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That’s right, folks: The NBA is back, baby! Literally it is already back, literally the first game has already tipped off. Seems like a good time for a thorough and detailed season preview blog. I hope you know where to find one, because this one is some half-assed shit I just whipped up today!

Following a four-hour meeting today between NFL players and owners on the subject of inequality and social change, the NFL and NFLPA put out a joint statement characterizing their talks as “productive.” However, according to Willie Colon, the former NFL lineman who’s now an analyst for SNY, “nothing got done.”Read more...

As the NFL continues to figure out the best way to turn peaceful yet powerful protests against police brutality and racism in this country into a way to promote the NFL brand, commissioner Roger Goodell gave a brief update after today’s meetings between the league and players. He was asked about the league pressing…Read more...

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The NBA season hasn’t even started yet, and the Chicago Bulls are already falling apart. The Vertical’s Shams Charania reports that Bulls forward Bobby Portis put his teammate Nikola Mirotić in the hospital after a fight at practice.Read more...

Albright College, a D-III school in Pennsylvania, announced on Monday that it offered reinstatement to the three football players it previously dismissed from the team for not participating in the school’s neutered version of the nationwide protests against police brutality.Read more...

Rick Pitino was officially fired by Louisville and dropped by Adidas yesterday, and it took him exactly one day to file his first lawsuit. This afternoon, Pitino sued Adidas in United States District Court on grounds of intentional infliction of emotional distress, claiming that Adidas’s alleged payments to college…Read more...

Coventry City fans don’t take losing home matches against relegation candidates too lightly, apparently. Hence this Coventry supporter making his way onto the pitch during his team’s 1-0 loss to Forest Green in England’s fourth tier to really make his displeasure felt:Read more...

A reminder! Car vs. America, the TV show that we worked so very hard to make good for you, premieres tomorrow night!Read more...

The end of a Tekken 7 tournament has sparked some wild speculation about what, exactly, a trophy plaque says. When the winners got on stage at South East Asia Major last Sunday, the tournament organizers handed the first-place cup to Byeong “Qudans” Mun Son. Then, they told him to turn it around so the plaque couldn’t…Read more...

Kotaku EA Shuts Down Visceral Games | Jalopnik Harley-Davidson Is In Trouble | io9 Game of Thrones Casting Debunks a Fan Theory That Didn’t Even Make Sense in the First Place | Lifehacker It’s Time for You to Clean Up Your Chrome Extensions | The A.V. Club Screenwriter Scott Rosenberg about life at Miramax: “Everybody fucking knew”Read more...

Late in the third quarter of this weekend’s loss to the Steelers, Alex Smith escaped third-down pressure and hit Kareem Hunt for a big gain before being brought down after the play by Steelers safety Mike Mitchell. Mitchell was flagged for roughing the passer, and Smith got in his face immediately after being brought…Read more...

There is no wrong choice, really, and also there’s no accounting for taste where extravagant full-body thrusting maneuvers and lusty bat flips are concerned. But my personal favorite Yasiel Puig moment of the MLB playoffs thus far isn’t one of the big ones. This should take nothing away from the time when Puig licked…Read more...

It’s opening night of the NBA season! It’s time to enjoy basketball, the best sport. But if you’re planning on attending an NBA game and getting up close and personal with your favorite players, you should know what objects not to bring to the arena.

Predicting how good an NBA draft class will be is a sloppy exercise, but as far as anyone can tell, the top of the 2018 NBA draft appears to be loaded. Incoming college freshmen Marvin Bagley III, Michael Porter Jr., Mohamed Bamba, and DeAndre Ayton are all considered to have star potential, yet the leading candidate…Read more...

That bodybuilder Dave Palumbo was a nutritionist for Paul “Triple H” Levesque—the wrestler-turned-WWE exec who only performs occasionally now—has never been a secret. They talk about their work together all the time, whether it’s Palumbo interviewing Triple H and his wife Stephanie McMahon, the two tweeting at each…Read more...

