Nov 21, 2018; Dallas, TX, USA; A view of the team logo on the shorts of Brooklyn Nets forward Jared Dudley (6) as he warms up before the game against the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
The Brooklyn Nets searched out West to find their next head coach.
The Nets are hiring top Sacramento Kings assistant Jordi Fernandez to be the team’s next head coach, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The Nets reportedly met with dozens of candidates over the past few weeks in their search for interim coach Kevin Ollie’s replacement. The team had decided to part ways with its former head coach Jacque Vaughn in February.
Fernandez was said to be among three finalists for the Nets job as of last week.
From 2016 to 2022, Fernandez spent six seasons with the Denver Nuggets as an assistant coach under Michael Malone. Fernandez then left Denver to take on a more prominent role on the Sacramento Kings’ coaching staff under head coach Mike Brown.
Fernandez’s name has received a lot of head-coaching buzz over the past year.
Fernandez also serves as head coach of the Canadian men’s national team. Fernandez led Team Canada to a third-place finish at the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
The Nets have had trouble maintaining stability within their coaching staff over the past couple of seasons. Fernandez becomes Brooklyn’s fourth head coach since the start of the 2022-23 campaign.
The Colorado Rockies on Monday made the surprising decision to trot out a starting pitcher as a pinch runner. The strategy did not work out.
The Rockies and Philadelphia Phillies were tied 1-1 in the top of the 9th at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pa.
After two quick outs to start the inning, Rockies catcher Elias Diaz got into scoring position with a double to left field.
Pinch running for Diaz in that spot seemed natural given the catcher’s lack of speed. But Colorado surprised some fans by opting for starter Kyle Freeland to take Diaz’s place. The Rockies had a thin bench that evening and felt that using Freeland was worth the risk.
Freeland was later able to advance to third on a wild pitch. The nerves may have gotten to Phillies reliever Jeff Hoffman, who threw another wild pitch in the dirt.
Freeland immediately took off for home. But Phillies catcher JT Realmuto recovered the ball quickly and flipped it to Hoffman in time to get Freeland out. Freeland, who made a hard slide into home plate, was injured on the play.
The game eventually went to extras. The Rockies ended up losing in the 10th inning via a walk-off single by Phillies outfielder Cristian Pache, who had entered the game in the 8th as a pinch runner.
Jan 8, 2022; Denver, Colorado, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) before the game against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High. Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
One Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver has caught the attention of star quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
On Monday, the Chiefs began phase one of their offseason workouts. While the first phase is mostly done virtually, Mahomes has once again spearheaded in-person workouts with a number of the Chiefs’ pass-catchers in his home state of Texas.
Mahomes recently spoke to the media and singled out one Chiefs wideout who has left him “pleasantly surprised” thus far: Marquise “Hollywood” Brown.
Kansas City signed Brown last month to help fix what had been a subpar Chiefs wide receiver room in 2023. The man already appears to have Mahomes’ seal of approval.
Brown was second among Arizona Cardinals receivers last season in catches (101) and receiving yards (574). He also led the Cardinals with four receiving touchdowns.
Kansas City may need Brown to step up more than initially anticipated given the legal trouble last season’s top wide receiver Rashee Rice finds himself in. Rice is facing several charges for his involvement in a multi-vehicle crash.
Rice led the team in receiving touchdowns (7) and was second in receiving yards (938) last season only behind Travis Kelce. Though Rice did surprisingly participate in Monday’s virtual workouts, his future with the Chiefs remains a huge question mark.
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Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins is already endearing himself to his new team.
Cousins on Monday posted on X about a funny encounter he had with a teammate in the Falcons’ cafeteria.
“Well, that certainly didn’t take long…,” wrote Cousins. “3rd week with the Falcons & a teammate says to me in the lunch line: ‘I feel like you give off serious Dad vibes, Kirk.'”
It’s hard to blame the anonymous teammate. The dad vibes have been spilling out of Cousins since he was still with the Minnesota Vikings.
The 35-year-old QB is also, in fact, an actual father to two young boys.
Some fans believed that the identity of the teammate was more than likely to be Kyle Pitts. The Falcons tight end was a big part of Cousins’ recruitment to Atlanta. Pitts is also 12 years younger than Cousins.
Cousins will truly be dad-like around most of the Falcons roster. Atlanta had one of the youngest teams in the NFL last season. They entered Week 1 with the fourth-youngest average age at 25 years and 9 months old.
Cousins has been the subject of several jokes ever since he signed with the Falcons. Those jokes don’t appear to be going away anytime soon.
Former Michigan quarterback and current Wolverines staff member Denard Robinson was arrested on Monday on suspicion of operating a vehicle while intoxicated (OWI).
Robinson was involved in a single-car crash at E. Eisenhower Parkway and S. State at approximately 3:05 am on Monday morning. He was arrested on suspicion of OWI. Charges against Robinson are pending the results of a toxicology report.
Robinson played quarterback at Michigan from 2009-2012. He became a 5th-round pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2013 and lasted four seasons with them.
Robinson was hired by Michigan in 2022 to serve as their assistant director of player personnel.
The 33-year-old Robinson has been suspended indefinitely by Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore.
“We are aware of an incident involving Denard Robinson and have suspended him indefinitely. We will continue to monitor the situation and will have no further comment at this time,” Moore said in a statement.
Robinson is the second Michigan football staff member to be arrested for OWI recently. Wolverines defensive line coach Greg Scruggs was arrested for OWI on March 16 and resigned from his position five days later.
