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Baseball legend Willie Mays passes away at 93 baseball,legend,willie,mays,passes,away,at,sbnation,com,front-page,mlb

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Hall of Famer Willie Mays, one of the greatest players in Major League Baseball history, passed away on Tuesday.

Mays made his MLB debut with the then New York Giants in 1951, and was named the MLB Rookie of the Year after hitting 20 home runs that season, helping the Giants to their first pennant in 14 years. Mays won his first MVP Award in 1954 — after missing the 1953 season due to military service after he was drafted by the U.S. Army during the Korean War — and was a part of the Giants team that won the 1954 World Series.

In Game 1 of that World Series against the Cleveland Indians, Mays delivered a play known as “The Catch,” an over-the-shoulder grab of a long drive off the bat of Vic Wertz in the eighth inning.

The play, considered one of the greatest in baseball history, kept the game tied at 2-2:

The Giants would win in extra innings on their way to a sweep of Cleveland.

The “Say Hey Kid” won his second MVP Award over a decade later, when he slashed .317/.398/.645 for the Giants in the 1965 season, hitting a career-best 52 home runs.

Mays played over 20 seasons in the major leagues, retiring from the game following the 1973 season. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on his first try in 1979, at the time becoming just the ninth player in baseball history to earn a spot on Cooperstown in their first year of eligibility.

Mays began his baseball career playing for the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues before he made the move to the Giants, and his passing comes just days before he was to be honored, along with the rest of the Negro League, in the MLB Game at Rickwood Field Thursday between the Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals. The game will be played at historic Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, which was the home field for the Black Barons.

Earlier this week, Mays released a statement saying that while he would not be traveling to Birmingham for the game, his “heart” would be with everyone in attendance.

“I’m not able to get to Birmingham this year but will follow the game back here in the Bay Area,” Mays said told the San Francisco Chronicle. “My heart will be with all of you who are honoring the Negro League ballplayers, who should always be remembered, including all my teammates on the Black Barons. I wanted to thank Major League Baseball, the Giants, the Cardinals and all the fans who’ll be at Rickwood or watching the game. It’ll be a special day, and I hope the kids will enjoy it and be inspired by it.”

Mays was 93 years old.

And a true legend of the game.

Travelers Championship: SB Nation staff predicts winners travelers,championship,sb,nation,staff,predicts,winners,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,golf-pga-tour,golf-news

Travelers Championship SB Nation staff predicts winners travelerschampionshipsbnationstaffpredictswinnerssbnationcomfront pagegolfgolf pga tourgolf news
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The final Signature Event of the 2024 season has arrived, as 71 golfers will tee it up at this week’s Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut.

Rory McIlroy will not be there, as he opted to take some time off following his heartbreaking finish at the U.S. Open. But Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, and Ludvig Åberg will be. So, too, will defending champion Keegan Bradley, who blistered a soft course last year en route to shooting 23-under-par, setting a new tournament record in the process.

But this year’s course will play much firmer and faster with temperatures hovering in the 90s throughout the week. Luckily, this limited-size field will not have to endure the speed and difficulty of Pinehurst No. 2, but the weather will feel more or less the same as it did in North Carolina. The Northeast is experiencing a heatwave this week, with heat advisories extending from the Great Lakes through the Mid-Atlantic and all the way through New England. That means everyone at TPC River Highlands will need to hydrate, including the putting surfaces, which will turn crisp quite easily in these conditions.

This golf course is also the shortest one played on the PGA Tour all season, requiring precision into the greens and an exquisite short game. Get ready for a birdie barrage, too; although, with this week’s weather, scores likely will not go as low as they did a year ago.

The 15th green at TPC River Highlands during the final round of the 2023 Travelers Championship.
Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images

So let’s get to our Staff Picks, with Jeanna Kelly from SB Nation’s NFL site stepping in as our guest picker this week:

Jack Milko — Staff Writer, Golf

For the third time this season, a Canadian will emerge victorious on the PGA Tour.

I am going with Corey Conners, fresh off a strong tie for 9th at the U.S. Open, to break through at the Travelers Championship and win for the third time on tour. Funny enough, Conners won a pair of Valero Texas Opens, in 2019 and 2023, but this time, he finally wins an event outside of the Lone Star State.

Last year, Conners finished in a tie for 9th at TPC River Highlands, shooting four impressive rounds in the mid-60s to finish at 17-under. His best score came on Saturday, when he posted a 5-under 65. But what I love about Conners is that he is one of the best iron players on the PGA Tour. He ranks second in strokes gained approach, sixth in greens in regulation percentage, and seventh in total birdies made, as Conners has poured in 253 par-breakers to date.

