Author: Michael

In June 2009, two days before the NBA draft, Warriors general manager Larry Riley received a tip from what he calls “a pretty reliable source” that, if true, would be huge for his team.
At the time, the Warriors were mired in a dark era. Other than a blip in 2007, Golden State had missed the postseason every year for the better part of two decades. “I felt like we had to hit on that draft pick,” says Riley.

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In preparation, they’d ranked the players. At No. 1: consensus top pick Blake Griffin of Oklahoma.

While the 2023 U.S. Open lacked actual fans on the property at Los Angeles Country Club, that isn’t to say golf fans at home didn’t tune into the third major championship of the year. According to a report, this year’s U.S. Open drew the highest TV ratings since 2019.
Sports Business Journal’s Josh Carpenter shared that NBC/Peacock drew 6.2 million viewers during Sunday’s final round. That’s an 80,000 uptick in viewership compared to last year’s tournament, which was won by Matt Fitzpatrick.

The Reds won their 10th in a row last night while also covering the run line and hitting the over for us. When I was choosing my bet for Wednesday, I wanted to try to use another team, but after looking at the matchup for Cincinnati, I decided: Why not roll it one more time! Reds for 11 in a row — who’s with me?
Not only did the Reds score eight runs last night at home, raising their per-game average to 5.32 per game (fifth in MLB), they also improved to a 62.2% rate covering the run line (46-28-0) — third-best in MLB.

When we think about defining games and seasons in the NFL, it is almost always tied to the quarterbacks.
Nobody impacts the game more than the Patrick Mahomeses and Joe Burrows of the world. Yet the defensive side of the ball can also swing Sunday afternoons and seasons, either because it’s disrupting the sport’s paramount players or covering those who are its targets.
For this piece, we aren’t naming the 10 best defensive players in the league. If that were the case, T.J. Watt, Micah Parsons, Nick Bosa, Myles Garrett, Sauce Gardner and Aaron Donald would all be atop the list.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Paige Spiranac attends the TAO x Maxim Big Game Party at Southwest Jet Center on February 11, 2023. | Photo by Marcus Ingram/Getty Images
Spiranac, one of golf’s most prominent social media personalities, dropped a shocking revelation following the U.S. Open.
Paige Spiranac continues to have a significant presence within golf media.
After Wyndham Clark captured his first major championship at the 123rd U.S. Open at the Los Angeles Country Club, Spiranac revealed something spectacular yet surprising.

Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Here are the top-60 players in the 2023 NBA Draft, ranked.
The 2023 NBA Draft will go down in history as the year Victor Wembanyama entered the league regardless of whether he lives up to the enormous hype. Wembanyama is conservatively being called the ‘best prospect since LeBron James,’ and that might be underselling him. Wembanyama is in a stratosphere all by himself in this draft class, and he’s going to change both the present and future of the San Antonio Spurs once his name is called at No. 1 overall.

The Texas Rangers suffered a brutal loss to the White Sox on Tuesday night after a mind-boggling overturned call led to a go-ahead run for Chicago in the bottom of the eighth. That overturned call also led to lots of fans rightfully ripping Major League Baseball because it made no sense at all.
The Rangers appeared to get the third out of the eighth inning after catcher Jonah Heim tagged Elvis Andrus at the plate. The play, however, went to review where MLB officials ruled that Heim had blocked the plate and therefore Andrus was ruled safe and the run scored.

The Athlon Sports 2023 Fantasy Football Annual magazine reached out to team insiders at all 32 NFL clubs to ask them three key fantasy questions heading into the season. As we count down to training camp, Sports Illustrated will publish their answers here. Today’s team: Denver Broncos 
To order your Athlon Sports 2023 Fantasy Football, click here.

KANSAS CITY — Tom Watson looks on during the third round of the AdventHealth Championship at Blue Hills Country Club on May 20, 2023. | Photo by Jeff Curry/Getty Images
Watson, who won eight major titles, has many questions about the PGA Tour’s agreement with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund.
With the U.S. Open now in the rearview mirror, the golfing world returns its focus to the pending agreement between the PGA Tour and the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF).

Speaking with OutKick’s Tomi Lahren last month, former Buffalo Bills punter Matt Araiza hinted at his plans to sue some of those involved in the gang rape-related case that has cost him his NFL career for the time being. Those plans to hold others responsible are now in motion.