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 TMW. Thanks so much for reading today. We appreciate you.
Let’s chat a bit about the NBA in-season tournament. I’ll admit when the idea was first announced last season, I was certainly one of the skeptics out there. The tournament seemed like a gimmick — a simple attempt at juicing up numbers in the middle of the NFL season.
But it’s worked perfectly through one month. On Tuesday the group play action wrapped up and now we’re on to the quarterfinals.
Here’s what we have:
East: Bucks (1) vs. Knicks (4), Pacers (2) vs. Celtics (3)
West: Lakers (1) vs. Suns (4), Kings (2) vs. Pelicans
RELATED: A full look at the NBA Cup’s Knockout Round bracket
I don’t think things could have shaken out any better for the league. It’s having its cake and eating it, too.
The purpose of this tournament was to get more eyeballs on the league’s up-and-coming stars in smaller markets. Mission accomplished. The next generation is all over this tournament. Tyrese Haliburton’s Indiana Pacers are the No. 1 seed in the East. Zion Williamson’s Pelicans will take on De’Aaron Fox’s Kings in the West. The point of this tournament was to get more eyeballs on stars in smaller markets. Mission accomplished there, too.
RELATED: Adam Silver wants to change the way the NBA is covered
Meanwhile, the NBA has its bluebloods involved. The Lakers, Celtics and Knicks are all good simultaneously (for once!). The Lakers made their way into the tournament fairly easily. The Celtics and Knicks had to obliterate teams to make it happen on their end, but alas. Here they are. The cash cows for the NBA made it to the party.
Ultimately, we’ll have to see what the ratings look like behind this thing. But right now, it feels like the NBA has something cooking with this tournament.
Has it been a bit silly at times? Sure. Could the league raise the stakes a bit more? I think so. But there’s no doubt that the league has something cooking with the NBA Cup.
I can’t wait til this thing gets to Vegas.
Speaking of Vegas …
Adam Silver has made it clear that the NBA wants to bring a team to Las Vegas. It feels more like a matter of “when” and not “if” at this point. Mark Cuban’s recent move might lay a path down to making that “when” sooner rather than later.
The NBA may have just found its path to getting a team to the city. It might just come at the expense of another franchise.
Cuban is reportedly selling his majority stake in the Mavericks but keeping control of the team’s basketball operations. My colleague Bryan Kalbrosky has more here.
“The news was first reported by league insider Marc Stein, who added that Cuban would “continue to retain operational control” of the Mavericks. The longtime majority shareholder will reportedly sell ownership of the franchise to the Adelson family, per reports.
Shams Charania noted that based on the sale, the valuation of the franchise is now $3.5 billion. Charania added that this is “one of the most unique setups” in league history because Cuban will retain his shares in the organization and he will also maintain “full control and final say” when it comes to basketball operations.”
The buyers are Miriam Adelson and the Adelson family — casino tycoons based out of Las Vegas. Adelson reportedly sold a $2 billion stake in her Las Vegas Sands company before news broke of the Mavericks sale. This would seemingly have been to facilitate the deal.
Cuban is still there with the Mavericks and controls basketball operations. I don’t know if he’d ever allow the team to move without a fight. The team has been there for 43 years. Cuban has owned it for 23 years and built it into one of the league’s most notable franchises. Just upending that would be tough.
Plus, I don’t even know if that’s something the NBA would actually want — especially not after the debacle with the SuperSonics.
But the dots are connecting here. There’s no disputing that. Hopefully, Mavericks fans, this is nothing to worry about.
How in the world is Bobby Petrino back?
I know the College Football Playoff rankings were announced on Tuesday, but the biggest story in college football yesterday had to be Bobby Petrino somehow going back to Arkansas … as an offensive coordinator.
I’ll let Cory Woodruff take you down memory lane here.
“This comes after more than a decade after Arkansas fired Petrino. Yes, remember this? The school fired the former head coach in 2012 for hiring the woman he was having an affair with and trying to hide the fact multiple times from Arkansas leadership.
If you’ll recall, a motorcycle accident involving Petrino and the woman in question led to one of the most infamous press conferences in college football history with a dinged-up Petrino wearing a neck brace and lying to reporters about the details around the crash.
Former Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long excoriated Petrino at the time of his April 2012 firing, per a report from ESPN at the time.”
College football gets wacky. SUPER wacky, sometimes. But this? Man, this goes beyond that. This falls squarely into the “I can’t believe somebody thought this was a good idea” territory. It’s hilarious.
Welcome back, Bobby Petrino. I guess.
Quick hits: This extremely weird Corey Perry story … NFL quarterback rankings … and more
— Here’s Mary Clarke with everything we know about this story unfolding between Corey Perry and the Blackhawks. This might be the weirdest sports story of the year, man.
— Here’s Christian D’Andrea with new quarterback rankings and a Josh Allen MVP case.
— Prince Grimes loves the point differential tiebreaker from the In-Season Tournament and you should, too. Even if players hate it.
— Spotify Wrapped is back, folks! Here’s Charles Curtis with more.
— Ah, look! Here’s Aaron Rodgers suddenly backtracking from his initial December return goal. Shocker. Here’s Robert Zeglinski with more.
— Dirk Nowitzki watching Alpy Sengun do his signature move is just…it’s perfect, man. Bryan has more.
That’s all, folks! Thanks so much for reading today. We appreciate you. Have a fantastic Wednesday. Let’s chat again tomorrow. Peace.
— Sykes ✌️