Tag: Michael Jordan

Patriots cut four more players to make room for waiver wire additions

Four more Patriots players have reportedly been released

Even after the 53-man roster was intact, the New England Patriots reportedly made several moves on Wednesday.

According to the Boston Herald’s Doug Kyed, via Andrew Callahan, the Patriots released wide receiver Jalen Reagor, cornerback Isaiah Bolden, offensive lineman Michael Jordan and defensive tackle Trysten Hill.

Reagor likely wouldn’t see the field much as a receiver, but his incredible talent as a returner on special teams was believed to be enough to help him stick on the roster. The same goes for Bolden, who stuck around mostly for his special teams abilities.

Hill being released is also a bit of a surprise considering the question marks along the defensive front. The team is still missing starting defensive tackle Christian Barmore, who is still recovering after being diagnosed with blood clots.

The four players awarded to the Patriots in waiver claims were linebacker Curtis Jacobs, offensive tackle Demontrey Jacobs, defensive tackle Eric Johnson and offensive tackle Zachary Thomas.

Just because the 53-man roster is intact doesn’t mean the Patriots are going to stop making moves. The roster tinkering is an ongoing process that stretches throughout the entire season.

Bubba Wallace shared Michael Jordan’s advice ahead of his last chance to make NASCAR playoffs

Bubba Wallace shared what team owner MJ told him and how it’s helped his approach to Darlington.

The NASCAR Cup Series regular season all comes down to Sunday at Darlington Raceway, where drivers not already qualified for the playoffs will have one last opportunity to contend for a title this season.

The top-16 drivers in the standings make the playoffs, and they’re automatically guaranteed a berth with a win during the regular season. If they don’t win a regular-season race and there are fewer than 16 different winners, the remaining playoff spots are filled based on who’s where in the standings.

With one more race to go before the 10-race playoffs, Bubba Wallace and his No. 23 23XI Racing team are sitting in 13th. But with a few drivers with wins this season, the playoff picture projects him as 17th and the first driver excluded from the postseason if it started today. His sixth-place finish Saturday at Daytona International Speedway helped, but he’s not there yet.

While a guest on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s podcast, Wallace shared his approach to his last playoff-qualifying opportunity, along with the advice he received from 23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan.

Wallace told Earnhardt:

“There’s two sides of it coming out of Daytona: You’re bummed. You’re pissed off. You did what you’re supposed to do. We out-raced [Ross Chastain in] the 1 car, and we have a six-point, seven-point cushion to him. But we had a new winner [with Harrison Burton], so it’s like the goalpost moved again. …

“I had MJ text me, and he says, ‘The things you want more cost more.’ All day yesterday and all day, in the middle of the night, I’m telling myself, ‘Just try to go out and have the best race you’ve ever had of your life.’ It’s just showing up, me doing all that I can. Take out the outside factors. That’s how I’m approaching it. I woke up in a much better mood this morning.”

Wallace added why he needs to emphasize de-stressing before races, saying:

“Last year, I went into Daytona really stressed out. … I think for Daytona, you can get by with that. But I think if it was Darlington, I would have crashed Lap 2. Taking a deep breath, understanding where we’re at — we’re not out of it by any means. If you out-run the guys you’re racing, then you should beat them. But we have to do a little bit extra work, and I’m excited to roll the sleeves up and do that.”

The NASCAR Cup Series’ regular-season finale is the Southern 500 on Sunday at Darlington Raceway (6 p.m. ET, USA Network).

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Tyler Reddick’s Upper Deck paint scheme this week features three greats

Tyler Reddick’s Upper Deck paint scheme features Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky and Tiger Woods this week.

When you think of collecting sports cards, the Upper Deck brand is one of the more iconic in the industry. And now, with the NASCAR season wrapping up, the company is sponsoring a car featuring Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, and Tiger Woods.

On Monday, Upper Deck and 23XI Racing unveiled the paint scheme for Tyler Reddick’s car this week in Darlington for the season-finale race. And the car features the three legends. Jordan is part owner of 23XI Racing, which employs Reddick so it makes sense for the collab to happen on his car.

Check out the sweet paint scheme that will run this weekend:

The partnership with NASCAR and 23XI Racing also features authenticated memorabilia and trading cards of NASCAR stars Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace. That gives fans a new way to collect NASCAR drivers from the team.

“This collection is monumental for Upper Deck as it reintroduces racing into our diverse lineup of premium authenticated memorabilia,” said Upper Deck President Jason Masherah. “Just as 23XI burst onto the NASCAR scene with speed and determination, we’re bringing racing to our portfolio with the same energy. We’re thrilled to celebrate iconic moments from this fan-centric sport.”

