Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

What is indisputable is that Joe Thornton is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, whatever that means in the NHL, and had one of the best pairs of hands and some of the best vision in the game for about 15 years. One can't rack up 1109 career points without having unique gifts. Wherever anyone goes beyond that though has an...Read more...

Will Levis' first significant action this weekend ignited the dormant pilot light underneath the Tennessee Titans offense, throwing for 238 yards, four touchdowns, and just as importantly, no picks. Sure, his No. 1 receiver DeAndre Hopkins got away with an offensive pass interference on the opening score, but I'd be...Read more...

James Harden - one of the greatest shooting guards in the history of basketball - is on his fourth team since 2021.Read more...

There was some fear, I assume from people who sunburn easily, that MLB's pitch clock and speeding up would somehow ruin the postseason and especially the World Series. That it wouldn't be the same if Fox didn't have three minutes between each pitch to get in all their close-ups that show us the booger situation of...Read more...

Now for something you probably thought you'd ever witness in a million years. The Bucks and Hawks faced off in Milwaukee on Sunday and offered a treat for those in attendance. Co-founding member of legendary rap group Public Enemy and Reality TV star Flavor Flav gave a stunning" rendition of the national anthem...Read more...

Chris Paul's 18-year run as a starting point guard finally came to an end on Sunday. The 1,365 consecutive games Paul started to begin his career including the playoffs, are the most consecutive starts for a player prior to coming off the bench for the first time. After nearly two decades of being the main course, or...Read more...

Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys are starting to feel good about themselves again after a decisive victory at home on Sunday over the LA Rams, 43-20. That's two consecutive wins since their embarrassing loss to San Francisco a few weeks back, 42-10. With division rival Philadelphia on deck, Prescott seems to have...Read more...

They're still here.Read more...

For years, I've been threatening to write a treatise on all the things I don't like about Cris Collinsworth. The idea usually rears its head around 10:03 on Sunday nights, after I've spent yet another three hours of my life listening to Collinsworth wax rhapsodic about some franchise QB and how he could probably cure...Read more...

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After Zach Wilson's brief moment of lucidity against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday Night Football in early October, much of the football world abandoned all common sense, and suggested his 245-yard night in a loss was a turning point.Read more...

The MLS playoffs started this weekend. You might not have noticed thanks to the World Series also starting, as well as the NFL and college football, and even the NHL and NBA in full swing now. The league has never really been able to thread this needle, and to be fair, it's a tricky one to do.Read more...

New York Jets vs New York Giants was a horrifying watch, but besides that, the football played during NFL spooky season was the one least likely of all eight games to make viewers cover their eyes.Read more...

The Washington Commanders have been a thorn in the Philadelphia Eagles' side for three consecutive matchups. They won on Monday Night last November and have pushed the Eagles in two games this season. The Commanders even stuffed the Eagles' most consistent play, the dreaded Tush Push," that I will never call the...Read more...

Kirk Cousins' time with the Minnesota Vikings has largely been disappointing. They signed him after the 2017 season to help push a team that lost in the conference championship game to the Super Bowl. The 2023 season is Cousins' sixth with the Vikings. They have won only one playoff game in two appearances.

Tennessee Titans rookie Will Levis made his NFL debut Sunday afternoon, immediately impacting the team in their 28-23 win over the Atlanta Falcons. Levis completed 65 percent of his passes, threw four touchdowns for 238 yards and zero interceptions. It was a great showing by the rookie quarterback out of Kentucky, so...Read more...

This weekend, New York's Balloon pop-up museum opened up beside the FDR Drive along Pier 36 on The Seaport. On the other side of the East River, Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas is posting inflated numbers of his own and is on the verge of either a breakout or flying high until his balloon runs out of air and comes back...Read more...

It's only two games into an 82-game season, and frustration already seems to be on the Los Angeles Clippers' agenda. During LA's game in Utah against the Jazz, Kawhi Leonard's body language said much more than he ever would publicly following Russell Westbrook's game-winning shot attempt.Read more...

