Catégorie : Sport News

The NBA schedules a slot of special games for Christmas Day for the entertainment of fans, which usually entail the most exciting matchups of the year that capture the festive spirit. The Los Angeles Lakers and the New York Knicks are tied for the most Christmas Day wins in NBA history with 24 each. However, Lakers shooting guard Austin Reaves has been notoriously unlucky on 25th December in his career.

In fact, he discussed with teammate D’Angelo Russell how his Christmas Day games have been cursed since his rookie year when he missed the game due to COVID. The Lakers have had the honor of playing on Christmas Eve in every season that Reaves has been a professional player, but they have been handed disappointing losses every single time.

In his rookie season, they lost to the Brooklyn Nets at home in Reaves’ absence, 122-115. The next season, they fell 124-115 to the Mavericks in Dallas. Last year, they succumbed to a 126-115 defeat to the Boston Celtics.

Reaves lamented his 0-3 Christmas record to D’Lo. He said, “I think I’m 0-3 on Christmas Day games. I didn’t play my rookie year, I had COVID. Second year was Dallas in Dallas, got beat. Last year was Boston. I was so mad my rookie year when I got COVID.”

“Hit the game winner in Dallas, get COVID that night. We’re in Minnesota, stuck there for 5 days. I was like I don’t care if I miss all these games until Christmas, it was like December 16. I don’t care if i miss any of them, if I can get back on Christmas, that’s all that matters,” he added.

However, he wasn’t able to recover in such a short period from Covid. So that still remains a regret for the 26-year-old.

Reaves, like every other player in the league, loves the opportunity that the Christmas game offers. With the Lakers slated to take on the Warriors this season, and Reaves having returned from an injury break, it is the perfect opportunity to notch his first win on the big day.

Austin Reaves plays Santa Claus

Last year, the Lakers had a back-to-back on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. As he and the team were shooting around before their OKC game on the 24th, Reaves spotted a young fan in the stands, who had a sign declaring his admiration for the Lakers guard.

It featured a personal take on Mariah Carey’s famous lyrics “All I want for Christmas is you,” and instead said, “All I want for Christmas is to meet Austin Reaves.” AR-15 made a beeline for the kid, and after reading his sign, he autographed a jersey for him, and posed for a photo.

The jersey he signed was the one Reaves wore during his college days in Oklahoma, with the number 12 on the back.

AR-15’s contributions to the game were important for the Lakers that day as he chipped in with 11 points off the bench, helping the Lakers walk away 129-120 winners.

Taylor Fritz is in the headlines again, but this time it’s all about his passion for football. His latest downtime activity took him to SoFi Stadium, where he caught the clash between the Los Angeles Chargers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

As seen from Fritz’s social media activities, the Californian was present at the arena alongside his girlfriend Morgan Riddle, and a few others.

During his visit to Inglewood, Fritz had the privilege of winding up a turbine as part of the “Bolt Up” ritual. The 27-year-old also spent time on the sidelines and received a jersey from the LA team, making it an unforgettable experience for him.

It also became a hit among fans, who wrote positive messages in the comments section of that post.

However, Fritz’s decision to attend an NFL game with Riddle comes as a surprise, given the harassment suffered by his girlfriend during her trip to Super Bowl LVIII.

Super Bowl LVIII was a traumatic event for Fritz’s girlfriend

Super Bowl LVIII featured a thrilling showdown, with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs securing a dramatic 25-22 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in overtime.

However, for Morgan Riddle, the experience at Allegiant Stadium was anything but memorable. During her visit with friends, the group faced repeated harassment, turning what should have been a celebratory event into a distressing ordeal.

In an emotional Instagram Story, Riddle recounted the encounters her group endured.

“I can’t believe the levels of harassment we dealt with this weekend from men. I the last 3 days, I’ve been grabbed, groped, harassed, catcalled incessantly – basically every few minutes when we were out in public. And it was really bad at the game today,” Riddle wrote.

Fast forward to the present, and Riddle seems to have put the Super Bowl incident behind her, watching the Buccaneers’ 40-17 victory over the Chargers with Taylor Fritz.

Going into the Battle of Pennsylvania in Week 15, the Philadelphia Eagles were hot on the field. They completely dominated one of the best teams in the AFC with a 27-13 dismantling of their cross-state rival, the Pittsburgh Steelers. And the performance was so impressive, in fact, that polarizing NFL pundit Colin Cowherd named them his (new) Super Bowl pick this season.

On the latest episode of his FS1 podcast, The Herd, Cowherd heaped praise on the Eagles for their on-field prowess.

