morning win – Page 8 – Syndication Server

The NCAA as you know it is about to change forever thanks to 1 huge settlement

Everything is about to change.

This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.

Good morning, Winners! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thanks so much for rocking with us today. We appreciate you giving us a bit of your time.

For decades, people have clamoring for the NCAA to pay its athletes. Well, folks, it’s finally happening — or, at least, it’s about to.

School presidents in both the Big 12 and the ACC have all voted to settle the House vs. NCAA case that the NCAA has been involved in since 2020, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reports.

For those out of the loop, the case is seeking backpay for college athletes who were barred from using name, image and likeness rights prior to the NCAA’s seismic rule change in the summer of 2021. The plaintiffs involved are Grant House, a former Arizona State swimmer, and Sedona Prince, a former women’s basketball player at TCU.

The Big 12 and ACC have already voted to settle. The other conferences are set to vote later in the week and the NCAA is expected to follow suit too.

Here are the two big things that would come from the settlement:

It’d create a $2.8 billion fund to pay former athletes who couldn’t sign NIL deals.
It’d also create $20 million in revenue sharing per year for each power conference school to divide amongst its players.

You’re probably wondering why everyone is so willing to bend the knee here — especially after the NCAA fought so hard to ensure this would never happen.

The answer is this: If the NCAA doesn’t bend here, things will likely be much worse.

According to reporting from Yahoo! Sports, the final class-action figure, if the case continued, could reach as high as $20 billion, potentially sending the NCAA into bankruptcy.

Any current restraints on NIL deals would also be struck down, essentially turning the league into a free marketplace where players can work with whatever partner they choose.

Things aren’t official yet. The other conferences still need to vote. If and when this happens, it’ll be a monumental shift for the NCAA. One that will change college sports as we know it forever.

Get ready, folks. This is turning out to be a wild week.

The Pacers can’t finish the job

Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

I didn’t think the Pacers stood much of a chance against the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. Before the series, I’d say I’d probably given them a small shot of winning it.

After watching Indy completely fumble away a Game 1 win? I have even less faith in Tyrese Haliburton and company.

Indiana had a three-point lead with ten seconds left in the game. Then Jaylen Brown saved everything for Boston:

Jaylen Brown singlehandedly saved this game on both ends of the floor. pic.twitter.com/GbdU6UoqNr

— Taylor Snow (@taylorcsnow) May 22, 2024

He forces a turnover on the inbounds then hits a huge 3-pointer knotting everything at 117. Tyrese Haliburton can’t get a final shot off. The game goes into overtime. Indy probably regrets not fouling after this one.

Jayson Tatum promptly scores 10 points in OT. Indiana only scored 11. That’s how badly the Celtics put the clamps on the Pacers in the period — particularly Jrue Holiday, who felt like he was playing with clones on the court.

I don’t want to say this series is over after one game. Anything can happen, obviously. But it did feel like the Pacers needed to have this one. And, for a few minutes, they did! Indy just fumbled everything away.

We’ll see how Game 2 plays out. After this scare, Boston will probably come out with a bit more oomph. Good luck, Indy, You’ll need it.

The NBA on TNT soundtrack is the star of the playoffs

Remember that time we heard Kendrick Lamar’s “Euphoria” on Inside the NBA? That was great, wasn’t it? Hearing rap beef on the platform was pretty wild. It created a magical moment that put an NBA postgame show in the middle of the pop culture zeitgeist in a way that I don’t think any other show could.

That was very intentional, by the way. Our Bryan Kalbrosky noticed it, too. He wanted to know not just why it happened, but how. So he hit up the good folks who produce the show to figure it out.

“Clever audio programming like this has become one of the many secret ingredients that leads to the continued success of Inside the NBA. Music is typically the first part of the halftime studio show and sets up whatever the crew is going to talk about for the next 15 minutes. None of this happens by accident.

“We’re just trying to throw as much stuff in front of Shaq, Charles, Kenny and Ernie that’s going to get a reaction out of them,” Keith Robinson, a TNT Sports studio producer for Inside the NBA, told For The Win. “It created a moment.”,”

After reading this piece, this show is even more magical than I originally thought it was. This piece is well worth your time. Dive in.

Quick hits: Kah for MVP? … Bronny James to Boston? … and more

— Kahleah Copper is putting together quite the MVP campaign so far this season in Phoenix. Meg Hall has more.

— ESPN’s latest mock has Bronny heading to Boston. Here’s Bryan with more.

— Charles Curtis has more on how everyone hates Apple Music’s Top 100 album list

— These sportsbooks are moving shady out here. Prince Grimes has more here for you.

— Can somebody please make sure Greg Olsen stays in a booth next NFL season? Tom Brady better be good, man. Cory Woodroof has more.

— Charles Barkley finally brought his [expletive] to Minnesota. Love to see it.

That’s a wrap, folks! Thanks so much for reading. We appreciate you. Have a fantastic day. Peace.

-Sykes ✌️

Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves absolutely punking the Nuggets capped off an epic sports weekend

What. A. Weekend.

Good morning, Winners. Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thank you so much for rocking with us. We appreciate you giving us a bit of your time today. I hope you had a wonderful weekend.

I certainly did. This was legitimately one of the most entertaining weekends in sports I can remember.

The NBA had two epic Game 7s: The Knicks ran out of gas and bodies to play. The Nuggets ran out of championship mettle. While you were sleeping, Denver had one of the most epic collapses we’ve ever seen, blowing a 20-point lead on its home court to send the Timberwolves to the Western Conference Finals for the first time in 20 years.
The Panthers are rolling: Speaking of championship mettle, it feels like the Panthers might have something cooking here. Florida knocked off Boston to move on to the Conference Finals where they’ll see the Rangers, who have looked incredible this postseason. We’re about to get an amazing series, folks.
NASCAR had a brawl: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Busch got into an old-fashioned slobber knocker after the two got wrecked on Lap 2 of Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Series race. No, I can’t believe it either.
The Preakness happened: Sieze the Grey (9-1 odds) completely stole the show at the Preakness Stakes from Mystik Dan, who seemed so close to continuing that elusive Triple Crown journey that no horse has accomplished since Justify in 2018.
Xander Schauffele played the best major ever: It’s Schauffele’s first major win ever and, boy, did he grab it by the horns. His 21-under score held off Bryson DeChambeau, who might’ve had the best performance of his career at the tournament, too. All this happened and Scottie Scheffler getting arrested is still probably the lead story of the tourney.