You ever have that one friend when you were a kid, and when you'd have them beaten at a board game they'd just smash the board, send all the pieces flying, and call it a win? That's what it's been like playing against Real Madrid for a while. They don't have a definitive style really. They don't swarm you with a...Read more...

Last week, after the Bucks' opening night win against Philadelphia, fans were treated to a video of Damian Lillard talking about why he wanted to head to the heartland to play with Milwaukee and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Ain't nothing I want more," Lillard said. I told you when I first came here, I ain't come here to...Read more...

For those of you who stopped keeping track of Deion Sanders' first season at Colorado, let me fill you in. After a 28-16 loss to UCLA on Saturday - the Buffs' fourth in five games - CU finds themselves at .500. Currently sitting at 4-4 with four games left, Sanders' group needs two more wins to become bowl-eligible....Read more...

In his past five games, Adolis Garcia has six home runs and 15 RBI. That's more than the combined totals for Tampa, Miami, Toronto, and Milwaukee this postseason (10 runs, 1 dinger). It's more than what the Dodgers and Braves together could muster in the NLDS (13 runs, 4 homers), and tops the 101-win Orioles' 2023...Read more...

WHIZZZZZ! BANG! POP! ZOOM! Forgive me for capitalizing RANDOM words, but VICTOR WEMBANYAMA actually deserves every bit of SENSATIONALIZATION because he's INCREDIBLE. The rookie PHENOM put on a show in the Spurs 126-122 overtime win against the Houston Rockets, and did things NEVER BEFORE SEEN IN NATURE.Read more...

If there's anybody on earth who should empathize with Deshaun Watson, it's another former Cleveland Browns quarterback who was brought in to play savior to a squad cursed (or committed?) to self-destruct in ever more creative ways. Including Watson, the Browns have had 36 - yes, 36 - men start at their most important...Read more...

Nothing is lost on me when it comes to Damian Lillard, and neither was his 39-point debut in the Milwaukee Bucks' 118-117 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday. This is what he does, and Giannis Antetokuonmpo is more than happy to cede crunch-time duties to a guy who built his brand on clutch moments.Read more...

If the rumored minutes restriction for LeBron James is contingent on whether the Los Angeles Lakers need to play him an entire fourth quarter to win, he's not going to get the desired rest that Darvin Ham wants to give him. Heading into the fourth and trailing a Phoenix team that was without Devin Booker and Bradley...Read more...

It's now canon. One of the two teams that's in the championship round of any sport can't wait to tell the press that they're, proving all the doubters wrong," or this is for the haters." We watched Travis Kelce pull this act after the Super Bowl, even though he happened to play for the Kansas City Chiefs, the...Read more...

Future Basketball Hall of Famer Dwight Howard spent the week defending himself from sexual assault and battery accusations in civil court. It's rare for a defense to be the headline, but in Howard's case, he took the drastic measure of admitting that the July 2021 encounter with his accuser, Stephen Harper, was a...Read more...

We reviewed the aptitude of front-office leaders through the last decade, so it's only fitting we roast those on the opposite end of the spectrum. There has been no shortage of charlatans, scam artists, and swindlers manning the executive suite for NBA teams over the last 10 years. We pinpointed the worst offenders...Read more...

As an NFL analyst, choosing your words wisely when breaking down and analyzing the game is crucial. This is Broadcasting 101, but it sounds like a lesson former Patriots and Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski snoozed through. Apparently, Gronk has a social media death wish, suggesting recently that the NFL has gone...Read more...

Consider this a mea culpa to the NCAA. I was wrong, there isn't enough money to pay the players, because there isn't even enough money to spring for helmets with transmitters. Quarterback-sideline correspondence has come under fire in the wake of the Michigan sign-stealing scandal, with a lot of coaches - including...Read more...

At some point in most of our lives, we've all imagined how nice it would be to get away from the daily grind on our own tropical island. NBA journeyman and current Houston Rockets forward Reggie Bullock has taken steps to implement that plan. Earlier this year, Bullock purchased his own island in Belize after...Read more...

