Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

After the Wild Card Round of the NFL playoffs, Baker Mayfield and Jared Goff have etched their names in history, joining a short list of quarterbacks to win a postseason game with two different teams.Read more...

The word from ESPN insiders is that there is no chance Zach LaVine will be traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. There have been issues with him and the Chicago Bulls dating back to early last season. Last week on NBA Today, Brian Windhorst said that if the Bulls could trade LaVine in a moment's notice they would, and...Read more...

Somebody once said, Don't call it a comeback, I've been here for years." But in the case of former Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury, his potential return to the NFL might be an unexpected return soon. As reported by Adam Schefter on Thursday, the Chicago Bears are interested in Kingsbury because projected...Read more...

The idea of the Saudi Pro League being a looming threat always felt just a touch out there, even if it had come to more prominence last summer. What it certainly looked like was a fertile dumping ground for clubs to offload players who were coming around to an age where a significant transfer fee wasn't possible,...Read more...

In the void left behind by Bill Belichick, Joe Mazzulla's introverted-ness has risen to the occasion. And no, I'm not talking about the Boston Celtics giving the New England area a front-runner they desperately need. Mazzulla is the boorish head coach of a major professional franchise that the affable Jerod Mayo...Read more...

The path back to winning for Bill Belichick is as easy as parroting Tom Brady's search for a contending roster following his departure from the New England Patriots. Like Brady at 42, the 71-year-old Belichick doesn't have too many of his best years left either, which is why the QB targeted Tampa Bay.Read more...

We're halfway through the NHL season, which is now meant as a device to make everyone look stupid. Or really, to make me look stupid, which isn't all that hard, because I'm stupid. After 41 games, we should have an idea of who is what and who's going where. But in the Eastern Conference, we really don't. There are...Read more...

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Last week, my colleague Sean Beckwith wrote about the NFL possibly buying a stake in ESPN, and the potential for the self-proclaimed Worldwide Leader in Sports to become nothing more than the PR arm of the most popular league in America (at least, more than it already is). Yesterday, over at The Nation, Dave Zirin wrot...Read more...

Good news, Chiefs fans. Shawn Hochuli will be the referee for Kansas City's AFC Divisional round game against the Buffalo Bills.

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has had one heck of a season, but all he's accomplished could be nothing but a memory if they stumble against the Houston Texans this week. Jackson was so good this year that he could become the first QB since Steve McNair in 2003 to win the MVP award with fewer than 25...Read more...

The 2023 NFL regular season is over, and the league's defensive leaders have been decided.Read more...

The 2023 NFL regular season is over, and the league's offensive leaders have been decided.Read more...

The NBA trade market is open for business and one team in particular would like you to know that it is jarringly open to offers. The Portland Trail Blazers might not have issued a news release saying as much, yet when your starting center misses a game due to too much ice, the telltale signs of rebuilding apathy have...Read more...

While the NFL is trying to make its game safer by banning helmet-first hits to mitigate concussions, it seems that the low hit by defenders is the new high hit.Read more...

So much about sports is often about who's next. But ironically, over the last few years, we've seen how multiple team's inability to look to the future in one certain area has hurt more than it's helped. From Nick Saban and Jay Wright to what Tom Izzo has recently shared, it's clear that focusing on your next head...Read more...

It seems that the right only wants athletes to stick to sports - unless the non-sports talk is something they like.Read more...

Winter is throwing quite a wrench in the professional sports calendar. Outside of rainouts in baseball, weather does not cause many game cancellations. The worst months of the year for weather in the United States are usually January-March. That is hockey and basketball season and those sports are played indoors....Read more...

When studying bewildering decisions that Jerry Jones makes - like deciding to keep the consistent playoff dry heave Mike McCarthy, the guy who could only get to one Super Bowl with Aaron Rodgers - it's important to remember how he and the Cowboys got here. It was a long time ago now and a lot of NFL fans might not...Read more...

The Buffalo Bills are the greatest what-if franchise in NFL history. They've repeatedly brushed up against greatness without it rubbing off on them. Next month, Buffalo is approaching the 30th anniversary of Marv Levy's K-Gun Bills' fourth Super Bowl loss.Read more...

The calendar has not yet reached February, but the Indiana Pacers have decided to kick the trade deadline into high gear. The No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference made a win-now move with darkhorse MVP candidate Tyrese Haliburton currently sidelined with a hamstring injury. Per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowksi, the Pacers...Read more...

Jerod Mayo won his introductory press conference. Robert Kraft told the media that it was instinct that led him to choose Mayo as the new head coach of the New England Patriots. In his first public moment in this new role, Mayo's message was one of both collaboration and boundaries. Once the staff and front office are...Read more...

Mark Davis is making this coaching situation more complicated than it needs to be. Interim head coach Antonio Pierce is the obvious permanent choice. This really is the hire that should've happened already. The odds of the Raiders luring one of this year's top candidates to Las Vegas are slim. Pierce is the best and...Read more...

It looks like Saints fans should expect more of the same come 2024. New Orleans Saints executive vice president and general manager Mickey Loomis held his annual end-of-season press conference Wednesday. Despite firing longtime offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael on Tuesday, Loomis remained steadfast in his decision...Read more...

Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojevi has died at the age of 46, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported on X Wednesday afternoon.Read more...

The Raptors' fire sale continues. The Indiana Pacers are finalizing a trade to acquire Toronto Raptors forward Pascal Siakam, according to a report from ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. According to Woj, the Pacers will send Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora and three first-round picks in the deal. The New Orleans Pelicans will...Read more...

