Oct 7, 2023; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Chris Paul (3) reacts after a foul is called in favor of the Los Angeles Lakers during the first half at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports
If the Golden State Warriors decide to let Chris Paul go this offseason, an interesting team reportedly would be interested in the veteran point guard.
Paul is owed $30 million next season, but that salary is not guaranteed. If the Warriors decide to cut Paul, NBA reporter Marc Stein says the San Antonio Spurs could be interested.
The Spurs went 22-60 this season. They have an emerging star in Victor Wembanyama, who shined as a rookie. The Spurs are aiming to build around Wemby, and if their options were limited, adding Paul might end up appealing.
Paul will be 39 years old next season. He played in 58 games (18 starts) with the Warriors this season and averaged 9.2 points, 6.8 assists and 1.2 steals in 26.4 minutes per contest.
The Spurs appear to have around $27 million in salary cap space for next season. They have Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson and Zach Collins on multi-year deals, so they probably would have room for Paul if the Warriors made the veteran available.
The Warriors have an even bigger decision looming this offseason, as they have to determine what they will do with free agent Klay Thompson.
Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Udonis Haslem may now be retired, but that is still not stopping him from going at the Boston Celtics.
Brian Scalabrine, a former Celtics player who now serves as a commentator for the team, made a big-time accusation against the Miami Heat and head coach Erik Spoelstra after Game 1 of the Celtics-Heat playoff series Sunday. Scalabrine took exception to a perceived dirty play by Miami’s Caleb Martin on Boston’s Jayson Tatum and accused Spoelstra of telling his team to injure Tatum. You can read Scalabrine’s full remarks here.
The retired ex-Heat big man Haslem was incensed about Scalabrine’s accusation and let him know about it on Monday.
“Shut yo sucka a– up,” wrote Haslem in an Instagram comment (profanity edited by LBS). “[Martin] got pushed. Brian weak a–.”
Indeed, the video of the play showed that many had missed a push by Celtics guard Jrue Holiday to the back of Martin on the play that ultimately led to the contact with Tatum. Even famed Celtics homer Bill Simmons cited the Holiday push as the cause of the whole thing and said that Martin did nothing dirty.
As for Scalabrine, he was pretty far off-base with his accusation, especially against a very highly-respected longtime head coach in Spoelstra (and one who will be coaching Tatum as an assistant on the USA Basketball circuit this summer). Scalabrine has since walked back his controversial remarks, albeit not entirely.
As for Haslem, he had plenty of history with the Celtics during his playing career, including multiple heated playoff battles. Scalabrine now becomes the latest ex-Boston player that Haslem has targeted with sharp comments.
New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson throws during warmups before an NFL game against the Cincinnati Bengals at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022. Credit: Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK
Zach Wilson is finally being traded.
The New York Jets are trading Wilson to the Denver Broncos. The Broncos are sending a sixth-round pick (No. 207) to the Jets and are receiving a seventh-round pick (No. 256). The Jets are also paying some of the $5.5 million salary Wilson is owed for 2024.
The trade will end Wilson’s extremely disappointing Jets career.
The Jets made Wilson the No. 2 overall pick in 2021. Though the 24-year-old showed the ability to make a big play here or there, Wilson just never showed real improvement during his time with the Jets. He passed for 23 touchdowns and 25 interceptions over 34 regular season games. He also seemed to be mentally done with the Jets after being shuffled in and out of the lineup so much.
In Denver, Wilson will join a quarterback group that includes Jarrett Stidham and Ben DiNucci. The Broncos are also a candidate to select a quarterback in the draft. Denver has the No. 12 overall pick.
Feb 6, 2022; Paradise, Nevada, USA; The NFL shield logo is seen at midfield before the Pro Bowl football game at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
A former NFL MVP has announced his retirement.
In a video he shared on social media Monday, Matt Ryan announced that he is retiring as a member of the Atlanta Falcons. The former quarterback thanked all of those who had an impact on his 15-year career.
“Today, 16 years after I was drafted, my childhood dream has officially come to an end,” Ryan said. “I’m honored to retire as a Falcon. Thank you to all the Falcons fans for your continued support. Through the highs and the lows, I always felt your energy and passion. I want you to know that every day I felt the responsibility to give you the best version of myself. While we didn’t accomplish everything we had hoped, I am proud of what we did and I know that I gave everything I could to be the best that I possibly could.”
