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The Pulse Newsletter đŁ | This is The Athleticâs daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox. Good morning! Yesterday was an extremely busy news day.
No time to waste: While You Were Sleeping: Those Bucks are so hot right now There was little tomfoolery last night in Las Vegas, where instead of the wacky entertainment Iâd expected, we got a legitimate statement game from one of the NBA âs best teams. And Iâm not talking about the Western Conference-leading Thunder . The Milwaukee Bucks hoisted the long-hallowed NBA Cup with a 97-81 rout of Oklahoma City.
Giannis Antetokounmpo went for 26 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists to win NBA Cup MVP. As Antetokounmpo told The Athletic âs Eric Nehm, he never panicked about the bad start . It shows.
Congrats to two former Lakers , forward Taurean Prince and coach Darvin Ham, for becoming the first-ever back-to-back NBA Cup champions. On to bigger news: Falcons bench Cousins We may have seen this move coming, but it is nonetheless staggering: The Falcons are benching Kirk Cousins â the man they gave a guaranteed $100 million to this offseason â in favor of rookie Michael Penix Jr., whom they bewilderingly selected in the first round of this yearâs NFL Draft.
Whew. This was necessary. Cousins has been bad in his last five games (one touchdown and nine interceptions), and the 7-7 Falcons are still very much in the playoff hunt.
Atlanta now has a choice of what to do with him this offseason: release him ($65 million dead cap hit) or trade him. Yankees trade for Bellinger Outfielder Cody Bellinger, the 2019 NL MVP, is heading from the Cubs to the Yankees in a blockbuster deal, league sources confirmed to The Athletic yesterday . Itâs a huge swing for a Yankees team desperate for flashy talent after Juan Sotoâs departure.
After a bounce-back year in 2023, Bellinger regressed slightly last season, but remains an above-average hitter. Heâs also still young (29). Though the trade return was minimal, Keith Law says Bellinger isnât the best fit in New York .
Mahomes wants to play Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is pushing to play this weekend after suffering a sprained ankle Sunday, he said, which presents quite the dilemma in Kansas City. Mahomes says he is following an aggressive rehab plan in order to play, but at what cost? The Chiefs are 13-1 and two games clear of the Bills for the No. 1 seed.
Then again, can Carson Wentz beat 9-5 Houston ? More on the spirited debate here . More news đ« Love The Pulse? Check out The Athletic âs other newsletters . At ESPN, Lee Fitting was âa golden boy.
â The man who helped engineer the incredible rise of âCollege GameDay,â which is still the standard in live, on-site sports TV. Fitting may not be a household name for all sports fans, but his influence was widespread around the worldâs most popular sports network as a producer and executive. So it was surprising when ESPN cut ties with Fitting in August 2023 , just a week before college football season kicked off.
Now, according to a startling report from The Athletic âs Katie Strang and Andrew Marchand this morning, we know why. A few points that struck me: The full story is worth your time today . It strikes me that such a bright show, the embodiment of fun, had such a dark underbelly.
Letâs keep moving: đș NHL : Panthers at Wild 9:30 p.m. ET on TNT/Max These are two of the NHLâs best teams right now.
Iâm curious if we see Minnesota winger Kirill Kaprizov score another empty-netter, which has become a strangely controversial topic this year . đș CFB: Cal vs. No.
24 UNLV 9 p.m. ET on ESPN Bowl season, folks.
The Rebels had a bizarre (and successful) season that saw a starting QB leave three games in, followed by legit Playoff contention, and the Bears were the internetâs favorite program for a few weeks. Keep an eye on UNLV wideout Ricky White III, who made Dane Bruglerâs list of intriguing prospects not playing in the Playoff . Get tickets to games like these here .
đ§ âNBA Dailyâ breaks down the Bucksâ NBA Cup title, along with the lingering question: Why did the Thunder look so flat? Listen on Apple and Spotify . Speaking of the NFL Draft : Nick Baumgardner has a new mini-mock top 10 out this morning, with a surprising first overall pick. How bad are things in Buffalo? Sabres owner Terry Pegula flew to Montreal to meet with the team amid what is now an 11-game losing streak.
Matthew Fairburn has the scoop on how this all happened . Aston Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez made the save of the Premier League season. Tim Spiers wondered if it was the best EPL save ever.
I loved this . The Until Saturday crew is running a poll where you pick College Football Playoff winners. Vote here .
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday : Our story about the Pop-Tarts Bowl toaster trophy , of course. Most-read on the website yesterday : Week 16âs NFL Power Rankings , where we have a new No. 1 and No.
2. (Top photo: Kyle Terada / Imagn Images).
