data-mm-id=”_cb6zzuq9u”>Russell Westbrook will finally be making his return to the court on Saturday as he recovered enough from his quad injury to be activated for Houston's Game 5 matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Westbrook, playing on a minutes restriction, will obviously be a positive presence on the floor for the Rockets as the playmaking burden is no longer entirely on James Harden's shoulders. But Westbrook's presence on the fast break and off turnovers will be the biggest benefit against this Thunder team. The Rockets, despite being known for their offense, are a very active defense. They've forced an average of 15 turnovers a game against OKC this playoff series, an impressive number in any regard and especially so considering Chris Paul is orchest…

data-mm-id=”_dugkvino6″>The time of reckoning appears to have come for college football. On Monday morning, many college-athletes (including high-profile names like Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields) posted unified messages to social media that demanded the players have a say in how the season might go forward, if there's to be one at all. Dan Patrick brought some big news this morning on his show, where he reported the Big 10 and the Pac-12 are going to cancel their seasons tomorrow. The SEC, meanwhile, is trying to see if other teams or conferences will join them in an attempt to put on a football season, regardless of what the other conferences might do. DP was told an hour ago that the Big 10 and Pac 12 will cancel their football seasons tomorrow… The ACC and the Big 12 are …

data-mm-id=”_1aqt34h2g”>I read a comment made by FOX CFO Steve Tomsic this morning stating if FOX had to choose between broadcasting Thursday Night Football or the Sunday package, they would go with the latter. “The heritage of the company was built on Sunday afternoon football,” Tomsic said. That's an accurate point. It's how Rupert Murdoch built his media empire. He spent $1.6 billion in 1993 to broadcast NFL games on Sundays and FOX engrained itself within the fabric of American life because of it. In 2018, FOX doubled down on its NFL broadcast rights by paying (some called it overpaying) $3.25 billion over five years to broadcast Thursday Night Football. Two years into the deal, and with NFL rights costs expected to double or triple in the next negotiating period, it …

data-mm-id=”_tq9f24w9f”>The Miami Heat are down 2-1 in the NBA Finals and Jimmy Butler has been a big reason why. The superstar who reached another plane of existence against the Milwaukee Bucks earlier in the playoffs is nowhere to be found. It is not a recent development; Butler's scoring has taken a nosedive since he hurt his ankle against the New York Knicks in the second round. Once Miami reached the Finals his teammates stopped shooting an ungodly percentage from deep to cover for him. His struggles have become that much more apparent and his team is suffering as a result. Regardless of context, if a guy like Butler doesn't play well on the biggest stage, he's going to become a prime target for blame afterwards. Jay Williams is of a similar mind, but didn't fo…