What a weekend, folks. I was legitimately on the edge of my seat for all of it.

And they say the sports calendar dies after March Madness. TUH. I hope you didn’t miss out.

The rise of the Timberwolves

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) laughs after the game against the Denver Nuggets during game six of the second round for the 2024 NBA playoffs at Target Center — Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

I’ve struggled to categorize yesterday’s Game 7 between the Nuggets and Timberwolves.

Yes, it feels like an epic collapse from the former champions. Denver had a 20-point lead in the 3rd quarter on its home floor in an elimination game with the best player in the world on its team. That’s a game you should win 12 times out of 10.

But, yo. The Timberwolves snatched that game from Denver’s hands. Minnesota never gave up. It fought until it made its epic 54-24 run to end Denver’s season and break Michael Malone. The Wolves took that win from the Nuggets just as much as Denver gave it away.

Minnesota hasn’t won anything yet, obviously — and I’m not saying it will! — but that’s what championship mettle looks like. This team just…isn’t supposed to have it. That’s what’s so confounding.

The Wolves haven’t made it beyond the first round of the playoffs since 2004. To go from that to making the Conference Finals is unfounded in the NBA. Usually there’s a process. We’re used to seeing teams take steps, as Yahoo! Sports’ Vincent Goodwill writes here.

Not this one. Minnesota is here now and ready to win it all.

Drake has to be having the worst month ever

Getting sonned by Kendrick Lamar is one thing. Blowing $565,000 on Tyson Fury is another. Drake is taking all sorts of Ls.

Prince Grimes has more here:

“Kendrick Lamar might have won his high-profile rap battle with Drake thanks to the timing of his release of meet the grahams, which completely stepped on Drake’s release of Family Matters mere hours earlier.

But some of the lyrics of that song are appearing to be just as true as they are searing.

After Lamar twice claimed Drake had a gambling addiction in the song, a $565,000 bet the Canadian rapper just lost on Sunday’s heavyweight title fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk didn’t help to prove Lamar wrong.”

Maybe Kendrick was right. Keep the family away. The Drake curse is back.

Quick hits: Poor Spike Lee … Reggie Miller hates NYK … and more

— The Pacers are flexing on Spike Lee and the Knicks with this video of him being absolutely miserable after the loss. Here’s Andrew Joseph with more.

— Speaking of trolling the Knicks, Reggie Miller is in on the fun, too. Here’s Mary Clarke with more.

— Max Homa teasing Scottie Scheffler on getting arrested is hilarious. Robert Zeglinski has more.

— I still can’t get over this foul that ended the Thunder’s season. Here’s Cory Woodroof with more.

— Caitlin Clark’s first 3 WNBA games probably aren’t as bad as you think.

— Kelsey Plum’s reaction to this Kate Martin block is the best. Mitch Northam has more.

That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for reading. Check back in tomorrow for more. Peace. We out.

-Sykes ✌️

The Scottie Scheffler arrest feels both unreal and completely unnecessary at the same time

What an embarrassing situation for all parties involved.

Good morning, Winners. Welcome back to the Morning Win. No, I can’t believe Scottie Scheffler was detained this morning, either.

For those of you just catching up on the day’s news, the world’s No. 1 golfer was detained by Louisville Metro Police for what essentially amounts to an over-the-top traffic violation.

To make a long story short, a pedestrian was tragically struck and killed by a shuttle bus this morning around 5 a.m. ET. The pedestrian died. Police moved to the area to handle traffic and tend to the scene.

Scheffler was heading to Valhalla Golf Club, where the PGA Championship is happening this weekend. He tried to use the median to get around traffic. Police tried to stop him. I guess he didn’t stop well enough, so he was arrested.

He arrived back at Valhalla and made his tee time at 10:08 a.m. And I guess that’s supposed to mean everything is fine now. I keep trying to figure out how on Earth we got here. This all reads like one of those “You know, I had the weirdest dream last night,” stories.

It doesn’t feel like any of this had to happen. I’m not saying Scheffler was right or wrong here. I don’t know how traffic was being organized around the scene and maybe what he did was indeed a disruption to the work being done to handle the aforementioned tragedy of someone losing their life.

But for it to escalate to an arrest just feels wholly unnecessary. I’m not here to tell police how to do their jobs, but there had to be more possible steps to take before things went as far as they did. This couldn’t have just been a citation. Couldn’t they have just talked things over?

What feels like it could’ve been a routine traffic stop is now a national news story. That’s embarrassing for everyone.

Great job, LMPD. You’ve outdone yourselves this time.

Wolves fixed

Game. Seven. The two greatest words in sports. We’re about to be treated to a good one between the Timberwolves and the Nuggets on Sunday after Minnesota responded in Game 6 with a 45-point beatdown. “They kicked our [expletives],” Nikola Jokic said after the game. You know exactly what the expletive there is. And yes, Nikola. Yes, they did.

I can’t wait for this game on Sunday, man. There’s so much riding on it.

On one end, this is a huge chance for Jokic to prove his mettle. He’s largely regarded as the best player in the NBA. This is supposed to be the moment when the best player does best player things.

On the other, we’re talking about a franchise that has lived in poverty for two decades with the Timberwolves. Minnesota hasn’t made a Conference Finals appearance since 2004. If anybody is going to take the Wolves there, of course, it’s going to be Anthony Edwards.

