Jack Winter Articles - Page 17

Luka Doncic played five minutes against Real Madrid on October 10th, briefly and casually taking the floor on his strained left calf to ensure his return trip to Spain wasn’t entirely wasted by injury. The Dallas Mavericks superstar hasn’t taken the floor since, with his team closing out preseason action on Friday night against the […]

Scoot Henderson isn’t quite Ja Morant or prime Russell Westbrook when it comes to explosiveness and all-around athleticism. But the Portland Trail Blazers rookie boasts rare physical tools for a point guard regardless, his broad shoulders, long, chiseled arms and massive hands certainly set to ease his acclimation to the speed and strength of NBA […]

There’s no doubt that Damian Lillard would’ve preferred for Terry Stotts to remain with the Milwaukee Bucks. He even admitted he was “surprised” by his longtime former head coach’s abrupt departure from Adrian Griffin’s coaching staff. Considering everything Lillard has seen across his 11-year career, though, he’s not letting Stotts’ exit get in the way […]

Almost nothing that went down between the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns on Thursday night was an accurate portrayal of what may come should the two star-studded teams meet in the playoffs. Preseason basketball is a far cry from regular-season play, let alone the pressure cooker of the postseason. The new-look Suns were without […]

LeBron James has spoken, and expect Nike to act accordingly—assuming the footwear giant wasn’t already in the process of commemorating A’ja Wilson’s momentous achievement with her own signature sneaker, of course. The King sent a hearty congratulations to the Las Vegas Aces superstar after her team beat the New York Liberty on Wednesday to win […]

A’ja Wilson has left no doubt. After narrowly missing out on winning WNBA MVP honors to Breanna Stewart during the regular season, the Las Vegas Aces franchise player thoroughly outplayed her New York Liberty counterpart en route to winning the award both superstars surely wanted most—WNBA Finals MVP. 🏆 M’ V P 🏆@_ajawilson22 is your 2023 […]

Draymond Green and Kevon Looney aren’t playing Wednesday’s, and Steve Kerr has already made clear he’s just pushing different lineup and rotational buttons in search of his team’s best combinations. Considering Chris Paul started both of the preseason games he played in before the Golden State Warriors’ matchup with the Sacramento Kings at Chase Center, […]

Aaron Jones isn’t the only one who believes he could help his team right its wayward offensive ship. Ahead of the veteran running back’s return to the lineup from injury in Week 7, one of his primary blockers explained how “key” Jones is to the Green Bay Packers’ attack. “Having Aaron Jones back is gonna […]

James Harden wasn’t at Philadelphia 76ers practice on Wednesday, instead fueling the fire of his trade request from the comforts of Houston. So much for signs early in training camp that the future Hall-of-Famer would remain present and be entirely professional while the Sixers engaged in continued trade discussions with the LA Clippers, his well-known […]

It’s safe to say Ja Morant doesn’t agree with the characterization that his father bears responsibility for his once-resplendent NBA career losing much of its luster. In apparent response to a story from ESPN placing blame on Tee Morant for his off-court missteps over the past couple years, the Memphis Grizzlies superstar posted a photo […]

The Golden State Warriors and Klay Thompson remain far apart in extension talks as tipoff of the 2023-24 season looms on the horizon. The sides are reportedly so far apart that there’s now a “very real possibility” the Warriors icon enters free agency next summer, testing the market to gauge whether he’ll finish his career […]

The Houston Rockets officially parted ways with Kevin Porter Jr. on Tuesday, sending the embattled guard and a pair of second-round picks to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Victor Oladipo. The Thunder immediately released Porter, a formality after he was charged with second-degree strangulation and third-degree assault in mid-September following […]

It’s been almost three weeks since the Indiana Pacers began working with Buddy Hield to find a trade partner for the veteran sharpshooter. With exhibition action winding down and tipoff of the 2023-24 regular season just around the corner, the sides are apparently no closer to finding Hield a new NBA home. “For all the […]

Aaron Rodgers still has a long way to go before accomplishing his long-shot goal of returning for the playoffs—assuming the struggling New York Jets advance past the regular season, of course. Fans clinging to hope that the future Hall-of-Famer could get back in the lineup later this season were no doubt heartened by Sunday’s pre-game […]

The New Orleans Pelicans didn’t suffer another serious injury after all. After leaving his team’s  preseason game against the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday with a non-contact injury to his right leg, Pelicans wing Naji Marshall has been officially diagnosed with a bone bruise and is unlikely to miss a significant chunk of the regular season. […]

Jadeveon Clowney has been a quietly pleasant surprise for the Baltimore Ravens throughout 2023. The veteran pass-rusher entered Week 6 with one-and-a-half sacks, two tackles for loss and five quarterback hits while rotating across Baltimore’s defensive line, flashing the natural talent that made him the No. 1 overall pick of the NFL draft nearly a […]

The Jacksonville Jaguars are getting a major boost defensively for Sunday’s battle with the Indianapolis Colts. Linebacker Devin Lloyd is active in Week 6 after missing his team’s previous two games with a thumb injury. A 2022 first-round pick out of Utah, Lloyd injured his right hand and thumb in Jacksonville’s blowout loss to the […]

Chase Claypool has impressed his new teammates and coaches while saying all the right things during his brief tenure with the Miami Dolphins. Just barely more than a week after being acquired in a trade with the Chicago Bears, though, the talented, enigmatic wide receiver apparently isn’t quite ready to make his Dolphins debut. Claypool […]

The New Orleans Pelicans’ stunning rise to the top of the Western Conference early last season was ruined by a spate of injuries to key players. as 2023-24 fast approaches, Willie Green’s team continues suffering from that horribly unfortunate injury luck. Pelicans wing Naji Marshall left his team’s preseason matchup with the Atlanta Hawks on […]

