Jedd Pagaduan Articles - Page 61

The 2024-25 season figures to be a huge one for the Los Angeles Lakers. There is always a sense of urgency when it comes to building a contending team under the bright lights of Hollywood, but the pressure is even greater with LeBron James’ days as an elite player being numbered, what with him being […]

Since 1985, the Chicago Bulls have been owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, a real estate magnate who purchased the franchise for $16 million. But Bulls fans feel as though a change in ownership is well overdue. Reinsdorf is a polarizing figure in the Windy City who has made his fair share of blunders as the chief […]

The Los Angeles Dodgers decided to push Walker Buehler’s NLCS start back, opting to go with a bullpen game in Game 2 against the New York Mets instead. This seemed to light a fire underneath Buehler. Even though it took him 90 pitches to get through four innings, Buehler still set the tone in what […]

The MVP race always emerges as one of the NBA’s most interesting subplots over the course of a season. During the 2022-23 season, the MVP discourse between Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid became very toxic, and then last season, Jokic emerged as the head and shoulders favorite to bag home his third such award. But […]

The Chicago Bulls’ Wednesday night contest against the Minnesota Timberwolves was not your typical preseason game. After all, this game saw the much-anticipated return of Lonzo Ball to action after missing the past 33 months while rehabbing from multiple operations on his knee. Ball not only played 15 minutes, which is already a major positive, […]

On Wednesday night, Lonzo Ball made his much-anticipated return to NBA action as the Chicago Bulls took on the Minnesota Timberwolves in preseason. This is nothing short of a cause for celebration, as Ball has endured a rough past two years while recovering from the knee injuries that, at some point, put his future playing […]

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ trust level in starting pitcher Walker Buehler seemed to have waned, with the team deciding to roll with a bullpen game in Game 2 of their NLCS clash against the New York Mets. The 2024 season has been a topsy-turvy one for Buehler in his return from injury after all, but […]

Aaron Judge hasn’t been at his best for the New York Yankees during the 2024 playoffs to this point. In a similar vein to 2022, Judge has struggled to make much of an impact from the plate, hitting well below the Mendoza line with his only saving grace being his incredible ability to get on […]

On Tuesday night, the Golden State Warriors faced off against the Los Angeles Lakers in a preseason clash that had more buzz to it than usual. The stars of both teams (Stephen Curry, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis) were all active for the night, which should provide some major entertainment for fans regardless of rooting […]

The NBA introduced the In-Season Tournament (since renamed to the NBA Cup) last season with the intention of drumming up excitement early on in the season. Most teams sleepwalk to begin the year and err on the side of caution, since they know that the season is won in a three-month stretch from April to […]

For a stretch during the regular season, Aaron Judge had entered flow state and looked poised to, once again, break the single-season AL home run record. Alas, Judge has cooled off significantly during that stretch; in fact, entering Game 2 of the New York Yankees‘ ALCS clash against the Cleveland Guardians, the 6’7″ slugger hasn’t […]

The Dallas Mavericks brought Klay Thompson in via free agency with the specific goal of putting him alongside Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Thompson is no longer the player he once was during his heyday, but he still remains one of the most high-volume three-point marksmen in the entire association. Thus, replacing Derrick Jones Jr. […]

The Cleveland Guardians have had to thread many needles on their way to their ALCS clash against the New York Yankees. They had to overcome Tarik Skubal in a decisive Game 5, and came away on top thanks in large part to Lane Thomas’ incredible grand slam. But now, the American League’s best team in […]

Carlos Rodon ran through some bumps on the road in the middle of the 2024 campaign, but to end the regular season, he started to get into a roll for the New York Yankees. However, his first start in the 2024 playoffs did not go according to plan. He lasted just 3.2 innings in Game […]

The 2024-25 season figures to bring a year of development for a Brooklyn Nets team that, all things considered, may be the worst in the entire association. The Nets front office knew that running it back would be pointless, so they decided to trade Mikal Bridges away for a haul of draft picks. Doing so, […]

The New York Yankees could not have asked for a much better start to life in the ALCS following their 5-2 win in Game 1 over the Cleveland Guardians. It was the Yankees’ big guns that drove in their five runs; Aaron Judge drove in a run with a sacrifice fly while Juan Soto and […]

Overall, the 2023-24 season was a disappointment for the Phoenix Suns. They most certainly did not envision getting swept in the first round of the playoffs in Kevin Durant’s first full season in the Valley, especially after remaking the team with the additions of Bradley Beal, Jusuf Nurkic, and Grayson Allen. Time is not on […]

Game 1 of the NLCS got away from the New York Mets in a hurry. It became apparent rather quickly that Kodai Senga did not have the stuff to get through the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup, as he was very much unable to throw strikes. He lasted for just 1.1 innings, allowing three earned runs […]

Heading into Game 2 of the NLCS, Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers were in the middle of a postseason record-tying 33 consecutive scoreless innings — with their pitching turning the narrative of their playoff reputation around. With a chance to go up 2-0 against the New York Mets, the Dodgers opted to go with another bullpen […]

Little did everyone know at the time, but on April 8, 2022, future Hall of Famer Dwight Howard played in his final NBA game — a 120-101 win for the Los Angeles Lakers over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Now, the door isn’t fully shut yet on a potential return to the NBA for Howard. But […]

