Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

The experience of watching the Denver Nuggets play basketball is often reduced to alternating between two distinct yet equally powerful emotions. The first is religious ecstasy, sparked through witnessing the soft god Nikola Jokic in the act of miraculous ball distribution. The other is anguish, brought on by Paul…Read more...

If there was any question as to why former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is extremely publicly considering a run for president, it’s much more apparent now.

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At just 18 years old, in his first season in Europe, Brazilian forward Vinícius Júnior has already carved out a significant role for himself in Real Madrid’s squad. His emergence as a valuable and now arguably a critical component of one of the best teams in the world happened way faster than anyone could’ve…Read more...

The NHL, for reasons cultural and historical, is not like the NBA: You don’t see a lot of outright trade demands. That is to say, you do see trade demands, but they’re couched in language that tries to make them sound like anything but. This, if you’re attuned to it, could not possibly be any blunter:Read more...

If you want to make a long-overdue transition to a front pocket wallet, this leather money clip can hold a ton of bills and cards for under $10. Prices will vary based on the color and material you choose (there are a ton of options), but promo code KINOFF30 should take 30% off at checkout.Read more...

The disgusting Duke Blue Devils worked over Notre Dame Monday night, behind another ridiculous performance from Zion Williamson. Young Zion scored 26 points in 33 minutes, on just 12 total shots, and pulled down nine rebounds, and led the game with four blocks. In general he was just way too much for the Fighting…Read more...

The Memphis Grizzlies spent the late stages of their Monday night home game against the Nuggets barfing away what had been a 25-point lead. Denver grabbed its first lead of the entire game with under a minute left in the fourth quarter; the teams traded buckets over the following 15 seconds (including an extremely…Read more...

The Lakers are expected to offer some combination of young foundational players to the Pelicans in exchange for Anthony Davis, who requested a trade from New Orleans over the weekend. The most prominent of those young players is one Lonzo Ball, who by this time last year was viewed as the crown jewel of Los Angeles’s…Read more...

Anthony Davis has requested a trade from the New Orleans Pelicans, a half-assed basketball operation that squandered all but a few hours of his NBA career to date. Adrian Wojnarowski reported it; he had the scoop because Rich Paul, Davis’s agent, told him. Just a few hours later, the Pelicans publicly acknowledged the…Read more...

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Sun Tzu probably had some quote about using the weapons you have available to you to defeat your opponent on the battlefield or whatever, and while I don’t know about any of that apocryphal bullshit, I can say with 100 percent certainty that these two ruddy English lads embody the spirit of resourcefulness. If you’re…Read more...

We see a lot of deals around the web over on Kinja Deals, but these were our ten favorites today.

Stick a cheap mud flap behind your TV, and get free content from CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, and your local PBS station (made possible by viewers like you)! That’s the promise of HDTV antennas, and for the most part, it’s true! It’s the best deal in entertainment. But unless you live in just the right location, and unless…Read more...

Haotong Li should have finished in a five-way tie for third place at last weekend’s Dubai Desert Classic. It would have been a somewhat disappointing finish given that he came into the final round only one shot off of the leader’s pace, though he still would have left the United Arab Emirates with a nice six-figure…Read more...

Novak Djokovic heaped pre-match praise on his final Australian Open opponent, because it was a deeply familiar one. “Nadal has historically throughout my life and career been the greatest rival that I ever played against on all the surfaces,” he said of their 52-match tug-of-war, which had split 27-25 in his favor.…Read more...

Forty-five seconds into his fight with Henry Corrales at Bellator 214, blue-chip prospect Aaron Pico unleashed a devastating uppercut. Corrales hit the deck, his opponent sensed blood in the water, and yet another Aaron Pico fight seemed headed for an early end. Six matches into his pro career with Bellator, Pico has…Read more...

Beard-having dudes: Stop hiding your imperfections, buy this $25 Braun 8-in-1 beard trimmer, and play fair. I am not spending Valentine’s Day alone, eating hot honey-drizzled pizza, and watching Parks & Rec again.Read more...

The Royal Rumble is where WWE usually pulls out its biggest surprises of the year, with debuts and nostalgic returns littering the titular matches, in which 30 men and 30 women enter one at a time, and the match continues until 29 of them have been thrown over the top rope to the floor. The winners go on to main event …Read more...

This piece is part of a recurring series that aims to be a complete guide to the laws of war. You can read previous entries here.

Before this weekend, English businessman Alan Hardy owned both Notts County, a fourth-tier English soccer club, and a penis the vast majority of the world had never seen. After his accidentally revealing tweet on Sunday, both of those facts will need to be revised.Read more...

The NBA has a fouling problem. Broadly, it’s this: Tactical defensive fouling has been normalized, because it’s a helpful tactic, yet the fundamental nature and rules of the game are built around the premise that fouling is bad.Read more...

It could have unraveled so quickly for Naomi Osaka. Up a set and 5-3, having whittled Petra Kvitova’s service game down to 0-40, Osaka had three straight opportunities to claim her first Australian Open. None of them got her there. First Kvitova tore the court open with her fiercest groundstrokes, letting fly a winner…Read more...

The two greatest days in Dan Snyder’s life are the day he buys a boat, and the day he buys a bigger boat.

It’s hardly a selling point, but this year’s edition of Madden has the real Kyle Lauletta. The game’s rendering of the Giants’ rookie quarterback—who stepped into a blowout win against Washington in Week 13 to throw five incompletions and a pick and then meekly returned to clipboard and donut-gofer duty—looks more or…Read more...