The one knock on him is his putting and short game, but both facets showed up at Pinehurst No. 2, relatively speaking. Conners ranked 28th in strokes gained around the greens and 30th with his putter at last week’s U.S. Open, which featured some of the most diabolical greens seen anywhere in the world. But best of all, his tie for ninth helped him clinch a spot in the 2024 Olympics, giving him plenty of confidence and momentum going into the summer.

With all of this in mind, I believe the stars have aligned for Conners to win, especially on a week when plenty of other top players mail it in after a grueling major.

DraftKings Odds: +3500

Corey Conners, U.S. Open

Corey Conners at the 2024 U.S. Open.
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Jeanna Kelley — Associate Director, SB Nation NFL

When I make NFL picks, I consider many factors: recent performance, injuries, weather forecasts, and so on. Since this is my first time making golf picks, I tried to follow a similar strategy.

Obviously, the easy pick here would be Scottie Scheffler, who’s once again the odds-on favorite to win. Prior to the U.S. Open, and depending on that outcome, I thought I’d pick Rory McIlroy, but he’s withdrawn from the Travelers after last week’s fiasco. So I’m actually going with Collin Morikawa this week. He’s been playing really solid golf the past several weeks. His putting hasn’t been a liability, and eventually, these factors are going to lead him to a win. It might as well be this weekend.

DraftKings Odds: +1200

Collin Morikawa, U.S. Open

Collin Morikawa during the 2024 U.S. Open.
Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images

Savannah Richardson — Staff Writer, Golf

I am going with Ludvig Åberg this week. He tied for 24th last year, but now he returns to TPC River Highlands with some familiarity with the course.

His game is in good form, but he just had a weird weekend at the U.S. Open, where two triple bogies stymied him.

But this golf course suits him, given his exquisite iron play. He ranks 11th on the PGA Tour in strokes gained approach and ranked 15th in that metric last week at Pinehurst No. 2. Luckily for him, TPC River Highlands does not have any greens like the 13th at Pinehurst or as difficult as the par-4 2nd, so he should not make any more triples this time around.

I think he runs away with it.

DraftKings Odds: +1400

Ludvig Åberg, U.S. Open

Ludvig Åberg on the 6th hole at Pinehurst No. 2.
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

For all other sports betting content, check out SB Nation’s DraftKings site.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.

Charles Leclerc joins Olympic torch relay ahead of Paris Summer Games charles,leclerc,joins,olympic,torch,relay,ahead,of,paris,summer,games,sbnation,com,front-page,formula-one,2024-formula-one

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The 2024 Paris Summer Olympics are just over a month away, the the Olympic flame has begun its journey to the Opening Ceremonies.

And on Tuesday, the Olympic torch relay had a Formula 1 feel.

As the relay made its way through Monaco, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was one of the individuals tapped to carry the torch through the Principality. Other Monaco figures involved in the relay with Leclerc — who finally broke through with a victory in his home race, the Monaco Grand Prix — included Princess Charlene, Prince Albert II, and bobsledder Rudy Rinaldi.

Leclerc shared some footage of his time with the Olympic torch on social media:

While the Olympic flame will continue its journey to Paris, Leclerc will soon head to Barcelona for the F1 Spanish Grand Prix. The driver is hoping to be part of a big bounce-back for Ferrari, as both Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. finished outside of the points the last time out, at the Canadian Grand Prix.

That result saw Red Bull pull 25 points further ahead of Ferrari in the F1 Constructors’ Championship. And with McLaren scoring 28 points — thanks to a P2 from Lando Norris and a P5 from Oscar Piastri — Ferrari absolutely needs a bounce-back performance in Barcelona.

Perhaps carrying the Olympic flame will provide Leclerc with some inspiration this weekend.

Men’s College World Series: Kentucky-Florida moved to Wednesday due to severe weather men,s,college,world,series,kentucky,florida,moved,to,wednesday,due,to,severe,weather,sbnation,com,front-page,college-baseball,college-world-series,ncaa-baseball-tournament

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Florida and Kentucky are set to square off at the Men’s College World Series, in a do-or-die game for both teams.

Now they will have another night to think about what needs to be done.

With the threat of severe weather looming over Omaha — forecasters are calling for thunderstorms and heavy rain — Tuesday night’s elimination game between the two teams has been moved to Wednesday morning.

