Fred VanVleet landed his first mammoth NBA contract last week when he agreed to a new four-year deal with the Toronto Raptors, and the star guard is hoping the media doesn’t start treating him differently now.
VanVleet discussed his four-year, $85 million contract with reporters on Tuesday. In addition to thanking all the usual suspects, he also thanked the media for treating him fairly over the past several seasons. The 26-year-old wants to make sure that isn’t going to change just because he’s making more than $20 million per year now.
“I wanna give thanks to you ugly media people who have treated me pretty good over the last 4 years,” Vanvleet said, via TSN’s Josh Lewenberg. “Now that I’ve got a nice big contract don’t start s—-ing on me.”
Fortunately for VanVleet, the Toronto media market is not exactly known for being ferocious. Unless his game goes completely in the toilet, we doubt VanVleet is going to face a whole lot of scrutiny.
VanVleet had a breakout season last year after the Raptors lost Kawhi Leonard in free agency. He averaged career-highs across the board, highlighted by his 17.6 points and 6.6 assists per game. VanVleet made it clear that he wanted to be valued in free agency, and the Raptors gave him what he was looking for. Time will tell if the media is going to do the same.
Aaron Rodgers quickly came to the defense of Marquez Valdes-Scantling after Sunday’s costly fumble, and it’s clear the Green Bay Packers quarterback will continue supporting his teammate going forward.
Rodgers spoke about Valdes-Scantling’s overtime fumble during his weekly appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” Tuesday. Valdes-Scantling said after the loss to the Indianapolis Colts that he received death threats on social media, and Rodgers ripped Packers fans who would take things that far.
“I think we need some perspective in this time about production. Everybody wants to make these knee-jerk reactions to things and you forget about the facts — as the kids say these days, the big facts — that there’s a human element to this,” Rodgers said. “Anybody who is so distraught about this that they need to go to Twitter and talk about killing someone, I would suggest that you relax.
“It’s a game. We’re all trying our best. We’re trying to entertain you, but we’re also trying to do our best because we have a lot of pride in our performance. Nobody’s trying to do anything to f— up our season or your precious watching experience.”
You can hear Rodgers’ full remarks below, but beware that the clip contains some inappropriate language:
The Packers got the ball first in overtime, and Valdes-Scantling fumbled at his own 30-yard line after catching a quick pass from Rodgers. That put the Colts in field goal position and essentially handed them the win. It was a huge physical mistake, but Rodgers and others defended MVS over it after the game.
No one feels worse about the play than Valdes-Scantling. Unfortunately, he is not the first NFL player this season — or even this month — to receive threats on social media over an on-field mistake.
Randy Arozarena became a household name with his postseason heroics this year, but the Tampa Bay Rays star has now found his name in the headlines for an extremely troubling reason.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that Arozarena was detained in Mexico recently following an incident in which he allegedly tried to take his daughter from the child’s mother. Arozarena is also accused of assaulting the woman’s father. The prosecutor in Mexico who is handling the case said more information will be made available in the coming days.
Arozarena is coming off one of the best postseasons in MLB history. The 25-year-old propelled the Rays to the World Series with 10 home runs and 14 RBI in the playoffs. The 10 home runs are now the record for the most in a single postseason. Arozarena batted .377 with a 1.273 OPS in 20 postseason games.
Rays manager Kevin Cash recently offered very high praise for Arozarena, whom Tampa Bay acquired in a January trade with the St. Louis Cardinals. The outfielder also made a great impression on some of baseball’s biggest stars during the playoffs.
All eyes were going to be on Arozarena heading into 2021 to see if he is truly one of the game’s biggest superstars, but now people will be keeping tabs on him for a much different reason.
The Dallas Cowboys canceled practice on Tuesday for a medical emergency that was unrelated to the COVID-19 pandemic, and we have now learned more about what happened.
The Cowboys issued a statement revealing that strength and conditioning coordinator Markus Paul experienced a medical emergency at the team’s facility on Tuesday morning. He was treated by team medical personnel before being transported to a local hospital. Here’s the full statement:
No further details about Paul’s condition were shared.
False news initially began circulating that Paul had died, but his daughter corrected that in a Facebook post. Unfortunately, she said the 54-year-old is on life support and the family is “praying for a miracle.”
Paul, a former defensive back, played five seasons in the NFL for the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He has been a strength and conditioning coach in the NFL since 1998 and is in his third year with the Cowboys.
