Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich continued to be outspoken about race issues when asked about the importance of the NBA celebrating Black History Month.
He stated, “I think it’s pretty obvious. Our league is made up of a lot of black guys. To honor that and understand it is pretty simplistic. How would you ignore that? More importantly, we live in a racist country that hasn’t figured it out yet.
“It’s always important to bring attention to it, even if it angers some people. The point is, you have to keep it in front of everybody’s nose and understand that it still hasn’t been taken care of and we still have a lot of work to do.”
“Coach Jim Caldwell is expected to coach his last game for Detroit on Sunday, sources say,” Rapoport wrote.
It’s worth noting a few things about this report. First, Rapoport uses some pretty passive language here, like “expected” and even says later “Caldwell’s status is now in doubt.” That is not at all the same as saying Caldwell will be fired.
Additionally, Rapoport’s sources on the Lions have been shaky. He falsely claimed that Eric Ebron suffered an achilles injury in 2016 when it was an ankle sprain and he missed out on a few gameday injury reports, as well.
However, all indications seem to point to Caldwell being out at this point. The rumors have been swirling that last Sunday’s loss to the Bengals sealed his fate.
If Caldwell’s tenure is indeed over with the Lions, he’ll leave Detroit with an overall record of 35-28 (plus the outcome of Sunday’s game). The Lions have made the playoffs in two of his four seasons, but failed to win a postseason game.
Like the earlier report from Mike Silver, Rapoport suggests that Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia could be in consideration as Caldwell’s replacement. “Keep an eye on Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia,” Rapoport said. “A hire that would allow the Lions to keep the offensive side of the ball mostly in place.”
We’ll continue to follow this situation closely and see if we can get confirmation from anyone else.
Kyrie says he didn’t tell anyone he wanted and doesn’t care if they took it personally
The new starting point guard for the Boston Celtics and NBA champion, Kyrie Irving sat down with Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman on ESPN’s First Take. The quick dribbling big shot closer made headlines after he requested a trade from his former team Cleaveland Cavaliers. Irving, who ruled the eastern conference, alongside LeBron “The King” James devasted the sports world when he made it known that he no longer wanted to be a Cavalier. Rumors began to spread, linking Kyrie’s urge to leave Cleveland, to his relationship with LeBron, however, nothing was solidified. In a sit-down with First Take’s Stephen A. and Max, Stephen posed the question to Kyrie, if he [Kyrie] or his representatives ever spoke with LeBron about his trade prior to speaking with ownership? The clutch finisher calmly replied, “No.” It’s clear that Kyrie didn’t feel obligated to reveal any of his intentions of leaving with his former teammate.
Check out the video clip above to see the exchange.
Before the sweat was dry in the ring following Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s defeat of UFC champion Conor McGregor on Saturday, Showtime had another major fight on its hands — a class-action lawsuit from customers unhappy because of streaming issues that plagued the fight and the lead-up bouts.
Portland, Ore., boxing fan Zack Bartel paid to stream the fight in high-definition through the Showtime app but says all he saw was “grainy video, error screens, buffer events, and stalls.”
Bartel is suing Showtime for unlawful trade practices and unjust enrichment, alleging the network rushed its pay-per-view streaming service to the market without securing the bandwidth necessary to support the scores of cable-cutting fans.
“Instead of being upfront with consumers about its new, untested, underpowered service, defendant caused likelihood of confusion and misunderstanding as to the source and quality of the HD video consumers would see on fight night,” writes attorney Michael Fuller in the complaint filed late Saturday in Oregon federal court. “Defendant intentionally misrepresented the quality and grade of video consumers would see using its app, and knowingly failed to disclose that its system was defective with respect to the amount of bandwidth available, and that defendant’s service would materially fail to conform to the quality of HD video defendant promised.”
The complaint, which is largely composed of screenshots and tweets, is seeking for each member of the class actual damages or $200 in statutory damages, whichever is greater. (Read the complaint below.)
The proposed class includes Oregon consumers who viewed Showtime’s app advertisement on iTunes and paid $99.99 to stream the fight, but were unable to view the fight live on the app “in HD at 1080p resolution and at 60 frames per second, and who experienced ongoing grainy video, error screens, buffer events, and stalls instead.”
Showtime senior vp sports communications Chris DeBlasio says anyone who had issues with a cable or satellite feed should contact their provider, but Showtime will handle complaints from anyone who bought the fight through Showtimeppv.com and the ShowtimePPV app.
Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor faced off in Las Vegas ahead of their Saturday fight for the official weigh-in. Check out the live footage as it unfolds above.
In a blockbuster trade, Kyrie Irving was sent to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Žižić, and the Nets’ unprotected first-round pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. Soon after the news spread, NBA fans began to dig up Thomas’ old tweets that spoke unfavorably about his new teammate LeBron James.
In three of tweets which date back to 2010, Thomas explained why he thinks Kobe Bryant is better than LeBron. Thomas noted that Kobe wouldn’t let anybody punk him the way LeBron let Boston, that LeBron can’t switch up and shoot left-handed like Kobe, and that Bron is good but the Black Mamba is “GREAT.”
The tweets like they could cause some tension considering Irving asked for a trade reportedly because of a rift between him and LeBron but Thomas’ tweets are seven years old and he and LeBron have since spoken favorably about each other.
In 2012, Thomas tweeted about his new found respect for LeBron since actually playing against him the league, calling LeBron the “best OVERALL talent.” LeBron has also praised Thomas as well, back in December, noting that the Celtics clearly had a star.
“They got a clear-cut star and that’s Isaiah,” LeBron said. “The notion that they don’t have a star I think is fugazi as Donnie Brasco would say. … They’re a good team for a reason, and it starts with the head of the snake, and that’s Isaiah.”
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