Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

LeBron James articulated the fears of an entire community last night and sadly the trauma that coincides with it.

This spring, WWE pulled up stakes and moved its weekly shows to the state with the second-most COVID-19 cases in America — Florida. After doing shows from its Performance Center, Vince McMahon and company have now settled into the Amway Center, which normally hosts the Orlando Magic.Read more...

Last year, just after the Washington Nationals improbably clinched the NLCS to earn a berth in the World Series, a local news reporter outside of National Park waded into the celebration.

As students all across the country return to school this week, whether online or in-person, we’ve been inundated with viral videos and pictures of college students collected in large groups, sometimes in line for bars, sometimes packed closely together, sometimes at a densely-attended house party, spilling out onto…Read more...

Before the tipoff between the Bucks and Magic, as reporters asked him questions about playoff basketball — which seemed meaningless at the time — Milwaukee head coach Mike Budenholzer asked if he could say something.Read more...

The master of spin is at it again.Read more...

Another year in the playoffs, another year sent home early.

This year’s Republican convention, like its Democratic counterpart, will also look unlike any other. The party was supposed to hold its event in Charlotte, and then Jacksonville, before moving the proceedings online.Read more...

The Indianapolis 500 was Sunday, something that would have gone completely without notice if not for the fact that digital channel guides exist, such is the state of IndyCar in general these days, and such is the state of the world because the pandemic knocked the race out of its traditional spot on Memorial Day…Read more...

Last night, in the conference call following NXT Takeover, Triple H (real name Paul Levesque) doubled down on WWE’s refusal to give fans an explanation for the return of Velveteen Dream (real name Patrick Clark) just months after Clark faced multiple accusations, some anonymous, of soliciting nude pictures from…Read more...

A few months ago, NBA players didn’t know what to do. And after some back and forth, it was decided that the season would restart.

As an athlete, you always want to know that your agent has your back, but this is certainly a strange spin on that concept.Read more...

The actual Shaq box, the one at the heart of Project ShaqBox, came one step closer to its demise this week. Well, really more than one step because in the photo showing what happened, there quite clearly are two cat paws in the box, atop baseball cards, before Bella hopped on to whatever her next cat activity was.Read more...

We’re on to the NHL’s conference semifinals, which will actually bring us into something resembling hockey season, as players usually start arriving for informal pre-camp skates at the end of August and beginning of September.Read more...

Just in case you r haven’t been paying attention to what’s been going on in the NBA playoffs, we decided to update you on everything you need to know about every series thus far in the NBA bubble. Let’s face it — everyone can be forgiven for being a little late to the dance this year.Read more...

It’s pretty safe to say there will be some significant shakeups coming soon to the Philadelphia Sixers if their season ends tomorrow night. There might still be changes even if they surprisingly extend their first-round series against the Boston Celtics for more than five games.

It’s SummerSlam weekend in the WWE, essentially serving as its calendar’s counterpoint to Wrestlemania. It’s almost at the opposite end of the year, and it’s seen as the show and weekend for the “real fans,” whereas ’Mania is seen as for the masses. Included in this weekend’s festivities is NXT’s 30th “Takeover,” the…Read more...

LeBron James found himself Friday defending his throne, which he has recently extended to not only his play on the court, but leadership on fixing our structurally racist system of casting a ballot.

“Don’t make us write obituaries”Read more...

While they’ve pretty much been a plague their entire existence, never have the New York Mets come across being an actual incubus themselves. At least of an actual virus.Read more...

Wednesday night, after a hot mic caught him using a homophobic slur, Reds broadcaster Thom Brennaman didn’t know if he’d ever be putting on headphones for Fox Sports again.Read more...

The Olympics saddle cities with debt and isolate local businesses from the games. So why would companies want anything to do with the Olympics? Turns out, many don’t.Read more...

Sunday’s Champions League Final will be the first that is between Europe’s “Old Money” and “New Money.”Read more...

No matter which team is lucky enough to have the NBA ping-pong balls bounce its way tonight in the draft lottery, the decision should be simple.Read more...

Maybe every day is a bad day for Curt Schilling. More accurately, every day where Curt Schilling is lurking somewhere is a bad day for the rest of us, or at least has a high chance of becoming one. Because that means there’s a threat that Schilling will dive headlong in front of a camera, or onto social media, or both,…Read more...

