Jack Winter Articles - Page 66

Aaron Rodgers never liked the idea of joint practices, and his distaste for them was realized when the Green Bay Packers practiced with the Houston Texans over the weekend – the franchise’s first such day of training camp in 14 years. The Packers’ franchise quarterback let his frustration be known in the wake of a […]

The Miami Heat lost a legend when the regular season ended. Fortunately for the Heat, though, Dwyane Wade’s longtime running mate has elected against hanging it up, ensuring at least one franchise icon will remain with the team going forward. Veteran big man Udonis Haslem signed a one-year, $2.6 million deal with the Heat, returning […]

CLUTCH SUMMARY: Sacramento Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox enjoyed a breakout second season, and he didn’t receive enough fanfare for it.   Fox still has several clear areas of improvement, including his defense.  Fox has the potential to be one of the best two-way players in the NBA.  It’s universally known that De’Aaron Fox was […]

Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving didn’t take discounts from the max-level salaries they deserve for DeAndre Jordan to sit on the bench. Just because the Brooklyn Nets’ new superstars facilitated Jordan signing with their team in free agency, though, doesn’t mean he’s entitled to a starting spot. In fact, Nets coach Kenny Atkinson seemed to […]

Jadeveon Clowney will continue making it clear that he would rather not play on the franchise tag in 2019. With the regular season fast approaching, though, the Houston Texans pass-rusher apparently has a plan in place to end his holdout from training camp. During a Monday appearance on Training Camp Live, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported […]

The Baltimore Ravens didn’t lose offensive lineman Alex Lewis for nothing after all. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the New York Jets sent a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft to the Ravens in exchange for the veteran offensive lineman, who Baltimore had previously planned to release. This was the hope for […]

There’s a belief that regression is inevitable for Patrick Mahomes. After all, the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback put together one of the most dominant individual seasons of all time as a first-year starter in 2018, and the few signal-callers throughout league history who have come within striking distance of his statistical resume all experienced a […]

Baker Mayfield continued ingratiating himself to Ohio sports fans over the weekend by shot-gunning a beer at a Cleveland Indians game. Perhaps inspired by the palpable buzz at Progressive Field following Mayfield’s chug, the Indians ran off five runs on the Los Angeles Angeles in the next half inning, breaking a scoreless tie to finish […]

Kareem Hunt was cleared by team doctors over the weekend to join the Cleveland Browns in official preparations for the 2019 season. The star running back missed the first eight practices of training camp on the non-football injury list with a groin strain, but joined the Browns on Saturday for their first intrasquad scrimmage. What’s […]

The Cleveland Browns and general manager John Dorsey took a risk by signing Kareem Hunt. When the star running back was involved in a physical altercation at a downtown Cleveland bar in late June, it appeared as if Cleveland’s gamble was already proving a mistake. Two months later, though, Hunt is adamant he’s using another […]

It’s safe to say Ivica Zubac is thrilled to have found his home with the LA Clippers. The four-year veteran began establishing himself as a worthwhile rotation player in the early going of 2018-19, making his case as the Los Angeles Lakers’ top center. But coaxed into win-now mode by the presence of LeBron James, […]

With his family and friends watching in attendance, Will Bynum forcefully reminded the basketball world his professional career is far from over. The former NBA guard put on a show in his hometown of Chicago on Saturday, scoring a BIG3 record 33 points for Bivouac in his team’s win over the Killer 3s. Point God […]

There’s an argument to be made the Philadelphia 76ers are favorites in the Eastern Conference this season. Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons are far too often overlooked in all the debate about basketball’s best tandems, and both will take another step forward in 2019-20. Tobias Harris should be much more productive offensively playing without a […]

Eyebrows raised when Landry Shamet became the latest player to decline an invitation from USA Basketball to participate in preparations for the upcoming FIBA World Cup. Just what did it say about the state of the national program if a player of his limited experience and notoriety thought it better to avoid suiting up for […]

An unprecedented number of superstars changed teams this summer, putting the Larry O’Brien Trophy truly up for grabs in a way it hasn’t been in nearly a decade. There’s a resulting sense of unbridled enthusiasm leading up to the 2019-20 season among NBA fans, all of whom can finally imagine their team winning a championship […]

USA Basketball made a couple final tweaks to its training camp roster just 24 hours before preparations for the 2019 FIBA World Cup officially begin in Las Vegas. According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, New York Knicks big man Julius Randle has withdrawn from participation due to a family issue, while Denver Nuggets wing Torrey Craig […]

The Indiana Pacers’ performance immediately after Victor Oladipo suffered a devastating and season-ending injury confirmed what we already knew. Nate McMillan’s team lost four straight games in the wake of its best player suffering a ruptured quad on January 23, including defeats at hand of the Memphis Grizzlies and Washington Wizards. No one ever doubted […]

NFL training camp are in full swing, which can only mean one thing…the debut of a new season of Hard Knocks, of course. A new trailer for the acclaimed HBO documentary series was released on Friday, showing Jon Gruden, Derek Carr, Antonio Brown, and the Oakland Raiders in all their training-camp glory with a typically dramatic […]

Aaron Donald has nothing left to prove individually. He’s been the NFL’s most-decorated player since he entered the league five years ago, and it’s not particularly close. Donald has been named First Team All-Pro four consecutive times, and enters the 2019 season as the two-time defending Defensive Player of the Year. No one was surprised […]

The New England Patriots announced the signing of free-agent wide receiver Cameron Meredith on Friday, who was immediately placed on the Physically Unable To Perform list, per Pro Football Talk. The Patriots have no designs of rushing Meredith back to the field, content to increase the strength and flexibility in his knee through rehabilitation with […]