Ryan played for the Falcons for 14 seasons after the team drafted him with the No. 3 overall pick in 2008. He was named NFL MVP in 2016 and led the team to the Super Bowl that year, where they infamously blew a 28-3 lead against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.
Ryan is Atlanta’s all-time leading passer with 59,735 yards and 367 touchdowns. His 62,792 passing yards rank seventh in NFL history.
The Falcons traded Ryan to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for a third-round pick ahead of the 2022 season. Ryan wound up being benched on a team that went 4-12-1. He had a perfect way of summing up his brief and unsuccessful tenure with the Colts.
Ryan worked as an analyst for CBS last year, but he left the door open to return to playing if a team came calling. That did not happen, and the 38-year-old has now decided he does not want to explore anymore on-field opportunities.
Oct 30, 2022; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau in the third quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
One New York Knicks player is responding after coach Tom Thibodeau got bad reviews in an annual player poll.
Thibodeau was, by some distance, voted the coach that players would least like to play for in The Athletic’s annual anonymous poll of NBA players. With a sample size of 77 votes, Thibodeau received 46.8 percent of the vote, while no other coach received more than 9.1 percent.
Knicks guard Donte DiVincenzo had a strong response to those results.
“Buls–t, that’s all I have to say,” DiVincenzo said, via Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “A lot of guys don’t play for Thibs. I play for Thibs. On the outside, looking in you have a certain viewpoint. When you are inside and play for Thibs, like I said, it’s bulls–t.
“You don’t know him. You don’t know how the organization runs. You don’t know how the practices run. You don’t know anything. You see honestly on the sideline how he acts. To us that’s dedication. That’s how much love and dedication he gives to us every day. Like I said, that poll is bulls–t and inaccurate.”
Thibodeau has a reputation for running tough, demanding practices and wearing players down over the course of a season. His defenders say it helps him get the most out of his squads, but detractors say he is simply too tough on his players.
Thibodeau definitely is not for everyone. There are definitely some players that do not mind his style, and the current Knicks seem to have bought in to his methods. For DiVincenzo, that is clearly all that matters.
New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone was ejected from Monday’s game against the Oakland A’s because of something a fan shouted at the home plate umpire.
Boone received a warning from home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt after the manager expressed his displeasure with some ball and strike calls just five pitches into the game. Wendelstedt could be heard telling Boone that Boone would be “gone” if he made another complaint.
About 10 seconds later, Wendelstedt stopped the game and ejected Boone. But there was only one problem — Boone hadn’t said a single word after being warned.
Boone and Yankees bench coach Brad Ausmus immediately pointed to the stands and told Wendelstedt that whatever the umpire heard came from a fan. Wendelstedt responded, “I don’t care who said it, you’re gone!”
YES Network captured an angle that showed a fan in a blue shirt shouting something toward Wendelstedt just before Boone was ejected.
That was a bad look for Wendelstedt. Yankee Stadium was fairly quiet at the time because the game began at 1 p.m. on a Monday, which is why the umpire was able to hear the fan so clearly. Wendelstedt could have at least checked with another member of his crew, but he reacted so quickly and enthusiastically that he must have felt he had to stick with it.
Boone is no stranger to being tossed out of games, but that was probably the first time he was ever ejected over something a fan said.
Nov 30, 2022; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra reacts during a break as they take on the Boston Celtics at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Boston Celtics analyst Brian Scalabrine delivered a controversial take after the team’s win over the Miami Heat on Sunday, but the former fan favorite appears to have changed his stance a bit.
The Celtics defeated the Heat 114-94 in Game 1 of the first-round playoff series between the two teams at TD Garden in Boston, Mass. With roughly a minute left in the fourth quarter, Heat forward Caleb Martin slammed into Celtics star Jayson Tatum while Martin was charging into the lane for a rebound. Many felt the play was dirty. You can see the video here.
Scalabrine, who played for the Celtics from 2005-2010 and won a championship with the team, said during the NBC Sports Boston postgame show that it was “shady” how Heat coach Erik Spoelstra called a timeout 30 seconds before Martin’s hard foul on Tatum. Scalabrine believes Spoelstra ordered some sort of “code red,” which was Scalabrine’s way of saying Spoelstra told the Heat to go after Tatum.