That sets up a baseball triple-header in Omaha Wednesday, and a double-header for the team that wins the rescheduled game between Kentucky and Florida. Wednesday’s new schedule for the Men’s College World Series is as follows, with all times Eastern:

  • Game 10 Kentucky vs. Florida | 11 a.m.
  • Game 11 Tennessee vs. the winner of North Carolina/Florida State | 3 p.m.
  • Game 12 between Texas A&M vs. the winner of Kentucky/Florida | 7 p.m.

Both Florida and Kentucky are 1-1 in Omaha. The Gators are coming off a 5-4 win over NC State that kept their season alive, while the Wildcats just dropped their first game in Omaha to Texas A&M, losing by a final score of 5-1.

The SEC rivals played one series this year in early May, and the Wildcats won two of those three games in Gainesville.

Daniel Ricciardo anticipating ‘competitive’ F1 Spanish Grand Prix daniel,ricciardo,anticipating,competitive,f,spanish,grand,prix,sbnation,com,front-page,formula-one,2024-formula-one

Daniel Ricciardo anticipating ‘competitive F1 Spanish Grand Prix danielricciardoanticipatingcompetitivefspanishgrandprixsbnationcomfront pageformula one2024 formula one
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Through nine race weekends this Formula 1 season, the team at Visa Cash App RB F1 Team have placed themselves near the front of the midfield. VCARB currently sits sixth in the F1 Constructors’ Championship standings with 28 points, 21 points ahead of seventh-place Haas. As the grid heads to Barcelona, there are thoughts that VCARB could perhaps throw a scare into Aston Martin, and make a play for fifth in the standings by the time the season is over.

However, VCARB is certainly expecting a tough fight at the Spanish Grand Prix, thanks to the track in Barcelona. For years the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was used for pre-season testing, thanks to its long straights and mix of corners.

As such, many teams are bringing upgrades to the Spanish Grand Prix, which could make for a “competitive” weekend.

“Barcelona is always a track where everyone brings updates, so I think it’s going to be a really competitive weekend. Let’s see what everyone brings. I’m excited to drive it with the faster last sector that they changed for last year,” said Daniel Ricciardo in the team’s media preview. “I’m looking forward to getting back on that track. Normally, it’s quite familiar but we didn’t do any testing there this year, so should be fun.

“I’m looking forward to keeping this run going, trying to get some more Q3 appearances and points finishes. I’ve been waiting a while, but I like to think it’s the start of where my season continues to progress and show performances like I did in Montreal,” added Ricciardo. “Really looking forward to it and excited to get the European leg started!”

Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images

Yuki Tsunoda, who has scored 19 of VCARB’s points this season, is hoping to rebound after a disappointing Canadian Grand Prix. VCARB was in the running for a double-points finish, but a spin by Tsunoda in the late stages dropped him out of contention.

“Even though the race in Montreal didn’t go the way I wanted, and the weekend as a whole was a bit up and down, it was positive that we managed to turn things around from Free Practice to qualifying, from one extreme to another. It showed that, as a team, we know how to adapt, and we came back well to get to Q3 once again,” said Tsunoda. “This definitely gives me lots of confidence that we know how to turn things around and make them work!”

Tsunoda believes that getting a good feel for the team’s challenger early in the week will bre critical for success at the Spanish Grand Prix.

“Now it’s time for Barcelona, which is a tough test for the car, but so far this season the VCARB 01 seems to perform well at all tracks, so I have no concerns on the performance side. As for the track itself, Sector 1 and Sector 3 are different animals and you can’t really have a car that is well-balanced in both of them, so you need to compromise, but we are not worried about that,” described Tsunoda. “The key will be to get a good understanding of how our package is working at this track as soon as possible during Free Practice and then get the most out of it. It’s another track where overtaking is difficult so qualifying will again be very important.

“I seem to be performing quite well in quali in recent races, maybe it’s the way I build up to it over Free Practice and it’s also linked to controlling my emotions, managing myself better and doing it consistently,” continued Tsunoda. “That makes your driving and feedback better and gives me extra confidence, so I’m looking forward to it.”

As noted, many teams are bringing upgrades to Barcelona.

And VCARB is one of those teams.

“With regards to our approach to the race, recent results have been reasonable and we have been scoring points, began Jody Egginton, the team’s Technical Director. “However, the midfield battle is incredibly tight and we are under no illusion that we must deliver well-executed events to be towards the front of this group with a chance of scoring points. So, like for any other Grand Prix, there have been intensive preparations in the simulator and offline tools to prepare for this event.