For decades, the United States’ most successful and inspirational athletes have been featured on boxes of Wheaties cereal. The U.S. Women’s National Team, gold medal winners at the 2019 FIFA World Cup, is on the latest edition of Wheaties boxes, an acknowledgement of its ability to transcend the sporting world to capture the collective imagination […]

Vlade Divac owed much of his wholly unique brand of success in a storied NBA career to his unflinching confidence. The Serbian legend, to no one’s surprise, certainly seems like he’s retained his sense of self-worth some 15 years after his playing days concluded, posing shirtless in sunglasses, gazing off into the distance, in a […]

The Sacramento Kings have only just begun their climb toward contention, but they’re going global even before establishing themselves as one of the league’s marquee teams worldwide. Sacramento released its preseason schedule for 2019-20 on Thursday, reminding the basketball world it will be playing a pair of exhibition games in Mumbai, India. The Kings will […]

The Memphis Grizzlies are marking a new era by harkening back to an old one. The team unveiled old-school uniforms and a throwback court design to be implemented in 2020-21 on Thursday, commemorating both its 25th anniversary and 20th season since moving from Vancouver to Memphis. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=77&v=hO771xSU9sA The Grizzlies’ inaugural season was in 1995. They […]

Jaren Jackson Jr. projects as exactly the type of player who would thrive playing for Team USA. After a standout debut season for which he was named First Team All-Rookie, it was easy to imagine the Memphis Grizzlies big man suiting up for his country, helping the Americans to gold on the world stage. Due […]

Dorian Finney-Smith’s jumper is a swing factor for the Dallas Mavericks. If he’s able to build on the minor progress he made from beyond the arc last season, the Mavericks will have the 3-and-D wing needed to make life at least somewhat difficult on the likes of LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, and Paul George in […]

The jury is still out on Daniel Jones, and is likely to be for the foreseeable future. The New York Giants seem intent on playing out the 2019 season with Eli Manning under center, meaning the No. 6 overall pick of the 2019 NFL Draft is poised to ride the pine until a year from […]

Antonio Brown is being sued by a famed athletic trainer who says the Oakland Raiders superstar has refused to pay him for services rendered last April in Northern California. According to TMZ, Sean Pena has filed a lawsuit seeking $7,194.81 from Brown “unpaid therapy and training services; agreed-upon reimbursement for hotels, airfare, rental car, and […]

Greg Robinson hasn’t exactly lived up to expectations since being selected with the No. 2 overall pick of the 2014 NFL Draft. Entering his second season with the Cleveland Browns, though, the journeyman left tackle seems poised for his best season yet – and the competition he faces in practice is one of the biggest […]

Jabari Parker never misses the chance to use his platform to try and effect positive change in his community and society at large. The Atlanta Hawks forward is hosting a free youth basketball camp in his hometown of Chicago this week for the fifth consecutive offseason. Obviously, it’s safe to say the local kids lucky […]

It was always likely Yannick Ngakoue would end his holdout from training camp well before the regular season began. Given that context and the star pass-rusher’s recent tweet, it seems only a matter of time until he returns to the Jacksonville Jaguars. On Thursday, Ngakoue posted a two-word tweet hinting at his imminent presence at […]

Heads turned when the Boston Celtics chose Romeo Langford with the No. 15 overall pick of the 2019 NBA Draft. Not because the Indiana product wasn’t worthy of being selected in the middle of the first round, but because Boston, with Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Gordon Hayward returning, seemed to have more pressing needs […]

Steve Kerr recently found himself in an unfamiliar position after criticizing the nature of Anthony Davis’ move from the New Orleans Pelicans to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Golden State Warriors’ coach has been almost exclusively lauded by his NBA peers for his pro-player stance on labor issues, progressive political views, and widespread reputation as […]

Portland Trail Blazers big man Zach Collins suffered a Grade 2 ankle sprain during a recent workout, according to Dwight Jaynes of NBC Sports Northwest. Collins sustained the injury, which includes a torn ligament, while working out in his hometown of Las Vegas. Though he’s been wearing a walking boot and walking with crutches ever […]

Baker Mayfield’s intensely competitive nature is one of the many attributes that makes him one of the most promising young players in all of football. His fiery emotions got the best of him during a recent practice, though, leading to the Cleveland Browns quarterback publicly chastising his receivers for failing to come back to the […]

The Cleveland Browns have made it abundantly clear that they have no intention of honoring Duke Johnson’s trade request any time soon. Fortunately for the veteran running back, then, he’s at least poised to have a significant role in his team’s potentially devastating offensive attack while he remains in Cleveland. During an interview with NFL […]

The Brooklyn Nets took a risk by acquiring Kevin Durant on a four-year, $164 million contract. There’s simply no telling how the two-time Finals MVP will recover from the ruptured Achilles tendon he suffered during his dramatic comeback in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, but the Nets are paying him like he’ll be in […]

It just this time last year that many believed the Portland Trail Blazers were going nowhere fast with the star backcourt of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. But coming off a surprising run to the Western Conference Finals, the team’s first in nearly 20 years, both players signed lucrative multi-year extensions with Portland, cementing their […]

The Los Angeles Lakers narrowly missed out on convincing Kawhi Leonard to complete what might have been the biggest, baddest, and best Big Three in NBA history. Just because the reigning Finals MVP ultimately spurned his team to sign with the cross-arena rival LA Clippers, though, hardly means Anthony Davis holds any ill will towards […]