Sports

Trinity Rodman: My game in my words

Published

2 months ago

November 9, 2024

Press Room

Trinity Rodman has a particular magnetism about her, taking contradiction and finding harmony.

She’s a world class talent but self-identifies as being in her “student era.”

The 22-year-old is far from done.

Rodman’s the first to admit that she tends to lead with her emotions, seeing that as part of what makes her the player she is. Sometimes, it works out, but other times, it has cost her, like the yellow card she received during the U.S. women’s national team’s game against Colombia in the CONCACAF W Gold Cup earlier this year.

“I feel like everyone has kind of accepted it,” she says as we sit in front of my laptop reviewing highlights from the last four years of her career. “Like, ‘Oh, there goes Trin again.’”

She has felt people have perceived her as unapproachable in those moments but wants to hear the criticism because she wants to grow. Her emotions are crucial in that process.

“It’s a balance because, for me, I think the emotional part of my game makes me entertaining, and I think it makes me Trinity,” she says. “I don’t ever want that to change. I don’t want to be a robot ever.”

Her natural athleticism and talent could come with an air of being uncoachable, but that’s hardly been the case for Rodman. With a different club head coach every season and three national team managers in three years, she has found calm in the chaos.

“It’s almost scarier when it’s smooth sailing, or when we’re winning every game with no issues,” she says.

Rodman has the makings of a superstar, identifying as an entertainer as much as she’s an athlete.

“I always want to be the player (that has people asking), ‘What is she going to do today?’” she says.

Yet off the field, Rodman embraces fans as if they are lifelong friends, taking time to discuss the game or appear in a TikTok video. The “Trin Spin”, a youth soccer move she has made her own, captivates crowds with a sense of child-like wonderment, and she enjoys laughing over highlights with fans after a game.

“My teammates will hype me up about it,” she says of her signature move, smiling. “I’m like, ‘Guys, we learned this in U-10. Like, this is actually the easiest thing you could possibly do in soccer. But everyone thinks it’s this magnificent thing that no one can ever do.

“I think having a trademark move is sick, but having a trademark move that is that simple is even better.”

“It feels like forever ago,” Rodman says as we watch her first goal with the Spirit.

She scored five minutes into her debut with the team during the 2021 Challenge Cup, then a preseason competition. Being the youngest player drafted in 2021 comes with certain expectations, yet the 18-year-old wasn’t even expecting to play.

“I had no expectation of coming in,” Rodman says. “In preseason, all I was thinking was, ‘I’m a practice player. I’m just going to get better and better.’ Like I’m young. They have no idea what to expect.

“One thing about the 2021 Washington Spirit is we loved playing the ball over the top. That was a game plan for us,” she says, watching as defender Natalie Jacobs lobs a long pass looping up over the field dropping to Rodman’s knee.

“I do remember specifically thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t really tell where the ball is gonna land. Thankfully, it landed right on my thigh, and it honestly just trickled perfectly for that prep touch. I didn’t even need another one.

“I was going to dribble a little bit more, but once I saw that the keeper was so far off the line, I was like, ‘OK, I need to do something.’

“A focus for me was getting into dangerous areas with my speed and athleticism. That’s all I was thinking going into the game, was to be on the back shoulder, be in between center backs, and find a way to get in behind.

“But in terms of the actual control and goal, I feel like all I was thinking was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I have to make this.’ No one expected me to make it.”

2021 NWSL regular season: Washington Spirit 3-0 Racing Louisville

As Rodman said, long balls over the top were a Spirit signature during the 2021 season. She could set them up as much as she could score them.

During the first 10 minutes of a regular-season game against expansion team Racing Louisville, Rodman stole the ball off defender Erin Simon.

“That’s a part of my game that sometimes gets overlooked,” Rodman says. “Obviously, people know that I defend a good amount, but I think what also has improved in my game is the front-foot energy in the attacking half — but defensively.

“I feel like I’ve gotten a lot better at adjusting my body really quickly and just staring at the defender; watching their hips, watching their feet, watching their eyes, watching everything. I’ve had a couple like that this year, winning the ball in that exact way.”

The play starts with Rodman reading the defender. It’s something she has seen in her teammates as well, pointing out that Washington rookie Makenna Morris did something similar against the North Carolina Courage in the Spirit’s 2024 regular-season finale last week.

Going back to the 2021 clip, Rodman says: “I love that goal, but for me, it was just the whole team effort of winning it and knowing immediately, ‘OK, we need this in behind,’ and obviously quality.

“I’m really happy with how that turned out. I knew that I had to get it in behind the defender and (forward Ashley) Hatch could honestly do the rest if I put it in the right place. She had it.”

Playing defense in opponents’ halves has come and gone through seven head coaches and interims with the Spirit. It’s one of the many tools Rodman keeps in her box.

“I do run a lot defensively, but (it’s about) doing that work as quickly as possible,” she says. “Our team likes to say, ‘First five, big five,’ — like (in the) first five seconds we’re winning the ball back.

“It’s not defending to win the ball, it’s defending to score a goal. Having that mentality has always been there, and obviously it’s just gotten better and better, and my positioning has gotten better.

“I feel like even in the first couple of years, it was more so me running so far to track back, and now I’m in the right position to cut off the pass so that pass doesn’t even happen. It’s always been there, but I’m getting smarter with it.”