On Monday, Scalabrine joined the Miami-based “Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz” to further explain himself. While he did not completely back down from accusing Spoelstra of putting a hit out on Tatum, Scalabrine said he believes Spoelstra told the Heat to “send a message” since they were getting blown out.
“Do you think that during that timeout, or during any timeout by the way, that Erik Spoelstra says, ‘Come on, guys. We’re down by 32. We’re just gonna lay down and get punked? We’re not gonna send a message?'” Scalabrine asked. “I’m not saying he said go run over to Tatum and hurt him. I’m saying, ‘Come on, guys, we’re gonna send a message to these guys. We’re in a long series right here. This is what we’re gonna do.'”
Scalabrine said anyone who does not think Spoelstra told the Heat to “send a message” does not really buy into Miami’s self-proclaimed identity of being the toughest and grittiest team in the NBA.
There is a big difference between a coach telling his team to be aggressive and not go down without a fight versus instructing a player to injure an opponent. Scalabrine was basically trying to say the former was all he meant, but it was clear he initially accused Spoelstra of more.
The Denver Broncos are the latest NFL team to unveil new uniforms for the 2024 season, but those who saw the promo video may have initially thought they were watching a truck commercial.
On Monday, the Broncos shared a 2-minute video on social media to formally introduce fans to their new threads. Horses and the Ford Bronco had prominent roles in the promo.
Many people made the same observation about the clip, which is that it looked more like an advertisement for Ford.
As for the uniforms themselves, fans were split on whether or not they approve of the “Mile High Collection.”
A few teams have unveiled new uniforms this offseason, and most have gone with a minimalist design. That is typically well-received by fans, but there are always going to be critics. In the Broncos’ case, most of the negative feedback pertained to the “Built Ford Tough” approach.
Jun 2, 2022; San Francisco, California, USA; NBA commissioner Adam Silver talks to media before game one of the 2022 NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
The NBA is in the process of securing new media rights packages, and there is a chance some big games could move to streaming services in the coming years.
ESPN/ABC and TNT Sports are looking to retain their NBA media rights, but both juggernauts have an exclusive negotiating window with the league that ends on Monday evening at 11:59 p.m. ET. After that, other networks like NBC, which wants to get back in on the NBA action, and streaming services like Amazon, YouTube, Netflix and Apple will formally enter the mix.
According to Andrew Marchand of The Athletic, the NBA wants to have at least three new media rights agreements. The idea of a streaming giant like Amazon carrying significant games has not been ruled out, either. Marchand said there is a possibility Amazon or another streaming service could carry conference finals or even NBA Finals games down the road as part of a long-term deal.
The NBA Finals currently air on ABC, while ESPN and TNT carry the conference finals. ABC/ESPN parent company Disney and TNT parent company Warner Bros. Discovery want to retain those rights after paying and average of $2.6 billion combined per year for their overall NBA packages over the past nine years.
NBA executives are seeking deals of 10 years or longer for their next rights agreements, Marchand reports. The league wants to position itself to allow fans to have access to as many games as possible through multiple platforms as cable television decreases in popularity.
The NFL has enjoyed great success with its Amazon “Thursday Night Football” package, which is likely the main reason the NBA wants to explore similar agreements. There was also an NFL playoff game this past season that was exclusively carried on a streaming platform, though that was extremely unpopular among fans.
NBC, which most recently carried NBA games from 1990-2002, also might explore a new NBA package that is similar to what it has with the NFL.
Rashee Rice is facing several felony charges over his alleged involvement in a car accident last month, and the Kansas City Chiefs star is expected to be disciplined by the NFL.
In an ESPN+ column that was published on Monday, Adam Schefter said he anticipates Rice receiving “at least a multi-game suspension” from the NFL.
Rice is has been hit with eight felony charges after he was partially responsible for a multi-vehicle accident in Dallas, Texas on March 30. He was allegedly racing against someone he knew at an incredibly high rate of speed before crashing. Rice and several other men were then seen leaving the scene, which led to a warrant being issued for Rice’s arrest.
The NFL typically waits for the legal process to play out before handing down disciplinary action. For now, Rice appears to be staying away from the Chiefs.
Rice played a major role for the Chiefs as a rookie in 2023. He finished with 79 catches for 938 yards and a team-leading 7 touchdowns. Rice also had 26 catches for 262 yards and a touchdown in Kansas City’s four playoff games. He was poised for an even bigger year next season, but a suspension could put a damper on that.
