lede_post_card_default

lede_post_card_stacked

lede_post_card_featured_post

lede_post_card_featured_posts_hero

lede_post_card_featured_posts_sidebar

lede_post_card_highlighted_post

lede_post_card_horizontal_a

lede_post_card_horizontal_c

lede_article_featured_16x9

lede_article_featured_3x2

lede_article_featured_flexible

lede_article_content

lede_article_content_wide_width

lede_article_content_full_width

lede_byline_avatar_post_card

lede_byline_avatar_highlight

lede_profile_coral_avatar

lede_logo

lede_logo_footer

lede_logo_simple_header

lede_sponsorship_logo

lede_sponsorship_logo_river_card

lede_sponsorship_homepage_card_logo

lede_sponsorship_homepage_card

Footer Legal

Header - Categories

Header Menu

The last good website.

Topics

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-logo-3x

Defector

Protect The Head That Reads Defector

ad-for-defector-hats

Merch v3

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”

Alex Squadron is a writer from New York. His byline has appeared in SLAM, the New York Post, The Athletic, Sports Illustrated and SB Nation. His first book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Life-League-Basketball-Relentless-Pursuit/dp/1496235851" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.com/Life-League-Basketball-Relentless-Pursuit/dp/1496235851&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1700717978074000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3O-s88UE2MyxmV19syo99i">Life in the G: Minor League Basketball and the Relentless Pursuit of the NBA</a>, was released in October 2023.

Alex Squadron

Joe Young of the Birmingham Squadron follows through on a jumper in a 2021-22 G-League game against the Texas Legends.

Birmingham Squadron v Texas Legends

You Don’t Get From The G League To The NBA By Being “The Man”

Mark Dent is a writer at The Hustle. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Texas Monthly, Vox, Wired, The Kansas City Star, and elsewhere. He lives in Dallas.

Mark Dent

Rustin Dodd is a writer at The Athletic and a 2023-24 Knight-Wallace fellow at the University of Michigan. He previously worked as a sportswriter at The Kansas City Star from 2010 to 2017. He lives in Brooklyn.

Rustin Dodd

Mike Garrett of the Kansas City Chiefs rushing against the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl I, on Jan. 15, 1967.

Mike Garrett in Football Action

The Scout Who Integrated The Kansas City Chiefs

<div class="r43lxo-0 gqfcxx js_post-content">
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>.
</div>
<div class="sc-18b1b2r-5 eTUqHn">
<div></div>
</div>

uqhSRJSi_400x400

Vince Guerrieri

26 Jun 2001: John Rocker of the Cleveland Indians prepares for a pitch during the game against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. The Indians beat the Yankees 5-3. DIGITAL IMAGE. Mandatory Credit: Ezra Shaw/Allsport

Indians v Yankees  X

When Cleveland Was Where Careers Went To End

200089631

Brandi Collins-Dexter

Screen Shot 2022-09-30 at 11.03.04 AM

Pro Wrestling

Dusty Rhodes’s “Hard Times” Promo Still Rings The Bell

Shane Ryan is the author of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hachettebooks.com/titles/shane-ryan/the-cup-they-couldnt-lose/9780306874390/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Cup They Couldn&#8217;t Lose</a>, the story of the modern Ryder Cup, which came out on May 10. He lives in Durham, NC, and his writing appears in Golf Digest, Paste Magazine, and elsewhere. Previously, he wrote on Defector about&nbsp;<a href="https://defector.com/online-quiz-league-is-the-future-of-competitive-trivia/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Online Quiz League</a>. He also runs Apocalypse Sports Trivia, which you can join by contacting him on&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/ShaneRyanHere" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Twitter</a>.

Shane Ryan

Golfers Tony Jacklin and Seve Ballesteros (right) celebrate the victory of the European team in the Ryder Cup in 1987.

Jacklin With Ballesteros

The Mysteries Of Seve Ballesteros, And The Ryder Cup Loss That Changed Everything

Britni de la Cretaz is a freelance writer who focuses on the intersection of sports and gender. They are the former sports columnist for Longreads and for Bitch Media. Their work has appeared in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, espnW, Vogue, the Washington Post, Teen Vogue, The Ringer, Bleacher Report, The Atlantic, and more. Their work on racism in Boston sports media received the 2017 Nellie Bly Award for Investigative Journalism from the Transformative Culture Project, and that story was also a Notable Story in the 2018 Best American Sports Writing. Their writing on the queer history of women’s baseball for Narratively was nominated for the 2019 SABR Analytics Research Award. They live in the Boston area.

Britni de la Cretaz

Lyndsey D’Arcangelo writes about women’s college basketball and the WNBA for The Athletic. Her articles, columns, and profiles on female/LGBTQ+ athletes have previously appeared in The Ringer, Deadspin, espnW/ESPN, Teen Vogue, the Buffalo News, the Huffington Post, NBC OUT, and more. She received a Notable Mention in the 2018 Best American Sports Writing anthology for her story, “My Father, Trump and The Buffalo Bills.” Lyndsey lives in Buffalo, NY.

Lyndsey D’Arcangelo

A photo of three NWFL players in their Houston Herricanes uniforms. They are all sitting on the bench, with their helmets off.

Hail Mary

How A Whim And Some Hustle Gave Rise To The Women’s Pro Football Team The Houston Herricanes

Trevor Strunk is a longtime Philadelphia sports fan and sports belligerent. He is also the host of <a href="https://www.no-cartridge.net/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">No Cartridge Audio</a>, a podcast about video games and culture. His book Story Mode considers games series over time and the way they respond to audience and authorial demands. You can see more from him at <a href="https://twitter.com/Hegelbon" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">@Hegelbon</a> on Twitter and all across the finest freelance publications online.

Trevor Strunk

A fan cheers for id Software executive producer as he speaks about DOOM. The cover of Trevor Strunk's book, Story Mode, is in the lower right corner.

Video Game Company Bethesda Holds Press Event Ahead Of Start Of E3 Gaming Conference

How To Get Away With Making An Ultraviolent Video Game

Damon Young is a writer in Pittsburgh.

LPetrilla_DamonYoung-5632 (1) (1) (1)

Damon Young

hoops-court

Thursday Night Hoops

Patrick Wyman is the host of the Tides of History podcast, which is currently covering prehistory from the dawn of humanity to the Bronze Age. Prior to that, he was the host of the Fall of Rome podcast, which you might remember from Deadspin back in the day, where he also contributed pieces on mixed martial arts. In previous lives, he wrote about MMA for Bleacher Report and the Washington Post, and completed a PhD in History at the University of Southern California.