Month: April 2023

The “MLB on FOX” crew discusses the biggest storylines heading into the 2023 MLB season including Shohei Ohtani’s future with the Los Angeles Angels and the budding rivalry between NL West foes Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres.

South Carolina star Aliyah Boston announced Saturday that she will enter the 2023 WNBA draft and forego her final year of eligibility with the Gamecocks’ program.

“There is a quote that says – Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away,” Boston wrote in a note addressing her decision. “In this moment, I am truly breathless as I make the next best decision of my life. I have decided to further pursue my dream by declaring for the 2023 WNBA draft.”

Boston had an additional year of eligibility because of the COVID-19 pandemic bringing an end to the 2020 season prematurely. Rather than return for one more year at the collegiate level, the 2023 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year will leave behind a resume of dominance on the court at South Carolina, even with her last college game ending in a loss to Iowa in the women’s NCAA Final Four.

This past season, Boston was named first-team All-America for the AP, USBWA and The Athletic, a Naismith Trophy Finalist and finalists for the Wooden Award, Wade Trophy and Lisa Leslie Center Award. The 6’ 5” forward also earned her second consecutive SEC Player of the Year trophy and her fourth consecutive SEC Defensive Player of the Year award, while averaging 13.0 points, 9.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 0.5 blocks per game.

God makes no mistakes❤️ this program has been so good to my family and I. Wouldn’t trade these past 4 years for anything. With love gamecock nation❤️ #forevertothee pic.twitter.com/tM2iY0lMet

— Aliyah A. Boston (@aa_boston) April 1, 2023

Boston, who helped lead the program to three Final Four appearances during her career, also helped South Carolina win its second national championship in 2022. Additionally, she earned multiple player of the year awards—Naismith, USBWA, Wooden, AP and Wade Trophy—during the ‘22 season.

“God makes no mistakes❤️ this program has been so good to my family and I. Wouldn’t trade these past 4 years for anything. With love gamecock nation❤️ #forevertothee,” Boston tweeted.

Chicago Cubs’ Dansby Swanson made a spectacular diving play and throw to get the Milwaukee Brewers’ runner at first in the fourth inning.

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame made its official announcement of several former NBA and WNBA players as well as coaches that will be inducted into class of 2023.

From the NBA, Heat legend Dwyane Wade became the first player drafted by Miami to earn the honor, and the most recent member to enter in the Hall on the first ballot unanimously. Former two-time NBA champion and six-time All-Stars Pau Gasol and Tony Parker and 14-time All-Star Dirk Nowitzki will also be inducted. 

Former WNBA star Becky Hammon, a six-time All-Star, will also be enshrined to the Hall of Fame. Hammon is currently the coach of the WNBA’s reigning champion Aces. 

Gregg Popovich, the NBA’s all-time winningest coach and three-time NBA Coach of the Year, headlines the coaching inductees. He’s joined by longtime women’s basketball coach Gary Blair, who recorded 852 wins, made two Final Four appearances with Arkansas and Texas A&M. Other coaching inductees include: Gene Bess, the all-time winningest college coach from Three Rivers Community College who coached former NBA star Latrell Sprewell; David Hixon, a two-time Division III Coach of the Year and Gene Keady, a six-time NCAA Coach of the Year.

The silver medalists from the 1976 women’s Olympic basketball team and the late Jim Valvano will also be enshrined into the Hall of Fame as this year’s direct elect committee inductees.

To secure induction into the Hall of Fame, finalists needed to receive 18 of 24 votes from the HOF committee.

The enshrinement ceremony for the class of 2023 will take place on Aug. 12 in Springfield, Mass.

Chicago White Sox’s Luis Robert made a leaping catch at the wall to rob Houston Astros’ Kyle Tucker of extra bases.

Washington Post sportswriter John Feinstein wrote the book on college basketball—quite literally, in the case of A Season on the Brink, his 1986 magnum opus on a year spent with Indiana’s men’s team.