In a lot of ways, feverishly watching the flight route of a plane that wasn't everything it was cracked up to be is a pretty nice metaphor for the Toronto Blue Jays' offseason and outlook. The Jays knew Shohei Ohtani wasn't on that flight, but their fans certainly didn't. That doesn't mean that the Jays themselves...Read more...

The Baltimore Ravens will play their first playoff game of the season this coming weekend after securing a bye due to being the AFC's top seed. They finished the season 13-4, and despite not having key players like tight end Mark Andrews or wide receiver Devin Duvernay, they trampled almost everyone around them.Read more...

The only streaming platform fans want a sporting event aired on is one in which they already have a subscription. That's why, on the surface, Amazon buying a minority stake in Bally Sports is a rare win for the people who make these franchises profitable. (No, not the owners. The fans.) The move announced Wednesday...Read more...

The funny thing about Gio Reyna, and more to the point, all the noise about him - the controversy with his family and Gregg Berhalter, the anticipation of any appearance with the national team, the confidence that he's the country's most talented player - is that it is built on such a tiny foundation. Everyone has...Read more...

This time last year Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn was the talk of the town and the hottest potential head-coaching candidate in the NFL. One road trip around the sun later and Quinn is almost an afterthought on the minds of teams needing new coaches. With names like Jim Harbaugh and Bill Belichick on...Read more...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a proposal to ban youth tackle football Tuesday night.

Ligue 1 and the NBA are two leagues that usually don't go together, but French soccer superstar Kylian Mbappe is worried that European soccer is starting to mimic professional basketball in one very specific way.Read more...

Caitlin Clark eclipsed another scoring milestone Tuesday night, inching her one step closer to college basketball immortality. The Iowa Hawkeyes took care of business at home against Wisconsin, cruising to a 96-50 victory. Clark put up a game-high 32 points, passing Baylor's Brittney Griner (3,283 points) for fourth...Read more...

It's a good thing Kansas City goes on the road this weekend because I'm not sure their fans have thawed yet. According to reports, 69 people were treated by the fire department during Saturday's Wild-Card win, with half showing signs of hypothermia. Fifteen people were sent to the hospital, with three fans being...Read more...

In response to Nick Saban's sudden retirement, the Crimson Tide hired Washington's Kalen Deboer and averted the mistake that's plagued program after program over the last half century. Bravo to Alabama for expanding beyond their horizons.Read more...

It's not what you say, but how you say it," is a wise adage. But at ESPN, it's always felt like who said it was more important than what was said. Aaron Rodgers and Pat McAfee haven't been sticking to sports for a while now, which was, and still is, a privilege that former and current Black employees aren't privy to.Read more...

I did not know what I was getting into when I became a Knicks fan. I got into it to find a bond between my father and me. He grew up as a New York street ball legend who listened to the Knicks on transistor radios with his buddies, huddled around a car drinking tallboys and sharing a joint. As a chubby weirdo with no...Read more...

Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay was found unresponsive, cold and struggling to breathe after Carmel Police were dispatched to his home in December, according to a police report obtained by TMZ.Read more...

I hadn't really thought about Brooklyn Nets broadcasts much. I hadn't really thought about the Brooklyn Nets much, to be more accurate. They'd be more appointment viewing if they had told all of us that a knife fight was liable to break out at the broadcasters table at any moment:

James Dolan has once again found himself with legal problems. His decision to ban lawyers who represented a group of ticket resellers who sued the New York Knicks team owner - a suit that was dismissed in spring 2023 - currently has Madison Square Garden's liquor license in jeopardy. A new suit against Dolan, has...Read more...

When it was announced last week that the Seattle Seahawks were moving in a different direction at head coach, the news caught many by surprise. It was framed as though Pete Carroll and the organization had mutually agreed that Carroll would step out of the way and into an advisor's role. But now with roughly a week...Read more...

Former WWE and sex tape superstar Hulk Hogan reportedly helped save a teenager's life Sunday night after her car flipped on the highway due to being clipped by another vehicle on the Veterans Expressway, heading towards Clearwater, Fla.Read more...

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The Washington Commanders have new ownership and a new GM, with a new coach and quarterback presumably on the way as well. Like a dog who finally catches the mailman, fans in the DMV pined for Dan Snyder's removal with such fervor that I'm not sure they know what to do now that it's happened. It's rare for any...Read more...

For fans of the iconic series Mad Men, seeing a person named Draper throwing up isn' that much of a surprise. But unlike his alcoholic TV namesake, British tennis player Jack Draper didn't have a drop of booze in him on Monday.Read more...

The Boston Bruins are the perfect team in the NHL to have the eternal-long fatalism vs. determinism debate. They sit atop the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference once again, just as they did last year. Just as last year, David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand are two of the best players in the league. The goaltending...Read more...

The Premier League has reached the portion of the season when it paws at having a winter break, splitting up the 21st round of fixtures over two weeks to give half the teams the week off this week and half the teams the week off last week. Unless they have a FA Cup replay. Or a League Cup semifinal. But every team...Read more...

Wild-Card Weekend in the NFL is a wrap and while it wasn't as exciting as billed, it did lead to some shocking moments. One of the biggest happened in Dallas where the Packers came through like a tornado and tossed the Cowboys around like rag dolls. Everyone has been focused on the Cowboys getting outright...Read more...

A woman has accused New York Knicks owner and Madison Square Garden Entertainment CEO James L. Dolan of pressuring her into unwanted sex and arranging an encounter with Harvey Weinstein, who is also accused of sexually assaulting her, according to the New York Times.Read more...