“A significant amount of work was put in by Faenza and Bicester to prepare and deliver an aerodynamic update consisting of a floor, bodywork and rear wing for both cars, to provide a measurable performance benefit,” continued Egginton. “As a result of having this update, the Friday sessions will be especially busy, in order to gather and process as much data as possible and get ready for Saturday onwards.”

The Celtics’ rivals handed them a championship one bad trade at a time the,celtics,rivals,handed,them,a,championship,one,bad,trade,at,a,time,sbnation,com,front-page,nba,nba-playoffs,nba-playoffs-powerhouse-2024

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The West is a pecked-over, apron-strewn, parity-fest. The East has more superstar divas on first and second-round losers than it does 50-win teams. If 2023-24 turns indicative, it will be the Rest of the NBA vs. Boston for the next few years.

Not only did the 2023-24 Boston Celtics conclude a run for the ages — 80 victories in 101 tries, seven wins more than any other club, +11.4 regular season point differential, +8 postseason point differential — but it appears fit and settled to rule the NBA for as long as it takes Victor Wembanyama to find four palatable teammates to perform with.

Every Achilles has its heels: Boston owns merely traditional medicine’s answers for Unicorn Legs, 38-year old Al Horford is irreplaceable, at some future date opposing centers and forwards may learn not to attempt dunks upon the 6’4 Derrick White. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum might turn on one another, some argument over selling shares of the publishing rights to their inspirational story of friendship, playmaking. Boston is otherwise set.

Who do we blame for putting the NBA in this mess? Sensible authors credit the executives, former C’s boss Danny Ainge and current C’s chief Brad Stevens. I’d rather yell at the teams who traded Boston all these great players.

Milwaukee, for one. Picked to upend the East, never threatened. Boston knew it had the Bucks licked by the time Terry Stotts stormed out of his brand-new office. Not because Milwaukee was a mess, but because Boston was finishing its second week of practice with former Buck Jrue Holiday, a walking championship ring, the ultimate five-tool mensch.

Did Milwaukee know Holiday would end up in Boston when it triggered the trade with the Trail Blazers for Damian Lillard? Did Milwaukee care, or were the Bucks too besotted with Lillard’s 32.2-point potential?

Can we punish Portland for lending the C’s their shine? If the Blazer rebuilding plans falter, in spite of earning Golden State’s 2024 lottery pick (and Boston’s unprotected first-rounder in 2029) in October’s Holiday exchange, will we scoff in the future at Portland’s lost opportunity to field Jrue until he’s through?

No, blame Brooklyn.

All the shenanigans which indirectly helped Boston build its Larry Bird-backed champs in the 1980s — swapping entire teams with the Buffalo Braves, drafting Bird while he still plays college basketball, lopsided deals with Detroit and Golden State, seriously, what are the Buffalo Braves — barely compare to what the Brooklyn Nets handed the Boston Celtics in 2013.

Boston won 41 games and exited after the first round in 2012-13. Brooklyn called Boston on draft night to say Hey, that rebuilding you didn’t want anything to do with? We’ll take over from here.

Danny Ainge steered an uncomfortable, seemingly inevitable slog toward oblivion into the C’s you sees today: Boston traded Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry for the first-round picks (from Brooklyn and Atlanta) which became Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Collin Sexton. And James Young.

The deal earned Boston a trade exception which it used to deal for the first-round pick it later packaged to acquire Isaiah Thomas. Thomas plus Sexton’s draft rights were dealt for Kyrie Irving.

Amongst the salary fodder gleaned from the Brooklyn deal was Keith Bogans’ ongoing contract, which Boston eventually dealt for Dwight Powell, an asset in the 2014 Rajon Rondo deal with Dallas. The $12.9 million trade exception earned from the Rondo transaction was dealt with Jeff Green to Memphis for the first-round pick which became Aaron Nesmith. Nesmith became Malcolm Brogdon, whose charms lured Portland into dealing Jrue Holiday to Boston.

Brooklyn did not flourish in the wake of its acquisitions. The ex-Celt Nets lost in the second round in 2014 and finished two games behind a 40-win Boston playoff team in 2015 before fading in the opening round to Atlanta, the Hawks thriving in 2014-15 despite the loss of James Young.