Something that has helped this year is the Spirit’s more possession-based style of play, implemented by former FC Barcelona Femení and Champions League-winning head coach Jonatan Giráldez, who took over the team in the summer.

2022 international friendly: United States 9-0 Uzbekistan

“I’ll never forget that.”

Before going pro, Rodman was nominated for the 2020 U.S. Soccer young female player of the year, thanks in large part to her nine goals that helped the U.S. win the 2020 CONCACAF Women’s U-20 Championship. (She lost the award that year, but won it in 2021 after also racking up NWSL rookie of the year, NWSL Best XI and a championship trophy with the Spirit). But playing for the senior team is a completely different experience.

“I think the entire first year of being with the national team, I lacked a lot of confidence, just not knowing the role that I was going to play and not feeling as good of a player,” Rodman says.

“Obviously, you’re stepping in the national team where everyone’s good, everyone’s great. For me, I just wanted to keep this spot.

“It took a while for me to figure out that I could be the same player on the national team as I could for the Spirit. I was overthinking and trying too hard to have a different role when I really could have the same role, just in a different way.”

When Rodman finally broke through with the team, it was via a play set up by two of her Spirit teammates. Former Spirit midfielder Ashley Sanchez controlled the ball with three Uzbekistan players closing in.

From there it was a quick triangle pass to Hatch…

… who hit it first time to Rodman (No 14, below) to score.

“Having them there, just knowing that they knew my tendencies… I didn’t have to second-guess it,” says Rodman. “I didn’t have to overthink, ‘Oh, if I mess this up, they’re gonna get mad.

“It was more so an acceptance that they’re used to either me scoring or me having this turnover. It definitely helped me be less scared in that moment.”

Rodman compared the feeling, and the following celebration with Hatch, Sanchez and fellow Spirit players Kelley O’Hara and Andi Sullivan, to having her mom or siblings supporting her.

Now it’s Rodman who is among a young veteran class with the USWNT, welcoming in an even younger group.

“It’s definitely different because… it’s not all eyes on this one teenager coming in,” Rodman says. “We relate on a lot more things, and I feel that helps with the young players coming in and having that confidence because we have that goofy, funny interaction on and off the field. I think that kind of eases the nerves for them, and I don’t want to speak for them, but that’s how I feel.”

2023 NWSL regular season: Washington Spirit 3-1 San Diego Wave

“I love this game,” Rodman says with a sigh.

Her exasperation isn’t because the team lost. They won handily over the San Diego Wave. It’s pining for that “special” connection with Sanchez, so rare because it happened so early in Rodman’s career.

“Playing with somebody that you connect with so well, it just makes me happy to see those clips. We had a special connection, for sure,” she says of Sanchez, who joined the Spirit a year before Rodman.

Rodman and Sanchez directly combined for six goals in their three seasons together before the Spirit traded the latter to the North Carolina Courage during the 2024 NWSL Draft in exchange for $250,000 in allocation money. It was a move that “hit the soul” and “shocked” both players.

“I love that clip too because I remember that game, that had happened multiple times, too, where I was driving and I’d pass it to her, and she would look at me and be like, ‘My bad. I got the next one.’ And it was just really funny.”

In the run-up to the goal, Rodman uses her speed to break away from the Wave’s defender before choosing to play the open pass.

“That’s just another part of my game I feel has improved,” she says. “I feel like 2021 Trinity would have tried to shoot that with three defenders closing in on her. For me, it was just the unselfishness of ‘I’m going to drive as far as I can and allow everyone to come over and just slide it over to Ash.’ I just wanted to attract as many people so that she had a better opportunity.”

She timed her run right too.

“It’s been really nice to be gifted with (speed), but I think it’s helped a lot to use it in different ways,” Rodman says. “Even this Olympics, I watched a couple of clips of my dribbling, or even pausing before and then using that acceleration instead of just going immediately. I feel like it’s easy to just kick it and run, knowing you’re faster, but to find different ways to use it, I think is really cool.”

This season Rodman has had far fewer opportunities to find those moments.

“I feel like it has to do with the defenders that go against me,” she says. “They’re studying me more, which is a compliment that sucks. At the same time, they’re playing a lot differently. They’re tighter on my back. They know that I like it at my feet all the time.

“Now that I have less space to do so, and fewer times where I’m getting those little slip passes in the pocket, in the seam, it’s figuring out then when my moment is to use that to my advantage. I feel like creating separation, even if it’s pinned against the sideline, I still feel like I can use that and find ways to get an inch of space to accelerate. So that’s been really hard to navigate, but it’s been fun to figure out when and how to do it.”

Mastering her emotions and finding confidence with the USWNT

When we get to Rodman’s brace against Wales in 2023, we don’t actually watch the clip. But Rodman has a near-photographic memory of her game.

“That was honestly one of the only games where I felt really confident (with the U.S. in 2023) and I really was playing like myself,” Rodman says. “You can tell I wasn’t scared. … And those two goals, I feel like we’re just an automatic thing.

“The first goal was me just getting in front of the goal. The second one was that I didn’t want (the Wales defender) getting out of this. We had tried scoring. We were going to get this goal. Like, same energy.”

“In that game, I was just like, ‘Finally, I’ve kind of broken the seal and I can be me. I’m good,’ Rodman says. “Even through the (2023) World Cup, I was still trying to find my way, but that was, I think, the breakthrough game for me.”

