Month: March 2023

LeBron James and Damian Lillard are two of the best overall performers in the NBA but who would you choose to save you with one shot? Watch as Skip Bayless decides whether he would take Dame Time or the King for the last shot of a ball game. Who would you take?

Baltimore’s quarterback reportedly turned down an offer in September due to a disagreement over guaranteed money.

Quarterback Lamar Jackson has been the face of the Ravens for five years now.

Despite a handful of injuries and a revolving door of pieces around him, Jackson has led Baltimore to four playoff appearances while registering some of the most productive rushing seasons by a quarterback in league history. However, contract talks between the 2019 MVP and the Ravens have grounded to a halt.

Discussing negotiations between Baltimore and Jackson, Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta outlined the precise difficulty of contract talks from the team’s perspective, complicated by the fact that Jackson represents himself.

“Well you have a lot of regard for the player, first and foremost,” DeCosta said. “I think when you deal with an agent, sometimes you’re able to speak very freely, position yourself a certain way. You have different arguments that you can use that maybe you wouldn’t say to a player. So, I think that’s part of it.”

Reading through the lines, that could be interpreted to mean the Ravens are being cautious not to lowball and insult their quarterback during negotiations with him, which has perhaps slowed down the process.

Jackson reportedly turned down a five-year, $250 million offer from Baltimore in September on the grounds that it included only $133 million guaranteed, $97 million less than the amount guaranteed to Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson last March.

Skip Bayless dives deep into his personal history with new LA Clippers point guard Russell Westbrook, dating back to his UCLA and early Oklahoma City Thunder days with Kevin Durant.

The Penn State Nittany Lions’ Seth Lundy threw down a one-handed jam early vs. the Northwestern Wildcats.

After a buyout with the Utah Jazz, Russell Westbrook returns to Los Angeles .. with a different team, the Clippers. Skip Bayless explains why it is ‘impossible’ to win with Russ in the NBA, especially as he continues his career for another team (fourth team in four seasons).

Reckless decisions from Alabama’s Brandon Miller and former Georgia DT Jalen Carter led to catastrophic consequences. The cautionary tales that came before theirs on a mid-January morning seemed to have eluded them both.

There is an eerie, tragic connective thread that now runs between Brandon Miller and Jalen Carter. They are star Southeastern Conference athletes who, according to police, are lucky to be alive. On the same early mid-January morning, at almost the same exact time, hundreds of miles apart, Miller and Carter allegedly courted death through alarmingly negligent behavior.

At 2:45 a.m. ET on Sunday, Jan. 15, authorities in Athens, Ga., responded to a call of a single-vehicle crash on Barnett Shoals Road. They found a Ford Expedition that had left the roadway and plowed through two power poles and several trees. The accident killed Georgia football player Devin Willock and football staffer Chandler LeCroy, who police say was driving the car at an extreme rate of speed with a blood-alcohol level of .197, twice the legal limit.

At 1:45 a.m. CT that same morning, shots were fired in downtown Tuscaloosa in a gunfight near a busy entertainment district. The shootout ended with Jamea Jonae Harris dead at the scene. A former Alabama basketball player, Darius Miles, is charged with capital murder after allegedly providing the gun for his friend and alleged trigger man, Michael Davis.

It was a horrible coincidence, a horrible moment in time, in two idyllic SEC towns 275 miles apart. A horrible reminder of the fragility of life and the consequences of terrible decision-making by young adults.

Weeks later, the two stories have taken jarring turns. News emerged that linked Carter and Harris to the two tragedies. Two athletes, just a few months away from life-altering fortunes dangling in front of them, allegedly risked it all with tragic recklessness. Last week, it was Alabama basketball player Miller, a projected top-five NBA draft pick. This week, it is former Georgia football player Carter, projected by many as the No. 1 prospect in the NFL draft.

Miller allegedly drove the murder weapon to the scene of the shooting in Tuscaloosa. Miles sent him a text asking for it. According to a statement by Miller’s attorney, Jim Standridge, Miller was already en route to the scene to pick up Miles when the text came in, and Miller had no idea of Miles’s intent to use the gun. Standridge said Miller never left his car, while police have said Miller’s windshield was struck by two bullets in the shootout, which means his life was in direct jeopardy.

Miller and teammate Jaden Bradley, who was also at the scene of the crime, are not facing criminal charges at this time. They also have gone undisciplined by Alabama, which did not disclose their presence at the shooting. That revelation has spurred a weeklong firestorm that has engulfed one of the top teams in college basketball.

That same early morning in Athens, Carter, in his own car, was allegedly racing LeCroy hours after the football team’s second straight national championship was celebrated with fans at Sanford Stadium. Police assert they were driving at wild speeds and that the two cars “switched lanes, drove in the center turn lane, drove in opposite lanes of travel, overtook other motorists and drove at high rates of speed, in an apparent attempt to outdistance each other.” On Wednesday, when the defensive tackle was supposed to meet the media at the NFL Combine, police issued an arrest warrant for Carter on two misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and racing.

Carter issued a statement later Wednesday that said, in part, “Numerous media reports also have circulated this morning containing inaccurate information concerning the tragic events of January 15, 2023. It is my intention to return to Athens to answer the misdemeanor charges against me and to make certain that the complete and accurate truth is presented. There is no question in my mind that when all of the facts are known that I will be fully exonerated of any criminal wrongdoing.”

