kenta - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
![Tigers' RHP Kenta Maeda off IL, to start Friday vs. Blue Jays](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/23097807.jpg)
![The case for — and against — Joel Embiid for MVP](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/64a72de5d253823124df8e040db9f406.jpg)
![The definitive NBA Finals player rankings](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/47e33acb22c6975d5b2145b3b94d1686.png)
The definitive NBA Finals player rankings
The NBA Finals are upon us, and it’s time to rank the players involved. You’ll notice Tyler Herro is just an honorable mention, and that’s due to his injury status and not fully knowing when he’ll play in the series. These rankings are based on the level of importance and influence each player will ...
![Will Nikola Jokić lead Denver to its first title or will Jimmy Butler fulfill his playoff prophecy?](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/1a564e2a147da4e03d1a5bdf7a49d69d.png)
Will Nikola Jokić lead Denver to its first title or will Jimmy Butler fulfill his playoff prophecy?
One of the least anticipated matchups in recent memory is upon us. The Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat. Let’s be real here. No LeBron, no Jayson Tatum, and no Boston Celtics legends in the stands. Media members have been openly grousing all week about having to cover the Nuggets. That’s a cornball pos...
![Lakers' former core excelling outside of Los Angeles](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/690c7351fc0c2c3776a24d66489cd378.jpg)
Lakers' former core excelling outside of Los Angeles
It’s not always the case that you can trace the current crop of key NBA players to a single team during a single season. But that’s exactly what the 2017-2018 season was for the Los Angeles Lakers. That season was two years removed from the retirement of Kobe Bryant, who won five championships with ...
![Can Denver avoid the choke when it counts most in the Western Conference Finals?](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/6e3d43659a841d202e1fc3f0666d25a8.png)
Can Denver avoid the choke when it counts most in the Western Conference Finals?
The NBA is down to its final four as this year’s conference finals have brought about Déjà vu, although this isn’t an illusion of the mind. Less than three years ago, we saw the same teams representing the NBA’s Eastern and Western Finals. In the west, we’ve got the Lakers and Nuggets in a rematch f...
![Joel Embiid is right](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/bbf12e8f88a65be8d83bcab1cf109c95.jpg)
Joel Embiid is right
Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokić are starkly different people. Yes, they are MVP centers who were not raised in America, but the similarities largely stop there. One player is from Africa and the other is from Europe. One player is the most physically dominant in the NBA, the other combines size, court ...
![Well, Pat Bev knocked one team out of the playoffs](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/439078f246246599cf47a1dfe9fdb42f.jpg)
Well, Pat Bev knocked one team out of the playoffs
Even though he’s nearly 35 years old and basically a journeyman at this point in his career, Patrick Beverley always feels slighted whenever a team moves on from him. When the Lakers traded him to the Bulls after half a season, he said his goal was to “knock them out of the playoffs.”...
![Don’t be so quick to count out the Western Conference's top-seeded teams](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/29d97481de0849d4a6edd442ea5cf234.jpg)
Don’t be so quick to count out the Western Conference's top-seeded teams
A large swath of NBA media is out on the top seeds in the Western Conference — and it makes sense, because, for the first time since the 1996-97 season, the East is far and away superior....
![Zack Greinke shakes himself off, a cat on the diamond — Spring Training has been <i>weird</i> [Updated]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/82541c3a94f8db05e1a3fdd138d2cb81.png)
Zack Greinke shakes himself off, a cat on the diamond — Spring Training has been <i>weird</i> [Updated]
Every year, MLB spring training provides some sort of insight into the upcoming season, whether it be emerging stars or the adoption of new rule changes. Well if the early goings of this year’s spring training are any indicator, we’re in for some wild times. I’m at the point where nothing on my Twit...
![LeBron James is hurt and it’s 2021 all over again for the Lakers](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/3492d53c466dd4e764e53e203ac2dea0.jpg)
LeBron James is hurt and it’s 2021 all over again for the Lakers
The reason why the Los Angeles Lakers traded for Russell Westbrook in 2021 has reared its ugly head merely two games after the All-Star break. Following two wins, LeBron James could be out with an injury for “multiple weeks.” The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that James played through the foot ...
![The best games on the NBA schedule this week — only one back-to-back](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/6fe53449b02f87aff35aac2174f0df7b.jpg)
The best games on the NBA schedule this week — only one back-to-back
Don’t let anyone tell you the NBA schedule during the regular season is a poor entertainment product. Of course, a single game does not impact a team’s overall record the same way that it does an NFL team. In the NBA teams play multiple games per week. That is not changing anytime soon, especially w...
![NBA players way too excited over fellow pros balling out in ProAm leagues](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/b2df6cbfa615b0b7a02c6cad29d8e6ae.jpg)
NBA players way too excited over fellow pros balling out in ProAm leagues
It’s become a tradition more irrelevant than any other....
![Lakers can right a wrong by trading for Kyrie](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/d4d0cc4b6286f6586a9ecd14a82d8d16.jpg)
Lakers can right a wrong by trading for Kyrie
After completing one of the worst trades in franchise history just last year, the Lakers have a chance to make things right by acquiring another superstar: Kyrie Irving....