Sports
Phoenix Suns Are Leading the NBA in Disappointments
There is no more disappointing team in the NBA than the Phoenix Suns.
Being five games below .500 with 23 contests left in the season is sad enough. But sitting 3 1/2 games behind the final Western Conference play-in berth is borderline embarrassing.
The Suns are just one game ahead of the Portland Trail Blazers. Nobody outside the Trail Blazers’ offices considered Portland a possible playoff team.
When you start off with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, you should be well above .500 and in zero danger of watching the postseason on television.
But after 10 losses over the past 12 games, let’s say the quiet part out loud: Phoenix is awful.
The Suns continued their underachieving ways Thursday night when they lost 124-116 to the visiting New Orleans Pelicans.
The Pelicans have been out of the playoff chase since December and have nothing to play for. They outplayed and outhustled the Suns all game long.
Zion Williamson recorded the first triple-double of his career. It is like he watched film of the shaky Phoenix defense and knew he’d be able to do anything he wanted. And he did, making 13 of 17 shots while compiling 27 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.
Oh, look here, the Pelicans visit the Suns again Friday. Note to Phoenix: Big Zion will probably be rested on the back-to-back.
The fewest points the Suns have allowed during their 12-game rut is 117. Phoenix is the squad you fatten up your average against because you know there will be defensive breakdowns and guys will be wide open for 3-pointers.
The Suns continue to talk a big game as if they are going to magically turn around their fortunes. Yet their playoff hopes keep declining.
After Thursday’s loss to the Pelicans, Booker defined what he sees as the problem with the Suns.
“Skipping over the details and always taking the ‘get ’em next game’ mentality,” Booker said. “At some point, you got to draw a line and (it) should’ve been drawn a long time ago.”
So, Book, let’s draw a line.
The line is directly below the Sacramento Kings, the 10th-place team in the West.
Guess what team is deservedly below the line? Oh yeah, the underachieving Phoenix Suns.
We’re not trying to pick on Booker, as he always plays hard and put together 36 points, nine assists and seven rebounds Thursday.
But it just makes zero sense that a team with Booker and Durant on it can’t play significantly better basketball.
That trade for Bradley Beal was a killer, and he’s not a good fit with the Suns. Tyus Jones is a good complement to Booker and Durant, while Bol Bol is promising and might still develop.
But most of the other rotation players are just guys: Nick Richards, Grayson Allen, Royce O’Neale, Mason Plumlee, Ryan Dunn.
Also, let’s not forget that Phoenix management fired Frank Vogel after one season as coach.
The Suns went 49-33 in the regular season under Vogel. Uh-oh, this year’s squad needs to go 22-1 the rest of the way to match that mark.
Vogel’s biggest miscue was getting swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs. Phoenix lost by an average of 15 points.
New coach Mike Budenholzer was supposed to be the answer. He has an NBA title and five 50-win seasons on his résumé.
That’s great stuff, but it’s starting to look like having Giannis Antetokounmpo on your roster is better than having Booker and Durant. How are the Suns getting worse as the season goes on instead of adjusting to the new coach?
Maybe Budenholzer isn’t comfortable holding Durant accountable. Durant is an all-time great, but he kind of marches to his own drum at this point in his career.
In fact, Durant had the next-game mentality that Booker isn’t fond of when pressed about the team’s struggles.
“Guys still want to figure this thing out. I’m confident that our group will come out (Friday) with a sense of urgency and be better,” Durant said.
It’s time for the Suns to draw another line.
Because right now, “most underachieving team” is stenciled on that line.
Sports
Report: RB David Montgomery 'wants out' of Detroit
Dec 25, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery (5) looks on before the game against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images Lions running back David Montgomery “wants out” of Detroit after three seasons, ESPN reported on Sunday.
Montgomery, however, immediately appeared to refute the report on X, posting: “Damn, Dmo told you that?”
The ESPN report claims the Lions would want “a decent Day 3 pick (possibly a fifth-rounder)” in the 2026 NFL Draft in return for Montgomery, who turns 29 in June and is owed $6 million next season.
The report follows general manager Brad Holmes’ remarks after the season about Montgomery being unhappy with his playing time in 2025. Sharing a backfield with Jahmyr Gibbs, Montgomery rushed for a career-low 716 yards and eight touchdowns in 17 games (no starts).
