Sports
We Learned Nothing From Thunder vs. Celtics NBA Finals Preview
The Thunder beat the Celtics in an overhyped “Finals preview” Wednesday night, and here’s what we learned: Nothing.
Despite a late-game collapse that often haunts them on the biggest stages, the Celtics are a very good team. They should be considered a serious favorite to represent the East in the Finals.
Again.
And the Thunder, as those finally being introduced to them now have to be well aware, also are a very good team. They should be considered equally capable as the Lakers and Nuggets to beat the Celtics in the Finals.
Because West is best.
We knew this well before Wednesday’s duel. It’s printed every day in the standings.
The point here is … if you’re Mark Daigneault, with an 11-game lead and staring at an opponent you might see in games that actually matter later this spring, why in the world would you show anything?
So Jayson Tatum scores 30-some-odd points. All the better. Just adds even more fuel to his one-man “I’m unappreciated” campaign and likely leads to even more step-back 25-footers than usual under the bright lights of the Finals, where the more he shoots, the better off the other team is.
And for that matter, why would Joe Mazzulla throw anything other than a vanilla defense at Shai Gilgeous-Alexander? Heck, let’s give Tatum a couple of shots at him, just to show people it’s a myth that the guy can’t play defense.
Only it isn’t a myth, and no way he’s standing within 10 feet of SGA in a Finals game … even as Tatum is allegedly rim-protecting and the Thunder star is driving in for a layup.
Forget what you heard time and again on TV: The game was meaningless.
The Thunder will finish first in the West, the Celtics will land second in the East, and nothing that happened Wednesday will change that.
Or in the final month of the regular season, for that matter.
Same goes for the MVP race. As much as the single-minded Tatum wanted to show up SGA, it’s another myth that this is anything but a two-man race.
And the second isn’t Tatum.
Actually, Nikola Jokic, while deserving of mention, needs binoculars to see SGA up ahead in pursuit of the MVP.
Yes, despite one of the greatest offensive seasons of all time.
That’s because MVP doesn’t stand for most outstanding offensive player. That’s Jokic.
The word “valuable” is in there.
As in: valuable on offense, valuable on defense and valuable in terms of winning.
And SGA wins that on split decision.
Jokic is the Magic Johnson of the MVP chase. An absolute offensive magician. A 10-9 or maybe even 10-8 winner on points over SGA on the scoring end of the court.
Unfortunately, Jokic is too much like Magic.
The game’s greatest entertainer is considered by many to be the best point guard of all time. Only one problem:
He only played point guard on one end of the court.
Magic Johnson didn’t play point guard on defense. He couldn’t. Bad knees. Too tall and awkward to stick with quicker guards, which they all were.
Magic was so bad on defense, even his college team played a zone.
Magic Johnson was the worst defensive point guard of all time. You read that right: the worst of all time. He couldn’t guard Kevin Hart, let alone Josh Hart. More his speed: Isaiah Hartenstein.
Think the slowest guard you’ve ever seen. OK, Luka Doncic. He’d run circles around Magic.
It’s why Magic wasn’t assigned to check point guards. He got matched up with the slowest non-center on the court, which usually was the other team’s power forward.
He was decent at that. Heck, he even guarded centers at times.
But on the scoring system, while he was a 10-6 winner over Jason Kidd on offense, Kidd won the defensive end 10-1. And that’s being kind.
It’s why Kidd, Gary Payton and many others were greater point guards than Magic.
No disrespect to Magic. He wasn’t the only one whose greatness was in the eyes of the lesser-educated basketball fans. Shaq, Dominique Wilkins and Isiah Thomas have earned top 20 all-time status despite bottom 20 defensive skills.
Frankly, it tarnishes the list.
If you pay equal attention to both ends of the court — a novel experience — it’s clear SGA is a better all-around player than Jokic. SGA is better than Kidd offensively and comparable on defense. He wins the defensive end over Jokic 10-4.
So then it comes down to the winner aspect, which is mostly subjective.
There can be no doubt that Jokic has a better supporting cast than SGA. Heck, the Thunder’s second-best player, Chet Holmgren, missed half the season and Oklahoma City still leads the heavyweight conference in a runaway.
Best player on the best team. It’s not do-all, end-all. But it beats being the best player on the second-, third- or fourth-best team.
Where would the Thunder be without SGA? Probably right where the Nuggets would be without Jokic. Which would be worse off? Does it really matter? They’d both be the Sacramento Kings.
Here’s the thing about the Thunder: They are 54-12, and their second-best player for most of the season — some would say even now — has been Jalen Williams. I can name you 15 far lesser teams where he wouldn’t be the best supporting actor.