Hurry up and get here, Sunday. Enough is enough.

Chris Kreider is magical

Everything about the Rangers’ run right now feels improbable, but I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything quite like Chris Kreider’s performance on Thursday night.

The Rangers were down 3-1 to the Hurricanes with about 13 minutes left to go in the third period. Kreider rattles off not one, not two, but three goals to give New York the win. The Rangers are going to the conference finals.

This moment. It just gives you chills, man.

The Goal, The Call, The Crowd.

Sam Rosen and Dave Maloney call Chris Kreider's game winning hat trick and The Garden Faithful going wild at the watch party. @NYRangers | #NYR | @DaveMaloneyMSG pic.twitter.com/3Ce4vGP0Dm

— x – Rangers on MSG (@RangersMSGN) May 17, 2024

To do that on the road, too? That’s insane. Y’all got something cooking, New York. Keep the party going.

Photo Friday: Caitlin Clark’s week in a photo

Mandatory Credit: Grace Hollars-USA TODAY Sports

It’s been a rough week for the Fever’s star rookie. She only scored 9 points against the New York Liberty on Thursday. Here she is after missing one of her seven three-point attempts on the night.

The good news is that it’ll only get better from here.

Quick hits: The WNBA fumbled its charter flight rollout … Dabo being Dabo … and more

— Here’s Meg Hall on how bad the WNBA charter flight situation has been.

— Cory Woodroof has more on Dabo Swinney being unsurprisingly arrogant about ignoring the transfer portal.

— Blake Schuster has more on Scottie Scheffler’s PGA Championship odds barely changing after he was arrested. Wow.

— Christian D’Andrea listed the 10 worst primetime games of the NFL season for you here.

— Here’s Robert Zeglinski with more on the Cavaliers’ impending chaotic offseason.

— And here’s Bryan Kalbrosky with the latest consensus NBA mock draft.

That’s a wrap, folks! Thanks for reading! Let’s lock in again next week. Until then! Peace. We out.

-Sykes ✌️

The NFL’s schedule release extravaganza isn’t that fun and we should stop pretending like it is

The NFL’s schedule release has got to be the most overhyped thing ever

Goooood morning, folks! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thank you so much for rocking with us today. Appreciate you.

You know what I don’t appreciate, though? The NFL’s schedule release charade.

The NFL finally released its schedule on Wednesday after a week and some change of leaks. And, folks, I’ve got to say, this feels as anticlimactic as it ever has.

At first, this was all fun! We got all these memes and the social media accounts for our favorite teams would find clever ways to present a calendar to their fans.

In any other setting, this wouldn’t work. But because it’s the NFL, y’all have tricked yourselves into believing this is something to go nuts over. It’s not! It’s just a two-minute video about a PDF file that you’ll probably print out and stick on your fridge. Were you seriously looking forward to *checks notes* the Falcon’s NFL Street video? We both know the answer is no.

Selfishly, I’ll admit, the schedule release is good for content. Y’all click it. It works. Speaking of which…

But I love y’all, man. I want better for you. You don’t have to sit there waiting on pins and needles to see who your team has to play. Go outside! Touch some grass!

The Celtics keep cooking me

Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

I’m done questioning the Celtics at this point, folks. Boston has made a fool of me too many times for me to keep this going.

Last week after Boston was blown out by Cleveland in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semis, I questioned whether this team was actually good enough to make it back to the Finals. Boston legitimately looked vulnerable.

Today? Yeah, I’m an idiot.

Boston is back in the Eastern Conference Finals for the third consecutive year and the sixth time in eight years. That’s dominance. This has been the best team in the East for nearly a decade at this point.

The Celtics survived the LeBron James Cavaliers. They’ve beaten Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Milwaukee Bucks. They made light work of Kevin Durant’s Nets. And, now, they’ll probably skate to the Finals again after seeing either the Pacers or the Knicks in the next round.

My bad, Boston. I’m sorry I forgot how nice y’all were. I won’t forget again.

Angel Reese is finally here

Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Angel Reese made her debut with the Chicago Sky on Wednesday night. To call it an up-and-down affair might be putting it lightly.

Reese didn’t score her first field goal until the second half against the Wings. She finished the game with 12 points and 5 rebounds while taking 13 shots with a few coming from opportunities on the offensive glass. She also finished the game with five fouls, which was a major reason why she couldn’t stay on the court in the first half.

On the bright side, she did have a few moments where it looked like she was at LSU. This bucket from Reese was a tough one.

A big-time bucket by the Chi-Town Barbie!#skytown pic.twitter.com/j1katqtqnd

— Chicago Sky (@chicagosky) May 16, 2024

Just like Caitlin Clark, it will be a bit of a struggle early on for Reese. She’ll get her footing eventually, though. When that happens, watch out, WNBA.

Quick hits: Must-watch NFL games … Darius Garland on the move … and more

— Here’s Robert Zeglinski with 11 must-watch games on the NFL’s schedule this year.

— Darius Garland might be on the move if the Cavaliers manage to keep Donovan Mitchell around. Here’s Bryan Kalbrosky with more.

— Big Latto attended her first WNBA game. Why? Because Angel Reese was there. Here’s more from Meg Hall.

— Here’s why club pro Michael Block is back at the PGA Championship. Charles Curtis has more.

— Shoutout to this MLS raccoon. That’s all.

— Cory Woodroof ranked all of the Monday Night Football games for you NFL nuts out there.

That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for rocking with us today. Appreciate you. Let’s do it again tomorrow. Until next time. Peace.

-Sykes ✌️

Don’t blame Rudy Gobert for Nikola Jokic being unstoppable

Nikola Jokic just had one of those moments. Nothing anyone could’ve done about it.

Gooood morning, Winners! Thanks so much for rocking with TMW today. We appreciate you giving us a bit of your time today.

