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Report: Chiefs made notable schedule request to NFL

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The Kansas City Chiefs are looking to become the Dallas Cowboys or Detroit Lions of Christmas Day.

The NFL announced this week that three games will be held on Christmas Day during the 2025 season, which is up from two last year. Patrick Mahomes and company have played on Dec. 25 the past two years, and they are expected to be one of the six teams playing on the holiday again next season.

According to Nate Taylor and Daniel Popper of The Athletic, the Chiefs would like it to stay that way every year. They have reportedly requested that the NFL make them a fixture on the league’s Christmas Day lineup, similar to how the Cowboys and Lions both play every year on Thanksgiving.

With the Chiefs being one of the most popular teams in sports, the NFL will likely be more than happy to accommodate the request. Games that feature the Chiefs are typically among the most highly rated of the season, and that is unlikely to change in the near future with Mahomes still in his prime.

As for why Kansas City would ask for Christmas Day games, John Breech of CBS Sports theorized that Andy Reid’s team may be angling for extra rest before the playoffs. The Christmas Day games will be played in Week 17. The games fell on a Wednesday last year, which gave the Chiefs 11 days off before their regular-season finale.

Of course, a long break between Week 17 and Week 18 means a short break between Week 16 and Week 17, depending upon which day of the week Christmas falls. However, in a season when the Chiefs have clinched a playoff spot and plan to rest their starters in Week 18, the extended time off after Week 17 might be beneficial.

Last year’s Christmas Day game between the Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers drew 24.1 million viewers, which made it one of the most-streamed games in U.S. history. Having Kansas City play on Christmas Day every year would probably be bad news for one other league.

Dodgers acquire one of the fastest players in MLB via trade

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What do you get for the team that has nearly everything? How about a speedster.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have acquired outfielder Esteury Ruiz in a trade with the A’s. The A’s had designated Ruiz for assignment on Sunday, and a few days later, they traded him to the Dodgers for pitcher Carlos Duran.

Ruiz, 26, is best known for leading the league with 67 stolen bases for the A’s in 2023. Ruiz played in 132 games and batted .254 with a .654 OPS that season. Last season he batted .200 with a .652 OPS in 29 games. He had 5 stolen bases in 9 attempts.

Ruiz is not expected to be part of the Dodgers’ regular lineup any time soon. He is being sent to Triple-A to begin the season. If he plays well, he could eventually be called up and would give the Dodgers an excellent speed option off the bench. For now, they seem to be content just giving him an opportunity to see what he can do in a new environment.

SEC quarterback looking to transfer to 4th school

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An SEC quarterback is looking to join his fourth college program in six seasons.

Missouri quarterback Drew Pyne has entered the transfer portal as a graduate transfer, ESPN’s Max Olson reported on Tuesday. Pyne will be a sixth-year senior in the fall.

Pyne spent the 2024 season as a backup with the Tiger behind starter Brady Cook. He led Missouri to a 30-23 comeback win over Oklahoma on Nov. 9 while making his lone start in place of Cook, who was sidelined with a wrist injury. Pyne went 14/27 for 143 yards, 3 touchdowns and no interceptions in the game.

A former 4-star prospect, Pyne began his college career at Notre Dame in 2020. His best season came when he started 10 games for the Fighting Irish in 2022 and finished with 2,021 yards, 22 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. Notre Dame went 8-2 in Pyne’s starts.

Pyne made the somewhat surprising decision to transfer after the 2022 season, though he only wound up in a starting role with Notre Dame because of an injury to another quarterback. He then landed at Arizona State, where he appeared in just two games before an injury ended his season.

After the 2023 season, Pyne transferred to Missouri. He is now on the move again after one year in the SEC.

Here is what it would take for Aaron Rodgers to land with Vikings

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The Minnesota Vikings have reportedly been Aaron Rodgers’ top choice since he became a free agent, but the interest is not mutual. And it would reportedly take a lot for that to change.

Rodgers has an offer from the Pittsburgh Steelers to become their new starting quarterback, but he has yet to make a decision. There has been talk that the star quarterback could wait months to sign with a new team, as he might be waiting to see whether the Vikings remain fully committed to JJ McCarthy as their 2025 starter.

