8:00 PMJeRome Wilkins, a former University of New Hampshire football player accused of sexually assaulting a woman outside a house, said in court Friday that he did have sex with the woman but that it was consensual.
7:30 PMRafael Nadal says he was given a surprise drug test Saturday a few days after a French TV show lampooned doping allegations against Spanish athletes.
Last month Kobe Bryant was fined $100,000 by the NBA after he was caught by a TNT camera using a gay slur during a game.
Of charging Bryant 100 large, NBA commissioner David Stern told Mike Greenberg of ESPN radio, “I’m very happy with where we sit.”
Last night the NBA playoffs turned out to be, once again, must-fee TV.
This time it was Joakim Noah who uttered a gay slur - the same used by Bryant a month earlier - also seen by a TNT audience.
Stern wasn’t shy about enlightening Bryant to the plight of gay rights with a gigantic fine and a scolding “teachable moment” diatribe on ESPN radio, but what of the lower-profile Noah?
Tony Parker spoke to reporters in Paris yesterday about a variety of subjects, including his assessment of the future prospects of the Spurs.
Of those NBA title hopes, Parker said:
“It was sort of our last chance this season. .. We are aging. We must be realistic.
“We can’t count on trades to happen. We’re going to have to rely on the draft but Pop (Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich) has made many good choices.“
Parker also gave fresh perspective on the four-year contract extension he signed with the club before the season, and if Joakim Noah will play for France - with Parker - in this summer’s European Championship tournament.
Kentucky Coach John Calipari Tweeted Friday morning:
I’ve said many times that I’ve got the best job in the country. Still the speculation runs wild and I can’t stop that … I want to address this with the Big Blue Nation one last time, I will be coaching at Kentucky next year. Now let’s finish what we started!
Translation: A recruit called Calipari this morning and asked him if he was leaving UK.
The ’speculation’ that Calipari claims comes out of thin air most recently had him considering the head coaching position with the Bulls - if LeBron James was to join the same team. Calipari was also seen attending Cavaliers playoff games, further fueling ’speculation’ involving a connection between the two.
So with Calipari unequivocably confirming that he’ll be back at UK next season, could that be taken as a sign James is not considering joining the Bulls?
As Mike Brown is reportedly soon to be let go as Cavaliers coach, could that also be a sign that Calipari knows James won’t be staying in Cleveland? Read more…
In case you didn’t think it was possible for an NBA player to tie his shoe will possessing the ball during live game action, you haven’t been watching the Chicago Bulls lately.
That’s Raptors guard Jarrett Jack last night against the Bulls at the United Center tying his shoe while an apparently enraptured Luol Deng has the courtesy to leave the point guard undisturbed in his endeavor.
Not coincidentally, the Raps destroyed Chicago in the game, 110-78 - after jumping out to a 37-16 first quarter lead. Video after the jump. Read more…
Shame shame if you missed tonight’s Bulls-Nuggets game; it featured one of the closest game-ending calls in recent memory - certainly the closest of the young season. Quick recap to set the scene: Nuggets lead throughout the 4th quarter, only to see the Bulls make up a 7-point deficit late and tie the game at 89. Chauncey Billups gets the ball, gets fouled on the last shot by Kirk Hinrich (it was a good call, if not one that always gets called on the last play of the game), and goes to the line with under a second left. Hits the first, misses the second on purpose, Bulls get it and immediately call timeout. Clock runs out… but the officials put 0.3 seconds back on the clock! So you’re sayin’ there’s a chance! After the timeout, the Bulls inbound from their side of the court, get it to Brad Miller who gets the shot off as soon as he touches it, aaaaand….
(…well? Good? No?)
The shot miraculously goes in, and the refs call it good. It’s a celebration, bitches! Naturally, they go to the sideline monitor to review the play, because wow. And they keep reviewing. And keep reviewing. And–look, I’m going to write that over and over until you have to read it for five minutes, because that’s how long it took before the referees called it no good and gave the win to the Nuggets. Video, courtesy of the always-clutch @jose3030, is after the break.
Okay, we realize we made this point recently, but it needs to be reiterated (especially since new s**t has come to light, man): We love England. Yesterday, it was the MMA fighters in drag taking out a couple drunk idiots on the street.
(This took way too long to make.)
Today, though, it’s British people trying to call a basketball game. Emphasis on “trying.” Apparently, the BBC just trotted out Mark Pougatch and Colin Murray, two reporters without much of a clue about what happens in basketball games, and let them work their way through it. It’s delightful, and the sort of thing that only British people (see: the film careers of Hugh Grant and Jude Law) can get away with without looking completely stupid. Video is after the break.
The IOC’s highly anticipated 2016 Summer Olympics vote is tomorrow, and what initially appeared to be a slam dunk for the USA has turned into a legitimate two-horse race.
(Pele, representing his country by holding up a Brazilian flag. Please disregard the flag in his other hand.)
Try as President Obama might, Chicago is facing stiff competition from Rio de Janeiro for hosting rights, and it might have something to do with the fact that the Brazilian athletic community is pulling out all the stops. And by that, of course, we mean bringing Pele to Copenhagen on Friday to represent Brazil’s bid. When one thinks of Chicago’s most famous athletes, of course, the list starts and ends with Brad SellersMichael Jordan. He’s not going to Copenhagen, though, and that means it’s time for Pele to somehow overstate his importance. Mission accomplished.
In case you haven’t heard, Nike’s at it again, reappropriating 9/11 for their own crass commercial purposes as Michael Jordan gets inducted into the Hall of Fame. Wait, I’m sorry, we’re told that is a wildly untrue statement and that Nike had nothing to do with the date of induction. We regret the error. Anyway, MJ is being inducted today; presumably, the day belongs to him.
But while Jordan grabs the headlines, there are other people being inducted today, most notably John Stockton and David Robinson, two titans of the era in their own right. And while their inductions are generally of the off-without-a-hitch variety, there’s alsoPeter Vecsey, a NEW YORK POST reporter who’s being inducted for lord knows why. And that’s the real highlight here, folks, because by all accounts, last night, he delivered the worst induction speech of all time.
Michael Jordan’s not a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame yet. He’s been voted in, of course, and he’ll be inducted on 9/11 (Guys, you couldn’t have picked a better day? Like literally any other day?), but technically, he’s not there yet. But he’s got an exhibit there already in advance of his enshrinement.
(Hey, neat, right?)
It’s a sprawling shrine to the man who revolutionized not only pro basketball but corporate sponsorship - and therein lies a rather jarring problem. That entire exhibit to him, full of sneakers and championship rings? None of it came from MJ himself.
