[{"id":5153137,"date":"2026-11-07T17:41:28","date_gmt":"2026-11-07T12:11:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/?p=5153137"},"modified":"2026-11-07T17:42:44","modified_gmt":"2026-11-07T12:12:44","slug":"mlb-news-blue-jays-distances-itself-after-anthony-santander-makes-controversial-social-media-posts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/mlb-news-blue-jays-distances-itself-after-anthony-santander-makes-controversial-social-media-posts\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Jays Distances Itself After Anthony Santander Makes Controversial Social Media Posts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When the Blue Jays signed Anthony Santander in 2024, they expected the power hitter to bring some much-needed firepower to their lineup. But his time in Toronto has hardly gone to plan. Injuries have kept him off the field, while his production has fallen well short of what the franchise would have hoped for from a player on a five-year, $92.5 million deal. And as if his on-field struggles haven’t been disappointing enough, his social media activity has now created a reputational issue for the franchise as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The controversy surfaced shortly after the U.S. midterm elections, in which Abdul El-Sayed became the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate. Santander reposted a video featuring El-Sayed with the caption, “America voted for Sharia last night!” He also shared another video claiming, “Islam is not peaceful.” By Thursday morning, screenshots of his Instagram stories circulated, putting the Blue Jays in a position where they could no longer stay silent. The Toronto franchise responded with a statement distancing itself from the outfielder’s remarks, stating:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Baseball is for everyone, and the Blue Jays have created an inclusive experience where all fans feel welcome at our ballpark,” the team said, as reported by AP<\/a>. “Individual comments do not represent our organization’s values and beliefs.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MLB’s social media policy also sets out what could happen next. The rules prohibit major-league players from sharing content that is \u201cderogatory or insensitive\u201d toward people because of their race, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin or religion. This includes slurs, jokes and stereotypes, as well as online harassment and threats or support for violence against individuals or groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The policy also gives both a player’s team and the MLB Commissioner the authority to discipline a player for a violation, provided there is just cause. So, while the Blue Jays can decide how they want to handle the situation, the league can also step in. There is no fixed punishment for every violation, meaning any action would depend on the circumstances of the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their response till now, however, has done little to address the concerns raised by members of the Muslim community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The response, however, has done little to address the concerns raised by members of the Muslim community. Amira Elghawaby, Canada’s former special representative on combating Islamophobia, said deleting the posts was not enough and called on Santander to issue a public apology. She also urged the Blue Jays to take a stronger position against Islamophobia and explain what steps they intend to take. \u201cFor fans and the wider public who are Muslim, an apology is absolutely necessary to recognize how hurtful and harmful such dangerous posts are to their sense of dignity,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elghawaby also questioned the organisation’s decision to distance itself from the posts without directly condemning their content. \u201cThey have not condemned the Islamophobic nature of the posts,\u201d she said. \u201cNor have they made it clear that they uphold zero tolerance for hate against anyone, including Muslims. This points to a systemic problem that will require real commitments from this organization or risk letting down many of their fans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Athletic<\/em> reported that it had attempted to reach the outfielder for comment and would update its coverage if he responded. As of November 6, Santander had not publicly addressed the backlash or issued an apology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The controversy also comes at a difficult point in Santander’s relationship with Toronto. After spending eight seasons with the Baltimore Orioles, he joined the Blue Jays ahead of the 2025 season following a career-best campaign in which he hit 44 home runs and earned his first All-Star selection. Toronto handed him a five-year, $92.5 million contract, expecting him to bring that power to its lineup. However, multiple shoulder injuries have severely limited his availability. He has appeared in just 54 regular-season games across his first two years with the franchise, batting .175 with six home runs and 18 RBIs. He missed the entire 2026 regular season after undergoing shoulder surgery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the limited return so far, Santander remains under contract with Toronto, with three guaranteed years left on his deal. And the Blue Jays have not completely ruled him out of their plans for next season. Following the 2026 campaign, general manager Ross Atkins said the organization wanted Santander to remain “an option” in the outfield in 2027. That makes the latest controversy another issue for the franchise to navigate as it considers the outfielder’s future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not the first time the Blue Jays have had to address a player’s offensive conduct. In May 2017, then-outfielder Kevin Pillar was suspended for two games after directing a homophobic slur at Atlanta Braves pitcher Jason Motte during a game. The decision was made jointly by Toronto and Major League Baseball following discussions with Pillar, the league and the MLB Players Association. Pillar apologised publicly, reached out to Motte and extended his apology to the Braves organisation, baseball fans and the LGBTQ community. The Blue Jays also announced that his salary for the two suspended games, along with an undisclosed fine, would be donated to organisations supporting the LGBTQ community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anthony Bass is another relevant example from the Blue Jays’ recent history. In 2023, the then-reliever shared an Instagram video calling for a boycott of Target and Bud Light over their support for the LGBTQ2S+ community. The video described that support as \u201cevil\u201d and \u201cdemonic.\u201d Bass initially deleted the post but later shared it again. He eventually apologised publicly and to his teammates, met with general manager Ross Atkins and manager John Schneider, and was asked to undergo sensitivity training with local Pride organisations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bass later acknowledged why people had found the video hateful, though he maintained his personal beliefs. On June 9, just 11 days after the original post, the Blue Jays designated him for assignment. The timing, coming shortly before the team’s Pride Weekend, drew further attention to the decision. However, Atkins made it clear that Bass’s departure was largely a baseball decision, with the controversy playing a smaller role. \u201cPerformance was a large aspect of this decision. Distraction was a small part of it and something that we had to factor in,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the incident offers a useful comparison to Santander’s situation, it would be misleading to suggest that Bass was DFA’d solely because of his social media post. The question is not whether the club agrees with the message that baseball should be inclusive, but whether it will take any further action to show how that commitment applies when one of its own players shares content targeting a religious community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the Blue Jays signed Anthony Santander in 2024, they expected the power hitter to bring some much-needed firepower to their lineup. But his time in Toronto has hardly gone to plan. Injuries have kept him off the field, while his production has fallen well short of what the franchise would have hoped for from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":215859,"featured_media":4980359,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sentiment_score":"-0.713","footnotes":""},"categories":[20105],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5153137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"acf":{"post_history":"Blue Jays Distances Itself After Anthony Santander Makes Controversial Social Media Posts","platform_risk_addressed":false,"sentiment_score":"-0.713","content_type":["In-Depth"],"article_source":["External Link"],"article_summary":"","newsletter_description":"","newsletter_title":"","current_news_or_throwback":"CurrentNews","msn_publish":"No","yahoo_publish":"No","editor_name":{"ID":215390,"user_firstname":"Cherry","user_lastname":"Sharma","nickname":"cherry.sharma","user_nicename":"cherry-sharma","display_name":"Cherry Sharma","user_email":"cherrysharma095@gmail.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2024-10-09 04:35:42","user_description":"Cherry Sharma is a Newsroom Editor at EssentiallySports, specializing in NBA coverage. With over three years of experience in sports content, she brings sharp analysis and fresh perspectives to the fast-paced world of basketball journalism. From player trades to game strategies, her editorial work blends in-depth reporting with storytelling that resonates with fans and keeps them engaged.\r\n\r\nAs part of the newsroom leadership, Cherry plays a key role in shaping timely, accurate, and impactful content that strengthens ES\u2019s brand voice. Outside of her editorial duties, she enjoys winding down with a good novel and a strong cup of coffee.","user_avatar":""},"enhancement_editor":{"ID":215390,"user_firstname":"Cherry","user_lastname":"Sharma","nickname":"cherry.sharma","user_nicename":"cherry-sharma","display_name":"Cherry Sharma","user_email":"cherrysharma095@gmail.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2024-10-09 04:35:42","user_description":"Cherry Sharma is a Newsroom Editor at EssentiallySports, specializing in NBA coverage. 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That is where Kara Lawson and the Blue Devils find themselves days before their next scheduled game. A program with Duke’s resources is now subsidizing an opponent to keep a game on the calendar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Blue Devils were supposed to face North Texas on Sunday, November 8, in San Antonio. The matchup would have also marked the first-ever meeting between the two programs in women’s basketball. However, the game has now been canceled. Tickets have also been reportedly canceled with Duke now scheduled to play FAU on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>“Duke was supposed to play North Texas in women’s basketball on Sunday in San Antonio in “The Foundry Classic.” That game is now canceled, according to multiple sources,” <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/primetimeMitch\/status\/2118723163982827854\">shared USA Today’s Mitchell Northam on X<\/a>. “Duke is scrambling for a replacement opponent. North Texas will not reschedule a new opponent.