Jack Winter Articles - Page 100

LeBron James didn’t actually call out his younger teammates for a lack of focus on Monday night. The Los Angeles Lakers are 29-31, 11th in the Western Conference, a standing that says more about their 7-12 record during James’ injury-related absence than their play with him in the lineup. The Lakers weren’t able to acquire […]

Marshawn Lynch’s NFL career probably isn’t over. Though the former All-Pro running back hasn’t confirmed his plans to continue playing going forward, most assume he’s still likely to embark on a 13th season after his brief retirement three years ago. The bigger question is where Lynch would play next season with the Oakland Raiders poised […]

The Oakland Raiders, it turns out, celebrated their final game at the East Bay’s legendary Coliseum one year too early – if not more. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Raiders are on the verge of finalizing and agreement with stadium officials that will keep them in Oakland through the 2019 season, and perhaps […]

The Golden State Warriors won’t be too shorthanded for their next game after all. Both Draymond Green and Shaun Livingston are listed as probable for the Warriors’ matchup with the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center on Monday, while reserve big men Jordan Bell and Damian Jones will sit out the action. Injury report for tonight's […]

James Harden and Chris Paul reignited a long-dormant controversy last week, accusing longtime NBA referee Scott Foster of harboring a personal vendetta against the Houston Rockets. Foster, you may remember, was implicated in the mid-2000s gambling scandal that landed Tim Donaghy in jail for nearly a year. The disgraced former referee called Foster 134 times […]

The New England Patriots, believe it or not, have no plans to move on from Tom Brady in the immediate future. The Hall-of-Fame signal-caller might not be the imminently dominant force he was in his prime, but remains one of the league’s most valuable players at 41 years old nonetheless. Even so, it’s only a […]

New details have been released on the involvement of Robert Kraft in a Jupiter, Florida human trafficking scandal. Palm Beach State Attorney Dave Aronberg on Monday made public the probable cause affidavits for all 25 men charged in the prostitution bust, including the New England Patriots owner. Here is the document for #RobertKraft pic.twitter.com/gJwZVadKKg — […]

Times have changed in the NFL. Even as the game puts more of an emphasis on passing the football, quarterbacks with traditional size, throwing deliveries, and playing backgrounds have still become far less of a commodity. There will always be a place in the league for old-school signal-callers in the mold of Tom Brady, assuming […]

Jimmy Johnson began the Dallas Cowboys’ early 1990s dynasty with a pair of talented rookie quarterbacks on his roster. After watching Troy Aikman blossom into a Hall of Famer and trading Steve Walsh for first and third-round draft picks that became Pro Bowl defensive tackle Russell Maryland and potential Hall-of-Fame right tackle Erik Williams, it […]

Stephen Curry was one of the biggest names in all of basketball long before he was a three-time NBA champion, two-time MVP, or generally considered the greatest shooter in history of the sport. The Golden State Warriors guard first blazed his path to superstardom at North Carolina’s tiny Davidson College, when he led his team […]

Sorry, baseball fans. Kyler Murray, it turns out, was never all that enthused about the prospect of playing for the Oakland Athletics. The ninth overall pick of the 2018 draft and reigning Heisman trophy winner announced on February 11th that he had made the decision to pursue a professional football career, indicating his baseball days […]

The honeymoon phase for DeMarcus Cousins and the Golden State Warriors is officially over. Even after perhaps his most disappointing performance of the season, though, Golden State’s All-Star big man is fully confident the “bad days” will end “sooner than later.” “It’s definitely frustrating,” he told The Athletic’s Anthony Slater after the Warriors’ 118-112 loss […]

The Chicago Bulls entered Saturday’s action with the league’s last-ranked offense. Against the Boston Celtics of all opponents, though, Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen gave long-suffering Windy City fans what they hope so much is a sign of things to come. LaVine confirmed as much after the game, too, telling K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune he […]

DeMarcus Cousins is frustrated. His struggles with the Golden State Warriors should really come as no surprise given both his inevitably gradual re-acclimation to the game after tearing his Achilles and his complicated fit within Steve Kerr’s system — on both sides of the ball. Cousins’ offensive transition has been wildly encouraging thus far, with […]

Nobody will ever question Marcus Smart’s toughness. After his team’s latest loss to an objectively-inferior opponent, though, the Boston Celtics guard did just that to his teammates. “Our toughness. Our will to fight. Our will to do everything,” Smart said, per Jay King of The Athletic. “It’s like we ain’t got the will to do […]

Draymond Green left the Golden State Warriors’ 118-112 loss to the Houston Rockets midway through the third quarter with a left ankle injury but reportedly is likely have avoided serious injury. DeMarcus Cousins left his team’s game early, too, but only because Steve Kerr made the decision to sit him for its final six minutes. […]

After the Chicago Bulls beat the Boston Celtics 126-116 at United Center on Saturday night, Brad Stevens made sure to shoulder the blame for another vexing loss to an objectively inferior foe. “I’ve said this before: I’m disappointed in myself,” the fifth-year coach said, per ESPN’s Chris Forsberg. “I’ve got to do a lot better.” […]

This isn’t Chris Paul’s fault. The Houston Rockets superstar’s first priority in the clip below is stopping the ball to prevent Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry from getting a clean look from beyond the arc – almost no matter where is on the floor. As a result, it makes perfect sense that his head […]

Anthony Tolliver’s effort has never been in question. The Minnesota Timberwolves forward has been on the fringes of playing rotations for years, keeping his once unlikely NBA career alive and well mostly through long-range shooting and commitment to preparation. Energy and engagement is key to both of those attributes, obviously, and the 11-year veteran has […]