Folks, I am here on behalf of Rudy Gobert today. Can we cut the guy some slack? Everybody is trying to take away his Defensive Player of the Year award after Tuesday night’s Game 5 against Nikola Jokic.

Draymond Green is leading the charge. The reason he doesn’t believe we’ll see a Game 7 in this series is because Rudy Gobert can’t get a stop.

"The big Frenchman is sitting on that podium speaking his native language. We, we, we need to do this. You, you, you need to get a stop… It's you, my man, that is getting cooked [by Nikola Jokic]."

Draymond Green sounded OFF on Rudy Gobert 👀
pic.twitter.com/S96Zd862NA

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 15, 2024

“The big Frenchman is sitting on that podium speaking his native language. We, we, we need to do this. You, you, you need to get a stop,” Green said. “It’s you, my man, that is getting cooked. So, it’s no we.”

That’s harsh. But it’s also fair! Gobert was getting cooked. When Gobert was the primary defender on Jokic in Game 5, he scored 18 points on 8-9 shooting from the field. That’s bad. Really bad.

But listen, man. Let me tell y’all something. Nobody was stopping Nikola Jokic last night. Not a soul. You could’ve surrounded the basket with a literal brick wall and I’m convinced that a couple of those Dream Shakes Jokic got off would’ve made it come crumbling down Big Bad Wolf style. That’s not how that story goes, but you get the point. There’s nothing anyone could’ve done.

These are the moments that make great players as great as they are. Jokic took that game in his hands from the jump and would not let it go. That doesn’t mean Gobert is ineffective or not deserving of the DPOY.

All it really means it that we’re watching the best player in the league play basketball. This is what that looks like. Enjoy it.

Unless you’re a Wolves fan, of course. Then, well, good luck in Game 6.

The Bruins survive

Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

After the Panthers took a commanding 3-1 lead against Boston with Sam Bennett’s antics behind them, it felt like the Bruins might be cooked.

Now, a few days later, this series has a chance to go the distance.

The Bruins won a tough one on the road against the Panthers in Game 5, staving off elimination with a 2-1 win. Jeremy Swayman has made a ton of important saves in this one, but none bigger than this one here.

Jeremy Swayman saves the season pic.twitter.com/p7nEeQ6vgW

— Evan Marinofsky (@EvanMarinofsky) May 15, 2024

That’s one final save to prevent OT and keep the Bruin’s season alive. Now, Boston will get a Game 6 at home. This is getting good.

Maybe Diana Taurasi was right

Diana Taurasi warned us about Caitlin Clark and other rookies’ struggles coming into the league. That was on full display through Clark on Tuesday.

Clark struggled from the field in her debut with the Fever on Tuesday. She shot a paltry 5-for-15 from the floor while shooting 4-for-11 from deep to score 20 points. She also had the most turnovers (10) in a WNBA debut. Her first game wasn’t great.

Don’t worry about it, though. Our Meghan Hall says everything will be alright. Here’s why:

“The WNBA is full of elite defenders and scorers that Caitlin hasn’t seen yet. The Fever and Caitlin looked out of sorts because the core is really young. Also, the Sun are highly underrated and seemingly didn’t have any drop-off Tuesday from their 2023 top-three ranked defense.”

That was a tough first crack at things for Clark. The game seems a bit fast for her right now. She’ll catch up eventually.

In the meantime, though, don’t trip over a few bumps in the road. That goes for the rest of the rookies, too.

Quick hits: NFL on Netflix … Get Harrison Butker out of here … and more

— The NFL is officially coming to Netflix. Fans hate it. Streaming and sports, folks. It’s the future, I guess.

— Charles Curtis is calling for the Chiefs to do something about Harrison Butker’s hateful comments here. Let’s hope they do it.

— Y’all see these championship rings for the Aces? SHEESH. Meg Hall has more.

— Bronny James is kind of downplaying wanting to play with his dad. He just wants to be an NBA player. Bryan Kalbrosky has more.

— Caitlin Clark’s scoring prop drew more bets than any other debut in the WNBA or NBA. Prince Grimes has more.

— Here’s Charles’ running list of everything we know about the NFL schedule so far again. Stay tapped in on this one.

That’s a wrap, folks. Let’s do this again tomorrow. Until then! Peace.

-Sykes ✌️

The WNBA is back and 2024 might be its most important season ever

You should watch every minute of the WNBA this season.

Gooood morning, folks! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thank you so much for rocking with us today. We appreciate you giving us a bit of your time.

The moment has arrived, folks. The WNBA’s season officially starts today. With that start, the W also begins what is arguably its most defining moment yet as a league.

That might feel a bit hyperbolic. Of course, the WNBA has had huge moments before in its 27-year history. The current moment the league is in doesn’t erase that history, but right now, it feels like the WNBA has been tossed into some of the deepest waters it’s been in yet this year, and it’s just beginning to swim.

Caitlin Clark’s impact on the league is a huge part of that. The NCAA’s all-time leading scorer has all eyes on her. Clark is one of the most popular athletes in the world — not just in this league. She was the catalyst behind the women’s college basketball explosion this year. We’re already seeing the impact on the WNBA with teams making special preparations for when her Indiana Fever come to town. She’s bringing eyes the WNBA hasn’t seen since its early days.

Even without Clark, though, the league would be facing a huge watershed moment this season. This is a big show-and-prove year for the W. The league is in the middle of a broadcast deal negotiation. Historically, the W’s broadcast rights have been bundled with its NBA counterpart in a package deal. But the WNBA is reportedly considering removing itself from that package and branching out independently.

This is a huge opportunity for the league. Ratings have already increased to the highest levels since 2008 last season. Adding Clark to that mix gives another boost. The more eyes on the league this year, the more money the WNBA can command in negotiating its latest TV deal. The more money it gets in its negotiation, the more revenue the league can split with the players.