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a result, Lawson and the Blue Devils suddenly found themselves dealing with an unexpected scheduling headache. And in a bid to fill the unexpected gap in their schedule, Duke reportedly reached out to multiple conferences in search of a replacement opponent. The program was even willing to play on the road or pay another team to travel to Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina, to face them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Duke was scrambling to fill a gap in its schedule just days before Sunday\u2019s game. On Thursday night, Patriot League and Metro Conference head coaches received emails describing the Blue Devils\u2019 \u201curgent need\u201d for a replacement opponent, three people familiar with the situation told USA TODAY Sports. Duke was willing to travel or pay a team to play as per the emails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Originally, The Foundry Classic, which was announced as far back as September 22, was supposed to be a multi-day event. Apart from the basketball game, the event was also scheduled to feature a student-centered experience called The Foundry Future Summit, which would allow students to interact with college athletes off the court. There was also supposed to be a segment featuring Lawson and North Texas head coach Jason Burton in a moderated conversation called The Foundry Table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sadly, those plans have now fallen apart, and the Blue Devils have had to find another way to salvage their Sunday schedule. Fortunately for Lawson and her team, they appear to have successfully arranged a replacement matchup. Duke will now travel to Boca Raton, Florida, to face Florida Atlantic (FAU) on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As for North Texas, a spokesperson for the program revealed that the Mean Green would not be searching for a last-minute replacement opponent. Instead, the team will use the unexpected break to regroup and prepare for its next outing. Following its Thursday night loss to San Diego State, North Texas will return to the court at home against Houston Christian on Wednesday, November 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So far, Duke women’s basketball has played just one game this season, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/ncaa-college-basketball-news-duke-blue-devils-navigate-viral-dunkers-absence-in-season-opener-as-kara-lawson-shares-injury-update\/\">opening its 2026\/27 campaign with a convincing 76-60 victory<\/a> over Green Bay on November 3. Following the cancellation of its scheduled matchup against North Texas, the Blue Devils’ second regular-season game will now come against Florida Atlantic on Sunday.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/ncaa-college-basketball-news-is-kara-lawson-married-details-on-duke-hcs-17-year-relationship-with-the-radio-broadcaster\/\"> Lawson’s team <\/a>will be looking to maintain its winning start and build some early momentum as it pursues its ambitions for the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Blue Devils enter this campaign with plenty of expectations following back-to-back Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament titles. They have also reached the Elite Eight in each of the last two NCAA Tournament appearances, and the goal this season will be to take another step forward and put themselves in genuine contention for a national championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>“You want to be in that situation,” Lawson said. “You want to be sitting before a season or before a tournament as one of the favorites to win it. \u2026It’s where we want to be. We want to have high expectations. \u2026The Final Four is not the line of demarcation for me. It’s a national championship\u2026 Our goal is to put ourselves in position to be playing our best in March, and put ourselves in position to have a deep run. \u2026We want to win.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With those ambitions in mind, the unexpected cancellation of the North Texas matchup is certainly not how Duke would have wanted to approach its second game of the season. However, with Florida Atlantic now providing a replacement opponent, Lawson and her players can turn their attention back to the court. The immediate task will be to secure another victory on Sunday as they begin their pursuit of a much bigger prize.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Duke was willing to pay another team just to play them. That is where Kara Lawson and the Blue Devils find themselves days before their next scheduled game. A program with Duke’s resources is now subsidizing an opponent to keep a game on the calendar. The Blue Devils were supposed to face North Texas on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":215864,"featured_media":3707463,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sentiment_score":"-0.246","footnotes":""},"categories":[3332,25695,53771],"tags":[22324,68837],"class_list":["post-5153183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball-2","category-college-basketball","category-ncaa-nfl-american-football-2","tag-duke-blue-devils","tag-kara-lawson"],"acf":{"post_history":"Duke Willing to Pay Opponent as Kara Lawson Faces Unexpected Scheduling Crisis Ahead of Sunday’s Game###Duke Willing to Pay Opponent as Kara Lawson Faces Unexpected Scheduling Crisis Ahead of Sunday\u2019s Game","sentiment_score":"-0.246","platform_risk_addressed":true,"newsletter_title":"","auto_post_fb_channels":[],"fb_caption":"","content_type":["Trend Setting"],"article_source":["Social Media - Twitter"],"source_article_link":"https:\/\/x.com\/primetimeMitch\/status\/2118723163982827854","article_summary":"","newsletter_description":"","current_news_or_throwback":"CurrentNews","sub_tag_within_current_news":["OffCourt"],"msn_publish":"No","yahoo_publish":"Yes","is_headline":false,"storyline":false,"lead_story":false,"published_by_pr_writer":"No","editor_name":{"ID":215708,"user_firstname":"Aadesh","user_lastname":"D","nickname":"aadesh.d","user_nicename":"aadesh-d","display_name":"Aadesh D","user_email":"aadeshdhote19@gmail.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2025-07-09 05:32:41","user_description":"Aadesh Dhote is a editor at the NFL desk at EssentiallySports. He holds a Master\u2019s degree in English Literature and brings over five years of experience in creative and digital content domains. Aadesh specializes in narrative-focused editorial work and script analysis, enhancing trending NFL news with depth, structure, and a fresh editorial voice. Outside of work, he is a published poet and screenwriter who actively engages with the creative community. \r\n\r\nPassionate about creative pursuits and gaining practical experience in the humanities, Aadesh blends theoretical knowledge with hands-on skills across writing, film, and cultural studies. His diverse background includes notable publications and ongoing screenwriting projects. 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A member of the EssentiallySports Journalistic Excellence Program, she specializes in the high-stakes energy of college basketball, with features on the Big Ten Conference and the chaos of March Madness that bring fans right to the hardwood. \r\n\r\nHer coverage has even caught the attention of UConn coaches and Olympian Rori Dunk, earning her recognition for both accuracy and insight. A former state-level basketball player, Yashika channels her on-court experience into reporting that captures the game\u2019s intensity beyond the box score. 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With prior experience reporting on high school sports, college basketball, and the National Basketball Association, he has developed a reputation for timely reporting and audience-focused storytelling. His coverage spans match updates, breaking developments, player analysis, and roster moves, while also tracking the evolving dynamics shaping teams and athletes across the league. Beyond the immediate headline, Olutayo places developments within a broader context by examining roster decisions, team trends, and structural shifts that influence performance across women\u2019s basketball. He also pays close attention to the under-the-radar storylines that matter most to dedicated fans of the sport. Before joining EssentiallySports, Olutayo covered the National Football League and college football, an experience that strengthened his instincts for breaking news and fast-paced reporting while maintaining clarity and accuracy under tight deadlines. 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But for Steelers icon James Harrison, it is pertinent that the Steelers don’t get too comfortable. For head coach Mike McCarthy, 6-2 is not the standard Pittsburgh should be aiming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>“Yes, he deserves the credit. He has done well so far,” Two-time Super Bowl champion <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/deeboandjoe\/status\/2118838040328380891?a=trDprlaSPemlykM-NKM&s=20\">James Harrison said<\/a> on his podcast<em> Deebo & Joe<\/em>. “And I hate to sound cynical about a 6-2 start, but the reality of it for me is that the standard in Pittsburgh can’t just be winning regular-season games. Like, we already did that under Mike Tomlin, making the playoffs and, you know, getting bounced out.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mike McCarthy took over a team that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/nfl-active-news-steelers-voice-was-getting-stale-steelers-legend-believes-locker-room-got-tired-of-mike-tomlin-amid-mike-mccarthys-strong-start\/\">had one head coach for 19 seasons<\/a>. In all those years, Mike Tomlin sure pulled winning seasons. But he was able to win just one Super Bowl, despite making the postseason 13 times. In the past three seasons, the Steelers were knocked out of the Wild Card game itself. Harrison alluded that McCarthy’s real test is whether he is able to get over that hump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>“The goal wasn’t to go from winning season to winning season, bro. The goal is to go from winning season to winning championships. Anything that isn’t advancing into the playoffs and winning minimum, if we do that, it justifies the change that we made. But the thing that’s going to be winning-winning is holding that Lombardi trophy at the end of the season,” Harrison further added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Harrison further said that he is going to “hold” his judgment as he wants to see how well the team does in the playoffs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While Harrison asks more of the Steelers, they have made huge progress themselves. Though the team was sitting at 2-2 after the first four games, McCarthy and his team switched gears, winning four consecutive games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Their latest game saw the Steelers win a division rivalry against the Cleveland Browns 27-6, snatching the top spot in the AFC North. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>“Definitely, you’ve got to say ‘trending’ winning four in a row,” McCarthy said. “I think we’re exactly what our record says we are. We’ve really focused on improving in certain areas. We’re doing that. Our run defense has really set the bar really high these last two weeks. I just thought the way they started the game was really impressive.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the remainder of the season still awaits. Pittsburgh has matchups remaining with the Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos, and the Jacksonville Jaguars, all worthy opponents. The last two are also 6-2 currently, which means they will be a tough fight for Pittsburgh. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the current run of the team sure looks promising. Entering Week 7, the Steelers had less than a 50% chance of making the playoffs, according to The Athletic’s playoff simulator. However, now 6-2, their odds have bumped up to a hopeful 78%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For now, McCarthy is focusing on the positives and negatives of the team, and highlighted Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle’s contributions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>“It starts up front, obviously,” said McCarthy. “We’ve got two dynamic backs. Jaylen is on fire. You can’t get him the ball enough. Rico, he’s playing well, too. I think those two are hitting their stride. That’s important for those two men to touch the ball each and every week.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Warren ranks 1st among 45 qualified running backs with a PFF rushing grade of 91.1, while Dowdle played his part, logging 56 yards against the Browns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Steelers now have a bye in Week 9 and will have much-needed rest before they face division rival Cincinnati in Week 10.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Pittsburgh Steelers are sitting atop their division with a 6-2 record after struggling at the start of the season. But for Steelers icon James Harrison, it is pertinent that the Steelers don’t get too comfortable. For head coach Mike McCarthy, 6-2 is not the standard Pittsburgh should be aiming. “Yes, he deserves the credit. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":215841,"featured_media":5104827,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sentiment_score":"0.18","footnotes":""},"categories":[14551,23494],"tags":[22917],"class_list":["post-5152867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl","category-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-mike-mccarthy"],"acf":{"post_history":"Steelers Legend Sends Stern Message To Mike McCarthy Amid HC’s Praise for 6-2 Start###Steelers Legend Sends Stern Message To Mike McCarthy Amid HC\u2019s Praise for 6-2 Start","sentiment_score":"0.18","platform_risk_addressed":true,"content_type":["Trend Setting"],"article_source":["Social Media - Twitter"],"source_article_link":"https:\/\/x.com\/deeboandjoe\/status\/2118838040328380891?s=20 ","article_summary":"","newsletter_description":"","newsletter_title":"","current_news_or_throwback":"CurrentNews","msn_publish":"No","yahoo_publish":"Yes","editor_name":{"ID":215572,"user_firstname":"Afreen","user_lastname":"Kabir","nickname":"afreen.kabir","user_nicename":"afreen-kabir","display_name":"Afreen Kabir","user_email":"afreenkabir@ymail.