Scoot Henderson made his debut Wednesday night, and in his first-ever game of consequence, finished with 11 points, four assists, three rebounds, and four turnovers on 5-of-11 from the field across 36 minutes of forgettable basketball. It didn't help that the Portland Trail Blazers trailed the Los Angeles Clippers by...Read more...

Big Vic Energy is a renewable source of power for the city of San Antonio that the state of Texas should invest in for the next 20 years.Read more...

It's funny at the top of this to mention that the NHL is holding its draft next June in Las Vegas. In a totally unconnected piece of news, Ottawa Senators center Shane Pinto has been suspended 41 games for gambling. There's definitely no conflict of interest between these two things.Read more...

Anybody else hear that? It's the sound of NFL owners shaking in their boots.Read more...

Perhaps Dusty Baker will wonder what his managerial career would have looked like had Jeremy Pena not gotten hot for 10 days last year. Maybe Game 5 against the Phillies flips, maybe Dusty faces another Game 7, another winner-take-all game to match the 2002 World Series, the 2003 NLCS, the 2012 NLDS, and the 2017 NLDS.Read more...

After the bye week in Dallas, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones announced Wednesday that the team would be inducting DeMarcus Ware into its Ring of Honor on Sunday. The ceremony will take place during halftime of Dallas' matchup with the Los Angeles Rams and caps off an exciting few months in which Ware was also inducted into...Read more...

The fight to stand alone atop NBA Insider Mountain continues between Adrian Wojnarowski and Shams Charania. What better way for that battle to continue than with them framing the latest news on the impasse between James Harden and the Philadelphia 76ers in two different ways.Read more...

It's becoming apparent that almost anything James Harden does is driven by how much good it does for James Harden. Remember when he declined a $47.6 million option and accepted $68 million over two years by signing a one-year deal with a player option for a second? That magnanimous sacrifice for the sake of the team...Read more...

Mistakes from umpires, referees, and officials happen all the time. That's the human error risk every athlete takes when competing in sports. It's better than having robots mediate sports right? Well, I guess unless you're Angel Hernandez. Having an NFL owner share on his personal X account discussions he's had with...Read more...

Last week, former NFL star wide receiver Antonio Brown was arrested for failure to pay child support, followed by reports that Brown owes $31,000 to one of the mothers of his children. That sounds like a ridiculous amount of money to you and me, but as someone who has practiced family law (including on behalf of pro...Read more...

The NHL season is only two weeks old, and yet four teams - the Boston Bruins, the Dallas Stars, the Vegas Golden Knights, and the Colorado Avalanche - have yet to taste defeat in regulation. Only the Stars aren't running at a 100 percent points-percentage, having lost to the aforementioned Knights in a shootout. But...Read more...

When you watch the Tennessee Titans play these days, NFL general managers probably feel like they are watching a Pawn Stars marathon. They're hunting for deals on players who give them an edge in 2023 and beyond and the Titans are a chop shop these days. It's a little disturbing how many pawn shop shows there are on...Read more...

Los Angeles Lakers big man Anthony Davis is still considered one of the best players in the NBA by most. Even though he comes and goes in terms of performance, many view him as no worse than top 10 in the association. However, it's hard to defend that point of view on Davis when he pulls off his best Dr. Jekyll/Mr....Read more...

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Nate Silver is good for one thing, and that's telling you what side to not be on. There's nothing a fan of any sport loves more than someone who hasn't been following all season dropping in to tell you why the conclusion is terrible. If one doesn't want to be seen anywhere near the man who set the record for being the...Read more...

An NBA player's signature shoe is the ultimate signifier of their brand. These kicks reflect and refract the personality and power of those who wear them. Since Michael Jordan signed with Nike in 1984, the shoe skyrocketed from casual mediocrity into a phenomenon all its own. Almost every major basketball player since...Read more...

The old African-American proverb If you scared, get out the club," isn't just a warning to terrified patrons to exit the building - it's wise counsel to coaches who don't like facing the music.Read more...

The Golden State Warriors are still explosive, but the first game of the season showed a glimpse of how much they are going to need Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody if they want to contend for a fifth title.Read more...