Doc Rivers has made some conflicting comments on his opinion of Ben Simmons, but the Philadelphia 76ers coach seems to have settled on praise for his young guard.
Rivers told TMZ Sports that Simmons was “great,” adding that he does not think the former No. 1 pick needs “a lot of fixing.”
“Ben’s great,” Rivers said. “I want him back. He’s terrific. He’ll be great.
“I think he doesn’t need a lot of fixing. He’s gonna be great for us. He’ll be great.”
Rivers was a bit less enthusiastic immediately after Philadelphia’s playoff elimination, which saw Simmons struggle mightily in a loss to Atlanta. Those thoughts were shared by Simmons’ teammates. The Sixers have a lot invested in Simmons, who remains an elite defensive player without a jump shot. Figuring out how to make the best use of him going forward could make or break Rivers’ career in Philly.
The Arizona Diamondbacks have the worst record in MLB, and it shows on the field.
In the eighth inning of Friday’s 11-4 loss to the San Francisco Giants, the Diamondbacks made a Little League play.
Jaylin Davis was pinch-hitting with nobody on and two outs in the top of the eighth. He popped a ball to shallow right that fell between three Diamondbacks players.
That’s embarrassing, especially for an MLB team. What’s sad is this has become a theme for them. Just over a month ago, they had a similar blunder against the Mets.
Yep, they’re 23-61 for a reason.
Shohei Ohtani continues to show off his MVP talent for the Los Angeles Angels. On Friday, he showed off all his tools.
Ohtani slugged two home runs in the Angels’ 8-7 win over the Baltimore Orioles. In the bottom of the third, he absolutely annihilated a pitch to right.
As if that weren’t enough, he went oppo the next inning for his 30th home run of the season.
But his contributions didn’t stop there. The Orioles understandably wanted no part of Ohtani in the bottom of the ninth and gave him an unintentional intentional walk. He stole second base. And then he raced around third to scored on a rocket line drive from Jared Walsh.
The play was reviewed but Ohtani was ruled safe. There are very few players who have the combination of elite power and elite speed that Ohtani possesses. He showed off those skills in helping his Angels capture the win.
Celebrity boxing matches are now part of the rage these days, and some former professional boxers even want in on the act.
Oscar De La Hoya is set to face former UFC star Vitor Belfort in a celebrity boxing match in September. Oscar would love to face Floyd Mayweather Jr. after that. He has someone else who would love to face him too.
Ricky Hatton, who was a light-welterweight champion, published his column for Metro on Friday. He expressed interest in participating in one of these fights.
“I’ll have a move about with Oscar De La Hoya if the opportunity comes! Oscar was a hero to a lot of people in boxing so it would be interesting even if it is only an exhibition. To share the ring with him and find out first-hand how good he was and maybe still is,” Hatton said.
Hatton’s interest lies in seeing former boxers square off in exhibitions. Rather than celebrity crossover fights like some of the ridiculous ones we’ve seen, he wants fights that would interest boxing fans. He would want to see Mike Tyson against Evander Holyfield. Even Joe Calzaghe vs. Carl Froch interests him.
Hatton, 42, is a beloved former British fighter who began his career 43-0. He fought most of his early fights in England, where he built up his name and a huge following. But after he came to America to fight, he lost to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and then got embarrassed by Manny Pacquiao, which effectively ended his career. He’s still a big name with a big following. If he fought De La Hoya, it would generate some interest.
The Washington Nationals are battling to stay in the playoff race, and their injury situation is not making things any easier.
The Nationals are without key players up and down their roster. Starting pitchers Stephen Strasburg and Erick Fedde are both on the IL. Middle infielder Jordy Mercer is also on the IL, and Trea Turner missed his second consecutive game on Friday after jamming his finger while sliding during Wednesday’s game. The injury situation was severe enough that the team was pressed into starting career catcher Alex Avila at second base Thursday.
Things got even more dire Friday as the team’s hottest hitter, Kyle Schwarber, went down with a hamstring injury. Washington’s loss Friday left the injury-hit Nationals at 40-40, 2.5 games behind the New York Mets in the NL East.
The team’s situation was summed up by pitcher Max Scherzer, who admitted that calling the situation an “injury bug” was too conservative.