The U.S. fell in the round of 16 during that World Cup, losing on penalty kicks against Sweden.

“This was something that we battled through and this is something that’s going to help us grow, but it’s not a setback, and I don’t feel like any of us looked at it in that way,” she says about the tournament. “It was obviously horrible right after, but we had always looked at it in a positive way afterward.”

The U.S. rebounded eight months later, winning the inaugural CONCACAF W Gold Cup under interim head coach Twila Kilgore with the promise of Emma Hayes on the horizon. In the quarterfinal, the U.S. faced a physical and emotional match-up with Colombia that resulted in 31 total fouls and seven yellow cards, one of which went to Rodman. The game featured plenty of players expressing their frustrations.

“I feel like because I am emotional, people think that I’m not as coachable or approachable in those situations,” she says. “But I’m extremely open to criticism. I want coaches’ opinions, players’ opinions. I want the people that I’m around, I want to know what they’re feeling.”

USWNT coach Hayes has embraced this approach.

“I’ve learned a lot, and Emma’s honestly helped me because she’s made it clear, like, ‘Hey, I don’t want to force you to be somebody you’re not.’ She just says there’s a time and place for that.

“From the Olympics until now, I feel like it’s been a completely different me, and I’ve still had those moments where I’m just like, ‘Oh my gosh,’ or I’m mocking someone, or talking smack or whatever. I think it’s a balance, for sure, it’s finding the time to do it strategically.

“Even with the lack of time she had with me, (Hayes) knew how to say it to me without overstepping in a way… It was really nice in the way that she did it, and just the way that she did it as a coach and a human.

“The coach side is like, ‘Alright, we need to chill. We want you on the field. We don’t want you getting reds. We don’t want the ref to not side with us because of this.’ But at the same time, like, ‘I get it. You can have those moments, but if you have those moments, we’re going to have Lindsay (Horan) come over, we’re going to have Soph (Smith) come over. We’re going to have Rose (Lavelle) come over to mediate, like, good cop, bad cops situation.’”

We watch Rodman’s assist at the end of the first half to Jaedyn Shaw against Colombia. The USWNT’s opponent was playing a high defensive line, trying to catch the U.S. forwards offside.

“It’s a really dangerous game to play, to be honest. I think it’s really smart, but if they get it a little bit wrong,” Rodman warns. “I’m always trying to get the advantage, and I realize that I don’t need to be on the back line to get the advantage. My momentum is already going forward.

“So for me in this clip, I was trying to just get my distance, get my positioning first, and I knew that by the time that I had rounded to get the space I’d be able to then just go and still have that momentum to beat them.

“I think I’m just trying to create separation and still have my momentum. I feel like that’s something that is so important, especially with this, if you can still be running the whole time on an offside trap. You don’t have to stop to make sure you’re on.”

The origin of the ‘Trin Spin’

A key part of Rodman’s game is her daring to try new things, which is how the ‘Trin Spin’ came about.

Has she ever practiced it?

“No, because I know that it’s not going to work in training,” she says. “Everyone I go against here, they’re like, ‘Don’t try it. It’s not going to work.’ I know it’s not going to.”

Rodman started doing the move in 2023. She tried it one game against the Seattle Reign just to see what would happen.

“Now I am smarter with it. I’m able to really figure out when the right timing is and how to do it,” Rodman says.

“It’s not even like knowledge. When this happens, it’s the weirdest thing. I can feel exactly when they’re at their last step to get behind me. I don’t even know how to explain this in a better way, but I think there’s obviously a lot of times I get on the sideline where my body’s not open and it’s facing backward, and I’m like, ‘OK, there’s literally only one logical way to get by.’”

She waits for her moment, which is sometimes not until she feels a player’s hand on her back. She knows if she’s standing with her feet apart, so is the defender.

Over the summer, Rodman debuted the move on the biggest stage, using it to score the opening goal of the Paris Olympics against Zambia. The U.S. won the game 3-0 and went on to win gold a few weeks later.

THE USWNT IS OFF AND RUNNING. 🇺🇸
Trinity Rodman with a tidy turn and finish to open the scoring against Zambia! #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/yyorSnoMSD
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 25, 2024
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“I feel like the Trin Spin has also been the entertainment of soccer. This is proof that soccer should be fun.

“Even when I do it, I’m like, ‘he he.’ I feel like I just did it to my brother growing up, and I’m like, ‘Gotcha, try again tomorrow.” Obviously cool on the soccer piece, but it’s even more rewarding to know that the entire stadium is just like, ‘Oh my gosh.” I think that’s the coolest part, entertaining and people want to watch it because I’m fun, not just because I’m good.”

It’s what brings her joy during the game and after when she gets to share those moments with fans.

“I think it gives them something to talk about, but also it’s fun to interact with the fans about silly moments like that as if they’re my friend,” she says. “It’s humbling, but also a very social interaction.”

For Rodman, the last four years have been about learning.

“When I look back and go through the years of my development, I would say there’s been more selflessness in my game,” she says. “I love setting players up as well as having the attention and doing cool things and drawing defenders in and shooting. But for me, I feel like the improvement has really come with the connection that I have with my team, the awareness of the spaces that they’re filling and running off of me.”

In her rookie year, Rodman experienced highs of winning the NWSL Championship and earning rookie of the year. But off the field, the team’s head coach was removed after reports of verbal and emotional abuse — the first of six coaching changes she’s gone through at the club level. The team also went through a public ownership change with Michele Kang eventually buying the team from previous owner Steve Baldwin. Off the field, the club was getting pulled in multiple directions. On it, players were finding ways to pull together.

