In this episode of What’s The 411Sports, hosts Keisha Wilson and Mike McDonald are talking about the NBA Playoffs, John Wall of the Washington Wizards, Kawhi Leonard and the San Antonio Spurs, the NFL Draft 2018, the NY Knicks search for a new coach, Shaquem Griffin, and more.
Q. Let’s talk about what we’ve seen so far and any predictions?
The Dallas Cowboys released Dez Bryant and Bryant took to social media to express his frustrations and love for the Cowboys’ fans. Bryant also expressed his desire to stay in the NFC East.
Q. What are your thoughts on this Dez Bryant situation and do you think he could land in NFC East?
The Seattle Seahawks invited NFL free agent quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, in for a workout and upon learning that Kaepernick may not have given up on kneeling for the National Anthem, reportedly Kaepernick’s workout has been postponed.
Q. Let’s dissect this.
• Russell Westbrook clinched a triple-double average for the second consecutive season.
• If his team gets past the San Antonio Spurs, Stephen Curry is reportedly targeting a return for the second round of the NBA playoffs.
• Free agent Mark Sanchez has been suspended without pay for the first four games of the 2018 regular season for violating the NFL policy on performance-enhancing substances.
• Washington Wizards' veteran guard Jodie Meeks suspended for playoffs for a reported drug policy violation
• Sister Jean’s 15 minutes of fame is going into overtime. The Chicago Bulls looked into having Sister Jean rep the Bulls at the NBA Draft!
Quick Question: Adidas wants to sign Colin Kaepernick to an endorsement deal but has held off because the former 49ers quarterback isn’t on an NFL roster.
Q. Do you think this is just talk or could Adidas be sincere?
Welcome back to What’s The 411Sports. The Oklahoma City Thunder suspended play-by-play announcer Brian Davis for one game for his offensive on-air comment about Russell Westbrook. During the second quarter of OKC’s last game of the season, Davis blurted out about Westbrook, Is he out of his cotton-picking mind?
Q. Did the Thunder do the right thing in suspending Davis for one game?
After toiling 10 years in the NBA G-League, Andre Ingram’s number was called to play for the Los Angeles Lakers’ against the Houston Rockets. It was the second to last game of the season and Ingram scored 19 points and three blocks. Postgame, Lakers head coach Luke Walton, presented Ingram with the game ball.
Q. Should the Los Angeles Lakers keep Ingram on its roster? If not, do you think he might get picked up by another team?
Welcome back to What’s The 411Sports. Former New York Yankees shortstop, and now an owner of the Florida Marlins, Derek Jeter, decided to skip the trip to New York City when the Marlins played the Yankees.
Q. Did Derek Jeter make the right decision?
As predicted, the New York Knicks fired head coach Jeff Hornacek and assistant coach, Kurt Rambis.
Q. Lots of names are being floated, who do you think has the best chance?
Brooklyn Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov has completed the sale of a 49% interest in the Brooklyn Nets to Joe Tsai. Mr. Tsai is executive vice chairman and co-founder of Alibaba Group, a global internet company with businesses in e-commerce, cloud computing, and digital entertainment.
Now, we’re going off-topic. Cleveland Cavaliers PF/center Tristan Thompson was caught cheating on Khloe Kardashian, who gave birth to their first child on April 11th. According to various reports, the entire Kardashian-Jenner clan was enraged — including Kanye West! In fact, Radar Online is reporting that Kanye was prepared to give Thompson a beat down.
NBA Playoffs
The NBA PLAYOFFS are finally here, and the excitement is building.
Q. Was the run-up to the playoffs anything that you could have predicted?
UFC fighter Conor McGregor will always remember Brooklyn. McGregor was arrested and charged with felony criminal mischief charges and misdemeanor assault, menacing and reckless endangerment after McGregor and his entourage stormed the Barclays Center and threw a hand truck at a bus full of fighters after a news conference for UFC 223.
Q. Is Dana White and the UFC done with Conor McGregor or, will he return?
The Baltimore Ravens signed Robert Griffin III and Colin Kaepernick fans are livid.
Q. Are Kaepernick fans justified in their outrage over the RG III signing?
• Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton was involved in an accident when his Ferrari F12 was rear-ended by a dump truck. According to TMZ, Newton was not injured.
• Former Patriots tight end Jermaine Wiggins told TMZ that he believes that Rob Gronkowski is frustrated with Patriots because he’s not being paid what he’s worth.
