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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.

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Defector

NYC: Come To Our WNBA Comedy Show On May 16

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Live Event

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Giri Nathan

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Zion Williamson Shows Signs Of Life After Nationwide Concern For His Conditioning

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Maitreyi Anantharaman

Ja Morant demonstrates check ball situation for his attorney.

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“Is A Basketball A Lethal Weapon?” And “Is Pulling Up Your Shorts A Fighting Stance?” Among Stupid Questions At Issue In Ja Morant Hearing

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.

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Drew Magary

Bear at the Wuppertal Zoo on April 8, 2009 in Wuppertal, Germany.

Animals Of Wuppertal Zoo

Funbag

Hear Me Out: Safe Bears

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Lauren Theisen

Toronto Maple Leafs v New York Islanders

John Tavares On Long Island Is No Longer Outrageous

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Tom Ley

Faruk Koca, President of MKE Ankaragucu throws a punch to the referee Halil Umut Meler after the Turkish Super Lig week 15 soccer match between MKE Ankaragucu and Rizespor at Eryaman Stadium in Ankara, Turkiye on December 11, 2023. The match ended 1-1.

MKE Ankaragucu President Faruk Koca punches referee Halil Umut Meler

Soccer

Turkish Soccer Suspended After Team President Sucker-Punches Referee

charismatic megafauna (they/them)

Typing

Sabrina Imbler

This photo illustration created on December 11, 2023 shows emojis on a smartphone screen in Washington, DC. Too many cats, not enough crustaceans: The current emoji catalog doesn't accurately represent the breadth of biodiversity seen in nature -- and that hurts conservation efforts, according to scientists. An analysis published on December 11, 2023 in the journal iScience found that while animals are well represented by the current emoji catalog, plants, fungi, and microorganisms get short shrift. (Photo by)

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Creaturefector

⚖️🌏➖🐻‍❄️🐻🐼🔀🪲🪲🪲🪲🪲🪲🪲🪲🪲⁉️

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Samer Kalaf

Palestinians carry a list of Gaza victims during a rally amid a general strike in the occupied West Bank.

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Politics

Palestinian Suffering Is Never As Urgent As The Counterfactual

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Patrick Redford

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 10: Bronny James #6 of the USC Trojans looks to catch the ball as LeBron James (R looks on ) from the stands during the first half against the Long Beach State 49ers at Galen Center on December 10, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)

Long Beach State v USC

College Basketball

Bronny James Finally Gets To Be A Basketball Player

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Ray Ratto

Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels watches a game against the Detroit Tigers at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on September 16, 2023 in Anaheim, California.

Detroit Tigers v Los Angeles Angels

Shohei Ohtani’s Free Agency Drove The Ball Writers Batty

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Vince Guerrieri is an award-winning journalist and author in the Cleveland area. He likes Lake Erie perch sandwiches, Jim Traficant and long walks on the field at League Park. His website is <a class="sc-1out364-0 hMndXN sc-145m8ut-0 kGbjEv js_link" href="http://vinceguerrieri.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-ga="[[&quot;Embedded Url&quot;,&quot;External link&quot;,&quot;http://vinceguerrieri.com/&quot;,{&quot;metric25&quot;:1}]]">vinceguerrieri.com</a>, and you can follow him on Twitter <a class="sc-1out364-0 hMndXN sc-145m8ut-0 kGbjEv js_link" href="https://twitter.com/vinceguerrieri" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-ga="[[&quot;Embedded Url&quot;,&quot;External link&quot;,&quot;https://twitter.com/vinceguerrieri&quot;,{&quot;metric25&quot;:1}]]">@vinceguerrieri</a>.
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Vince Guerrieri

Balloons, 1.5 million of them, curl around the Terminal Tower Building during Balloonfest '86 sponsored by the United Ways Services of Cleveland. The lift off will be entered into the Guinness World Book of Records.(Photo by Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)

Balloons Surrounding Terminal Building

History

Balloonfest Made Cleveland A Laughingstock. Did It Deserve It?

Hamilton Nolan is a journalist based in New York City. Subscribe to his work at <a href="https://www.hamiltonnolan.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.hamiltonnolan.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1687350200913000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0naFbUVOe-5ZgtPDtIM3gz">HamiltonNolan.com</a>.

