Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

At some point, the Brooklyn Nets will need to get stops. Simultaneously, when it matters, they’ll need to prove they’re healthy. But even without Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, James Harden was able to turnaround what would’ve been a dispiriting loss to the Phoenix Suns — who led by as many as 24 points earlier in the…Read more...

Rush Limbaugh, who died on Wednesday at the age of 70, was a terrible human being whose hate the world is better off not having in it. That includes the sports world, which at least did its best to expel Limbaugh years before the physical world finally did.

Zion Williamson is only 50 games into his career as a New Orleans Pelican but it already seems clear that he’s going to be a problem for years to come — if he can stay healthy and in shape. Through 50 games, he’s averaging 23.6 points per game and 6.5 rebounds per game. According to ESPN Stats and Info, he’s been one…Read more...

For the most part, the NBA has done a good job navigating through the pandemic.

Brett Gardner was the Yankees’ third-round pick in the 2005 draft, debuted in pinstripes in 2008, and has been in the Bronx ever since. He’s the last remaining player with the Yankees from their last championship team in 2009… except that right now, even he’s not remaining.

It’s not what the NBA wants you to think about. And Jayson Tatum probably doesn’t want to think about it much either. It’s not how athletes at his level process things. But Tatum was honest Tuesday when he talked about being short of breath during games more than a month after testing positive for COVID-19. That he…Read more...

There really isn’t a better wielder of the axe that struck the final blow on this era of Barcelona than Kylian Mbappé and his three-goal night. While it’s been Lionel Messi’s world for so long, any minute now it’s going to be Mbappé’s to do with how he sees fit. That is, if it isn’t already.

The conversation around transgender girls competing in sports is growing every day.

There is a Sliding Doors scenario, where the NHL simply let Jim Balsillie buy the Arizona Coyotes and move them to Hamilton, Ontario, more than a decade ago. Would it have worked? Hard to know. Balsillie’s BlackBerry tanked not too long after the proposed buy-date, and could have led to a host of problems north of the…Read more...

Six weeks ago, when the entire world watched homegrown white American terrorists storm the U.S. Capitol in a dangerous temper-tantrum/coup, Colin Kaepernick’s name and image kept being mentioned. The people that called Kaepernick unpatriotic for peacefully kneeling during a racist song because police officers have a…Read more...

Another day, another screw-up in the world of hockey when it comes to diversity. This time, it was The Hockey News.

In the never-ending battle of “kickers are people too,” Miami Dolphins kicker Jason Sanders would like to have a word. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Dolphins have given Sanders a five-year, $22 million extension that includes $10 million in guarantees, making him the highest-paid kicker in the NFL.

One thing that college is supposed to do is serve as a transition between childhood and adulthood, getting people ready for the “real world.” Jalen Johnson is now fully there, making a decision about what’s best for himself and his family, and getting ripped for it by some dope who only sees the world through college…Read more...

Updated on February 16, 2021 at 7:00 p.m.: Ariel Young, the five-year-old that was injured in the car accident with Britt Reid, is out of her coma. An initial update was posted by Tiffany Verhulst last night on the GoFundMe page for Ariel’s family that says “Ariel is awake.” However, while this post didn’t go into…Read more...

Draymond Green is speaking facts once again.

The NBA released a memo of what their totally farkakte March 7 All-Star Game will look like. The Slam Dunk Contest will indeed take place during halftime of the game, and the 3-Point Contest will be held before the game. Players who are part of the game must travel to Atlanta in private jets and must test negative for…Read more...

Texas’ complete handcuffing by winter’s rare invasion into the state is a scary situation, and thousands not having power or heat in sub-freezing temperatures is a real problem. You know that. I know that. But apparently the Dallas Stars don’t seem to know it, and required the mayor of Dallas’ office to illustrate the…Read more...

One of the rites of...well, not spring exactly, but a rite of reminding you that spring might actually arrive at some point before the light within you has completely extinguished, is the knockout stage of the Champions League. It drops into the sporting scene at the end of February, right after your NFL withdrawal…Read more...

What can the Rams expect with Matt Stafford?

Spring training starts this week, with pitchers and catchers day arriving on Wednesday for eight teams, and the rest of the majors getting going on Thursday or Friday. Hopefully, this year’s ramp-up to the season will go more smoothly than 2020, when the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues had to shut down and all of…Read more...

While basketball and hockey started at different times, there is a small sense of comfort and normalcy, as poisonous as those words can become, in the return of the February doldrums. The Sunday after the Super Bowl is always a comedown. The parades have been had, such as they were this year. Campaigns have worn off.…Read more...