“Last 25 years they’ve had four coaches, Andy Reid, Chip Kelly, Doug Pederson, Nick Sirianni. All but one have gotten to a Super Bowl and they’ve fired three of them. And if Nick Sirianni lost his first playoff game this year, despite his record, which is one of the top five winning percentages of all-time, they’d fire him too,” Cowherd said.

However, Cowherd also criticized them somewhat for several off-field issues. He called them the “strangest great sports franchise” in all of sports, unable to quite control the narrative, but still managing to win games.

“Then, they’ve got star receivers complaining, players going on local radio banging on the culture. You’ve got Sirianni on the sidelines getting into another beef. They run coordinators in and out of the building. It’s 24/7 drama. They have all the qualities of a bad or poorly run franchise. Yet, all the Eagles do is win.”

Cowherd was referring to the fact that there was a lot being said publicly by the likes of A.J. Brown and Brandon Graham that could have caused rifts in the locker room. But the fact is that they haven’t lost since Week 4. Even during the Steelers game, Sirianni got into a tiff with defensive line coach Clint Hurtt, but, as we know, the Eagles went on to win that game 27-13.

Cowherd went on to break down how the Eagles dismantled what was viewed as an elite Pittsburgh defensive unit on Sunday. Beleaguered QB Jalen Hurts proved the doubters wrong, finding his top two WRs a combined 19 times. At his post-game presser, Hurts, who certainly heard the criticism from both in and outside the organization, said, “So, that’s what ya’ll wanted to see, huh?”

That improved passing game in the face of a tough run defense like Pittsburgh’s was part of the reason that Philly was able to convince Cowherd that they are the best team in football this year. Another big reason was that they came out of the gates hot and put up some 1st quarter points, which has been an issue for them all season. He also praised the depth and varied experience of their roster.

“[Philly’s 1st quarter struggles are] another part about the Eagles that virtually makes no sense. But I’m gonna pick ’em to win the Super Bowl. I don’t even know what to make of them. They have the deepest roster in the league. They have young stars, stars in their prime, old stars.”

Another thing that pushed Cowherd to make this pick—which is not a shocking one but also not one that many would have backed him in picking just a couple of days ago—is the aggressiveness and physicality that runs through the identity of the organization. In Week 15, they went against another team, the Steelers, that wanted to play like that. Philly played the big brother, showing the little brother how it’s done.

“Only team in the league that has like three levels of greatness. They have the most aggressive general manager, Howie Roseman. They have the most physically aggressive head coach. Their owner occasionally, Jeffrey Lurie, a brilliant man, sometimes meddles. Owner, GM, head coach, quarterback, it’s a lot of Alpha. It’s a lot of puffing your chest out. But I love their aggressiveness. They don’t apologize for who they are or what they are.”

It’s not just the Eagles that convinced Cowherd of his pick. The lack of inspiration he feels about other top contenders in the NFL played a part too. He’s certainly not alone in that last sentiment.

“Buffalo, love ’em but I don’t trust ’em. Kansas City’s barely beating anybody, they can’t protect Mahomes. Baltimore, well, playoffs are their kryptonite. Detroit, I mean they’re running out of players. I’m gonna take Philadelphia. They’ve got five different ways to beat ya, and the layering of talent is incredible.”

Philly now has the same 12-2 record as the injury-plagued Detroit Lions, who lost for the first time since Week 2 on Sunday. They would seem to have at least the No. 2 seed locked up now. They are also now boasting +450 odds to win the Super Bowl, tied with the Lions behind only the Bills (+400).

The Detroit Lions have been dominant all year, but Colin Cowherd doesn’t believe they are the biggest threat to the Philadelphia Eagles anymore. Cowherd thinks the Lions’ season is spiraling out of control due to the massive amounts of injuries to their defense. He believes that it has set the stage for the Green Bay Packers to take hold of the second-best team in the NFC.

Cowherd didn’t mince his words on his show when analyzing the state of the NFC. He talked about how the Lions are losing David Montgomery, Alim McNeill, and Khalil Dorsey to injury — all for the season. And this led to his bold claim:

“I think Green Bay is the biggest obstacle for the Philadelphia Eagles to get to the Super Bowl,” he professed on the Colin Cowherd Show. “I find the Packers so easy to root for, they’re such a smart, well-run business.”

Cowherd supported his argument by pointing out that the Packers are the youngest team in the league and currently boast a 10-4 record. He also said that they’re the best at developing young quarterbacks now that Jordan Love is playing at a high level.

