Anthony Davis seems to have upset the Phoenix Suns with some strong comments.
Davis has been out since Feb. 16 with a foot injury. He’s getting closer to game action with the Los Angeles Lakers and spoke to reporters before Sunday’s game between his team and Phoenix.
The Suns knocked the Lakers out of the playoffs in the first round last year. Phoenix continued on to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the Bucks.
Davis said Sunday that had he not hurt his groin in the series, the outcome would have been different.
“They got away with one,” Davis said.
The Lakers were the road team in the series and were up 2-1 entering Game 4, which is when Davis got hurt. Phoenix won that Game 4, Davis missed Game 5, and then he tried to hobble his way through part of Game 6 even though he clearly was not well enough to play.
Would the Lakers have won had he been healthy? We will never know. But what we do know is that injuries always seem to be an issue for Davis. He can no longer use them as an excuse considering how often he is hurt. The Suns won fair in square and showed it wasn’t a fluke by making the NBA Finals.
They also crushed the Lakers 140-111 on Sunday night, really showing the gap between the teams this season. Devin Booker even acknowledged the Suns saw Davis’ comments before the game.
Photo: Dec 18, 2020; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis (3) against the Phoenix Suns during a preseason game at Phoenix Suns Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
One sports collector is really kicking themselves after Tom Brady’s big Sunday announcement.
Brady announced on Sunday that he is not retiring and that he will be returning to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for next season.
The news comes a day after a collector paid $518,628.00 for the football that was regarded at the time as Brady’s final touchdown pass. The item was sold via auction from Leland’s.
If Brady indeed plays in 2022, he will likely throw many more touchdown passes, rendering the ball nearly worthless.
The collector was always making a risky investment because the entire value of the ball hinged upon the belief that Brady would not be returning. Many people believed all along that Brady might change his mind and return, and that is exactly what happened.
The collector made a poor investment, though anyone who can pay $518,000 for a collector’s item probably is wealthy enough to afford the financial loss.
While the person who bought Brady’s final touchdown ball might not be too happy about Sunday’s announcement, there is one person involved in that specific play who is happy about it.
The Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski Tampa party continues! Treat yourself or a friend with this great Tampa Fiesta shirt. You can buy it here.
Photo: Sep 20, 2020; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (12) in the second quarter against the Carolina Panthers at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins swapped players on Sunday in a big trade.
The Yankees are acquiring Josh Donaldson, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ben Rortvedt from the Twins for Gary Sanchez and Gio Urshela. Kiner-Falefa and Ronny Henriquez were just acquired by the Twins from Texas on Saturday for Mitch Garver. Just a day later, Minnesota flipped Kiner-Falefa to the Yankees.
Donaldson is the big get for the Yankees. The 36-year-old third baseman hit 26 home runs with an .827 OPS. He clubbed 37 home runs for the Braves in 2019. He is making $44 million over the next two seasons.
Kiner-Falefa, 26, is a career .265 hitter with a career .670 OPS. He played shortstop primarily last season but he can also play third base and catcher.
Sanchez has good power as a catcher. He hit 23 homers last season and has clubbed over 30 in a season twice during his career. But Sanchez batted just over .204 last season and is a lifetime .230 hitter. He will likely share time at catcher with Ryan Jeffers.
Urshela, 30, figures to slot in as Minnesota’s third baseman. He had a breakout 2019 season when he batted .314 with 21 home runs. Last season he hit .267 with 14 homers. Urshela still is under team control through 2023, making him very affordable.
Tom Brady surprised the football world with his announcement on Sunday that he would be returning to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and unretiring. The news was met with plenty of interesting reactions (more here), but Jalen Ramsey’s reaction may have been the best of all.
The Los Angeles Rams cornerback is thrilled to avoid being a part some infamy.
“THANK YOU! throw that last touchdown on somebody else,” Ramsey tweeted.
Ramsey’s Los Angeles Rams knocked Brady’s Bucs out of the playoffs with a 30-27 win at Tampa Bay during the Divisional Round in January. The Rams once led 27-3 and let the Bucs come all the way back to tie the game before winning on a Matt Gay field goal.
During the comeback, Brady threw a long touchdown pass to Mike Evans with 3:20 left that made it 27-20. The play was Brady’s final touchdown pass, and it occurred with Ramsey in coverage.
With Brady coming back, Ramsey is off the hook … for now.
The Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski Tampa party continues! Treat yourself or a friend with this great Tampa Fiesta shirt. You can buy it here.
Photo: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
The Dallas Cowboys chose to pay a wide receiver, it’s just not Amari Cooper.
The Cowboys signed Michael Gallup to a 5-year deal worth a reported $62.5 million. More importantly, the contract reportedly includes $27 million guaranteed.
Gallup had 35 catches for 445 yards and 2 touchdowns in 9 games last season as Dallas’ No. 3 receiver. He suffered a torn ACL in Week 17, which could complicate his ability to be ready for Week 1 in the fall.