According to ESPN’s Kevin Seifert, McCarthy would have to really struggle during spring workouts in order for the Vikings to consider signing Rodgers.

“McCarthy would have to demonstrate overwhelming evidence this spring that he will not be ready to play this season, either because of an injury or a complete reversal of the skills and aptitude he demonstrated during his short time in training camp last summer,” Seifert wrote in a column that was published on Wednesday. “Consider Rodgers a break-the-glass option in case of an emergency. Otherwise, the Vikings are committed to their plan of getting McCarthy onto the field for the 2025 season.”

McCarthy is coming off a torn meniscus that cost him his entire rookie season. The former Michigan star recently confirmed that the Vikings have given him no assurances he will be the team’s starter at the beginning of 2025.

There is certainly a chance Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell will decide at some point that McCarthy is not quite ready to start. The big question is when that decision would be made. Is Rodgers willing to pass on the Steelers altogether to keep his slim hopes of playing in Minnesota alive?

Rodgers had a throwing session over the weekend with a notable wide receiver, so perhaps he is finally nearing a decision. We wouldn’t count on it, though.

Chris Sale pulled interesting move against Dodgers

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Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale made his second start of the season on Tuesday night, and he took an interesting approach that we do not see that often across Major League Baseball anymore.

Sale chose not to use the PitchCom device for his start against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif. SportsNet LA analyst Orel Hershiser noticed in the bottom of the fourth inning that Sale and Braves catcher Drake Baldwin were communicating pitches the old-school way.

“I’ve been a little bit asleep at the wheel — Chris Sale is using the old-school fingers,” Hershiser said. “They’re not using PitchCom. … He’s just going old school.”

Use of PitchCom was approved by MLB in 2022 to help combat sign stealing. It allows a pitcher and catcher (and some fielders) to communicate electronically without having to use hand signals. There has been plenty of drama surrounding the use of the technology.

Sale just turned 36 and is in his 16th MLB season. It would not be all that shocking if he simply preferred doing things the old-fashioned way.

For what it’s worth, Sale had another decent outing. He allowed 3 earned on 4 hits and struck out 5 across 5 innings. It will be interesting to see if he uses PitchCom going forward.

Ryan Fitzpatrick asks good question he wants NFL owners to answer

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The NFL has once again expanded its list of gestures that will trigger an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, and former quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick wants to know why.

Earlier this week, the NFL sent a report to teams highlighting new rules or changes for the 2025 season. In the section regarding rules for unsportsmanlike conduct infractions, the “nose wipe” gesture has been listed as a prohibited act. The gesture has been added to a list that already included the throat slash, simulating firing or brandishing a gun and sexually suggestive acts.

Like many others, Fitzpatrick does not understand why the nose wipe gesture is an issue.

“Would love to get an owner to explain what the nose wipe gesture means and why it is being penalized … I swear I’m hip but I still don’t know what it means,” Fitzpatrick wrote on X Tuesday.

The NFL cited “gang connotations” as the reason the nose wipe gesture has been banned. The gesture has apparently been associated with the Bloods gang and is used to indicate that someone cannot be trusted.

Dallas Cowboys star CeeDee Lamb has frequently used the nose wipe celebration, and he shared his reaction to the ban this week.

The NFL has been criticized for adding seemingly innocent gestures to its list of unsportsmanlike conduct acts, but that has not deterred the league.

Don’t feel bad, Fitz, most people had no idea why the nose wipe became an issue.

Bartolo Colon shares great post on social media

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Bartolo Colon is responsible for one of the greatest single moments in Major League Baseball history, and the former pitcher thinks he could have created even more of them had the torpedo bat been available.

In addition to being a four-time All-Star pitcher and former AL Cy Young Award winner, Colon is known for blasting a home run late in his career. The right-hander was with the New York Mets in 2016 when, at nearly 43 years old, he became the oldest player in MLB history to hit his first career home run.

With all the talk surrounding the new torpedo-style bats and the way hitters have benefitted from them, Colon shared a great post on social media Monday.

“I wonder how many home runs I would’ve hit with a torpedo bat,” Colon wrote on X.

Colon was one of the worst hitting pitchers in baseball, which was all part of what made his home run so special. At the time, the homer was only the 21st hit of his career.