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Wednesday that Carter was cited three times last fall for traffic violations—parking in a handicapped zone, failure to obey a traffic-control device and going 89 in a 45-mph zone. That excessive speeding citation led to a fine of more than $1,000, the paper reported.

I’ve driven on Barnett Shoals Road many times. For a couple of years, my son lived in an apartment complex on that road while he was a student at Georgia. Driving 100 mph there is tempting a tragic fate. About half a mile from that apartment complex is where the alleged January car race came to its deadly ending.

As much as Miller and innocent bystanders were fortunate not to be struck by gunfire in Tuscaloosa, Carter allegedly was lucky to keep his vehicle out of harm’s way in Athens—for himself and other motorists.

The Washington Post had a story Tuesday about new research on brain development over the course of a human lifetime. One sentence from the story: “Neuronal networks are continually honed and adjusted into young adulthood, especially those involved in rational thought and considering future consequences.” At college age, we are cerebral works in progress.

Miller is 20 years old and Carter is 21, ages when decision-making can be dubious—but given what both have at stake, an abnormal amount of caution and prudence is necessary. Athletic gifts do not guarantee maturity away from the field or court, and in fact can sometimes inhibit development. Many are commoditized, coddled, enabled, entitled and controlled by the adults around them, which is not an ideal pathway into the real world.

Upon arrival in college, are the most gifted athletes given enough support beyond athletics? And in the mental-health space, are they given tools to acclimate in a different environment from where many of them grew up and in other dozens of ways?

Cautionary tales have also seemed to escape Miller, Carter and others. Former Alabama wide receiver Henry Ruggs III, now 24, is awaiting trial on DUI charges stemming from a 2021 incident where he rear-ended a car at speeds well in excess of 120 mph. The driver of that car and her dog died in the crash. Former Kentucky basketball player Terrence Clarke, age 19, died shortly before the 2021 NBA draft in a crash after running a red light at a high rate of speed.

As for Miller and Carter’s coaches? They haven’t been shining examples of accountability. Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats’s verbal gaffes and general lack of curiosity about his players’ presence at a murder scene has been off-putting to everyone who doesn’t chug crimson Kool-Aid. Georgia football coach Kirby Smart has issued statements regarding the tragic car crash that rocked his team, but otherwise avoided standing up and answering questions as the face of his powerhouse program.

Both men are at the top of their profession, and handsomely paid for getting there. Oats is trying to become the first coach to lead Alabama to a Final Four; Smart is the first coach to win consecutive national titles at Georgia. But when they can’t be trusted to speak to the media with much human decency (Oats’s “wrong spot at the wrong time” comment) or be bothered to speak to the media at all (Smart), it says something about their true job responsibilities. Just win.

Brandon Miller and Jalen Carter have helped both coaches win. And on the same January early morning, at almost exactly the same time, they were lucky to survive their allegedly terrible choices.

The 13-time All-Star hadn’t played since Jan. 8 due to a sprained MCL.

Kevin Durant made his Suns debut on Wednesday night against the Hornets and helped his new team to a 105–91 victory in Charlotte.

It also marked Durant’s first game since Jan. 8, when he suffered an MCL sprain. He was traded to the Suns from the Nets on Feb. 9.

The 13-time All-Star showed out in his first game as a Sun, finishing with 23 points, six rebounds and two blocks in 27 minutes. Out of all the starters, Durant played the fewest minutes. The other four starters each played 33 minutes. But Durant did record the second-highest point total on the night for Phoenix, behind only Devin Booker with a game-high 37 points.

The Suns improved to 34–29 and sit in fourth place in the Western Conference standings.

• Get your seats to Phoenix Suns games at SI Tickets

The NBA world was hyped to see Durant back on the court from the moment he made his first basket with his new team. 

Here are some of the best reactions to Durant’s Suns debut on Wednesday.

Jordan Wright hit a go-ahead faeaway jumper as the Vanderbilt Commodores snapped a 14-game losing streak at Rupp Arena and won 68-66.

The six-time Pro Bowler urged the star QB to call it a career.

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers still has yet to make a decision regarding his future in the NFL. With retirement potentially on the line, one former NFL star is attempting to push Rodgers in that direction.

Former Pro Bowl wide receiver Brandon Marshall made a plea to the Packers star via Instagram on Tuesday, during which he implored Rodgers to drift on into retirement. 

“Aaron Rodgers, congratulations on a phenomenal career. You won a Super Bowl. Hell, I never even made it to the playoffs …,” Marshall said in his video message to the 39-year-old QB. “It’s O.K. to walk away, bro. There’s nothing else left to prove. Go travel the world. Go explore. Go build your family.”

Marshall, who himself was a six-time Pro Bowl selection during his 13-season NFL career, congratulated Rodgers for being one of the most decorated quarterbacks in the sport’s history. He even suggested Rodgers would leave behind a legacy that will span generations in Green Bay, but he ultimately urged the Packers star to call it a career ahead of the 2023 season. 

It’s not entirely clear what prompted Marshall to unleash the monologue regarding Rodgers’s impending career decision, but Marshall seemed to be passionate about the situation. 

Marshall isn’t the only one on the edge of his seat over Rodgers’s career move. The Packers anxiously have been awaiting his decision, and with reports of teams potentially looking to trade for 18-year veteran, the rest of the league will be eager to see what he does.

Trey Alexander made a massive 3-pointer with ease which extended the Creighton Bluejays’ lead over the Georgetown Hoyas.