The 76ers own a percentage in our green future. Philly fans should be angry, the suits in the front office keep pulling crap like this:

Jaylen Brown, taken No. 3 overall in the 2016 draft by Boston (with Brooklyn’s pick) won Eastern finals MVP and NBA Finals MVP in 2024. Ben Simmons was Philly’s pick as the NBA’s top overall selection in 2016, the ostensible payoff after seasons of Processing, and hasn’t played important basketball in three years. Jaylen Brown won the 2024 Dunk Contest slamming with his off hand, we still don’t know if Ben Simmons uses the correct hand while shooting.

Brown made All-Rookie team as Boston cruised to the 2017 Eastern finals, while Simmons missed his entire rookie campaign with a broken foot, earning Philly the No. 3 pick in the 2017 draft. Boston owned the top pick, from Brooklyn, and Philly general manager Bryan Colangelo collared together a trade package for his division rival: Boston earns a future first-round pick and deals down to No. 3 to select Jayson Tatum. Newly slanted into the top selection, Philly selected Markelle Fultz, later dealt for Tyrese Maxey, who is not Jayson Tatum.

Boston used the pick Philly sent its way (2019’s No. 14 pick Romeo Langford) in the package for Derrick White.

That’s right, blame the Spurs.

Romeo Langford played two-and-a-half excruciating seasons in Boston. Langford lapped up 94 games of what-was-that-shot basketball before the Spurs took Romeo and Josh Richardson and a future first-rounder (from the Celtics, so, big whup) for Derrick White, who big whups opponents’ shots all over the place.

White blocked just as many shots with the Spurs, but whupping must be easier with bigs like Al Horford and Kristaps Porziņģis running astride Derrick. Back to blame.

In 2019 the Sixers signed Al Horford away from the Celtics, real underhanded stuff, tremendous work, the sort of thing to do (instead of trading lottery picks) to a divisional rival. Whether Al worked alongside Joel Embiid or backed him up, whatever, do what one can to hurt the Celtics.

Of course, the Celtics swept the Horford-stretched Sixers out of Al’s only postseason with Philadelphia. The 76ers lost nerve a month into the next season and dealt Horford and what will likely be Philly’s 2025 first-round pick to Oklahoma City for Danny Green.

Boston earned Horford back for the price of its own first-round pick in 2021 (Alperen Şengün), happily paid for the final $53.5 million on the back end of the deal Al signed with Philly, a tag which earned them the Bird rights to keep Horford through 2025 at under $10 million per season.

Horford could have been a Sixer the whole time, spelling Embiid, not being on the Celtics.

Also, why did Washington trade Kristaps Porziņģis to Boston as if Washington were the ones getting Marcus Smart or a first-round pick in the deal? The Wizards received neither, and let the Celtics tow their unicorn away. Boston ganked what turned into Golden State’s 2024 lottery pick out of that deal, used to sweeten the swap for Holiday.

Want to add more sugar? Blame the Lakers while they’re down and out in a Beverly Hills restaurant where they have an uncomfortably-large tab, lowballing another head coach candidate.

In the 2016 NBA draft the Lakers selected Brandon Ingram on the board with Jaylen Brown available, and in 2017 chose Lonzo Ball with Jayson Tatum in play. Each were understandable selections, each played the largest role in ensuring Anthony Davis’ move to El Lay, neither was any better than Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, a duo to rule the world with.

The Celtics gave everyone a chance, left itself prone to accurate criticism through loss after postseason loss yet mostly kept course. Boston fell to the usual batch of rough injury and bad free agent luck, whiffed on some vets, blew some playoff games at home. Even this season’s “be careful, he’s always injured” trade risk — the regular season-saving Porziņģis — was injured for the important half the playoffs.

Credit the Celtics, a dominant turn in 2023-24 after a decade’s dismantling of the Big Three’s single championship.

But blame them for what comes next, the actualization of Daryl Morey’s threes-first philosophy, 29 other NBA teams showing up to 2024-25 ready to attempt 49 three-pointers per game.

This shouldn’t be the C’s legacy, this club is far too pleasant to watch. Eight or nine different NBA teams ensured as much.

Kelly Dwyer covers the NBA at The Second Arrangement and thinks the NBA should cap three-pointers at 33 attempts per team per game, Larry Bird’s number.

Baltimore Ravens’ new alternate helmets are awesome baltimore,ravens,new,alternate,helmets,are,awesome,sbnation,com,front-page,nfl,draftkings

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The teams wearing purple have been cooking this offseason when it comes to new colorways and helmets. First the Minnesota Vikings revealed their icy white jerseys, now the Baltimore Ravens unveiled a new alternate helmet they’ll wear with their purple jerseys, and they look AWESOME.