The Yankees set a franchise record with nine home runs in their game on Saturday, and some of their players drew attention for using bats that were shaped like torpedos. More players have begun adopting the new bat style, though Jazz Chisholm Jr. was quick to dispel some false narratives about the lumber.

Colon will always have his one home run, but you have to wonder how much damage he could have done with a torpedo bat in his hands. The possibilities would have been endless.

Brutal photo shows how badly Atlanta Braves are struggling

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The Atlanta Braves are learning what happens when your entire lineup is in a hitting slump together, and one graphic that was shown on Tuesday sums up how their 2025 season has gone thus far.

The Braves entered Wednesday 0-6, which made them the only team in Major League Baseball without a win. They were swept by the San Diego Padres in a four-game series to start the year and lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday and Tuesday.

It is safe to say hitting has been the biggest issue. Entering Tuesday’s game, not a single player in Atlanta’s starting lineup was batting over .188. Their lineup graphic before the game was painful to look at:

Marcell Ozuna went 1-for-2 in Atlanta’s 3-1 loss to the Dodgers on Tuesday, so he raised his average to .214. The only other players batting .200 or better for the Braves are shortstop Nick Allen, who has appeared in just two games, and outfielder Jurickson Profar, who will now be suspended for a very long time.

While the sample size is quite small, the Braves could not be colder to start the year. The injuries are also stacking up. Ronald Acuna Jr. is working his way back from a major knee injury. Catcher Sean Murphy and pitcher Spencer Strider have also been out. Right-hander starter Reynaldo López has been experiencing shoulder inflammation and underwent arthroscopic surgery on Tuesday to determine if there is any structural damage.

Simply put, things could not be going much worse for the Braves. They entered the season as the favorite to win the NL East, but their bats need to come alive in short order.

Fans all said the same thing about insane Nuggets-Timberwolves 2OT game

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The Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday gave fans the Game of the Year at Ball Arena in Denver, Colo.

The Timberwolves outlasted the Nuggets in a 140-139 double-overtime thriller that had more twists and turns than any Hollywood screenplay. Denver appeared to have the game in hand while nursing a double-digit lead midway through the final quarter. But a 13-point outburst from Anthony Edwards in the fourth keyed a Minnesota comeback to tie the game after 48 minutes.

Edwards nearly stole the victory during regulation when he hit back-to-back three-pointers to give his team the lead with just over two minutes left in the contest.

The T-Wolves overcame an all-time performance from Nikola Jokic. The Nuggets star poured in 61 points on 18/29 shooting to go along with 11 rebounds and 10 assists. His final point tally is the highest in the NBA so far this season.

Jokic scored or assisted on all eight of the Nuggets’ field goals in the two overtimes. But his efforts were simply not enough to help lift Denver to a victory.

Both fan bases and even neutral observers echoed the same sentiments throughout the game: Minnesota and Denver need to square off again in the playoffs.

The Nuggets-Timberwolves Western Conference semifinals clash last year was arguably the best series of the 2024 playoffs. The two teams duked it out for seven straight games, culminating in Minnesota’s 98-90 win in Game 7.

The Timberwolves entered Tuesday’s game with a five-game win streak over the Nuggets extending to last year’s playoffs. Minnesota was able to extend the streak to six thanks to a costly last-second foul committed by Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook.

Westbrook was whistled for a shooting foul after closing out too hard on T-Wolves wing Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s three-point attempt in the corner.

Alexander-Walker made two of his three foul shots to seal Minnesota’s one-point win in double OT.

Max Scherzer shares troubling update on his thumb injury

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Max Scherzer continues to deal with injury woes to start off his Toronto Blue Jays career.

Scherzer got the start for the Blue Jays during Saturday’s game against the Baltimore Orioles at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada. The three-time Cy Young winner was only able to go for three innings before being taken off the mound due to what the Blue Jays called right lat soreness. But Scherzer was adamant after the game that the lat soreness, and most of his other physical issues, are due to his lingering thumb injury.

Scherzer confirmed that on Tuesday as he spoke to reporters before the Blue Jays’ interleague game against the Washington Nationals. The 40-year-old revealed that he had visited a hand specialist on Monday, Scherzer was given a cortisone shot to reduce the pain in the affected area.

