June 10, 2015
‘The Grantland NFL Podcast’: June News Roundup and a Way-Too-Early Two-Round Mock Fantasy Draft
Getting back on topic, Robert Mays and Bill Barnwell recap June’s news and run through the first two rounds of a way-too-early mock fantasy draft.
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Escape From the New York Knicks, Part 1
In 2015, the basketball loss rate in New York City has risen 400 percent. The once-great city is now one of the worst basketball destinations in the country. A 50-foot-high containment wall has been erected up the New Jersey shoreline, across the Harlem River, and down the Brooklyn shoreline. It surrounds Manhattan. All bridges and waterways have been mined. The National Basketball Association, like an army, is encamped around the island. There are no referees inside the walls, only members of the Knicks organization and the worlds they have made. The rules are simple: Once you go in, you don’t come out.
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The NHL Playoffs Resiliency Factor
If you have it, great … but it probably means you are on the verge of losing the series.
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Tristan vs. Draymond: The Mismatch That’s Defining the NBA Finals
Tristan Thompson has been invaluable for the Cavs, while Draymond Green has been mostly invisible for the Warriors. That’s the subplot that’s shaping these NBA Finals.
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Dodger Dogged: How Don Mattingly Has Shaken Off the Critics and Embraced the Challenge of Managing in L.A.
Don Mattingly may not be a gifted tactician, but he also may not need to be. With expectations in L.A. as high as ever, Donnie Baseball has shed light on the evolving role of the modern manager by being able to survive, if not thrive.
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Lightning Round: Giants Rookie Chris Heston (Yes, That’s Right, Chris Heston) Just No-Hit the Mets
Baseball fans! Have you heard of San Francisco starter Chris Heston? No? That’s OK, because until Tuesday night, there wasn’t any reason to have heard of him: He’s a 27-year-old rookie; he was a 12th-round draft pick; he’s been picked up off the waiver wire four different times this season in the Grantland fantasy baseball league. But now, it’s time to learn the name, because Heston no-hit the Mets in just his 13th career start. It was weird. It was fun. And it made us want to share some thoughts.
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‘The Jonah Keri Podcast’: Dave Cameron and the Sklar Brothers
Jonah Keri talks to FanGraphs writer Dave Cameron about the topsy-turvy American League. Then, ‘Sklarbro Country’ hosts Randy and Jason Sklar rant about the Cardinals for ‘My Team Is a Joke.’
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NBA Shootaround: The Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel of Matthew Dellavedova, more LeBron magic, and the return of David Lee in an incredible Game 3.
Read moreJune 9, 2015
15 Important Questions About Baron Davis’s New Jheri Curl
The retired NBA star appeared on ‘First Take’ rocking a new hairstyle. The world needs answers.
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MLB Draft Room Power Rankings: Magnets, Man Buns, and More
Unlike with MLB draft prospects, we don’t have to wait years for draft rooms to reach their ceiling; they’re all as ready right now as they’re going to get. So which teams flashed a plus-plus interior-decoration tool during Round 1? Let’s rank the rooms.
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The Past, Present, and Future Coming Together at the Stanley Cup Final
While the NHL draft prospects parade through the locker room and the former players clog the halls, all generations were on display at the United Center.
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The Sportstorialist: The Shorts That Ate Paris
Those shorts. They were a thing. And the thing they were was quite bad.
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The 30: Smoke, Mirrors, and Torii Hunter
Two Midwestern teams try to turn things around, another hopes its success comes down to more than just luck, and the league leaders survive injury after injury.
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Pipe Problems: Tampa Bay’s Goalie Issue Isn’t Unprecedented
Ben Bishop is toughing it out, but he looks like a guy who is on borrowed time in the Stanley Cup final. For the first time in almost a decade, we have a starting goaltender suffering a significant mid-series injury, one that has already forced him out of action once and could do so again. Uh, you might want to stop reading right here, Oilers fans.
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Julie Johnston Is the Most Important Player on the USWNT
If the Americans are going to win this whole thing, they are going to have to play defense. And much of this team’s defensive responsibilities fall to Julie Johnston, the 23-year-old center back, second-youngest player, and most inexperienced non-goalkeeper on the roster.
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Who’s That Guy? No. 1 Overall MLB Draft Pick Dansby Swanson!
Who’s That Guy is an ongoing Grantland series and an orientation tool to use in the vast sports landscape. And hey, baseball is part of that landscape! So let’s get to know Vanderbilt shortstop and future Arizona Diamondback Dansby Swanson, the no. 1 overall pick in Monday’s MLB draft.
Read more‘Jalen and Jacoby’: Talking NBA Finals Game 2, Game 3 Adjustments, and Jalen’s Facial Hair
Jalen Rose and David Jacoby break down LeBron’s “monstropolous” performance, the JRLA graduation, adjustments for Game 3 of the NBA Finals, and more.
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What’s Next for Kevin Love?
Passing on Kevin Love probably propelled the Warriors to the Finals, but that isn’t the end of the story for last summer’s hottest commodity.
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