thenational Page 1 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Are these Clippers Kenough?
It’s Oscars Week, which feels like as good a time as any to draw up the NBA storylines and characters which could double as Oscar nominees. Next up are the L.A. Clippers and the 2024 season possibly being the culmination of their decade of prosperity....
Tristan Thompson gets 25-game PED suspension
Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson was hit with a 25-game PED suspension, according to reports. ...
Maple Leafs have unexpected problem; Winnipeg surprises everyone; Hockey players & psychologists?
It’s hard to be an afterthought for an NHL team in Canada, and yet it kind of feels like the Winnipeg Jets are one. They’re not grouped with either of the other blocks. They aren’t near Toronto or Montreal in the Atlantic Division, and even the Ottawa Senators get more shine from being caught betwee...
Hockey players need therapists, too
The National Hockey League Player Association is launching a mental health initiative called First Line, which will educate players about depression, anxiety, substance use, and self-harm. ...
How to hate-watch the rest of the NBA's In-Season Tournament, Part 2
Human nature drives us to dump on new concepts and the IST has inspired a whole host of reasons for the NBA Cup to receive hate. There’s a lot not to like including the scoring differentials playing a role in who advances, sneakers sliding around on the NBA’s personalized ice rinks, the 30-team fiel...
James Harden is the NBA’s worst clutch superstar
There are volumes that could be written about what’s wrong with the Los Angeles Clippers superteam. After all the ruckus James Harden started this summer, if you thought he’d arrive in tip-top shape, ready to make one last push at a title with the Clippers, then you’re as gullible as every other tea...
The USWNT is extraordinary — don't pretend otherwise
Neither the US Women’s National soccer team’s past glory in Megan Rapinoe, nor its future in young phenom Sophia Smith, could defeat Sweden in the present. Both players skipped penalty kicks high over the goal after a 0-0 tie in regulation, clear misses of the target altogether, in a 1-0 loss that w...
Dodgers, Chelsea FC owner might be the uniting force to save women's hockey
There are two famous rivalries in North American women’s hockey: Canada vs. the USA, and the PWHPA versus the PHF. One rivalry will continue in perpetuity at every World Championship and Olympic Games, while the other is dead....
James Harden is chasing an ideal that doesn’t exist
It’s fair to ask the question, what does James Harden want? Is it a ring? Is it a lifestyle? Is it his own team? The 33-year-old former one-man wrecking crew is no longer an indestructible pinball, bouncing off of everything, and amassing high score after high score. No team is going to hand him the...
If Adam Silver thinks Ja Morant’s punishment will distract from the Finals, you know it’s harsh
As far as bad omens go, NBA commissioner Adam Silver saying he’s going to save sharing the results of the Ja Morant investigation until after the Finals because it would be unfair to the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat is pretty bad. Silver’s comments about the pending discipline for one the league’s ...
With NBA stars (mainly) healthy, lOaD mAnAgEmEnT wOn
The people over at the National Basketball Players Association have the bubbles on ice with “Mission Accomplished” banners and balloons ordered. We’re about a week and a half away from the end of the regular season, and the only star players in jeopardy of missing playoff games due to injury could r...
Now is the time to buy a women’s professional sports franchise
Last month, the WNBA’s Seattle Storm was valued at a record $151 million as reported in the Wall Street Journal. The team isn’t for sale, but investors can purchase one of 15 shares of the team, as it looks to finance a $64 million practice facility....
The NBA old heads have spoken — and they think LeBron is currently the Association's best player
It’s official, the old heads of the NBA heads have welcomed LeBron James as one of their own. The Athletic recently polled 101 former NBA players, asking which current player is the best player in the Association. In a league that has an abundance of under-30-year-old talent that it is bursting out ...
LeBron really did it, he passed Kareem
LeBron James is the king of the mountain – statistically speaking, argue amongst yourselves about who is the best all-time NBA player. James broke a record that most followers of the NBA thought was impossible to reach, Kareem-Abdul Jabbar’s total regular-season points scored mark....
The NBA regular season would be more palatable with stars on shitty teams
It’s no secret that this current iteration of the NBA has struggled to make its regular season meaningful. Star players miss games night to night, and the matchups we anticipate because they could be a preview of the postseason all of the sudden are rendered moot. Only two things really move the NBA...
NBA All-Star Draft a change for the better
For sports fans who believe that NBA basketball has been “too playground” since Larry Bird retired in 1992, this year’s All-Star game is doing the opposite of reaching out to those fans....
Sports networks will invest in just about anything before women’s sports — including pickleball
In a sign that ESPN and other networks can choose to devote broadcast hours to new and emerging sports, the American sports cable channel announced that it was adding pickleball to the lineup....
Paul Riley done with 'political, woke' NWSL after lifetime ban
Even if the egregious quartet of Paul Riley (pictured), Richie Burke, Christy Holly, and Rory Dames never would’ve coached American professional soccer again after their despicable actions towards individual players and teams became widely known, making the official move to ban the foursome from the...
10 NBA storylines that deserve more love
It feels like we’re already in midseason form. Truth is, we’re barely a month in....
Focused marketing is quickest way to prevent future abuse in women’s sports
Early this week, an independent investigation into player abuse in the National Women’s Soccer League exposed several failures by the NWSL and the United States Soccer Federation....