Can Aaron Rodgers drive Green Bay to Super Bowl glory?

At points, over the course of the summer, it wasn’t entirely clear whether Aaron Rodgers would call time on his career at the Green Bay Packers, with speculation rife that the veteran wasn’t happy with life at Lambeau Field. Now, following a sparkling regular season, the 38-year-old is now looking to guide Matt LeFleur’s side towards the Super Bowl.

The Packers finished the season with an excellent 13-4 record that saw them winning the NFC North for the third each in a row before clinching the first seed spot in the NFL playoffs and a great deal of the reason for such a strong season were the consistent displays put in by Rodgers.

Green Bay is now placed as favorites to clinch the Super Bowl with odds provided by
comparison service sidelines.io of (+375) and with a playoff against the San Francisco 49ers standing between them and an NFC Championship game.

Rodgers is on course to clinch back-to-back NFL MVP awards as he looks to see off
competition from Tom Brady for that honor after a season that saw the quarterback post 4115 passing yards and 37 touchdowns but perhaps the most impressive stat comes in the form of just four interceptions thrown all season. As a guide, that’s a third of those thrown by Brady.

One thing is for certain when it comes to NFL stars who generate media interest, Rodgers is second to none. This season saw the Green Bay star face a lot of criticism for his vaccination status, and he’s never really spent a week out of the media spotlight; and he was in particularly good form in a recent interview where he went all out against a number of individuals.

“I don’t want to apologize for being myself,”

“I just want to be myself.” Rodgers began ominously.

On being censured for his opinions, he continued;

“Are they censoring terrorists or pedophiles? Criminals, who have Twitter profiles? No, they’re censoring people, and they’re shadow-banning people who have dissenting opinions about vaccines,”

“When you censor and make pariahs out of anybody who questions what you believe in or what the mainstream narrative is, that doesn’t make any sense.”

“When the president of the United States says, ‘This is a pandemic of the unvaccinated,’ it’s because him and his constituents, which, I don’t know how there are any if you watch any of his attempts at public speaking, but I guess he got 81 million votes,”

“But when you say stuff like that, and then you have the CDC, which, how do you even trust them, but then they come out and talk about 75% of the COVID deaths have at least four comorbidities. And you still have this fake White House set saying that this is the pandemic of the unvaccinated; that’s not helping the conversation.”

He also found time to make a sly reference to Tom Brady and Deflategate; such is the way with Rodgers, an individual who should perhaps just let his NFL game do the talking rather than discussing other matters that only seem to lead him into trouble.

Regardless of his outspoken nature, it’s clear Rodgers still has a lot in the tank, and backing his Packers to go all the way this season seems like a fairly solid bet right now.

Staples Center will be renamed Crypto.com Arena

A 700 million dollar naming rights deal

The house that Kobe Bryant built, the Staples Arena, will be going through a name change. In what is one of the largest naming rights deal ever made, Crypto.com has bought the rights to renaming Staples Center to Crypto.com Arena for $700 million/20 year deal

Crypto.com is a cryptocurrency platform and exchange business based in Singapore. The rebranding ushers in a generational shift in which cryptocurrencies dominates the new business world and the renaming rights reflects that as it makes its move to gain mainstream recognition.

With the name change going into effect Christmas Day, the Arena will continue to be home for Los Angeles Lakers, Clippers, NHL’s Kings and WNBA’s Sharks.





Injury prone Noah Syndergaard and the Angels reach a 1 year deal

An overpriced and risky move…

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim kicked off their 2021 free agent by signing Noah Syndergaard. If it wasn’t for the all the recent injuries that has slowed down his career, this might have been a great move, but a 1 year 21 million dollar deal seems like a big risk.

Syndergaard, when healthy, was one of the most dominant and reliable starting pitchers in the league. Still at a young age of 29, he could instantly provide a major boost to a rather mediocre Angels pitching staff. But the optimism stops there. A big “If” stands in the way, as Syndergaard’s health is a big question mark. Missing most of 2021, all of 2020 and most of the 2017 season, availability might be a concerning issue.

The Angels, a team lead by Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout are an average team at best. Competing against American League teams such as the Rays, Astros, Yankees, and Red Sox, the Angels are nowhere near competition against those teams. With superstars Ohtani and Trout carrying the offense, the Angels are desperate to improve their pitching, enough to sign an overpriced and often injured former ace.





Jon Gruden strikes back! Sues the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell

Will Gruden win his case?