Tom Brady had another rough game in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Monday night. And just like with Brady’s previous less-than-stellar performances, Bucs head coach Bruce Arians did not shy away from criticizing his six-time Super Bowl champion quarterback.
Brady threw two interceptions in the 27-24 loss, giving him nine total on the season and five in Tampa Bay’s last three games. Arians was asked on Tuesday about the latest two picks, and he once again placed plenty of blame on Brady.
“The first one he got hit. It looked like he had Chris [Godwin] going right down the middle, stepped up and just didn’t get enough on it with the pressure,” Arians said, per Michael Giardi of NFL Network. “The last one was just a misread of the coverage.”
When Arians was asked if he has considered taking over playcalling duties from offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, he said the Bucs’ main issue has been execution. He also spoke about misreading coverages, which obviously falls on the quarterback.
“I thought (Leftwich) called a good ballgame. We just have to execute better,” Arians said. “When guys are open, we have to hit them and we can’t misread coverage.”
Brady has said multiple times this season that he needs to do a better job throwing the deep ball, so he likely agrees with Arians. Whether or not he wants his head coach harping on it in public is another story.
The biggest question about the Brady-Arians pairing was whether Brady would have enough life left in his arm to thrive in Arians’ vertical passing attack. The stats seem to show he very clearly does not, which is why the Bucs need to continue to adjust accordingly.
Arians has now criticized Brady through the media multiple times this season. He made similar remarks after a loss a couple of weeks ago.
Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski have teamed up yet again! Treat yourself or a friend with this great Tampa Fiesta shirt. You can buy it here.
The defense the Pittsburgh Steelers have played this season may remind fans of the “Steel Curtain” days, but they have not exactly pounded the ball on the ground like those teams did. With an undefeated record through 10 games, Ben Roethlisberger is not concerned about that.
Roethlisberger was asked on Tuesday about Pittsburgh’s lack of consistent production in the run game. The quarterback seemed to indicate he has grown tired of that talking point.
“We quote-unquote need to run the football X amount of times? No we don’t,” Roethlisberger said, via NFL Network’s Aditi Kinkhabwala. “We need to win the football game.”
It’s hard to argue with that. The Steelers rank 21st in the NFL with 102.2 rushing yards per game. They’re 18th with 245.6 passing yards per game. Neither of those marks are impressive, which speaks to how dominant their defense has been.
Pittsburgh’s defense ranks first in the NFL in points allowed per game (17.4), sacks (38) takeaways (21) and turnover differential (+12). Skeptics could argue that they will need to run the ball more effectively in the playoffs, but whatever they have done is working so far. Roethlisberger and the rest of the team shouldn’t care about stats as long as the wins keep piling up.
Of course, with an undefeated record comes infinite storylines. We saw one player attempt to downplay that this week, but it’s simply something the Steelers are going to have to continue to manage.
Cooper Kupp had one of his best games of the season in Monday night’s win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Los Angeles Rams star is well on his way to his second consecutive 1,000-yard season. He probably doesn’t get enough credit, but Kupp has the attention of arguably the best wide receiver in football.
In the middle of Kupp’s 11-catch, 145-yard performance against the Bucs, Green Bay Packers star receiver Davante Adams had high praise for Kupp on Twitter.
“Cooper Kupp is the most underrated receiver in the league,” Adams wrote.
Adams may have a point. Kupp is rarely ever mentioned in the conversation with the top wide receivers in the NFL, but his stats rank up there with the best. He’s 16th in the league in receiving yards this season and is comparable statistically to wideouts like Tyreek Hill, Adam Thielen and Julio Jones.
Kupp is also just two years removed from a severe injury, which makes his performance over the past two seasons even more impressive. The shoutout from Adams should help him get the attention he deserves.
Tom Brady once again showed poor sportsmanship on Monday night when he left the field before shaking Jared Goff’s hand, and the six-time Super Bowl champion is taking plenty of criticism for the latest snub.
NFL Network’s Kyle Brandt was one of a number of analysts who skewered Brady on Tuesday for the way he acted following the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
“It’s a really bad look when the other quarterback is sitting there shaking your teammates’ hands, clearly loitering around waiting for you. It’s a bad look for Brady. It’s a bad look for the Bucs. I think it’s a bad look for the league,” Brandt said.
“He said afterwords he’s disappointed. Well so is every quarterback who’s ever lost to you and came and shook your hand. That’s part of the game.”