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2025-03-05 02:59:15","user_description":"Afreen Kabir is a College Football Writer at EssentiallySports, contributing to the CFB Trends Desk. Selected for the College Football Pro Writer Program last year, she was trained by a panel led by a former Managing Editor of MSN Sport, now a mentor at EssentiallySports. Her previous experience covering the entertainment and lifestyle beats for major digital media outlets adds a unique lens\u2014enabling her to craft compelling narratives at the intersection of sports and pop culture.","user_avatar":"<img data-del=\"avatar\" src='https:\/\/image-cdn.essentiallysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Afreen-150x150.png' class='avatar pp-user-avatar avatar-96 photo ' height='96' width='96'\/>"},"enhancement_editor":false,"allotted_by":{"ID":214863,"user_firstname":"Kushal","user_lastname":"Jain","nickname":"kushal.jain","user_nicename":"kushal-jain","display_name":"Kushal Jain","user_email":"kushaljain.creator@gmail.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2023-05-23 06:01:52","user_description":"Kushal Jain is an NFL writer at EssentiallySports. Having started off writing as a hobby when he was 19, it has snowballed into becoming his full time profession. He is a passionate football fan, or as per the US etymology, soccer fan. Despite his niche as a football and sports writer, he has experience in various fields and industries, including finance, which has allowed him to be an all-rounder. When he's not busy giving NFL or Soccer commentary, he can be found reading or playing video games, particularly Football Manager (what a surprise) as well as some MMOs. His hyperactive, productivity focused mentality has given him the attitude of \"just take the shot, what's the worst that could happen\".","user_avatar":"<img data-del=\"avatar\" src='https:\/\/image-cdn.essentiallysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Kushal_Jain-96x96.png' class='avatar pp-user-avatar avatar-96 photo ' height='96' width='96'\/>"},"is_headline":false,"storyline":false,"lead_story":false,"published_by_pr_writer":"No","auto_post_fb_channels":[],"fb_caption":"","sub_tag_within_current_news":["OffCourt"]},"es_last_edited_by":"Afreen Kabir","yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.1 (Yoast SEO v22.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Steelers Legend Sends Stern Message To Mike McCarthy Amid HC's Praise for 6-2 Start - EssentiallySports<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Pittsburgh Steelers legend has put his demands on head coach Mike McCarthy despite the team sitting at the top of the AFC North.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/nfl-active-news-steelers-legend-sends-stern-message-to-mike-mccarthy-amid-hcs-praise-for-six-two-start\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Steelers Legend Sends Stern Message To Mike McCarthy Amid HC's Praise for 6-2 Start\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Pittsburgh Steelers legend has put his demands on head coach Mike McCarthy despite the team sitting at the top of the AFC North.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/nfl-active-news-steelers-legend-sends-stern-message-to-mike-mccarthy-amid-hcs-praise-for-six-two-start\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EssentiallySports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/essentiallysports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-11-07T12:10:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-11-07T09:04:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/image-cdn.essentiallysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/imago1081315730h.jpg.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1441\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dhruv Singh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@es_sportsnews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@es_sportsnews\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/nfl-active-news-steelers-legend-sends-stern-message-to-mike-mccarthy-amid-hcs-praise-for-six-two-start\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/nfl-active-news-steelers-legend-sends-stern-message-to-mike-mccarthy-amid-hcs-praise-for-six-two-start\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Dhruv Singh\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0a220f6cc063195cbe7479380849d5a0\"},\"headline\":\"Steelers Legend Sends Stern Message To Mike McCarthy Amid HC’s Praise for 6-2 Start\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-11-07T12:10:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-11-07T09:04:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/nfl-active-news-steelers-legend-sends-stern-message-to-mike-mccarthy-amid-hcs-praise-for-six-two-start\/\"},\"wordCount\":626,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Mike McCarthy\"],\"articleSection\":[\"NFL\",\"Pittsburgh Steelers\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2026\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/nfl-active-news-steelers-legend-sends-stern-message-to-mike-mccarthy-amid-hcs-praise-for-six-two-start\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/nfl-active-news-steelers-legend-sends-stern-message-to-mike-mccarthy-amid-hcs-praise-for-six-two-start\/\",\"name\":\"Steelers Legend Sends Stern Message To Mike McCarthy Amid HC's Praise for 6-2 Start - 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His interest in sports extends to MLB, and he brings that curiosity to his work in sports media.","url":"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/author\/dhruv-singh\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5152867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/215841"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5152867"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5152867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5153093,"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5152867\/revisions\/5153093"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5104827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5152867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5152867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5152867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":5153175,"date":"2026-11-07T17:37:23","date_gmt":"2026-11-07T12:07:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/?p=5153175"},"modified":"2026-11-07T17:37:27","modified_gmt":"2026-11-07T12:07:27","slug":"olympics-news-swimming-news-olympic-silver-medalist-handed-twenty-one-month-ban-after-dangerous-driving-conviction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/olympics-news-swimming-news-olympic-silver-medalist-handed-twenty-one-month-ban-after-dangerous-driving-conviction\/","title":{"rendered":"Olympic Silver Medalist Handed 21-Month Ban After Dangerous Driving Conviction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Tomoru Honda was once among the biggest names in Japanese swimming after winning an Olympic silver medal in 2021 and becoming the 200m butterfly world champion in 2024. However, things took a turn for the swimmer after he was involved in a serious car accident in November 2025. The crash left another motorist injured and eventually resulted in Honda’s criminal conviction. The incident also cost him his place on Japan’s teams for the 2026 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships and the Asian Games. But if missing two major competitions was not enough, the Japanese swimmer now faces an even bigger setback that could cost him his place at the 2028 Olympic Games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On November 4,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DfZ9zheqbRq\/?xtok=MnFsaDZtNWdzaG11\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> the Japan Swimming Federation announced a 21-month<\/a> suspension of Honda’s athlete registration eligibility. The decision followed a meeting of its executive board, which reviewed his case under Article 4 of the federation’s disciplinary regulations. His suspension is expected to run until August 2028, leaving him unable to compete in Japan’s Olympic selection trials, scheduled for April that year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Japanese media reports, the federation initially considered a two-year suspension but reduced it by three months after considering the circumstances of the case and the measures already taken against him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The incident that led to the punishment happened on November 21, 2025, in Tama, Tokyo. Honda was driving at an estimated speed of 88 to 108 km\/h in an area where the speed limit was just 30 km\/h. He failed to negotiate a curve, crossed into the opposite lane and collided with an oncoming vehicle. The other driver, a man in his 60s, suffered serious injuries, including a fractured sternum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Honda admitted the charges during his court hearing in August 2026. While explaining what happened, he said he had been struggling with his swimming results at the time and had followed a vehicle ahead of him without thinking clearly. “I couldn’t make calm judgments because my results in competition weren’t going well,” he reportedly explained. He also acknowledged the danger of his actions, admitting, “I think it was very dangerous driving. It could have led to an even bigger accident.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, his struggles in the pool did not excuse his behaviour. On September 9, the Tachikawa branch of the Tokyo District Court sentenced Honda to one year in prison. Judge Keita Nakajima described his driving as “extremely dangerous and reckless.” Despite the severity of the incident, the judge also expressed hope that Honda would eventually return to swimming, telling him, “I hope that you will compete successfully again, and we can cheer for you.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The swimmer had already faced consequences within the sport before the latest announcement. Following the incident, Honda withdrew from the 2026 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships and Asian Games after discussions with the Japanese Swimming Federation. The federation was also concerned about his delay in reporting the accident, which reportedly took around nine months. This became one of the factors considered when deciding his disciplinary punishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, Honda also addressed the incident in an apology shared on social media. Taking responsibility for his actions, he admitted, “As a member of society and as an athlete, my actions were unbecoming.” He also acknowledged that “the trust that has been lost cannot be regained with words alone” and said he would “sincerely accept” the measures taken against him. His apology came after the court handed down its sentence and the federation continued to review his case. The suspension marks a major setback for a swimmer who had previously reached the top of his sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-tomoru-honda-went-from-tokyo-olympic-silver-to-a-world-title\">How Tomoru Honda went from Tokyo Olympic Silver to a World title<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Honda’s first major breakthrough came in 2019 when he won silver in the men’s 200m butterfly at the World Junior Swimming Championships. A year later, he claimed his first Japanese national title in the same event. However, it was at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, held in 2021, that he truly made his mark on the international stage. Just 19 at the time, Honda won silver in the 200m butterfly with a time of 1:53.73, finishing behind Hungary’s Krist\u00f3f Mil\u00e1k.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Honda continued to add to his medal collection over the next few years. He won bronze in the 200m butterfly at the 2022 World Championships in Budapest and repeated the result at the 2023 edition in Fukuoka. He also enjoyed a strong showing at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, where he won gold in both the 200m butterfly and 400m individual medley, along with bronze in the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His biggest career moment came in February 2024 at the World Championships in Doha. Honda won gold in the men’s 200m butterfly with a time of 1:53.88, becoming the first Japanese man to claim the world title in the event. It was a dream come true for the swimmer, who said after the race, “It was my dream so I’m so happy.” He also made clear that he wanted to carry that success into the Olympics, adding, “My biggest dream is to get the gold medal in the Olympics, so this gold medal gives me power. I will do my best in Paris.