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The Covid-19 pandemic sabotaged all sporting activities across the globe with major leagues and tournaments halting on its account. The NBA is no exception; the 2019-20 season had to be called off for the safety of players, fans, and other stakeholders. Two months later, it is not yet clear when the league will resume. [Read more…]
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Luka Doncic has set himself up to be the future of the NBA. The third overall draft selection in
2018 has had a great start to his career and looks to be one of the best players in the league for
the considerable future.
In his heyday, Michael Jordan was once described by Oprah Winfrey as “the most famous person on the planet.” The clip, included in the new series which pretends to be a documentary, “The Last Dance,” might not be hyperbole. In terms of sporting figures throughout the course of history, there’s pretty much Michael Jordan and Babe Ruth in the highest pantheon of pantheons.
Yes, you have Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona and more in the world of football, but Jordan is rarified air. His Airness played with the Chicago Bulls from 1984-1993, and when he came back to play for the team from 1995-1998, there was already a statue of him (deservedly so) outside the venue where he put in work every night.
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With all the buzz tonight surrounding the debut of the 30 for 30 docuseries, “The Last Dance,” profiling the Chicago Bulls dynasty, we figured it was time to revisit this piece from June 13, 2013. It’s an exclusive with the greatest so-called “second banana” in NBA history, Chicago Bulls legend Scottie Pippen.
It’s from the ground-breaking ceremony on the Bulls’ practice facility, the Advoacte Center. At the time of the interview Pippen was serving as Special Advisor to the President and COO for the team. He is probably the team’s number one ambassador, and he was on hand Monday for the ground-breaking of the Bulls new practice facility. The exclusive with Scottie Pippen from seven years ago is below:
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The Wikipedia page of Derek Harper describes him as one of the best players never to have made an All-Star Game. After being named to the University of Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame this week, the legendary former Illini did a teleconference call with the media.
He was asked what he believes his legacy will be, and he responded by saying he really doesn’t think too much about it, but he also offered this very substantive answer: “I think people will remember Derek Harper because he left it on the floor every single night.”
“Played with a passion, tough-minded…I gave the game every breath I had. To me, that’s enough.”
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Illinois Fighting Illini Center Kofi Cockburn announced, just minutes ago via his Instagram page, his early entry into the 2020 NBA Draft. It is unclear, given the text of the message he posted, whether he is just testing the waters or not.
The message says nothing about hiring an agent, which is the determining factor for whether or not he can return to school for his sophomore season. If he has representation, then his college career is over. If not, then he can come back to Champaign next year, and even go through this process after his next two seasons, if he so desires. See his IG posting below:
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The coronavirus pandemic has been trying times for everybody, worldwide, but the best thing we can do to get through it is to try and maintain a sense of humor. One of the funniest memes circulating on social media throughout this adverse month is Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, and her look of strong disapproval.
Her stern image appears, photo-shopped, in places closed off by this lockdown. Pair this popular trend with Chicago’s obsessiveness with sports, and you have a message that will reach a lot of people. Enter “We Are Not Playing,” a campaign that partners City Hall with Chicago’s professional sports teams in an effort to stop the community spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).
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Within the past 24 hours we’ve seen the top two players, arguably, on the University of Kentucky declare for the NBA Draft in guards Tyrese Maxey and Ashton Hagans. Both backcourt stars are not testing the waters, they’re in the draft to stay.
And you got to like their chances of not just being drafted, but also making it big in the league given the UK track record in this arena. If you look at the basketball betting odds, chances are that you’ll see the favored team with a squad that contains at least a couple former UK Wildcats. In fact, players who were coached by John Calipari in college have earned $2.2 billion in NBA contracts.
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The public profile of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has risen so much lately that she’s now in the mix to potentially be the Democratic VP candidate in 2020. One oddsmaker even lists her as the third most favorable candidate to get the nod, behind only Senators Kamala Harris and Amy Klobuchar.
Governor Whitmer, or “that woman from Michigan” as the President condescendingly referred to her in one of his painfully awkward and generally awful on every level daily press briefings, is certainly a rising star in the Democratic party right now.
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The new normal for sports media consists of Zoom, Cisco WebEx and teleconferences. Gone are press conferences and locker room access. For athletes doing strength training, the new normal consists of bench press pressing tires, pulling/pushing motor vehicles and jumping on to garbage cans.
They’ve had to say goodbye to the weight room and any kind of training in groups. Kentucky Wildcats coach John Calipari, while on Zoom teleconference with the media, pointed out the challenges basketball players have right now to stay in shape and keep their skills fresh.
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Zoom, WebEx, Skype- this is our lives as sports reporters for the foreseeable future. It’s an adjustment to be sure, but it’s still a bit weird. It’s what we all have to do though, as every single one of us must mobilize for the greater good. We all miss March Madness of course, but there is absolutely no way the games could have been played under current conditions.
In a year with no clear favorite, Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari had a team that could have definitely won it all. Betting on UK in the NCAA Tournament has a been a profitable endeavor over the years, as this accumulator calculator can show you. With eight NCAA Tournament championships and 17 Final Fours in their history, a lot of people have won green betting on big blue.
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As the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic continues to sweep around the globe, almost all of of the top tier sports leagues have gone into almost complete lockdown. The four major leagues in North America have all been affected, and it seems almost certain the impact rise over the coming weeks.
Here’s the latest state-of-play in the NFL, NHL, NBA and MLB with regards to the coronavirus outbreak.
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