It was an offensive assault too deadly to overcome. Golden State (9-3) extended its winning streak to a conference-high of five following a 125-101 win Wednesday evening at Oracle Arena.
Klay Thompson poured in 14 of his 28 points in the third. He was 6-for-12 from 3-point range. Stephen Curry flirted with a triple-double, going for 22 points, eight boards and eight assists.
Andrew Wiggins put in 17 points and Karl-Anthony Towns finished with a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds for Minnesota (7-4).
Kevin Durant was held out his first game of the season with a left thigh contusion. Andre Iguodala got the nod in his place. Durant told ESPN that he expects to play Saturday against the Philadelphia 76ers.
It was a Warriors’ season-high for points in a quarter and the team’s fourth 40-point quarter through 12 games. They were 16-of-22 from the field in the quarter and 29 of their 37 assists came after three quarters.
Down 19 entering the fourth, Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau elected not to start any of his starters. Still facing a 19-point deficit, he would reinsert three starters midway in the quarter to attempt one last push but that push never occurred.
This match was the first time these two teams have met as divisional leaders. The field goal percentage battle went in favor of the home team, 57 percent to 41 percent. It wasn’t all good for the Warriors. They did turn the ball over on 19 occasions, six more than their opponent.
Golden State swatted away nine shots. They are now 8-3 on the season when recording seven or more blocks. They have blocked at least seven in 11 of the last 12 games.
A new federal indictment against Adidas executive Jim Gatto suggests former Louisville coach Rick Pitino was aware of a scheme to pay Cardinals recruit Brian Bowen and even participated in the plan.
The indictment, which was released Wednesday by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, includes a new description of a meeting in a Las Vegas hotel room on July 27. The FBI recorded and videotaped the meeting between former AAU basketball coach Christian Dawkins, a Louisville assistant coach and others as they conspired to pay Bowen’s family to ensure the star recruit signed with the Cardinals, an Adidas-sponsored team.
“Dawkins explained that while [Pitino] and the University of Louisville were recruiting [Bowen], Dawkins asked [Pitino] to call James Gatto to request that [Adidas] provide the money requested by the family of [Bowen], which [Pitino] agreed to do,” the indictment reads.
A previous description of the meeting, which was included in an FBI complaint against Gatto released on Sept. 26, indicated Dawkins had spoken with Pitino and asked him to call Gatto about Adidas paying Bowen’s family. But it didn’t include language indicating Pitino agreed to do it.
The original complaint read: “Dawkins said he had spoken with Coach-2 [who has been reported to be Pitino] about getting additional money for [Bowen’s] family and informed [Pitino] that ‘I need you to call Jim Gatto, who’s the head of everything’ at [Adidas’] basketball program.”
In an interview with ESPN last month, Pitino reiterated that he had “no knowledge” of any payment to Bowen’s family, citing a lie detector test that he took in October.
Pitino said of Bowen: “He fell into our lap in recruiting. Obviously, now with the circumstances behind it, there’s more to it than meets the eye. But I believe Brian Bowen chose the University of Louisville because he loved the visit, he loved his future teammates and he wanted to play for me. I don’t think he’s involved in this in any way. Now, am I being naive? I don’t know. I just believe in that young man.”
The FBI announced on Sept. 26 that 10 men — including assistant coaches Tony Evans of Oklahoma State, Chuck Person of Auburn, Emanuel “Book” Richardson of Arizona and Tony Bland of USC, along with Gatto — were charged with crimes relating to the investigation.
Louisville was not explicitly named in court documents, but interim president Greg Postel confirmed that the school was part of the probe.
Pitino, 65, was placed on unpaid administrative leave on Sept. 27 and fired on Oct. 17. He has $44 million remaining in salary and bonuses from a contract extension he signed through the 2025-26 season.
Pitino guided the Cardinals to the 2013 national championship and two other appearances in the Final Four.
Daniel Flores, a 17-year-old catcher who signed with the Boston Red Sox in July when the international amateur signing window opened, died Wednesday due to complications stemming from cancer treatment, the team announced.
Flores was signed out of Venezuela and was classified the second-best prospect available, according to MLB.com. Flores was receiving treatments in Boston when he died.