Brady also snubbed Nick Foles following a loss to the Chicago Bears earlier this season. Brandt wondered if Brady refused to shake hands with Foles and Goff because he played both of them in the Super Bowl and feels he has “paid my dues and graduated beyond that.” Brandt also said other more “polarizing” quarterbacks would never get away with it.
“If Baker Mayfield pulled that or if Cam Newton pulled that, they would be annihilated in the opening segment of every radio show and every TV show in the world,” he added.
You can hear Brandt’s full comments below:
Brady was asked why he snubbed Foles back in October, and his explanation was far from satisfactory. It seems obvious that he is simply so bitter after losing big games that he doesn’t want to shake the opposing quarterback’s hand. As Brandt mentioned, Brady even shook hands with rookie quarterback Justin Herbert after the Bucs beat the Los Angeles Chargers this season.
If Brady doesn’t want to shake hands after games, he should act the same way following both wins and losses. Otherwise, he’s just being a poor sport.
Pittsburgh Pirates utility man Cole Tucker has long been a fan of “High School Musical,” so it must be surreal to him that he has been cozying up with a member of the original cast.
According to the Daily Mail, Tucker and actress Vanessa Hudgens were spotted sharing a romantic evening together on Saturday night at the Canyon Country Store in Los Angeles. Hudgens is said to have looked “simply smitten” while having no problem publicly displaying her affection for Tucker.
Back when Cole was in high school, he tweeted an awful lot about “High School Musical.” Now, he’s dating one of the stars.
Tucker was the 24th overall pick in the 2014 MLB Draft, and he has not quite lived up to the hype. He has hit just .215 in 93 career MLB games, though he is still just 24.
Fortunately, Tucker’s disappointing performance at the plate doesn’t appear to be impacting his dating life.
H/T Egotastic Sports
The Los Angeles Lakers took a massive stride forward in their quest to repeat as NBA champions after agreeing to acquire Dennis Schroder from the Oklahoma City Thunder. A lightning-quick point-guard with the ability to stop on a dime and effortlessly elevate into his vastly improved jumper, Schroder has become one of the premier sparkplug scoring options in the NBA.
As Sam Presti and the Thunder look to stockpile future first-round picks, the return package of the 28th pick in this year’s notoriously weak draft class (Jaden McDaniels) plus the shell of Danny Green could be considered light for one of the best sixth men in the NBA. For Oklahoma City, the trade represents the seemingly long-overdue start to the rebuild many felt was inevitable after trading Russell Westbrook and Paul George last offseason. With just one year remaining on his contract, Green is an obvious candidate to be a part of a future deal as the Thunder continue to amass future assets.
Biggest Winner: Dennis Schroder
After playing the best basketball of his life this season with the Thunder, Schroder now has the chance to continue to redefine his narrative while playing on the biggest stage of his career. Once perceived as a player capable of putting up gaudy individual statistics without enhancing his team’s chance at winning, Schroder rounded out his game and became a far more balanced player this year. This improvement was due to his commitment to the defensive end of the court, while also exercising better judgment on his shot selection offensively.
Despite mid-range shots falling out of vogue around the league due to the rise of the analytic movement, Schroder and the Thunder proved there’s still tremendous value to be had in such shots. As a team, Oklahoma City shot the highest percentage on mid-range jumpers this season at 46.9 percent. Their 464 made representing the fifth-highest total in the league. Schroder finished in the 97th percentile for guards on long mid-range jumpers attempted (jump shots taken past the free-throw line but in front of the 3-point line) while converting on a very efficient 46.8 percent of them.
For as good as Schroder was offensively this season, his improvements as a defender were arguably more paramount for his progression as a player. Despite only standing 6-foot-1, Schroder was frequently utilized to guard larger players thanks to his 6-foot-8 wingspan. One of the best plays from Schroder’s season perfectly highlights that newfound defensive intensity.
Schroder started that play on Marcus Smart, but once he saw Kemba Walker turn back towards his own baseline, he immediately brought the double team. In an instant, Walker found himself in a position no ball-handler wants to be in, trapped between Schroder and Chris Paul. Schroder then relied on his long-reach to cleanly swipe the ball from Walker and glide in for the easy game-sealing lay-up.
Oklahoma City displayed an uncanny ability to win seemingly impossible games all season, with Schroder’s fingerprints all over some of the team’s most memorable plays. With a sixth-man extraordinaire capable of delivering moments like the play below, the defending champs are going to be even tougher next season.
Trade Grades:
Los Angeles Lakers: A
Oklahoma City Thunder: C