• University of Alabama guard Collin Sexton announced that he was “officially declaring” for the 2018 NBA Draft! Sexton is the first player to attend Alabama for one season before leaving for the NBA since the league added the “one and done” rule before the 2006 draft.
• Red Sox minor league prospect Michael Chavis just lost 80 games’ worth of his player development (and salary) thanks to testing positive for DHCMT a banned substance.
• Congrats to Villanova Wildcats on winning the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament.
Quick Question: Augusta National Golf Club officials don’t like the phrase, “Dilly Dilly” and threatened to throw out anyone who uttered the words, Dilly Dilly in an effort to crack down on unruly fans.
Q. Is this silly, silly?
Welcome back to What’s The 411Sports. Professional golfer Tiger Woods made a comeback appearance at the Masters in Augusta this past Weekend.
Q. What’s the verdict?
Oklahoma City Thunder point guard, Russell Westbrook, praised Houston Rockets guard James Harden’s accomplishments for this NBA season but stopped short of an MVP endorsement.
Q. Was this a back-handed compliment or, is Westbrook not counting himself out?
Our Photo of the Week is a photo of Brooklyn Nets rookie center Jarrett Allen blocking a shot at the rim by Milwaukee Bucks forward Jabari Parker. The Nets defeated the Bucks 119-111.
Welcome back to What’s The 411Sports. It’s time for our NY Sports Report.
Q. Right now, looking at both New York baseball teams, who has a better chance of playing in the World Series?
A billboard went up near Madison Square Garden attempting to recruit LeBron James to the Knicks. Dwyane Wade says good luck with that one.
Q. Do you think LeBron James would ever consider the NY Knicks?
The Brooklyn Nets threw a wrinkle in the Milwaukee Bucks game plan. The Bucks were looking for a win over the struggling Nets to move up in the NBA Eastern Conference playoff standings, but the Nets beat the Bucks 119-111.
Q. In light of the Nets win over the Bucks, there’s a question floating, why do teams who are out of the playoff picture have to play so hard?
Our Athlete of the Week spotlight goes to Elgin Baylor. The legendary Los Angeles Lakers’ player recently received a great honor. The Lakers unveiled a statue of Elgin Baylor outside the Staples Center becoming the 10th person to be honored with a statue.
New York Knicks PF/center Kristaps Porzingis did not get selected for a starting position in the 2018 NBA All-Star game.
Porzingis believes he should be a starter on the NBA All-Star team and says that players know it.
Although Porzingis didn’t make the cut for the starting position on the NBA All-Star team, he was selected for the reserve team.
Did Kristaps Porzingis Get Snubbed for NBA All-Star 2018 Starting Position?
Not a good day for the Brooklyn Nets on this Martin Luther King, Jr. birthday holiday. The event started with a pre-game montage of Nets players giving their views on Dr. King and the significance of his life. That was Thing 1, as Chris Hayes says on his MSNBC show, All in With Chris Hayes. Thing 2, the Nets lost to the Knicks 119-104.
The Nets fell to 16-28 this season and 8-13 at Barclays Center with today’s loss, while the Knicks improved to 20-24 overall and 3-11 on the road with the win.
“I thought they did a great job waiting for us at the rim on our drives,” Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson said about the Knicks effort today. “But we do have to do a better job of kicking it out. If they have two guys waiting for us at the rim, we have to make that extra pass. I think we’ve regressed in our ‘making the extra pass’ philosophy and against this team, that’s flood the rim all the time with two bigs, you have to make that extra pass.”
Nets forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson expressed his thoughts on some of the successful things the Nets did tonight, “I think we did a better job at rebounding the first three quarters, the first half especially. I feel like we could have done a better job at keeping them from driving in and fouling them, too.”
For the Nets, DeMarre Carroll scored a team-high 22 points with eight rebounds and three assists in 30 minutes today. Caris LeVert totaled 20 points and seven rebounds in 30 minutes as a Nets’ reserve this afternoon. Hollis-Jefferson recorded 16 points and six rebounds in 26 minutes. Quincy Acy added 13 points off the bench and Joe Harris chipped in 10 points and five rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench.
In the win, Knicks center Kristaps Porzingis led all scorers with 26 points in 27 minutes.