Early this morning, Tatiana Gutsu, the 1992 Olympic all-around champion in women’s gymnastics, took to Facebook to add her voice to the growing #MeToo campaign, where women share their stories of sexual harassment and sexual assault. Gutsu accused fellow 1992 Olympic gold medalist Vitaly Scherbo of raping her when she…Read more...

You guys love the Lodge brand and now you can expand your Lodge collection with this $12 cast iron grill press.

Time for your weekly edition of the Deadspin Funbag. Got something on your mind? Email the Funbag. Today, we’re talking onside kicks, hall passes, sauces, and more.

Boxers Mikaela Lauren and Cecilia Braekhus were performing the obligatory staredown at a press event Monday when Lauren went in for a kiss. It’s surprising that more boxing faceoffs don’t end like this. They get so close to each other!Read more...

Bowler Joe Novara, 26, of East Patchogue, N.Y., threw three perfect games for a perfect 900 series, the 34th such series to be certified (and the 33rd person to bowl one).Read more...

Welcome to Bad Quarterback Performance Of The Week, a recurring feature in which we celebrate the worst quarterback play the NFL has to offer.Read more...

To keep, or not to keep. That was the question. Whether ‘twas nobler in the mind of Leicester City’s board to suffer under a popular but mediocre manager just because his presence and style called to mind the glory days of a yore, or if the club should shit-can him in an effort to hopefully live up to their potential,…Read more...

Joel Embiid—who was great enough last season that he maybe should have been the Rookie of the Year despite averaging just 25.4 minutes in 31 games—will start the season on a minutes restriction. It makes sense, since he missed his first two entire NBA seasons with injuries and sat out 51 games last year and is very,…Read more...

There is a cow on the loose in Brooklyn. Livestream here. He’s on a soccer field so this is sports.

Although it’s already grown to feel like one of this nation’s landmark lawsuits, Houston Nutt’s battle with Ole Miss officially came to a close Monday evening, just three months after the ex-Rebels coach vengefully set his old program aflame.Read more...

The Packers’ quarterback situation is suddenly very dire. Aaron Rodgers is likely out for the season with a broken collarbone, and the team now has to start Brett Hundley, a former fifth-round pick with 44 career NFL pass attempts. Perhaps even more worrying is the fact that behind Hundley is Joe Callahan, a former…Read more...

In addition to bears, Beats, and Battlestar Galactica, we also can’t stop talking about deals on an Oster blender, pillows, and air-powered impact tools.Read more...

The Clymb has everything you could need to get outdoors and do it properly, for a whole lot less than you’d think you’d need to pay. Right now, take your pick of apparel, gear, hiking accessories, and more, and grab 15% off when you use the code GOKINJA. With brands like Prana, Burton, Merrel, New Balance, Klymit, and…Read more...

Kotaku Nintendo Reveals The Truth About Mysterious Famicom Cartridge Holes | Jalopnik The Polestar 1 Is A Wildly Advanced 600 HP Hybrid Sports Coupe You Can’t Really Own | io9 A Bizarre Tie-In May Hint at Another DC Hero Coming to Justice League | The A.V. Club “You’ve got to walk yourself to the edge”: Patton Oswalt…Read more...

GQ has a big LeBron James feature out today, and in it the Cavs superstar is asked about the crazy letter Cavs owner Dan Gilbert wrote after James left Cleveland for Miami in 2010. Specifically, he’s asked if he believes Gilbert’s letter had racial overtones:

Kings rookie PG De’Aaron Fox was born in Louisiana, went to high school in Texas, college at Kentucky, and is settling in to his new life in Sacramento. And, as with anyone who goes to California for the first time, he’s been bombarded by locals’ boasts about a certain fast-food chain. He’s supremely unimpressed.Read more...

