Jack Winter Articles - Page 105

Shaquem Griffin is one of the NFL’s most inspiring stories. Born with amniotic band syndrome, a condition that causes fingers to not fully develop, he had his left hand amputated at age four after his mother caught him trying to ease the pain of his condition by using a butcher’s knife to cut off his […]

Family lineage makes it easy to assume Stephen Curry was born to become the greatest shooter of all time. His father, Dell, is one of the most accomplished long-range marksmen of yore, carving out a 16-year career from the late 1980s to the early 2000s despite never becoming a full-time starter. He shot over 40 […]

Matthew Stafford was hardly the Detroit Lions’ biggest problem last season. Considering his recent career norms, though, it’s also fair to submit the 10-year veteran was hardly at his best, throwing for 21 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and 3,777 yards en route to a 53.8 QBR – the 22nd-best best mark in football, behind the likes […]

In their first season under defensive wunderkind Matt Patricia, the Detroit Lions weren’t exactly world-beaters on that side of the ball. They allowed just 335.0 yards per game, good for 10th in the league, yet also surrendered an average 22.4 points per game while finishing with the second-fewest takeaways in football. Patricia would admit that […]

Nikola Jokic has been the driving force behind the Denver Nuggets’ rise toward the top of the Western Conference, but the team’s wealth of depth has been crucial during an injury-riddled season, too. The emergence of backup point guard Monte Morris, for instance, helped Denver keep pace with the Golden State Warriors in the standings […]

Elected officials in Louisiana should probably have better things to do than spend time criticizing the NFL for the pass interference no-call that many believe cost the New Orleans Saints a Super Bowl appearance. Senator Bill Cassidy used almost seven, obviously-fruitless minutes last month on the Senate floor drawing attention to the matter, and New […]

Justice prevails. It was only a few months ago that Eric Reid joined Colin Kaepernick as another player in the midst of his prime who’s enjoyed years of on-field success but nevertheless found himself without a job. The Carolina Panthers righted that wrong in late September, signing Reid to a $1.9 million contract for the […]

A rising MVP candidate and perpetually underrated wing have been named conference players of the week. The Oklahoma City Thunder’s Paul George and Indiana Pacers’ Bojan Bogdanovic were bestowed the honor for week 17 of the NBA season after leading their teams to unblemished records. George averaged 37.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2.7 […]

Ben Simmons could undoubtedly learn a thing or two from Magic Johnson. The supersized point guards are not only two of the best passers the league has ever seen, but share a weakness the Los Angeles Lakers legend was ultimately able to overcome en route to winning five championships: poor outside shooting. Philadelphia 76ers general […]

League-wide relevance is a new phenomenon for Marc Lasry. Going forward, the Milwaukee Bucks owner will certainly think twice about publicly discussing players employed by opposing teams. The league has reportedly fined Lasry $25,000 for comments he made last week about New Orleans Pelicans superstar Anthony Davis, according to ESPN’s Malika Andrews. Bucks co-owner Marc […]

The Los Angeles Lakers will be without a key contributor for a portion of their late-season push to the playoffs. The team announced Monday that guard Josh Hart will be sidelined through the All-Star break and perhaps beyond: Josh Hart will have his right knee re-evaluated after the #NBA All-Star break, according to #Lakers PR. — […]

Talent continues to consistently trump gross malfeasance in the NFL. The Cleveland Browns announced on Monday that they have signed running back Kareem Hunt, who was waived by the Kansas City Chiefs in November after surveillance video surfaced of him shoving and kicking a woman at a hotel in February 2018. Browns general manager John […]

The Boston Celtics suffered perhaps their most embarrassing loss of a vexing season on Saturday, when they surrendered a 28-point advantage to the Los Angeles Clippers at TD Garden in the first game after Doc Rivers’ team traded away its best player. After the game, which ended with a smattering of boos raining down from […]

The Boston Celtics came within one game of making the NBA Finals last season. All Brad Stevens’ injury-depleted team needed to do was protect home court at T.D. Garden, where it had previously gone undefeated in the playoffs. One problem: LeBron James stood in the way, playing Celtics spoiler yet again by scoring 35 points, […]

LeBron James needs help. He and the Los Angeles Lakers stressed all offseason that they wouldn’t rush the team’s trajectory toward championship contention, instead letting incumbent young players grow while assessing the market for available superstars come the summer of 2019. James’ groin injury on Christmas and the team’s subsequent struggles without him might have […]

The relationship between Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade has never recovered after the former spurned the Miami Heat in free agency five years ago. Not actually, of course. Though many NBA fans wanted to believe James’ decision to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014 would irreparably damage […]

Say it with me: Rookies can’t play defense. Atlanta Hawks Jeremy Lin certainly understands that NBA reality, and took full advantage of it on this pinpoint lob pass to DeAndre’ Bembry for a nasty dunk off a baseline out-of-bounds play. Lin ➡️ Bembry for the out-of-bounds alley-oop 😳 pic.twitter.com/vA5jAvCMxk — NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) February […]

The Milwaukee Bucks are better than you think. Not only does Mike Budenholzer’s team sit atop the league-wide standings at 41-14, but their top-ranked +9.5 net rating is two points per 100 possessions better than the Golden State Warriors’. The Bucks have been the best team in the NBA this season, and it’s not particularly […]

The Boston Celtics provided the L.A. Clippers with their largest comeback victory in franchise history on Saturday night. After surrendering a 28-point lead at home to a team that just traded away its best player, though, one Celtics veteran insisted it wasn’t the loss that concerned him most. Marcus Morris, as he explained to ESPN’s […]

