Kobe Bryant heckled Luka Doncic during Lakers – Mavericks … in Slovenian

“He was talking Slovenian. So I was like, who is talking my language? And I saw Kobe.”

The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Dallas Mavericks 108-95 on Sunday night, in large part to the Lakers’ excellent defense.

A huge part of that defensive gameplan was keyed around stopping MVP candidate Luka Doncic of the Mavericks. The Lakers did well there, with Doncic having one of the worst nights of his season.

L.A. might have also had a little help getting in Doncic’s head, thanks to former Lakers great Kobe Bryant, who was sitting courtside at the game and isn’t afraid to talk trash to, well, anybody.

During the game, Bryant was shown trash talking Doncic to the point that Doncic actually turned around. When he realized who was doing the smack talk, he smiled and dapped up Bryant.

After the game, however, Doncic revealed that it wasn’t just standard trash talk … Bryant was riffing in Slovenian, Doncic’s native language.

“He was talking Slovenian,” Doncic said. “So I was like, who is talking my language? And I saw Kobe, and I was really surprised.”

Does Bryant know Slovenian from having grown up in Italy and spending a lot of time in Europe? Or is he just such a competitive lunatic that he went and learned Slovenian trash talk so he could give Doncic crap in a game that he wasn’t even playing in?

The world may never know. Honestly, neither would surprise me.

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Wild, stoppage-time bicycle kick goal lifts Monterrey over Club América in first leg of Liga MX final

Rogelio Funes Mori gave us one of the goals of the year with a stoppage-time bicycle kick to give his team the lead.

CF Monterrey took on Club América in the first leg of the Apertura final of Liga MX this week, and hoo buddy, what a game.

(For fans new to Liga MX — their season is divided into two parts, with two tournaments. The Apertura starts in the summer and concludes now, with the Clausera starting up shortly.)

The match was tied 1-1 in the 93rd minute, and it looked like the teams would go into the second leg of the final all square. Then the ball started bouncing in the AmĂ©rica box, and landed on the chest of Monterrey’s Rogelio Funes Mori.

Then he had an absolute moment of magic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01D0056TDJY

A bicycle kick stoppage-time winner? Yes. Oh heavens yes.

América will be disappointed to enter the second leg down a goal. They fought admirably, even after going down to 10 men when Francisco Cordova was shown a red card in the 53rd minute. To defend that well for that long, down a man, only to give up a late goal like that? That stings.

The second leg of the final is this Sunday night.

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Tacko Fall, wearing a tuxedo, conducts the Boston Pops to raucous ovation

The 7-foot-5 Celtics cult hero Tacko Fall wore a tuxedo and conducted the Boston Pops for a rendition of “Sleigh Ride.”

Celtics rookie center Tacko Fall has quickly become a cult hero in New England, mostly because of his size — he stands at 7-foot-5. While some of the appreciation for Fall feels a little icky and “look at the tall freak”-y, he seems to be enjoying it, and as long as he’s happy, I’m happy.

The latest stop on the Tacko Takeover of New England was at the Boston Pops on Monday night, when he led the famed orchestra in a rousing edition of the holiday classic “Sleigh Ride.”

He was wearing a size-48 double-extra-long tuxedo, via ESPN, which Fall said was the first tuxedo he’d ever worn.

That is one tall man leading an orchestra.

I do enjoy the initial reaction of the crowd, many of whom clearly had no idea who he was. Then he stood up, and they understood what was happening there.

As long as we’re appreciating Tacko Fall and not gawking at Tacko Fall, I’m . OK with this whole thing continuing. But watch yourselves, Boston. I’ve got my eye on you.

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Tiger Woods trolls Justin Thomas after one-upping him with monstrous drive

Woods outdrove the 26-year-old Thomas, then paused to inspect his ball, before confidently striding away.

The only thing better than the Big Cat being back is the Big Cat being back with a little swagger. 

Tiger Woods is paired up with Justin Thomas at the Hero World Championship in the Bahamas today, and after Thomas hit a huge drive during the round, Woods stepped up and smashed one that flew past his.

Thomas is 26 years old, and last year averaged over 300 yards per drive. He’s a big hitter. Woods is 44, but he’s the Big Cat, so it doesn’t matter.

Even better, Woods then walked over to Thomas’ ball on the fairway, and pretended to look down and inspect it to see if it was actually his ball. He then confidently strode away, because he’s Tiger Woods and he gets to do that.

BIG CAT SWAGGER.

What can Thomas do there? There’s nothing you can do. You applaud Woods, and maybe ask him to sign his can of Monster Energy Drink for you later.

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Lamar Jackson’s tape from Rams game has us asking: How do you stop him?

The Ravens’ Lamar Jackson finished with five touchdowns, but that doesn’t tell the full story of his dominance over the Rams.

The Baltimore Ravens took apart the Los Angeles Rams on Monday Night Football, winning 45-6 in a game that didn’t even feel that close, if that’s possible.

Lamar Jackson was all but unstoppable. The Ravens quarterback finished with five TDs on 15-20 passing. He only had 169 yards in the air, but it was all he needed, as he also had 8 carries for 95 yards. The threat of Jackson also opened up the running game — the Ravens finished with 285 yards on the ground from five rushers, led by Mark Ingram with 111 yards.

I’m just … I’m not sure what you’re supposed to do with Jackson right now. He can make all the throws, and if you somehow cover the Ravens receivers, he can just turn the corner on your edge rusher and pick up eight yards on the ground, always, forever and ever. He’s like a cheat code right now.

Watch his highlights from the game last night. They’re flabbergasting.

Looking at that tape, again, I’m just not sure what you’re supposed to do with him. No linebacker can keep up with him, so if you spy him, you’re still dead. Go all out blitz he’s good enough to find the open receiver. Sit deep in coverage, he’ll just hang out in the pocket until someone is open, or wait until the rush gets too far up the field and run for a first down.

My favorite moment from the highlights above is at the 3:02 mark where the camera cuts to Wade Phillips on the Rams sideline and he blinks a few times, and you can just see the hope escaping. This is a man with no answers. Just puzzled, and broken.

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Watch the video of the Colin Kaepernick NFL workout

Colin Kaepernick has changed the location of his workout for NFL teams, and has allowed media to attend. There is now a live feed available.

It’s been a day for Colin Kaepernick’s supposed tryout for NFL teams.

First there were protestors. Then word came that Kaepernick would reportedly be providing his own wide receivers when the league would not tell him the receivers who would attend the workout.

Then, it happened: Just hours before the workout, Kaepernick was reportedly asked to sign an “unusual” waiver that would free the league of any liability for employment claims. Kaepernick and his team offered to sign a standard injury liability waiver, but the league insisted on the waiver with a broader mandate. PFT’s Mike Florio suggested that the waiver would protect the league from any future legal action from the NFL, and may have been the point of this whole thing.

Kaepernick and his team walked away, rescheduling the workout for an hour later at a local Atlanta-area high school. They have invited the media to that event, and now we have live feed that is scheduled to begin when the workout begins.

Read more about what’s happening with the Kaepernick workout below.

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