Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

TNT’s flagship show Inside The NBA is at its best this time of the year, as fans tune in multiple times per week to watch Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Ernie Johnson, and Shaquille O’Neal do their thing. But what happens when the star of the NBA’s biggest and best studio show gets on TV to tell fans not to watch…Read more...

A problem with the Sports Emmys is there simply aren’t enough categories for individuals. Most awards are for shows, segments, reports, documentaries, etc. Only a handful acknowledge the on-air personalities, so those who care about bringing home some hardware are in for an uphill battle.Read more...

Ray Liotta’s Henry Hill said in Goodfellas that your killers “come with smiles.” The Toronto Raptors’ killer was a nine-year-old girl who surely arrived at Scotiabank Arena with a smile on her face, because her father allowed her to miss school. Once the game began though, Diar DeRozan was more relentless on defense…Read more...

On one level, I get it. I bet Toronto is a lot like Chicago. Whenever the first warm stretch hits, you’re looking for any excuse to be outside. And most likely drunk as shit when you are. Usually that streak doesn’t hit until somewhere around Memorial Day, so to get it in April feels like you’re stealing and you’d…Read more...

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What’s the first thing you do on your phone when you wake up? After turning off your alarm, how long does it take for muscle memory to take you to a social media app? Three, four swipes? Now, ask yourself: What would happen if you didn’t? You may miss out on a funny meme or the latest trend or a few morsels of juicy…Read more...

If you’re a fan of throwback jerseys and nostalgia, we’ve got a treat for you. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are bringing back their swashbuckling uniforms from the early days, when they seemingly did nothing but lose. That’s right, you can call this a comeback because those wonderful creamsicle uniforms are returning in…Read more...

Once the New York Giants signed their future over to Daniel Jones, their fans could anxiously pivot to running back Saquon Barkley. While the two haven’t quite reached the stage of acrimony, it’s not for a lack of effort from the media. Today’s overblown headline is “Barkley reportedly won’t sign franchise tag before…Read more...

Once the New York Giants signed their future over to Daniel Jones, theri fans could anxiously pivot to running back Saquon Barkley. While the two haven’t quite reached the stage of acrimony, it’s not for a lack of effort from the media. Today’s overblown headline is “Barkley reportedly won’t sign franchise tag before…Read more...

If the NHL ever considered instituting its own play-in tournament, and they have, and last night’s Lakers-Timberwolves what-have-ya wasn’t enough to dissuade them, then the Islanders and Penguins have recently showed the league that were they forced to waylay into each other in a single-elimination to get to the…Read more...

Over the years, Shaquille O’Neal and the TNT crew on Inside the NBA have given us plenty of hilarious moments. Just about every episode at this point produces a segment that gets picked up and goes viral on social media. Many of those moments have come out of the mouth of Dr. O’Neal, and the latest gem can also be…Read more...

One of the most annoying things in life is when people try to limit your vices for you. The term “drink responsibly” is less of a rule and more of a loose guideline, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let doctors define “binge drinking” for me. That’s why when I go to a sporting event, a bar, or a beerfest, I treat…Read more...

CHICAGO — Intro music matters, especially here.Read more...

Once again the Los Angeles Lakers found themselves in a game that they desperately needed to win, clutching victory with one hand hoping that the opposing team would fall off of the cliff first. That is certainly a path to a 108-102 overtime victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves who were missing both Rudy Gobert…Read more...

Let’s not bury the lede here. The last five to eight minutes and overtime between the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves was some of the worst basketball on offer this season, and certainly a contender for worst fare offered up in what is supposed to be an important game. Between the Lakers’ inability to…Read more...

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Friday will mark one month since Aaron Rodgers emerged from his darkness retreat and told the world he wanted a different employer. His appearance on the Pat McAfee Show will be four weeks old on Wednesday and we’ve seen no progress on a deal between the Jets and Packers at all. I get it, just because the public…Read more...

Anyone who grew up watching the NFL draft (and others) before social media existence probably misses that anticipation of not knowing who their favorite team would select. That nervousness, sweaty palms, butterflies in the stomach, hoping one’s team would draft that next generational talent or even a solid guy who…Read more...

The NFL has gone The Wire season five Marlo Stanfield on its Sunday Ticket package. They removed the middle man and the price of the brick is not yesterday’s price. Through its new distribution partner — YouTube TV — the new Sunday Ticket options were released on Wednesday. Not only is it more expensive, but the NFL…Read more...

With Haley and Hanna Cavinder announcing that they’re eschewing a final year of eligibility to turn full-time influencers, this seems as good of a time as any to share an influencer take that was naturally occurring. Seeing as it’s easiest to write when you’ve got a muse, and site output is down, this is a win-win for…Read more...

On one level, it is understandable that Jesse Marsch wants to be careful in picking his next job. He has one Premier League firing to his name, and should he add another in quick succession it would probably close the door on him working in the biggest league in the world forever. Managers are no different than…Read more...

While sneaking into the bottom rung of the playoffs is something to be eschewed in the NBA given that it rarely leads anywhere, there’s still a perception in the NHL that all you have to do is “get in.” The NHL has dined out for decades on the idea that the playoffs set everything anew, and that one hot goalie can…Read more...

As the Washington Capitals exited last year’s playoffs in the first round against an upstart Florida Panthers squad, it felt like the end of an era. The core of the team stayed together from their 2018 Stanley Cup victory but hadn’t won a playoff game since and was only growing grayer. And if being past your prime is…Read more...

