Jack Winter Articles - Page 67

The Golden State Warriors may very well defy expectations and emerge as one of many contenders for the Larry O’Brien Trophy in 2019-20, but their long-running status as prohibitive championship favorites is over. One benefit of that reality? The ability of Golden State to place extra emphasis on the development of young players. As assistant […]

Less than a week into training camp, injury attrition has left the New York Giants hurting for playmakers. Already dealing with the offseason departure of superstar wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., the Giants will be without two other marquee receivers going forward. Free-agent signee Golden Tate was recently suspended four games for a violation of […]

The San Francisco 49ers have lofty expectations for Jason Verrett, which is exactly why they’re slow-playing the veteran cornerback’s re-acclimation to a starting role. Verrett, recovering from an Achilles tear he suffered a year ago, has reportedly been placed on a “pitch count” by the 49ers during the early portions of training camp. Why? As […]

It’s safe to say that Landon Collins doesn’t actually have any intention of causing physical harm to New York Giants general manager Dave Gettleman during pre-game warmups this season. Given the inflammatory nature of his tongue-in-cheek suggestion otherwise, though, the league office is reportedly likely to reach out to the Washington Redskins safety. According to […]

Ezekiel Elliott has forcefully staked his claim as the NFL’s best running back over the first three seasons of his career. And if recent momentum is any indication, the Dallas Cowboys superstar will be paid like it sooner rather than later. According to ESPN’s Josina Anderson, Elliott’s holdout from training camp could soon end with […]

Rudy Gobert has become underrated offensively. So much talk about what the Utah Jazz star fails to bring to the table on that side of the floor has made it easy to overlook just how impactful the attributes he does possess really are in the modern NBA. It’s universally acknowledged that Gobert is one of […]

Jeremy Lin may very well be left with no better choice than to continue his professional basketball career overseas this season. If he indeed goes that route, though, it seems very unlikely he’ll play for Euroleague power CSKA Moscow despite recent reports suggesting the club was interested in signing the veteran guard. Andrey Kartashov of […]

Hunter Renfrow forged his path to the NFL during a standout four-year career at Clemson University by defying expectations on a daily basis. Less than a week into his NFL training camp, the rookie fifth-round pick is apparently doing the same with the Oakland Raiders. Oakland offensive coordinator Greg Olsen lauded Renfrow’s performance in both […]

The Chicago Bears have activated safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix off the Physically Unable to Perform list, the team announced on Tuesday. Clinton-Dix, Clemmings officially activated off PUP list. 📰: https://t.co/Rio98sUKry pic.twitter.com/KLNqwNE22f — Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) July 30, 2019 The 26-year-old missed the first few practices of training camp due to a sprained knee. The Bears […]

Steve Nash is the member of a very, very exclusive NBA club. The former Phoenix Suns point guard won back-to-back MVP awards in 2004-05 and 2005-06, making him one of just 13 players in league history to win multiple Maurice Podoloff Trophies, but that’s not the club we’re talking about. Among the baker’s dozen of […]

Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash’s partnership with the Dallas Mavericks ended far too soon. They played six seasons together for the Mavericks, from Nowitzki’s rookie year in 1998-99 to Nash’s final season with the team in 2003-04, but neither developed into a true impact player until halfway through that tenure, and neither played anywhere near […]

Jared Goff is entering his fourth NFL season. The turnaround that’s taken place since his supremely underwhelming rookie campaign has been nothing short of astonishing, as the Los Angeles Rams quarterback has established himself as one of the NFL’s premier building blocks. At just 24, Goff undoubtedly still has ample room to improve on a […]

Aaron Donald has quickly become one of the most decorated defenders in the history of the NFL. The Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle has made the Pro Bowl every season since being selected with the No. 13 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. He’s been named First Team All-Pro four consecutive times. He won […]

Free-agent quarterback Joe Callahan is expected to sign with the Baltimore Ravens, according to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. Callahan went undrafted out of tiny Wesley college, which participates in the NCAA’s Division III, in 2016. He spent his rookie season on practice squads for the Green Bay Packers, New Orleans Saints, and Cleveland Browns. Callahan […]

It wasn’t long ago that Jeremy Lin had forged an NBA career completely independent of his star-turning tenure with the New York Knicks. “Linsanity” was never going to last. That was clear from almost the very beginning of Lin taking the basketball world by storm with the New York Knicks in 2011-12, and affirmed to […]

Landon Collins no longer plays for the New York Giants, and got the massive payday he sought in free agency. Still, the Washington Redskins’ superstar safety clearly has no love lost for Giants general manager Dave Gettleman. During a Monday appearance on NFL Network, Collins was asked how he would react if he saw Gettleman […]

LeBron James is hardly immune to making a scene while watching his kids’ basketball games. Like so many other parents, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar has been known to occasionally get a bit too excitable, inspiring meme after meme about “LeDad.” On Saturday, though, James scratched his competitive itch in a far more direct manner, […]

Veteran guard Jeremy Lin, left unsigned nearly a month into free agency, is drawing interest from Euroleague power CSKA Moscow, according to Sportando’s Emilio Carchia. Lin finished last season with the Toronto Raptors, winning a championship ring despite appearing in the NBA Finals for just single minute of garbage time. He was used similarly sparingly […]

The Chicago Bulls’ offseason was always going to go mostly overlooked, but that’s certainly not an indication of how successful it was overall. In fact, it’s precisely due to the understated nature of their moves that makes the Bulls’ additions fit so seamlessly with incumbent young building blocks like Lauri Markkanen, Zach LaVine, and Wendell […]

