VIDEO DISCUSSION: University of Alabama sorority member racist social media post goes viral, and she is promptly expelled from school

NY Giants safety Landon Collins and other Alabama-affiliated athletes took to Twitter to respond to racist remarks made by Harley Barber, a member of the Alpha Phi sorority at the University of Alabama, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

"Alpa Phi, 'Be weary of the company you keep for they are a reflection of who you are or who you want to be.' Harley Barber didn't wake up this morning and decide to spew racist rhetoric for the first time in her life. Therefore, I believe I speak on behalf of my brothers and myself, when I say, the Bama football team does not need the support, cheers or high fives of anyone who condones this type of intolerant, hateful behavior. #BuiltByBama."

The school and the sorority expelled Barber. She is now back home in New Jersey and told the NY Post:

"I did something really, really bad. I don't know what to do and I feel horrible. I'm wrong and there's just no excuse for what I did."

Collins said he would be willing to speak with her.

Does Collins need to speak with her? Should he speak with her? Or, are the expulsion from school and her sorority enough to be teachable moments?

Comment here.

At his sentencing hearing, the judge compelled Dr. Larry Nassar to listen to victim impact statements from his victims

The statements made by Olympic gymnasts at Dr. Larry Nassar's sentencing hearing in a Michigan state courtroom for sexually abusing more than 100 girls and women were heart-wrenching and compelling.

With so many girls and women molested by Nassar, why isn’t this story resonating to the level of the Penn State scandal?

With names such as Ally Raisman, Simone Biles, Rachael Denhollander, how could Dr. Nassar have gotten away with so many molestations for so long?

Should Kristaps be more worried about the state of the Knicks than whether he is a starter on an NBA All-Star team?

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?

Will D'Angelo Russell be able to pick up where he left off in time to help his team to see a significant improvement over last season?

What's The 411Sports hosts Keisha Wilson and Mike McDonald are talking about Brooklyn Nets point guard D’Angelo Russell’s return to the lineup in a game against the Miami Heat at the Barclays Center.

After several weeks of rehabbing a knee injury, Russell made his debut in a sensational game that saw the Nets beat the Heat 101-95. Although Russell only scored one point, his teammates praised his leadership on the floor.

VIDEO DISCUSSION: Can the Cleveland Cavaliers regain its luster and make it to the NBA Eastern Conference Finals

In the video recorded on January 23, 2018, Keisha Wilson and Mike McDonald are talking about the Cleveland Cavaliers and their devastating 148-124 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Currently, the Cavs are third in the Eastern Conference and one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA this season. To make matters worse, there is a good deal of finger pointing going on in the locker room.

Could Preston's decision to leave the University of Kansas and turn pro in Europe lead others to do the same?

Billy Preston, a student on the University of Kansas basketball team, decided to take a page out of the Big Baller Brand playbook and has now signed with a professional team in Bosnia, according to rivals.com.

KU looked into a car accident on campus involving Preston and later sent its findings to the NCAA. Eighteen games later and with no decision from the NCAA, Preston said adios to the Jayhawks and signed with the team in Bosnia.

Stormy Daniels gave an in-depth interview about how she met Donald Trump, their alleged encounter, and how she met Ben Roethlisberger

Larry Brown Sports is reporting that according to adult film star Stormy Daniels, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger walked her home after her 2006 affair with Donald Trump.

Allegedly, the day after the affair, Trump invited Daniels to a party and Roethlisberger was there. Trump had to leave and he asked Big Ben to make sure Daniels got home.

Daniels, in an in-depth interview with In Touch Weekly, didn't provide a date of when the incident with Trump and Roethlisberger occurred, but she said: “Big Ben” had just won the Super Bowl.

Pittsburgh Steelers’ fans know Roethlisberger led the Steelers to championships in both 2006 and 2009.

Daniels said Trump was married to current wife Melania Trump at the time of the alleged affair, which we know Trump married Melania in 2005.

Jaylen Brown is dispelling the notion that professional athletes are unintelligent

This week, our Athlete Spotlight is on Boston Celtics small forward Jaylen Brown.

When Harvard University learned that Brown had been visiting the school and speaking to professors, the Ivy League school reached out to Brown last week on Twitter. Harvard invited him to come to the university to speak to Harvard students about his thoughts on education. Of course, he gladly agreed.

Brown, who put his degree at the University of California, Berkeley on hold to play in the NBA, wrote a thesis on the impact that institutionalized sports have on education.

Now, other schools want Brown to come and speak to their students.

 Did you know that Harvard is known as the "Duke of the North"?

DeMarre Carroll scores 26 points to lift the Brooklyn Nets over the Miami Heat

In front of a sold-out crowd of 17,732 people, the Brooklyn Nets defeated the Miami Heat 101-95 and improved to 11-1 when holding their opponents under 100 points this season. Friday night’s win snapped Brooklyn’s five-game losing streak at the Barclays Center and the team’s three-game losing streak overall.

In the win, DeMarre Carroll scored a career-high-tying 26 points with six rebounds, one assist, two steals and one block in 31 minutes. Spencer Dinwiddie, who has scored 15 or more points five times in his last nine games, tallied 15 points, six rebounds and, three assists in 29 minutes tonight against the Heat. Joe Harris and Caris LeVert each scored 12 points with LeVert adding five assists and four rebounds to his score.

LeVert, and Quincy Acy’s energy, which is not displayed in totality in the stat sheet, were instrumental in knocking Miami off its rhythm during the second-half, enabling the Nets to erase a 16-point deficit, which ultimately led to a Nets victory.

“I thought Caris (LeVert) and Quincy (Acy) came in the game and changed the energy,” Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said. “Caris had a big hand in it, obviously Quincy shooting opened up the floor for us. Lastly, our offense definitely wasn’t pretty by any means but a really good defensive performance.”