These helmets are super cool. I think the logo is actually pretty fun despite the ClipArt-ish look to it, but the true star of the show is the gold on the helmet mixed with the purple. Like, that’s unbelievably cool and it works so well together. The gold stripes going down the helmet help to highlight the gold face mask is super dope, and it ties in the gold on the numbers as well.

The Ravens haven’t unveiled when these helmets will be worn, but best believe that when they do wear them for the first time I’ll be there no matter what.

Kyrie Irving fell flat in NBA Finals when Mavericks needed him the most kyrie,irving,fell,flat,in,nba,finals,when,mavericks,needed,him,the,most,sbnation,com,front-page,nba,nba-playoffs,nba-finals,draftkings

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It’s going to be another trip around the sun before Kyrie Irving gets a chance at his second NBA championship, and he only has himself to blame. This was his opportunity, his moment to cement a legacy that exists outside of LeBron James. Now after a horrific NBA Finals series against the Celtics, it’s difficult to argue for much beyond Kyrie being in the “Hall of Very Good.”

There was only one game in these NBA Finals where Irving played like himself at all, and that was Game 4 — which the Celtics treated like a rest day so they could close out the series in Boston. In the games that mattered Irving was such a non-factor that he was rarely the 3rd, or even 4th best option on the Mavericks. His stats outside of that Game 4 speak for themselves.

  • 31-of-81 from the field (.382), 7-of-23 from three (.304), 4.75 assists per game, 8 turnovers.

Even if we include back in Game 4, the only contest where he was even a shadow of himself, Irving still finished the 2024 NBA Finals by scoring 99 points on 99 field goal attempts. A mediocre performance for a middling point guard, let alone someone who is often hailed as one of the best players in the NBA.

To be fair, Irving’s talent speaks for itself. He’s one of the best iso scorers not just in the modern NBA, but that the game’s ever seen. Kyrie’s blend of jaw-dropping handles paired with an ability to score anywhere on the floor is the reason that night-in-night-out he could go off for 50 at any given moment if a team doesn’t have a way to stop him. The problem is that while Irving might be one of the best improvisational ball handlers in basketball, if he’s met with so much as a stiff breeze he’s rendered unable to adjust and change his game to compensate for how opponents try to stop him.

Entering the NBA Finals here was no doubt this was going to be a tough series for Dallas on paper. They didn’t match up great against the Celtics’ defensive-focused backcourt of Jrue Holliday and Derrick White, while simultaneously not having great options to handle Jayson Tatum and Jalen Brown. Still, there was the ever-present hope that the Mavericks could actually do this, because we’d been conditioned to overlook the defensive deficiencies of Kyrie and Luka Doncic, instead focusing on their scoring prowess.

This season for the Mavericks was defined by Luka and Kyrie, and neither really rose to the occasion in the finals. There’s no question Doncic struggled at times against the Boston backcourt, but he wasn’t a liability on the court the same was Irving was.

Dallas is Irving’s fourth stop in his career, and the third where he was brought in as “the missing piece,” only to fall apart in the Finals. Only twice in his career has Irving managed to play with the same level of regular season success in the postseason, and both came with LeBron James in Cleveland when they won a ring in 2015-16, and returned to the finals in 2016-17.

It’s unclear what’s next for Kyrie Irving, because he remains one of the most mercurial players in the NBA. There is a path forward for Dallas, but it requires work. They have to find a reliable scoring option in the front court, and need to get tougher defensively — both of which are possible. However, these NBA Finals showed once more that a team can’t count on Irving to be the man to get them over the hump. There’s also a pattern of behavior here that when the work gets to be too much, Irving is just as likely to demand a trade than stick around for any retooling.

At this point that’s Kyrie Irving’s legacy: One of the best regular season players to ever step on the court.

Brad Pitt F1 movie produced by Lewis Hamilton announces release date brad,pitt,f,movie,produced,by,lewis,hamilton,announces,release,date,sbnation,com,front-page,formula-one,2024-formula-one

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One of the many signs that Formula 1 is experiencing something of a moment?

The sport is getting the true Hollywood treatment.

Brad Pitt is starring in an upcoming feature set in the F1 world, with the actor playing a veteran driver for APXGP, a fictional team on the grid. Starring alongside Pitt is Damson Idris, who plays Pitt’s rookie teammate at APXGP.