There’s little doubt left that Jonathan Kuminga has leveled up as the regular season fast approaches. He’s been the Golden State Warriors’ best player in both of their exhibition games so far, putting his mouth-watering blend of positional size, explosive athleticism and burgeoning skill on frequent display. Kuminga followed an impressive preseason debut with an […]

Washington football is getting a pair of veteran contributors back just in time for its biggest game of the season. Senior wide receiver Giles Jackson and senior safety Asa Turner will both play in the seventh-ranked Huskies’ pivotal battle with No. 8 Oregon on Saturday, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Jackson has yet to play […]

Erik Spoelstra isn’t exactly prone to hyperbole. The revered Miami Heat head coach has also had a front seat to some of the league’s most singular performances over the past decade-plus, coaching the likes of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler in their playing primes. After watching what Victor Wembanyama did to his team […]

Deion Sanders definitely isn’t a fan of the Pac-12 late-night Friday kickoffs. Just because the Colorado football coach is irked by his team’s start time against Stanford, though, hardly means the college football world wasn’t tuning in to watch the Buffaloes. Case in point? The slack-jawed collective reaction to Travis Hunter’s ridiculous touchdown catch and run in […]

It didn’t take long for Travis Hunter to remind the college football world what it’s been missing since he went down with injury a few weeks ago. Colorado football’s two-way star returned to action on Friday against Stanford after making his long-awaited recovery from a lacerated felt, almost immediately making his singular presence felt with […]

LeBron James is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. He’s a four-time champion and four-time MVP. He just finished the greatest age-38 season in league history and will no doubt own the best 39-year-old season ever once 2023-24 comes to a close. Even if you don’t think he’s basketball’s true GOAT, there’s no arguing the Los […]

Travis Kelce’s dad has mostly stayed out of the spotlight while both of his sons and their mother continue making bigger and bigger waves in the cross-cultural zeitgeist. But even the father Kelce’s obvious preference to stay out of the public eye couldn’t withstand the tsunami of media attention that comes with his younger son […]

James Harden is still playing nice with the Philadelphia 76ers. In his first public comments since skipping out on Media Day and joining the team late for training camp, though, the 10-time All-Star nevertheless seemed entirely uninterested in mending fences with general manager Daryl Morey and the Philadelphia organization by rescinding his trade request. “To […]

So much for the Charlotte Hornets taking swift action against Miles Bridges’ continued alleged harassment of his ex-girlfriend and mother of his children. Hours after turning himself in to police on Friday morning for purportedly violating a protective order stemming from a 2022 domestic violence case, Bridges was back at team facilities, posting a photo […]

Drake has continued indulging his lavish sports betting habit, placing a nearly $1 million wager on Saturday’s highly anticipated boxing match between YouTube star Logan Paul and MMA fighter Dillon Danis. The Toronto rapper posted a screenshot of his bet slip with UK sportsbook Stake on Instagram, showing he’s risking $850,000 on the assumption Paul […]

David Njoku has shed additional light on the at-home burning incident in late September that apparently should’ve left him blind. Close as he was to enduring tragic disaster, though, the Cleveland Browns tight end admits the entire situation provided him a jolt of adrenaline—surely a driving force behind his ability to take the field less […]

So much for the New York Liberty playing up to their potential in Game 2 of the WNBA Finals. Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu and company were nearly run out of the gym in Sin City on Wednesday night, getting blown out by the Las Vegas Aces 104-76 to fall behind 0-2 in the championship series. […]

It’s no secret why the Golden State Warriors made Dario Saric such a high priority on the minimum-contract market in free agency this summer. The veteran big man is one of the most skilled interior players in basketball, boasting the court sense of a guard with innate playmaking prowess and the ability to stretch the […]

The Golden State Warriors will always rely most on the long-ball as long as Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are wearing blue and gold. But they sacrificed the rim for the arc more than ever last season, the Dubs’ 26.9% share of attempts at the rim and 44.7% rate of three-point tries ranking at the […]

Moses Moody fell out of the Golden State Warriors’ rotation less than three weeks into 2022-23, spending the majority of the ensuing regular season stuck on the bench—especially when the Dubs were healthy. But that didn’t stop him from grasping hold of a regular spot in the lineup during Golden State’s playoff run, Steve Kerr […]

The writing was on the wall for Damian Lillard’s tenure in Rip City form the moment the Portland Trail Blazers drafted Scoot Henderson. The Blazers, after all, know full well that putting another small guard next to Lillard isn’t a winning recipe, and it’s extremely rare for even a prospect of Henderson’s esteemed caliber to […]

Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren put on a show in their shared preseason debut on Monday night, showing exactly why they’re arguably the best big men prospects in all of basketball. After the Oklahoma City Thunder’s highlight-filled 122-121 win over the San Antonio Spurs, though, one Twitter user took the opportunity to fan the flames […]

The Memphis Grizzlies are back in action Tuesday night, facing off against the Milwaukee Bucks in their second game of the exhibition slate. Don’t read too much into results from these new-look teams’ matchup in Memphis, though, and not just because both Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo are sitting out for Milwaukee. The Grizzlies, playing […]

It’s no secret that Anthony Davis’ jumper has never been the same since winning his first championship in the 2020 Orlando bubble. After an offseason spent diligently tightening his release and honing his range, though, coach Darvin Ham has issued an ambitious shooting goal for the Los Angeles Lakers big man in 2023-24. “I want […]

Luka Doncic knew going into Tuesday’s matchup with Real Madrid that his playing time would be severely limited. The Dallas Mavericks superstar is currently dealing with a calf injury that the team is taking an “ultra cautious” approach with leading up to the regular season. While Doncic no doubt wanted to play extended minutes against […]