Apr 13, 2024; Augusta, Georgia, USA; Scottie Scheffler waves to patrons after making an eagle putt on No. 13 during the third round of the Masters Tournament. Mandatory Credit: Adam Cairns-USA TODAY Network
Scottie Scheffler didn’t waste any time getting his celebration going after winning the Masters on Sunday.
Scheffler headed home from Augusta, Georgia to the Dallas, Texas area on Sunday. He then stopped by the Inwood Tavern bar to hang out, which is near the Dallas Love Field airport.
Scheffler was even wearing the same outfit he wore while winning the Masters: blue pants, a pink golf shirt, and the green jacket.
Scheffler secured a $3.6 million pay day from winning the Masters. He was been on quite a hot streak lately and has won the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship, in addition to the Masters. Yet all the success and big-money wins haven’t kept Scheffler from forgetting the good people at his local bar.
Aug 14, 2022; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; The Toronto Blue Jays logo during batting practice against the Cleveland Guardians at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
One Toronto Blue Jays player is finally getting his own baseball card … only it isn’t actually him on the card.
Images went viral this week of a Topps card, from the 2024 Heritage set, purportedly showing Hagen Danner, a pitcher in the Blue Jays organization. While Danner is currently pitching in AAA Buffalo, he made his MLB debut with the Jays last season, which was enough to earn him a card from Topps.
The problem? It wasn’t Danner’s image on the card. Danner called out Topps in a post to X this week over the mistake, saying he had even alerted them about it beforehand, only for the erroneous image to still get printed.
“Definitely not even close to being me,” Danner wrote. “What do we got @Topps?? Told you guys it wasn’t me and still released.”
One X user shared what Danner actually looks like for reference.
As for who the player depicted in the card actually is, that remains somewhat of a mystery. Former MLB pitcher Bradin Hagens replied to Danner’s post claiming that it was an old picture of him from the minors around 2014 (suggesting Topps had made a “Hagen”-“Hagens” mix-up).
But Hagens has been pitching overseas for years now and never played for the Blue Jays organization. Thus, it does not make sense that he would be wearing a Jays uniform (unless Topps did some blatant Photoshopping).
In any case, a whiff like that one is not a great look for Topps, especially if they had advanced notice of the mistake as Danner claimed. That might be as bad of a goof as the one that Topps made several years ago on a World Series-themed card.
Oct 16, 2016; Green Bay, WI, USA; A Dallas Cowboys helmet sits on the field prior to the game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Dallas won 30-16. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Two of the Dallas Cowboys’ top players were not with the team for the start of their voluntary off-season workouts on Monday.
Neither CeeDee Lamb nor Micah Parsons were present for the Cowboys on Monday to start the team’s voluntary workouts. Parsons did not attend the program last year.
Lamb is seeking a contract extension from the Cowboys, so he feels it makes no sense for him to attend voluntary activities until he receives a new contract from the team.
Lamb was a first-round pick by the Cowboys in 2020. He is set to play on his 5th-year contract option in 2024, which will pay him nearly $18 million. Parsons was drafted in the first round in 2021 and is under contract with the team through 2025. The Cowboys already picked up their 5th-year option for Parsons, which will pay the linebacker $21.3 million in 2025.
The Cowboys likely knew that neither player would be participating in the offseason program. That is one of the consequences of having top players seeking contract extensions from the team.
Dak Prescott, Zack Martin, Terence Steele and Trevon Diggs are among the Cowboys players who are signed to long-term deals.
John Calipari has already convinced one of his former Kentucky players to follow him to Arkansas.
Kentucky fan favorite Zvonimir Ivisic announced on social media Monday that he would be following Calipari to Arkansas. Ivisic said he would be “forever grateful” to Kentucky fans for their support, but that Calipari had been a major reason he decided to attend college in the first place, and would thus follow his coach to Arkansas.
Ivisic was a top international prospect, but initially struggled to gain eligibility at Kentucky after enrolling. Calipari stood by him, and Ivisic was finally cleared to play in January. He would up playing a fairly limited role in 15 games, but memorably delivered 13 points, five rebounds, two assists, three blocks and two steals in just 16 minutes in his Jan. 20 debut against Georgia.
A number of other Kentucky players have entered the transfer portal as well, including guard DJ Wagner and forward Aaron Bradshaw, who committed to Ohio State on Monday. It would not be a surprise if a few others follow Calipari to Arkansas.
Feb 15, 2018; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Former player Chauncey Billups speaks during a ceremony honoring former Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Flip Saunders prior to a game against Los Angeles Lakers at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
Chauncey Billups just led the Portland Trail Blazers to their worst finish in nearly two decades, but he is not going anywhere just yet.
Speaking with the media in an exit interview on Monday, Blazers GM Joe Cronin revealed the team’s decision on their head coach Billups. Cronin said that Billups will be back again to coach the Blazers next season.
The former All-NBA guard Billups, 47, took the job with the Blazers in 2021. He didn’t have much NBA coaching experience prior to doing so (just a lone season as an assistant coach for the LA Clippers), and that has made itself apparent ever since. Billups is now 81-165 (.329) over his three seasons in Portland with this season marking rock-bottom. The Blazers finished as a Western Conference-worst 21-61 (.256), and Billups did not even do that great of a job of developing prized youngsters like Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe.
In fairness, Billups deserve some slack since Portland dealt with injuries up and down the roster this season, further depleting their barren talent pool in the post-Damian Lillard era. But Billups has faced some rumors of coaching incompetence in seasons past and will need to do better next season in order to be regarded as anything more than a tank commander.