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, his second Olympic appearance did not go as hoped. At the Paris 2024 Games, Honda finished 22nd in the men’s 200m butterfly heats and missed out on a place in the semifinals. He then took two months away from swimming to process what had happened and reconsider his next steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With Paris behind him, Honda had the Los Angeles Games in mind. However, it seems that opportunity appears to have slipped away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tomoru Honda was once among the biggest names in Japanese swimming after winning an Olympic silver medal in 2021 and becoming the 200m butterfly world champion in 2024. However, things took a turn for the swimmer after he was involved in a serious car accident in November 2025. 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He produced yet another fifty-ball, leaving the legends to find superlatives to praise him. Last night, Portland tried sending extra bodies at him, but he still found ways to dictate the game, whether by attacking the basket, creating space for a jumper, or punishing a late rotation. His latest 50-point performance raised a familiar question around the league:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How do you contain a player who seems comfortable against almost any coverage?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The answer was difficult to find in the Lakers\u2019 124-118 win over the Trail Blazers. Luka Doncic erupted for 53 points, and the performance drew striking reactions from two former NBA players who have seen plenty of elite talent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Udonis Haslem and Blake Griffin heaped praise, with the Heat legend dropping a vivid comparison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe’ve seen a lot of basketball, guys. We don’t see nothing like this. And that’s not to take away from the greats that have played this game, but I have seen a lot. I’ve not seen a guy that has not been stopped with two guys, has not been stopped with three guys. I can’t tell the apex predator. You got the sharks, you got the alligators, and then you put Luka face right next to them,\u201d Haslem said, in <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/RARCUakxbpA?t=305\">Prime\u2019s NightCap<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the other hand,  Griffin focused on a different part of the performance: the defensive activity. It\u2019s an aspect that Luka Doncic is least known for. In fact, it\u2019s the aspect he is most criticized for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDefensively, I’m noticing, like, a difference, and I think it’s just a spark that you have. You’re getting your hands on loose balls, you’re taking charges. I mean, we saw the charge tonight. Like, that was a huge play. Not only stopped that layup from happening, but then you get the half-court shot. Like, that’s a five-point swing right there,\u201d Griffin said, speaking to Luka from the studio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The play came just before halftime. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Luka Doncic stepped into a Portland attacker\u2019s path and drew an offensive foul, preventing a potential basket. The Lakers got the ball back, and Doncic launched a 61-foot shot that went in as the buzzer sounded. A sequence that probably would have had the Blazers end the half on a high. But Luka\u2019s magic swung it right back in the Lakers\u2019 favor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking of the shot, Doncic said, \u201cI think it changes the whole energy in the team and in the gym. I thought it was an important shot to make, so that\u2019s why I decided to make it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite the historic performance, it wasn\u2019t an easy game for the Lakers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Blazers held a steady lead throughout the first half. The Lakers had missed their first 15 three-point attempts and fallen behind by 16. Luka Doncic kept them in reach, then scored 20 in the third quarter to help fuel a 17-0 run. Austin Reaves added 25 points, while Portland\u2019s turnovers undermined its effort to protect the lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The performance also gave Doncic four consecutive 40-point games, joining Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant and George Mikan as the only Lakers to reach that mark in four straight regular-season games. That puts his scoring run in rare franchise company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also, he has tied Oscar Robertson\u2019s record for most consecutive games (7) with 35 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Looking at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/nba-legends-basketball-news-lakers-legend-separates-luka-doncic-from-magic-johnson-kobe-bryant-michael-jordan-amid-growing-mvp-buzz\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hot streak <\/a>that he is in, the record isn\u2019t safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Haslem saw a scorer whom extra defenders could not contain, while Griffin saw him contributing to winning possessions without scoring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Luka Doncic\u2019s scoring remains the headline, but the Lakers will need both sides of that performance as the season continues. If the defensive activity Griffin highlighted becomes a regular part of his game, containing him will become an even harder assignment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Luka Doncic has been actively knocking on the front door of the MVP honors. He produced yet another fifty-ball, leaving the legends to find superlatives to praise him. Last night, Portland tried sending extra bodies at him, but he still found ways to dictate the game, whether by attacking the basket, creating space for a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214729,"featured_media":5144049,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sentiment_score":"0.671","footnotes":""},"categories":[3332,19618,19209,22986],"tags":[5486,16949,22275],"class_list":["post-5153076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball-2","category-los-angeles-lakers","category-nba","category-portland-trail-blazers","tag-blake-griffin","tag-luka-doncic","tag-udonis-haslem"],"acf":{"post_history":"\u201cApex Predator\u201d: Udonis Haslem and Blake Griffin Can\u2019t Stop Raving About Luka Doncic After 53-Point Explosion","sentiment_score":"0.671","platform_risk_addressed":true,"newsletter_title":"","auto_post_fb_channels":[],"fb_caption":"","content_type":["Trend Setting"],"article_source":["YouTube Video"],"article_summary":"","newsletter_description":"","is_headline":false,"storyline":false,"lead_story":false,"published_by_pr_writer":"No","msn_publish":"No","yahoo_publish":"Yes","current_news_or_throwback":"CurrentNews","editor_name":{"ID":215528,"user_firstname":"Tanay","user_lastname":"Sahai","nickname":"tanay.sahai","user_nicename":"tanay-sahai","display_name":"Tanay Sahai","user_email":"tanay.sahai0101@gmail.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2025-02-04 04:40:21","user_description":"Tanay Sahai is an NBA Editor at EssentiallySports, with a decade of experience in digital media and a strong foundation in entrepreneurship. He is celebrated for his standout coverage of the Golden State Warriors, which has driven over 1.26 million pageviews of readership and earned high audience trust.\r\n\r\nHis journey as an entrepreneur, founder, and CEO has given him a unique perspective on content strategy, market analysis, and team leadership. Prior to his current role, he honed his skills as a content strategist at another major sports outlet, where he managed editorial calendars, led content projects, and utilized data analysis to increase audience engagement. \r\n\r\nThis extensive background in business and project management allows him to not only deliver compelling sports journalism but also to understand and drive the strategic growth of the team.","user_avatar":"<img data-del=\"avatar\" src='https:\/\/image-cdn.essentiallysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Tanay-Sahai-150x150.png' class='avatar pp-user-avatar avatar-96 photo ' height='96' width='96'\/>"},"enhancement_editor":false,"allotted_by":{"ID":214745,"user_firstname":"Rohan","user_lastname":"Dharmalingam","nickname":"rohan.dharmalingam","user_nicename":"rohan-dharmalingam","display_name":"Rohan Dharmalingam","user_email":"rohan.dharmalingam@gmail.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2022-12-30 18:21:22","user_description":"Rohan Dharmalingam is an NBA Content Specialist at EssentiallySports. Over three years on the beat, he has delivered in-depth coverage of the Lakers, Warriors, Mavericks, and Celtics, earning recognition from Shaquille O\u2019Neal for his reporting. A former collegiate point guard, Rohan applies a guard\u2019s understanding of spacing, decision-making, and tempo when breaking down plays, adding on-court clarity to his analysis.","user_avatar":"<img data-del=\"avatar\" src='https:\/\/image-cdn.essentiallysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Author-image-150x150.png' class='avatar pp-user-avatar avatar-96 photo ' height='96' width='96'\/>"},"source_article_link":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/RARCUakxbpA?t=327","sub_tag_within_current_news":["OffCourt"]},"es_last_edited_by":"Tanay Sahai","yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.1 (Yoast SEO v22.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\u201cApex Predator\u201d: Udonis Haslem and Blake Griffin Can\u2019t Stop Raving About Luka Doncic After 53-Point Explosion - EssentiallySports<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"NBA legends Udonis Haslem and Blake Griffin heap praise on Luka Doncic following his historic performance against 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He holds a Master\u2019s in Mass Communication and Journalism from St. Joseph\u2019s University, Bengaluru, and has experience producing breaking news, analysis, athlete profiles, interviews, and long-form features. His expertise spans basketball and global sports, with a strong understanding of the NBA, its players, teams, and evolving storylines. He brings newsroom experience, strong sports knowledge, and narrative-driven reporting, with a focus on producing well-researched, engaging stories for American digital audiences.When games aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t on, beyond covering trade rumors and match reports, Shahul actively engages with fan bases, ensuring he is attuned to the ever-changing NBA landscape. His dedication to his craft finds an equal match in his admiration for the storytelling and cinematic brilliance of Quentin Tarantino, David Fincher, and Wes Anderson.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/shahul-hameed-0532ab189\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/Shahulhameednba"],"jobTitle":"Capturing the NBA Pulse","url":"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/author\/shahul-hameed\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5153076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214729"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5153076"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5153076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5153118,"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5153076\/revisions\/5153118"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5144049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5153076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5153076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5153076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":5152714,"date":"2026-11-07T17:33:41","date_gmt":"2026-11-07T12:03:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/?p=5152714"},"modified":"2026-11-07T17:33:43","modified_gmt":"2026-11-07T12:03:43","slug":"nfl-active-news-ryan-clark-accuses-espn-of-dirty-business-over-its-treatment-of-troy-aikman-amid-his-looming-exit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/nfl-active-news-ryan-clark-accuses-espn-of-dirty-business-over-its-treatment-of-troy-aikman-amid-his-looming-exit\/","title":{"rendered":"Ryan Clark Accuses ESPN of \u2018Dirty Business\u2019 Over Its Treatment of Troy Aikman Amid His Looming Exit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>For a quarter century, Troy Aikman and Joe Buck have been the gold standard of NFL broadcasting. But we know that a concerning rift has developed between the two, following Buck getting his contract extended with ESPN. Ryan Clark pointed a finger at ESPN for putting Aikman in the position he is currently in, based on his own experience with the network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen I look at Troy Aikman and Joe Buck, I believe they\u2019re the best booth in football,\u201d Clark said of the rift between Aikman and Buck, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Realrclark25\/status\/2118865006770958743?s=19\">on The Pivot Podcast<\/a>. \u201cAnd for 25 years they\u2019ve proved that. The reason ESPN gets better games now and the reason they have a Super Bowl is because of those two individuals. Part of their draw, outside of their skill, was that it felt like brothers. It felt like family. Somebody is trying to make Troy Aikman look like the bastard son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>“You mentioned the leaks. I’ve been around there. I know how it starts to happen when they’re trying to build a narrative about you. … I do feel like there is a push to make him be the bad guy, whether he is or not. … This is not about, in my opinion, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman. This is about the business, and it’s about business being done dirty. I want to see them continue.