Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

J.R. Smith never played college basketball. He jumped straight from high school to the NBA. Now that his NBA career is over, he’s making an effort to get a college degree. Smith will be attending North Carolina A&T — the largest HBCU in the nation, with just over 12,700 students — which consistently ranks as one of…Read more...

There have been 30 players in major league history who have hit 50 or more home runs in a season, and as of today, the only ones who are active are Pete Alonso, Aaron Judge, and Giancarlo Stanton.

Josh Christopher was the No. 24 overall pick in the 2021 Draft out of Arizona State just weeks ago.

It’s becoming part of the MLB schedule at this point. Pink bats on Mother’s Day, and purple on Father’s Day. All-Star Game in July. Trade deadline at the end of July. And then a discussion of whether Mike Trout, who hasn’t played since May 17 due to a right calf strain, will be shut down for the season somewhere in…Read more...

Who Dey drinking all that beer!Read more...

Are you a betting man or woman? If so, you might want to take a closer look at the Carolina Panthers’ over/under totals. Right now, the team is projected to win just 7.5 games — tied for the 7th-lowest in the NFL, per Vegas Insider.

Things got a little heated on Undisputed earlier today.

You’ll have to forgive the Padres, as the Giants kind of stole the season they thought they were going to have. While they probably hoped to be jostling with the Dodgers themselves, and still might get to do so in the wildcard game, they’ve fallen off San Francisco’s pace and do have to worry about fending off the…Read more...

From the land of chopped cheese and quarter waters emerged the coldest motherfucker to come out of New York City playgrounds and gyms since Sebastian Telfair in 2004. And that same guy is now a New York Knick, bringing it full circle 10 years after being drafted into the NBA, and after hitting possibly the most-watched…Read more...

When last seen on an NBA team, PG Isaiah Thomas suited up for the New Orleans Pelicans on a 10-day contract. Thomas played in just three games, scoring 23 points in 48 total minutes.

Baylor University, synonymous with gang rape and sexual assault on college campuses lo these past several years, has been handed a penalty by the NCAA that will include “four years of probation, recruiting restrictions, a vacation of records,” following an NCAA investigation into Baylor’s handling of sexual assault…Read more...

“I’m never talking about this sh*t again. Can you get that on camera?”

Umpires are supposed to get every call right to the point where they have virtually no impact on the outcome of the game. Therefore, whenever an umpire does affect the outcome of a game, people start to take notice.Read more...

It may seem like the world of soccer never stops. That’s because it doesn’t. You may be thinking it was only yesterday that England were taking penalties with both hands and a rope around their throats. It was just about a month ago, and the new Premier League season starts this weekend. So if you also watched the…Read more...

After all of the drama surrounding Carson Wentz’s foot, which sparked major questions about the Colts’ chances this season, there seems to be some hope for both the quarterback and the Horseshoe.

Former Chicago first-round pick Mitchell (Don’t call me Mitch) Trubisky has finally moved on from da Bears to a team where he claims people want him and care about his progression — leading to the obvious inference that his previous team, in fact, did not.Read more...

Summer League wasn’t always this popular.

I’m going to answer my colleague John Hoefling’s question from yesterday afternoon. Why does the NFL care about taunting? Because it scares old, white people.

In some ways it’s heartening, at least for those of us who aren’t part of The Nation, to see the Red Sox backing up. Because no team that trades Mookie Betts, then doesn’t really do much in the following offseason either, should return to the playoffs after only a gimmick season. Fenway Sports Group doesn’t deserve…Read more...

The Cleveland Browns come into the 2021-22 season looking to build off a campaign where the team registered its first playoff victory since 1995. To call this a drought is the understatement of the century. Some deserts aren’t as dry as the Browns have been in terms of winning the past 25 years.Read more...

First it was the Big 12 deciding that any Texas opponent who flashes the “Horns Down” gesture would be fined. Mostly everyone agreed that it was a pretty weak move by a football program that claims to have such an elite reputation.Read more...

Over a week into free agency, Lauri Markkanen is still looking for his moment of clarity.

Lamar Jackson has a responsibility to be better than this.

There was much rejoicing on Twitter yesterday, as former MLBer Aubrey Huff was kicked off the platform for God knows whatever he said this time.

At the All-Star break, the Philadelphia Phillies were a .500 team and weren’t being taken very seriously as threats to take the NL East crown from the Mets. Despite throwing everything and the kitchen sink at All-Stars Bryce Harper and J.T. Realmuto in 2019, the Phillies have not reached the playoffs since. In fact,…Read more...

The Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers officially kicked off the 2021 NFL preseason in a game that featured the ’Boys doing what they have done well over the past 25 years… losing.

When it comes to anything off the field in La Liga, and especially the two giants Barcelona and Real Madrid, if one of my eyebrows isn’t raised then it’s certainly in the starting blocks to be so. So when news last Thursday broke that Lionel Messi was leaving Barca due to their self-imposed, financial straight jacket…Read more...

We should all bet on ourselves when the opportunity presents itself.Read more...

The only thing that would have been fitting during Calvin Johnson’s Pro Football Hall of Fame speech — the one in which he failed to thank the Detroit Lions — is if the Lions served him with papers during the speech in an attempt to get the money back he owes them.Read more...

After leading Team USA to a fourth straight gold medal in the Tokyo Olympic games, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green took to social media to exact a little revenge on all the “haters” who’d predicted their demise just days earlier.

It’s a Trash Talking Tuesday, and today I’m trashing all those LeBron minions who still are hanging on to the false narrative that he’s the best player on the planet.Read more...

Another member of the USMNT is making a big move in Europe. Josh Sargent is moving from Werder Bremen, who were relegated from the Bundesliga after last season, to newly promoted Premier League team Norwich City. The fee is reported to be around $11 million.Read more...

The future of Deshaun Watson continues to be a major question mark.Read more...

Another member of the USMNT is making a big move in Europe. Josh Sargent is moving from Werder Bremen, who were relegated from the Bundesliga after last season, to newly promoted Premier League team Norwich City. The fee is reported to be around $11 million.Read more...

It’s no surprise that the commissioner of the most historically racist and prejudiced pro sports league in America is in negotiations with America’s most racist, misogynist and prejudiced sports site in America to broadcast midweek games, to keep Major League Baseball racist, white, and prejudiced.

It was just six weeks ago that the NBA world quaked a little when reports of Luka Dončić’s unhappiness first slithered out of Dallas. A report of strange dude in the front office who had somehow charmed Mark Cuban. Dissatisfaction with the roster around him. Then some longtime organizational stalwarts started jumping…Read more...

Either MLB’s PR people are locked in a room with no escape, no windows, and all communications shut off to the outside world. Or it’s just a team of koala bears stoned to the bejesus and lying on the floor. That’s the only conclusion you can draw when, on the same day it looks like MLB ducked a major racism controversyRead more...

Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach. Dawn Staley can “do” both, and it’s why she should be the first woman to be a head coach in the NBA.

I guess the folly for all of us was thinking the NXT we loved could last a long time in the world of WWE, if reports are to be believed. I have to admit that I’m biased. While Daniel Bryan was the reason I started watching wrestling again, NXT was the reason I became such a huge fan. But it’s starting to sound like…Read more...

Sometimes it takes the most unlikely heroes to save the day.

The Olympics ended yesterday, which allowed the president of the IOC to declare the Games a success. You could have the debate over what constitutes “success” for the Olympics all day. The actual completion of them doesn’t really feel like it qualifies, because there was never any other choice. Which is exactly what I…Read more...

It’s rarely a good idea to try and judge what a team is in the middle of a losing or winning streak. No team is ever as good for a whole season as they are when winning eight in a row. Nor are they truly as bad as when they spend a week and a half looking like the Austro-Hungarian Empire. But these streaks can tend to…Read more...

The United States women’s team is from another planet.

The hope for most teams before and after the trade deadline is that their new acquisitions will lead to either some sort of inspirational turnaround or make it clear just how much more they’re solidified for the playoffs. It hasn’t worked out that way for a lot of teams.

Whatever happened to discreet gamesmanship?Read more...

Tuesday was a historic day for baseball in western New York, as the Rochester Red Wings, the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, introduced beer bats.Read more...

Who’s been the best shortstop in baseball this year? Fernando Tatis is probably the first person that comes to mind. I agree with that. Who’s number two? Bogaerts? Correa? Turner? Crawford? Bichette? Story? Yeah, those are all very good players.

When Team USA’s men’s basketball squad lost against France to officially begin Olympic play on July 25, the doubts were significantly heightened.

The Terminator, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and I, Robot all tried to warn us, but we’re not listening. The basketball robot known as CUE5 has been turning heads with its incredible shooting skills. Last night, during halftime of the USA-France gold medal game, it continued to threaten the livelihoods of the game’s best…Read more...

There are takes, and “Barca’s Messi Debacle Shows Flaws of Fan-Owned Teams” is a take, for sure — one that hilariously appears at Bloomberg, of all places.