Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

The list of finalists for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is a snapshot of an era. Dirk Nowitzki and Dwyane Wade headline the class, having met twice in the NBA Finals, splitting the titles between them. Gregg Popovich, Tony Parker, and Becky Hammon are forever San Antonio Spurs. And then there’s Pau…Read more...

Albert Pujols and D.K. Metcalf aren’t in the same universe athletically at this point in their lives. Yet, they shared a basketball court Friday as part of the NBA Celebrity Game, and I gotta say, it is startling that one of the greatest baseball players of this century — coming off a 24-home run swan song season —…Read more...

How much money is $750,000 to a baseball team, hm? According to Spotrac, the Milwaukee Brewers have already determined the 2023 salaries for 20 of their players. All of them will be earning more than $1 million. Given that MLB rosters can consist of 26 people, we can say that, at most, six Brewers will earn less than…Read more...

The direction of the United States men’s national team nearly three months after its World Cup campaign in Qatar began is in flux. The Yanks are at the wheel, but don’t know whether to hit the gas or the brake. The car is in neutral at a time where that’s acceptable, but not ideal. Making the right decision with who…Read more...

Canada’s national women’s soccer team is the reigning Olympic Gold medalist. There is no reason why they should be taking a budget cut. There is no reason that they should be getting paid less than their male counterparts. There is no reason they should not be supported, especially as they are the best their team has…Read more...

If Tiger Woods thought the “joke” he made after teeing off on the ninth hole at Riviera Country Club on Thursday was appropriate, he wouldn’t have been so sly about it. Golf fans needed a telephoto lens to catch it, but once they figured out, it was widely shared, celebrated, or disparaged, and then defended. My lean…Read more...

When Joe Mazzulla was announced as the Boston Celtics interim head coach in September, many had no idea who the 34-year-old was. But, I did. Back in 2008, his 13 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists performance in 31 minutes off the bench sent my Duke Blue Devils home in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.…Read more...

About six weeks ago, I came here to lament how whenever one thing went wrong for a team, in any sport these days, the immediate call from fans and media alike was to simply blow things up. We have become so attuned to teams either being contenders or driving themselves into the dirt to start over that it’s the default…Read more...

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The NBA All-Star Game is an honor bestowed upon the most distinguished hoopers every season. Unfortunately, that’s not what we’re doing here. Their time will come. However, the NBA’s worst rotation players deserve to receive their dead flowers too. Stare into this dark void with me and commemorate the NBA players…Read more...

Arsenal had passed most every test this season. There’s still a hint of wonder/confusion at their place atop the Premier League. While improvement was expected from their fifth-place finish last season, to run through the league for the first half of the season as they have come out of nowhere. What made it even more…Read more...

Nikola Jokić’s season has been one for the ages. The Denver Nuggets are first in the West, first in offensive efficiency, Jokić is a god according to almost every analytics metric as well as the runaway favorite to become the first MVP in three consecutive seasons since Larry Bird ran the table between 1984 and 1986.…Read more...

Gus Kenworthy knows a thing or two about breaking boundaries in sports for LGBTQ+ athletes. He was the first openly gay X Games athlete and alongside good friend and figure skater Adam Rippon, he was half of the first openly gay duo to represent the United States in the Winter Olympics at the 2018 games in…Read more...

We stand here today on the precipice of one of the largest downfalls in broadcasting. Diamond Sports Group, the company that owns all of Bally’s regional sports networks, announced Wednesday that it would be skipping its $140 million payment for February.Read more...

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A pretty disturbing case came to a close in Columbus, where two former OSU football players, Amir I. Riep and Jahsen L. Wint, were acquitted by a jury of the rape and kidnapping of a 19-year-old student. The case seemed to hinge on a video of the alleged victim giving consent after the fact, even though the video…Read more...

The New York Knicks are officially hot for the New York Knicks. They’ve won six of the past eight, and eight of 12. New addition Josh Hart is 9-of-14 from deep in his first three games (all wins) with his old Villanova teammate Jalen Brunson, and Tom Thibodeau has enough talent that Derrick Rose is getting DNPs. They…Read more...

One of MLB’s biggest problems, and it spreads to other leagues as well, is the amount of buck-passing that seems to take place when there’s a serious issue. Whenever there’s someone like Mike Clevinger being investigated for domestic abuse or something else awful, a team is waiting for the league to act, and the…Read more...

The Eagles lost the Super Bowl, but their coaching staff won. Philadelphia’s former offensive and defensive coordinators — Shane Steichen and Jonathan Gannon — have been hired as head coaches for the Indianapolis Colts and the Arizona Cardinals, respectively. Their hirings were just the latest example of the continued…Read more...

Amid the controversy surrounding the holding penalty at the end of Super Bowl LVII, rumors of Andy Reid’s retirement, and people trashing Travis Kelce for saying everyone doubted Kansas City when absolutely zero people doubted them, several other storylines have been overlooked. While Andy Reid may not be retiring,…Read more...

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The NBA All-Star Game is an honor bestowed upon the most distinguished hoopers every season. Unfortunately, that’s not what we’re doing here. Their time will come. However, the NBA’s worst rotation players deserve to receive their dead flowers too. Stare into this dark void with me and commemorate the NBA players…Read more...

It was another year in which the Chiefs’ offense looked dominant en route to their second Super Bowl in four seasons. Missouri’s only NFL team has hosted a conference championship game each of the last five seasons and was defeated in regulation zero times. Patrick Mahomes gets the spoils as the best quarterback in…Read more...