“Everyone at the Red Sox was shocked to hear of Daniel’s tragic passing,” Dave Dombrowski, Boston’s president of baseball operations said in a statement. “To see the life of young man with so much promise cut short is extremely saddening for all of us. On behalf of the Red Sox organization, I would like to extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to Daniel’s family.”
A switch-hitter, the 6-foot-1 Flores said during a July news conference in Caracas, Venezuela, that Salvador Perez was his idol, according to El Nacional.
“I hope I can have the [consistency] to play between 15 and 20 years in Major League Baseball. I hope I can get to the Hall of Fame.”
Although he was several years away from the majors, Flores was already being hailed by scouts for his defense behind the plate, especially his arm strength and quick release. It’s likely he would have ranked among the Red Sox’s top five prospects by most projections heading into next season.
Manny Padron, one of Flores’ coaches, told Hardball Scoop in July that the player was very mature for his age.
“He is a catcher with a great projection, he has a great ability with his glove,” Padron told Hardball Scoop. “In the offense, he shows a lot of power in the right side and a lot of ability in the left side. He will improve, he always does, in every aspect of the game. But we are happy of his behavior in and off the field.”
Flores signed for $3.1 million, according to Baseball America, which made him the third-highest-paid Venezuela prospect ever, according to MLB.com.
“Every member of our organization who got to know Daniel absolutely loved him. He was energetic, hard-working, and genuinely selfless, always with a smile on his face,” said Eddie Romero, Boston’s senior vice president/assistant GM. “He cared for his teammates and was a natural leader.
“I’m at a loss for words today. Daniel was an impressive young man with limitless potential, and his life was cut far too short. My condolences go out to Daniel’s mother and sister. Though with us for a short time, Daniel will always be a part of the Red Sox family.”
The team said it would have no further comment at this time out of respect for Flores’ family.
The Green Bay Packers have cut tight end Martellus Bennett with the failure to disclose a medical condition designation, the team announced Wednesday.
By cutting Bennett with that designation, it sets up the Packers’ case for a grievance to reclaim the $4.2 million in remaining prorated signing bonus money.
Bennett is now subject to waivers. All 31 other teams have until 4 p.m. ET Thursday to submit a claim on him. If he does not get claimed, he becomes a free agent and can sign with any team at any time after that.
Bennett’s release comes hours after Packers coach Mike McCarthy ruled him out for this week because of a shoulder injury. McCarthy said last week that Bennett was still being evaluated by doctors.
The veteran tight end hasn’t played since he announced during the Packers’ bye week that he was “pretty sure” this would be his last NFL season. When Bennett returned from the bye, he offered only a one-word explanation for what led him to that decision: “Life,” he said.
It’s unclear exactly how Bennett got hurt. He took part in the first practice after the Packers’ bye week but hasn’t been on the field since then.
The Packers have only two other tight ends on their roster: Lance Kendricks and Richard Rodgers. Without Bennett on Monday night against the Lions, Kendricks had two catches for 32 yards and Rodgers one catch for 5 yards.
The Packers signed Bennett to a three-year, $21 million contract as a free agent in March. They gave him a $6.3 million signing bonus. If Bennett retires, the Packers would likely go after the remaining two-thirds of his signing bonus. If they do, Bennett would have to return $4.2 million. He also would leave up to $12.95 million of additional income on the table.
The Packers already had ruled out two other players this week: right tackle Bryan Bulaga and safety Morgan Burnett. Bulaga tore the ACL in his right knee against the Lions and will miss the rest of the season, while Burnett suffered a groin injury and won’t play this week.
Information from ESPN’s Rob Demovsky was used in this report.
Joined ESPN The Magazine after graduating from the University of Missouri.
Although he primarily covers the NFL, his assignments also have taken him to the Athens Olympics, the World Series, the NCAA tournament and the NHL and NBA playoffs.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has threatened to sue the National Football League if a contract extension for commissioner Roger Goodell is approved by the league’s compensation committee, sources told Outside the Lines.
A team owner and a team executive told Outside the Lines that Jones has hired David Boies, the famed New York lawyer who represented Vice President Al Gore in the deadlocked 2000 presidential election — and who led the NFL’s court case during a dispute over the 2011 collective bargaining agreement negotiations. More recently, Boies defended Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein against sexual assault allegations.
The New York Times first reported the development on Wednesday.
The sources told Outside the Lines that Jones has been exploring the lawsuit option through Boies, if Goodell’s contract is extended after the 2018 season as is being considered. Boies also represents DraftKings, the daily fantasy company in which Jones was an early investor.