He wasn’t actually wrong for saying the Packers don’t have a crazy owner and that there’s no ego in the organization, just efficiency. Green Bay is the only team in the league that’s publicly owned by shareholders.

“Detroit is falling apart. The Rams feel like they’re one draft away. And the Vikings, Sam Darnold, has never been to the playoffs.”

There’s truth to all of Cowherd’s statements. Detroit is falling apart with injuries. The Rams have been on a late-season surge, but for the most part, have struggled against good teams. And the Vikings, while they are having a great season, it’s hard to buy into Darnold making a deep playoff run.

But with the Packers, we’ve seen this from them before. Their head coach, Matt LaFleur, has taken them to the playoffs in three out of four seasons. Their latest win over the Seahawks gave them more than a 99% chance to make the playoffs.

The only issue with LaFleur has been his decision-making in the post-season. In 2020, he was heavily criticized for kicking a field goal instead of going for a touchdown on fourth down, which ultimately allowed the Buccaneers to win and go on to the Super Bowl.

The biggest difference for the Packers this year, though, has been their running game. Cowherd even touched upon how the Josh Jacobs signing was “so Green Bay.” At a time when running backs are being devalued with age, the Packers signed a 26-year-old Jacobs—zigging when everyone else was zagging. He’s now among the top five in the league in rushing attempts, yards, and touchdowns.

The Packers are definitely a professional organization, as Cowherd believes. In today’s day and age, where it’s all about player branding and social media, Green Bay has found a way to maintain their classy style. And if they can stay healthy, they will be a team that the Eagles don’t want to face in January.

Boris Becker’s love for sports extends beyond tennis — he is also an avid soccer fan. The German legend follows 19-time Serie A champions AC Milan passionately, frequently sharing posts and stories about them. Monday was a historic day for the club, and Becker was one of many who reacted to it.

As AC Milan completed its 125th anniversary on December 16, they tweeted that the club is always there for its fans. Becker reacted to that post with a comment, “Big fan of Milan !!!”

He did not stop there. Becker also responded to other Milan-related posts, including one with a photo of the club’s legendary defender and captain, Paolo Maldini. He wrote, “Especially of this guy.”

The German also does his best not to miss any of their matches. Becker, like countless other soccer fans, watched the Champions League heavyweight battle between AC Milan and Liverpool last September. Even though Milan lost 3-1, Becker expressed his fondness for both clubs.

Interestingly, Becker is not the only famous tennis player who strongly believes in the club’s ‘Sempre Milan’ slogan, which translates to “Always Milan”. Becker’s former protege, Novak Djokovic, has often shown how big a Milan fan he is.

When Djokovic trolled YouTuber Speed about playing for AC Milan

Popular YouTuber IShowSpeed had failed to recognize Djokovic at last year’s Ballon d’Or ceremony. Using his sense of humor, the Serb successfully convinced him that he was an AC Milan player, and both of them laughed about that later.

Djokovic not only follows the club religiously but is also a huge fan of their former star player, Zlatan Ibrahimovic. There was a point when the AC Milan management even reportedly considered making him their mental coach.

Another tennis star who is a big AC Milan fan is the current World No.1 Jannik Sinner. The Italian has openly expressed his love for the Serie A club many times. He has also been spotted at their games and has received personalized jerseys from them. Safe to say, the historic club has a big following in the tennis community.

Amon-Ra St. Brown starred for the Detroit Lions again in one of the most highly anticipated games of the season in Week 15 against the Buffalo Bills. The 1st-Team All-Pro wideout was a focal point of the Lions’ attack in the tough 48-42 loss they suffered at Ford Field. And despite being much less than 100 percent physically, it turns out the Sun God put forth a record-breaking performance.

St. Brown was reported to have been dealing with food poisoning throughout the contest. Most people are unable to even get out of bed when they’re dealing with a stomach bug—much less put up a career-high 14 receptions for 193 yards and a trip to pay dirt, as St. Brown did on Sunday.

The Bills were up by double-digits for nearly the entire game, which was a contributing factor to St. Brown’s big day. His QB, Jared Goff, also suffered a strange twist of fate: he lost despite throwing five TDs. Earlier this year, Goff and the Lions won a game despite him throwing five interceptions.

Detroit did make a furious late comeback. However, they were somewhat thwarted by a short-sighted decision by Dan Campbell to run an onside kick down 10, with 10 minutes remaining. The Lions finished the game on a 28-13 run to cut the lead to six, but their final points were scored with 16 seconds remaining, so the game wasn’t quite as close as the score might make it seem.

