Jack Winter Articles - Page 59

Jusuf Nurkic, entering a crucial contract year that could double as Damian Lillard’s swan song with the Trail Blazers, isn’t feeling the pressure as 2021-22 fast approaches. The seven-year veteran has never looked forward to an NBA season more than he has this one, in fact, despite an immediate future in Portland that seemed uncertain […]

As the 2021-22 season dawns, Ben Simmons isn’t backing down from his longstanding threat to ignore the Philadelphia 76ers. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Tuesday that the three-time All-Star has no plans to report when the Sixers opening training camp a week from now, and is even comfortable with the possibility of forfeiting salary to […]

It’s safe to say this isn’t the start Bradley Chubb envisioned for 2021. The star Denver Broncos pass-rusher exited his team’s Week 2 matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals early, slowed by the same ankle injury kept him out of the season-opener last week. Initially listed as questionable to return after heading to the sideline, the […]

Chicago Bears fans didn’t have to wait long to see Justin Fields get snaps as their team’s full-time quarterback in the regular season. If only his early, extended appearance on Sunday didn’t come at the expense of an injury to Andy Dalton. Dalton suffered an apparent non-contact injury in the second quarter of Chicago’s Week […]

So much for wide-eyed optimism stemming from  Tua Tagovailoa and the Miami Dolphins’ impressive season-opening win over the New England Patriots. Less than halfway through the first quarter of Miami’s Week 2 matchup with the Buffalo Bills, the Dolphins sophomore quarterback was carted off the field with an apparent injury. Tua Tagovailoa is being carted […]

Neil Olshey clearly took it as a source of pride. Carmelo Anthony, without a job for more than a year when the injury-ravaged Portland Trail Blazers signed him in November 2019, re-upped before last season despite knowing he’d be moved to the bench—the same gut-check demotion that previously left him out of the league in […]

Julio Jones’ disastrous debut with the Tennessee Titans keeps getting worse. NFL Network reported on Saturday that the future Hall-of-Famer has been docked more than $10,000 by the league office for an ugly unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in his new team’s 38-13 Week 1 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. The #NFL fined Julio Jones $10,815 for […]

ESPN released its NBA Finals and individual awards predictions for the 2021-22 season on Thursday, with familiar marquee teams and players dominating the voting. The “worldwide leader’s” expert panel picked the juggernaut Brooklyn Nets to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy, Kevin Durant to win his second MVP and Rudy Gobert to be named Defensive Player […]

The Las Vegas Raiders, fresh off one of their most dramatic season-opening victories in recent memory, might be forced to tangle with one of the NFL’s elite defenses absent a top playmaker. Josh Jacobs didn’t practice for the Raiders on Thursday due to a toe injury, the second consecutive session he’s missed this week. His […]

The Duke Blue Devils have landed their first commitment from the 2023 class. Caleb Foster, arguably the top point guard in his class, pledged to Duke on Thursday, choosing the Blue Devils over Illinois, Louisville and Stanford, among others. The Oak Hill Academy product announced his commitment in an original video posted by SportsCenter, stressing […]

Deshaun Watson won’t be suiting up for the Houston Texans this season. With Week 2 already here, it seems increasingly unlikely the embattled star quarterback will be taking the field with any other team in 2021, either. A.J. Perez of Front Office Sports reported on Thursday that the active criminal investigation into sexual misconduct allegations […]

Ezekiel Elliott didn’t exactly put up big numbers in the Dallas Cowboys’ 31-29 season-opening loss to the defending champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In a dramatic, back-and-forth game marked most by the aerial exploits of Dak Prescott and Tom Brady, Elliott never got going on the ground. He finished with 11 carries for 33 yards, hardly […]

The 2003 NBA draft will never be forgotten by Carmelo Anthony or Darko Milicic, for very different reasons which relate to the Detroit Pistons. Carmelo Anthony enters his 19th season in the NBA still without a ring. After re-establishing himself as a worthwhile rotation player over the last two seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers, […]

The most controversial and perhaps consequential offseason in Portland Trail Blazers history is firmly in the rearview mirror. Portland tips off training camp in less than two weeks, opens exhibition action on Oct. 4 and is just more than a month away from hosting the Sacramento Kings in the season opener — a game that […]

The Golden State Warriors’ dynasty was almost finished for good before it ever had the chance to reboot. Luckily, Klay Thompson was around to help fend off any of that happening. Steve Kerr’s team entered the fourth quarter of Game 6 of the 2016 Western Conference Finals at Chesapeake Energy Arena trailing the Oklahoma City […]

Stephen Curry, of course, didn’t actually “ruin the game.” The Golden State Warriors talent did the complete opposite of that. His Under Armour slogan evokes remarks made by Mark Jackson during a Christmas day tilt in 2015 between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers, a few months before Curry became the league’s first unanimous […]

CLUTCH Summary: A different world exists where a mega-trade involving Kevin Love and Paul George, with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Cleveland Cavs, and Indiana Pacers, actually happened. Hindsight allows us to know that the Pacers made the right move trading Paul George to the Thunder. As time goes on, how people appreciated Kevin Love at […]

Jerry Rice holds no ill will toward Larry FItzgerald. He seems proud of the Arizona Cardinals wide receiver for the incredible level of effectiveness he’s been able to maintain in his late thirties, and even expressed adulation at Fitzgerald potentially breaking his NFL record for most career catches. If Fitzgerald ultimately passes Rice on the […]

Joe Johnson is nearing 40, and spent all of last season out of the NBA. As the six-time All-Star prepares for his return with the Detroit Pistons, though, his new team seems to have hardly noticed signs of aging or wear and tear. But just because Johnson plays much younger than his age suggests doesn’t […]