Jones has not identified the grounds of such a lawsuit, but one source said Jones is exploring whether a requirement that two-thirds of owners must approve a commissioner’s contract could be increased to three-fourths of owners. Another source said that Boies also might be asked by Jones to produce a report showing the negative economic impact that Goodell’s major decisions, including player discipline, have had on clubs.
A lawyer who has close ties to the NFL praised Boies’ skill as a lawyer to OTL but said that his hiring was likely a “scare tactic” because there doesn’t appear to be an obvious legal challenge to Goodell’s contract negotiations, a process that Jones voted in support of earlier in the year. Jones “probably knows he doesn’t have a strong claim,” the lawyer said.
Neither Jones nor Boies could be immediately reached for comment. NFL spokesman Joe Lockhart declined comment.
The Times reported that Jones, in a conference call last week with the six owners on the compensation committee, told them that legal papers were drawn up and would be served Friday if the committee did not scrap its plans to extend Goodell’s contract. The Times also reported that after Jones spoke to the committee, the owners revoked Jones’ status as an ad hoc member of the compensation committee and then spoke to the other 25 owners who are not on the committee to notify them of what Jones had said.
The six members of the committee, led by Falcons owner Arthur Blank, asked Jones to leave the discussions after they learned he had hired Boies, sources told Outside the Lines.
Sources told Outside the Lines that Jones is one of “four or five owners” who believe Goodell should not continue as commissioner. Another half-dozen owners were called “fence-sitters” by one source — the exact group that Jones wants Boies to target.
“If he amasses 12 or 15 people, how does Roger survive something like that?” an executive asked. “I don’t know how he’d be able to continue if that many owners express a lack of confidence in him.”
A person who spoke recently with Goodell said the commissioner is “furious” about Jones’ and other owners’ insistence that his next contract’s compensation should be more performance-based, including incentives that would allow him to be paid at roughly the same level of his current deal. “He feels as if the owners have made a lot of money and he should be compensated accordingly,” the source said. “The incentives thing really angers him.”
Goodell has earned a total of more than $200 million since he was elected commissioner in August 2006, including $44 million in 2014 and $34 million in 2015. In May, at the league’s spring meetings in Chicago, Jones joined his fellow owners in authorizing the compensation committee to work on extending Goodell’s contract. But at the owners’ meetings in New York last month, Jones told his fellow owners that Goodell’s proposed next contract “is the most one-sided deal ever.”
Through this season, Jones has expressed growing dissatisfaction with Goodell’s job performance and has said in recent weeks that the league needs to hire a new commissioner, sources said. The reasons include Goodell’s handling of the player protests staged during the national anthem; the league’s pending six-game suspension of Cowboys star running back Ezekiel Elliott for violation of the league’s domestic violence policy; and the league’s handling of the relocation of two teams to Los Angeles, which Jones helped engineer. Many owners are also angry with Goodell because they believe that he has given Jones too much power.
“Most owners would admit that Roger has done a terrible job handling the anthem controversy and a terrible job explaining the [TV] ratings declines, a terrible job on any number of other issues,” a long-time team executive said.
Several sources told Outside the Lines that owners believe the NFL league office suffers from “dysfunction,” and at least two owners have said they wouldn’t replace Goodell because they don’t know who they’d replace him with.
A silent majority of owners believe Goodell’s performance has been poor but still support him because they prefer to have Goodell lead the owners’ side in labor negotiations with the players’ union. The current collective bargaining agreement expires in 2021.
“Roger is seen as having done a great job in the labor negotiations last time — that fact alone saves him with some owners,” an executive said.
Jones is not a member of the NFL’s six-member compensation committee. Jones has called himself the “ombudsman” of the committee and has become a de facto seventh unofficial member who attended a recent conference call of the committee.
If Jones decided to follow through with his threat, it would be the second time he has sued the NFL. In the mid-1990s, Jones filed a $750 million antitrust lawsuit against the NFL over its insistence that teams do not enter into separate sponsorship agreements; Jones and the league later settled that claim.
Sources said, though, that Jones has lost potential support because he has his own candidate to replace Goodell. Sources said they did not know the identity of the candidate.
“Then Jerry will be completely in control of the league,” one source said. “It’s turning off some owners.”
