Author: Michael

With the NBA season right around the corner, now is as good a time as any to take stock of the best talent around the league. So before the regular season officially begins, Sports Illustrated will be ranking the top five players at every position in the NBA. Here, we are focusing on small forwards, a trickier position to track in the smaller-ball era.
Apologies to: A bunch of players you may have expected to see on this list who have actually played the majority (or plurality) of their minutes at power forward over the last couple seasons. And also Mikal Bridges. 

5.

NEW YORK — Minutes after Roger Goodell signed a three-year contract extension to continue as the NFL’s commissioner — a deal that may or may not be his final one with the league — I asked him what he wanted his legacy to be.
NFL commissioners, like all of us, leave a legacy whether we like it or not.
Pete Rozelle’s legacy is as the author of the modern NFL. He oversaw the 1970 merger with the AFL and helped turned the modern NFL into America’s most popular league playing its most popular game.
Paul Tagliabue’s legacy is more complicated.

Southern Miss found out the hard way not to mess around with South Alabama, especially in their city, losing 55-3 on Tuesday night.
After a few days of antagonizing the University of South Alabama, the two teams squared-off in Sun Belt action in Mobile. But, the story didn’t start with the kickoff, it started when Southern Miss decided to put up a few billboards around town before the game.
Jaguars head coach Kane Womack was facing his alma mater Southern Miss, so this one was personal.

Photo by Robert Perry/PA Images via Getty Images
Vanderbilt sophomore Gordon Sargent incredibly earned his card through PGA Tour University Accelerated program.
At just 20 years old, Vanderbilt’s Gordon Sargent secured his PGA Tour card in historic fashion.
Sargent is the first player to graduate from the PGA Tour University’s Accelerated program, which is ironic since Sargent is notorious for his advanced swing speeds of 185 mph — pun intended.

Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp has been back to his dominant self in the past two weeks after missing the first four games of the season with a hamstring injury that he suffered in training camp. He has back-to-back 100-plus yard games, including a seven-catch, 148-yard performance in last Sunday’s win over the Cardinals. 
NFL Films caught a cool moment that Kupp shared with Sean McVay during the win over Arizona, in which the Rams’ coach delivered a very supportive message to his wide receiver after he made a mistake earlier in the game.

Jim Boeheim didn’t stay away from college basketball very long. 
The former Syracuse coach retired at the conclusion of last season, ending a legendary 47-year career that included five Final Fours and a national championship. But with the 2023–24 college basketball season near tip-off, he is reportedly getting back in the game.
Boeheim will join ESPN for the upcoming season as an in-game and studio analyst, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports. An official announcement from the network is forthcoming, but it’s uncertain when Boeheim will debut on the network.

Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray will practice on Wednesday afternoon, coach Jonathan Gannon said, officially opening the window for his removal from injured reserve and a return to the field.
Murray confirmed that he would be practicing Wednesday with a simple social media post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
“Practicing today,” Murray wrote.
Murray has yet to play this season after tearing his ACL last December. Prior to the injury, he had completed 66.4% of his throws for 2,368 yards and 14 touchdowns to seven interceptions.

In a new interview, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said the league is hoping to bring back the old All-Star Game format that puts the Eastern Conference against the Western Conference.
“Maybe a return [of the All-Star Game] to something more traditional in terms of how the teams are presented. We went to sort of this captain and draft notion, but clearly historically it was East vs. West. So that’s maybe something we are looking at,” Silver told Stephen A. Smith this morning on ESPN’s First Take.

Photo by Marc Piasecki/Getty Images For Paramount
Let’s help the Grizzlies!
It’s been a tumultuous 12 months for the Memphis Grizzlies with Ja Morant getting into off-court trouble and the team collapsing in the playoffs against the Lakers — but rest assured, they have a plan.
The team is tackling the issue head-on by banning that daggum rap music.

While Morant was away, the team made changes. The rap soundtrack played during the team’s layup lines was replaced by R&B songs, prompting Jaren Jackson Jr.

The NBA is looking to triple its broadcast revenue during its next rights negotiations after the 2024-2025 season.
A report in the Wall Street Journal suggests the league is likely to re-up with its current partners, ESPN and TNT, though in a smaller capacity.
“ESPN and TNT, which carry roughly 165 nationally televised games combined, are exploring signing up for smaller packages, said people familiar with the situation. That arrangement would help them hang onto a premier asset in American media without breaking the bank.