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The tension between Aikman and Buck presumably developed after ESPN signed Buck to a $108 million contract extension. Aikman had also been negotiating for an extension. But according to Puck, ESPN allegedly finalized Buck’s contract some months before it was reported by The Athletic. Aikman reportedly had no knowledge of this, and considered the move a betrayal, per a later story by The Athletic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the network has remained silent about Aikman\u2019s contract extension. It\u2019s his last season on his five-year, $90 million contract.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>“I don’t know if it’s hard to figure out kind of what happened,\u201d Aikman said on 96.7 The Ticket. \u201cI’ll broadcast through this season, and I’ll be a free agent at the end of the year and kind of see what happens. I’m looking forward to whatever the rest of this season does hold and the Super Bowl and all that, and where my next landing spot may be.”\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then there is also the fight the two had at the SoFi Stadium before the Rams-Bills game. According to The Athletic, Buck told Aikman, “I\u2019m not the reason you don\u2019t have a contract.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is a thought the veteran announcer has alluded to previously as well, and the two were negotiating their contracts separately. Buck did say he hoped ESPN retained him, but he hasn’t said much about the current status of their relationship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some in NFL media have said that they want to see Troy Aikman and Joe Buck together. Bill Simmons, on The Ringer\u2019s Bill Simmons Podcast, claimed that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/nfl-legends-news-bill-simmons-wants-troy-aikman-joe-buck-to-continue-mutual-hatred\/\">he wants Buck and Aikman to stay together<\/a> and that they shouldn’t be broken up.\u00a0ESPN’s own Stephen A. Smith also called for the two continue sharing the booth together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Clark, having been fired by ESPN earlier this year in a rather dramatic manner, has been vocal about his experience with the network. He recently said that during the last time he negotiated his contract, ESPN had asked him to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/nfl-active-news-i-could-no-longer-do-the-pivot-ryan-clark-calls-out-espns-disrespectful-final-offer-following-his-on-air-firing\/\">drop his work<\/a> with The Pivot Podcast and Inside The NFL, which is run by NFL Films.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But Clark was let go in July this year, while on set for NFL Live. Per Awful Announcing, ESPN planned to inform him of his dismissal the next day. No wonder he believes there is something fishy going on with the Troy Aikman situation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After 25 legendary seasons together, football\u2019s premier booth deserves a dignified curtain call. And Clark, along with many others, stood in support of that. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For a quarter century, Troy Aikman and Joe Buck have been the gold standard of NFL broadcasting. But we know that a concerning rift has developed between the two, following Buck getting his contract extended with ESPN. Ryan Clark pointed a finger at ESPN for putting Aikman in the position he is currently in, based […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214658,"featured_media":4057465,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sentiment_score":"-0.887","footnotes":""},"categories":[14551],"tags":[32736,23694,29168],"class_list":["post-5152714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl","tag-joe-buck","tag-ryan-clark","tag-troy-aikman"],"acf":{"post_history":"Ryan Clark Accuses ESPN of \u2018Dirty Business\u2019 Over Its Treatment of Troy Aikman Amid His Looming Exit","sentiment_score":"-0.887","platform_risk_addressed":true,"newsletter_title":"","newsletter_description":"","auto_post_fb_channels":[],"fb_caption":"","msn_publish":"No","yahoo_publish":"Yes","content_type":["Trend Setting"],"article_source":["Social Media - Twitter"],"source_article_link":"https:\/\/x.com\/Realrclark25\/status\/2118865006770958743?s=19","article_summary":"","is_headline":false,"storyline":false,"lead_story":false,"published_by_pr_writer":"No","current_news_or_throwback":"CurrentNews","sub_tag_within_current_news":["OffCourt"],"editor_name":{"ID":215572,"user_firstname":"Afreen","user_lastname":"Kabir","nickname":"afreen.kabir","user_nicename":"afreen-kabir","display_name":"Afreen Kabir","user_email":"afreenkabir@ymail.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2025-03-05 02:59:15","user_description":"Afreen Kabir is a College Football Writer at EssentiallySports, contributing to the CFB Trends Desk. Selected for the College Football Pro Writer Program last year, she was trained by a panel led by a former Managing Editor of MSN Sport, now a mentor at EssentiallySports. Her previous experience covering the entertainment and lifestyle beats for major digital media outlets adds a unique lens\u2014enabling her to craft compelling narratives at the intersection of sports and pop culture.","user_avatar":"<img data-del=\"avatar\" src='https:\/\/image-cdn.essentiallysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Afreen-150x150.png' class='avatar pp-user-avatar avatar-96 photo ' height='96' width='96'\/>"},"enhancement_editor":false,"allotted_by":{"ID":214863,"user_firstname":"Kushal","user_lastname":"Jain","nickname":"kushal.jain","user_nicename":"kushal-jain","display_name":"Kushal Jain","user_email":"kushaljain.creator@gmail.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2023-05-23 06:01:52","user_description":"Kushal Jain is an NFL writer at EssentiallySports. Having started off writing as a hobby when he was 19, it has snowballed into becoming his full time profession. He is a passionate football fan, or as per the US etymology, soccer fan. Despite his niche as a football and sports writer, he has experience in various fields and industries, including finance, which has allowed him to be an all-rounder. When he's not busy giving NFL or Soccer commentary, he can be found reading or playing video games, particularly Football Manager (what a surprise) as well as some MMOs. His hyperactive, productivity focused mentality has given him the attitude of \"just take the shot, what's the worst that could happen\".","user_avatar":"<img data-del=\"avatar\" src='https:\/\/image-cdn.essentiallysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Kushal_Jain-96x96.png' class='avatar pp-user-avatar avatar-96 photo ' height='96' width='96'\/>"}},"es_last_edited_by":"Afreen Kabir","yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.1 (Yoast SEO v22.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ryan Clark Accuses ESPN of \u2018Dirty Business\u2019 Over Its Treatment of Troy Aikman Amid His Looming Exit - EssentiallySports<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Troy Aikman receives support from former ESPN broadcaster Ryan Clark, who suspects the network of treating the ex-Cowboys star unfairly.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/nfl-active-news-ryan-clark-accuses-espn-of-dirty-business-over-its-treatment-of-troy-aikman-amid-his-looming-exit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ryan Clark Accuses ESPN of \u2018Dirty Business\u2019 Over Its Treatment of Troy Aikman Amid His Looming Exit\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Troy Aikman receives support from former ESPN broadcaster Ryan Clark, who suspects the network of treating the ex-Cowboys star unfairly.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/nfl-active-news-ryan-clark-accuses-espn-of-dirty-business-over-its-treatment-of-troy-aikman-amid-his-looming-exit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EssentiallySports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/essentiallysports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-11-07T12:03:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-11-07T12:03:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/image-cdn.essentiallysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/imago1055059350.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"5339\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"3559\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Krushna Prasad Pattnaik\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@FightFanKrushna\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@es_sportsnews\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/nfl-active-news-ryan-clark-accuses-espn-of-dirty-business-over-its-treatment-of-troy-aikman-amid-his-looming-exit\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/nfl-active-news-ryan-clark-accuses-espn-of-dirty-business-over-its-treatment-of-troy-aikman-amid-his-looming-exit\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Krushna Prasad Pattnaik\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5d94269cdfeeff491e8d3fb7bb195307\"},\"headline\":\"Ryan Clark Accuses ESPN of \u2018Dirty Business\u2019 Over Its Treatment of Troy Aikman Amid His Looming Exit\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-11-07T12:03:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-11-07T12:03:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/nfl-active-news-ryan-clark-accuses-espn-of-dirty-business-over-its-treatment-of-troy-aikman-amid-his-looming-exit\/\"},\"wordCount\":666,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Joe Buck\",\"Ryan Clark\",\"Troy Aikman\"],\"articleSection\":[\"NFL\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2026\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/nfl-active-news-ryan-clark-accuses-espn-of-dirty-business-over-its-treatment-of-troy-aikman-amid-his-looming-exit\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/nfl-active-news-ryan-clark-accuses-espn-of-dirty-business-over-its-treatment-of-troy-aikman-amid-his-looming-exit\/\",\"name\":\"Ryan Clark Accuses ESPN of \u2018Dirty Business\u2019 Over Its Treatment of Troy Aikman Amid His Looming Exit - 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Teams across the league continue to find their rhythm, but this slate provided plenty of viral talking points that extend far beyond the final scorelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our latest NBA roundup breaks down all the major highlights from Friday, starting with LeBron James\u2019 rare single-digit scoring performance in his return to Ohio. We cover double half-court magic in Cleveland, Luka Doncic\u2019s wild night against Portland, Trae Young\u2019s complex return to Atlanta, Bronny James\u2019 G League explosive debut, and a heartwarming gesture from Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-lebron-james-encounters-rough-homecoming-in-cleveland\">LeBron James encounters rough homecoming in Cleveland<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>LeBron James endured one of the toughest outings of his career on Friday night as the Philadelphia 76ers fell 119\u201395 to the Cleveland Cavaliers. James finished with just eight points on 3-for-12 shooting, marking only the tenth time in over 1,600 career regular-season games that he failed to reach double digits. While the all-time leading scorer’s historic 1,297-game double-digit streak officially ended last season against Toronto, this performance marked just the second time since January 5, 2007, that James was held under 10 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cavaliers fans greeted James with a smattering of boos every time he touched the ball, a reaction stemming from his offseason decision to sign with Philadelphia rather than return for a third stint in Cleveland. Postgame, James brushed off the crowd’s hostility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>“At the end of the day, nothing can get as worse as December 2nd, 2010 from a reception standpoint. So I’ve seen the near depths of hell when it comes to reception here all the way to the heavens above. So anything in between is easy money,” James <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/krisrhim1\/status\/2118910804825141464?