I’ll be honest, I haven’t cared about Johnny Manziel since long before he was investigated for the domestic abuse of his then-girlfriend, Colleen Crowley. If you’ll recall, Manziel was charged with misdemeanor assault following allegations that he struck Crowley several times after the couple left a Dallas bar in…Read more...

As we’ve commented in the past, even with most seasons across sports being thrown into upheaval, be it shortened preseasons or odd schedules and lineups that change on a daily basis thanks to COVID protocols, the chalk has remained at the top of the standings.

Leon Spinks passed away on February 5 due to prostate cancer at the age of 67. On February 15, 42 years ago, he starred in one of sports’ larger-than-life upsets over one of the most unforgettable boxers to have ever stepped into a ring. If you compile your own Tale of the Tape retrospective, without any context, it…Read more...

As we’ve previously stated, the Australian Open has a surreal quality, at least on these shores, where an already-niche sport takes place in the dark for only the truly dedicated/bewildered. It’s even more so this edition, as on Friday the live spectators were shooed out of the tournament altogether, thanks to the…Read more...

Maybe, just maybe. Some of them were “pawns.”

Vernon Maxwell will forever be remembered as the guy who went into the stands in Portland and punched a guy right in the face.Read more...

Top-seeded Gonzaga, Villanova (6 overall), and Virginia (9) crashed a gridiron greats (and merely goods) get-together Saturday, as the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee revealed its prospective top 16 seeds for March Madness. A preview in the mold of the pointless weekly College Football Playoff ranking reveals now…Read more...

The Carolina Hurricanes are not the Hartford Whalers.Read more...

Trevor Lawrence is a right-handed thrower, so surgery on his left shoulder is not the biggest concern that he could possibly have. Still, when you’re going into the draft as the presumptive No. 1 overall pick, it’s a big deal.Read more...

As a free agent, days before spring training, Jared Hughes has some time on his hands. So, the 35-year-old pitcher, who had a 4.84 ERA with 21 strikeouts in 18 relief appearances for the Mets last year, is doing a little home science.Read more...

You probably haven’t thought much lately about Valparaiso University, the Lutheran school about an hour southeast of Chicago, in the Indiana town that lends its name to the institution.

Friday was a rare night in the NHL with no games postponed due to COVID-19 … because there were only two games scheduled to begin with.Read more...

Donald Trump’s lawyer, Babblin’ Bruce Castor, has had a rough week.Read more...

As Houston continues to revamp their team and try to resurrect their franchise from the lifeless pit of despair that former head coach and general manager Bill O’Brien left it in, the Texans and J.J. Watt have mutually agreed to part ways. Watt was released today, allowing him to search for a new team as he continues…Read more...

Who doesn’t love nostalgia?

When the Texans decided to release J.J. Watt on Friday, it marked the end of an era in Houston — and the continuation of an era in media’s use of coded language.Read more...

Deshaun Watson has some competition for the most dramatic quarterback situation this offseason – it looks like things are a little gloomy in the Pacific Northwest. Tensions are rising between Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks, and as Deadspin’s resident Seahawks fan, it’s my job to try and explain this current…Read more...

His name is Juan.Read more...

I can’t sum this up any better than Craig Calcattera did, so let’s start there:

When this pandemic first crept into our everyday lives roughly one year ago, many were quick to believe the misinformation being spread about how the virus was nothing more than a really bad case of the flu. By March, the first domino fell with Rudy Gobert making fun of COVID and touching the phones of the media…Read more...

While problematic, Urban Meyer is always consistent.

Bradley Beal is obviously to be commended for his patience, his loyalty, his character, and even his stubbornness. His stubbornness — in a noble way — is how we’ve arrived here, to begin with. But it’s also keeping him from winning in the immediate future.Read more...

It might be time for Dak Prescott to take matters into his own hands.

Twitter is a lot of bad things, mostly bad things, but every so often its capacity to astound and encapsulate an entire time period in a matter of seconds is truly stupefying. Even if that encapsulation is most of the things at once.

I’ve missed sports fans.

The fear was that LaMelo Ball’s once loud and now apparently mute father, LaVar, would be overbearing. That his seemingly reckless style of play in high school and overseas would make him an awful NBA teammate. That he won’t be able to get his jump shot corrected to produce in the NBA. That he has a dangerously low…Read more...

One week after Britt Reid, Kansas City Chiefs assistant coach and Andy Reid’s son, caused a car accident and admitted to police officers that he had been drinking, many people are left wondering if there will be ramifications from the NFL and/or the Chiefs organization. Conveniently enough for the Chiefs, Britt Reid’s…Read more...

Tom Brady has won so many Lombardi Trophies that he just doesn’t seem to care anymore. It must be like being so rich that you can have whatever and however many cars you want, and just hand the keys to your McLaren to your teenager. After all, if something happens to it, it’s not a big deal – you have another one in…Read more...