Another executive said he believes that Jones’ insistence to inject himself into the process has increased Goodell’s resolve to sign a long-term deal.
“Well, $45 million a year is a lot to just walk away from,” the executive said.
Boies has come under criticism this week for helping Weinstein use private investigators in an attempt to block a New York Times story about him while at the same time Boies was representing the Times.
In April 2011, Boies represented the NFL in a St. Paul, Minnesota, courtroom to present the NFL’s argument against the players’ request for an injunction to stop the league’s lockout of its players.
BEREA, Ohio — Josh Gordon on Wednesday pronounced himself “clean and sober” and said his goal now that he’s back with the Cleveland Browns is to be the NFL’s best receiver ever.
“To me that’s always been my goal, and I think it’s been reaffirmed to me time and time again,” Gordon said on his second day with the Browns after being reinstated by the NFL. “Now being back in the situation to do it, I’m going to see it through.”
Gordon had been suspended for violating the league’s substance abuse policy for the past two seasons. He has not played in a regular season game since 2014. He also recently completed a stay in rehab that he has said lasted more than 100 days.
“[I’m] in a good spot. … I know I have the support in place outside and inside the building,” Gordon said. “My life is just in a conducive space of where I need to be for me psychologically, physically. It’s all come together. Right now at this point in my life I’m feeling well. I’m feeling great.”
Gordon was asked whether he wanted to be back in Cleveland.
“I’m here to help the team win,” he said. “That’s my first priority. Being the best football player I can be — that comes first and foremost. Anything else after that I have no control over. I’m here to help this team win and do that the best way I know now. That’s being the best wide receiver.”
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Browns WR Josh Gordon shares the expectations he has for himself in Cleveland.
The receiver was last was with the Browns in training camp of 2016. He had been suspended the first four games that season, but before he could rejoin the team he departed to go to rehab. In a recent video on the video platform Uninterrupted, he said he hit rock bottom during that time, recounting a night in Gainesville, Florida, he spent looking for a drug dealer. That led him to rehab, after which the NFL reinstated him conditionally.
Gordon can be with the team working out on his own and then join practice Nov. 20. The first game he can play is Dec. 3 in Los Angeles against the Chargers.
“I know I’m clean and sober,” Gordon said. “I’m looking forward to that. I think the ceiling is very high.”
The 26-year-old said he did not regret what he’d been through, including missing the past two seasons and 11 games in 2014 to suspensions.
“I think that whole experience was definitely fundamental in my growth,” he said. “I needed that.”
Gordon said he’s more prepared to face what’s ahead because he has the support he needs as well as self-awareness he had been missing. Gordon’s professional goal was clear, but his personal goals, he said, are more day-to-day.
“Wake up and make sure I can improve somewhere that I feel as though that there’s a fault or there’s a weakness,” he said. “I think that every day there’s something else to be worked on, whether it’s on the field or outside of here, my relationship with my family, whoever it may be. I always have to continue to check in with myself and take those inventories specifically where I’m at with it today, kind of just practice self-care, so that’s what I try to do.”
In a recent interview with GQ, Gordon said he drank or took drugs before every NFL game he had ever played. He said he was equally as transparent when he met with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
“I’m just trying to be as transparent and as honest as I can be, in a professional way,” he said. “And in that platform [GQ], that’s the way in which it was conveyed. Trying to do the best I can to control that narrative. For me it’s beneficial to get out in front of it and let the rest take its natural course.”
Gordon also was critical in GQ of some in Cleveland, whose harassment he said forced him to move to Gainesville.
“That was my truth,” he said. “But what was doesn’t have to be.”
TAMPA, Fla. — Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston apologized Wednesday for inciting the incident that led to receiver Mike Evans‘ suspension and also said he had his throwing shoulder examined by orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews.
Winston said he’s not surprised that coach Dirk Koetter suggested both he and Evans should have been ejected after an altercation among Winston, Evans and Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore. He said he was surprised that Evans wasn’t ejected Sunday after hitting Lattimore in the back and instead was suspended for one game.
“I just want to apologize on behalf of my teammates and Mike Evans for the incident that happened in the Saints game. That’s something I can’t do in the heat of the moment,” he said. “My competitive nature [took over]. Obviously I can’t come off the field and make any gesture towards an opponent, let alone touch them. I can’t do that, so I apologize for that.”