The only time the internet gets joy over someone else’s happiness is when they’re drunk and making a fool of themselves. That’s why we loved parade Klay Thompson in June, and adored Patrick Mahomes from a few years back. Even Tom Brady throwing the Lombardi between boats was entertaining, and there is little he does…Read more...

Welcome to Deadspin’s The Sports Nihilist, where all is for naught and we are but accidental jolts of electrified meat stuck to the surface of a rock in an indifferent universe. Fuck you.

It comes from a place of heartbreak. It’s hard to not become smitten with the Carolina Hurricanes. They play fast. They have a rabid fanbase. They have a lot of players that are easy to like. They have a coach in Rod Brind’amour who’s happy to explain things to fans and isn’t a complete meatball (he also looks like…Read more...

Patrick Beverly is at it again, doing what he does best on and off the court, and that’s running his mouth. On the latest episode of The Pat Bev Podcast, Beverley talked about what happened in Los Angeles regarding why they didn’t win.

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This isn’t the first time Ben Simmons has had his “own” team as so many fans wondered what a roster built around his skill set would look like. It is the first instance that he’s been the, umm, marque name of an NBA franchise, but he was the No. 1 guy at LSU, and forfeited the opportunity to be the engine of the…Read more...

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A new study by Ohio Sports Betting researched the most popular NFL teams in the country by state. The Dallas Cowboys won by a whopping margin as the overwhelming team of choice in 15 states. This study was based on Google search data collected over the last 12 months. The Cowboys ran away with the competition, with…Read more...

At least the NBA, unlike some of its sporting league counterparts, keeps its CBA negotiations mostly under wraps. They’re going on right now, as both owners and players have the option of opting out of the current agreement by March 31, which would end the deal on June 30. One of the things to leak out of the…Read more...

Alex Ovechkin has transcended hockey since he entered the league officially in 2005. He had to wait an extra year because of that pesky canceled season after he was drafted the year prior. He also missed three months due to another lockout in 2012. Not to mention the coronavirus pandemic disrupting the 2020 season.…Read more...

Down 10 at halftime, the Kansas City Chiefs did what they do best, mount a comeback to earn their second Super Bowl title in four years. It was a masterful second-half performance from Chiefs’ offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, who outmaneuvered Eagles’ defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon — who is set to become…Read more...

There are many suitors clearing space to try to jump Aaron Rodgers’ bones when he emerges from his hole, enlightened and ready to monopolize headlines. The Las Vegas Raiders are one such team rumored to be in the mix, and they just cut ties with Derek Carr.

The post-Super Bowl no-football reality is about to set in, to the displeasure of sports fans and media alike. It’s as close as we get to acceptable bloodsport, and human violence is the most interesting drama and the only thing that draws page views. So thank god for The Rock, the XFL, and America (in that order).…Read more...

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Professional sports leagues are the big winners of the streaming wars because live sports seem to be the only thing that still moves the ratings needle. As long as the production value remains intact, the “boom-goes-the-dynamite” guy isn’t announcing, and the stream actually streams, I could care less who gets the…Read more...

It only feels like the Champions League is late in returning for its knockout stage, but this is the normal time of year. What isn’t normal is cramming a World Cup in between the group stages and the knockouts, which makes it seem like this season has already gone on forever even when most leagues are only at their…Read more...

The Carolina Panthers — who are owned by a man who claims to be trying to end the “old boys network” within the NFL despite hiring a white head coach over a qualified Black one — have a new coaching staff that’s led by the trio of Frank Reich, Dom Capers, and Jim Caldwell. The hierarchy in Carolina is a slap in the…Read more...

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The NBA can shift its entire axis in a trade deadline, or in free agency. The NFL is starting to put more jazz into both its deadline and offseason. MLB could if any owner wanted to actually spend money outside of Queens. The NHL certainly has its own free agency and trade deadline, and the latter approaches and…Read more...

The NBA world went bonkers over the Kyrie Irving trade to the Mavs before the deadline, and barely a week in, we already have a hilarious moment from these two All-NBA stars. Dallas was down three points at home Monday night against Minnesota and inbounded the ball with 14 seconds left in regulation and could not get…Read more...

Alright, this is beyond ridiculous. How many brilliant offensive minds will be hired as head coaches before Eric Bieniemy? The Kansas City Chiefs offensive guru helped orchestrate the team’s second Super Bowl in four years, both of which featured double-digit comebacks. Yet, the Indianapolis Colts opted to hire the…Read more...

In the aftermath of a fatal mass shooting on Michigan State’s campus on Monday night, the university announced no activities will take place on campus through the end of Wednesday, including athletics. The Spartans’ men’s basketball team was scheduled to continue Big Ten play in East Lansing against Minnesota on…Read more...

No one comes up with a solution for a problem that doesn’t exist quite like MLB. It’s their specialty.

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Losing the Super Bowl is the loneliest destiny. After two weeks of buildup, there is no parade waiting for losing teams upon their arrival, their championship shirts are dispersed in remote locations around the world and the feeling that a ring slipped away can endure throughout the offseason. Even worse, my Deadspin…Read more...

He’s a Michigan legend and was clutch whenever the Chiefs needed him. On Sunday night, after the conclusion of Super Bowl LVII, Kansas City backup quarterback Chad Henne called it a career, announcing that he was hanging up his cleats after collecting his second ring. It’s understandable why retirement news from a…Read more...

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