Reddick enters this weekend’s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway as the points leader in NASCAR this year. He has also qualified for NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

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PSA president Ryan Hoge: ‘People will still want to collect Michael Jordan cards 100 years from now’

Ryan Hoge discussed the Kobe Bryant special on PSA Magazine, the best Michael Jordan trading cards, the card collector industry and more.

HoopsHype sat down with authentication and grading company PSA president Ryan Hoge to discuss the Kobe Bryant special on PSA Magazine, the best Michael Jordan trading cards, staying vigilant against fake submissions, his favorite NBA cards and more.

Anthony Edwards trashed every 90s NBA player (except Michael Jordan) in a delightfully uninformed rant

Anthony Edwards knows that the best hating is uninformed hating.

Everyone knows that the best form of hating comes from a lack of first-hand knowledge.

Don’t like that TV show’s premise and never plan to watch it? It’s actually stupid and written poorly. Hate that new ice cream flavor because it just looks gross? Ew, you’d never spend your money on that. And so on and so forth.

Minnesota Timberwolves superstar Anthony Edwards took this principle and applied it to the 1990s NBA in a new interview with the Wall Street Journal. One of the questions posed to Edwards centered on his thoughts about older generations in the NBA, particularly the 1990s, at least based on his answer.

While admitting he didn’t watch any of that basketball, Edwards delivered a hilarious criticism, saying only Michael Jordan had any skill back then. Truly, top-notch stuff.

More from the Wall Street Journal:

“I didn’t watch it back in the day so I can’t speak on it,” Edwards said. “They say it was tougher back then than it is now, but I don’t think anybody had skill back then. [Michael Jordan] was the only one that really had skill, you know what I mean? So that’s why when they saw Kobe [Bryant], they were like, ‘Oh, my God.’ But now everybody has skill.”

Honestly, is he wrong? Does one really have to watch the NBA of old to understand that the players are, on average, much more athletic and much more talented in 2024? There might be at least one guy on every NBA team who is a glorified role player now who would’ve been a star on ability alone back in the day.

I’m not even exaggerating. (Note: I also didn’t watch that basketball back in the day.)

And even if you do think Edwards is wrong, you can’t deny his charming bravado to confidently state his opinion despite being so uninformed. You only say that kind of thing out loud when you know you’re right (i.e., you don’t care about other opinions).

Edwards has hating down to a science. He is an artist.

Kenny Smith on 1990s Rockets, Bulls debates: ‘You can’t erase history’

Kenny Smith on Michael Jordan and 1990s Rockets-Bulls hypotheticals: “He did play. The team they lost to, the Orlando Magic, we swept.”

The Rockets and Chicago Bulls were the NBA’s only two champions from 1991 through 1998, and Houston’s two titles in 1994 and 1995 immediately followed Jordan’s temporary mid-career retirement in October 1993. Neither team ever faced the other in an NBA Finals.

Given Jordan’s status as arguably the best player in league history, many fans have wondered whether his Bulls might have won eight straight titles, had that odd 18-month retirement never happened.

The reality, however, is that Jordan was back and playing by the 1995 playoffs. His Bulls lost in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs to Shaquille O’Neal and the star-studded Orlando Magic, who were later swept in the 1995 Finals by the Rockets.

In a new interview with Greg Rajan of the Houston Chronicle, Kenny Smith — the starter at point guard on Houston’s 1994 and 1995 championship teams, and now an NBA analyst for TNT — was asked if he thinks those Rockets get their proper due, seeing as how their titles came in between a pair of three-peats by Jordan’s Bulls.

Smith replied:

You can’t erase history. I don’t know if you get proper due, but you can’t erase history. Everyone always says “Well, Michael was out.” No, he wasn’t — he was wearing No. 45 (in 1995). And everyone is saying “Oh, he was rusty.” No one was saying he was rusty when he had 55 points at Madison Square Garden that same year. He had 55 points against the Knicks, who were arguably the best defensive team in basketball at that time. No, he was Michael Jordan. (The Bulls) just weren’t as good a basketball team. The team they lost to, the Orlando Magic, we swept.

I never look at it as getting respect. You can’t erase history. And we’re here to stay. He did play that year, so there was only one year he wasn’t there. He did play (during the second title run), he was there and we just didn’t get an opportunity to meet them.

To Smith’s point, the Bulls had something of a hole at power forward in 1995. Horace Grant, who started there during the first three titles, joined the Magic (who went on to beat Jordan and the Bulls).

Dennis Rodman, who ultimately replaced Grant and started at power forward during Chicago’s second three-peat, wasn’t able to join the Bulls until the offseason after the 1995 playoffs.

As for Jordan and any allegations of rust, it’s worth noting that he averaged more points, rebounds, assists, and steals per game in the 1995 playoffs than he did in the ensuing 1996 championship run — all while shooting a higher field-goal percentage in 1995, as well.

