Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

The NBA is Ball-less after Lamelo suffered an ankle injury earlier this week that will leave him sidelined for what sounds like at least a few weeks. Shams Charania reports that it's a sprain of the same ankle Ball fractured last season. As the Charlotte Hornets prepare for life without LaMelo, the Chicago Bulls have...Read more...

In 1992, Deion Sanders was named first-team All-Pro for the first time in his career as a cornerback for the Atlanta Falcons. One of the games he missed that season was to play in the World Series for the Atlanta Braves. They lost to the Toronto Blue Jays in six games. Those who thought that Sanders playing football...Read more...

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The story of this early NBA season in the In-Season Tournament for no other reason than the league wants to cram it down our throats. However, this is not another diatribe about that mockery of a cup. That's been done, so allow me to present to you the real stories at the quarter-ish mark of the season: The Orlando...Read more...

The Golden State Warriors should be reeling after squandering a 24-point lead against the Sacramento Kings in their NBA In-Season Tournament's group stage exit. Yet, they're oddly sanguine about backsliding below .500 since they launched out of the regular season gates to a 6-2 start. Klay Thompson is the most at ease...Read more...

The Dallas Cowboys may have missed out on another free agent signing in former Indianapolis Colts linebacker Shaquille Leonard. Quite frankly, Jerry Jones may have lost some of his mojo for drawing players in. Players used to flock to the Cowboys, but Leonard's choice has reportedly come down to Dallas and division...Read more...

Matt Rhule will not go quietly into the offseason. The Nebraska coach opted to make news, again, by saying some dumb stuff off the field. This time it wasn't to preen about integrity and honesty, but rather to let college football know that he knows how the game's played - and isn't going to bend.Read more...

When the Big Ten signed a massive seven-year, $7 billion media rights deal with Fox, CBS, and NBC last year, ESPN was left out in the cold. But if championship weekend gets wild and Michigan and Ohio State are lucky enough to find themselves both in the College Football Playoff with the opportunity to play each other...Read more...

Jason Kidd was in a foul mood after the Dallas Mavericks' 121-115 victory against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday. It was the final game of the NBA's inaugural In-Season Tournament for the Mavericks, since they will not be advancing past the group stage. Them missing out on the knockout round would be a much more...Read more...

It's no surprise that journeyman quarterback Josh Dobbs re-entered the atmosphere. Players are backups for a reason, and it was only a matter of time before Dobbs reminded folks why he was available multiple times this season. What is a surprise about this current predicament is after the Vikings used assets for the...Read more...

One thing that became apparent during the final night of the NBA's In-Season Tournament Group Stage was that the Chicago Bulls stink.Read more...

When the U.S. is at war with China in 20 years, on the list of microaggressions that incited the conflict will surely be NBA-China relations. The Association's dealings in the People's Republic of China are so well-documented and lucrative that they created in-roads for its players, who may not realize the complexity...Read more...

The NBA has really outdone itself this time. This In-Season tournament nobody asked for in the first place has gotten more convoluted as it extends into the later stages. Rewarding teams as they lose is the biggest participation trophy-era thing there could be. Sure, the analytics crowd is juiced about point...Read more...

Not content to have spread misinformation about the COVID vaccine, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the therapeutic effects of the sounds of dolphin sex, and the softening" of society, Rodgers, a man who took courses in American Studies" at Cal Berkeley, where he did not graduate with a degree in anything relating to science or...Read more...

Once was a coincidence - but, not really. Twice was proof of the pattern. Steve Wilks keeps getting the short end of the stick. And the owners that fire him always wind up paying for it.Read more...

On the one hand, the architects of this PSG team probably should be applauded for actually taking the time to step back and try to create a team instead of collecting players. Messi left, Neymar decamped for Saudi Arabia and PSG didn't chase whatever shiny thing they could find to plug the holes, not of the...Read more...

There's no such thing as a good echo chamber. Eventually, bad narratives begin bouncing around, spreading and taking root at a cellular level.Read more...

The Hawks just can't get out of it, can they?

The great thing about fall guys in the NFL is they're interchangeable. It could be a quarterback, a coordinator, a distraction, the head coach, the owner, or Roger Goodell, and usually there's enough vitriol to spread around. Take the New York Jets for example. They're one of the most scrutinized franchises in the NFL...Read more...

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Before the 2023 season started, ESPN's Tom Luginbill said that Colorado might have the worst roster in college football. By the end of the 2023 regular season, Deion Sanders was strictly focused on the future, given that he had failed at the present.Read more...

Hello, and welcome back to the Sick, Sad World of Sports, a reminder that sports figures are human, and as such, are no more or less prone to fallibility than the rest of us. Everyone makes mistakes, but often fans overlook a misdemeanor or even a felony, because sports are supposed to be an escape.Read more...

There are far more important things to be thankful for in this world than being a fan of an NFL team with consistent quarterback play. Beginning with that caveat, many Americans do spend a lot of hours watching football. The product is exponentially better when the quarterbacks are above average.Read more...

The rapid integration of artificial intelligence into every corridor of society has created a surreal state of journalism in 2023. In its infancy, everyone is feeling around in the dark, stumbling over AI-generated content. A bevy of outlets, this site included, have dabbled in AI-generated content. Conversely, major...Read more...

An 18-week NFL schedule creates a plethora of nexus points where the season diverts from its expected path. Aaron Rodgers tearing his Achilles four plays into the season, the New England Patriots crashing, CJ Stroud flying out the rookie gates, Frank Reich being fired after 11 games and two rookies leading the entire...Read more...

It takes a lot to disrespect two groups of people at once. But on Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas, a Kansas City Chiefs fan found a way to hate Black people and the Native American at the same time.Read more...