The moment seemed it would never come because of COVID-19, but the 2020 NBA Draft lottery is here. We’ll finally get this year’s draft order.Read more...

On its website, WWE’s Be a STAR program (which stands for Show Tolerance And Respect), boasts 150,000 anti-bullying rallies and a reach of more than a half-million kids, globally. The site claims the program is “an effort to give students the tools they need to drive effective learning, decision-making, creativity,…Read more...

(Although it will be very on-brand of me to do a literal middle finger history someday soon)

This might just become a daily Padres appreciation moment. It’s not our fault. Sometimes what will be will be and you can’t run from what has to be. The Padres decided it would be fun to hit a grand slam off the Rangers for a third straight game, but to turn it from just a pint of ice cream into a sundae, this one was…Read more...

Early on in their careers, all broadcasters get the same sage advice: Don’t say anything OFF the air you wouldn’t say ON the air. You never know when a mic is hot.Read more...

Alan Hodish was at home with his family on Long Island a few weeks ago when he heard his name on national television.

Fernando Tatis Jr. is an MVP candidate at the age of 21, leading the National League in home runs nearly halfway through this abbreviated season while sparking the San Diego Padres into contention for what would be their first playoff appearance since 2006.

As NBA players sport their personal fashion entering the ESPN athletic complex in Orlando, Fla., the outfits and style reflect evergreen messages most of our country should agree with by now: “Vote,” “Black Lives Matter,” “8:46,” and the latest, “Arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor.”Read more...

Toronto Raptors President Masai Ujiri filed a countersuit on Tuesday against a Bay Area police officer in response to an altercation between the two men.Read more...

The custom of baseball, after some manager bitches about unwritten rules that he very well may have made up, is that everyone wants the whole conflict to go away as quickly as possible. You’ll hear some pregame quotes about going overboard or respecting the opponent or some other boilerplate horseshit. Luckily,…Read more...

When scrolling through Twitter on an idle afternoon, you might come across a headline like, “Manny Machado makes great running catch in right.” And you probably don’t think much of it. Machado is a great defensive player and athlete and stretching back into the outfield to make a play on a flare is certainly in his…Read more...

Dale Hawerchuk was a man in the right time, but the wrong place.Read more...

How do you accidentally type the N-word?Read more...

The pandemic continues to expose the glaring dysfunction in our society. This time in college sports.Read more...

UPDATE: Notre Dame announced it will switch to online classes for the next two weeks.Read more...

Today, I’m trashing Indians’ pitchers Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac for trying to blame the media for the rift they created in the clubhouse.Read more...

Last week, The Associated Press ran a feature on Fernando Tatis Jr., the 21-year-old San Diego Padres shortstop who is living up to the hype as baseball’s best prospect.Read more...

The NBA finally got past the opening act, and now that everybody got a beer, went to the bathroom one last time, and the house-lights have gone down, the real show has begun. The actual playoffs started yesterday, and they were a small lesson in glorious defeat. That’s kind of what the playoffs are, though. Yesterday…Read more...

The Democratic National Convention starts tonight in a way reminiscent of televised live pro sports. There will be no crowd, cheers may be artificial, and personal bubbles — instead of congregating in Milwaukee — will be used to keep everyone safe.

What must it feel like to be a woman covering football at ESPN to see this latest news from Bristol.

Perhaps there’s no coming back from getting utterly shamed 8-2 in a Champions League quarterfinal. Even if this is something of a makeshift Champions League tournament, 8-2 is 8-2. Barcelona have their own “Belo Horizonte” now, and cleaning up after it is going to be a massive undertaking.Read more...

In yet another incident demonstrating the hellscape the world has become, and especially for female athletes/performers/celebrities, WWE star Sonya Deville was forced to flee her house to escape a man attempting to take her hostage who had stalked her for months online.

When the dust clears on the 2020 NBA playoffs, there will be a new king in the Association.

If you ever need to find someone who doesn’t get it, you can generally consult Ohio State to come up with a candidate for you. That’s what we have currently with quarterback Justin Fields starting a petition, which currently has 200,000 signatures, to get the Big Ten to reverse its decision to not play football this…Read more...

The Cardinals’ season restart is running into more hurdles, but at least this time it’s on an actual baseball field.