Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

With the NBA Playoffs looming later this month, and due to the perceived attainability of this year’s championship, there’s a growing list of people out there who could be held accountable for coming up short.

Joe Girardi will probably have to double, triple, maybe even quadruple check his lineup cards from here on out.

In a time in which we should be getting closer to college athletes making money off their name, image, and likeness (NIL), some folks are still fixated on the wrong things.

Every day it feels like we know less and less about Kawhi Leonard.

Welcome to the Ladies Room - A Deadspin Sports Podcast.

The best running back in the 2021 NFL Draft wasn’t Najee Harris. And it wasn’t Travis Etienne. It wasn’t a running back that played at Georgia, or Ohio State, or Alabama, or LSU. It wasn’t a running back that played in the national championship, or was recruited out of one of the hot-beds for high school talent backs…Read more...

The Houston Astros missed out on all the fun last year. They still might not get the full brunt of it this term. And by the time baseball stadiums are full again, which might not be until 2022, maybe it will have blown over to a degree.

Just give Budda Baker a three second head start and DK will catch him and win the race — I guarantee it.Read more...

In total, nine quarterbacks were taken in the NFL Draft. No quarterback is ever a sure thing, but in this talented group, the odds are very high that there will be a handful of difference makers that alter the league’s landscape. Out of these nine quarterbacks taken, all of whom went in the fourth round or earlier,…Read more...

It was hard to not notice the symbolism or statement about two teams in a Champions League final that are owned by entities so rich as to be unbothered by The Super League. PSG never joined, and Manchester City were the first ones out after joining with not much more than a shrug. But that’s to be studied at a…Read more...

Major League Baseball gets a lot of flack for its unwritten rules, inaction against cheaters, television blackouts, and inability to market top players. Yet, what MLB gets the most hate for is its unwillingness to change.

“Hands … in the … air … now … hands … in the … AIR!”

Spite is a gift that keeps on giving, and that’s no different in the NBA. Sometimes it can even enhance it.

There’s no “i” in team, but there’s one in Deion. It’s smack dab in the middle of the name. And that makes so much sense after you remember that Deion Sanders loves to make everything about himself. It’s never about “us” or “we,” because to him, that “i” is all that matters.

While it was fun to pretend that the forced “Odd Coupling” of a drunk old codger Tony La Russa and one of the flashiest, dynamic young teams in baseball would boil over simply due to culture clashes, that was always a touch unlikely. Certainly, atmospheres within a clubhouse have led to poisonous results on the field…Read more...

Before the Mets lost to the Cardinals 6-5 and fired hitting coach Chili Davis and his assistant Tom Slater, the team had something else to worry about — actually finishing the game.Read more...

When the New York Knicks added Derrick Rose from the Detroit Pistons about three months ago, the overwhelming concern was whether or not he’d interfere with Immanuel Quickley’s growth.Read more...

Aaron Rodgers wants to win, and he believes his GM, Brian Gutekunst, is stopping him from doing so.Read more...

Let’s take some time to give a legend their flowers.

She’s got this.

Terry Bradshaw has had enough of the Aaron Rodgers drama in Green Bay, and the Hall of Famer believes that the solution is for the reigning NFL MVP to just shut up and play.

It’s funny who ends up paying after a team signs a player to its biggest ever contract. The Mets stuck it on the little guy after the team’s wonky start at the plate, firing hitting coach Chili Davis and his assistant Tom Slater. The Mets are 11-12 and that’s not what they had in mind this year after trading and…Read more...

Before we get to Tom Wilson, let’s check out this video from Ryan Miller’s last start on Sunday after he announced his retirement last week. And have the sound on if possible:

There are few axioms this time of year that ring more true than “actions speak louder than words.” The Houston Texans, with their first opportunity to make a pick in the draft, demonstrated that statement perfectly in selecting a quarterback in the third round despite essentially being silent about the Deshaun Watson…Read more...

Before Saturday’s start, A’s pitcher Jesús Luzardo injured his pinky while playing video games. He wound up throwing hours later, going three innings and giving up six runs. After the game, he was taken in for an X-ray and put on the 10-day DL.Read more...

