Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

It would be nice if Liz Cambage didn’t try to refute reports that she broke COVID protocols with the term “fake news,” but the Australian star sure did defend herself after her withdrawal from the Olympic team during its Las Vegas training camp, for which she cited mental health.

Five-foot-10, 220 pounds with a 40-inch vertical, a 4.49 40-yard dash, and a full beard to boot.Read more...

This is not what the R&R Partners meant by “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.”Read more...

Y’all ready for this shit?

It was a little bit curious when Liz Cambage did not play in the WNBA All-Star Game on Wednesday night, even though she was in uniform and had made an agreement with Team Australia coach Sandy Brondello, to be able to leave the national team’s pre-Olympic camp and play in the exhibition.

Sometimes, when you look out your window at the world around you, nature is the perfect expression of your emotions. It’s a weird feeling, but in some ways, it’s comforting. Sometimes it feels as though Mother Nature has heard your heart and responded in kind, as if to say, “I understand.”Read more...

Saturday night is a must-win for the Phoenix Suns and the Milwaukee Bucks – literally.

The best part about being a sports fan is the territorial nature that comes with it. Most White Sox fans hate the Cubs. Most Mets fans hate the Yankees (but so does everyone else). Every Eagles fan hates the Cowboys and vice versa. The rivalries and contempt that several fanbases have for one another are an enormous…Read more...

It’s a pre-pandemic Father’s Day at Community Baptist Church in Englewood, N.J. Black, brown, and white faces stand together offering shouts of amen and hallelujah as Pastor Lester W. Taylor rouses them with his words of inspiration. In the crowd of about 700 on this Sunday morning is Monte Barrett, a native of…Read more...

“There’s no hard and fast rule across sports for how to handle team histories and intellectual property when franchises relocate, but there should be some common sense: when a team moves, if it changes its name, it relinquishes the history. It’s just good practice. Can you imagine the Oklahoma City Thunder dressing up…Read more...

The phrase “out of an abundance of caution” is so 2020, but here we are in 2021, seeing it again.

The Major League Baseball All-Star week, highlighted by the annual AL vs. NL game and the Home Run Derby, proved once again to be the best All-Star event in all of professional sports. The baseball world is riding high on the wave of momentum that Fernando Tatís Jr., Vlad Guerrero Jr, Shohei Ohtani, and Pete Alonso…Read more...

The All-Star Game has come and gone. The American League continues to wreck the Senior Circuit year-in, year-out, and it’s abundantly clear that Vladdy Jr., Shohei Ohtani, and Liam Hendriks are the coolest dudes in the sport. Now, the attention turns to the second half of the season. Will the teams at the top stay…Read more...

Sports broadcasting legend and NFL Network host Rich Eisen tested positive for COVID despite being fully vaccinated.Read more...

Close your eyes and imagine this scene.

In case you forgot, Thom Brennaman had a very bad day on August 19 of last year. On the air while calling a Cincinnati Reds game, he apparently was unaware of a hot mic and was heard using a homophobic slur. Like, a really, really bad one, with a really, really bad tone. It’s unclear what spurred his comment, but you…Read more...

Fucking finally.Read more...

“Blocked by Antetokounmpo” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it as “Blocked by James,” but the play itself might’ve been just as good.Read more...

If the Suns would have won Game 4 of the NBA Finals, the missed foul call on Devin Booker would have been one of the biggest refereeing errors in league history.

Richard Sherman is in a bad spot right now, facing legal trouble and clearly fighting personal demons. The combination of the police and media are not making things much better.

At some point this coming football season (oh and side note, training camps start next week so football season is basically here), the oldest starting quarterback in the AFC East will be Josh Allen, the No. 7 overall pick only three years ago. This division is far and away the youngest division of starting…Read more...

There’s a big difference between the U.S. men’s basketball team’s losses to Nigeria and Australia and what happened on Wednesday night, as the American women, who are even bigger favorites for Olympic gold than the men, dropped a 93-85 decision to the Team WNBA in the All-Star Game in Las Vegas.

The Golden State Warriors had a pretty disappointing season. Despite Steph Curry turning back the clock and making jaws hit the floor on a routine basis, the Dubs still couldn’t manage to sneak into the actual postseason — losing their bid for the Western Conference’s 8-seed in a 117-112 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.…Read more...

College athletes finally being able to make money from their name, image, and likeness (NIL) obviously is a huge step forward after decades of outright exploitation under the guise of the NCAA maintaining a standard of amateurism. There still are more steps to take, given the amount of money that universities take in…Read more...