On Sunday, the NFL made up for its Thanksgiving product that was more sleep-inducing than wolfing down a half a pound turkey in one afternoon. Jordan Love's late-season turnaround was worthy of a hat tip, but the rest of the day would have been better spent arguing about the 2024 election.Read more...

The Houston Texans suffered a setback in a 24-21 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday that throttled them back into a mosh pit of five-loss teams in the AFC. However, not all losses are created equal. Wins are utilized as a quarterback stat too frivolously, but throughout his rookie season, CJ Stroud has shown how...Read more...

Finally, someone out there has the guts to stand up to Tom Brady. Yes he has six championship rings and is the only player in NFL history to reach 600 career touchdown passes. However, that doesn't make him infallible. After all, his 2007 New England Patriots did pull a 2015-16 Golden State Warriors and blow a...Read more...

If you thought Texas A & M couldn't stoop any lower after paying Jimbo Fisher a record amount to scram, you thought wrong because they did just that on Saturday night,as all signs pointed to the Aggies hiring Kentucky's Mark Stoops. Reports by The Athletic's Bruce Feldman and Nicole Auerbach kicked off a brush fire...Read more...

And I cried because I knew I was leaving a place that I love, and it was a home, and I knew where I was going, wasn't going to be easy for a guy like me. Because I'm one of you. So I look at it like this: August 13th, 2005, I left professional wrestling."

Chaos is a ladder, said Lord Baelish. Especially when it comes to international soccer, where injuries, manager changes - both with country and club - a bad transfer or run of form can shift a player's standing with his national team within a week or two. Getting together only every month or longer leads to a lot of...Read more...

Josh Harris' first season of Washington Commanders ownership must feel like Calvin working the WacArnold's night shift. It seems like a distinguished opportunity at first to own a legacy franchise. Until you start contrasting them against the league's most respected franchises. Being congratulated on the team he owns...Read more...

On Saturday at high noon, Michigan and Ohio State will take the field in what may be the most anticipated matchup in the history of the greatest rivalry in all of sports. And for the first time since the Maize and Blue and Scarlet and Gray have been battling, a Black man will be serving as a head coach. Michigan's...Read more...

While debating politics over Thanksgiving can cause irreplaceable family fissures, debating the all-time starting fives for each NBA team holds way fewer stakes. There are many different ways to build an all-time starting five, all of which illicit strong reactions. Some people prefer to choose the players with the...Read more...

We've all heard of doppelgangers - people who aren't related but look like one another. There's a whole subreddit dedicated to finding lookalikes. There was a Saturday Night Live short on the subject. But have you ever looked at one of your favorite athletes, or a player on your favorite team and noticed how much they...Read more...

It's been more than two decades since we've seen an NBA game on Thanksgiving. And for the sake of communion and fellowship, we're better for it. It's not like the TV won't be on anyway. With Fox News and CNN rotting our brains and the NFL providing an annual doubleheader, there's plenty to go numb from.Read more...

With trust in the mainstream media dwindling daily, it's no wonder corporate sports journalism is also losing ground. Partisanship and traffic-driven agendas have diluted the public's trust in NBA talking heads. As anyone with a microphone and laptop can start a podcast, a DIY community of fan-driven podcasts has...Read more...

There's never been a more exciting time to be a Lions fan on Turkey Day than right now. Detroit is 8-2 entering Thursday's matchup with Green Bay and hasn't been this good to start a season since 1962. Much of the fanbase wasn't even alive the last time this franchise had this much hope on Thanksgiving. Waking up...Read more...

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It's the season of giving and the Indiana Pacers have one man to be thankful for their early season prosperity. Tyrese Haliburton has given the league whiplash leading Indiana's turnaround in the second year of his stint in Indiana. No offense is more captivating to watch or more dynamic than Indiana's swashbucklers...Read more...

Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay has gone full C. Montgomery Burns. That type of detachment from reality can happen when you grow up in a family that owns an atom-smashing plant - pardon me, the Colts franchise.Read more...

If there was a Villain of the Year award, Dillon Brooks would be a leading candidate every year. He's been able to bring some personality to the Houston Rockets, even if it annoys the hell out of everyone around. The Rockets host the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night, and Brooks isn't giving his old comrades a...Read more...

It's been nearly two weeks since America last rolled their eyes at Aaron Rodgers, thus giving him the attention he so desperately craves, so you knew he was going to say something galaxy-brained and bone-headed before the week was up. Luckily, we have Pat McAfee paying him for that, so we were not disappointed.Read more...

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I have lived long enough to be aware that there are people who have no idea of the enormity of Monday Night Football. The Brady-Manning Bowl of 2005 was an MNF broadcast. For three and a half decades, there was no bigger regular-season NFL stage than that primetime matchup on ABC.Read more...

In May of 2018, at the Whitley Hotel in Atlanta - known then as the Ritz-Carlton (Buckhead) - Dave Tepper played one of the greatest games of Big Bank Take Little Bank" of all time. He bought the Carolina Panthers for a then-record $2.275 billion...in CASH.Read more...

The 2023 season for the St. Louis Cardinals was an absolute disaster. Though they entered it as the NL Central favorites, even if by default, they lost 91 games as pretty much everything went wrong. The epicenter of their collapse was their starting rotation, which contained pitchers that couldn't strike out anyone,...Read more...

Gather round. It's Feast Week: When college basketball and holiday branding collide in a breathtaking fireworks show of national championship contenders facing off in gyms barely fit for a church league game.Read more...

The Washington Wizards are an absolute mess. They are one of the three worst teams in the NBA and they are reportedly already regretting the trade that brought Jordan Poole to the nation's capital. Chris Paul might be a dirty, old man on the court, but at least he pays attention and takes the game seriously.Read more...