Most analysts agree that Zion Williamson will ultimately make his greatest impact playing center. While his time at small-ball five was always likely to be more limited in the 2019-20 season than going forward, this new information casts doubt on whether the New Orleans Pelicans rookie will be downshifted in the lineup at all. Why? […]

The Sacramento Kings were one of the league’s most pleasant surprises last season. Entering 2019-20, there’s no guarantee they will build on that success by ending the longest postseason drought in the NBA. If the Kings are able to do it, though, they’ll have fast-tracked their development into a legitimate contender. These three players are […]

The Portland Trail Blazers are dreaming big coming off a surprise appearance in the Western Conference Finals. But to live up to new expectations of realistic title contentions, a team that has long relied on continuity will have to coalesce into a whole greater than the sum of its parts despite three new starters and […]

Dwight Howard has had far more opportunities than necessary to restart his career. He’s played for three teams in the last three seasons, vowing each time the fit with his latest one would be better than the last largely because of mindset. Those flameouts were far less flammable than either with the Houston Rockets and […]

Noah Fant hasn’t exactly lived up to the expectations placed on him by Denver Broncos fans through the first three games of his career. As offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello sees it, though, the Broncos’ first-round pick is right on schedule in his development despite a lack major of box score production. Scangarello, in fact, compared […]

Mason Rudolph isn’t Ben Roethlisberger. But to lift his winless team out of an early-season hole, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ new starting quarterback will have to take a page from the franchise icon he’s replacing. Asked about the Steelers’ struggles to move the ball in a loss to the San Francisco 49ers last week, offensive coordinator […]

Bill Belichick insists that he isn’t all that interested in analytics. His justification for that opinion, though, makes it seem as if the New England Patriots’ legendary coach doesn’t exactly have a handle on how teams use advanced statistics in the modern-day NFL. During a press conference at Gillette Stadium on Friday ahead of his […]

The New England Patriots have been the most impressive team in football over the first three games of the season, and it’s not particularly close. But the defending champions haven’t exactly faced a murderer’s row of opponents, either, dominating the winless Pittsburgh Steelers at home, embarrassing the hapless Miami Dolphins on the road, and shellacking […]

Kyler Murray is soft spoken, especially for a quarterback. The No. 1 overall pick received some flak during the pre-draft process for his supposedly shoddy leadership qualities, criticism that stemmed mostly from his preference to let his play do the talking rather than his words. Three weeks into his NFL career, that hasn’t changed. Cardinals […]

Michael Crabtree’s release by the Arizona Cardinals earlier this week came as a complete surprise to NFL followers. Those plugged into the team, though, were less shocked by the veteran wide receiver’s abrupt departure amid reports that he was never a good fit in Arizona’s locker room. But Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury is explaining the […]

The New England Patriots have had no problems putting up points en route to a 3-0 start. Tom Brady has continued to play like one of the league’s best quarterbacks at age 42, too, throwing for 911 yards, seven touchdowns, and no interceptions while completing 67.9 percent of his throws. Clearly, the Patriots’ passing game […]

Miles Bridges is currently the Charlotte Hornets’ best chance at developing a home-grown All-Star. Before the second-year forward comes close to reaching that potential, though, it’s imperative the Hornets begin prioritizing certain aspects of his development. Are they projecting Bridges more as an on-ball creator or off-ball finisher? Are they comfortable with him switching onto […]

The Charlotte Hornets are finally rebuilding. After letting franchise player Kemba Walker go in free agency and making little effort to improve the roster, the Hornets are poised to be one of the league’s worst teams, waiting to reap the benefits of that status next June with a high lottery pick. Just because Charlotte is […]

The New England Patriots have already added one former Oakland Raiders wide receiver this season. If Bill Belichick and company end up signing Ryan Grant, they will surely do so with the confidence his tenure will go a bit more smoothly than Antonio Brown’s. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Grant worked out for the […]

Antonio Brown is still without a job in the NFL, and even if a team came calling, there’s no telling how long he would be able to play before ongoing investigations by the league office confirmed his alleged wrongdoings, leading to a suspension. For now and what seems like the foreseeable future, the six-time Pro […]

The Orlando Magic finally tasted success for the first time since Dwight Howard’s exit, making the playoffs last season behind first-year coach Steve Clifford. But where Orlando is likeliest to go from there is a matter of debate as training camp dawns. Here’s what to know about, watch for, and expect from the Magic in […]

Tilman Fertitta never fails to defend James Harden. The Houston Rockets owner supported his team’s superstar’s recent comments about media bias causing him to finish runner-up in MVP voting to Giannis Antetokounmpo last season, and in general goes out of his way to lavish praise on Harden at every opportunity possible. It makes sense, too. […]

Last month, James Harden made headlines by suggesting the “media narrative” surrounding Giannis Antetokounmpo cost him a second consecutive MVP award. That’s not such an incendiary take all by itself. Indeed, media coverage of the league influences public perception, and a select number of media members help decide which players win postseason awards. But Harden’s […]

Dennis Smith’s lone season at North Carolina State was one to forget. The Wolfpack went a disappointing 15-17, and Smith, while productive, was hardly the program-changing superstar many thought he would be. Two years later, North Carolina State continues to reel from the fallout of his brief time in Raleigh. The Wolfpack have been targeted […]

The LA Clippers tore an aging, stale roster apart in the summer of 2017, and two years later have at least as good a chance as any season during the Lob City era to win a championship. Jerry West isn’t solely responsible for the Clippers’ rapidly successful rebuild; neither is Steve Ballmer, Doc Rivers, Lawrence […]