That opens up the potential for higher salaries, more roster spots, better accommodations and so much more. That’s an exciting prospect for this league that continues to blossom.

All eyes are on you, WNBA. Let’s cook.

What makes a GOAT?

Las Vegas forward Aj'a Wilson holding the WNBA Championship trophy while riding in a double-decker bus on the Las Vegas Strip — *Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports*

That’s such a fascinating question. What makes a player one of the greatest of all time? Is it the numbers? The accolades? The impact on the game? Those are all valid questions.

Our Meghan Hall set out to answer this impossible question. On her quest, she talked to current WNBA greats, future Hall of Famers, media personalities, and more on what makes a GOAT a GOAT in women’s hoops.

The entire piece is truly worth your time, but I thought Candace Parker’s thoughts here perfectly coalesced the mentality one has to have to achieve GOAT status.

After all, takes one to know one:

“I think greatness is sticking to it and doing it for an extended period of time. I don’t think you can choose greatness in the short term. Greatness is something that you choose over and over and over again. And sometimes greatness is within each day — it’s getting up and doing a workout that you don’t want to. It’s the mindset that you have to continue to be great in the longevity that you choose within a sport, to continue to do something at an extremely high level.”

Check out the full piece from Meghan here.

Jared Goff is home

Mandatory Credit: Junfu Han-USA TODAY Sports

Four years ago, when the Rams traded Jared Goff away for Matthew Stafford, LA admitted it’d made a mistake.

It’s not that Jared Goff wasn’t a fine quarterback — it was that he was just fine. He wasn’t good enough to get them to the promised land of winning a Super Bowl. And, for what it’s worth, the Rams were right! He wasn’t good enough. Stafford did what Goff could not.

At the same time, Goff has proven them wrong. He’s become a more-than-fine starting quarterback in the NFL. He’s a very good one. His new four-year, $212 million extension from the Lions makes that loud and clear for us.

Here’s Christian D’Andrea with a perfect synopsis of the Stafford-Goff trade in hindsight:

“There were no losers in the Matthew Stafford-Jared Goff swap. The Rams got a Super Bowl win. The Lions got a franchise quarterback and the draft capital to accelerate their latest rebuild. Everyone came out ahead.”

It sure didn’t feel like a win-win at the time. But today? The Lions are happy with their decision.

Quick hits: Next to get paid … The Golden State Valkyries … and more

— Here’s Cory Woodroof with the next five quarterbacks who could get paid after Jared Goff’s monster extension.

— The Golden State WNBA team has finally landed on the name: The Valkyries. The MCU memes are here. Meghan Hall has more.

— Here’s a running list of everything we know about the NFL schedule from Charles Curtis.

— The NFL choosing to compete with the College Football Playoff in December is such an NFL thing to do. Here’s Tyler Netunno with more.

— Caitlin Clark had a heartfelt tribute for Lisa Bluder after hearing about her retirement.

— Not sure what happened at the NBA Combine on Monday but it was weird. Bryan Kalbrosky has more.

That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for reading today. Appreciate you. Let’s do this again tomorrow. Peace.

-Sykes ✌️

If the Nuggets didn’t already have your respect as champions, they should now

The Nuggets aren’t done until they’re done.

Good morning, folks! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thank you so much for rocking with me today. Appreciate you for giving me a bit of your time today.

Remember when the Nuggets were down 2-0 to the Timberwolves and everyone said Denver was getting swept? Folks thought Denver was cooked. People were questioning whether Jokic deserved this year’s MVP. You’d have thought the Nuggets were the upstart team just trying to make it out of the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

Now, here we are. The MVP has done MVP things for the last two games. Jamal Murray played like the fringe All-Star everyone thinks he is and, boom, we’ve got a tied series at 2-2.

This has been an incredibly odd series. The home team hasn’t won a single game the entire way. The Wolves took two straight in Denver and then Denver took two straight in Minnesota. The Nuggets somehow came away with a pretty convincing victory despite Anthony Edwards going nuclear with a franchise-record 44 points in 45 minutes. If he’d have played every second, the Wolves may have actually won the game.

Yet, here we are. None of us have any idea how this is going to end — let’s be honest about it. This has been one of the weirdest playoff series we’ve seen this year. It’s been utterly unpredictable and filled with some great moments from great players.

Let’s appreciate that while we have it instead of trying to bury either of these teams prematurely. You see how that worked out the first time.

The Pistons do not deserve this

Listen. As a tortured Wizards fan, I understand what it’s like to root for a team that just seems obsessed with running on the treadmill of mediocrity. That team just wouldn’t get out of its own way.

But what happens when your team is trying its best to hop off that cursed treadmill and create a better path for itself? What do you do then? That’s the decision Pistons fans are faced with today after their favorite team got the No. 5 overall pick for the third year in a row.

Fans are calling it rigged. I can’t blame them, really. For Atlanta to jump up and win it all while Detroit falls has got to be devastating.

The Pistons had a 14 percent chance of winning the lottery overall and a 52.1 percent chance of landing in the top 4. Nope. No. 5. Again.
Meanwhile, Atlanta only had a 3 percent chance of winning the lottery outright and here we are.

I guess that’s why it’s called the lottery. The results have the potential to be devastating. Luckily, this is supposedly a weak draft. Detroit isn’t missing too much here.

But, man. That’s just a rough go at it. I’m sorry, Pistons fans.

Sam Bennett is Public Enemy No. 1 in Boston

Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

The only way to describe Bruins-Panthers on Sunday is chaotic. The Panthers’ 3-2 win is completely marred in controversy, and Sam Bennett is in the middle.

Officials missed an obvious goalie interference call on Bennett when he pushed Charlie Coyle into Jeremy Swayman in the net and then scored a goal after. Even after a review, the goal somehow stood as called.

It was so confusing. Our Mary Clarke has more here:

“That push definitely seems like textbook goaltender interference, especially since it’s not legal to shove an opposing player into the netminder on a scoring play. And yet, the officials deemed the goal a good one and the Panthers were able to tie the game.”