St. Brown’s performance was highlighted by a 66-yard TD reception, his longest catch of the season and the 2nd-longest TD reception of his decorated career.

He also saw 18 targets for the second time this season, tied for the 2nd-most in his career as well. Perhaps most impressively, considering the state of his stomach on the day, is that St. Brown played a whopping 72 snaps (91 percent), the 4th-highest snap count of his NFL career.

However, Lions fans were not all feeling for St. Brown after his food poisoning was reported on Monday. Some believed it was merely just another excuse after a loss. Some saw it as another example of the player’s toughness. Still, others took the opportunity to take a shot at the City of Detroit, specifically, its “dirty water”

That last tweet speaks to a general sentiment among the Lions faithful right now: they are seemingly cursed. They finally have the best team in the league after decades of waiting, but injuries in the lead-up to the playoffs are sapping their momentum.

It seems they’ve lost a key contributor in every game for the past month. If you can believe it, it happened three more times on Sunday. CB1 Carlton Davis, top DT Alim McNeil, and RB2 David Montgomery were all lost for the season.

They do still have Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jared Goff, however. That means they should expect to be in a lot of shootouts down the stretch here. After his big day against Buffalo, St. Brown now sits 2nd in receptions (95), 4th in receiving yards (1,056), and 3rd in receiving TDs (10) in the league.

He’s going to need to replicate his effort from the “Food Poisoning Game” a few more times if the Lions are going to make good on their massive potential this season.

Vince Carter tantalized the NBA with his explosive high-flying dunks. However, he first made his name known during his three seasons at North Carolina. Carter left fans in awe with his antics in the air. Former UNC teammate, Brendan Haywood wasn’t any exception. In one of their first practices together, Carter performed a dunk that made him realize that there’s something special in the guard.

Haywood made a guest appearance on the Run Your Race Podcast. In his conversation with former Tarheel, Theo Pinson, the two discussed their separate experiences at UNC. As a result, Haywood enlightened Pinson by sharing the moment Carter proved that he was one of the greatest athletes ever. He said,

“Vince would do something once a day. That first scrimmage is was straight the starters versus the backups. Ball somehow gets swung to Vince and somebody over-commits to the jump shot. It’s a problem already. I’m at the top of the key, I can’t get there. He’s going down the baseline, it’s actually coach Williams’ son, Scott Williams. Scott tried to take a charge. Scott was a step outside the paint. Vince flew over his head like the Jumpman sign and dunked it. I was like, ‘Oh, this is different.’”

At the time of Haywood’s story, Carter hadn’t nearly grown into his body. However, his raw athletic power simply oozed out at any given moment. Haywood recalls Carter clearing his teammate and emulating the iconic Air Jordan ‘Jumpman’ logo en route to throwing down the emphatic dunk.

Throughout Carter’s NBA career, he captured his fair share of poster dunks. However, his tremendous dunk in college wasn’t the only time the Hall-of-Fame guard flew over someone for a dunk.

Carter shocked the world in 2000

Team USA allowed Carter to represent his nation in the 2000 Syndey Olympics. Carter strived to win a gold medal for his country but in the process, he captured one of the most iconic plays in the history of basketball.

In Team USA’s matchup against France, the Americans were taking care of business as planned. Midway through the second half, Carter stole a pass in the middle of a potential France fastbreak. He quickly turned the tides. As he gathered his momentum, only one player stood in his way, big man Freder Weis. But not for long.

Carter completely cleared the French big man. As a result, the dunk earned the label of ‘The Dunk of Death.’ This dunk serves as one of the many brilliant jams, which solidify Carter as one of the greatest dunkers in NBA history.

NBA players and figures in the media have a love-hate relationship. There isn’t a media personality with more controversial standing with NBA athletes than ESPN star Stephen A. Smith. Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo is the most recent star to send cheeky comments to the iconic First Take host. Smith didn’t waste any time in responding to the two-time MVP.

Smith took to First Take to address Antetokounmpo. Giannis made a guest appearance on his brother, Thanasis’ Thanalysis Show, where he shared his playful distaste for the popular sports debate show. He said,

“I want you one day, Thanasis, to go to First Take and go crazy. Sit down on the table, they love you over there. Stephen A. Smith is your guy, you are like this. I’m tired of walking into the facility and turning on First Take because we have First Take on all the TVs. And see blah blah blah.”

Smith didn’t take any offense to Giannis’ comments. Instead, he laughed in his reaction. Additionally, he extended an invitation to the show to Giannis and Thanasis. Smith said,

“I’m going to reach out to both of them today. I’m going to reach out and extend an invite.”