It’s official: after being excluded from the New York Yankees’ roster in their ALDS clash against the Kansas City Royals, Anthony Rizzo will be included in the 26-man roster that the team will be bringing to their ALCS battle against the Cleveland Guardians. There was plenty of concern surrounding Rizzo after suffering a fracture to […]

Ever since the third inning of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Game 3 NLDS win over the San Diego Padres, it’s as if a switch was flipped, unleashing the best the Dodgers’ pitching corps has to offer. In Game 1 of their NLCS clash against the New York Mets, the Dodgers’ pitching continued to dominate, with […]

The NBA season has plenty of scheduling quirks that the first encounter between Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards as members of opposing teams occurred in preseason, with the Minnesota Timberwolves visiting the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. This matchup between the Timberwolves and Knicks did not have the feel of a typical preseason […]

In an NLDS clash where both teams have given it their all, it was the Los Angeles Dodgers that came out on top against the San Diego Padres, advancing to the NLCS with a 2-0 victory in the decisive Game 5. In a game where runs were scarce, it was utilityman Kike Hernandez who broke […]

A new era is dawning on the NBA. Small ball may be a thing of the past. After all, there is a 7’4″ two-way monster primed to take over the league in Victor Wembanyama. The Dallas Mavericks appear to be wary of this threat; after all, they have 7’1″ Dereck Lively II on the roster […]

Stephen Curry has achieved everything there is for him to achieve in his professional basketball career. The Golden State Warriors star is a four-time NBA champion, a former unanimous MVP, and he finally earned the coveted Finals MVP award that has eluded him for years. Moreover, he already won the FIBA World Cup gold medal […]

Rarely does anyone make the leap to the professional level with as high expectations as Caitlin Clark had upon her and yet manage to surpass them all the same. That’s what Clark did in her rookie year with the Indiana Fever; she brought the same kind of flair that she played with during her historic […]

Many subscribe to the belief that going through adversity is necessary to build character. But for the Detroit Pistons, they would very much rather forget how terrible their 2023-24 season was. That season set the franchise back a few years; they set the record for the longest losing streak (within a single season) in NBA […]

The Los Angeles Lakers took a come from behind victory during their Thursday night preseason contest against the Milwaukee Bucks. Buoyed by some hot shooting from their unheralded players, the Lakers won the fourth quarter 33-20 en route to taking a 107-102 victory. However, one of the main players the Lakers are expecting to produce […]

Game 1 of the 2024 WNBA Finals brought plenty of fireworks for fans to enjoy. In the end, following a topsy-turvy end to the ballgame, it was the Minnesota Lynx that came out on top in overtime, 95-93, against the New York Liberty team that has been the WNBA’s cream of the crop all season […]

The Indiana Pacers arrived way ahead of schedule in their contending timeline, and it’s easy to forget that they made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals despite not having one of the brightest young talents on the roster in Bennedict Mathurin for their entire playoff run. Mathurin saw his 2023-24 campaign come […]

With their backs against the wall, the Cleveland Guardians needed a herculean effort from their players to avoid being another division winner to fall prey in the Division Series under the current playoff format. And somehow, someway, the Guardians keep on receiving heroics from the unheralded David Fry, the 28-year-old utility guy who has a […]

With the competitive stakes being at their highest during the playoffs, it’s no surprise that professional athletes are becoming too caught up in the moment as they let their emotions bubble over. In Game 4 of the ALDS matchup between the New York Yankees and the Kansas City Royals, tempers flared between the two teams […]

The Oklahoma City Thunder are striking fear in the hearts of fans around the league. The Thunder began to stockpile draft assets in 2019, which meant that they had a bright future ahead of them, but now, the reality of their impending multi-year dominance is setting in — with the Chicago Bulls, perhaps, giving the […]

On Wednesday night, the Los Angeles Dodgers stared at the face of their past demons and said, “Not today.” They staved off a second elimination at the hands of the San Diego Padres in three seasons with an emphatic 8-0 win to send the series to a decisive Game 5. Considering the Padres’ ability to […]

It was obvious from many months ago that the 2024 offseason was going to be a crucial one for the Philadelphia 76ers. They had been preserving their cap space for that very moment, refusing to sign James Harden to the max contract he desired while running out the huge contract Tobias Harris signed in 2019. […]

Ben Simmons is at a crossroads; the max contract that he signed with the Philadelphia 76ers in 2019 is set to expire at the conclusion of the 2024-25 season. Thus, it’s imperative for Simmons, if he were to earn more than a prove-it contract next offseason, to bounce back in what has been a tumultuous […]

Despite some positive reports coming out of training camp, the first two preseason games have done no favors for Bronny James’ fan perception. Nevertheless, there remains plenty of hullabaloo surrounding his eventual regular-season debut for the Los Angeles Lakers. After all, when he steps on the court alongside his father, LeBron James, it will be […]

After barely missing out on the 2024 NBA playoffs, the Sacramento Kings pulled off one of the biggest moves of this past offseason, bringing six-time All-Star DeMar DeRozan in to bolster their De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis-led core. DeRozan might be getting up there in age (he’s already 35 years old), but he has been […]