“I just try to slow down mentally and that’s helping,” Porzingas said about his shot selection tonight. “Just not thinking I need to score as much, I just want to be involved and when the shots come I’m gonna take them and those are going to be higher percentage shots. You know, not as many contested shots and not as much me fighting to get the bucket. Just trying to make it easier for myself and I think it’s just mentally, I’m slowing down a little bit and that’s helped me. ”
Knicks rookie point guard Frank Ntilikina, who has been a big concern of many Knicks fans, finished with 10 points and 10 assists in 29 minutes for his first career double-double.
And, Ntilikina’s performance did not get past Porzingas.
“He played great,” Porzingas said congratulating his teammate. “The last few games he wasn’t really in rhythm but tonight you could see that he was pushing the ball and making plays. He was close to that triple-double that I talked about early in the season and you know I still believe that and moving forward as he keeps growing as a player, he will be that type of player.”
Today was the start of the Knicks’ seven-game road trip, the next stop for the Knicks is the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday, January 17.
The Nets will host the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday at the Barclays Center at 7:30 p.m. EST.
For this reporter, being at the Barclays Center last night watching the Brooklyn Nets get routed by the New York Knicks was a bit surreal. It wasn’t that the Knicks defeated the Nets 111-104, but the atmosphere didn’t feel like a Nets home game. The home crowd was overrun by Knicks fans. The Nets entertainment team was hard-pressed to get a response from Nets fans to engage in its usual t-shirt toss and other activities. Who turns down a free t-shirt? Even if the Nets isn’t your team, it’s the holidays, give it away to a Nets fan. Next, as I was checking in on Facebook, every business came up as if I was at Madison Square Garden. Seriously, Facebook; I’m in Brooklyn at the Barclays Center.
Now back to the Nets game against the Knicks. Although the Nets seemed to be off-kilter, there were flashes of brilliance. Both Spencer Dinwiddie and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson put in strong performances for the Nets scoring career-highs of 26 and 25 points, and seven rebounds respectively.
“I was just fortunate to hit shots,” Dinwiddie said about his performance against the Knicks on Thursday. “Last game, I couldn’t hit the side of a barn so today they went in and looked like a better game. That’s really it.”
Other Nets scoring leaders were Caris LeVert, who added 15 points, 5 rebounds, and five assists; and DeMarre Carroll chipped in 13 points. Tyler Zeller didn’t cross the double-digit line in points for the Nets, but he led the Nets in rebounds with eight.
The Nets’ bench is rated second in the NBA, but last night, the second unit just couldn’t find its rhythm, only mustering up 27 points. Meanwhile, the Knicks bench put up 45 points.
“I thought their second unit came in and just really took the game over,” Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson told the media in his postgame presser. “Similar to the first game [against the Knicks], they turned up their pressure, their physicality really. I thought they were the much more physical team.”
Yes, the Knicks were very physical and proud of it.
Even the Nets three-point shooting was off as a result of the Knicks physicality. Brooklyn hit 12 of its 42 three-point shots partly because the Knicks’ physicality forced the Nets to take bad shots. Joe Harris, the Nets G/F, is a three-point specialist and Harris shot 1 for 7. Allen Crabbe, who has had a rough go of it lately, shot just 1 for 8, including 1 for 7 from behind the arc.
New York Knicks center Kristaps Porzingas, who proved nearly unguardable, left the game in the second quarter with an injured knee and the Nets could not take advantage of his absence for a “W” mainly because of the Knicks’ physical play.
For the Knicks, Courtney Lee led all scorers with 27 points. Michael Beasley scored 15 points; both Porzingas and Enes Kanter had 13 points with Kanter putting up nine rebounds, and Kyle O’Quinn was the leading rebounder for the Knicks with 10 rebounds.
Up next, the Knicks will host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night, which will be Carmelo Anthony’s first visit to Madison Square Garden since leaving the team this season.
The Nets will visit the Toronto Raptors today and it will mark DeMarre Carroll’s first return to Toronto since leaving the Raptors. The Nets’ next home game is Sunday, December 17, 2017, at 6:00 p.m. against the Indiana Pacers at the Barclays Center.
In this episode of What’s The 411Sports, Keisha Wilson and Mike McDonald, co-hosts of What’s The 411Sports are talking about the outcome of the long-awaited Canelo vs. GGG fight; the conservative backlash to ESPN commentator Jemele Hill, Jerry Jones and Roger Goodell’s new contract, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry Feud, Rick Pitino and “One and Done”, Draymond Green, Cleveland Indians’ milestone, Lonzo Ball on Brook Lopez, Brooklyn Nets, NY Knicks and Kevin Hart.