He said he expects to be fined for the incident.
Winston made the visit to Andrews’ office in Pensacola, Florida, on Tuesday. He said he has had a relationship with Dr. Andrews since the sixth grade.
“[The visit] was standard protocol. … All the doctors are working together to come up with what they think [is best]. All I know is that for the next two weeks, I’m going to be rehabbing and getting my shoulder to 100 percent,” he said.
Winston aggravated the sprained AC joint in his right shoulder against New Orleans when he took a hit late in the second quarter. Koetter said the team made a decision to sit Winston for “at least two weeks” to heal the injury.
Ryan Fitzpatrick will start at quarterback on Sunday against the New York Jets, the team he played for in 2015 and 2016.
Doctors did not find any additional damage in the knee of Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson while they performed ACL surgery Wednesday morning in Houston, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Watson tore the ACL in his right knee during practice last week, although video showed that he may have initially been injured during a Week 8 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
A source previously told Schefter that the projected timeline for Watson’s recovery is eight to nine months. Watson returned from a torn left ACL in five months while he was a college quarterback at Clemson.
The rookie quarterback was placed on injured reserve Friday after a blistering start to his NFL career, when he threw for 19 touchdowns in seven games.
Tom Savage replaced Watson at quarterback for a 20-14 loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. T.J. Yates was the backup against the Colts, and the team signed Josh Johnson to the active roster Tuesday.
This story appears in ESPN The Magazine’s Nov. 13 QB Crossroads Issue. Subscribe today!
On a brisk fall afternoon 30 minutes west of downtown Minneapolis, a sopping-wet Jimmy Butler sits shotgun in my parked rental car wearing only his boxers and my borrowed socks, and we’re wondering where it all went wrong.
“This is your fault,” says the Timberwolves’ prize acquisition. He dials the heater to 11. He’s not entirely mistaken. Our questionable teamwork here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes has landed the three-time All-Star in one of those lakes — shoulders first. It’s the latest twist in a welcome tour that began with Butler’s introductory news conference in June, following his trade from the Bulls, at which he broadcast his cell number and invited his critics to hit him up. That gag would fry his phone within 10 minutes.
But Butler welcomes a challenge, and he’s got a big one in leading a nascent superteam with young stars Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins — while at times shielding them from coach Tom Thibodeau, the taskmaster who drafted Butler in Chicago. Work can wait for tomorrow, though.
The original plan for this preseason off-day, as Butler put it in happier times: “Have some fun in the outdoors, as Minnesotans do.” Now? As he sits by the shores of Lake Independence, shivering, just a short drive from his home outside the Twin Cities, “It’s not going as planned,” says the half-naked guy in my car.
2 p.m.Our day in the great outdoors begins under gray skies at the edge of the lake, where I find a canoe and a 6-foot-8 forward from Tomball, Texas. We divvy up the gear, which includes exactly two life jackets.
ESPN: How much of an outdoorsman are you? BUTLER: I built a fort when I was little, with pillows and blankets. Can’t be too hard.
Let’s start by putting on our life preservers. Oh, yeah, I need both of them. I can’t swim.
Seriously? So if I tore the vest off you and tossed you in — I’d sue you.
You really want my life preserver too? Yeah, I wasn’t playin’ around. I need both.
Already we’re falling apart at the seams. See, this “new team” thing isn’t as easy as it looks.
2:20 p.m.With our two life jackets strapped to his sternum, Butler, who is widely considered to be among the NBA’s toughest and most indefatigable ballers, claims the canoe’s stern. This reporter, who is widely considered to be a wimp, takes the bow. As we paddle out, guess who’s doing most of the work.
Are you seriously not gonna help? I’m helping — as the captain and brains of the operation. [Screams] Ah, hell no! Agh! No!
What? Oh. Thought I saw an octopus. Are there any sharks out here?
Uh, don’t think so. Because if something swims beneath me, it is complete abort mission, and I am jumping out of this boat.
How’s life as the new guy in town? It’s cool. We got a really young team and everybody’s down to listen. And I’m likable, right?
You are a likable gentleman. Minnesota is legit. There’s so much space to run, like back home in Texas. I’m country at heart. I love doing normal stuff, like back in my rookie year when nobody knew who I was and I could grab dinner and have normal conversations.