It’s hardly news that Connor McDavid is the best player in the NHL. And perhaps it shouldn’t be news that McDavid is one of the greatest players of all time. And yet, due to his being tucked away in Edmonton, and hockey’s general struggle to cut out a foothold in the general sporting consciousness, it feels like that…Read more...

This could get really interesting. The Lakers have played like hot garbage over their last few games, even with LeBron James and Anthony Davis returning to their lineup.

The recipe is a simple one to follow: add a dash of the Los Angeles Lakers or a pinch of LeBron James as a substitute. Those are the ingredients for a NBA Finals ratings hit.Read more...

My head is spinning with the amount of new data to process from the NFL Draft. I love the draft. I’m that nerd that keeps his own spreadsheet to track picks, and you bet I’m looking at it right now for this article. New players mean new competitions for playing time, so let’s take a little spin around the league to…Read more...

I’ll be honest with you folks, I don’t usually pay much attention to the NFL Draft. I barely watch any college football, so mostly it’s just names being tossed at me in the same vein as names of K-pop bands. It just doesn’t involve me. My general policy is to check in on Twitter just long enough to see who the Bears…Read more...

Back in February, when 80 faculty members — all female — wrote a heartfelt letter to the powers that be, begging the school to meaningfully address sexism and racism on campus, and specifically in the athletic department, Northwestern University assured them that the school “fully appreciated” their sentiments and…Read more...

A few weeks ago we told you about Mount Everest’s first recorded COVID case. Now, the base camp at the world’s tallest peak is becoming an unlikely hot spot for infection.

If LaMelo Ball wins the NBA Rookie of the Year, it won’t be because of his body of work.

I turned to a friend the other night and asked, “Doesn’t California have a recall election every other month?” The truth is that this is only the second gubernatorial recall effort to proceed, though they’ve had lower office ones as well. What I hadn’t remembered is that the last one produced so much overwrought and…Read more...

LeBron James is tripping.Read more...

Japan has a fire to put out.

NFL insider Jay Glazer has been catching all the smoke from fans today.

The rookies in the NBA this season are fun.

During a planned protest of the Glazer Family, the owners of Manchester United, hundreds of MUFC fans stormed the pitch before the club’s match against Liverpool, the EPL version of Bears-Packers or Yankees-Red Sox.

There’s nothing worse than being caught in the middle of something you didn’t have anything to do with. And most times, you don’t even know how you got there in the first place.

Maybe Aaron Rodgers just doesn’t want to be Aaron Rodgers right now. And who could blame him?

Sure, you are what your record says you are, but during a COVID-19 pandemic, could we do that in spurts? The Minnesota Timberwolves are 20-44, but they’re 9-8 since March 31 and riding a four-game winning streak into tonight’s home game against the New Orleans Pelicans.Read more...

In case you missed it, New York Mets first baseman turned outfielder Dominic Smith wanted to fuck up Philadelphia Phillies pitcher José Alvarado.Read more...

Welcome to Deadspin’s IDIOT OF THE MONTH, in which we make fun of famous (and non-famous!) people who have done stupid things. As usual, our cup runneth over.

Remember Anderson Varejão?Read more...

After suffering a high-ankle sprain on March 20, LeBron James returned last night to help the Lakers defeat the struggling Sacramento Kings… except, they didn’t.

First of all, I have indeed been to the Kentucky Derby (which is, like, a WHOLE other story, and I’ll never write it as well as Hunter S. Thompson, so just read his).Read more...

It’s been a long, eventful year for Jayson Tatum. There was a bout with COVID-19, and Tatum, a healthy, 23-year-old superstar athlete, needed an inhaler before games.Read more...

On the same day that once-top prospect and former Olympian Felix Verdejo is being linked to an ongoing investigation surrounding a missing pregnant woman in Puerto Rico, Roberto Alomar is being whacked by Major League Baseball. The Hall of Fame second baseman has been placed on the league’s ineligible list — meaning…Read more...

In case anybody doubts whether or not the Alabama Crimson Tide is an NFL factory, look no further than the first round of the NFL Draft. Alabama sent six players to the NFL last night, tying the record for the most players selected in the first round by one school in draft history.Read more...