Former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden, has decided to push back and has filed a lawsuit against the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell. The lawsuit comes in the wake of leaked, published private emails that exposed the coach of racist, anti-gay and misogynistic language.

Gruden, who was in his 4th year coaching the Raiders, voluntarily resigned and stepped down from his coaching duties. The lawsuit claims the NFL/Goodell pressured the Raiders owner Mark Davis to fire the coach due to the emails and was further pressured that if Gruden wasn’t fired, more exposed emails would be made public. Furthermore, the lawsuit questions the explanation and timing to why only Gruden’s emails were made public of all 650,000 collected emails.

The timing of the emails and reasoning does seem to suggest that the NFL and Roger Goodell had a personal vendetta against Gruden. Did Gruden deserve to be fired? Yes, what was revealed in those emails have already seen the light of day and there is no place for that in any sport. But I do believe Gruden has a right to be heard and defend himself. The court will now determine whether the NFL and Goodell should also be held liable for their actions.

Odell Beckham and the Los Angeles Rams agree to a 1 year contract

Image: CBS Sports

A good fit for the once talented receiver?

A week after being waived by the Cleveland Browns, Odell Beckham has found himself a new home, Hollywood! The Los Angeles Rams have signed the disgruntled but talented receiver to a 1 year contact.

The signing ends a 3 year run between Beckham and the Browns in what was supposed to be a great duo between the receiver and quarterback Baker Mayfield. The partnership instead ended in an inconsistent on-field connection, which eventually led to Beckham asking to be traded.

The three time pro bowler receiver now joins his 3rd team in recent years, after putting up great numbers to start his career with the Giants and was once seen as the top wide receiver in the NFL. A season ending knee injury in 2020, as well as Beckham’s penchant for disruptive team behavior has drastically dropped his stock around the league.

Now a member of the Rams, Beckham joins a team that is loaded and primed to make a deep playoff run. It’s now up to the receiver to fit in, produce and show the league that he is still an elite level player.

Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers reunite. Former MVP quarterback is back in the NFL

Image: Getty Images
Career revival or Cam Newton’s swan song?

Superman Cam is back to where it all started, the Carolina Panthers! It’s been reported and confirmed by multiple sources, including Newton himself, that he has been signed to a 1 year deal, pending a physical.

The deal comes after incumbent starting quarterback, Sam Darnold was sidelined for four to six weeks due to a shoulder injury. The move comes as a surprise, as Newton was released by the New England Patriots before the season started and interest in his services were minimal due to his regression of play over the last few years.

Still a fan favorite by many Panthers fans, Newton’s arrival could be seen as his last hope to revive his once superstar MVP career. He’s no longer the player he once use to be, but expectations should be minimal and if he is able to somehow lead the Panthers to the playoffs or at least keep them in contention, it would lead to a career revival so many fans have been hoping for.

Luka Doncic is the rookie of the year

Luka-Doncic
Copyrights: CBSSports.com

If you watch NBA then chances are very slim that you haven’t heard about this young man. The Slovenian is only 19 years old and he is already establishing himself as a household name. His story starts in Slovenia, where he was shining from a young age. When he was eight years old he joined Union Olimpija and within minutes of the first training session, his coach moved him to another group, to play against 11-year-olds. When he was only 13 he signed a five-year contract with one of the best teams in Europe, Real Madrid.
He played his first professional game with Real Madrid on April 30, 2015, against Unicaja. That season he only played 5 games. Next year he started to get more playing time and mature as a player. He played 39 games in the Spanish basketball league while averaging 4.5 points, 1.7 assists, and 2.6 rebounds. Another astonishing accomplishment by him was that he played his first game in Euroleague before turning 17-years-old.
The 2016-2017 was the season where he started getting the attention of many scouts around the continent. In this season he won two awards, the EuroLeague Rising Star and the ACB Best Young Player Award. He managed to double his stats, averaging 7.5 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3 assists on the Spanish League while in EuroLeague he had 7.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists. The 2017-2018 proved that he was NBA material and can become the next great European player. He put even better numbers than the previous season. He averaged 12.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game in the Spanish League while in the EuroLeague he won the EuroLeague MVP award.
Here comes the future regret of the Atlanta Hawks. Hawks initially drafted Doncic with the third pick, but they ended up trading him to Dallas Mavericks for the draft rights of their favorited player, Trae Young and a protected first round pick in 2019. When Dallas gave up the rights for Trae Young and took Luka Doncic many people were surprised because they thought that he wasn’t ready yet for NBA and that he lacks speed and athleticism to provide any real value to a team. When you add that to the fact that many teams have been disappointed by promising Europeans (Andrea Bargnani anyone?) and they thought that he would be yet another bust. Boy, were they wrong, even though only a third of the season is done but the performances of this young man have dazzled many people and even his most diehard critics had to swallow their words. The moment he started playing they saw that this kid would end up being special and has the basketball IQ of a veteran that has been playing for quite a long time in the league.
He is playing out of his mind, in the 23 games that he has played so far, he is not averaging rookie numbers. With an average of 18.2 points per game, 6.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game, he is elevating the Mavericks in every single way. On his regular season debut, he put up 10 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists. Against the San Antonio Spurs on October 29, he scored 31 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. These are definitely numbers that you don’t expect from rookies nowadays, and even less from rookies that aren’t considered to be slashers and genuine scorers.
His best performance yet came against the Houston Rockets, he scored 11 straight points on the final minutes of the game. With less than 3 minutes left in the game and the Mavs trailing by 8 points, he scored 3 three-pointers and a beautiful floater to give the Mavericks the lead. These points helped the home team to get a much-needed win. Seeing him hit those clutch shots you would get the impression that he has been doing this for many years now. His coach was full of praise for the young Slovenian as he said that “he’s unafraid”. We have to agree with that statement, how many 19-year-olds do you see hitting 3 three-pointers in the last 2 minutes of the game while not even flinching.

