unc Page 8 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Nike and Kyrie Irving no longer a pair
As tired as you are of reading about Kyrie Irving, sports writers are equally as exhausted trying to come up with good ledes for stories about the guard who’s currently suspended by the Brooklyn Nets. I wish it would’ve been Pepsi that suspended its relationship with Irving in addition to Nike becau...
The NBA’s tanking problem is more perception than reality, and a relegation system won’t fix that
During NBA Commish Adam Silver’s apology tour session with beleaguered Phoenix Suns employees this weekend, he was confronted with another concern. In addition to apologizing for suspended team Governor Robert Sarver and his decades of misconduct, Silver was also besieged by a flood of questions abo...
I hope Evan Mobley is as true as he is in my dreams
While often depicted, lamented, and sanctified as liberating, hope can also be a virus. It can rot rationality from the inside. It can lead to danger, injury, and death. As Ellis Boyd Redding, best known by his friends and fellow convicts at Shawshank State Prison as Red, once said… “Hope is a dange...
Hey Dan Snyder, come get your bounced check!
When something is too good to be true, it usually is. Like earlier this season when Washington Commanders’ mugs with the state of Washington outline were being sold outside the stadium — except they were bootlegs, not official team merch. What a royal fuck up that would’ve been if they were real, ri...
Deadspin's NBA awards predictions
Perhaps it’s the COVID fatigue, partisan politics, or the malaise of a slumping economy, but this off-season has felt like forever. With elections ramping up in November, we need the NBA back to distract us from our country headed toward political chaos. Both sides of the aisle have become insuffera...
Steve Kerr is in crisis-management mode, but when is he not?
The Golden State Warriors like to act like they’re a buttoned-up, professional franchise that abstains from drama. The chemistry and coaching have been likened to the Tim Duncan Spurs or the peak “Onto Cleveland” Patriots. While they’ve had consistent success and won championships like those teams, ...
These 10 modern-day players’ primes were squandered by inept teams
Mike Trout is the tree that falls in the forest every September. He might as well exist in the cold, vacuum of space. If there’s any evidence that sports are raw and unscripted, it’s Trout’s annual storyline. His slow fade from public consciousness as the playoffs creep closer is in stark contrast t...
Victor Wembanyama is in America, and taking part in a matchup that, on a college court, would be one of the most anticipated of all time
While it was great to see Ja Morant taking off for a 360 dunk on Monday night, and Paolo Banchero throwing it down on two people, that was just preseason Memphis Grizzlies vs. Orlando Magic basketball. The NBA regular season doesn’t begin until Oct. 19. Until that day, any minutes fans see of their ...
A look at the 10 richest owners in sports and how their teams are doing
There’s rich, and then there’s wealthy. And then there’s “team owner money.”...
Portland Trail Blazers hired Chauncey Billups over Dawn Staley and Becky Hammon, who both won championships this year
Becky Hammon and Dawn Staley were literally right there. ...
The Favorite
I won’t be alone in saying that Roger Federer was the first winner I consistently cheered for. Part of that was growing up in Chicago, when as a child, being a fan of a consistent winner really wasn’t much of an option (as it is now. And everything turns, turns, turns…). But a sports fan’s natural i...
Home sweet home?
Returning home for one last season is a sacred ideal for NBA vets. Dwyane Wade made his way to Chicago in 2016. Kyrie Irving’s desire to play with Durant in Brooklyn instead of Madison Square Garden with the New York Knicks was influenced by the New Jersey native’s fondness for the New Jersey Nets o...
The Los Angeles Dodgers, the greatest team of all time
The Dodgers won on Sunday. Which really isn’t news, they do that a lot. Beating the Miami Marlins isn’t really cause for celebration either, as it’s far more of a function than an accomplishment. And yet, zoom out and it is pretty startling what the Dodgers have accomplished....
A big heavyweight title fight in on the horizon, so of course boxing is about to get crazy
Some people get annoyed by the process of how big fights are set up. For me, it’s the one time that I love raw, unregulated capitalism. People openly doing whatever it takes to get as much guaranteed money as possible, and as many eyeballs on the screen as possible....
Let’s not crown the Dodgers just yet — but let’s sure as hell enjoy the excellence
The 2022 Dodgers may be the most dominant regular-season team we’ve ever seen. And they have a chance to solidify it....
The Dodgers care not for your newest superteam
The Padres certainly have a way of stealing the headlines. And that’s not a bad thing, always, especially as the Padres do it by being one of the few teams that are constantly adding good players. Even great ones at times. Which they kind of have to, given that they’re in a division with the Dodgers...
Joey Gallo’s best baseball is ahead of him... that's right I said it!
I’m here to make a case for a Joey Gallo turnaround....
The Dodgers will be buyers at the deadline — here’s who they should target
The Dodgers have a few glaring holes on their roster....
MLB trade deadline candidates — Bats
There’s still a lot of talent on the table, but not nearly as much as there was 365 days ago....
America’s addiction to gun violence caused Florida QB Anthony Richardson to drop his ‘AR-15’ nickname
Certain types of quarterbacks used to be referred to as “gunslingers.” That moniker isn’t cool anymore. ...