That’s insane, man. But what’s really insane is that this follows Bennett knocking Brad Marchand out of Game 3 (and subsequently Game 4) with what definitely seemed like a sucker punch.

In the end, none of that matters. The Panthers are up 3-1 in the series and the Bruins have their backs against the wall. That’s sports for you.

Hopefully, though, the whistle is more even in Game 5.

Quick hits: NBA mock draft … The 9 candidates for No. 1 … and more

— Here’s Bryan Kalbrosky with our latest NBA mock draft after the lottery

— There are legitimately nine players who could go No. 1 overall in this year’s NBA draft. Meet them here.

— Rudy Gobert should get suspended for this wild gesture at NBA officials, Prince Grimes writes, but he won’t.

— This moment between Kevin Harlan and Jamal Murray is hilarious. Mary Clarke has more.

— Caleb Williams is ahead of schedule according to the Bears, Robert Zeglinski writes.

— The Rockets continue to eat off of the James Harden trade. Here’s Bryan Kalbrosky with more.

That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for rocking with us today. We appreciate you. Check in tomorrow for more! Until then, peace!

-Sykes ✌️

Mat Ishbia is ruining the Phoenix Suns and blaming everyone else for it

Mat Ishbia is the type to knock down a Jenga tower and ask how it happened.

Good morning, Winners! Happy Friday! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thank you for rocking with us this morning. We appreciate you.

There are some bad team owners in the NBA. James Dolan, Ted Leonsis, Tilman Fertitta. I could go on and on and on. The jury was out on the Suns’ new owner, Mat Ishbia. But I think the case just closed with the Suns firing Frank Vogel after one single season as the team’s head coach.

News of Vogel getting fired broke on Thursday through a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. I couldn’t call it shocking, really. Somebody’s head had to roll after the Suns’ disappointing season and, well, it certainly wasn’t going to be the team owner’s. But in reality, that’s who’s at fault here.

This Suns team stinks because Mat Ishbia couldn’t just relive his glory days at Michigan State by playing in some random rec league around his way like any other washed-up college athlete would. Nope. He’s too rich for that. Instead, he chose to buy an NBA team and run it into the ground.

See why I keep telling y’all billionaires are dangerous? No one man should have all that power.

Ishbia makes every important decision for this team at this point. The Kevin Durant trade? His doing. The Bradley Beal trade? His choice. He made those moves without even knowing what the second luxury tax apron was.

Charles Barkley was absolutely right. Vogel’s failure here isn’t because he’s an incompetent coach, but instead because his roster stinks. Now, the Suns are locked in with no clear pathway to improvement because the owner made rash decisions without thinking of the consequences.

If they don’t get it done next season, James Jones will probably be next. Mike Budenholzer is reportedly being hired as the new coach. If the team fails again after that? He’d better watch out.

Look, I’m grateful that Ishbia bought the team from Robert Sarver who absolutely needed to go. The NBA is a better league without that man in it. There’s no debating that. I’d take Ishbia over him 12 times out of 10.

But this speedrun to becoming the most incompetent owner in the league has been quite the ride. For Suns fan’s sake, I hope he turns it around soon. I can’t imagine going from being in the NBA Finals a few years ago to this.

The WNBA is expanding north

Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

WNBA expansion is coming, folks. The WNBA is reportedly heading to Toronto in 2026, according to reporting from Shireen Ahmed of CBC Sports.

According to the report, Larry Tanenbaum’s Kilmer Sports Inc. has been granted an expansion franchise with the WNBA. The league will make an official announcement on the team on May 23.

We’ve been slowly building toward this for a while. News of Kilmer Sports’ interest was floated out there back in March. Our Meghan Hall wrote back then why it makes sense.

The fans are locked in already. Last year’s WNBA Canada game was a success, per Meg:

“Finally, something else to consider is that fans are also interested in having a team in Toronto. In May 2023, the city held an exhibition game between the Minnesota Lynx and Chicago Sky at Scotiabank Arena. It was the highest-attended preseason game in WNBA history and touted excellent merchandise sales.”

What a week it’s been for the WNBA. First, the league (haphazardly!) announced that its teams will be flying charters this year. Now, it’s expanding again.

You love to see it.

NFL x Netflix?

The NFL is coming to yet another streaming service near you. The league already has a lock on Amazon with Thursday Night Football. Now, it might be heading to Netflix for Christmas.

Here’s Cory Woodroof with more:

“While this isn’t a done deal just yet, Netflix getting into business with the NFL in this capacity could open up the possibility for even more games to be streamed on the platform in the future.

If you’re not a Netflix subscriber, it sure sounds like you might have to get an account for Christmas this year to catch the two games the league will schedule on the holiday.”

Sigh. Yet another streaming service you’ll have to pay for to watch your favorite teams in sports.

Streaming was fun once upon a time, but I think it’s safe to say we’ve officially jumped the shark. Everyone has a deal with everyone. We all have to pay for multiple services that carry everything we want to watch, including our favorite sports now.

Honestly, at this point? Let’s just go back to cable.

Photo Friday: Indy already loves Caitlin Clark

Caitlin Clark is going to be juuust fine in Indiana.

Quick hits: Shannon Sharpe vs. Shaq? … Ranking Kendrick Lamar’s best … and more

— Shannon Sharpe and Shaq are getting into it over…Nikola Jokic? This is wild. Charles Curtis has more.

— In light of this Drake beef, Cory Woodroof ranked every single one of Kendrick Lamar’s albums. This is a great ranking.

— Prince Grimes has the six best moments from the Aces’ visit to the White House.

— Robert Zeglinksi has a pretty incredible stat about NBA MVPs from the last few years.

— Diana Taurasi is keeping that beef with Caitlin Clark alive. This is good for the WNBA.