Feinstein has been to 39 Final Fours during his career. This year’s men’s event, being contested Saturday in Houston by Connecticut, Miami, San Diego State and Florida Atlantic, would have been his 40th. However, Feinstein is staying home for this one, a decision he discussed at length in a Post column Thursday morning.

The veteran scribe cited a column from June 22 in which he wrote that the NCAA should move both the men’s and women’s Final Fours out of Texas following the shooting deaths of 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde last May. The men’s NCAA tournament is being held in Houston, while Dallas plays host to the women’s event.

Specifically, Feinstein expressed a belief that the tournaments should be relocated “until and unless that state passed something resembling meaningful gun legislation.”

That did not happen, as Feinstein pointed out, and gun violence continues to plague American life. On Monday, three children and three adults were shot and killed at Covenant School in Nashville’s Green Hills neighborhood.

“I knew two things for certain when I wrote the column: Texas wasn’t going to change its gun laws, and the NCAA was going to hide under a rock and do nothing,” Feinstein said. “Sometimes you have to tilt at windmills.”

Late Friday night, the NBA and NBPA agreed to a new seven-year CBA, avoiding a potential lockout situation over the next year. There are many new aspects of the agreement, including an in-season tournament, limiting spending on high-payroll teams and changing the upper-limits of contract extensions.

While the deal ensures labor peace for the foreseeable future, one outspoken player believes the players should have drawn a harder line in the sand. Warriors forward Draymond Green expressed his displeasure with the union, believing that they lost the negotiation.

“Players lose again…. Smh!” he tweeted. “Middle and Lower spectrum teams don’t spend because they don’t want to. They want to lose. So increase their spending capabilities, just to increase them. They continue to cut out the middle.” 

Players lose again…. Smh! Middle and Lower spectrum teams don’t spend because they don’t want to. They want to lose. So increase their spending capabilities, just to increase them. They continue to cut out the middle. And this is what we rushed into a deal for? Smdh! Never fails https://t.co/rFuSpxCJ8q

— Draymond Green (@Money23Green) April 1, 2023

Since Golden State is one of the biggest spending teams in the league, this new CBA has a major impact on Green in the short term. He continued to claim the union loses these negotiations “every time” despite having the ability to push harder.

Even when it comes to the in-season tournament, Green said that the players could have gotten double the prize money per player than what the amount they ended up getting. 

What happened to the 1mm they said when this idea was first introduced?!?! sheesh we lost 500k there too! 🤣😂🤣 https://t.co/EH2GWXvKFz

— Draymond Green (@Money23Green) April 1, 2023

Green will most likely retire before this CBA expires, as he will be 40 years old by the time that happens. However, he believes that the younger players are the ones who will feel the shortcomings of this specific deal, especially those not in the NBA yet.

The Warriors forward claims he has more to say on the matter, but is saving it for his podcast to elaborate beyond just calling the deal “trash.” 

The 2023 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament continues Saturday with a Final Four matchup between San Diego State and Florida Atlantic. Check out highlights and in-game analysis here!

Fox’s Major League Baseball coverage is set for quite the shakeup. 

Hall of Fame slugger Frank Thomas is reportedly out at the network after 10 years as an analyst for Fox’s pregame baseball coverage. Fox hired Hall of Fame shortstop Derek Jeter after he left the Marlins’ front office and the former Yankees shortstop will now take Thomas’s place.

The news of Thomas being let go from Fox’s pregame baseball coverage was first reported by Andrew Marchand of the New York Post.

“Frank has been an integral member of the FOX MLB studio team for nearly a decade and has helped raise the bar on our coverage while continuously growing the game of baseball,” a Fox spokesperson told the New York Post. “Although he is not part of our coverage this season, ‘The Big Hurt’ will always be a member of our Fox Sports family and we wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”

Jeter, who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2020, will make his debut with the network during the London Series in June, before remaining with the crew for the All-Star game in July and the playoffs in October.