As we know, former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick filed a grievance against the NFL citing that NFL owners colluded to keep him out of the NFL for kneeling during the National Anthem.
However, some are saying that this case could be bigger than people realized. Various sources seem to think that not only could he end up getting his job back, but he could end up terminating the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement ahead of its scheduled 2021 expiration date:
Article 69, Section 2 of the CBA allows for the agreement to be terminated prematurely in the event of proof of collusion.
Under Article 17, Section 16(c) of the CBA, termination can arise from only one incident of collusion involving only one player if there is clear and convincing evidence of a violation.
It turns out Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones did not stand for the National Anthem during his first Cowboys game as an owner. Jones sat during the anthem with Liz Taylor, which prompted a fan to write this note:
“JEERS: To Jerry Jones and Liz Taylor, who were the only two people at last Sunday’s Cowboys-Redskins game not standing when the national anthem was played.
Riding out in a cart just before the anthem began was bad enough, but sitting while it was played was more than many of us could handle.
Jerry, please note that in Texas, we stand for the national anthem.
P.S.: Tom [Landry] always took off his hat.”
Lonzo Ball had a terrible regular season NBA debut against the L.A. Clippers, but he redeemed himself in his second regular-season NBA game against the Phoenix Suns.
Ball flirted with a triple-double, scoring 29 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, and dishing out nine assists while drilling four or more 3-pointers in the process.
• Chris Long of the Philadelphia Eagles is donating entire salary to boost racial equality in education
• ESPN sportscaster Jemele Hill is back from suspension and she’s not mad at ESPN.
• Kevin Durant admits: “A couple years ago, I didn't really know how to play team defense that well. More and more, I'm learning about team defense and making multiple efforts.”
• In separate incidents, Pelicans’ DeMarcus Cousins and Celtics’ Kyrie Irving were both fined $25,000 for coarse language aimed at a fan
• The Sacramento Kings hired Jenny Boucek as assistant player development coach. Boucek is now the second active female assistant coach in the NBA, along with Becky Hammon of the San Antonio Spurs.
• And, the NY Liberty hired Katie Smith to be its new head coach
Speaking to USA Today, Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan doubles down on his recent critique of Donald Trump overall, Trump’s attacks on people of color, and finally the league. Khan said:
“Let’s get real. The attacks on Muslims, the attacks on minorities, the attacks on Jews.
I think the NFL doesn’t even come close to that on the level of being offensive.
Here, it’s about money, or messing with — trying to soil a league or a brand that he’s jealous of.”
Khan goes on to respond to whether or not he regrets contributing to Trump’s inauguration fund.
“I have no regrets in life. This ugly, toxic side sours the whole experience.”
Nike is in its first year of a jersey deal with the NBA, and on opening night, arguably their biggest endorser — LeBron James — had his Nike jersey split down the middle of his back.
It might be taken as a fluke if it had only happened to LeBron.
However, in a preseason game, half the back of Lakers’ Tyler Ennis’ jersey had come apart.
Our Photo of the Week is a photo of LaVar Ball giving his son, Lonzo, some fatherly advice.
The NY Yankees could not get past the Houston Astros, so no trip to the World Series this season.
The Astros go on to play the Los Angeles Dodgers in the MLB World Series. The first game is in Los Angeles tonight.
In the wake of Terry Collins exiting as NY Mets manager to work in the front office, the Mets signed Mickey Calloway as its new manager.
Calloway was a pitching coach for the Cleveland Indians and he received a warm welcome from Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard.
Calloway comes from a family that reveres baseball, he is named after Mickey Mantle and his brother Casey is named after Casey Stengel.
The Brooklyn Nets received another wake-up call during Game 1 of the regular NBA season when team leader Jeremy Lin went down with a ruptured tendon in his right knee. Lin had surgery to repair his ruptured patella tendon and will be out for the rest of the season.
Last week, we talked about how most NY Knicks fans were trying to reconcile in their minds that the Knicks are in rebuild mode and nothing says rebuild more when your team has yet to win a game.
Thus far, Kristaps Porzingas is performing well as the leader of the team, but the true measurement of leadership is how well Kristaps will be able to hold up under pressure from game losses.