Rather than pay Cooper his $20 million per season, the Cowboys decided they would prefer to have Dalton Schultz and Gallup for a little more. Schultz was franchise tagged by the team and is set to earn just under $11 million. Gallup will probably be making around the same amount.
In addition to Schultz and Gallup, the Cowboys have CeeDee Lamb. They might try to draft a receiver as well considering Gallup’s injury status.
Photo: All-Pro Reels/Flickr via CC BY-SA 2.0
The Texas A&M Aggies were one of the first teams out of the NCAA Tournament field on Selection Sunday, and that is not sitting well with the school’s athletic director.
Athletic director Ross Bjork called out the selection committee on Twitter, suggesting that the tournament had fallen victim to a “flawed selection process” and questioning how Texas A&M did not get an opportunity to go to the Big Dance.
The athletic director is obviously supposed to stand up for his school, and Bjork is doing that here. That said, the Aggies have a case, especially compared to Rutgers and Notre Dame, who did make the field. Texas A&M made it all the way to the SEC Championship, winning three games to get there. Rutgers and Notre Dame both lost the first game of their respective conference tournaments, and the Aggies are better than both in advanced ratings such as NET. Texas A&M even has a head-to-head win over the Fighting Irish in November.
This is not the only controversy that came out of the bracket reveal Sunday.
Photo: Jan 26, 2022; Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA; Texas A&M Aggies head coach Buzz Williams looks on against the LSU Tigers during the first half at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
After several days of increasing trade rumors, Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings put a stop to all that with their announcement of a newly restructured contract.
Cousins agreed to a new one-year deal for 2023, ensuring that he will remain in Minnesota for 2022. The Vikings will save roughly $14 million in cap space in 2022 as a result of the renegotiation.
This certainly represents a shift, as it was not long ago we were hearing Cousins could be the next quarterback traded. Perhaps there was never much to those rumors.
The Vikings have a new coach in Kevin O’Connell, who seems very enthusiastic about working with Cousins. The new contract shows that wasn’t just lip service, and the organization is committing to its quarterback.
We do not know how much the Tampa Bay Buccaneers knew about Tom Brady’s impending return to action, but coach Bruce Arians was certainly enthused about the prospect.
Arians texted NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport with a two-word response upon learning of Brady’s return: “Total excitement.”
Arians’ words probably sum up the attitude of the entire organization at this point. While the team certainly held on to some optimism that they might see Brady again, nobody was getting their hopes up. Now they can actually start planning for the 2022 season knowing they have him in the fold.
The fact that Brady was willing to embrace a return to the Buccaneers seems to suggest that Arians was right about reports of a rift between the two.
The Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski Tampa party continues! Treat yourself or a friend with this great Tampa Fiesta shirt. You can buy it here.
Photo: Sep 19, 2021; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians prior to the game against the Atlanta Falcons at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Markieff Morris clearly likes Nikola Jokic about as much as a parking ticket.
The Miami Heat forward Morris made his return to the lineup on Saturday after 58 games missed with injury. He was hurt when the Denver Nuggets center Jokic violently knocked him down in November (video here).
After Saturday’s game, Morris, who scored six points in 17 minutes, had a vulgar response when asked about Jokic, particularly on if he had heard from Jokic during the four-plus months that he was out.
“F–k no,” said Morris, per the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s Ira Winderman. “I don’t want to hear from him. He did what he did. It is what it is.”
Morris was the one who initiated the Jokic incident and should not have elbowed him in the ribs. But Jokic’s retaliatory response was way out of proportion and uncalled for, causing big injury to Morris’ back and neck (though that was not the only reason why Morris missed so much time).
The 32-year-old Morris is only on a one-year deal this season, so the Jokic hit likely cost him a shot at a bigger contract, something he probably won’t have enough time to position himself for in the final months of the season. Morris has also previously made clear on Twitter that he despises Jokic.
Tom Brady’s decision to come out of retirement stunned the football world, but there was probably a reason why Brady timed the announcement for when he did.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter noted that on noon Monday, free agents could have begun negotiating agreements with other teams. Brady wanted to send a message to the Buccaneers’ free agent class to ensure they knew he would be back in the fold before they considered signing elsewhere.
The Buccaneers have a lengthy list of free agents they will be trying to retain. Center Ryan Jensen and right guard Ryan Cappa would be notable ones from Brady’s point of view, as would running back Leonard Fournette. Wide receiver Chris Godwin was also set to be a free agent, but the Buccaneers used their franchise tag on him.
Brady’s return figures to change some plans, as many players will take less money to play on his team. Plus, some players who have publicly flirted with other teams will probably put an end to that.
The Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski Tampa party continues! Treat yourself or a friend with this great Tampa Fiesta shirt. You can buy it here.
Photo: Dec 26, 2021; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (12) warms up before the game at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
