1st Down: Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets aren’t breaking up. That is according to the latest developments, with general manager Sean Marks stating that Durant was now on the same page as coach Steve Nash and the rest of the organization. Whether the demand for the team to move on from the coach and other staff was real or not remains to be seen, but it does seem that for now the marriage will remain intact. Durant allegedly, via sources, asked owner Joe Tsai to part ways with Nash or him. He has ultimately chose neither, giving ‘player power’ a rare loss. Will it be a temporary one, however, remains to be the big question.
2nd Down: The Los Angeles Angels might soon be on the open market, with news coming out on Tuesday that current primary owner Arte Moreno is exploring a sale. Moreno himself was responsible for the news breaking, with him stating that he and his family had ‘come to the conclusion that now is the ‘time’ to consider such a move. Moreno has been at the head of the club since 2003, and though the beginning of his tenure saw success for the team, it has been a struggle of late. Even with Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani in the fold, they have fallen well of the pace in 2022. In fact, the team have just made the playoffs once since 2009, perhaps prompting, to some degree, this potential transaction.
3rd Down: The Chicago Sky put themselves in a bit of a hole in the first round of the WNBA Playoffs, but they managed to climb out of it on Tuesday night by overcoming the New York Liberty at home 90-72. The win mean in Game 3 means they will move on to the WNBA Semis where they will await the winner of Wednesday night’s Game 3 between Connecticut and Dallas. The Sky, the defending champions of the league, got 15 points from Allie Quigley and saw Candace Parker (14 points and 13 rebounds) come up just two assists shy of a triple-double. A late 16-0 run was largely responsible for the win as the Sky kept their back-to-back title hopes alive.
4th Down: Nick Saban will be at the University of Alabama for a while longer. The news, which comes at no real surprise, came down on Tuesday with a new eight-year, $93.6 million extension being announced by the school. The head coach has made the Crimson Tide a juggernaut that is frequently the team to beat in college football, and the move to make him go back to the top of the coaching earnings list is no shock at all. Kirby Smart, of Georgia, had gone to the top of the pile shortly, but Saban is back to the top now, and he will hope that his team also returns to the throne this coming season.
