The NBA’s defending champion Golden State Warriors survived two opponents this past Monday night. The first was the Oklahoma City Thunder, who nearly dethroned the Warriors before the champs won three straight games to stagger back into the NBA Finals. The second opponent was less formidable but just as obvious: backlash against the team that has been the darlings of basketball for two seasons.
Perpetually injured NBA star Derrick Rose is being sued for sexual battery by an ex-lover who alleges Rose and his friends drugged and gang-raped her in 2013. Rose’s attorneys responded cavalierly when the suit was filed in August, accusing Jane Doe of trying to “shake down” a wealthy ballplayer. He filed his official response this week, and it’s similarly dismissive, noting that “she consented” and claiming the woman is just upset that Rose stopped responding to her texts.
During halftime at last night's Lakers/Pelicans game in New Orleans, large, childlike adult Will Ferrell attempted a shot from half court and missed horribly, hitting a cheerleader in the head with the ball and knocking her over. While everyone surrounded the injured woman, Ferrell tried to take another shot and airballed it. He was then escorted from the stadium by security, with cameras rolling.
Just as the World Cup is dwindling down, another sports story has taken over your Twitter feed: the free agency of LeBron James, the best and most famous basketball player in the world. Four years ago James became a national villain after the saga of his first free agency culminated in a one-hour television special, but he has reversed the role today by choosing to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
One of Jimmy Kimmel's best schticks is forcing celebrities to read the cruel, grammatically incorrect insults that randoms hurl at them on Twitter, and he's done it again with a bunch of NBA stars (and Kris Humphries).
For years and years, the NBA, which depends on the labor of black athletes and the goodwill of black fans, has tried to ignore the well-documented fact that Donald Sterling, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, is unambiguously and actively racist (in addition to being a lawbreaker and all-around degenerate).
When Darius Rucker failed to show up at Game 3 of the NBA Finals, 11-year-old Sebastien De La Cruz was pulled up from the bench to sing the National Anthem in his stead.
While the Magic and the Pacers passed a striped orange ball around in the hopes of throwing it repeatedly into a netted hoop, the real entertainment was taking place in the stands.
Back in February—when he wasn't cozying up courtside to Rihanna—Justin Bieber participated in the NBA's Celebrity All-Star Game. It seems like SNL's Jason Sudeikis wasn't impressed with Bieber's skills considering he had this to say about his teen opponent on tonight's Jimmy Kimmel Live!: "I didn't even know it was him for the first two quarters, I thought it was a Make-A-Wish situation." [via Vulture]
After he was slapped with a technical foul during a LA Lakers game last night, Kobe Bryant directed a homophobic slur at the referee who made the call, shouting "fucking faggot" at the ref from the bench.
In an effort to illustrate how wide open a Georgia shooter was, the folks at ESPN utilized their snazzy graphics again. In doing so, they managed to illustrate lasers shooting out of said players crotch. Well played, SportsCenter. Well played.
