as the game ended, but if you’re a trivia buff, you know that every moment in a Super...

Curry’s first buzzer beater, Irving’s ‘breakthrough’ game, and more from a busy NBA Friday
Friday night was a “drink and you missed it” kind of night in the NBA, so if you didn’t catch (or forgot) the many highlights because you went out to dinner, the bar, a buddy’s place, or somewhere else other than in front of your TV watching games, allow me to fill you in while you scroll through yo...

Joel Embiid is the MVP in our hearts and on the charts
There was nothing lost in Joel Embiid’s 50 points in 27 minutes against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night because it’s impossible to talk about the 76ers without mentioning you know who. Every conversation about Philly starts and stops with, “Imagine if Ben Simmons…” Imagine if they traded him he...

Let’s try to understand the NBA’s defensive player rating and all its absurdity
Analytics can be misleading. Over the last decade, we’ve seen an influx of statistics take over the sports world, and basketball hasn’t been exempt from this revolution — just look at all the three-point attempts we see now across the NBA. But one stat in particular can be even dangerously misleadin...

Who’s the best baller on the planet?
Unlike the GOAT debate in the NBA, the best player in the world conversation can change by the hour, seemingly....

Difficult Super Bowl Trivia: Part 1
It’s the 20th anniversary of the Tuck Rule Game, or the Snow Game, depending on whether or not you’re from New England. That was the night in Foxboro that the Patriots got the benefit of a controversial call on what appeared to be a Tom Brady fumble, tied and won the game on Adam Vinatieri field goa...

The Steelers and Mike Tomlin may be done this year, but they aren’t going anywhere
Before the Steelers got run out of Kansas City like everyone predicted (including their quarterback), Pittsburgh was up 7-0 five minutes into the second quarter. I thought that maybe they had a chance because all this team has done with a problematic corpse or Mason Rudolph playing QB over the past ...