The bottom line is that even with Jordan in elite statistical form, the 1995 Bulls simply weren’t good enough to beat the Magic. Two rounds later, that same Orlando team was swept by Smith, Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, and the rest of a gritty Houston squad.

As Smith said, that history can’t be erased.

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78 greatest NBA players ever: The HoopsHype list

HoopsHype ranks the 78 greatest players in NBA history, a list led by the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan and LeBron James.

For the fourth consecutive year since the league released its NBA75 list, we’re updating our GOAT rankings, adding a 78th player as we leave the league’s 78th season behind.

This one comes with a momentous update at the top, one that will irk many and delight many others (especially on the younger side). For the first time, Michael Jordan, the unassailable GOAT for so many years, doesn’t hold the No. 1 spot in our ranking. This shift follows a season in which LeBron James remained one of the premier players in the league, and was actually the best on a star-studded Team USA and the Olympic tournament as a whole.

As in previous years, we held a team vote with the opinions of eight HoopsHype staff members, discarded the highest and lowest ranks for each player, and awarded points based on the remaining positions.

Now, let’s delve into the list.

Jayson Tatum becomes the fourth basketball player ever to do these three things in a year

Jayson Tatum’s win at the 2024 Olympics made him the fourth player ever with an All-NBA First Team, an NBA title, and a gold medal in one year.

[autotag]Jayson Tatum[/autotag] didn’t just make Duke history with his second consecutive gold medal on Saturday. He also made basketball history.

Tatum became the fourth men’s basketball player of all time with an All-NBA First Team nomination, an NBA title, and an Olympic gold medal in one calendar year.

As with any other feat in basketball history, LeBron James and Michael Jordan did it first. Jordan actually managed the trifecta twice, first doing it in 1992 before matching himself in 1996. Scottie Pippen, his Chicago Bulls teammate, matched him in the latter year.

James, who did it in 2012, was previously the only player to accomplish the feat this century.

Tatum scored two points and snagged three rebounds in the championship game, a 98-87 victory over the hosting French team. He also tallied his first Olympic double-double against Puerto Rico earlier in the bracket, and he averaged 5.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game across his four appearances for Team USA.

Duke could sweep the Olympic gold medals in the basketball competitions on Sunday if former Blue Devil [autotag]Chelsea Gray[/autotag] and the U.S. women’s team defeat France in the women’s gold medal game.

LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant recreated iconic 1992 Dream Team photo

A superstar trio on this year’s version of Team USA is looking to carry on the legacy that was started by the 1992 Dream Team.

In 1992, the United States men’s Olympic basketball team, nicknamed the “Dream Team,” took the world by storm as it breezed its way to the gold medal in Barcelona. It was the first time NBA players were allowed to participate in the Olympics, and that squad featured legends such as Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Larry Bird.

This year’s iteration of Team USA may or may not have as much star power as that 1992 squad. But having LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, not to mention Anthony Davis, Anthony Edwards and Devin Booker, among others, isn’t too shabby.

There’s an iconic photo of Johnson, Jordan and Bird from that 1992 Olympic team that has stood the test of time. James, Curry and Durant did their best to recreate that photo.

If you look closely, each of the three in the new version flashed a number of fingers to represent how many NBA championships they have won.

Team USA started off the 2024 Summer Olympic Games with a dominant 110-84 win over Serbia on Sunday. It will face South Sudan on Wednesday next.

Once, Michael Jordan told Ray Allen why it is hard to repeat as champs; it still may be true

“It makes sense,” said Allen.

When it comes to the sport of basketball, there have been only a handful of players at any level able to shoot the rock on the same level as 2008 Boston Celtics champion shooting guard Ray Allen. But even he listens when His Airness offers counsel. And in a recent interview with Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso, Allen recalled some sage words from Michael Jordan that might yet have currency with the Celtics of today.

“We’re out to eat, we’d just won (Banner 17), and we’re feeling pretty good,” said Allen. “MJ was there, and he said to us, ‘Y’all won one. Let’s see if you can win two. That’s when you’ve done something.'”

And why is it so hard to repeat, per Jordan? “Later in the night, MJ talked about how the hardest part of repeating is the role players no longer want to be role players,” said Allen. “It makes sense.”

“They’re spending all summer hearing how great they are, and then you come back wanting more minutes, more touches,” said the UConn great.

‘All of a sudden, you’re not doing the same things you did last year to get the team to this place. It’s why you see the destruction of teams after they win championships.”

Will it happen to these Celtics? Perhaps. But they are by and large all scholars of the game — and keep in touch with the elder statesmen of the league — so they may have the jump on such derailing bad habits.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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