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Hamilton Nolan

Devin Haney punches Regis Prograis during their WBC World Super Lightweight Title fight at Chase Center on December 09, 2023 in San Francisco, California.

Devin Haney v Regis Prograis

The Fights

Devin Haney Brought The Future To Regis Prograis

Victoria Vivians #35 of the Indiana Fever tries to steal the ball from Candace Parker #3 of the Las Vegas Aces in the second quarter of their game at Michelob ULTRA Arena on June 24, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Indiana Fever v Las Vegas Aces

Crosswords

The Crossword, Dec. 11: Have A Ball

Visual Editor. Runs <a href="http://defectorstore.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">defectorstore.com</a>. Philadelphia-based, if you couldn’t tell.

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Dan McQuade

ARLINGTON, TX - DECEMBER 10: Dallas Cowboys fans hold up a sign during the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles on December 10, 2023 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

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My Newborn Son Is Already Getting The Eagles Fan Experience

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You Have To Stand In The Right Spot

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David Roth

A photo of the cross-section of the samosa sandwich from Punjabi Junction in Manhattan. It has classic deli sandwich stuff on it but is most notable for containing smushed up samosas.

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Food

Time For My Weird Sandwich

Godzilla standing and I guess yelling, as seen during the trailer to the film Godzilla Minus One.

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Arts And Culture

Six Things You Are Not Allowed To Say To Me About ‘Godzilla Minus One’

Anthony Davis celebrates a basket during the Lakers' win over the Pacers in the final of the NBA's In-Season Tournament.

Indiana Pacers v Los Angeles Lakers: Championship – 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament

Can Anthony Davis Just Do That, Like, Every Game?

Army Black Knights defensive lineman Cody Winokur (93) screams after the win as Army takes on Navy at Gillette on December 9.

Army vs Navy

College Football

I Can’t Be The Only One Who Thinks If The Troops Wanted To They Could Put Together A Football Team And Fail To Execute A Proper Tush Push

Shohei Ohtani sits on the bench during a September Angels game in 2023.

Shohei Ohtani Just Got Super-Duper Paid

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Soraya Roberts

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Gary Oldman Is Gross And Loving It

Rafi Kohan is an Atlanta-based writer and editor. His first book, The Arena, 
was a finalist for the 2018 PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing. 
Previously, he has served as deputy editor at the New York Observer and as 
executive editorial director for the Atlantic’s creative studio, Re:think. His 
writing has appeared in numerous publications, including GQ, Men’s 
Journal, Rolling Stone, The Ringer, and the Wall Street Journal.

Rafi Kohan headshot

Rafi Kohan

Gary Payton of the Seattle SuperSonics sneering disdainfully at Jerry Stackhouse, who is trying to guard him in 2002. The cover of Rafi Kohan's book "Trash Talk" is at upper left.

Gary Payton posts up Stackhouse

Book Excerpts That Don't Suck

Gary Payton And The Art And Strategy Of “Talking Crazy”

13 August 2021, Brandenburg, Grünheide: Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, stands at a press event on the grounds of the Tesla Gigafactory. The first vehicles are to roll off the production line in Grünheide near Berlin from the end of 2021. The US company plans to build around 500,000 units of the compact Model 3 and Model Y series here each year. Photo: Patrick Pleul/dpa-Zentralbild/ZB (Photo by Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Tesla Gigafactory – Elon Musk

Capital

Elon Musk Is Grimly Determined To Let You Know He Is Funny

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Kathryn Xu

Hand taking food with chopsticks. Eating Hot Pot at restaurant

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Chefector

Let’s Explore The Infinite Realm Of Hot Pot

Dave McKenna

A close up of Conor McGregor yelling during the filming of the TV show The Ultimate Fighter in March 2023

The Ultimate Fighter Season 31: Team McGregor vs. Team Chandler

Conor McGregor And The Politics Of Mean

<a href="https://twitter.com/cdgoldstein">Craig Goldstein</a> is the editor-in-chief of Baseball Prospectus and the co-host of <a href="https://www.baseballprospectus.com/show/five-and-dive/">the Five &amp; Dive podcast</a>.

Craig Goldstein

Juan Soto, then of the San Diego Padres, high-fives a teammate during a road game against the Giants.

San Diego Padres v San Francisco Giants

How Does Juan Soto Keep Getting Traded?

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