The Nationals are facing some key decisions this month. Every win and loss is magnified right now, and a slew of injuries only make those decisions tougher. Scherzer essentially nails the issue they’re facing, and it doesn’t appear likely to sort itself out quickly, either.
Brett Phillips came in to pitch during his Tampa Bay Rays’ blowout loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday, and his appearance was hilarious.
Phillips is a versatile player who plays all three outfield spots. But he made his MLB pitching debut since his team was down 10-1 in the 9th. From his pitching motion to his entire attitude, everything was funny.
Let’s start with what a goofball he looked like warming up:
Then there was his run from the bullpen to the field:
And here is how he looked like pitching from a stretch:
He actually got called for a balk on that one.
Now take a look at his motion:
Nobody had more fun losing than Phillips. That was great.
In all, Phillips gave up two hits, two walks and a run in his one inning of work. He touched 94 mph on his fastball but mostly threw lollipops. And he gave the fans a laugh.
Phillips also has the greatest laugh in sports, too.
Rashad Weaver is 23 years old and has had the love and support of his family during his life. But the Tennessee Titans rookie now says he feels “betrayed” over a horrific incident involving his mother.
Weaver said on Twitter this week that his mother gave him some unwelcomed news on her birthday. You’re going to love this one. We’ll let his tweet tell the story.
Now that is just terrible! How dare she make him pay his own cell phone bill!
That was a great joke with perfect delivery by Weaver.
The 6-foot-5 defensive lineman was a fourth-round pick by Tennessee and is trying to make the team. His career actually got off to a bad start due to a concerning legal matter.
Weaver signed a 4-year rookie deal worth $4.1 million. That’s good money, but you can’t fault the man for trying to save a few bucks on the family phone plan.
Former Washington Wizards coach Scott Brooks looks set to land on his feet somewhere, potentially as an assistant on an NBA title contender.
According to Marc Stein of ESPN, Brooks interviewed with the Los Angeles Lakers about a potential role on Frank Vogel’s staff.
A former Coach of the Year with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Brooks’ contract was not renewed by the Wizards after a 34-38 season and a first-round playoff loss to Philadelphia. Brooks is well-liked by players and has extensive experience, but his name hasn’t shown up as a rumored candidate for any of the other jobs that remain open.
The Lakers appear to be expanding Vogel’s staff, which already features former NBA head coach Lionel Hollins. They recently added another well-known name to their staff, and Brooks may be next.
Lakers fans, show everyone who runs LA with this great T-shirt. It makes a perfect gift for you or a friend. You can buy it here.
Photo: All-Pro Reels/Flickr via CC BY-SA 2.0
Pablo Lopez had no business being ejected from his start on Friday night against the Atlanta Braves. His reaction tells you all you need to know about his intent.
Lopez was ejected after throwing just one pitch for the Miami Marlins. He hit Ronald Acuña Jr. in the bottom of the first and was tossed from the game after the umpires convened.
If you watch Lopez’s reaction to the pitch, it should tell you everything.
Does that really look like a guy who wanted to hit Acuna? Not at all. That’s why he should not have been ejected.
But he was tossed due to the history between the teams. Acuna was hit by the Marlins four times entering Friday’s game, including twice to lead off the game. Regardless, the history should not be the ultimate decider when determining an ejection in a case like this.
New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson has apparently had enough of his mother’s social media presence, but not even money will get her to delete her account.
On Friday, Wilson’s mother Lisa posted a video to Instagram claiming her son offered to pay her to delete her account because he was tired of people “treating my mom like crap.” Lisa Wilson says she won’t do it, though, citing women that have told her how much her Instagram videos have improved their lives and how she’s been told her videos are the “only reason they’re getting out of bed.”
There are definitely some reasons Zach Wilson might want his mom off Instagram that are unrelated to how she’s treated. In May, she made her account private amid criticism over a video she posted that appeared to complain about mandatory mask policies at Disney World.
Some of Lisa Wilson’s Instagram content has been pretty entertaining. That said, her son has done plenty of research on playing quarterback in New York, and he surely knows that the media there will be very interested in his mother’s unusual content. Whether he likes it or not, it doesn’t sound like Lisa and her over 27,000 followers are going anywhere.