— Nobody wants to buy Drake’s shoes anymore. Thanks, Kendrick.

That’s a wrap, folks! Let’s do this again next week. Until then. Peace.

-Sykes ✌️

The Knicks are just better than the Pacers and officiating has nothing to do with that

If the Pacers were up, I’d bet the officiating wouldn’t be a problem

Good morning, Winners! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thank you so much for rocking with us this morning. We appreciate you.

Rick Carlisle is a veteran NBA coach who has been around the block more than a few times. This guy knows what he’s doing. That’s why I could only let out a chuckle when I watched his postgame press conference calling out the officials after Game 2 between the Knicks and Pacers.

Indiana had a file with 78 calls the team felt went against it between Games 1 and 2. Carlisle said the file was going to the NBA immediately after the game.

“I can promise you that we’re going to submit these tonight,” Carlisle told reporters after the game. “New York can get ready. They’ll see ’em too. I’m always talking to our guys about not making it about the officials, but we deserve a fair shot.”

This is a veteran coaching move by Carlisle. We always see this in the NBA — especially during the playoffs. When a team feels it’s being wronged by the officials, it voices a complaint to sway the whistle further to its side the next game. It usually comes from the team down in the series.

I don’t doubt Carlisle truly feels like his team is getting an unfair whistle in this one. Between the offensive foul on Myles Turner and a (correctly but weirdly!) overturned double-dribble call on Isaiah Hartenstein, it’s been a rough go for Indiana.

But guess what? Every team tracks these “bad” calls for this reason. So when it comes time to submit something to the league and complain to get a better whistle, they can do it.

If New York wanted to counter with its file, I’m almost certain it could. The Knicks would probably have some legitimate gripes in there, too. Because that’s the thing about bad officiating — it usually goes both ways.

Officials aren’t perfect. They’re bound to make mistakes and be inconsistent. It always happens. Sometimes, that inconsistency comes at the wrong time. But that doesn’t mean the NBA has some sort of conspiracy going to get the Knicks to the Finals.

The Knicks have just been better. Period. New York is playing, like, seven dudes right now and OG Anunoby will probably miss some time with that hamstring injury.

Still, New York is outhustling Indiana. They’re beating them on the glass. I mean, Josh Hart is literally sneaking through crowds of Pacers and stealing rebounds on both ends while playing every second of these games. It’s been happening all series.

Josh Hart – 4 offensive rebounds, NONE of them simple. Each demonstrating extraordinary pursuit despite not sitting for a second of this game, leading directly to 8 NYK points.

Inspiring performance. pic.twitter.com/fv8mDFKi4A

— Rit Holtzman (@BenRitholtzNBA) May 7, 2024

That’s why Indiana is losing. It’s not because of bad calls. It’s not because of preferential treatment. It’s because they’re being outworked by a depleted Knicks team. They’re not defending well.

Officiating ain’t changing that. It has nothing to do with what market the Pacers play in. Indiana just needs to be better. Period.

Chill on Nikola Jokic

Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

To the apparent chagrin of so many NBA fans, Nikola Jokic was announced as the NBA’s MVP for the third time in four seasons on Wednesday.

Maybe it was just my Twitter algorithm algorithming, but there seemed to be so many people upset about Jokic winning this award. People were legitimately saying that Shai Gilgeious-Alexander was “robbed” here.

Among those people is Shaq, who is actually one of the Big Honey’s biggest fans. O’Neal told him to his face that SGA deserved the MVP.

Shaquille O'Neal tells his "vice president of the Big Man Alliance" Nikola Jokic that he did not think The Joker should win his 3rd MVP this year pic.twitter.com/f5jAciL5Th

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 8, 2024

On one hand, I respect the fact that he told him to his face. On the other, way to stomp on a moment for the guy, Shaq.

Look, there’s nothing wrong with feeling like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander deserved the award. You can even feel he was incorrectly snubbed here. I might agree with you — he averaged 30.1 points per game on the best team in the West.

But Nikola Jokic nearly averaged a 25-point triple-double with a 65 percent true shooting mark. Their teams also have the same record — OKC holds the tiebreaker so it’s the No. 1 team in the West.

The overreaction has just been so ridiculous here. Part of it is because the Nuggets are down 2-0 to the Timberwolves. Another part of it is that people just seem to be tired of Jokic winning MVPs.

But the guy is that good, man. He deserved it. SGA would’ve, too. But nobody is served by people overreacting like this. Everyone needs to chill.

Champion’s League insanity

Bayern Munich seemed to be headed for a shot at glory on Wednesday for most of its match against Real Madrid.

Bayern led 1-0 for 87 minutes until Joselu scored two straight goals in the 88th minute and 90+2 minutes of the game. It was unreal. The journeyman scored the two biggest goals of his career to send Madrid back to the Champions League final. It was insane.

It also wasn’t without controversy. Bayern had another shot to score and tie the game at 2-2 which would’ve sent it into extra time. Here’s Pro Soccer Wire’s Nick Wojton with more:

“Deep into stoppage time, and shortly after Real had staged a stunning comeback to take the lead, Bayern’s Matthijs de Ligt appeared to have equalize the game at 2-2.

That would have sent the dramatic semifinal to extra time, but a quick whistle from referee Szymon Marciniak ended the play, which might not have even been offside. Because of the fast stop, VAR was not allowed to review the play.

Bayern couldn’t believe the outcome, and the match — and the club’s Champions League dreams — ended moments later.”

This was a finish for the ages. The drama, the intrigue. Everything about it feels like it was written in Hollywood. This is insane.

Madrid will see Dortmund in the final on June 1. Can’t wait

Quick hits: Tyrese Haliburton agrees with me … Which rookie QBs will play this year? … and more

— Tyrese Haliburton says the refs have nothing to do with why the Pacers are getting cooked. Bryan Kalbrosky has more.