SGA drives the Ferrari and everyone else is in the back seat … in a car that’s going 200 mph while Jokic has his team rolling along at 150 and most other playoff-bound teams are hovering around 100.
That’s the MVP of winning. A perfect 10 on the referee’s card.
Even if SGA were to get injured, or sit out the rest of the regular season to rest up for the playoffs, he’d be deserving of the hardware. He’s accomplished his lofty goal: get the Thunder the top seed in the West. And he’s done it with a month to spare — which is amazing.
Jokic, and Tatum for that matter, can score any number of points, grab any number of rebounds, dish off any number of assists the rest of the way … and it doesn’t matter.
Just like Wednesday’s “showdown.”
Sports
A'ja Wilson has no shortage of motivation after Aces' early exit in '24
Oct 1, 2024; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson (22) and New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart (30) during game two of the 2024 WNBA Semi-finals at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images LAS VEGAS — Entering her eighth season in the WNBA, Las Vegas Aces superstar A’ja Wilson is poised to build on what was arguably the most dominant individual campaign in league history.
Wilson joined Cynthia Cooper (1997) as the second player in league history to win a unanimous MVP award and joined an exclusive club as the fourth player to win the award three times. She averaged 26.9 points and 11.9 rebounds per game last season and set the all-time single-season mark for points (1,021) and rebounds (451).
Unfortunately for Las Vegas, injuries and fatigue from their two previous championship runs mounted and resulted in the team’s worst regular-season record (27-13) since 2019. The Aces’ three-peat hopes ended with a 76-62 home loss to the New York Liberty to drop their semifinal series 3-1.
It’s that loss on her home floor that served as Wilson’s motivation this offseason.
“Losing sucks, especially on your home court,” Wilson said “It still kind of burns a little bit, but I’ve used that as fuel to help my teammates understand how hard it is to win in this league. Yes, we can celebrate the two championships. They were great. But for us to move forward, we have to understand how hard this league is and value the basketball and the little things. I think that’s what we lacked last season, so we’re going to make sure that we can show up better than we did.”
While the Aces appeared to be on top of the world heading into their potential three-peat campaign in 2024, the reality inside the locker room was that both the internal and external pressure to win another championship had become suffocating. A common theme across media day was the fact that the team feels less pressure entering the 2025 season, a sentiment Wilson shared as the unquestioned leader of the team.
“(Three-peat talks) obviously impacted us, because it’s like, y’all think we don’t want to win? We’re trying as well,” Wilson said.
“I would definitely say it’s refreshing this year. I feel like this is one of my only years where it feels like there’s no weight. There’s a lot of weight to be defending champs. It’s a lot of weight to be trying to win one. We don’t have that. We actually have a clean slate to really dial into getting back to who we are culturally, like, in our system and everything.”
Leading the Aces back to the top of the mountain for a third time in four years is one of a few historically significant achievements Wilson can collect this upcoming season. Wilson could also become the first four-time MVP in league history, though the meaning of that is something she hasn’t quite allowed herself to ponder yet.
“I haven’t given it much thought, but it would be a blessing to have my name in that conversation,” Wilson said. “Every year, I try to be better than I was the year before just to give myself a chance in this league. Because the league is getting better. We’re growing. At this point, you just want to maintain your stamina. You want to maintain your mental, all of that, because the season gets hard. I can’t think too much about that just yet, but I’m definitely going to try to be better than I was last year.”
As Aces coach Becky Hammon put it, fans can expect to see an even better version of Wilson this season.
“What I see is, she went and got better,” Hammon said. “Which is hard to do when you’re already the best, but it speaks to her work ethic, her desire and her mindset this whole offseason. We talked a lot this offseason. She’s a busy lady, but I can tell you what she always does is her workouts. She’s always getting her workouts in. That comes first and foremost, she never gets her priorities jumbled up.”
When Hammon was asked what a player like Wilson would possibly need to improve after last season’s campaign, the coach did not feel like revealing too much.
“There was (something for Wilson to improve), and she did,” Hammon said. “I’m not going to tell you what it was. Actually, there were two things.”
–Will Despart, Field Level Media
Sports
Jacob Wilson joins Aaron Judge in spotlight for Yankees-A's series
May 5, 2025; West Sacramento, California, USA; Athletics shortstop Jacob Wilson (5) throws to first for an out against the Seattle Mariners during the seventh inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images The top two hitters in the majors square off Friday night when the New York Yankees face the Athletics in the opener of a three-game series in Sacramento, Calif.