On Tuesday F1 and Apple Original Films announced that the movie, directed by Joseph Kosinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, will be released in theaters around the world, as well as in IMAX, next June. The film will be released internationally on June 25, 2025, and in North America on June 27, 2025.

The film will be distributed in theaters by Warner Bros. Pictures.

What makes this film unique is that it is being filmed in collaboration with F1, shot in real-time during races around the world and involving the entire F1 community. According to the press release announcing the release date, the film includes “ … all 10 teams, the drivers, the FIA and race promoters.”

For example, at last season’s British Grand Prix film crews — along with Pitt and Idris — were at Silverstone shooting scenes and even participating in events such as Drivers’ Meetings. Lewis Hamilton, an executive producer on the movie, addressed the filming process during the FIA Press Conference ahead of last year’s British Grand Prix.

“Yeah, I’ve been really incredibly grateful to [F1]. I don’t know if this would have been possible 10 plus years ago, when the old management was in place. They wouldn’t have perhaps seen this as an important step in terms of the sport’s growth. But we’ve already seen the great work and impact of the Netflix show and I think this will take it to new heights beyond that,” described Hamilton last year. “So yeah, I think there’s so many people around the world, as you’ve seen already, that are so excited about this sport, wanting to learn more. And the fact that we will have all the original characters that are actually on the grid, and then Brad, is pretty cool.

“I’m pretty certain, I mean, our cameras are a lot better than what you’re seeing when you’re watching TV. I’ve seen all the footage of the camera positions. I’ve spent time with Joe, trying to make sure we’ve got the best camera positions and the frame rate is different, it’s going to look fast,” continued Hamilton. “I think it’s going to look faster than it does on TV. Because I think it’s something to do with the frame rate that we have to have. But Joe is an incredible director, and I think you’re going to see him really… You’ve already seen what he’s done with fighter jets, what is what he did with Maverick. So just think about what he’s done with that in terms of the dogfights you saw from those jets, which was pretty epic.

“And bringing that technology and that viewpoint into our world, I think it’s going to be amazing.”

And now we know when we can see this for ourselves.

How the Boston Celtics switched their way toward an NBA championship how,the,boston,celtics,switched,their,way,toward,an,nba,championship,sbnation,com,front-page,draftkings

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On the surface, it was a seemingly mundane baseline out-of-bounds (BLOB) play at the four minute and ten second mark of the second quarter that the Dallas Mavericks were priming to run. But as is true of high-stakes NBA basketball, there are multiple layers hidden beneath the supposed simplicity of an NBA possession.

When you think of how the Boston Celtics defended the Mavs throughout the course of the 2024 NBA Finals, the aforementioned possession makes a ton of sense. Against the most prolific corner shooting team in the league during the NBA season, the Celtics held the Mavericks to a total of 22 corner-three attempts (non-garbage time) in five games — an average of 4.4 attempts per game, well below the Mavs’ regular-season average of 11.3. While “pushing the right buttons” would still be an apt way to describe the Celtics’ defense when it came to limiting a typically potent offense, “flipping the correct switches” would be more apropos — both in the figurative sense and in the literal manner through which the Celtics threw a ton of switching the Mavs’ way.

The maneuver of switching assignments around a screen can be deceivingly effortless to the casual eye. It may look easy, but there are multiple factors to consider: the timing of the switch, the compatibility of the defenders involved, the possibility of counters (e.g., slipping the screen to gain separation from the switch before it can be established), and several other underlying factors at play. Ball-screen possessions are the most common switchable actions, but the difficulty is exponentially increased when switching off the ball — particularly, in a situation such as a baseline out-of-bounds set.

So when the Celtics were faced with a “pick-the-picker” (also known as a “screen-the-screener”) action during the aforementioned BLOB situation, a seemingly distant connection was made between a discussion LeBron James and JJ Redick had in an episode of the Mind the Game Podcast.

Before we delve into that discussion — and to set the stage for the connection — here’s the play in question:

Defense is often a mental-checklist exercise, which is easy in theory but difficult to pull off while mired in the fast-paced nature of an NBA possession. The best defenses in the league are neither detail insufficient nor speed vulnerable — that is, they make sure to cross every “t” and dot every “i” without the need for slowing things down. Quite obviously, their opponents won’t accommodate them in the latter regard.

If the possession above was to be made into a checklist, it would look something like this:

  • Stay true to the principle of taking away the corners (Al Horford was able to stay home against Derrick Jones Jr. on the weak-side corner, while Jaylen Brown successfully kept tabs on Kyrie Irving on the strong-side corner).
  • Make sure that neither Irving nor Luka Dončić spends considerable time handling the live ball and finishing the possession.