“I feel like my biggest takeaway that year was that it’s so important to learn from other players, even if you’re fighting for the spot against them,” Rodman says. “For me, even watching games from 2021, if I had one good play, I would get kind of selfish and want to outshine other people. I cringe when I watch those games, because I’m like, “Ew! Why did I take that shot? Why did I dribble there? That was gross.’

“I’m learning from even the rookies this year. … It’s crazy to accept the fact that you’re not going to be the best player on the field every game. And as talented as I am, I know that, and that’s helped me so much.”

And Rodman is still learning. She sees herself as an incomplete player, in a positive way.

“I always want there to be 10 percent that we could find, so in my game right now I would say it’s incomplete,” she says. “I’m at my most confident and aggressive style of play, but also I’m in my student era of soccer.”

(Top photos: Brad Smith/ISI/Getty Images; Design: Meech Robinson)

Related Topics:Featured NWSL soccer us womens national team Washington Spirit

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Sports

Most interesting NBA awards: An unknown Rookie of the Year? Wide-open Most Improved race?

Published

1 hour ago

December 25, 2024

Press Room

Most interesting NBA awards: An unknown Rookie of the Year? Wide-open Most Improved race?

All your favorite characters are competing for the same NBA award once again.

Nikola Jokić is the MVP favorite. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander follows him up. Two-time winner Giannis Antetokounmpo is on their tails, as are Jayson Tatum and Luka Dončić. Those five made up First Team All-NBA last season. Now, they make up the quintet atop the 2024-25 MVP race.

Christmas isn’t just Santa’s day. It’s also the marker of when NBA talk reaches the public sphere, which means it’s time to discuss the battles for the league’s most prestigious awards.

For MVP, the fight isn’t so bloody. Jokić is the obvious No. 1 today. He’s three-tenths of an assist away from averaging a triple-double; the advanced metrics (which have always painted him as a higher being) are greater than ever; and the shooting splits are out of a video game. On top of it all, he’s nailing a league-leading 51 percent of his 3-pointers.

If the season ended today, a fourth Jokić MVP would be on the way. Of course, there are still more than four months to go.

It’s difficult to infuse a team’s record into any reasonable candidate’s argument right now. Jokić’s Denver Nuggets provide the perfect example.

Denver is 16-11, fifth in the Western Conference. It is only two back of second place in the loss column. Yet, it’s only two up of ninth place in the loss column.

One bad week, and the Nuggets are in the bottom half of the Play-In Tournament, which would bump Jokić down a slot or two. It’s difficult to dub someone MVP if his team isn’t in the playoffs, even if Jokić somehow breaks mathematics as we know them and starts shooting 107 percent from the field.

Gilgeous-Alexander could become the favorite to win his first MVP in that case. His Oklahoma City Thunder are atop the Western Conference, and he’s the leading reason. Or maybe the Milwaukee Bucks go on a run, which inspires a third trophy for Antetokounmpo. Neither Tatum nor Dončić is out of the race, either.

As of today, my ballot would include those five. Let’s go with:

Nikola Jokić
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Jayson Tatum
Luka Dončić

But the MVP race is not done — nor are others.

The NBA is littered with interesting awards races so far this season. Here are four more of them:

Who finishes second and third in Defensive Player of the Year?

Just look at how the Philadelphia 76ers ended the first quarter Monday night.

All they wanted to do was get up a shot, any shot, before the buzzer sounded. Their only strategy was to pray. That was not enough.

Kyle Lowry rose for a fadeaway jumper with seemingly no one around him, but the San Antonio Spurs employ one man whose arms appear twice the width of the court. That man swatted Lowry, then trailed Caleb Martin, who recovered the loose ball, and knocked Martin’s shot out of bounds at the buzzer.

We don’t need to call any award race over yet, especially because players must participate in at least 65 games to be eligible for most of them, but there is an obvious leader in Defensive Player of the Year. If Victor Wembanyama is on the court, you don’t score on the Spurs. He has 18 blocks over his past two games alone. He’s pacing to become the first player to average four rejections a game since Dikembe Mutombo in 1995-96 — and keep in mind, it was far easier to block shots then, considering how many more were inside the 3-point arc. The Spurs defense is more than 10 points per 100 possessions better when Wembanyama is on the court.

He is the world’s greatest defender right now. But who could follow him on the ballot?

Could there be an all-French top two? Rudy Gobert, the four-time winner of this award, has still helped the Minnesota Timberwolves to sixth in points allowed per possession, despite holes elsewhere on the roster. Opponents stop attacking the paint whenever Gobert is around. His team allows 8.3 percent fewer shots at the rim when he’s on the court, the largest differential for any player in the NBA, according to Cleaning the Glass. Almost all of those layups turn into midrange jumpers, not 3s.

Could it be Bam Adebayo, who has a similar effect on the Miami Heat’s opponent shot profile? Could Jaren Jackson Jr. contend for a second Defensive Player of the Year? Could Evan Mobley re-enter the conversation he was in a couple of years ago, when he finished second? The Cleveland Cavaliers own the best record in the league, and opponents are shooting 9.3 percentage points worse at the rim when Mobley is on the court, by far the largest differential in the NBA.