Copyrights: Houston Chronicles
It’s the beginning of the season and he may face many hardships, just like other rookies do, but then again you can him managing to adapt to the league at a very fast pace. He is for sure performing wonderfully offensively, but his defense can’t be undermined, he knows where he has to be at all times, his positioning is impeccable and that is a major boost to his squad.
We don’t want to rush and say that he may be the best rookie we have seen in a long time and the game of DeAndre Ayton and Trae Young is looking solid thus far, but my vote goes to Luka Doncic, and unless his performances drop significantly I don’t believe that he will be losing the title of the Rookie of the year anytime soon.

Draymond Green is the heart of Golden State Warriors

draymond-green
Copyrights: News.com.au

Draymond Green is the type of player that you want in your team. He hustles he gives his everything he has in order to give his team a better chance of winning the game, and most importantly he offers the Golden State what they need the most, a reliable defender that can guard 5 positions with great success. He has won three NBA titles with the Warriors and has been an all-star three times, while in 2017 he managed to win the Defensive Player of the Year award. He was the original part of the trio of the Curry-Thompson-Green that won an NBA title in the 2014-15 season and managed to have an incredible regular season with 73 wins and only 9 losses. If it weren’t for the miraculous comeback from the Cleveland Cavaliers, they would have won another title. In my opinion, they would have managed to win the next two titles with this team, without any additions. However, Kevin Durant chose the easy way out and joined the Warriors to win a title, something that he couldn’t do with Thunder many years now.
It turns out that Kevin Durant made a good choice for himself and managed to win the title for two years in a row. Kevin Durant will surely be among the best players to have ever played this game and you can put Stephen Curry on that list as well, but this wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible contributions of Draymond Green on both ends of the floor. Defensively he will be able to guard the 7 footers and the point guards and he has impeccable positioning defensively while getting steals left and right. In the 2016-17 season, he was averaging 2 steals per game. When we get back to his offensive contributions, he gives the reigning champs exactly what they need, a player who knows where he has to be and what to do. His point per game average isn’t that high, he has a career average of 9.3 points per game, but he knows how to space the floor and find the open guy that can shoot an easy three. In his past 3 seasons, he averaged more than 7 assists per game, and we can’t forget also his rebounding, he has been averaging 8.3 rebounds per game in the past 4 seasons, in other words, he makes everything easier for Curry, Durant, and Thompson. While he may not be a direct threat to score he will make sure that the right man has the ball at the right time.
This brings us to a very important point, the altercation that happened between him and Kevin Durant. It started when Draymond Green got the rebound with only 5 seconds left on the clock and the score was tied 106 – 106, instead of giving the ball to Kevin Durant he dribbled the ball and had it stolen on the last second of the regulation time. Warriors ended up losing the game and apparently, Kevin Durang was heated and the infamous altercation happened where Draymond Green has apparently told Kevin Durant that they don’t need him and that they have won even before he joined the team. This has caused a lot of headaches to the franchise and they suspended Green for one game and this has raised many questions since things got even worse for the Dubs, they were losing many games that they would normally not lose.
Winning has the effect of squashing beef among players, if Warriors win another NBA title this year, the Dubs dynasty will continue to reign over the rest of the league. However, if they lose this year, many changes can be expected to happen. Kevin Durant is on the last year of his contract and he has stated before that he won’t be taking any pay cuts in order to keep the team together and if you add that to the fact that Draymond Green has another year on his contract, things can get very messy for the Warriors.
Kevin Durant may force the organization to choose between him and Green, meaning that he would sign a new contract with the Warriors only if they trade Draymond Green, or it could be vice versa, Draymond Green would force the front office to choose between him and Durant. While this may not be the end of the Warriors dynasty even if one of them leaves the squad, they would definitely lose a very important piece of their team.

