Month: April 2025

The NBA announced on Tuesday that they have suspended five players for their roles in a scuffle during the second quarter of a game between the Detroit Pistons and Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday. The incident in question occurred in the second quarter of Minnesota’s 123-104 win over Detroit; when the fight occurred, the Wolves trailed the Pistons 39-30, before Minnesota rallied to win 123-104.

Pistons center Isaiah Stewart received a two-game ban, while Pistons forward Ron Holland II and guard Marcus Sasser will miss one game. Timberwolves forward Naz Reid and guard Donte DiVincenzo were also suspended one game apiece. NBA executive vice president for basketball operations Joe Dumars said Stewart received a longer suspension for escalating the on-court altercation,” adding that his suspension is based on Stewart’s “repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts.”

ESPN’s Bobby Marks detailed the cost for each player: “Here are the suspension amounts: Detroit: Isaiah Stewart: $206,897 * Ron Holland: $46,812 * Marcus Sasser: $15,403. Minnesota: Naz Reid: $80,382 * Donte DiVincenzo: $65,776

During the scuffle, Reid took exception to a foul by Holland, and that sparked a shoving match that spilled into the front row of fans.  As a result, Stewart, Holland, Sasser Reid and DiVincenzo were all ejected from the contest, in addition to Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and Timberwolves assistant Pablo Prigioni.

Bickerstaff told reporters after the game: “There was things said by their assistant coach and I’m in the same boat our guys are in. We’re going to defend each other. I’m not going to let people say belligerent things about my guys. It’s that simple. He said what he said, he knows what he said.”

Reid and DiVincenzo missed Tuesday’s game against the Denver Nuggets; while Holland II, Sasser and Stewart will begin their individual suspensions Wednesday.

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Pitcher Garrett Crochet has agrees to a six-year, $170 million contract extension with the Boston Red Sox, per sources via ESPN. Crochet’s new deal will start in 2026 and runs through the 2031 season, including an opt-out after the 2030 campaign.  The Red Sox later announced on X: “Crochet is here to stay.”

ESPN’s Jeff Passan posted on X: “BREAKING: Left-hander Garrett Crochet and the Boston Red Sox are in agreement on a six-year, $170 million contract extension, sources tell ESPN. The deal starts in 2026 and includes an opt-out after 2030. By far the largest deal ever for a pitcher with 4+ years of service.”  Passan added: “Garrett Crochet’s $170 million deal with the Red Sox does not include any deferred money, per sources. The previous record for a 4+ player was Jacob deGrom’s five-year, $137.5 million deal, which included an opt-out after the fourth season. Crochet can opt out at 31 years old.”

Crochet, 25, joined the Red Sox via trade from the Chicago White Sox in December, playing this season on a one-year, $3.8 million contract. The veteran left-handed pitcher, who entered the league as the No. 11 overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft, went 9-19 with a 3.29 ERA over the first 105 appearances of his MLB career. Crochet went 6-12 with a 3.58 ERA over 32 starts en route to his first All-Star selection in 2024; an in his first start of the 2025 campaign, the lefty allowed five hits and two runs in a 5-2 win over the Texas Rangers on Thursday in Arlington, Texas.

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Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin told reporters Monday at the NFL owners meeting in Palm Beach, Fla. that the organization are “comfortable” with Mason Rudolph as their starting quarterback.

Hamlin said (per ESPN): “Mason is not a kid. He’s been around, been in multiple systems and situations. That’s why we brought him back. I’m comfortable with that. We’ve been there before. He’s a very capable guy … we had a really productive day. He’s been in this thing a long time. I’ve been in this thing a long time. But there’s no substitute for intimacy and spending time together and getting to know one another in a non-competitive environment. So, that was really good. But I don’t have any new updates in terms of where the process is. We’ll see where it leads us.”

Rudolph, a third-round pick by the Steelers in the 2018 NFL Draft, completed 63.7% of his throws for 4,615 yards, 28 touchdowns and 20 interceptions over the first 29 appearances of his career.  The QB spent last season with the Tennessee Titans, and signed a two-year, $7.5 million contract with the Steelers earlier this month.

General manager Omar Khan added that the Steelers plan to have four quarterbacks on their roster in training camp (currently, Rudolph and former Miami Dolphins backup Skylar Thompson are the only quarterbacks on their roster):  “We always go to training camp with four quarterbacks and we have 2 under contract right now, so all options are on the table through free agency, trade or draft, obviously.”

The Steelers, who decided not to re-sign 2024 starter Russell Wilson, remain interested in free agent quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who visited the team March 21. Regarding a potential Rodgers deal, Tomlin said the Steelers do not have a deadline: “I don’t know that we’ve approached it from a deadline perspective. Certainly, as I mentioned, you’d like to have settled circumstances, but deadlines don’t often bring that to a head. He’s a free agent; as you guys know, he came to visit last Friday. We had a really productive day. He’s been in this thing a long time. I’ve been in this thing a long time. But it’s no substitute for, you know, intimacy and spending time together and getting to know one another in a non-competitive environment. And so that was really good. But I don’t have any new updates in terms of where the process is. We’ll see where it leads us.”

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Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said Monday that the team plans to “move forward” with wide receiver Tyreek Hill.

According to the South Florid Sun Sentinel, during a meeting with reporters at the NFL’s annual owners meeting at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Fla, McDaniel said: “we are fully planning to move forward as a better version of our relationship with Tyreek and the Miami Dolphins. I have no reason to think otherwise.”

Hill restructured his contract in August to receive the most fully guaranteed money ever for an NFL wide receiver at the time; but after a disappointing 2024-25 season he told reporters he wanted “out” of Miami (before reversing course and apologizing). The 31-year-old All-Pro will earn about $28 million in 2025.

Hill again fueled trade speculation over the weekend, after he commented with a smiley face emoji on an X post asking fans if they would be open to trading Tyreek Hill. He then posted peace sign emojis on a post speculating that he could be traded during the 2025 NFL Draft.

McDaniel also told reporters (according to the Palm Beach Post) that he would support Hill being voted as a team captain for the fourth consecutive season and would see the move as a “healthy evolution. I think in that scenario, I would be pumped if he was voted captain. Because I think that Tyreek, being accountable for who he is as a competitor and what he’s learned from in his journey, I think that means that his teammates have seen him completely.”

Hill underwent off-season wrist surgery, totaled 959 receiving yards and six scores over 17 starts last season after logging a combined 3,509 receiving yards and 22 scores between his 2022 and 2023 campaigns.

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