Could a perimeter player vault to the spot behind Wembanyama? Defensive Player of the Year is usually reserved for big men, but Dyson Daniels might have something to say about that. Daniels is getting steals on 4.4 percent of his possessions, the highest steal rate for any player since Tony Allen in 2010-11. He has 72 more deflections than De’Aaron Fox, who is second in the league. For reference, that’s the same difference as the one between Fox and 147th place. Daniels isn’t just a gambler. He’s a pest on the ball. Dribblers can’t jolt past him. As long as he keeps performing like this, he’s a lock for All-Defense, but he has two main knocks against him.

First, a perimeter player can’t affect team defense like a big man can. And second (which may just be further proof of the previous point), the Hawks are actually better defensively with Daniels off the court. And that’s not just because Daniels plays many of his minutes alongside the defensively challenged Trae Young. When Daniels is on the court and Young is off, the Hawks defense is a sieve.

If not Daniels, does OG Anunoby, an off-ball maestro who can cut off an entire side of the court, have a case to slide onto the ballot? How about Amen Thompson, who comes off the bench in Houston but still inspires fury among opposing starters like few others? The Rockets may be the NBA’s most-physical team defending the perimeter. No one there is better in that aspect than Thompson.

Ballot, as of today:
1. Victor Wembanyama
2. Dyson Daniels
3. Evan Mobley

What is a most improved player?

Franz Wagner was the obvious choice here, but an oblique injury will likely make him ineligible to win. And because of that, debating who is the most improved will say more about the debaters than it will about the candidates.

Is a vast improvement in shot-making the way to determine the victor? If so, the LA Clippers’ Norman Powell is the current favorite, but it’s still early enough and Powell’s scoring numbers (24.1 points per game and 47 percent 3-point shooting on 8.1 attempts a night) are so through the roof that there must be some regression on the way — though it’s not like Powell is putting up empty numbers. The Clippers are winning more than anyone could have expected, and their offense is more than 10 points per 100 possessions better with Powell on the court, according to Cleaning the Glass.

GO DEEPER

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Payton Pritchard has a case. He’s nearly doubled his 3-point volume, is sinking a higher percentage than ever, is the planet’s sneakiest offensive rebounder and has gone from cutesie, full-court-shot specialist to Sixth Man of the Year leader.

De’Andre Hunter is another player who’s hitting jumpers like never before, though he’s developed in other ways, too. He’s getting to the line more than ever. Hunter used to avoid contact. Now he finishes through it, a big sticking point for Hawks head coach Quin Snyder.

Yet, there are other types of improvement to deliberate.

Another Hawk, Jalen Johnson, should be on the list. Atlanta has handed more opportunities to Johnson this season, who is a better facilitator than ever. He’s never created his own shot this much and has never set up teammates like this. The Hawks offense is not just the Young show anymore. And Johnson is putting up the counting stats we normally associate with winners of this award: 19.4 points, 10.1 rebounds and 5.6 assists. He might be an All-Star this season.

RJ Barrett’s passing is worth a mention. Barrett has gone from looking for his shot first, second and third to learning how to change speeds in pick-and-rolls. He loves flinging cross-court zingers to shooters while leading the break. He had never posted a double-digit assist game coming into this season. He’s already done it five times in 2024-25. His assist rate right now is twice his career average.

Some other players who could sneak onto the list include Cade Cunningham (who is running an offense better than ever and should be an All-Star), Daniels (because of the defensive leap), Mobley (who is handling the ball more than ever in Cleveland) and Nikola Vučević (whose percentages put prime Dirk Nowitzki to shame and must be bound to come down but for now force his entry onto this list).

Ballot, as of today:
1. Jalen Johnson
2. Norman Powell
3. RJ Barrett

Who lands the final spot on the Rookie of the Year ballot?

As with M.I.P., one player had first place virtually locked up, and then that player (in this case, the 76ers’ Jared McCain) got hurt. Now, the race for Rookie of the Year has all the vibes of the one from 2017, when second-round pick Malcolm Brogdon won.

This season’s Brogdon is the Grizzlies’ Jaylen Wells, a fellow second-rounder who is starting for a top-three team in the West and has been highly efficient in the process. The Pelicans’ Yves Missi is doing his best to make something of a lost season in New Orleans. Tune into the Pels each month and Missi, a ferocious finisher and top-flight athlete, is doing something new a bit better.

GO DEEPER

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As with M.I.P., your third-place choice might say more about you than it does about the candidates.

The Spurs’ Stephon Castle has started for a winning team and is already a feisty defender, but the shooting isn’t up to snuff yet. The Grizzlies’ Zach Edey has missed some time and isn’t playing loads of minutes but is a scoring machine already. The Hawks’ Zaccharie Risacher cannot make a shot but is one of a few long defenders Atlanta has lining its wings. The Trail Blazers’ Donovan Clingan isn’t playing much but would own the NBA’s second-highest block rate (behind only Wembanyama) if he qualified for the league leaders. The Lakers’ Dalton Knecht isn’t connecting lately but has started occasionally for a winning team and is liable to catch fire at any point.

The candidates are underwhelming. But you have to choose three.

Ballot, as of today:
1. Jaylen Wells
2. Yves Missi
3. Stephon Castle

The Coach of the Year race

There isn’t a coach with a more difficult job this season than the Spurs’ Mitch Johnson, who had to take over a young team that hasn’t finished above .500 in six years after Gregg Popovich suffered a stroke. Yet, as the Spurs await Popovich’s return, they are 15-14. Just about every player is performing at his capabilities.