Copyrights: sportskeeda.com
When it comes to the million-dollar question of choosing between Kevin Durant and Draymond Green, I know that many people would choose Kevin Durant without even thinking for longer than a fraction of a second. However, I wouldn’t choose him over Draymond Green, this may sound crazy to so many people, but what Green offers, no one else in the squad can offer, but what Kevin Durant offers, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson can offer. After all, Draymond Green was right, they won without Durant and they still can win without him, with a solid bench and some good role players, they don’t need him.
This may never come to happen since Warriors are back to their winning ways, at the moment they stand 1st on the Western Conference with 18 wins and 9 losses and are on a three-game winning streak. As I said earlier, winning tends to eliminate the inner problems of a team, but we may have to watch from up close to see how this drama will unfold.

The unpredictability of Western Conference

nba-western-conferenceIf you would have told someone before the beginning of the season the 1st ranked and the 14tha ranked on the Western Conference have a difference of 6 games, they would have laughed right at you. But here we are, with seeing teams that were not even in playoff contention last season, play like champion and teams that were close to winning it all last year, now trying their hardest just to qualify for playoffs. The Western Conference hasn’t been this interesting in quite a long time, with every team having the opportunity to qualify or risk not getting into playoffs. The best part is that you have some dark horse teams that have no superstars in their squads and yet they are playing like a contender.
We can start by talking about the Los Angeles Clippers, they have been a joy to watch this season. With great performances from Tobias Harris, Montrezl Harrell, Lou Williams etc. you can’t just rule them out from any game. It’s quite amazing when you think that in a very short period they lost DeAndre Jordan, Blake Griffin, and Chris Paul and yet they are playing like a team that has 3 all-stars. At the moment they sit 4th on the Western Conference, with a losing streak of two games, but they have one of the best records when playing at home, with 9 wins and 2 losses. The way things are going right now, we can definitely expect them to get into playoffs and do some real damage to the contenders.
Memphis Grizzlies have also been surprising people with their game. When you see them playing now, you are reminded of the grit & grind playstyle that has worked well for them in the past. It’s great to see a team doing what they do best instead of trying to imitate everyone, they are sticking with their own game and so far, I got to say that it has been working quite well for them. They are 6th with 15 wins and 10 losses. Simply put, they don’t have the identity to play run and gun while shooting threes every opportunity they get. Good defense is what separates them from the rest of the teams and through that, they are causing a lot of headache for many teams.

Copyrighted by: The Big Lead
If you haven’t been watching Luka Doncic this year, then I am afraid you are missing out on a kid that has been playing like a seasoned vet since the beginning of the season. I am sure that Atlanta Hawks are regretting their decision of drafting Trae Young instead of Doncic when they had the chance. His performance has had a huge impact on the way the Mavericks are playing. They are sitting 8th at the moment, but with these performances, I would definitely not rule them out of the playoff race.
Now it’s time to talk about the negative surprises. Let’s start with the Western Conference finalists of last year, the Houston Rockets. You can’t blame Carmelo Anthony for the Texan teams’ woes, he played in only 10 games and what happened after that is hard to believe. James Harden is nowhere near his MVP form, Chris Paul is playing like an average point guard and Eric Gordon stated that at the moment he is not enjoying the game due to the tough times that the team is going through.
San Antonio Spurs are in complete disarray, and not because of the Kawhi Leonard – DeMar DeRozan trade, it’s just that they can’t adapt to how the game is being played at the moment. The legendary coach, Greg Popovich has publicly stated that he doesn’t like how everything is based on 3pt shooting. However, this isn’t the only problem that Spurs are facing, the injuries are making things a lot harder for them. While they are sitting 12th ar the moment with 13 wins and 14 losses, they still have great chances to get into playoffs, since the season is still young.
New Orleans Pelicans have been a tough team to figure out this season, with 14 wins and 14 losses. At home, they have 10 wins and 4 losses while playing away they have 4 wins and 10 losses. Besides Anthony Davis playing like a machine, Julius Randle seems to have been a great signing for them. He is putting some solid numbers lately and I am sure that if they get into playoffs they will cause some serious damage to whoever they face.
With only a third of the games being played so far, only Phoenix Suns don’t have any realistic chances of getting into playoffs, while the other teams have every opportunity to qualify or fall from grace. Earlier on this season, we saw that even giants like the Golden State Warriors have their weaknesses and that LeBron James is a man that can lead a Western Conference squad into performing like a contender at times. While it is still not clear, who will qualify for the playoffs, one thing is for sure, the rest of the season will be fun to watch.