Chris Paul used to be a blur. The Houston Rockets point guard rose to superstardom in the late 2000s courtesy of his unparalleled blend of speed, burst, skill, and canny. Nearly a decade later, the inevitabilities of age and multiple recurring lower-body injuries have sapped Paul of much of the athleticism that was a hallmark […]

Stephen Curry’s pre-game routine is already the stuff of legend. The Golden State Warriors superstar puts himself through a ringer of eye-popping ball-handling drills and an impossibly-difficult shooting regimen before tipoff of every game, routinely drawing hundreds of excitable fans and sometimes even national television cameras to his own personal show. Most famous among the […]

Trae Young’s unrelenting confidence is among the many traits that make him one of the league’s most promising young playmakers. Considering the competitive nature of Saturday’s game against the Phoenix Suns, though, the Atlanta Hawks rookie might want to think twice before taking a page out of Stephen Curry’s All-Star playbook. Trae Young watched the […]

Dwyane Wade isn’t nearly as quick as he was 10 years ago. Still, the Miami Heat superstar has enough juice left in the tank to occasionally remind the basketball world why he was once called “Flash.” Case in point: This spinning, and-1 layup in the first quarter of his team’s game against the Detroit Pistons […]

Shaun Livingston isn’t the player he once was for the Golden State Warriors. During his first two years in the Bay, Livingston was a cog of the Warriors “Strength In Numbers” ethos, using his 6-foot-7 frame as a point guard to further exploit the team’s unsurpassed malleability on both sides of the ball. Age has […]

Ben Simmons poked the Bosnian Bear. The Philadelphia 76ers star, then, is lucky to have come away from his encounter with Portland Trail Blazers big man Jusuf Nurkic with scars inflicted solely from social media. In the third quarter of his team’s matinee against the Blazers on Saturday, Simmons — after missing a free throw […]

It’s safe to say not everyone in the NBA agrees with James Harden’s scathing critique of longtime referee Scott Foster. Despite Steve Kerr suggesting otherwise, though, it’s pretty clear he’s not exactly thrilled with the state of the league’s officiating crew. Asked for his thoughts on the comments about Foster’s impartiality recently made by Harden […]

Bobby Portis’ impact on the Washington Wizards is already paying off in a big way. Barely more than two weeks after being traded to his new team from the Chicago Bulls, Portis is starting at center for the Wizards on Saturday, replacing Thomas Bryant. Per Coach Brooks, Bobby Portis will start tonight at the 5. […]

Al Horford is finally starting to look like the player who led the injury-depleted Boston Celtics to within a single victory of the NBA Finals last spring. Why? The veteran center is now healthier than he’s been at any other point this season and Kyrie Irving is encouraging him to be aggressive. “I think health […]

Eric Henderson’s rapid rise up the coaching ranks continues. The Los Angeles Rams have hired the 36-year-old as the team’s new defensive line coach, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. The #Rams are hiring former #Chargers assistant DL coach Eric Henderson as their new D-line coach, source said. He also spent time at Oke St […]

Jon Gruden isn’t exactly taking a unique approach to free agency. In an interview posted on his team’s website on Friday, the Oakland Raiders head coach and key personnel decision-maker said his team was hoping to acquire “blossoming young players” this offseason rather than veterans nearing the end of their playing days. “We’ve been doing […]

It’s safe to say Thunder star Russell Westbrook still cares far more about triple-doubles than he often prefers to suggest. On Friday, though, there’s no doubt whatsoever that the Oklahoma City Thunder superstar has almost completely overlooked his historic streak coming to an end. Westbrook made history before the All-Star break by notching triple-doubles in […]

Remember when it seemed like Paul George’s tenure as one of the league’s best players was suddenly over? Us neither. The Oklahoma City Thunder superstar continued putting the horrific leg injury he suffered in 2014 behind him with another MVP-worthy performance against the Utah Jazz, one highlighted by this thunderous windmill dunk in overtime of […]

Anthony Davis requested a trade from the New Orleans Pelicans last month. He’s represented by Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, agent and longtime friend of LeBron James. Subsequent reporting following his trade request indicated that Davis plans to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent regardless of where he might be dealt […]

The road toward respectability will often be rocky for the Chicago Bulls. After another substandard performance by Kris Dunn in his team’s 109-108 victory over the Orlando Magic on Friday, his backcourt mate acknowledged that reality by expressing confidence in the former top-five pick despite his ongoing struggles. “I think everybody gets that stigma every […]

NBA referees are instructed to allow players some leeway in the heat of the moment. Rather than dole out technical fouls for every complaint about a call or no-call and every utterance of trash talk between opposing teams, the league has chosen to acknowledge the inevitabilities accompanied with adults playing a competitive sport. Why Detroit […]

In DeMar DeRozan’s first visit to Scotiabank Arena as an opponent, it was his former’s team’s rookie head coach that briefly stole the spotlight. With three minutes and 33 seconds left in the Toronto Raptors’ game against the San Antonio Spurs on Friday, Nick Nurse earned his first ejection as an NBA coach after arguing […]

Elfrid Payton is hardly good enough to save the New Orleans Pelicans’ season. But as Jrue Holiday drags his team toward the end of the regular season amid the ongoing Anthony Davis drama, he’s still certainly glad to have his team’s starting point guard back on the court. “I loved it, the way he played,” […]

DeMar DeRozan will always hold a special place in the hearts of Toronto Raptors fans. In the wake of their team’s game against the San Antonio Spurs on Friday, though, it’s safe to say even those still lamenting Toronto’s decision to trade him last summer at least now see where Masai Ujiri was coming from. […]

Say what you will about Andre Drummond. He doesn’t always play with the edge necessary to take advantage of his gifts. The development of his back-to-the-basket game has almost completely stalled after he made only minimal progress in that regard over his first few years in the league. Drummond is severely limited offensively otherwise, too, […]