In those two regards, it was an astounding success. The Mavs had no choice but to feed the ball to PJ Washington, who attempted to create his own scoring opportunity but shuffled his feet due to a timely rotation by Sam Houser.

When shining a magnifying glass on the possession to deduce why (and how) every item on the list was checked off, peep at both Brown and Jrue Holiday — and attempt to understand their maneuvers while a James proposal about defending “pick-the-picker” BLOBs to Redick is overlaid:

Who would’ve thought that simply switching the inbounder’s defender would throw a wrench into the Mavs’ BLOB? But that’s exactly what Holiday and Brown do; instead of chasing Irving toward the corner, Holiday switches off of him and switches onto Dončić, whose initial defender (Brown) drifts toward the corner to switch onto Irving. Holiday’s maneuver, therefore, is to plug a gap created by an attempt to plug another gap.

With both Dončić and Irving in no position to get the ball back to create something out of nothing, Washington is forced into a role he’s not comfortable playing, resulting in a bumbling attempt to score at the rim.

If such a phrase exists that can capture the essence of what the Celtics’ defense was all about in these Finals, it’s most probably this: “Take away their best offensive options and live with the outcome produced by everything else.” Their corner three philosophy was born out of this approach: no one was allowed a corner look, especially Dončić and Irving; everyone else was allowed above-the-break looks, save for Dončić and Irving.

Much has been praised — and maligned — about the Celtics’ mathematical approach to the game. People aren’t keen on understanding the apparent difficulty of applying numbers to a game that has treated such figures as a supplementary and secondary aspect. But it’s not as hard to understand as many people think: three is greater than two, which doesn’t require an engineering degree to absorb.

But that’s a concept that applies to only one side of the ball. While the Celtics have embraced the 3 > 2 philosophy by spreading the floor and fully embracing a 5-out offense, they’ve also applied its reverse on defense — that is, two is less than three. In that regard, their philosophy is also quite simple: make opponents take tough twos in lieu of attempting efficient threes.

Again, that is where their anti-corner philosophy comes in. But it also applies to the nature of the twos they’re willing to give up, and which ones they’re not allowing.

Peep at the commonality between these shot profiles from the Mavs, per Cleaning The Glass:

  • Game 1: 33% rim frequency (55th percentile), 38% mid-range frequency (79th percentile), 29% three-point frequency (10th percentile)
  • Game 2: 30% rim frequency (42nd percentile), 39% mid-range frequency (83rd percentile), 30% three-point frequency (14th percentile)
  • Game 3: 32% rim frequency (48th percentile), 40% mid-range frequency (86th percentile), 28% three-point frequency (9th percentile)
  • Game 4: 37% rim frequency (80th percentile), 31% mid-range frequency (43rd percentile), 32% three-point frequency (21st percentile)
  • Game 5: 30% rim frequency (38th percentile), 24% mid-range frequency (21st percentile), 45% three-point frequency (90th percentile)

On the aggregate, the Celtics were able to put a lid on the rim while also taking away the three-point line — while also funneling the Mavs’ shot attempts toward the mid-range area. The corner three vs. above-the-break three battle was also a subplot of this overarching theme, but another notable stat that captured the Celtics’ approach: the Mavs only had a total of six alley-oop attempts in five Finals games, an average of 1.2 attempts per game. That is a far cry from the three attempts per game they averaged in their 17 playoff games prior to the Finals.

It was on the grandest stage, with the lights switched on at their brightest, that the Mavs hit the proverbial wall, courtesy of the Celtics walling off the rim and switching almost at will. If the Mavs wanted to score, they’d have to bleed for it — and no possession captures that situation with more accuracy than on a possession involving a Mavs staple half-court set.

We must once again look back to see what worked in the past:

In order to appreciate what the Celtics did to take away what victimized lesser teams:

Plenty of odes and tributes will be paid to the Celtics’ offense — how every member of their five-man lineup was every bit of a shot creator as a shot finisher, how it made defenses overexert and overstretch themselves to their utmost limits, and how it was the most efficient in NBA regular season history.

But more often than not, a top-10 defense is the deciding factor behind what constitutes a championship team. The Celtics — third in overall defensive rating during the regular season, first in half-court defensive rating — became the latest in a long line of elite championship defenses.

There was no “on” switch to be flipped, no gear to shift into. The switch was always there — in the form of, quite literally, switching their opponents into half-court oblivion.