And yet, it doesn’t matter when it comes to awards.

Toss Johnson’s résumé into the same bin that held Luke Walton’s in 2016, when the Golden State Warriors went 39-4 after Walton took over temporarily for head coach Steve Kerr, who could not patrol the sidelines during that time because of a back injury. Johnson is not officially the head coach of the Spurs and thus is not eligible for Coach of the Year.

But even without him, there are too many qualified candidates to choose from. At least six coaches could justify first-place votes.

Kenny Atkinson took over a team that underwhelmed a season ago and has helped it to the best record in the NBA. The Cavs are 26-4.

GO DEEPER

Inside the low-tech meeting that supercharged Donovan Mitchell and the Cavs

Jamahl Mosley’s Magic have suffered injury after injury. Paolo Banchero, the team’s sole All-Star, has played five games all season. Now, both Wagners (Franz and Moe) are out. Yet, Orlando’s identity is distinct. Battle the Magic and, win or lose, you will leave the arena with a sore back, neck, shoulder, knee — you name it. Most importantly, they’re winning: 19-12, fourth in the East.

Taylor Jenkins has transformed the 20-10 Grizzlies. If you think NBA teams all play the same style nowadays, check out Memphis. Jenkins and assistant Noah LaRoche have implemented an offense based around quirky cutting, stuff few others around the league are running. The Grizzlies use an extended rotation and don’t run their guys for many minutes. No one averages more than 28. It’s working. Memphis is a contender.

After Paul George left in free agency and without Kawhi Leonard even playing a game yet, the Clippers should not be this good, sitting at 17-13 as they await the return of Leonard. They guard like maniacs. Such is the beauty of employing Ty Lue, who has somehow never won this award.

Ime Udoka has the most typical case. The Rockets are the NBA’s surprise team. Their identity could not have adjusted more from its one before Udoka arrived in town. Houston tosses hound after hound at its opponents. It plays as hard as any team in the league. It’s disciplined. No one wants to face the Rockets, who are young, yet are second in the league in points allowed per possession.

Let’s throw reigning Coach of the Year Mark Daigneault into the mix, too. The Thunder are in the process of running away with the West despite a significant injury to rising star Chet Holmgren.

Voters could justify including the Heat’s Erik Spoelstra whenever they want. The New York Knicks’ Tom Thibodeau helped a renovated, offense-first roster to a 19-10 record. Michael Malone is navigating injuries aplenty and the loss of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope out West.

This is unquestionably the most gut-wrenching ballot to fill out right now.

Ballot, as of today:
1. Kenny Atkinson
2. Ime Udoka
3. Jamahl Mosley

(Top photo of Jaylen Wells: Justin Ford / Getty Images)

Sports

Netflix under pressure with Christmas Day NFL slate after Tyson-Paul streaming debacle

Published

2 hours ago

December 25, 2024

Press Room

Netflix under pressure with Christmas Day NFL slate after Tyson-Paul streaming debacle

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The NFL is giving fans a present on Christmas, with two high-profile matchups between AFC contenders with a lot of playoff implications.

The Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers play at 1 p.m. ET, and the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans play at 4:30 p.m. ET, with both games streaming exclusively on Netflix.

After many had streaming issues during the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight in November, Netflix is under a lot of pressure to ensure their viewers don’t have any issues watching the games.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is introduced prior to a game against the Houston Texans at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. (Denny Medley-Imagn Images)

One Netflix subscriber even filed a lawsuit against Netflix for “breach of contract” because of constant glitches during the fight, per TMZ.

This will be the first time an NFL game has been streamed exclusively on Netflix, and no matter how the viewing experience is for fans on Wednesday, it won’t be the last game they see on the streaming service.

The NFL and Netflix announced in May that they agreed to a three-year deal where the streaming service will broadcast at least one Christmas Day game over the life of the deal.

Brandon Riegg, Netflix’s vice president of nonfiction series and sports, said the company learned from what went wrong in the Tyson-Paul fight.

“The sheer tonnage of people that came to watch was incredible. And for all the testing that the engineering team had done ahead of that, and I think they’re the best in the business, the only way to test something of that magnitude is to have something of that magnitude,” Riegg said.

PATRICK MAHOMES PLAYS THROUGH ANKLE SPRAIN TO LEAD CHIEFS TO VICTORY VS. TEXANS

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson takes the field against the Cleveland Browns at Acrisure Stadium. (Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images)

“We never want to have technical issues or a disappointing experience for our members. There was a subset of people that were watching that struggled with that and we acknowledge that. The good news is they stress-tested the system to such a degree that there’s a lot of these fixes and improvements that they realized that they could make, and they’re applying all that stuff.”

Netflix’s first test will be a showdown between the Chiefs (14-1) and Steelers (10-5).

The Chiefs have already secured their ninth consecutive AFC West title and are now playing for the No. 1 seed in the AFC, which would grant them the all-important bye week.

If the Chiefs were to win on Wednesday, they would have the No. 1 seed locked up before Week 18, giving head coach Andy Reid a chance to rest his starters during the final week of the regular season.