How did we get here, Jimmy? I mean, literally? I was in Paris with my friends Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, James Harden, and I get the call from my agent. So I look over to D-Wade and I’m like, “Yo, D. I’m out. Minnesota.” He’s laughing: “Ha-ha, OK.” Then his phone blows up: Jimmy got traded to Minnesota. He looks over and I’m like, “Yeah, I just told you that.” Then I got a call from Thibs — he’s excited, I’m excited, then outta nowhere he’s like, “We’ll talk about it later. Enjoy your time in Paris.” I was like, “What?” I thought he’d want me to fly back and work out 16 times.
Why did the Bulls trade you? I probably did a lot of things that they didn’t like — like maybe the way I would talk to my peers or coaches. People don’t work as hard as I do. They don’t expect the same things out of the game that I do. And I said from the beginning it was either gonna be me or the Fred Hoiberg route. And rightfully so, they took Fred. Good for them. But I got that game marked on my calendar. Feb. 9, baby — I’m back. Oh, man, they better hope I go 0-for-30, ’cause every basket I score, I’m looking over at the bench and I got something to say. But I’m so happy to be here. Sometimes you just gotta appreciate it, man.
3 p.m.We paddle back to shore and I hop out 10 feet from dry land. Suddenly I hear: “Ahhgeech!” It’s the strangest sound I’ve ever heard — and it’s coming from Jimmy, as he flips the canoe and gets baptized in the waters of Lake Independence. I rush over to yank him out of the lake. “Oh my god! That water is cold!” Anybody within a 5-mile radius can hear my laughter. “Good thing I had on my life jackets.” We’re in knee-deep water.
3:10 p.m.Back in my rental car, we wait for Jimmy’s assistant to run home for dry threads. Fans begin to gather around our ride hoping to score a photo with their local star. I exit to run interference: “Jimmy will be right with y’all, just as soon as he puts on some clothes.”
3:46 p.m.Following a wardrobe change, we attempt to set up an “instant-tent,” billed as “ready in about 60 seconds.” After 960 seconds, we ask an ESPN camera guy to build this stupid spaceship for us. He snaps the tent into place within seconds. “Well, f— us,” Butler says. Now equipped with a lighter, newspaper and ax, we’re trying to build a campfire. Jimmy, of course, goes straight for the sharpened steel, but I shudder to think of his next box score — “DNP: lost a finger; also, pneumonia” — so I pry the ax from his hands. We chat while cooking s’mores over crackling flames.
So what exactly is a timberwolf — and should we be worried about running into one? It’s a wolf that yells “Timber!” instead of howling. And no, we shouldn’t be worried about it. You should be worried. Wanna know why?
Why? ‘Cause I am much faster than you. And if I see one, I will push you down so fast.
I take it that’s not the identity that you and Thibs are trying to imprint on your team. In nature, it’s every man for himself. Against humans, we want to be the toughest team. Every practice, every game, you gotta be dogs because offense can win you a couple of games, but defense will never lose ’em for you. You could say that’s where I come in.
Thibs is known for a hard-charging style that can wear players down. Any concerns? I love it, but you have to find the balance and get your point across without running bodies into the ground. I can say: “Thibs, we get it. I’m on these guys. Let’s move on to the next one.” That’s part of my role here.
In what ways has Thibs changed since your first go-round? In Chicago, it was like, “We’re getting right into drills. I don’t care how your day’s going.” Now he’s joking around and asking guys, “Hey, how’s your wife and kids?” I’m human. Basketball’s not the most important thing in my life. I think he’s starting to realize that.
Sounds like you two have come a long way since he drafted you. I won’t lie: Couldn’t stand him. I never use the word “hate,” but he was right there. I worked so hard, but he wouldn’t play me. Finally my time presented itself, and I got a little bit of, “What’s up, Jimmy?” I’m like, “I’m moving up!” Now he’s my guy.
What lessons did you learn in Chicago that you can use here? That everybody may not be confrontational like I am. I feed off it. But I have to realize some people like to be told, “Hey, you’re doing a great job.” Like, “You did a phenomenal job stacking the wood.” I’ve gotten better at working with the different personalities on this team.
Yeah, KAT is known as a fun-loving guy, whereas Wigs has been described as stoic. Stop using SAT words around me. What the hell does stoic mean? Yeah, Wigs is a quiet kid — and good for him, that’s who he is. And Karl is really, really outgoing, but at times he doesn’t take everything as serious as he has to. When he gets that mentality — like, “I know that’s my friend on the other team, but right now he’s my enemy” — man, he’s a force to be reckoned with. We need those guys locked in.
Last season the Wolves were one of the least clutch teams in the league. I’m guessing Jimmy Buckets wants the last shot? If you need a bucket at any point in the game, I’ll be the one to try to get it for you. I don’t care who you are — you can’t stop me. I can score with the best of ’em. But clutch isn’t always about offense. Maybe you need a stop to secure the game, and I don’t care if you’re a 1 or a 4 — I wanna be that guy too.
What are your expectations for this year? To win. I want to win a championship. That’s the only reason I play this game. Now, this organization hasn’t been to the playoffs in 13 years, but f— history. It’s a new bunch of guys here, and we all say the same thing: F— history.
You have a Big 3. The Warriors have the Hamptons 5. How can anybody unseat them this season? I don’t give a damn if you’re the Warriors. We got guys who can play. And we got constant mismatches — really big wings in me and Wigs, and Karl’s a constant mismatch. What can’t he do? Guy did a windmill the other day in practice. Hell, I almost left the gym. I didn’t know he had it. Then you got Jamal [Crawford], the score lord. You got Taj [Gibson], who does all the little things right.
Are you happy, Jimmy? Am I happy?
Yeah, that feels like a campfire question. Yeah, I’m happy — I’m out here in nature, baby! I’m fortunate. It’s the start of something beautiful here with a young core and an organization that really knows what they’re doing. I got a real chance of winning a championship here. God, like, I wake up smiling every morning knowing that we got a chance to be really f—ing good.
5 p.m.The rain is coming down now, so we head to the tent for shelter. Butler climbs in first.
That was fun, huh? Oh, definitely. Now I’m gonna take a nap.
You don’t snore, do you? Don’t worry about it, because you’ll be on the outside. [Zips the tent] You got first watch.
Seriously? Yeah, just let me know if a bear mauls your neck. That’s teamwork.
Roy Halladay reached the pinnacle of his profession on an 85-degree night in Miami in May 2010, when he dominated the Florida Marlins over 2 hours, 13 minutes for the 20th perfect game in MLB history. Three months later, he commemorated the occasion by giving 60 Philadelphia Phillies teammates, coaches, the training staff and other support personnel engraved Baume & Mercier watches in boxes with the inscription, “We did it together. Thanks, Roy Halladay.”
Many of the 60 recipients committed to wearing the watches in subsequent years because Halladay was such an authentic sort, and he wouldn’t have made such a heartfelt gesture for strictly ceremonial purposes. The perfect game was a team achievement, in his eyes, so it would have been disrespectful to bring the keepsakes home and just leave them in the boxes.
“I still wear my watch all the time,” former Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. “My brother David got me a Rolex one year, and he said, ‘How come you don’t wear my watch?’ And I said, ‘I don’t wear your watch because Roy Halladay gave me this watch.'”
Baseball received a gut punch of indescribable magnitude Tuesday afternoon, with the news that Halladay, 40, had died in a plane crash off the Florida coast. Circumstances are different in each case, and the vigil is more excruciating while playing out on social media, but the announcement from the Pasco County Sheriff’s office left the same sad, helpless void that accompanied the deaths of Thurman Munson, Darryl Kile, Steve Olin and Tim Crews, Jose Fernandez and so many other young ballplayers who died before their time. Hauntingly, Halladay shared the same fate as his former Toronto and Philadelphia teammate, pitcher Cory Lidle, who died in a single-engine plane crash in New York City in 2006.
As the Halladay career retrospectives play out, baseball fans in Toronto can feel justified to call dibs on his legacy. Halladay was selected by Toronto as the 17th pick in the 1995 draft, won his first Cy Young Award as a Blue Jay, made six of his eight All-Star appearances in the city and logged 148 of his 203 career wins as a member of the organization.
Why then did so many of the initial reactions make reference to “former Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay”? That’s a byproduct of the impact he had as a role model and centerpiece for a franchise that was baseball’s crown jewel from 2007 through 2011.
Halladay was 32 years old, with more than 2,000 innings worth of mileage on his right arm, when Amaro acquired him from Toronto in December 2009 for prospects Kyle Drabek, Travis d’Arnaud and Michael Taylor. Cole Hamels was a budding ace at the time, but Halladay arrived in spring training with a new-sheriff-in-town demeanor and set a tone that resonated through the Philadelphia clubhouse.
“As a teammate, you hear that he’s a hard worker. But holy smokes,” former Phillies closer Brad Lidge said. “I would get to the clubhouse early on certain days and feel like I was going to be the first guy there. And sure enough, I would pop into the training room, and he would already be icing from his two-hour workout.
“I think people really feel good when somebody who works that hard gets rewarded. To see the success he had, it makes you feel like everything was right with the baseball world. A guy works that hard, cares that much, puts that much effort out there and does well. That feels right, to me, and I think it resonates with a lot of people.”
Lidge, a product of Cherry Creek, Colorado, grew up playing youth ball against Halladay, who was from nearby Arvada, and he could empathize with the expectations Halladay lugged around as a baseball prodigy. It wasn’t always easy being Roy Halladay, the hot-shot talent with the electric arm and that classic, rangy, pitcher’s build. Halladay endured his share of arm injuries and demotions and ultimately had to learn his craft and reinvent himself to put up a résumé worthy of Hall of Fame consideration.
The early lessons stuck with him. There were times, even when Halladay was entrenched as one of the elite pitchers in the game, that he seemed burdened by self-imposed expectations.
“He was the single most accountable, conscientious, hardworking, dedicated player I’ve ever been around,” Amaro said. “He was the most competitive on the mound and yet the kindest and gentlest person off the mound that you could imagine. That kind of person is so rare.
“I remember him sending me text messages at times. He would come out of a game with a no-decision, and he would text me and say, ‘I’m sorry I let you down.’ He was pitching with a blown-out groin in San Francisco [in the 2010 NLCS], and he gave up a couple of home runs, and he texted me and said, ‘I’m so sorry I let you down, Ruben.’ I thought to myself, ‘Don’t you realize who you are and what you’ve done and how grateful I am? I should be apologizing to you for us not rallying around you.'”
From one day to the next, in the quiet of the Philadelphia clubhouse, Halladay always seemed to be in motion. If he wasn’t immersed in video, he was sweating from a workout or ironing out the kinks in a bullpen side session. He was the pitching equivalent to second baseman Chase Utley, whose preparation was so obsessive that he never seemed to have time to stop and enjoy the perks of the surroundings.
“He had Kevin Brown stuff and Greg Maddux focus,” former Phillies reliever Chad Durbin said of Halladay. “When he would walk by you — after a 6 a.m. workout in spring training when stretching wasn’t until 10 — you’d think, ‘That’s what you would draw up a pitcher to look like: 6-foot-6, wide shouldered, with tree trunks for legs.’ Then you’d see him on the team plane with two laptops and a tablet open in front of him, watching all the at-bats of the guys he was going to face and taking extensive notes.”
Halladay’s devotion to routine made Philadelphia’s pitching coach, Rich Dubee, wonder about the best way for opposing lineups to attack him.
“I always felt the best way to beat Roy Halladay was to send up nine hitters he had never seen,” Dubee said. “That might have thrown him off a little bit. That was about the only time you saw him a little bit uncomfortable on the mound.”
Halladay was quiet, on the introverted side, and he had some geek in him. He liked to play with remote-controlled planes in the clubhouse and tinker with classic cars. His teammates recall how he learned to fly airplanes with the same passion and eye for detail that he invested in his pitching.
In his final season with the Phillies, Halladay pitched through injuries that might have prompted other multimillionaire ballplayers to put away their spikes and go home. He retired in 2013 as a Blue Jay after signing a one-day contract with Toronto.
But Amaro invited him back to talk to the young pitchers at Phillies spring training, and Halladay liked to pass out copies of Harvey Dorfman’s book “The Mental ABC’s of Pitching” — his professional bible — and share the accrued wisdom from all his successes and failures in the game. As the kids sat and watched, wide-eyed, his reputation preceded him.
The sadness that Halladay’s playing peers feel today reflects a wistful familiarity. They were brothers who played and lived alongside him from February through September, saw him on his worst days and his best, and found his commitment to the game and his authenticity uplifting.
“He was the ultimate professional and the ultimate teammate,” Dubee said. “And he was just becoming the ultimate dad, I think. Now he’s gone — way, way too soon.”