It’s no surprise to see Yankees star Aaron Judge off to a superb start after winning American League MVP honors last season. He has a major league-best .400 batting average and entered Thursday’s play tied for the big-league lead with 12 homers and 34 RBIs.
But who had Athletics rookie Jacob Wilson ranking second in the majors at .357 as the season nears the quarter pole? Wilson has played in just 64 career games and quickly has solidified himself as a future All-Star, perhaps even this season.
Sharing the marquee board with Judge seems quite surreal for the 23-year-old shortstop who was the No. 6 overall pick of the 2023 draft.
“It’s a great feeling, for sure,” Wilson said of his name being mentioned with Judge. “Obviously, everybody has seen what he is doing. It’s pretty incredible watching him do his thing on a daily basis. To be up there with him is pretty cool for me.
“I’m excited to play against him this week and see what it looks like in person.”
Wilson had his first career four-hit game during Wednesday’s 6-5 home loss against the Seattle Mariners and has six multi-hit outings in the past eight games. He went 8-for-14 with one game-winning hit in the three-game series against the Mariners and is 16-for-34 (.471) with four walks during the eight-game stretch.
The hot hitting led to Athletics manager Mark Kotsay moving Wilson to the leadoff spot on Wednesday. Kotsay indicated Wilson may be sticking at the top of the lineup.
“I think you’ll see Jacob up there now,” Kotsay said. “Jacob’s earned it. … Jacob has shown enough over the last week. He’s walking and taking pitches, and, obviously, swinging the bat really well.”
Judge arrives in Sacramento in the midst of a four-game funk in which he is 2-for-15.
The two-time MVP just went 1-for-10 in a three-game home series against the San Diego Padres, but the one hit was a homer.
Judge grew up 50 miles south of Sacramento in Linden and starred for Linden High but wasn’t highly sought by major league teams. The then-Oakland Athletics selected him in the 31st round in 2010.
Judge instead went the college route and starred for Fresno State. He was chosen in the first round (32nd overall) by the Yankees in the 2013 draft.
Trent Grisham was one of the heroes of Wednesday’s 4-3, 10-inning win over the Padres. He hit a tying two-run pinch-hit homer in the eighth inning.
Grisham had two homers and five RBIs in the series against the Padres — one of his former teams — and already has 10 long balls in just 89 at-bats. He hit just nine last season in 179 at-bats.
“I’m having fun with the guys, I would say that more than anything,” Grisham said. “The clubhouse is really good in here, led by Cap (Judge). So, I would say the guys have been the most enjoyable part.”
New York is starting right-hander Will Warren (1-2, 5.65 ERA) in Friday’s series opener. Right-hander Osvaldo Bido (2-2, 4.71) will be on the mound for the Athletics.
Warren, 25, struck out a career-high eight in 4 2/3 innings while losing to the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday. He gave up five runs (three earned) and seven hits. Warren hasn’t previously faced the Athletics.
Bido, 29, received a no-decision against the Miami Marlins last Saturday when he gave up four runs on three hits over five innings. He is winless (0-1) over his last three starts. Bido hasn’t faced the Yankees.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Report: Boxing legend Manny Pacquiao coming out of retirement
Aug 21, 2021; Las Vegas, Nevada; Manny Pacquiao (right) fights Yordenis Ugas in a world welterweight championship bout at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images Boxing legend Manny Pacquiao plans to end his retirement and return to the ring on July 19 against Mario Barrios in Las Vegas, ESPN reported Thursday.
Pacquiao, 46, will be fighting for the first time since losing a unanimous decision to Yordenis Ugas in 2021.
The fight will be for Barrios’ WBC welterweight championship belt. Barrios turns 30 on May 18.
Pacquiao is an eight-division champion who is slated to be inducted into the boxing Hall of Fame in June. He reportedly will formally announce his return to boxing next week. The report stated that Pacquiao has been cleared to compete by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
In recent years, Pacquiao has been focusing on his political career in the Philippines.
The boxer nicknamed “PacMan” has a 62-8-2 record with 39 knockouts during his career. He won his first major title — the WBC flyweight crown — at age 19 in 1998.
Pacquiao was 54-3-2 prior to turning 33 and 8-5 afterward. One of those losses was to Floyd Mayweather Jr. via unanimous decision in 2015, a bout that reportedly drew nearly $400 million in pay-per-view sales.
Barrios (29-2-1, 18 knockouts) fought to a 12-round, split-decision draw against Abel Ramos last November. This will be his third defense since winning the title by beating Ugas in 2023.
–Field Level Media
A'ja Wilson has no shortage of motivation after Aces' early exit in '24
Best Mothers Day gifts: Show mom some love