Like it or not, popularity matters in voting for individual player awards – and Paul George seems to know it. After dropping 45 points in his team’s thrilling 117-112 victory over the Houston Rockets, on his way back to the locker room the Oklahoma City Thunder superstar gave his game-worn shoes to a lucky fan […]

The L.A. Clippers were supposed to take a step back after the trade deadline and probably wanted to. Their primary justification for trading Tobias Harris to the Philadelphia 76ers wasn’t missing the playoffs, but doing so would indeed be helpful given the team’s imminent pursuit of Anthony Davis this summer. Los Angeles’ first-round pick is […]

Saturday night was a bad one for the Kyrie Irving and the Boston Celtics. Still, Brad Stevens’ team should feel lucky it didn’t go even worse. Irving left his team’s dispiriting loss to the L.A. Clippers in the second quarter after tweaking his right knee. He suffered the injury while trying to fight through a […]

Kawhi Leonard, perhaps taking a cue from the recent trials and tribulations of Kevin Durant, took a very direct approach to answer questions about free agency. After his team’s 104-99 win over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, the Toronto Raptors superstar simply refused to talk about anything other than […]

Oklahoma City Thunder Russell Westbrook swears he doesn’t care about triple-doubles. But even basketball’s king of single-game, arbitrary statistical thresholds should admit that his latest accomplishment is pretty, pretty impressive given historical context. The former MVP recorded his ninth straight triple-double in a thrilling 117-112 win over the Houston Rockets on Saturday night, tying a record […]

The Boston Celtics mostly stood pat at the trade deadline, content to keep their core intact and fight for Eastern Conference supremacy while waiting for the opportunity to trade for Anthony Davis this summer. The L.A. Clippers, on the other hand, were one of trade season’s most aggressive teams, dealing Tobias Harris and Boban Marjanovic […]

Luka Doncic is just 19, a fact the ease with which he’s acclimated to the NBA game makes especially frightening for opponents. It goes without saying that the Dallas Mavericks’ sensation will fare even better in the future than he has as a rookie. Coach Rick Carlisle has a first-row seat to Doncic’s growth on […]

What a moment for Jabari Parker. In the second quarter of his new team’s game against the Chicago Bulls on Friday night, the Washington Wizards forward channeled frustration and disappointment stemming from his time in the Windy City into this nasty, left-handed poster dunk over former teammate Lauri Markkanen. Revenge! The Bulls, of course, traded […]

LeBron James just can’t stop himself from stirring the pot. After completing the All-Star draft with fellow team captain Giannis Antetokounmpo on Thursday night, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar proposed a trade: Ben Simmons for Russell Westbrook, one of the Milwaukee Bucks’ franchise players readily accepted. On the surface, there isn’t much more to this […]

Only a select few players in NBA history are able to chart the course of their own careers. LeBron James, for instance, has the power to play for pretty much whatever team he wants. But even lesser All-Stars don’t have the luxury of signing a series of one-year contracts, nor the ability to pick a […]

Jabari Parker’s time with the Chicago Bulls didn’t exactly go as planned. Signed last summer to start at small forward, at least according to management, he came off the bench for the first seven games of the season before being inserted to the starting lineup at power forward. But that was under Fred Hoiberg, who […]

Another day, another opportunity for Jim Boylen to praise his team’s new starting small forward. Before Saturday’s game against the Washington Wizards, the Chicago Bulls coach told reporters what he believes makes the recently-acquired Otto Porter a consummate professional and perfect fit for his young team. “His approach already is respected,” Boylen said of Porter, […]

The Oklahoma City Thunder will have to look outside the locker room for a much-needed dose of three-point shooting leading up to the playoffs. The team announced on Friday that it has waived third-year guard Alex Abrines. Thunder Waives Alex Abrines. https://t.co/pxCoato9nN pic.twitter.com/ageLcVvI2l — OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 9, 2019 The 25-year-old has played in […]

Todd Gurley seemed to speak for all NFL players in 2017, when the Los Angeles Rams star lamented the fact his team was playing a regular-season game in London. Not only does travel time serve as a major nuisance for teams playing across the pond, but so does the playing environment, one completely unlike any […]

If you can’t beat ’em. poach ’em. The Kansas City Chiefs have clearly adopted that mindset in their search for a new defensive line coach, hiring Brendan Daly away from the New England Patriots, according to Jim McBride of The Boston Globe. Daly, 43, began his NFL coaching career with the Minnesota Vikings in 2006 as […]

John Wall won’t be playing elsewhere anytime soon, for better or worse for the Washington Wizards. But after the five-time All-Star, already out with a heel injury, ruptured his Achilles tendon while falling at home last week, the Wizards reacted by shipping out two long-time rotation players, Markieff Morris and Otto Porter, Jr., to dip […]

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is content with what he’s achieved over the first 15 seasons of his NBA career. And why not? Three Larry O’Brien trophies, four MVP awards, eight consecutive trips to the Finals, and a host of other individual and team accomplishments make his existing resumé a compelling piece of evidence […]

LeBron James is a master manipulator. When the Los Angeles Lakers superstar drafted a team of All-Stars that included several impending free agents, then, the basketball world was quick to assume he had an ulterior motive in putting together his roster other than beating Giannis Antetokounmpo’s team. On Saturday, though, LeBron James pushed back on […]

Caris LeVert’s season was supposed to be over. Instead, less than three months after suffering a gruesome right foot injury that some believed might hinder his career going forward, the Brooklyn Nets guard was back on the floor for his team’s game against the Chicago Bulls on Friday night. And though the Nets lost to […]

The Chicago Bulls have their small forward of the future. The team continued filling out its young core on deadline day, swinging a trade for Washington Wizards wing Otto Porter, who had fallen out of favor in the nation’s capital during a topsy-turvy season. No one would have known it on Friday night, though, when […]