Giannis has been vocal in his opinion on the media on certain occasions. However, Smith contends that he nor First Take has spoken ill of the Greek Freak. The collaboration of the Antetokounmpo brothers and Smith would be an entertaining show due to the outgoing personalities of all involved.

Matter of fact, this wouldn’t be the first time Stephen A. Smith was on a show with Thanasis.

Smith’s guest appearance on Thanasis’ podcast

Earlier this year in April, Thanasis held a special episode of his podcast in front of a live audience. In the episode, his brother Giannis Antetokounmpo made a special guest appearance, along with Stephen A. Smith. They cleared the air on any differences between them, as Giannis gave Smith high praise for his ability to speak his truth regardless of what others may think of him. In response, Smith kept it incredibly simple.

“Yes, there’s a lot of players who don’t like me,” said Smith. “Yes, it’s true I can give less than a damn.”

Smith went on to highlight that this is the territory of the field he is in. He will never alter the truth for the sake of sparing someone’s feelings because it is a disservice to the craft. Giannis found a commonality in that mindset in his approach on the basketball court.

The episode with them turned out to be a fantastic conversation, which means a potential cameo on First Take from the brothers could be must-watch TV.

The NBA may have transformed into a three-point shooting league before our eyes, but don’t try showing the analytics to Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has continued to dominate despite a near-total rejection of the outside shot.

Giannis’ Milwaukee Bucks may have gotten off to a slow start this season, but they’re now one of the hottest teams in the league thanks in large part to their star’s ability to buck modern convention and thrive with an anachronistic game, as former player Lou Williams pointed out during an appearance on FanDuel TV’s Run it Back.

“I don’t think Giannis got the memo that this is a 3-point shooting league now…. Giannis was just spectacular. He’s the reason for this Milwaukee Bucks team, and their turnaround and everything they’ve been able to do.”

Williams praised Giannis for embracing a “bully ball” mentality in the NBA Cup semifinals against the Atlanta Hawks this weekend, as he poured in 32 points while adding 14 rebounds, 9 assists, and 4 blocks to help the Bucks book a date with the Oklahoma City Thunder in the finals on Tuesday.

Williams spoke about “getting back to basics” and “putting pressure on the rim,” and Giannis showed that he is the poster child for that kind of old-school basketball by getting to the line 18 times while attempting zero shots from beyond the arc, a rarity in today’s NBA.

What’s even more impressive is that this is nothing new for the former MVP. Giannis is averaging 32.7 points per game on a ridiculous 61.4 percent shooting, and he’s done it by playing with his back to the basket, getting to the rim, and drawing contact.

Giannis is averaging 11.4 free throws per game, a number that leads the league and is well ahead of Anthony Davis of the Lakers, who is in second place with 8.8. He’s also only attempted 17 threes on the year. For reference, LaMelo Ball of the Hornets is attempting over 13 threes per game.

Giannis Antetokounmpo has put the Bucks on his back with his old-school game

Giannis knows his strengths and weaknesses, and this year more than ever, he’s playing to them. This has helped him score at least 20 points in each of the Bucks’ 25 games while shooting at least 50% in each one. It’s a throwback to the type of basketball that made big men like Wilt Chamberlain dominant, and a refreshing palette cleanser in today’s era of teams shooting 40+ threes per game.

It’s fair to say that the Bucks haven’t reached their goals since acquiring Dame Lillard from the Portland Trailblazers last year. The team fired Adrian Griffith just 43 games into his tenure as head coach, then were upset in the first round of the playoffs by the eventual Eastern Conference runner-up Indiana Pacers.

The beginning of this season gave fans little reason to believe the Bucks could turn it around, but Williams credits Giannis with engineering Milwaukee’s remarkable rise from the East cellar, as they’ve answered a 2-8 start with a 12-3 stretch to climb to sixth in the conference.

Lillard, who’s averaging over 25 points of his own, has been excellent as Giannis’ wingman, and the Bucks are hoping that the recent return of Khris Middleton will push them to even greater heights. Ultimately though, the Bucks will go as Giannis goes, which is why this recent surge has propelled him back into the MVP conversation.

The fight for the league’s top individual honor may be crowded, with three-time MVP Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets sitting in pole position thanks to his career-best numbers, but don’t count Giannis Antetokounmpo out yet, especially if the Bucks are able to win the NBA Cup.

Jokic has been extraordinary, yes, but voter fatigue may yet play into this, and Giannis’ compelling old-school dominance will resonate with those who believe the league has tilted too far towards the love of the three.