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a>, referring to his first game in Cleveland after signing with the Miami Heat over a decade ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-cavaliers-fans-bring-double-half-court-magic\">Cavaliers fans bring double half-court magic<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/nba-active-basketball-news-ive-seen-near-depths-of-hell-lebron-james-reacts-to-clevelands-surprising-reception-after-denying-cleveland-cavaliers-in-free-agency\/\">LeBron James\u2019 return to Ohio<\/a> must have injected something in the air. While the Cavaliers rolled to a commanding 119\u201395 victory over the 76ers, holding <a href=\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/tag\/lebron-james\/\">LeBron James<\/a> to just eight points in his return to Northeast Ohio, the real showstoppers stepped up during <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/UnderdogNBA\/status\/2118895165989593435?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a timeout contest<\/a>. In an almost statistical impossibility, two lucky Cavaliers fans drained back-to-back half-court shots to win a $10,000 grand prize each.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before the arena could even finish celebrating the first shot, a second fan stepped up immediately after and sank a back-to-back half-court shot for another $10,000 payout. The odds of two consecutive contest participants draining half-court heaves back-to-back had the crowd in utter disbelief, overshadowing a dominant 23-point performance from Donovan Mitchell and 22 points from Evan Mobley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-luka-doncic-s-wild-night-against-the-blazers\">Luka Doncic\u2019s wild night against the Blazers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/tag\/luka-doncic\/\">Luka Doncic<\/a> continued his historic scoring tear in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 124\u2013118 win over the Portland Trail Blazers, but not without some early volatility. Late in the first quarter, after absorbing a physical sequence of fouls from Jrue Holiday, a frustrated Doncic tossed the ball off official Sean Wright\u2019s leg and was promptly assessed a technical foul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/nba-legends-basketball-news-have-some-respect-ron-harper-fires-back-at-critic-who-called-out-female-referee-in-luka-doncic-fan-ejection\/\">Ironic that this comes one game after Doncic had a fan ejected<\/a> for throwing a ball at a referee in the Kings game. It also came right after he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/nba-active-basketball-news-nba-backtracks-on-luka-doncic-ruling-as-los-angeles-lakers-star-avoids-fine-amid-mvp-controversy\/\">had a tech rescinded<\/a>, bringing his season\u2019s tally back to two once more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, Doncic channeled that frustration into history. To close out the first half, the Slovenian superstar banked in an absurd 62-foot buzzer-beater to shift the game’s momentum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Postgame, Doncic jokingly corrected analyst Blake Griffin, reminding him it was “a three-quarter shot, not half-court.” Doncic finished with 53 points and was unbothered by the tech. When a reporter asked him about it, he jokingly made a face and pretended to leave in a cloud of huff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-trae-young-returns-to-atlanta\">Trae Young returns to Atlanta<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/tag\/trae-young\/\">Trae Young\u2019s<\/a> first active game in State Farm Arena as a visiting player ended in a 139\u2013132 defeat for the Washington Wizards, but the atmosphere took center stage. Social media <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TheHoopCentral\/status\/2118870662353969323?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">clips <\/a>pointed to loud boos cascading down during Trae Young\u2019s introductions, contrasting the emotional welcome he got when he was seated on the Wizards bench in his first game back after the January 2026 trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But spectators at State Farm Arena quickly clarified that the noise originated almost exclusively from Atlanta\u2019s designated “Sixth Man” section in the lower bowl, which routinely boos every opposing starting lineup regardless of context. The boos weren’t limited to Young but extended to the entire Wizards lineup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Outside of that section’s tradition, the broader Atlanta crowd offered genuine appreciation for their long-time cornerstone. Young, who dropped 23 points and 10 assists, shared an extended embrace with Hawks coach Quin Snyder before tip-off. Postgame, Young admitted the return was surreal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>“I don’t think it’ll feel like this every time, but definitely tonight it did…,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-bronny-james-stuns-in-g-league-opener\">Bronny James stuns in G League opener<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As usual, Bronny turns into LeBron James when he hits the G League circuit. Assigned to the Coachella Valley Lakers for extra playing time, Bronny James made the most of his G League Tip-Off Tournament debut. The 22-year-old guard led Coachella Valley to an opening night victory over the Salt Lake City Stars, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/nbagleague\/status\/2118945650209669354?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">dropping <\/a>22 points and seven assists in a commanding performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bronny has had only 4 points across 5 regular-season appearances before he and Cameron Carr were assigned to the G League.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lakers head coach JJ Redick clarified that the assignment was not about Bronny\u2019s poor performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s just: you guys need reps, and you guys need to play,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-yaxel-lendeborg-has-a-sweet-surprise-for-his-family\">Yaxel Lendeborg has a sweet surprise for his family<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Golden State Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg is having a remarkable week both on and off the floor. Following a strong stretch where he’s averaged around 21 points per game during the Warriors’ six-game winning streak, the 23-year-old forward posted his first YouTube video, revealing a brand-new house he purchased for his mother, Yissel Raposo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>“I’m nervous now. On behalf of everybody that came to show up, welcome home,” Lendeborg said in the video before inviting his mom to “test it out.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Raposo, a former Dominican Republic national team player, guided Lendeborg through his academic and athletic journey, which included junior college, a national title at Michigan, and being selected 11th overall in the 2026 NBA Draft. She was diagnosed with cancer, adding emotional weight to her son\u2019s basketball milestones.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The NBA landscape delivered non-stop drama tonight, featuring a mix of vintage individual brilliance, unexpected fan heroics, and heartwarming milestones. Teams across the league continue to find their rhythm, but this slate provided plenty of viral talking points that extend far beyond the final scorelines. Our latest NBA roundup breaks down all the major highlights […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214999,"featured_media":5135858,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sentiment_score":"-0.91","footnotes":""},"categories":[25682,3332,22931,19626,19618,19209,19636],"tags":[683,16949,19690],"class_list":["post-5153069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-atlanta-hawks","category-basketball-2","category-cleveland-cavaliers","category-golden-state-warriors","category-los-angeles-lakers","category-nba","category-washington-wizards","tag-lebron-james","tag-luka-doncic","tag-trae-young"],"acf":{"post_history":"LeBron James’ Awful Night in Cleveland, Trae Young Gets Booed, Cavs Lose $20K & More From NBA Cup Games (6th Nov)###LeBron James\u2019 Awful Night in Cleveland, Trae Young Gets Booed, Cavs Lose $20K & More From NBA Cup Games (6th Nov)###LeBron James\u2019 Awful Night in Cleveland, Trae Young Gets Booed, Cavs Lose $20K & More From NBA Cup Games (6th Nov)###NBA Round Up: Trae Young Booed at Atlanta, Cavs Lose $20K to Half Court Shot Winners, Luka Doncic Faces NBA Fine & More","sentiment_score":"-0.91","platform_risk_addressed":true,"newsletter_title":"","auto_post_fb_channels":[],"fb_caption":"","msn_publish":"No","yahoo_publish":"No","content_type":["In-Depth"],"article_source":["Social Media - Twitter"],"source_article_link":"https:\/\/x.com\/UnderdogNBA\/status\/2118895165989593435?s=20","article_summary":"","current_news_or_throwback":"CurrentNews","sub_tag_within_current_news":["CoreSport"],"editor_name":{"ID":215708,"user_firstname":"Aadesh","user_lastname":"D","nickname":"aadesh.d","user_nicename":"aadesh-d","display_name":"Aadesh D","user_email":"aadeshdhote19@gmail.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2025-07-09 05:32:41","user_description":"Aadesh Dhote is a editor at the NFL desk at EssentiallySports. He holds a Master\u2019s degree in English Literature and brings over five years of experience in creative and digital content domains. Aadesh specializes in narrative-focused editorial work and script analysis, enhancing trending NFL news with depth, structure, and a fresh editorial voice. Outside of work, he is a published poet and screenwriter who actively engages with the creative community. \r\n\r\nPassionate about creative pursuits and gaining practical experience in the humanities, Aadesh blends theoretical knowledge with hands-on skills across writing, film, and cultural studies. His diverse background includes notable publications and ongoing screenwriting projects. He also possesses amateur skills in photo and video editing, sports photography, and stat research.","user_avatar":"<img data-del=\"avatar\" src='https:\/\/image-cdn.essentiallysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Aadesh-150x150.png' class='avatar pp-user-avatar avatar-96 photo ' height='96' width='96'\/>"},"enhancement_editor":false,"allotted_by":{"ID":214745,"user_firstname":"Rohan","user_lastname":"Dharmalingam","nickname":"rohan.dharmalingam","user_nicename":"rohan-dharmalingam","display_name":"Rohan Dharmalingam","user_email":"rohan.dharmalingam@gmail.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2022-12-30 18:21:22","user_description":"Rohan Dharmalingam is an NBA Content Specialist at EssentiallySports. Over three years on the beat, he has delivered in-depth coverage of the Lakers, Warriors, Mavericks, and Celtics, earning recognition from Shaquille O\u2019Neal for his reporting. A former collegiate point guard, Rohan applies a guard\u2019s understanding of spacing, decision-making, and tempo when breaking down plays, adding on-court clarity to his analysis.","user_avatar":"<img data-del=\"avatar\" src='https:\/\/image-cdn.essentiallysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Author-image-150x150.png' class='avatar pp-user-avatar avatar-96 photo ' height='96' width='96'\/>"},"is_headline":false,"storyline":false,"lead_story":false,"published_by_pr_writer":"No","newsletter_description":""},"es_last_edited_by":"Aadesh D","yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.1 (Yoast SEO v22.