The Chiefs are coming off a 27-19 win over the Texans on Saturday, where quarterback Patrick Mahomes played well. The star quarterback threw for 260 yards and a touchdown, while rushing for 33 yards and a touchdown despite playing through an ankle sprain.

RAVENS’ LAMAR JACKSON EAGER TO WATCH BEYONCÉ HALFTIME SHOW: ‘SORRY FELLAS’

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens breaks through the Bengals defense for a touchdown reception at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati on Dec. 1, 2024. (IMAGN)

The Steelers, on the other hand, are coming off a tough 34-17 loss against their arch-rival Ravens on Saturday.

It looked like the Steelers were going to have a chance to come back after safety Minkah Fitzpatrick intercepted Lamar Jackson down 24-17 in the fourth quarter.

However, Ravens’ cornerback Marlon Humphrey thwarted any chance of a Steelers’ comeback with a Pick Six off Russell Wilson on the ensuing drive, putting the Ravens up 31-17 and effectively sealing the win.

The Steelers’ defense had a tough time handling running back Derrick Henry, who ran the ball 24 times for 162 yards in the win for Baltimore.

For the Steelers, their game against the Chiefs is crucial to winning the AFC North. Pittsburgh has already clinched a playoff spot, but their loss on Saturday was a big blow to their chances of winning the division, as the Ravens are also 10-5.

TEXANS COACH REVEALS EXTENT OF TANK DELL’S HORRIFIC INJURY

Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey returns an interception for a touchdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers at M&T Bank Stadium. (Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images)

Some good news for the Steelers is that wide receiver George Pickens has a “real chance” to play against the Chiefs, coach Mike Tomlin said on Sunday.

Pickens has missed the last three games, and he’s been sorely missed. In the three games without Pickens, the Steelers are averaging just 248.3 yards per game, almost 77 yards less than their season average of 324.9.

As big a blow as the loss was for the Steelers on Saturday, the Ravens win over Pittsburgh was just as big a boost for them.

The Ravens played well on Saturday, outgaining the Steelers 418-315 in terms of yards, with 220 of those yards coming on the ground.

Jackson threw three touchdowns in the win, and will have a chance to make his MVP case with the whole world watching on Wednesday.

The Ravens quarterback is having another fantastic year, as Jackson and Bills’ quarterback Josh Allen are considered the two favorites for the award.

TEXANS ADD PRO BOWL WIDE RECEIVER DIONTAE JOHNSON AFTER DEVASTATING INJURY TO TANK DELL

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson throws against the Pittsburgh Steelers at M&T Bank Stadium. (Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images)

A win for the Ravens on Christmas would go a long way in their race against the Steelers for the AFC North crown.

The Ravens (10-5) are taking on the Texans (9-6) in the second part of the NFL’s Christmas doubleheader on Netflix.

They are taking on a Texans team that just lost to the Chiefs. In addition to the loss, the Texans also lost second-year wide receiver Tank Dell for the season after he suffered a gruesome leg injury while catching a touchdown in the loss.

The Texans also lost wide receiver Stefon Diggs for the season after the star receiver tore his ACL, leaving what was once a strong wide receiving corps now thin.

A win over the Ravens on Christmas for the Texans would not only clinch them a playoff spot, but also the AFC South title and a home playoff game.

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud scrambles against Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Drue Tranquill at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. (Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images)

The Texans-Ravens matchup will also come with a special halftime performance by Beyoncé.

All four of the teams playing on Wednesday are playing their third game in 11 days.

With so many playoff implications, and a big halftime performance, Netflix will be under a lot of pressure from NFL fans and the “BeyHive” to make sure things go off without a hitch.

Fox News’ Jackson Thompson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Sports

Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan headlines Santa Anita opening day on Thursday

Published

3 hours ago

December 25, 2024

Press Room

Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan headlines Santa Anita opening day on Thursday

Santa Anita Park is opening its 90th season Thursday filled with the kind of cautious optimism that is common in most sports. Make no mistake, this is a big — some might say make-or-break — year for the storied Arcadia track that many consider the most beautiful horse racing facility in the United States.

The track is fighting for its future, struggling to get a foothold in a national racing landscape that is supported by supplemental gaming income. But not in California, at least not now.

This opening day has something the track hasn’t had in a while — the reigning Kentucky Derby champion. running . You have to go back to 1997 when Derby winner Silver Charm ran in the Malibu Stakes after winning the first two legs of the Triple Crown before finishing second in the Belmont. The difference? He was based at Santa Anita.

No doubt about it, Mystik Dan, winner of this year’s Derby, is the centerpiece for what is possibly the best day of racing during the almost six-month season. He’ll be going in the seven-furlong Grade 1 Malibu Stakes, one of six graded stakes on the 11-race card.

Getting Mystik Dan and trainer Kenny McPeek to commit to the race was a lot easier then actually getting the horse to Santa Anita.

Among racing’s many problems is that there are no dedicated air shipping companies that make moving horses around the country easy. Racing uses FedEx — yes that FedEx — which suspends horse shipping in early December so it can more easily move holiday packages.

“The logistics were complicated,” McPeek said. “The last and only plane was going out of Florida on Dec. 9 and we are based in New Orleans. We would have had to ship him to Miami and then Miami to L.A. We didn’t want to go that early and we weren’t committed to the race yet.

“I needed to get a gate workout out of him and needed to make sure he was good and in a routine.”

All of that worked out just fine, and Mystik Dan was headed to California with Santa Anita picking up the shipping costs.