“It’s an injury I just can’t pitch through,” Scherzer told reporters, via Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith. “That (thumb) joint, the ligament, everything around there is critical. The rest of the body is completely dependent on the health of that (area). You can’t just override and pitch through that pain because once that’s compromised, it compromises the rest of your arm. That’s why I had different ailments with my shoulder and back. It’s all related to the thumb.”

The silver lining for Blue Jays fans is that Scherzer thinks there is “no need” to consider surgery just yet. Max also added that his body has responded well to cortisone shots in years past.

Blue Jays GM John Schneider would not commit to a return date for Scherzer. Schneider indicated that the next few days could determine how long Mad Mad will remain on the shelf.

Steph Curry got into heated altercation with Grizzlies players

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Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry needed to cool off in more ways than one following Tuesday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies.

Curry was scorching hot from the floor during his team’s 134-125 win over the Grizzlies at FedExForum in Memphis, Tenn. He erupted for 52 points with 10 rebounds, 8 assists, and 5 steals.

With the game all but decided, Curry had a heated moment with a couple of Grizzlies players. Memphis trailed 130-125 lead with about 20 seconds left in the contest and tried to trap Curry along the sideline. Golden State was able to call a timeout to get Curry out of the jam.

The two-time MVP tried to take a practice shot before returning to the Warriors’ bench. Desmond Bane swatted the ball out of Curry’s hands, which angered Steph. Grizzlies big man Santi Aldama then pushed Curry out of the way.

Here’s a closer look at the incident.

The game was much closer than the final score made it seem.

Despite Curry’s scoring outburst, the Grizzlies nearly came away with the victory. Memphis led 120-116 with just over three minutes left in the contest. Clutch threes and timely free throw shooting helped Golden State escape with a win.

Tuesday’s game had massive implications for the Western Conference standings. The Warriors’ win pushed them a half-game ahead of the Grizzlies for the fifth spot in the West.

Freddie Freeman explains how his bizarre shower injury happened

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Freddie Freeman is sharing the details this week of his recent misadventure in the bathroom.

The Los Angeles Dodgers star slugger Freeman spoke with reporters on Tuesday and revealed how exactly his bizarre injury happened. The news broke earlier in the week that Freeman would miss a bit of time after slipping in the shower over the weekend and tweaking his surgically-repaired right ankle.

Freeman said that his main shower had a leak and thus he tried to use the tub/shower in the guest room of his house instead, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. While attempting to step into the guest room shower, he took a fall.

The 35-year-old Freeman did add though that X-rays on his ankle came back negative. After having to sit out of the Dodgers’ games on Monday and Tuesday this week, Freeman is now hoping to be back in the lineup as soon as Wednesday against the Atlanta Braves.

Freeman famously battled through the initial injury to his right ankle during the Dodgers’ World Series victory last season. After spraining it during a game near the end of the regular season (with Freeman calling a four-to-six-week injury under normal circumstances), he endured hours of treatment almost every day of the playoffs and managed to appear in the vast majority of the Dodgers’ postseason contests. That made it even more legendary when Freeman won World Series MVP (including hitting one of the greatest playoff home runs of all-time).

But even playoff heroes are not immune to stumbling while attempting to bathe. Freeman now joins the category of professional athletes who have fallen victim to a cold and unforgiving shower setup.

Mookie Betts produces worst throw of MLB season

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Mookie Betts had gotten more experienced at shortstop over the last few seasons, but it is definitely still not his natural position.

The Los Angeles Dodgers star Betts had one of the lowlights of the MLB season thus far on Tuesday night against the Atlanta Braves. Playing at short, Betts was attempting to turn a double play on a groundball by Atlanta’s Bryan De La Cruz in the second inning when things took a turn for the worse.

After receiving the underhand toss from second baseman Tommy Edman and stepping on the bag for one out, Betts could not get the baseball out of his glove cleanly and ended up firing an extremely hideous throw to first base. The throw was so badly off the mark that it ended up on the right field grass and trickled all the way to the wall down the third-base line.

As a result, the Braves, who had a runner on second base at the time, were able to score the game’s opening run and take a 1-0 lead. Here is the video.

Take a look below at a closer angle of the throw.