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>LeBron James' Awful Night in Cleveland, Trae Young Gets Booed, Cavs Lose $20K & More From NBA Cup Games (6th Nov) - EssentiallySports<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Catch up on Friday's NBA action with half-court shots from fans and Luka Doncic and Trae Young's and Yaxel Lendeborg's 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She holds a master\u2019s degree in Journalism and Communication and brings eight years of experience to the sports desk. Caroline made a mark in NBA media by covering the life of Shaquille O\u2019Neal, which led to an exclusive interview with Josh Halpern, CEO of Shaq\u2019s Big Chicken franchise. Her coverage was also personally highlighted by Shaq, who shared her article about his DJ Diesel persona and rapper GAWNE on Instagram. Drawn to the philanthropic work of LeBron James and Shaquille O\u2019Neal, Caroline started following the NBA for its character both on and off the court, and has since become a respected voice covering many of the league\u2019s biggest names. Her reporting stands out for accuracy, recognition from industry figures, and a strong connection with readers. Away from sports, Caroline is an avid reader, finding equal passion in books and storytelling.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/caroline-j-0b83b3155\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/J_Caro_Writes"],"knowsAbout":["Hoopster Historian"],"jobTitle":"Hoops, Hype, and Heart","url":"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/author\/caroline-john\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5153069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214999"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5153069"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5153069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5153194,"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5153069\/revisions\/5153194"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5135858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5153069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5153069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.staging.essentiallysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5153069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":5152848,"date":"2026-11-07T17:15:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-07T11:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/?p=5152848"},"modified":"2026-11-07T12:53:31","modified_gmt":"2026-11-07T07:23:31","slug":"nba-active-basketball-news-nothing-is-going-in-joel-embiid-opens-up-after-shocking-night-without-a-field-goal-spoils-lebron-james-cleveland-return-philadelphia-76ers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/nba-active-basketball-news-nothing-is-going-in-joel-embiid-opens-up-after-shocking-night-without-a-field-goal-spoils-lebron-james-cleveland-return-philadelphia-76ers\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cNothing Is Going In\u201d: Joel Embiid Opens Up After Shocking Night Without a Field Goal Spoils LeBron James\u2019 Cleveland Return"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Philadelphia 76ers had a night of historic offensive stagnation. Returning home for the first time after rejecting the Cavs, LeBron James had his fifth lowest-scoring game in his 24-year career. And for only the second time in his career, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/tag\/joel-embiid\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Joel Embiid<\/a> failed to make a single field goal. Without their offensive displays, the Cleveland Cavaliers had an easy 119-95 win and also snapped the Sixers’ five-game winning streak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was in 2019 against the Raptors when the Cameroonian went scoreless for the first time in his career (0-11). Tonight Joel Embiid played just 25 minutes, did not play in the final quarter, and missed all nine of his field goal attempts and both his shots from beyond the arc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>“I believe in myself, but when you’re in these moments and nothing is going in, whether it’s three, big range, everything, layups, it’s hard to just not look at yourself and be down,” Embiid <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/mcten\/status\/2118915330827227414?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said after the game<\/a>. “But yeah, you gotta keep going and stay up and keep walking.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This season, Joel Embiid has hit just three of 26 from the three-point line and has a career low of 11.5%. Even his FG% of 41.3% is a career low for the Sixers center. Tonight it was not just him who struggled to score against the Cavaliers. LeBron James finished with eight points (on 3-of-12 shooting with six turnovers). Philly converted just 36 percent of its field goals and 25 percent from three-point range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Embiid also spoke about the team needing its offense to come together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>“Yeah, I think we have a lot. I said last year, and I said every day, we got a long way to go. Especially our half-court offense. It just feels like everything is crowded. So we just gotta find a way to get advantages so that we can take advantage of them. So yeah, just trying to get a few easy ones for each other. I think a lot of it just ends in an iso, and we just stand and watch.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>“But yeah, it’s been a hard time. But we also have those moments where the ball is just moving. And tonight was just one of those nights. We didn’t make the key shots, especially when we cut the lead down. And you know, that play was tight.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The reflection came after Cleveland wasted no time taking control of the game, setting the tone with an explosive start. The Cavaliers opened with a 19-4 run and carried that momentum into the first quarter, building a commanding 33-22 advantage. Their early dominance put Philadelphia on the back foot, as Joel Embiid went 0-for-7 from the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite that, the 76ers refused to go away quietly. They gradually fought their way back and made things interesting in the third quarter. The Sixers trimmed the deficit to just two points at 67-65, briefly putting pressure on Cleveland and raising hopes of a potential comeback. However, the Cavs quickly shut down that threat. They regained control, closed the third quarter with a decisive 24-9 run, and entered the final period firmly in command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From there, Cleveland never looked back and continued to dictate the pace, stretching their advantage to as many as 25 points in the fourth quarter. Philadelphia struggled to find answers as the Cavaliers pulled away and turned a competitive stretch into a comfortable finish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They also controlled the battle on the boards, outrebounding the 76ers by 14. That advantage helped Cleveland maintain possession, limit second chances, and reinforce its dominance throughout the contest. Overall, a fast start, a crucial third-quarter surge, and superior rebounding proved too much for Philadelphia to overcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite the loss, the Sixers remain top with an 8-2 record. And even Joel Embiid’s teammate made sure to remove any concerns about the loss tonight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve done a good job,\u201d Tyrese Maxey said. \u201cWe\u2019re 8-2. I don\u2019t want to dwell on it too bad.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Next up, the Philadelphia face the Chicago Bulls, who are winless in their last six.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Philadelphia 76ers had a night of historic offensive stagnation. Returning home for the first time after rejecting the Cavs, LeBron James had his fifth lowest-scoring game in his 24-year career. And for only the second time in his career, Joel Embiid failed to make a single field goal. Without their offensive displays, the Cleveland […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":215235,"featured_media":5152925,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sentiment_score":"-0.277","footnotes":""},"categories":[3332,22931,19209,19632],"tags":[15058,683],"class_list":["post-5152848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball-2","category-cleveland-cavaliers","category-nba","category-philadelphia-76ers","tag-joel-embiid","tag-lebron-james"],"acf":{"post_history":"\u201cNothing Is Going In\u201d: Joel Embiid Opens Up After Shocking Night Without a Field Goal Spoils LeBron James\u2019 Cleveland Return","sentiment_score":"-0.277","newsletter_description":"","platform_risk_addressed":true,"msn_publish":"No","yahoo_publish":"Yes","content_type":["Trend Setting"],"article_source":["Social Media - Twitter"],"source_article_link":"https:\/\/x.com\/mcten\/status\/2118915330827227414?s=20","article_summary":"","current_news_or_throwback":"CurrentNews","sub_tag_within_current_news":["CoreSport"],"editor_name":{"ID":215907,"user_firstname":"Surjo Siddhanta","user_lastname":"Ray","nickname":"surjo.ray","user_nicename":"surjo-ray","display_name":"Surjo Siddhanta Ray","user_email":"surjosiddhantaray@gmail.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2026-04-07 11:08:13","user_description":"Surjo Siddhanta Ray is an NFL Editor at EssentiallySports. He has spent four years in sports journalism, the last stretch of it focused on the NFL, where he built a reputation for reading a single play and knowing exactly how it would shift a franchise's storyline for the rest of the week. Before settling into the NFL beat, he worked across golf and the NBA, which gave him a wider read on how different sports build rivalries and how fans actually experience them.\r\nSurjo holds a Master's degree in English from Delhi University. Moreover, he writes fiction outside of work, which keeps his editing sharp on structure and pacing, not just facts.","user_avatar":"<img data-del=\"avatar\" src='https:\/\/image-cdn.essentiallysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-07-02-at-14.50.04-149x150.jpeg' class='avatar pp-user-avatar avatar-96 photo ' height='96' width='96'\/>"},"enhancement_editor":false,"allotted_by":{"ID":214745,"user_firstname":"Rohan","user_lastname":"Dharmalingam","nickname":"rohan.dharmalingam","user_nicename":"rohan-dharmalingam","display_name":"Rohan Dharmalingam","user_email":"rohan.dharmalingam@gmail.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2022-12-30 18:21:22","user_description":"Rohan Dharmalingam is an NBA Content Specialist at EssentiallySports. Over three years on the beat, he has delivered in-depth coverage of the Lakers, Warriors, Mavericks, and Celtics, earning recognition from Shaquille O\u2019Neal for his reporting. A former collegiate point guard, Rohan applies a guard\u2019s understanding of spacing, decision-making, and tempo when breaking down plays, adding on-court clarity to his analysis.","user_avatar":"<img data-del=\"avatar\" src='https:\/\/image-cdn.essentiallysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Author-image-150x150.png' class='avatar pp-user-avatar avatar-96 photo ' height='96' width='96'\/>"},"newsletter_title":"","auto_post_fb_channels":[],"fb_caption":"","is_headline":false,"storyline":false,"lead_story":false,"published_by_pr_writer":"No"},"es_last_edited_by":"Surjo Siddhanta Ray","yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.1 (Yoast SEO v22.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\u201cNothing Is Going In\u201d: Joel Embiid Opens Up After Shocking Night Without a Field Goal Spoils LeBron James\u2019 Cleveland Return - EssentiallySports<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Joel Embiid opens up about the shooting 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The Purple and Gold superstar etched his name on multiple records in the 124-118 win against the Portland Trail Blazers. And for JJ Redick, it was not just the Slovenian but a returning 22-year-old who made a positive influence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Adou Thiero made his season debut after being sidelined with left knee swelling, during which he missed the first 9 games. The second-year forward provided a major spark in his first shift. And before the game, the Lakers head coach made the expectation very clear. \u201cThe biggest thing for him, I think, is number one, being able to just execute.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And Thiero clearly delivered. That’s why JJ Redick was <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/pSNemQXSiDI?si=-wzqSEkZBNI-yM_c&t=233\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">quick to praise him<\/a>. “I thought his first two defensive possessions he made mistakes, and then after that he was awesome. He literally did everything, you know, we asked him to do. He was great on the offensive glass. Even sometimes when we didn’t necessarily get the possession, but you know, he was tapping the ball and crashing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>“I thought the read he made out of the short roll. I think they blitzed three times in the first half, and two of those were against him. He makes the short roll, and he gets the lob. So I thought he played a great game and defensively was really good in the second half.