Traditional headbands are gross and lame. It’s a minimal loop of terrycloth designed specifically just to keep a disgusting bodily fluid from dripping into your eyes, so honestly it’s a wonder that something so guaranteed to be completely radioactive at the end of games ever gained even a modicum of acceptance as a…Read more...

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Nathan Chen, the defending world champion, captured his third straight senior men’s figure skating national title in Detroit on Saturday. He beat silver medalist Vincent Zhou by 58 points.Read more...

Anthony Davis has asked the New Orleans Pelicans to trade him “to a team that allows him a chance to win consistently and compete for a championship,” his agent, Rich Paul, told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski in a report this morning. That trade, if it eventually happens, could be one of the most consequential in the NBA…Read more...

The Pro Bowl transcends criticism, or praise. (The latter transcendence is academic, because no one has ever praised the Pro Bowl, not even, I don’t think, the players who are selected for it.) It it bulletproof to all disparagement because that disparagement necessarily takes place on a plane the game itself doesn’t…Read more...

Amazon’s Super Bowl party essential Gold Box is here, and it’s...full of cleaning supplies. It’s not the most fun sale we could imagine, but hey, trash bags are an important part of any party.

Rowing is one of the best workouts you can perform at home, so if you’ve got the space for it, you can save about $70 on a highly-rated machine in today’s Amazon Gold Box.

On the first play of the game between the Spurs and Wizards, Washington forward Thomas Bryant set a pick for Bradley Beal and then rolled to the basket. Someone on the Spurs missed their assignment, leaving only 6-foot-3-inch Bryn Forbes to rush over and contest Bryant’s dunk attempt. Despite the guard’s best efforts…Read more...

After a historically terrible opening half, Michigan State began to look like its No. 6-ranked self in the second half of its game against Purdue on Saturday. The Spartans were down 55-32 with just over 13 minutes in regulation, but went on a 24-5 run to cut the Boilermakers’ lead down to four, 60-56. Despite Purdue…Read more...

Here’s the most Pro Bowl shit ever: Jason Witten broke the Pro Bowl trophy while trying to award it to AFC team members Patrick Mahomes and Jamal Adams.

One of the feeble attempts at making the Pro Bowl seem somewhat interesting has been broadcasting quarterback cadences and conversations as they’re on the field. But even that nearly fell apart.Read more...

Washington is going into its offseason preparations with the expectation that starting quarterback Alex Smith will not be available to play next year, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.Read more...

For reference:

In a 126-110 losing effort against the Denver Nuggets, Corey Brewer proved to be one of the bright spots for the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday. The 32-year-old wing put up 20 points, six rebounds and secured four steals in his 32 minutes of action. But his most impressive highlight was the one technical foul—the only…Read more...

Astros owner Jim Crane was the latest team owner to give his opinion on why stars like Bryce Harper and Manny Machado aren’t receiving the blockbuster contracts many expected them to sign this offseason. At a team event on Friday, Crane, whose net worth is an estimated $2.5 billion, told reporters that teams aren’t as…Read more...

Don’t let the weather (or your wallet) scare you off of spending time outdoors; REI Outlet just kicked off a temporary markdown sale through 2/4, with discounts of up to 70% on thousands of name brand items. Clothes, outerwear, tents, sleeping bags, and other accessories are included, and popular brands like…Read more...

Today only, Amazon’s offering big discounts on highly rated Biofreeze pain relief products, starting under $8.

Turns out that when Jon Gruden said he wanted to bring back coaching strategies from 1998, he also meant motivational tactics from that era as well. As Gruden and the rest of his Raiders staff coached the North to a 34-24 victory over the South in this year’s Senior Bowl, he decided congratulate each impact player on…Read more...

In what can only be described as the smallest of hat tips to diversity and inclusion, U.S. women’s national team hockey player Brianna Decker was brought out to demonstrate the premier passing drill at the NHL All-Star skills event on Friday. While the league never bothered to show her demonstration on television, a…Read more...

LeBron James went down with a groin injury way back on Christmas Day. You cannot build, even in theory, a cast of teammates and a basketball ecosystem that wouldn’t suffer in the immediate aftermath of losing a player of LeBron’s prominence, but the young Lakers, at least in theory, should’ve been relatively fine.Read more...

Despite the best efforts of Norwich keeper Tim Krul to disrupt Billy Sharp’s focus before his penalty kick, the Sheffield United striker scored from the spot to give his time a 1-0 lead to end the first half of play. Sharp, one of the most prolific scorers at the senior English league level, ran over to the sideline…Read more...

In the 65th minute Sevilla’s La Liga match against Levante, the home squad appeared to have an all-but-guaranteed goal. Sevilla took the botched corner kick from their opponents and immediately started on the break towards their goal. Pablo Sarabia, who began the counter, made a quick pass to Wissam Ben Yedder, who…Read more...

Kenneth Faried entered the league as an undersized, but explosive, power forward whose tenacity on the glass, high-flying dunks and absurd athleticism seemed to make up for the fact that he didn’t have many other discernible skills on the court. As his skills diminished in value and power—coupled with the fact that he…Read more...

Alysa Liu became the youngest senior ladies figure skating national champion in U.S. history by defeating defending champion Bradie Tennell at the championships in Detroit on Friday.

As LeBron James looks to return to the court after a prolonged absence because of a groin injury, those closest to him are looking for someone other than Luke Walton to be the head coach of the Lakers. In an exchange on the Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective podcast, ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan said that LeBron’s camp…Read more...