I’ve been a fan of a tanking team for a couple of years now, and I think the hardest part of staring at big boards before the season even hits its dog days is when that big board is dumbed down to a bar menu. The 2023 NFL Draft is one such menu. It’s airport Chick-Fil-A, going to Frontera when Topolobampo is right…Read more...

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Love is a mysterious thing. It can’t always be explained. It involves a certain kind of alchemy. Sometimes the people you love are widely adored. Other people hear about your love for them and think, “Gee, that’s only natural.” Other times, the people you love are misunderstood, overlooked, or even hated. Sometimes,…Read more...

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A football league that’s been a willing participant in the discrimination and systemic oppression of Black people for over 100 years has announced that it will continue to expand into a continent where football — the global version — is king, which is also the place that Black people come from.Read more...

Before the NBA’s regular season wrapped up, before his San Antonio Spurs beat the Dallas Mavericks in the finale, Gregg Popovich didn’t want to talk about his future. The 74-year-old Hall of Famer brushed off questions about his retirement. Instead, during his pregame media availability, the all-time coaching wins…Read more...

For about three years now, most of the baseball world has wanted various current and former Houston Astros to just admit what happened in 2017. It wouldn’t change much, but everyone wants to be right to the biggest level possible. It wouldn’t really sully these players any more than they already have been, nor wash…Read more...

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Zoom out on the Atlanta Hawks and Dallas Mavericks 2018 draft-day trade and the results appear positive. Both franchises made a trip to the conference finals and were competitive against the eventual NBA Champion. Trae Young is a two-time NBA All-Star and was named third-team All-NBA last season. Luka Dončić averaged…Read more...

It’s the obvious joke, so let’s get it out of the way. The LIV Golf representatives at The Masters aren’t used to playing 72 holes! That’s why Brooks Koepka crapped the bed on Sunday and blew his lead, only to be passed by Jon Rahm, who won his first green jacket by four strokes! If only the Saudi-backed new golf…Read more...

You can only play who is on the schedule. That’s an axiom as old as baseball, and it’s mostly true. The Tampa Bay Rays got to start their season with nine games against MLB’s kids with mittens pinned to their jackets year-round, and they’ve done all they can do. Which is to beat the ever-loving piss out of them, to…Read more...

The Eastern Conference hasn’t been as wide open as the West this season, so their play-in race wasn’t nearly as exciting. There isn’t much expected from the play-in participants in the east, even though the Miami Heat were in the Eastern Conference Finals last postseason. In the east, the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston…Read more...

The 2022-23 NBA regular season has come to a close, and it’s time again for the league’s newest tradition, the play-in tournament. This year the Western Conference had the race to watch down the stretch as it was tighter than spandex in the wrestling ring. In fact, the west was close for most of the season, especially…Read more...

It’s not about what was done, it’s about who did it. And if you don’t believe that, this week will be a sports debate-off on the events from the final day of the NBA’s regular season — which included Minnesota Timberwolves star center Rudy Gobert taking a swing at teammate Kyle Anderson on the bench during a timeout.Read more...

There isn’t another league that can produce the utter chaos, at least as consistently, as the Premier League can with yesterday’s 2-2 draw between Liverpool and Arsenal at Anfield. It starts with the end-to-end action, two teams waylaying into each other for various periods of the game. Which is then compounded by the…Read more...

It’s easy to spot a basketball player in the airport. Their height and attire usually give them away. And if you’ve ever seen them board a flight, you’ve probably been in awe of the way they can fold their limbs into non-first class seats. Well, that’s pretty much what the women of the WNBA have been doing since 1997,…Read more...

For months, it’s been the elephant in the room for the Ravens. Baltimore has done almost everything in its power, because actions mean more than any words out of John Harbaugh’s mouth, to anger and agitate star quarterback Lamar Jackson. The Ravens haven’t committed long-term to Jackson as the cornerstone of their…Read more...

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“I was born delusional,” said Chris Ayres, Princeton’s head wrestling coach, earlier this year. “But I think — I really do — that delusion is a good thing.” He just proved his point. At Tulsa, Oklahoma’s NCAA wrestling tournament last month, Ayres pulled off one of the least likely turnarounds college sports has ever…Read more...

Well now it’s pretty obvious what NBA teams really think of the play-in tournament. The Dallas Mavericks spent the weekend doing everything they could to drop right out of the 10th seed and into the draft lottery, which they successfully did. Mavericks fans are probably most excited about the season being over, as…Read more...

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One week into the MLB season, the rule changes are by and large a huge success. It seems that fans and players alike overwhelmingly like the changes.Read more...

A large swath of NBA media is out on the top seeds in the Western Conference — and it makes sense, because, for the first time since the 1996-97 season, the East is far and away superior.

This past week has been the dried-out cherry on top of an expired whipped cream sundae of a 2022-23 season for the Dallas Mavericks. They entered it one game out of the play-in tournament a shade under two months after trading for Kyrie Irving. It would be easy to blame him for Mavericks’ fall, but the descent was in…Read more...

Republicans en masse across the country haven’t made it clear what they truly stand for outside of hating others and tolerating racism and all forms of bigotry. They’re more afraid and concerned of Black peaceful protestors and children properly identifying their sexuality than insurrectionists, mass murderers, and…Read more...

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