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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

Owen Lewis is a former Defector intern and has written for The Guardian, The Second Serve, The Athletic, n+1, Texas Monthly, Air Mail, and other publications.

Owen Lewis

Iga Swiatek of Poland drops her racket as she stretches for a backhand against Aryna Sabalenka in the Women's Singles Semi Final match on Day Twelve of the 2025 French Open at Roland Garros on June 05, 2025 in Paris, France.

Tennis

Iga Swiatek Abdicates Her Clay Throne

charismatic megafauna (they/them)

Sabrina Imbler

CT scan of the front of a skate, showing the hard, tooth-like denticles on its skin (shown in orange)

Creaturefector

The “Tooth Hurty” Joke Has Its Origins In Ancient, Armored Fish

Barry Petchesky

, TX - MAY 29: Dallas Stars head coach Pete DeBoer takes questions from the media after game 5 of the Western Conference Final between the Dallas Stars and the Edmonton Oilers on May 29, 2025 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Pete DeBoer Just Loves Making Conference Finals And Getting Fired

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 Point B. Handsomest man in the world.

Drew Magary

NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers walks up the 16th hole during the practice round prior to the WM Phoenix Open 2025 at TPC Scottsdale on February 05, 2025 in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Steelers, Aaron Rodgers Agree To 18 Weeks Of Darkness

Tom Ley

Tyrese Haliburton #0 of the Indiana Pacers scores a basket with .3 seconds remaining during the fourth quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game One of the 2025 NBA Finals at Paycom Center on June 05, 2025 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. 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.

We Must Consider Whether The Pacers Have A Pact With Beelzebub Himself

David Roth

St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Brendan Donovan (33) as seen during a Major League Baseball game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Royals on May 18, 2025. Just a real Cardinals-looking guy.

Podcasts

A Residence At One Cardinal Way, With Will Leitch

Kathryn Xu

This photograph shows a TGV inoui high speed train of the French national SNCF rail company SNCF running in Nantes, western France, on April 4, 2025.

Transit

All The Trains I Rode In France

a photo of Patrick Kelly, a Doctoral Candidate at Brown University School of Public Health, whose NIH National Institute on Drug Abuse funded doctoral research was terminated

Interviews

An Interview With A Public Health Researcher Whose Funding Was Terminated By The Trump Administration

Albert Burneko

Luis Paez-Pumar

Ray Ratto

Patrick Redford

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder drives around Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers during the fourth quarter on March 29, 2025 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Before You Is The Defector Mega-Preview Of The 2025 NBA Finals. Kneel!

LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers dunks the ball against the Minnesota Timberwolves during the second quarter in Game Five of the Western Conference First Round NBA Playoffs at Crypto.com Arena on April 30, 2025 in Los Angeles, 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.

Media Meltdowns

Curious, I’m No Longer Hearing Much Chatter From The Many Haters Who Claimed That LeBron James’s Podcast Would Never Become “#8 On Trending” And “#9 On Trending”

Lauren Theisen

Edmonton Oilers Goalie Stuart Skinner (74) gets set in the first period of game one of Stanley Cup Final

Stuart Skinner Was Good Enough

EDMONTON, CANADA - JUNE 04: Leon Draisaitl #29 of the Edmonton Oilers celebrates after scoring the game-winning goal to beat the Florida Panthers 4-3 during overtime in Game One of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place on June 04, 2025 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Codie McLachlan/Getty Images)

These Oilers Can Take A Punch

Maitreyi Anantharaman

The Dallas Wings bench reacts during the third quarter of the game against the Seattle Storm at Climate Pledge Arena on June 3, 2025 in Seattle, Washington.

WNBA

All The Dallas Wings Have Left Is A Prayer

A baseball game being projected onto the side of a French bulldog.

This Is So Stupid

Let’s Figure Out What Dodgers Game They Watched On The Bulldog

Veronica de Souza

Make It Nice

Make It Nice: Tile Trouble, Speaker Scenarios, And A Grown-Up Glow Up

SUNRISE, FLORIDA - JUNE 24: Leon Draisaitl #29 and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins #93 of the Edmonton Oilers react as the Florida Panthers celebrate their victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game Seven of the 2024 NHL Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena on June 24, 2024 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

So, What’s Gonna Happen This Time?

Staff Writer
Find me on Signal @DefectorChris.19

Chris Thompson

Paul Skenes reacts after giving up a home run in the seventh inning against the Houston Astros

Having Paul Skenes On Your Team Should Not Be Such A Bummer

DENVER, CO - MAY 11: Hitting Coach Clint Hurdle of the Colorado Rockies talks to Michael Toglia #4 in the dugout in the seventh inning against the San Diego Padres at Coors Field on May 11, 2025 in Denver, Colorado. Hurdle was named the interim bench coach after the game when Manager Bud Black and Bench Coach Mike Redmond were fired after the Rockies 7-33 start to the season.

Clint Hurdle Is Thinking Big Thoughts

Jae Towle Vieira [they/them] works as a producer for Normal Gossip. Their fiction has been published in The Normal School, New England Review, Carve Magazine, Passages North, Fairy Tale Review, and elsewhere.

Jae Towle Vieira

Normal Gossip logo with cartoon characters gossiping

Spontaneous Diffusions Of Vocal Energy

<div>Jen Kinney is a journalist and audio producer with a troubling fixation on debris, detritus, and discard.</div>

Jen Kinney

Capital

Seven Days At The Bin Store

Former Defector intern, now freelancer.
For professional inquiries or tips please write lucybl00m@protonmail.com or yuck.20 on Signal.
&nbsp;

Lucy Bloom

View from East 34th St Bridge, overlooking perhaps the world's most impenetrable highway interchange. I took a series of photos of it because I thought it was funny that there is not a single angle that captures all of its terminals.

Announcements

Sorry, You Only Get One This Year

Head coach Tom Thibodeau of the New York Knicks reacts against the Indiana Pacers during the fourth quarter in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Finals of the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on May 25, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana.