Former Chicago Bears star Gale Sayers, considered one of the greatest running backs in the history of the NFL despite a career cut short by knee injuries, has died at age 77 after living with dementia.
Known as the "Kansas Comet," Sayers was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977 despite playing just seven seasons, all with the Bears. At 34, he was the youngest player ever inducted.
"All those who love the game of football mourn the loss of one of the greatest to ever play this game with the passing of Chicago Bears legend Gale Sayers," Hall of Fame president and CEO David Baker said in a statement. "He was the very essence of a team player -- quiet, unassuming and always ready to compliment a teammate for a key block. Gale was an extraordinary man who overcame a great deal of adversity during his NFL career and life."
TODAY
It’s been an emotional day around the NBA. The Black Lives Matter movement has been fighting for social justice reform for years, with the police killings of unarmed black people in America reaching a tipping point in 2020, as George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and many others becoming the faces of the movement.
On Wednesday, after six months without any arrests, police in Kentucky finally filed charges against one of the officers who killed Taylor, a “wanton endangerment” charge that many saw as a slap in the face to Black people everywhere who fear for their lives against a police system that continues to operate with relative impunity.
The NBA and WNBA world, sports media hosts, and LeBron James all sounded off on that development on Wednesday, decrying the lack of accountability for police officers who were able to enter a Black woman’s home while she was sleeping and shoot her to death while receiving little more than a slap on the wrist.
After Game 4 of the Celtics-Heat series, ESPN’s Malika Andrews was the latest to sound off about the Taylor case, using her time on SportsCenter to give us a tearful and powerful reminder that, as a Black woman who is the same age as Taylor was, she’s in the same position as so many Americans who fear for their lives against a police system that is supposed to protect us.
The last four minutes of Celtics vs. Heat in Game 4 of the 2020 Eastern Conference Finals.
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The Boston Celtics needed to win Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals to even this series at two games apiece.
So why did they -- and, in particular, Jayson Tatum -- come out so flat in the first half, an effort that helped doom them to a 112-109 loss to the Miami Heat and to a 3-1 deficit in the best-of-seven series?
Twenty-year-old rookie Tyler Herro scored a career-high 37 points as the Miami Heat took a commanding 3-1 series lead over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night in their Eastern Conference Finals series with a 112-109 victory.
In a game that played out mostly as a tight, defensive battle that saw neither team able to shoot the ball particularly well until the second half, Herro’s – pun fully intended – heroics as well as the strong play of Miami’s usual big trio of Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic, who combined for 66 points, proved too much in the end for Boston.
Here are a few takeaways from yet another highly-competitive, highly-entertaining game between these two sides that now has Miami just one win away from a trip to the NBA Finals.
Tyler SuperHerro
In 1980, Magic Johnson scored 42 points to set the record for the most points scored by a rookie under the age of 21.
On Wednesday, Herro inserted himself as No. 2 on that particular list with his 37-point eruption.
Herro went 14-of-21 from the field, including a ridiculous 5-for-10 shooting from three-point range and was oozing confidence from every fibre of his being, knowing he was the best player on the floor despite being the youngest.
His performance on Wednesday night was an extreme example of the excellent post-season he’s been having, in general, scoring no less than 11 points in all 13 Miami playoff games so far.
The No. 13 overall pick in last year’s draft, Herro’s head-turning plays have to be making many a general manager regret not taking a chance on the sweet-shooting guard from Kentucky.
He looks like a star in the making.
A tale of two Tatums
Though Herro was the best player on the floor Wednesday night, Celtics star Jayson Tatum was a pretty close second – it just probably took him too long to get his engine revved up perhaps.
Tatum finished with 28 points in Game 4, and it all came in the second half.
In the first half, Tatum looked to lack some of his trademark explosiveness off his first step and his shot was looking crooked as he went 0-for-6 from the field and 0-for-4 from three-point range.
Then in the second half, he appeared to find his game again and was, essentially, duelling with Herro on the Heat to keep the Celtics in the contest, shooting an outrageous 10-for-16 from the field and 4-for-7 from deep.
The result of the game obviously wasn’t what Tatum wanted, but there’s seemingly no denying his talent in this series. He’s balled out all series long, and he’ll have at least one more game to show the world just how good he actually is.
Watch the top 5 plays of the night from September 23, featuring Jayson Tatum, Bam Adebayo, Goran Dragic and MORE!
Jaylen Brown, Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler and Jayson Tatum spoke to the media after no officers were indicted for killing Breonna Taylor.
Tyler Herro's hard work has paid off. Dropping a career-high 37 PTS off the bench -- joining Magic Johnson (42), Derrick Rose (36) and Brandon Jennings (34) for most points in a playoff game 20 years old or younger -- Herro made history in Game 4 of the 2020 Eastern Conference Finals.
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