MLS is not and for the foreseeable future will not be one of this country’s so-called Big Four, but let no one say the scrappy upstart doesn’t extort American cities like a big-boy league. The league’s rapid expansion—someone without a stake in the matter would say too rapid has cities from Cincinnati to St. Louis to …Read more...

When it comes to getting a good night’s sleep, it really starts with the pillow. You’ve probably had yours way too long and it’s time to replace that sucker. Amazon’s Gold Box is (down) filled with single and 2-pack pillow sets for great prices. But don’t sleep on this deal, because it’s gone at the end of the day.

[Headline source: New York Times]Read more...

Large Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge made quite the catch in the top of the fourth inning tonight, crashing into the right field wall to snare a deep fly ball before tumbling over backwards:

Gregg Popovich has never been hesitant to criticize Donald Trump when reporters ask him for his thoughts. However, in the wake of the president’s baffling claim that Barack Obama “and other presidents” never called grieving military families, Popovich, who served in the Air Force, went out of his way to get his takes…Read more...

Recently ousted Tigers manager Brad Ausmus is looking for another team. Just, uh, not one as messy as the Mets—the man has standards, you know.Read more...

A disclosure: The last time I went skimboarding, I ended up face down in the Sacramento River with a mouthful of mud and so am not what anyone would call an “expert.” However, even a blockhead like me could tell you that this expert bro catches the hell out of this wave.

Jalopnik Police Chase With Allegedly Stolen White Dodge Challenger Hellcat Is Like Real-Life Vanishing Point | io9 And Now Star Trek: Discovery Has Lost Its Soul | Kotaku Former Naughty Dog Employee Says He Was Fired After Filing Sexual Harassment Complaint | Lifehacker Men: Respond to #MeToo With #IWill | The A.V.…Read more...

Making official what it set forth to do three weeks ago, the Louisville Athletic Association’s board voted unanimously on Monday to fire men’s basketball head coach Rick Pitino. Again, just to avoid any confusion, Pitino is not being fired for the other recruiting scandal, in which Louisville hired prostitutes for…Read more...

Earlier this year, Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera was sued in Orange County (Fla.) Superior Court for not providing sufficient child support for the two children he allegedly fathered with Orlando woman Belkis Rodriguez. The Detroit News first reported on the lawsuit this morning.

A few weeks ago, while catching up on some Big Apple sports news, I came upon this incredible sentence:

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, a guy who once took great pleasure in calling women “cunts,” posed a question to one of his female subordinates live on the radio. The question was: Actually, should Harvey Weinstein be allowed to demand sex from actresses in exchange for roles in movies? Get ready to listen to…Read more...

This man at Sunday’s Patriots-Jets game respects the United States and its national anthem so much that he turned the country’s flag into a picnic blanket. Reader Marshall spotted the patriot, who is better than all of us, at the Jets’ stadium.Read more...

It was the day after hurricane Irma had hit Puerto Rico, and Luis Galarza Figueroa was left without options. Walking outside of his family’s home in Barceloneta after the storm subsided, he could see trees and cables on the ground. The power, something Figueora needed for many things including his burgeoning…Read more...

The Trail Blazers will be without C.J. McCollum for their season opener, and McCollum will be without a game check of $165,000. The NBA suspended Portland’s guard one game after he walked away from the bench and onto the court during Wednesday’s preseason scuffle between Caleb Swanigan and Alex Len.

While the senior members of the United States Men’s National Team are holding their heads in intense shame after getting owned in horrifying public fashion and failing to qualify for the World Cup, the U.S. under-17 national team is killing it. The U-17 group is stocked with some of the hottest prospects in U.S.…Read more...

Welcome to Meat Sack, a guide to sports-related body horror. Today’s column is about fucked-up ears.

With 1:12 left in the game and on second down, Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone attempted a field goal. The play made sense: Since Jacksonville was down by 10 to the Rams and needed two possessions regardless, it’d be better to get points as soon as possible instead of pissing away the clock with more Blake Bortles…Read more...