Those who travel during the holidays are used to long trips, but only the hardiest would try a 1,900-mile van ride. Yet that’s how it worked out.

Assistant trainer Dermot Magner and Greg Morehead, director of operations for McPeek, took turns doing the driving for the first two days with a stopover at Zia Park in Hobbs, N.M.

“He got a good night’s rest and then vanned the rest of the way the next day,” McPeek said, making sure to thank officials at Zia Park for their hospitality. “He’s a good traveler. It was easy. He had plenty of room to lay down if he wanted. He could eat, we had buckets and tubs [of food] in there. There was plenty of space. It was uneventful.”

Mystik Dan settled into Barn 54 at Santa Anita last Wednesday and on Sunday the colt did a three-furlong speed workout to ready him for the race. Barn 54 also is occupied by trainer Karen Headley. Her father, the late Bruce Headley, and McPeek were longtime friends and Headley’s barn is where McPeek would stable his horses when running in California.

The Malibu Stakes is an odd choice for the Kentucky Derby winner because of the low purse amount of $300,000, the minimum required for a Grade 1 race.

McPeek is looking at the long game.

“It’s the last Grade 1, 3-year-old race of the year,” McPeek said. “I think as a stallion prospect, a lot of people who breed want to see the horse be a fast sprinter. We’re pretty confident he has that kind of talent. He broke his maiden gong 5½ [furlongs] and he’s perfectly capable of sprinting. It takes a very good horse to do this. I think it’s a good opportunity to prove that he can.”

Mystik Dan hasn’t raced since the Belmont Stakes, the third Triple Crown races in five weeks. He won the Derby in a blanket finish by a nose then came back two weeks later to finish second behind Seize the Grey in the Preakness. Mystik Dan then finished eighth in the Belmont.

“He campaigned pretty steady for almost a year,” McPeek said. “Coming out of the Belmont, Brian [Hernandez Jr., jockey] didn’t think he liked Saratoga’s surface. So, we only had the Travers [at Saratoga] and Pennsylvania Derby to point to. So, I thought let’s give him a break and let him fill out. We’ll regroup and point him to later in the year.”

Mystik Dan has had nine timed workouts since returning to the track.

“I fully expect him to win,” McPeek said. “Absolutely he’s ready to run. He’s had a nice series of breezes. He’s been on a steady routine. He hasn’t missed a step. The hardest part of this trip was getting him there.”

Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. gets a high-five from trainer Kenny McPeek while aboard Mystik Dan in the Kentucky Derby Winner’s Circle.

(Jeff Roberson / Associated Press)

Crazy as it sounds, Mystik Dan is not the most celebrated 3-year-old in McPeek’s barn. He also has Thorpedo Anna, a filly who won six of seven races this year including the Kentucky Oaks and Breeders’ Cup Distaff. She is a lock to win the Eclipse Award for best 3-year-old filly and certainly has the résumé to win horse of the year.

Mystik Dan, if he wins the Malibu, is likely to make the final three for the Eclipse for 3-year-old male, although Fierceness is the favorite.

There is another Eclipse candidate in the McPeek barn and that is the trainer. The favorite for the award is Chad Brown, who has put up impressive numbers. But McPeek did something that hasn’t been done since 1952, winning the Kentucky Oaks for fillies and the Kentucky Derby on consecutive days.

“It would be a pleasant surprise,” McPeek said. “I certainly don’t have Chad Brown’s depth of talent and quality. What I’m most proud of is we don’t have million-dollar yearlings floating around all the time. We’ve been doing it with working-class horses. Thorpedo Anna was 40 grand and Mystik Dan was a homebred that I actually did the mating on.

“I do a lot of picking my own yearlings and I’m really proud we’ve been able to compete at the highest level.”

Bill Finley, a respected columnist for the Thoroughbred Daily News, even made the case for McPeek to win the Eclipse for top trainer. (The Times does not vote in the Eclipse Awards.)

“While he’ll never equal Brown’s numbers, McPeek had a year that was truly special, one that captivated the sport and reminded us there is more to this than raw numbers,” Finley wrote. “McPeek made every right move, many of which were ‘good for the game.’”

In a sport that retires its stars instead of running them, McPeek is very much looking forward to Mystik Dan’s 4-year-old campaign. The first possibility for Mystik Dan, providing everything works out well in the Malibu, is the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream, at $3 million the second-richest race in the U.S. behind only the Breeders’ Cup. But that’s chump change, if such a thing can be said of seven-figure purses, compared to the $20-million Saudi Cup and $12-million Dubai World Cup.

“We’re going to consider the Pegasus and the Middle East,” McPeek said. “We’ll let him tell us. He’s not run against older horses yet. We’ll wait and see.”

Mystik Dan’s racing career will end before McPeek’s training career. In fact, McPeek, 62, has a timetable.

“I’ve said all along, I’ll do this until I’m 70 or 72,” he said. “Maybe 10 more years. It’ll be 50 years of training if I do it until I’m 72.”

As for his bucket list before retirement, it’s extensive, with a strong international flavor.

“I’d like to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the Dubai World Cup, the Saudi Cup, the Arc de Triomphe, the English (Epsom) Derby and the English Oaks,” he said with a chuckle.

But if he had to pick one?

“I really do want to win the English Derby. I’ll do that before I retire.”

For now, he’ll be happy with a win Thursday.