Betts, a former MVP, is a natural right fielder but started playing at both shortstop and second base for the Dodgers over the last handful of seasons (with Betts now serving as a full-time shortstop in 2025). There have been a few growing pains though, especially last year when Betts made nine errors in 65 appearances at short.

Still, we should probably cut Betts some slack here. He is off to a strong start to the season at the plate (hitting .385 with two homers and 4 RBIs through his first three games) and recently overcame a scary illness that caused him to lose a lot of weight.

Eagles hint at extending 1 more big name this offseason

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A new deal appears to be on the horizon for Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni.

The Eagles have been signing extensions left and right this offseason. Philadelphia gave star running back Saquon Barkley a historic new deal in March. Days later, the team rewarded All-Pro tackle Lane Johnson with an additional year on his deal.

Based on a recent quote from Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, Sirianni may be next. The 73-year-old business mogul was asked about Sirianni during the annual league meetings. While Lurie didn’t explicitly say a Sirianni extension was on deck, he confirmed Nick would be the team’s coach “going forward.”

“Nick is going to be our coach,” said Lurie, via ESPN’s Tim McManus. “We don’t talk publicly [about contracts], we never have, but you guys I’m sure will find out soon enough that Nick will be our coach going forward … He has done an outstanding job.”

The only way Sirianni would be the Eagles’ coach beyond this season would be for the two sides to agree on a new deal. The 43-year-old head coach is in the final year of a five-year pact he signed in 2021.

Sirianni led the Eagles to an outstanding 48-20 record in the four regular seasons since taking charge of the team. But several critics were clamoring for Sirianni’s firing not too long ago.

With a Super Bowl victory now on his resume, the doubts surrounding Sirianni have all but evaporated.

Ja Morant appears to do gun gesture during game

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Ja Morant was at it again on Tuesday, and that’s not a good thing.

Morant appeared to mimic firing a shotgun at the Golden State Warriors’ bench towards the end of Tuesday’s game between the Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tenn. Morant held up his arms extended as if he were pointing a shotgun at the Warriors. Buddy Hield saw it and did it back, while Draymond Green also saw it and mimicked the gesture to complain to the officials.

Morant’s Grizzlies lost the game 134-125 as Steph Curry scored 52 points. Morant had 36 in the defeat.

Of course, the gesture itself isn’t just problematic, but it’s made even worse by who did it.

Morant has been accused of bringing out a gun to threaten a boy who was playing basketball at his house. He was suspended 8 games in March 2023 after being shown with a gun on social media. Then in June 2023, he was suspended 25 games after flashing a gun in another social media video.

As if all that weren’t enough, Morant did a gun celebration after throwing down an alley-oop in December 2023. Be prepared for the NBA to weigh in on Morant’s latest behavior.

Atlanta Hawks fan suffers injury during halftime contest

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An Atlanta Hawks fan thought he had a great stroke of luck on Tuesday, but the opposite turned out to be the case.

Two Hawks fan were chosen to compete in a Tic Tac Toe layup competition during halftime of the team’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Ga. As one of the fans went up to attempt his first layup, he slipped on the floor and fell to the ground. The fan was then grabbing his left knee.

A medical team then came by with a stretcher to help out the fallen fan.

That’s every fan’s worst nightmare. You think you’re getting an opportunity to do something cool, and you end up on a stretcher with a likely knee injury. It’s not fun getting old.

Carmelo Anthony says he wants to buy 1 particular NBA team

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Carmelo Anthony played for six total teams in his NBA career, but now he is eyeing a purchase of a team that was not on that list.

Speaking on the latest episode of his podcast “7PM in Brooklyn,” Anthony said that he would like to join the ownership group of one particular NBA franchise. He wants in on the Washington Wizards.

“I wanna buy the Wizards,” Anthony said. “I’ll be a great owner.

“[I’m a] former player. I understand players. I understand personnel. I understand being strategic. I understand how to build teams.”

The 10-time All-Star Anthony, now 40 years old, announced his retirement in 2023 after last playing in 2022. He made over $262 million in salary during his 18-year NBA career, giving Anthony a nice basis with which to buy an ownership stake. Anthony also has ties to the D.C. area, having attended Towson Catholic High School in nearby Towson, Md.