Will Los Angeles Lakers become the New Cleveland Cavaliers?

Los-Angeles-Lakers

You know the pedigree of LeBron James, an all-around player that will go down as one of the best players to have ever graced a basketball court, if not the best. 8 consecutive NBA Finals is something that even the most diehard LeBron skeptics will admit that doing that it takes special talent, skill, dedication, and hard work. While he may have had help in Miami, but when he came back to his hometown, his team wasn’t as talented, but yet again they managed to reach the Finals four times. If we go more into details, his last season with the Cavs, he singlehandedly dragged his team until they reached the Finals.
After getting disappointed 3 times out of the last 4 with the Cavs, he saw that it was time for a new adventure, and what place is better than sunny California. Los Angeles has one of the biggest markets in the world, especially for an NBA player that is looking to become a worldwide name, this was a wise move financially. However, basketball-wise, LeBron knew that he didn’t have the best players, especially with the Western Conference, being the jungle that it is now, having a bunch of young players that haven’t even reached playoffs yet, is quite the risk.
Despite this, LeBron is no fool, he saw that there is potential on this young squad, and the first year of his contract may not be a championship year for him, but the 2nd year, will definitely be a year where he will want more, from the Franchise, from the players and everyone involved. While it’s not completely hopeless. They brought some seasoned veterans in the team that can help the young core develop. The addition of Rajon Rondo at the beginning of the season was one of the smartest moves that the FO has made during this season.
The beginning of the season was very harsh for Lakers, they lost their first three games and they were looking lost out there. No team chemistry, it was just run and gun with some rare sparks of what the showtime 2.0 could look like, but the defensive end was horrible. In those first three games, they conceded 131 points per game, that’s a very high number for a team that wanted to get into playoffs. However, good things come to those who wait and of course to those who do smart trades. On November 6, they signed Tyson Chandler, a player that is not flash but does those small little things that win you games. He is not afraid to fight for any ball, he can box out players like his arms were made of steel. As soon as he joined the team, we started instantly to see the results. They have won 10 out of their last 13 games and at the moment they are on a four-game winning streak.

They have found a winning formula apparently, and I’m sure that the front office and the fans are more than happy, but it’s not that great if we scratch the surface. LeBron James has started to do what he did in Cleveland last year, whenever his team was slacking, he had to bring his A game and bring the bacon home. If we start looking more in depth at the roster, most of them have never played with a superstar in their team, let alone someone of LeBron’s caliber. Lonzo Ball is a sophomore who has underperformed or performed like a true point guard, depends who you ask. He compliments LeBron James perfectly, a defensive-minded player in a team that is offensive-minded is a valuable asset, while Kyle Kuzma has continued to be a solid player with a bright future. The problem with his game is that he’s quite profficient in offense, but in defense he struggles sometimes, especially in off-ball defense, he seems to be lost.
Josh Hart, has been a real spark in the bench, providing valuable minutes while allowing Luke Walton to rest the first unit. That leaves us to Brandon Ingram, who was probably even more hyped with LeBron joining the team, since LeBron isn’t a player that is only scoring-oriented. Surprisingly, ever since Lebron joined, he has been struggling a bit, he can’t find his rhythm, his points per game average has fallen from 16.1 ppg to 15.2 and his 3pt% was 39% last season and this season so far it’s only 32%.
There is still no room for panic, we’re only 24 games into the season and Lakers have been playing their basketball in years, they have a bright future and one of the best players of all time, add to that quite the cap freedom for next year to sign another superstar, and LeBron is proving himself even in the tough Western Conference. I would have to say that things aren’t looking that bad in LALA land.