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In sparing minutes of action, the 22-year-old finished with 4 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists. In the first quarter, as the Lakers were trailing 20-13, Adou Thiero was involved in a pick-and-roll action, and he drew Mamu’s and Ziaire’s men. Then he found Ziaire for the lob to reduce the deficit to five.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He even finished with two dunks, and one came off an inch-perfect lob from Luka Doncic. That’s why the short stint from Thiero checked all the right boxes. Not just the head coach but even another Lakers teammate praised the returning star’s impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>“He definitely raises our defensive ceiling with him being healthy and available,” Jake LaRavia said about Adou Thiero. It’s a similar sentiment that JJ Redick had shared when the 22-year-old was sidelined. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAdou is capable of being a big part of (our defense),\u201d Redick said Oct. 5. \u201cWhere I think his \u2013 our ceiling rises is if he\u2019s able to do that and be an impactful offensive player with crashing, with cutting, with touching the paint, playing off two feet. I\u2019ve seen a lot of growth there from him over the last six, seven weeks. That\u2019s exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Summer League, Thiero averaged 14.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game. A problem in the same knee where he had surgery pushed back his return timeline. But in his first game back, Adou earned plenty of plaudits. Meanwhile, Luka Doncic put on another spectacular performance Friday night, pouring in 53 points while adding five rebounds and five assists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After the game, the Lakers coach struggled to find the right words to describe the Slovenian superstar’s brilliance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>“I’m gonna just sit around and will gather one day, come up with more superlatives so I have more words ready. But for now, I don’t have any words,” the Lakers coach answered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Luka Doncic became the fourth player in franchise history after Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant and George Mikan to score at least 40 points in four consecutive games. The 53-point performance also marked the 11th 50-point game of Doncic’s NBA career. He moved past Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and tied Allen Iverson for 10th place on the league’s all-time list. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His latest outing added another milestone to an already remarkable season. Doncic has recorded multiple career games with at least 40 points, five rebounds and five assists. The Slovenian’s season-opening numbers are just as impressive. He has scored 361 points through the Lakers’ first nine games, the highest total in the modern NBA era and the most since Chamberlain exploded for 472 points during the 1962-63 season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Friday, Luka Doncic scored his fourth career 50-point regular-season game in the Los Angeles Lakers shirt. The Purple and Gold superstar etched his name on multiple records in the 124-118 win against the Portland Trail Blazers. And for JJ Redick, it was not just the Slovenian but a returning 22-year-old who made a positive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":215235,"featured_media":4947781,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sentiment_score":"0.862","footnotes":""},"categories":[3332,19618,19209,22986],"tags":[56454,16949],"class_list":["post-5152987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball-2","category-los-angeles-lakers","category-nba","category-portland-trail-blazers","tag-adou-thiero","tag-luka-doncic"],"acf":{"post_history":"“He Was Awesome”: JJ Redick Hails Lakers Youngster Despite Luka Doncic Stealing the Spotlight With 53-Point Explosion###\u201cHe Was Awesome\u201d: JJ Redick Hails Lakers Youngster Despite Luka Doncic Stealing the Spotlight With 53-Point Explosion","sentiment_score":"0.862","newsletter_description":"","platform_risk_addressed":true,"msn_publish":"No","yahoo_publish":"Yes","content_type":["Trend Setting"],"article_source":["YouTube Video"],"source_article_link":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/pSNemQXSiDI?si=-wzqSEkZBNI-yM_c&t=233","article_summary":"","current_news_or_throwback":"CurrentNews","sub_tag_within_current_news":["CoreSport"],"editor_name":{"ID":215528,"user_firstname":"Tanay","user_lastname":"Sahai","nickname":"tanay.sahai","user_nicename":"tanay-sahai","display_name":"Tanay Sahai","user_email":"tanay.sahai0101@gmail.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2025-02-04 04:40:21","user_description":"Tanay Sahai is an NBA Editor at EssentiallySports, with a decade of experience in digital media and a strong foundation in entrepreneurship. 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St. Michael Catholic lost 42-35 to Glenwood in the first round of the Alabama playoffs, and Rivers admitted afterward it might have been his last game on that sideline. Whatever he does next, NC State is waiting. The Wolfpack fired Dave Doeren on October 24, and nearly every report says Rivers is the man the school wants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The game itself was close to the end. St. Michael was tied 28-28 early in the fourth quarter when Glenwood scored and recovered the onside kick. The Cardinals cut it to a one-score game inside three minutes, but Glenwood got another onside kick and ran out the clock. Rivers was emotional afterward and said his focus was on the locker room, not on Raleigh. He confirmed that NC State officials came to Fairhope on Wednesday, including athletic director Boo Corrigan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>“Yeah, no, we met and visited, and I’ve known some of those guys for a while now,” <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/murphsturph\/status\/2118913229367755039?s=20\">Rivers said according to an X post by Brian Murphy.<\/a> “It was good to visit with them, but there’s really nothing else, nothing else to report at this point. It could be [the next step]. And I think that potential next step would involve all those things you referenced. But now’s not the time, and there is nothing else at this point. But again, we’ll just have to see.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>NC State plays Duke on Saturday under interim coach Todd Goebbel at 4-4 with a coach still to be named. The Wolfpack won its first game under Goebbel, 31-10 over Cal. Rivers’ path to this point has been unusual as he starred at NC State from 2000 to 2003 and started 51 straight games. He played 18 NFL seasons, threw for 63,984 yards, and retired in 2021 to coach high school ball. Rivers came back last year at 44 to start three games for the Indianapolis Colts, and later interviewed for the Buffalo Bills head coaching job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Six years ago, St. Michael didn’t even have a football stadium. The program has come a long way since then, with the facilities standing as one of the clearest signs of what he has built. He even spent Friday morning mowing and lining the field himself, taking pride in the work that has gone into the school. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>“It’s been good,” Rivers said, according to an X post by Ben Thomas. “We didn’t have a stadium a few years ago. And so it’s been good thus far. If it were to be the last time out here, shoot, there’s a lot to be, a lot was accomplished. Certainly, if that were to be the case, it will be left better than it was six years ago.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The program was in rough shape before he arrived, going 5-25 over the three seasons before he took over, with no playoff appearances. Rivers finished at 48-21 with six playoff wins and back-to-back state semifinal trips. The Cardinals ended this season 6-4. Those who have watched him say the draw is simple: kids want to play for him, and he didn’t have to recruit anyone to get them there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gunner Rivers, a four-star quarterback and NC State commit, came back Friday from a knee injury and threw multiple touchdown passes. He ends his high school career with more than 10,800 passing yards and 119 passing touchdowns. Rivers said coaching his son wouldn’t be the deciding factor but “would be special.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Athletic reported that Rivers has been mapping out a staff, and On3 says he has made calls, with Alabama recruiting director Jatavis Sanders mentioned as a possible general manager. Russell Wilson also interviewed Tuesday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The NC State Board of Trustees meets November 12 and 13 and has to approve a contract. Stewart Mandel of The Athletic has warned that no high school coach has made this jump with success, so the hire carries real risk. However, the timing raises an open question, as a deal could come as early as next week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Philip Rivers’ high school season ended Friday night, and the question of what comes next grew louder with it. St. Michael Catholic lost 42-35 to Glenwood in the first round of the Alabama playoffs, and Rivers admitted afterward it might have been his last game on that sideline. Whatever he does next, NC State is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":215884,"featured_media":4771499,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sentiment_score":"0.008","footnotes":""},"categories":[74261],"tags":[31032,21567],"class_list":["post-5152932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-college-football","tag-nc-state-wolfpack","tag-philip-rivers"],"acf":{"post_history":"Philip Rivers Gives NC State Update After Potential End to Six-Year High School Coaching Career","sentiment_score":"0.008","platform_risk_addressed":true,"newsletter_title":"","auto_post_fb_channels":[],"fb_caption":"","content_type":["Trend Setting"],"article_source":["Social Media - Twitter"],"source_article_link":"https:\/\/x.com\/murphsturph\/status\/2118913229367755039?s=20","article_summary":"","current_news_or_throwback":"CurrentNews","sub_tag_within_current_news":["OffCourt"],"msn_publish":"No","yahoo_publish":"Yes","editor_name":{"ID":214728,"user_firstname":"Himanga","user_lastname":"Mahanta","nickname":"himanga.mahanta","user_nicename":"himanga-mahanta","display_name":"Himanga Mahanta","user_email":"himanga095mahanta@gmail.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2022-12-07 05:26:50","user_description":"Himanga Mahanta is a Senior UFC Writer at EssentiallySports and a key pillar of the combat sports team. 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His insightful reporting has earned recognition within the combat sports community, including mentions from notable figures such as Chael Sonnen.\r\n\r\nA keen observer of fight dynamics and a devoted Conor McGregor fan, Himanga blends passion with journalistic precision, making his work a reliable go-to for UFC followers worldwide.","user_avatar":"<img data-del=\"avatar\" src='https:\/\/image-cdn.essentiallysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Himanga-mahta-96x96.png' class='avatar pp-user-avatar avatar-96 photo ' height='96' width='96'\/>"},"allotted_by":{"ID":214872,"user_firstname":"Mohammad","user_lastname":"Almas Saad","nickname":"Al","user_nicename":"almas-saad","display_name":"Mohammad Almas Saad","user_email":"almasx10@yahoo.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2023-05-23 06:17:23","user_description":"Mohammad Almas Saad is an NBA Writer at EssentiallySports. Almas has over four years of experience writing about the sport he loves. He began right after college and has composed more than 500 stories.\r\n\r\nAlmas developed a viral interest in the NBA while watching LeBron James play during his first stint for the Cleveland Cavaliers. He has been following the league for a decade now. Almas likes to stay updated about strategies, trades and injuries to further his understanding of the core-sport aspects of basketball he so loves to cover. By analyzing players and team performances and breaking down games, Almas adds to his insights to help him put forth an informed perspective.\r\n\r\n\r\nAlmas also likes to write about football and has represented his high-school and college teams for basketball and football matches too. He organized a futsal tournament for his university, and his journalistic expertise isn\u2019t limited to basketball as well. He spends his free time writing short stories and poems. His collection of stories was published in Writers\u2019 Magazine in 2021. 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