The Big Lead

The Sports World of Last Weekend Seems Like a Lifetime Ago

By Stephen Douglas

LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo fight for a loose ball.
LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo fight for a loose ball. / Harry How/Getty Images
facebooktwitter

This is the week that lasted forever. American sports for all intents and purposes are over for the foreseeable future. In the grand scheme of things they seem trivial and far away, but the reality is we were knee-deep in regular sports stuff less than a week ago. Look at all the awesome, stupid things that happened just last weekend, when sports existed.

On Friday night, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Milwaukee Bucks on ESPN. LeBron James had 37 points, eight rebounds and eight assists as he started to make up some ground on Giannis Antetokounmpo in the MVP race. Giannis appeared to hurt his knee late in the game.

On Saturday the Brooklyn Nets fired coach Kenny Atkinson. Who was to blame? Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving? DeAndre Jordan, who went from the bench to the starting lineup when Jacque Vaughn became interim head coach?

The Dayton Flyers finished the regular season undefeated in the A-10 behind the spectacular play of Naismith Award semi-finalist Obi Toppin. Ranked No. 3 in the country, they were poised for their deepest March Madness run since the Archie Miller era.

Noah Syndergaard pitched in his underwear. The Hornets beat the Rockets while Russell Westbrook sat out and had his outfit roasted by the announcers. Drake and LeBron James attended a high school basketball game together.

On Sunday Dak Prescott got a new contract offer. Justin Verlander got injured, putting the start of his season in jeopardy. The highlight of the XFL was, again, a very long cup snake. Luke Walton got yelled at by a fan for not playing Buddy Hield when the Kings needed a late 3-pointer.

The Lakers beat the Clippers, making them the favorites to win the title. LeBron arguably became the MVP favorite, but Patrick Beverley said he was no challenge. Meanwhile, Giannis had an MRI on his knee.

In a different year we'd marvel at how far the XFL ratings have fallen. How much is Dak worth? Where will Tom Brady end up? We'd have spent this week wondering where Dayton would be seeded and how the Astros would deal with fans when the season started. LeBron - Giannis debates would grow tiresome. Instead, it's all been put on hold. Return to be determined.