— Cory Woodroof gives his thoughts on which rookie QBs have the best chance of playing this upcoming season in the NFL.

— David Pastrnak getting permission to fight is hilarious. Charles Curtis has more.

— Here’s Meg Hall with everything you need to know about this upcoming WNBA season.

— Here are all 9 players in NBA history with at least three MVP awards.

— Here’s Blake Schuster on Wilson Contreras’ injury proving how silly it is to sit catchers right where batters swing.

That’s a wrap, folks. See you tomorrow. Peace.

-Sykes ✌️

The Timberwolves are completely dominating the Nuggets and it shouldn’t be that surprising to you

The Nuggets might just be finished.

Good morning, Winners! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thanks so much for rocking with us today.

How about the Nuggets beatdown, huh? Never thought I’d see the day the defending champions got put in a blender like that. There’s losing and then there’s losing.

That was bad. Denver had absolutely nothing for the Wolves in Game 2. To drop the first two games at home is disastrous for the Nuggets. And to lose the game when Minnesota’s best defender was absent? That’s a tough pill to swallow.

This isn’t surprising if you’ve been paying attention to the playoffs.

On one side, Minnesota has been a buzzsaw through the postseason. The team has now won six straight games after sweeping Phoenix and winning two straight at Denver. The Wolves have been the best team in the playoffs so far. Denver has been solid, but not quite as good as Minnesota.

Let’s get nerdy for a second. Coming out of the first round, Minnesota’s point differential against Denver was +13.9. Denver’s was only +3.7 after it struggled against the Lakers in a five-game series that was really more competitive than it should’ve been.

That’s a simple metric — it’s just how many points per 100 possessions each of these teams outscored their opponents by, on average, in the first round. But you can see the difference between these two teams through that metric. Minnesota played a better team in the first round and handled them accordingly. Denver struggled (relatively speaking) with a No. 7 seed.

You can also see the difference on the court. The Wolves are lengthy, fast and athletic. The Nuggets look a step slow out there. TNT’s broadcast noted how often it looked like there were seven Timberwolves out there on the court. They were right. Minnesota completely engulfed Denver.

Minnesota’s got Denver flustered in a way we haven’t seen in almost two years. Jamal Murray is out here crying for calls and throwing heatpacks on the court. Nikola Jokic is getting cooked defensively and hasn’t put up any fight defending the rim.

Obviously, the Nuggets are the defending champions. Because of that, we’ll always afford them more grace even when it may not necessarily be warranted. Even now, I’m hesitant to bury this team after it lost its first two home games. Nikola Jokic is the best player in the world. If anyone can figure it out, he can.

But in the words of Kendrick Lamar: This Timberwolves team is really like that. This ain’t gonna be easy.

Unanimous is crazy

We knew Victor Wembanyama was probably going to win Rookie of the Year. He did and he deserved it. But to win it unanimously? That was shocking.

All 99 first-place votes for ROY went to Wemby this year.

Victor Wembanyama received all 99 first-place votes from a media panel, making him the first unanimous NBA Rookie of the Year since Karl-Anthony Towns in the 2015-16 season. pic.twitter.com/cWcjdXRrUD

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 6, 2024

He’s the first rookie since Karl-Anthony Towns in 2015-16 to win the award unanimously and one of six players to accomplish this. The other five are:

Towns (2015-16)
Damian Lillard (2012-13)
Blake Griffin (2010-11)
David Robinson (1989-90)
Ralph Sampson (1983-84)

That’s already an impressive feat. But to do that in a year when Chet Holmgren and Brandon Miller exist with their own legitimate cases for ROY adds another wrinkle to this. It’ll also add more drama to the growing Wembanyama-Holmgren rivalry.

Congrats to Wemby. That target on his back is getting even bigger. Luckily for us, though, he’s nice enough to handle it.

What’s up with the umpires, man?

I don’t know. Maybe it’s just me. But does it feel like there have been so many egregiously bad calls made by umpires in Major League Baseball this year already?

I get that it’s never going to be perfect. We’ll always have complaints. But it’s been terrible this year. The Juan Soto strikeout. The C.B. Bucknor post-rain delay disaster.

Now, we’ve got a debacle with Harrison Bader being incorrectly called out on a tag after a replay review. Charles Curtis explains here:

“How was Harrison Bader called out on this slide into third in the New York Mets’ victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night?

And what’s more: how did the replay NOT overturn the call that Bader was safe despite the bang-bang tag on the play?

I have no good answers for this. What I do know is that the call was that Bader was out despite the fact that it looked like he slid in before the tag was applied and that Mets announcers had the same reaction I did when watching this whole thing unfold.”

Here’s the play in question.

Harrison Bader was ruled out upon review on this play

Am I biased or is he incredibly safe? pic.twitter.com/3OiClIYnAf

— jack (@Jolly_Olive) May 7, 2024

Bader is clearly safe here. It’s one thing to make the initial out call. But to have seen the video we’re seeing here and still determine he’s out? Nah, man. That’s malpractice.

I don’t know if this is a shadow-operation by the umpires to get robots in the game, but they’re making a pretty good case this year.

Quick hits: Knicks games just can’t be normal … The best of the Met Gala … and more

— Cory Woodroof has more on the Knicks game that ended with an offensive foul and a New York W. This is so wild, man.

— Here’s Caroline Darney with the best fits from the Met Gala, including an Angel Reese appearance!

— Anthony Edwards doesn’t like MJ comparisons but if he keeps playing like this he’ll keep getting them. Here’s more from Bryan Kalbrosky.

— Charles Barkley thinks the Nuggets are getting swept. Whew boy. Prince Grimes has more.

— Kendrick Lamar’s new diss to Drake is an MLB walk-up song now. Charles Curtis has more.

— Here’s Christian D’Andrea with an early NFL Rookie Power Ranking.

That’s a wrap, folks. See you tomorrow! Peace.

-Sykes ✌️