With three consecutive losses so far, many Knicks fans are expressing their sorrow that Carmelo Anthony is no longer with the team. Anthony currently plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
In a TMZ interview at LAX, comedian D.L. HUGHLEY said:
“The three most hated Black men in America are Barack Obama, Colin Kaepernick, and O.J.
And two of them never were accused of murder.
They hate Colin Kaepernick right now more than they hate O.J.”
In an interview with GQ magazine, Lebron James said he told his kids about the n-Word incident on their home in Brentwood, California. He used it as a teachable moment telling them:
“When y’all go out in public and y’all start driving or y’all start moving around, be respectful to cops, as much as you can.
When you get pulled over, call your mom or dad, put it on speakerphone, and put your phone underneath the seat. But be respectful the whole time.”
In What’s The 411Sports Episode 100, co-hosts Keisha Wilson, and Mike McDonald of What’s The 411Sports are talking about:
Roger Goodell’s meeting with NFL players and owners,
Michael Jordan;
NY Yankees’ push for the MLB World Series;
Ezekial Elliot is headed back to court;
Kijuana Nige outs cocaine-using Miami Dolphins line coach Chris Foerster, and more.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell sent a letter to all 32 NFL club presidents and owners to put the National Anthem on the agenda for the NFL’s Fall Meeting.
Is Roger Goodell is up to the task of turning this issue around?
NBA icon Michael Jordan is not happy with the state of the NBA. He thinks the super team setup is hurtful and will get in the way of the NBA’s growth.
Is Michael Jordan delusional or does he have a point?
In an interview with Crain’s Chicago Business, Shahid "Shad" Khan, one of several NFL owners that donated one million dollars to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign is calling out his NFL peers and Donald Trump. Khan said Trump is dividing Americans and conflating First Amendment rights with patriotism.
Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekial Elliot is in limbo for now. A federal appeals court has lifted an injunction that blocked a six-game suspension for Dallas Cowboys star Ezekiel Elliott. As expected, the NFL re-enacted its six-game punishment for Elliot over domestic violence allegations. However, the NFL Players Association has filed a petition with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals asking for a full review of Elliott's case.
Kyrie Irving loves Boston
Richard Sherman is a real-life Shermie doll for a little girl in hospital
As revenge over National Anthem protests, a Las Vegas-based model, Kijuana Nige, outs Miami Dolphins offensive line coach, Chris Foerster, who videotaped himself snorting cocaine in his office. Once the video became public Foerster and the Dolphins parted ways.
Nike is now the official apparel partner of the NBA.
At the NBA store in NYC, the NBA and Nike introduced the NBA “connected jerseys”.
This week in sports it’s all about the NY Yankees.
The Yankees are making a run against the Houston Astros to move on to get to the World Series.
The Brooklyn Nets received a wake-up call when they played their last preseason game against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Sixers Joel Embiid exploited the Nets weakness on defense and on the frontcourt.
New York Knicks in Rebuild Mode
Most Knicks fans are trying to reconcile in their minds that the Knicks are in rebuild mode.
However, deep down inside, fans still want the Knicks to have a winning season.
If the Knicks have a losing season, is head coach Jeff Hornacek's job on the line?
In this video, NY Knicks fans weigh in on the former New York Knicks player Charles Oakley and NY Knicks owner Jim Dolan fiasco.
On February 8, 2017, during a New York Knicks vs. Los Angeles Clippers game at Madison Square Garden, NY Knicks owner Jim Dolan ordered Madison Square Garden security to eject Oakley from the arena.
From Oakley's radio interviews after he was tossed from The Garden, there appears to be a long-running dispute between former New York Knicks player and the Knicks owner, but no one seems to know why.
What's in dispute is was Charles Oakley behaving badly before security arrived as Dolan stated or, was Oakley's belligerent behavior caught on videotape was as a result of the way MSG security approached him to have him removed from the arena. Oakley was eventually ejected from the Madison Square Garden and arrested by NYPD.
Most NY Knicks fans find it hard to believe that Jim Dolan would treat Charles Oakley in the manner that he was treated and then almost immediately issued a press release insinuating that Oakley has problems and is in need of help.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver did try to mediate the issue between Oakley and Dolan with an in-person meeting on February 13, 2017, which included Michael Jordan by telephone. However, from interviews given by Oakley after the meeting, he needs time to process all that has happened in the last 10 days and won't be satisfied until Dolan issues a public apology.
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