April 23, 2013
You Realize How Badly the T-Wolves Screwed Up the 2009 Draft, Right?
We interrupt Part 2 of the NBA Trade Value column to explain the travesty known as the 2009 NBA draft. That night, Minnesota drafted two of our top-30 trade value guys (Ricky Rubio with the fifth pick, then Ty Lawson with the 18th pick) and passed up a third top-30 guy (Stephen Curry) to take […]
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Who’s That Guy? Draymond Green!
The NBA playoffs are in full swing, and as the amazing continues to happen, the Grantland crew wants to help you buff up on some of the lesser-known faces who will be populating basketball’s second season. Who Is He? Draymond Green. Where Is He From? Michigan State. Years Played: Rookie. What’s His Salary? $850,000. Nickname: […]
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The Baseball Blackout in North Carolina Continues
On Friday, April 12, the Yankees beat the Orioles, 5-2. New York and Baltimore play each other 19 times this year, and that was the first matchup of the season. In what has become a frustrating annual tradition, it was also my first experience in 2013 with the North Carolina baseball blackout. I live in […]
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10 Minutes With Braves Pitcher Paul Maholm
“There was a start last June, in Arizona, and … ” Paul Maholm started to laugh before I could finish the sentence. In general, the first 14 starts of his 2012 season went poorly. But his June 23 outing against the D-backs was the worst of them all: 3⅓ innings, three walks, nine hits, seven […]
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Tree Bites Man: A Brief Video History of Biting in Sports
In the seventh minute of stoppage time, Luis Suarez somehow managed to get himself unmarked enough to flick a header past Chelsea keeper Petr Cech. It was the last touch of Sunday’s match between Liverpool and Chelsea and it brought the Reds to a 2-2 tie. At some level Chelsea only has itself to blame […]
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Champions League Underdog of the Week: Borussia Dortmund
In Joe Posnanski’s recent profile of San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, there’s a quote from Bob Spear, Pop’s old coach from his playing days at Air Force: “A team could do anything as long as the players just kept moving.” The theory is the same in football: create and exploit space through motion, […]
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NBA Playoffs Short-Attention-Span Power Rankings: Clippers-Grizzlies, Game 2
A survey of the players and teams making moves in last night’s L.A.-Memphis game. 1. Chris Paul (All GIFs by @HeyBelinda) I guess when you have someone who plays crunch time in bullet time, it’s not really crunch time, is it? When you have someone capable of scoring eight of your final 10 points, you […]
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NBA Short-Attention-Span Power Rankings: Bulls-Nets, Game 2
A survey of the players and coaches making moves last night in Brooklyn. 1. Joakim Noah There will be a lot said about grit and heart and all that today, and while a good portion of the praise heaped on Noah this morning will really be subtweets about Derrick Rose, Noah really does deserve every […]
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Now Almost Batting for the Yankees … John Elway
In 1983, John Elway was on his way to being the first pick in the NFL draft. However, the Baltimore Colts had that pick, and Elway had zero interest in playing there to the point that he would announce he was instead going to play for the New York Yankees. In the days leading up […]
Read moreVideo: Malcolm Gladwell Proposes Legalizing PEDs in Cycling
In the wake of the Lance Armstrong controversy, Malcolm Gladwell proposes that cycling should allow its athletes to use scientific advantages in a similar way that Formula One racing teams do.
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About Last Night: Chris Paul’s Flair for the Dramatic
In case you were busy because no one at the game of Celebrity you were playing could get Lark Voorhies, here’s what you missed in sports on Monday: Chris Paul scored his team’s last eight points, including an acrobatic runner with 0.1 seconds remaining, as the Los Angeles Clippers edged the Memphis Grizzlies, 93-91, to […]
Read moreApril 22, 2013
Hey, Don’t F*$% This Up: The Jets’ New Start
With the NFL offseason trudging along, there are plenty of questions for every NFL team. But for most, there’s one issue that trumps the rest. This is the latest in a team-by-team look at the offseason tasks that just can’t get botched. The Mike Tannenbaum era for the New York Jets will, justly, be remembered […]
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Know Your (Playoff-Bound!!!) Toronto Maple Leafs
My name is Sean, and I’m a Toronto Maple Leafs fan. This will no doubt come as a shock to anyone who’s been reading my stuff over the years. As a respectable sportswriter, I have carefully hidden any team allegiances I may have so as not to appear biased. Especially observant readers might have picked […]
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Four Questions About Canelo Alvarez vs. Austin Trout
On Saturday night, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez won a unanimous decision against Austin Trout. We asked four questions about the fight. Before the fight, many boxing pundits thought Canelo was all hype. Do you believe in Canelo now? Jay Kang: I believed in Canelo before Saturday night, albeit for a somewhat arbitrary reason. I attended Canelo’s […]
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B.S. Report: Zach Lowe
Bill Simmons calls Zach Lowe to discuss the first weekend of the NBA playoffs. To listen to this podcast, download it on iTunes here or listen at the ESPN.com Podcenter.
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Golden State of Emergency: How David Lee’s Injury Turns the Warriors Into a Long Shot
David Lee is a punch line, mostly because of his poor defense, but his ability to do just about everything on offense has made him a core part of a Warriors team that has won by scoring like hell, surviving on defense, and cleaning the glass. Now he’s gone for the season, the bad-luck victim […]
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We Went There: The Boos (Mostly) Subside for One Day at Madison Square Garden
The Boston Celtics were met with boos as they jogged onto the court for pregame warm-ups Saturday, which seemed about right. It didn’t matter that the Celtics were wearing commemorative shirts that would be auctioned off for The One Fund Boston or that they had scrawled messages of support on their sneakers. “Get outta here!” […]
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NBA Playoffs Shootaround: Are You Fired Up?
So much amazing is happening, and the Shootaround crew is here to help you keep track of it all. You’ll find takes on moments you might’ve missed from the previous night, along with ones you will remember forever. He Ate the Bones Bucks coach Jim Boylan on LeBron James: “I mean, what can you do?” […]
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Darrelle Revis (and His Leverage) Finally Exits New York
“Did they get a fair price for Rickey Henderson? It’s kind of like if you’re an art collector and you have the Mona Lisa, what’s a fair price for it? The idea in building a championship team is to acquire players like Rickey Henderson. It’s a sad day when you have to give one away.” […]
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What Happened to the Pitching Staff Swingman?
There are baseball books that normal people buy, and then there are baseball books that obsessive, maniacal baseball lovers buy. Let’s put it this way — if you’re on a date with someone who has Moneyball or Summer of ’49 on his or her shelf, you’re probably OK. But if your significant other owns Weaver […]
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Video: Behind the Scenes of ‘NBA Countdown’
Heading into the playoffs, Bill Simmons decided to break out his iPhone and film in between takes during NBA Countdown tapings. The first batch of results taught us a few things about the Countdown crew: Magic has a penchant for smuggling large quantities of coveted Chicago popcorn for the crew; Wilbon refuses to fill out […]
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About Last Weekend: Miami Ready for an Encore
In case you were busy devising an elaborate fake game show so you could injure otherwise forgotten celebrities, here’s what you missed in sports last weekend: LeBron James flirted with, but fell two assists shy of, a triple-double as his Miami Heat throttled the Milwaukee Bucks, 110-87, to begin their NBA title defense. “Yeah, I […]
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