EA Sports made it a hot line; 2K’s making it a hot song

During the MLB All-Star Game last night, there was a moment in the sixth inning where Rays’ catcher Mike Zunino hit a home run off Mets’ pitcher Taijuan Walker, who was being caught by Milwaukee’s Omar Narvaez. Dodgers’ outfielder Chris Taylor watched the ball soar over his head, as Zunino rounded the bases and…Read more...

If the Bucks want to win an NBA championship, Jrue Holiday is going to have to play like an All-Star.

Former Seahawk Richard Sherman was arrested this morning in King County, Washington, for “Burglary Domestic Violence,” according to police records and first reported by Adam Schefter of ESPN. Sherman was denied bail.

Halfback dives.Read more...

Just because you think something is true, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s actually true. From the Mandela effect to the Philadelphia Experiment — and the Geto Boys — we have proof that our minds can play tricks on us.Read more...

Devin Booker needs to have a legacy-defining bounce-back game tonight.Read more...

DENVER — It would be nearly impossible for any fan to have left the MLB All-Star Game here at Coors Field on Tuesday night without feeling good about the game.Read more...

Every sport’s All-Star Game features the best players. What’s made baseball’s Midsummer Classic unique, and many would say the best showcase around, is that you get to see things you wouldn’t see in an ordinary game, while the game still remains true to itself. Last night we saw the American League win again, 5-2.Read more...

Man, if only the Los Angeles Angels could surround Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani with some pitching, then maybe, just maybe, they wouldn’t waste their careers.Read more...

Major League Baseball is switching things up again after just one year.Read more...

The Edmonton Oilers have arguably the two best hockey players on the planet in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Together, the two of them have combined for the last two Hart Trophies and three of the last five. Yet despite incredible efforts from the dynamic duo, the Oilers have never lived up to their expectations.…Read more...

If you hoped Conor McGregor’s broken leg and subsequent TKO loss to Dustin Poirier would shut him up, you’ve already been proven wrong.Read more...

Any team that wins a championship deserves a huge parade in their hometown in front of thousands of their adoring fans. They deserve to party the night away and celebrate what they were able to accomplish.Read more...

The Home Run Derby should be played at the South Pole every year, because clearly it’s the natural habitat of the Polar Bear, Pete Alonso. After a year without the derby (thanks COVID), Alonso was back to defend his 2019 crown, and boy did he.

Alright, this is getting out of hand now.Read more...

Nigeria, currently No. 22 in the world, is the third-lowest ranked men’s basketball club to have qualified for the Olympics, which will begin on July 23.Read more...

DENVER — Not many can get bounced in the first round of an event many thought they would win easily, yet still live up to the hype.Read more...

It’s Trash Talking Tuesday, and today I’m trashing all the sports fans who still don’t think the MLB All-Star Game isn’t the best in pro sports.Read more...

Over the past 17 years, every time the United States men’s basketball national team has been terrible, Gregg Popovich has been on the sidelines. And that’s not an opinion, either. It’s a fact.

The incredibly stupid debate over whether it’s harder to hit a 100 mph fastball or hit a half-court shot has been on the internet for a while, because if there’s a stupid debate to be had, it’ll happen online at some point.Read more...

When Stephen A. Smith opens his mouth, it’s typically bullshit. Generally speaking, when it comes to an opinion of his having anything to do with sports or adjacent to sports, I completely ignore him and accept him for what he is — someone who delivers hot takes and yells loudly because it gets views, and ratings…Read more...

Giannis Antetokounmpo is the most physically dominant player we’ve seen since Shaquille O’Neal.

The Euro Championship did not go England’s way. After two hours of football ended locked in a 1-1 draw, England and Italy squared off in penalty kicks. Italy won after Marcus Rashford hit one off the post, Jadon Sancho’s attempt was stopped, and the final try, taken by 19-year-old Bukayo Saka, was saved by the…Read more...

An American story that was on its way to becoming an American dream got derailed last month by American’s greatest sin — racism. But, a month later, that American dream is back on track after some American politicians came together in the name of bipartisanship to let a Black Naval officer and Annapolis grad live his…Read more...

There are certain sports that are staples of the Olympics, the ones that get on in prime time and take hold of the sports world when they’re going for the gold. It used to be that those sports, like gymnastics, swimming, and track, would only really show up on your TV every so often. Maybe you’d catch something on…Read more...