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This is Defector, a new sports blog and media company. We made this place together, we own it together, we run it together. Without access, without favor, without discretion, and without interference.

Defector

Ray Ratto

Adam Silver, commissioner of the National Basketball Association, watches the game during the second half between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Utah Jazz at Moda Center on March 13, 2026. He is looking extra turtle-ish.

The NBA’s Expansion Gambit Is About Getting Bigger, Not Better

<p>Staff Writer</p>
<p>Find me on Signal @DefectorChris.19</p>


Chris Thompson

A grainy black-and-white 1981 photo showing something that looks like an ape striding out of the woods.

Science

What Did The Migrating Bigfoot Family Know About This Ohio Meteor Explosion?

Barry Petchesky

Video Games

Nvidia Wants To Yassify Video Games

Kathryn Xu

A poster of the American animated movie "GOAT" displayed in a cinema in Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China.

This Is So Stupid

A Series Of Facts About ‘Goat,’ The Steph Curry Goat Movie

Luis Paez-Pumar

Max Dowman celebrates scoring Arsenal's second goal during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Everton at Emirates Stadium on March 14, 2026 in London, United Kingdom.

Soccer

Teenager Max Dowman Gave Arsenal A Major Coolness Boost

Kelsey McKinney

Michael B. Jordan kisses his oscar wearing a brown suit with three small broaches on the lapel.

Arts And Culture

Brooches Won The Oscars

Israel Daramola

Paul Thomas Anderson accepting an Academy Award

Paul Thomas Anderson Finally Gets His Coronation

Patrick Redford

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 10: Doug Christie head coach of the Sacramento Kings claps on the sideline during the second half against the Indiana Pacers at Golden 1 Center on March 10, 2026 in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kelley L Cox/Getty Images)

The Sacramento Kings Can’t Even Lose On Purpose

Albert Burneko

Politics

Trump To World: Please Help Me Un-Shoot My Own Leg Off

Lauren Theisen

College Basketball

Can I Interest You In A Billiken?

Racing

Fernando Alonso’s Extremities Pulped For Pointless Laps In A Worthless Lemon

Maitreyi Anantharaman

Quinn Kuntz #35 of the Wisconsin Badgers greets her team's mascot before the Division I Women's Ice Hockey Championship game against the Ohio State Buckeyes held at Ridder Arena on March 23, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Crosswords

The Crossword, March 16: Big Blowup

Tom Ley

Manager Mark DeRosa #9 takes the game ball from Paul Skenes #30 of Team USA during the 2026 World Baseball Classic WBC game

Mentally Ill Former Navy SEAL Inspires Team USA To WBC Final

Race winner Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy and Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team and Third placed Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Scuderia Ferrari talk in parc ferme.

The Chinese GP Proves Mercedes Domination Might Still Be Fun

Vinnie Pasquantino #9 of Team Italy is showered with ice water by Jakob Marsee.

Nobody’s Having More Fun Than The Italians

Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs kneels on the ice after being kneed by Radko Gudas of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks on March 12, 2026 in Toronto.

Auston Matthews Is Hurt And The Maple Leafs Are Burnt Toast

Dave McKenna

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - MARCH 11: A general view of a glass LED floor during the second round game of the Men's 2026 Big 12 Tournament at T-Mobile Center on March 11, 2026 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Big 12 Pulls Glass Court Following Conference Tournament Fiasco


<p>Diana Moskovitz is Defector&#8217;s investigations editor. You can contact her at diana@defector.com or dfmoskovitz@protonmail.com. She&#8217;s also on Signal @dmoskovitz.99</p>


Diana Moskovitz

ames Pearce Jr. #27 of the Atlanta Falcons walks toward the locker room at halftime of a NFL game between the Atlanta Falcons and the San Francisco 49ers on October 19, 2025 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, CA.

Rickea Jackson Told Court James Pearce Jr. “Will Kill Me”

Listening Habits

R&B Wants To Make Pop Music Fun Again

BUFFALO, NEW YORK - MARCH 12: Tage Thompson #72 of the Buffalo Sabres follows through on his shot during an NHL game against the Washington Capitals on March 12, 2026 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images)

That Puck Must Have Said Something About Tage Thompson’s Mother

<p>Columnist. Author of many <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Drew-Magary/e/B001JS8R52/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1">fine works of literature</a>, including <em>Point B</em>. Handsomest man in the world.</p>


Drew Magary

Vikings Attempt To Replicate Sam Darnold Experiment By Signing Shorter, Moodier Sam Darnold


<p>charismatic megafauna (they/them)</p>


Sabrina Imbler

Logo for the AI text editing company Grammarly at the Grammarly AI Hub in Austin, Texas, March 11, 2023. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

The Machines

Vindicated At Last In My Years-Long Loathing Of Grammarly

David Roth

A kebab is prepared in the Elbis-Döner restaurant at Berliner Straße 2 in Wilmersdorf. It looks good as hell.

Podcasts

Kebab Juice On The Windowpane, With Rohan Nadkarni

The Ticketmaster logo is displayed on a smartphone screen in this photo illustration. Ticketmaster's parent company, Live Nation Entertainment, currently faces a major antitrust trial in the United States, where regulators accuse the live-events giant of monopolizing the concert ticketing and promotion market, allegations the company denies, in Brussels, Belgium, on March 5, 2026. (Photo by Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto)

Capital

Live Nation Gets To Keep Its Monopoly Thanks To Trump’s Department Of Justice

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<div><a href="https://www.bystefanfatsis.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bystefanfatsis.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1759235100786000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1mlCW5_XUY56jklGr11a_z">Stefan Fatsis</a> is the author of four books: <a href="https://groveatlantic.com/book/unabridged/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://groveatlantic.com/book/unabridged/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1759235100786000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0jbw5ZscOBp6w-1um3R6yu"><i>Unabridged</i></a>, <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-few-seconds-of-panic-a-sportswriter-plays-in-the-nfl-stefan-fatsis/7891278" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-few-seconds-of-panic-a-sportswriter-plays-in-the-nfl-stefan-fatsis/7891278&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1759235100786000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0MpNNngIOKaj-715hSNVZD"><i>A Few Seconds of Panic</i></a>, <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/word-freak-heartbreak-triumph-genius-and-obsession-in-the-world-of-competitive-scrabblep-layers-stefan-fatsis/11648962" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://bookshop.org/p/books/word-freak-heartbreak-triumph-genius-and-obsession-in-the-world-of-competitive-scrabblep-layers-stefan-fatsis/11648962&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1759235100786000&amp;usg=AOvVaw02LL51Wrka0A0lLkwOxYUj"><i>Word Freak</i></a>, and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Wild-Outside-Renegade-Baseball-Heartland/dp/0802712975" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.com/Wild-Outside-Renegade-Baseball-Heartland/dp/0802712975&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1759235100786000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1YzbrZGW2KCbIttDDLhkPn"><i>Wild and Outside</i></a>. He&#8217;s also a former cohost of “Hang Up and Listen,” commentator on NPR&#8217;s &#8220;All Things Considered,&#8221; and reporter for <i>The Wall Street Journal</i>. Subscribe to his newsletter, <a href="https://stefanfatsis.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://stefanfatsis.substack.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1786480936396000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0fRpxgEOhbgbpR79WFcozC">Unabridged</a>.</div>
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Stefan Fatsis

A player reacts to a word being ruled invalid