“I think defensively is what got us going,” LeVert said describing the spark that got the Nets going in the second half. “D’Angelo (Russell) was real vocal when he came in like in the third quarter, when he came in I think that is when the run started. He was just telling us stop by stop, just get a stop. Easy baskets. And that kind of sparked the run.”

D’Angelo Russell, who missed 32 games and has not played since November 11, 2017, played 14 minutes off the bench on Friday. Russell, although he only scored one point in his 14 minutes of play, was a critical catalyst for the Nets in the second half.

“I think the third quarter was really when that switched,” LeVert pointing out when the Nets defense clicked into high gear. “Like I said, when D’Angelo checked in he was real vocal and that was the main point. Just get stops on defense and that will spark the offense. We held them to 95 points and that was the game right there.”

Hassan Whiteside led the Miami Heat with 22 points and 13 rebounds. Other Miami scoring leaders were: Goran Dragic, who scored 17 points; Josh Richardson added 12 points and seven assists; Kelly Olynyk recorded 12 points and five rebounds, and; Wayne Ellington chipped in 10 points.

Next up, the Nets have five road games including an opportunity to avenge its 114-80 loss to Detroit when it plays the Pistons on Sunday. The next Brooklyn Nets home game is on Wednesday, January 31, 2018, at the Barclays Center at 7:30 p.m.

Crabbe leads Nets with 20 points and career-high-tying eight rebounds; Carroll scores sixth double-double for the Nets, and it’s LeVerts’ 100th NBA game

Last night’s game against the San Antonio Spurs started off fairly well for the Brooklyn Nets, who led the Spurs by as much as eight points in the first quarter. However, quarter by quarter, the Nets’ reversal of fortune started to show in a big way down the stretch with the Spurs leading the Nets by as much as 17 points at 6:56 in the third quarter. Brooklyn battled back to come within four points (85-81) at 5:38 in the fourth quarter and then again at 2:48, but ultimately lost to the Spurs 100-95 in regulation.

This loss to the Spurs extends the Nets losing streak to six-games including five of those losses at home. And, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that a six-game losing streak can begin to wear on a team’s morale. Here’s where good coaching helps. A really good coach can help people to keep their spirits up when the challenge of reaching a goal is difficult and facilitating the feeling that ultimate victory is near. Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson told his team that he believes the breakthrough for them is just around the corner.

“I told the guys I do,” Atkinson told the media postgame after speaking with his team. “I feel like we’re getting close. This is San Antonio, Toronto, and Boston, these are elite teams in our league and there are no moral victories.”

Atkinson is right, in competitive sports, there are no moral victories per se. However, the Nets have more wins today than they had this time last year. Also, to lose with five or fewer points to elite teams such as the Spurs, Raptors, and Boston even with these teams’ best players on the floor, Brooklyn should be heartened.

“…I do think they’re encouraged,” Atkinson continued. “We’re improving and getting better. Like on a night like tonight we got better, we improved, we can look at things. How can we get over the hump, how can we execute a little better? Again, I think our mistakes are execution mistakes and are things we can control. And it’s not just a Joe [Harris] missed shot, which was a great look but are things we can clean up.”

Brooklyn proved it can execute better. A week ago the Nets lost to Detroit 114-80. This week, for the divide to be only five points against the San Antonio Spurs, a team that is No. 3 in the Western Conference, shows the Nets were not totally demoralized because last night they executed better. Not enough to win, but close.

“Patty Mills’ five threes, those are the ones that stick in your mind..,” Atkinson added. “…I know there were a couple breakdowns on our part, just execution, leaving him. That was not part of the game plan, obviously…”

Speaking of San Antonio guard Patty Mills, he scored 25 points on 7-for-10 shooting off the bench. And, Mills was not the Spurs’ leading scorer that honor goes to forward LaMarcus Aldridge who led all scorers with 34 points, 8 rebounds on 54.2 percent shooting.

“I give credit to the Nets,” San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said. “They had a tough time making some shots down the stretch, but overall their execution, I thought, was better than ours. Brooklyn’s attack to the rim, finding open people I thought was spectacular. They played very physically. We made a few shots, made some 3’s and took care of the ball pretty well. We came out with a win we’re thrilled about because overall I think Brooklyn did a great job.”

For the Nets, its leading scorers were Allen Crabbe, who recorded a team-high 20 points, a career-high-tying eight rebounds, and three assists in 31 minutes. Joe Harris scored 18 points (7-of-13 FG, 4-of-9 3FG) in 32 minutes off the bench. This game against the Spurs marked Caris LeVert’s 100th game as an NBA player and he added 13 points off the bench with two boards and two assists in 22 minutes. DeMarre Carroll posted 11 points and 10 rebounds, recording his sixth double-double of this season. Although Spencer Dinwiddie did not score points in double-digits, Dinwiddie recorded a career-high 13 assists (with no turnovers), nine points and two steals in 35 minutes for the Nets. Dinwiddie’s 13 assists last night were the most assists in a game for a Net without recording a turnover since Jason Kidd handed out 15 assists with no turnovers on January 8, 2006, at Toronto.

Although the Nets didn’t win, and ultimately, that is why teams play, to win, the stats weren’t all bad. Brooklyn’s bench outscored San Antonio’s reserves 44-34. Entering last night’s game, the Nets’ bench was averaging 44.5 points per game, which ranked second in the league in bench ppg. The Nets also edged San Antonio 42-30 in points in the paint and 13-6 in second-chance points.

Next up, the Brooklyn Nets will host the Miami Heat on Friday, January 19th at the Barclays Center. And, of course, the Nets look to get off of its current losing streak. Perhaps, D’Angelo Russell will make an appearance on Friday, as he has been in full practices with the Long Island Nets.

We can only hope.