Dwyane Wade has barely had enough time to enjoy retirement life, and LeBron James is still very much in the running for Larry O’Brien trophies and the title as the best basketball player in the world. As depressing as it is to admit, though, it’s undeniable that both players belong to a generation of superstars […]

It’s hardly groundbreaking to submit that Russell Westbrook will receive a far different welcome in his initial return to Chesapeake Energy Arena as an opponent of the Oklahoma City Thunder than Kevin Durant did three years ago. Not only was Westbrook traded by the Thunder whereas Durant left in free agency, but the former’s departure […]

Taco Tuesday at LeBron James’ house has quickly become the stuff of internet legend. Most every Tuesday, no matter where he and his family are, James documents them enjoying tacos with a selfie video, never failing to show off his embarrassing dad side by yelling “Tacooooo Tuesdayyyyy” in his excitable baritone. For the most part, […]

Kevin Durant’s departure from the Golden State Warriors in free agency was hardly a surprise. Rumors of his interest in leaving the Warriors this summer began surfacing after his debut season with Golden State, reaching a crescendo in February as the New York Knicks created double-max cap space and owner James Dolan publicly flapped about […]

You aren’t Giannis Antetokounmpo. You’re nowhere near seven-feet tall, and your arms aren’t so long that yours hands hang to your knees. You haven’t been tirelessly honing your body over the past several years, emerging as one of the strongest overall players in the NBA in your mid-20s. You don’t handle the ball like a […]

It wasn’t long ago that Terrence Jones seemed like a fixture of the Houston Rockets’ present and future. Despite his initial tenure with the team coming to a close far more quickly than anyone anticipated, Jones is apparently still on Houston’s radar. According to ClutchFans, the Rockets are interested in bringing back their first-round pick […]

There’s no greater joy for some league followers than the unfiltered access to an NFL training camp provided by HBO’s Hard Knocks.  It always went without saying that team management, and coaches in particular, were far less thrilled to allow cameras into official preparations for the regular season than fans were to watch the action unfold. […]

Some rookie head coaches might feel compelled to establish a rapport with their team before publicly calling out an incumbent for his apparent lack of fitness. The Arizona Cardinals’ Kliff Kingsbury was apparently given no other option by defensive lineman Robert Nkemdiche, though, who showed up to his team’s training camp on Thursday so “out […]

The vast majority of NFL rookies are entitled to a grace period of acclimating to the size, speed, and intellect of professional football, riding the bench or playing most only on special teams during their debut campaigns. Running backs stand apart from other first-year players, though, and especially ones selected in the first round of […]

Ben Roethlisberger is fully aware of not just how much easier the presence of Antonio Brown made the game on him, but also the pair’s historical standing among other elite quarterback-receiver tandems. While the two-time Super Bowl winning quarterback understands the challenges facing he and his team this season without his longtime favorite target, ,too, […]

The Los Angeles Rams exercised the fifth-year option on Jared Goff’s rookie contract a few months ago, ensuring he’d remain with the team through the 2020 season. Just because they have two full seasons to go before Goff could become a free agent, though, hardly means the Rams are content even letting him ponder the […]

Ed Oliver had his fair share of detractors throughout the pre-draft process. As more and more NFL analysts dove into the University of Houston star’s film, from the the time he stepped on campus as a freshman superstar, it became readily apparent that Oliver was winning far more with quickness, power, and overall athleticism than […]

Mike Daniels quickly developed into an emotional leader for the Green Bay Packers’ defense. In wake of Green Bay releasing the veteran defensive tackle earlier this week, though, it certainly seems like he has every intention of making his former team pay. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, a whopping 14 teams showed interest in […]

Official preparations for Antonio Brown’s debut season with the Oakland Raiders didn’t exactly get off to the best start. Fortunately for both he and his new team, though, the six-time Pro Bowler likely won’t have to wait long to be back on the field. The Raiders placed Brown on the non-football injury list to open […]

The Baltimore Ravens opened training camp on Thursday without their first-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. The good news? It apparently won’t be long until Marquise Brown is able to take the field with his teammates. According to ESPN’s Jamison Hensley, Brown, who passed his conditioning test on Wednesday, could be cleared by team […]

Chris Carson opened training camp with the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday by putting to rest any lingering concerns about his knee. The star running back had an offseason procedure “just to clean out [his] knee a little bit,” one he called “nothing real serious.” “I’m good. I feel good,” Carson said on Thursday, per Adam […]

The Atlanta Hawks will sign big man Ray Spalding to a partially-guaranteed contract, according to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. The Hawks are signing Ray Spalding to a partially guaranteed deal, sources tell @TheAthleticATL and @TheAthleticNBA. — Chris Kirschner (@ChrisKirschner) July 25, 2019 Spalding, the No. 56 pick of the 2018 draft, began last season […]

Free agent guard Shelvin Mack has signed with Olimpia Milano of the Euroleague, the club announced on Thursday. “We are happy to welcome Shelvin Mack, who chose Milan to start his European career,” general manager Christos Stavropoulos said in a statement. “We wanted to bring him aboard because of his leadership skills, his defense and […]

Myles Turner, as strange as it sounds, recently changed his running style. The Indiana Pacers center dropped in the 2015 draft in part due to fears that his, shuffling, choppy posture while running wouldn’t just limit his effectiveness, but potentially be a harbinger of future injury. He went through comprehensive testing at the Hospital of […]

Los Angeles, for the first time ever, is the multi-team epicenter of elite NBA basketball. The LA Clippers, after convincing Kawhi Leonard to come home and bringing in Paul George along with him, are the league’s closest equivalent to title favorites entering a season the most wide-open season in a full decade. The Los Angeles […]