Washington is the worst team in the Eastern Conference this season at 16-59, but they may pose a good buy-low opportunity for investors. The Wizards have a nice crop of young talent already on their roster in Alex Sarr (19), Bub Carrington (19), and Bilal Coulibaly (20). They also have an opportunity to land the No. 1 overall pick this year and draft Duke star Cooper Flagg.

Anthony has already kept pretty busy in retirement and recently landed a big gig at a major television network. Now Anthony is hoping to add to his investment portfolio as well.

Raiders GM’s 10-year-old son makes bold NFL draft demand

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The Las Vegas Raiders appear to be getting some NFL draft advice from an unlikely source.

The Raiders have the sixth overall pick in the upcoming draft. Following a disastrous 4-13 campaign last season, the team evidently has several holes to fill. But according to GM John Spytek’s son Jack, there’s a clear choice on whom the team should select at six: Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty.

The elder Spytek recently appeared on Sirius XM NFL Radio and revealed just how passionate Jack was about the Raiders picking Jeanty.

“My oldest son has made it no secret that if we don’t pick Ashton Jeanty at six, that he’s walking out on the family and he’s going to find somebody else,” John Spytek said. “Probably whoever takes Ashton. … He walked right into our building and basically told Mark Davis, ‘If my dad doesn’t take Ashton Jeanty, he’s doing a bad job.’”

John admitted that the only scouting Jack has really done on Jeanty involves watching the running back’s highlights on YouTube. Jack also plays a lot of fantasy football, where running backs are arguably the most essential position group for a team’s success. Unless you have 2024 Saquon Barkley on your team, that’s far from reality on the actual gridiron.

But the Raiders could do much worse than picking Jeanty, whose breakout 2024 campaign earned him a top-2 finish in Heisman Trophy voting. Las Vegas’ 1,357 rushing yards as a team ranked dead last in the NFL last season.

Jack is also far from the only Raiders fan who believes Jeanty is the right pick for the team.

Warriors rookie Quinten Post not sure why he was interviewed at halftime

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Golden State Warriors rookie Quinten Post was perplexed on Tuesday that he was interviewed at halftime instead of teammate Steph Curry.

Curry scored 32 points in the first half of his Warriors’ game against the Memphis Grizzlies at FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tenn. He had 7 rebounds and had made 8 three-pointers in the first half and was the story of the game for Golden State. That’s why Post, who had made 3 three-pointers off the bench in the first half, was surprised to have been interviewed.

“I dunno why I’m here. Steph got 40 points,” Post said during his halftime interview.

Post was then told, “cuz you’re a rookie. We don’t make him stop.”

Not only did Post get the “rookie duties,” but sometimes broadcasting teams look for alternatives instead of interviewing Curry for the 500th time. Post presented that opportunity since he had shot the ball well in the first half.

While Post was the choice at halftime, you can bet that Curry is whom the fans wanted to hear from at the end of his monster game.

Shaq’s son Shaqir O’Neal commits to play for father’s former enemy

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Shaqir O’Neal has decided to play for a guy whom his father had multiple heated playoff battles against.

Shaqir, the son of legendary Hall of Fame big man Shaquille O’Neal, announced to social media this week that he has committed to play for Sacramento State University. The news comes after Shaqir had just entered the transfer portal a few days prior.

Sacramento State is now notably coached by Mike Bibby, the former NBA guard. Bibby, whose hire was only announced last week, is very familiar to Shaq. The two used to be hated rivals when Shaq played for the Los Angeles Lakers and Bibby played for the Sacramento Kings.

In the early 2000s, the Lakers and the Kings met in the NBA playoffs twice (in 2001 and in 2002). While Shaq’s Lakers prevailed both times, The Big Diesel especially disdained Bibby’s Kings. He would regularly take public shots at Bibby’s teammates like Vlade Divac and Doug Christie and once even memorably referred to the team as “The Sacramento Queens.”

That said though, Shaq eventually made peace with the Kings and even became a minority owner of the franchise from 2013-22. Now his son Shaqir, 21, is further proving that the hatchet is long buried by going to play for Bibby.

The 46-year-old Bibby enters his new job without any college coaching experience (though he has served as a head coach at both the high school and the AAU levels). But what he does have is a Hall of Famer’s son in Shaqir, who averaged 6.7 points per game last season for Florida A&M, as his first official recruit at Sacramento State.

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