“Those are conversations that we’re going to have to have because I’ve got a lot of respect for that player,” Holmes said of Montgomery in January. “He deserves to be in a situation where his skillset can be utilized, and so yeah would love for it to be here, but if it can’t be here then you’d just love to see where could work out best for him.”
At the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis on Tuesday, Holmes said the situation with Montgomery is “fluid.” He signed a two-year extension during the 2024 season that runs through the end of the 2027 campaign.
“Yeah, I have been in touch with David’s agent, and his representation,” Holmes revealed. “Obviously, we love David, he’s a great player, we love to have him, you know, kind of want to put last year in the rear view, and just move forward. But, obviously, a player has to want to be at a certain place as well. The conversations are still fluid, but we’ll see how it goes.”
Montgomery has rushed for 2,506 yards and 33 touchdowns in 45 games (28 starts) in three seasons with Detroit (2023-25). He has 76 catches for 650 yards in that span.
He began his career with the NFC North rival Chicago Bears, who drafted him in the third round in 2019. Montgomery rushed for 3,609 yards and 26 scores in 60 games (51 starts) with the Bears (2019-22).
–Field Level Media
Sports
Yankees LHP Ryan Yarbrough joins U.S. roster for WBC
Jun 18, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees relief pitcher Ryan Yarbrough (33) delivers a pitch during the first inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images New York Yankees left-hander Ryan Yarbrough was added to the Team USA roster for the upcoming World Baseball Classic on Sunday.
The 34-year-old reliever replaces Minnesota Twins right-hander Joe Ryan, who is dealing with low back tightness. Ryan moves into the designated pitcher pool, meaning he is eligible for a call-up after each round of the WBC.
Yarbrough went 3-1 with a 4.36 ERA and one save in 19 games (eight starts) during his first season with the Yankees in 2025, striking out 55 batters and walking 19 in 64 innings.
Ryan Yarbrough has been added to our roster for the World Baseball Classic!#ForGlory???? pic.twitter.com/RrtKJQ20gz
— USA Baseball (@USABaseball) March 1, 2026
Team USA will play its first game of the 2026 WBC on Friday night, meeting Brazil in a Pool B contest in Houston.
Yarbrough has a career record of 56-41 with a 4.22 ERA and four saves in 215 games (76 starts) with the Tampa Bay Rays (2018-22), Kansas City Royals (2023), Los Angeles Dodgers (2023-24), Toronto Blue Jays (2024) and Yankees. The side-arming southpaw signed a one-year, $2.5 million deal in November to return to New York in 2026.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Ex-pitcher Dan Serafini gets life sentence for '21 murder
Dan Serafini (file photo) pitched in MLB with seven teams. He was convited of first-degree murder. Former major league pitcher Dan Serafini was sentenced to life in prison without parole on Friday for the 2021 shootings of his in-laws in North Lake Tahoe, Calif.
Serafini, 52, was convicted in July of the first-degree murder of father-in-law Gary Spohr and the attempted first-degree murder of mother-in-law Wendy Wood during a burglary. Spohr, 70, died from a single gunshot and Wood, then 68, survived but died by suicide the following year.
In the courtroom on Friday in Auburn, Calif., Placer County prosecutor Morgan Gire described Spohr and Wood as loving grandparents.
“The impact of this attack has extended far beyond the immediate victims, deeply affecting family members and the broader community, and highlighting the lasting harm caused by deliberate violence,” Gire said.
Serafini, who pitched for six MLB teams from 1996 to 2007, addressed the court and maintained his innocence. He said he was out partying with his wife, Erin Spohr, at the time of the shooting and referred to himself as a “broken, imperfect man that makes mistakes,” according to MyNews4.
The Minnesota Twins selected Serafini, a native of the San Francisco area, with the No. 26 overall pick in the 1992 MLB Draft. He made his debut in 1996 and went on to appear in 104 games (33 starts) with the Twins, Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds and Colorado Rockies before his retirement in 2007.
He had a 15-16 record with a 6.04 ERA and one save. He threw 263 2/3 innings and struck out 127 batters.
–Field Level Media
Report: RB David Montgomery 'wants out' of Detroit
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