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Out of the mouths of babes …

When measuring the furiously growing buzz around the Lakers, one need only heed the hopeful cries of one of their most rabid fans.

A 6-year-old.

Wearing a Shaquille O’Neal jersey that nearly drapes to his knees.

Leading 20,000 fans in a Saturday night cheer that has swept through a city.

“Yeaaaaaah!,” Jackson Tuyay screamed, and now all of Lakerland screams with him.

It happened in the second half of the Lakers’ steal of a victory against the Denver Nuggets.

The videoboard at Crypto.com Arena announced the regular competition for Fan of the Game, and while searching the stands for the usual dancing fools, the cameras focused on a child who had been cheering the entire night.

Not just cheering, but screaming. Not just rooting, but flexing. Not just clapping, but pounding his fists against his chest.

It was Jackson Tuyay, and he was doing it all with one word in a tiny voice that spoke for a massive fan base.

Yeaaaah indeed. Tuyay was captured on the giant videoboard, he was awarded a $100 gift card for being Fan of the Game, and afterward none other than LeBron James credited him with the comeback win.

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“That little kid on the Jumbotron was definitely … I looked up there … I think he’s, yeah, he’s the reason why we won tonight for sure,” James told reporters afterward, and everyone laughed, but there’s something to this.

On what many onlookers credited with being the loudest night of the season, a kindergartner perhaps epitomized what many of this city’s oldest and most die-hard fans are finally feeling.

Everybody is screaming about the Lakers. Everybody is flexing about the Lakers. Everybody is pounding their chest about the Lakers.

They have won nine of the last 10 games, cutting into winning records of the New York Knicks, Minnesota, Denver and Houston in the last 10 days, moving up to third in the West, sprinting toward the potential for greatness.

Did you see them in their fourth quarter comeback win in Houston on Monday night? The Rockets committed nine turnovers, made four baskets and Kevin Durant was held to one garbage-time layup in the entire second half. Once a gaping wound, the Lakers have the league’s sixth-ranked defense during these last 10 games. Combined with its deftly collaborative offense, one can only imagine the heights this team can reach.

Read more:Are the Lakers the hottest team in the NBA?

They’re playing unselfish basketball, witness James throwing himself through the air while chasing down a loose ball against Denver.

They’re playing tough basketball, witness everything growling Marcus Smart does down the stretch, from steals to treys.

They’re playing redemptive basketball, witness Deandre Ayton finally showing up and proving he is truly the X factor on this team.

And, of course, they’re playing Luka and A.R. basketball, the two best players on this team throwing down one dagger after another, even playing better with James on the court alongside them.

“I think they’re gonna win a lot of games,” predicted Jackson this week, and I think this child genius might be right.

The kid’s impact Saturday night might have been brief, but it’s real, as he received props not just from James, but from Doncic on Instagram.

“I just wanted the Lakers to win because I thought it would be cool,” Jackson said.

Cooler still is that this was the first Lakers game of Jackson's young life, as his father, Byron, bought four tickets online for him; his mother, Katherine; and his younger sister, Emilia.

“I saw it on the schedule and just figured it would be a fun afternoon for the kids,” said Byron, a South Pasadena lawyer who grew up during the Shaq-Kobe era and is passing his Laker fandom on to his family.

Like any good Lakers fan, the couple bought souvenirs for the kids before the game, including purchasing a jersey and a foam finger for Jackson. The jersey was the smallest size possible, but appropriately celebrated the biggest man imaginable. Jackson swam in it, but was inspired by it.

“We had to get the Shaq jersey,” said Byron. “We’re old school.”

Once the game started Jackson lived up to a nickname given to him because he runs everywhere, including out of his house in the mornings and around the corner to his nearby school.

Read more:Lakers surge late and defeat Rockets for their sixth consecutive win

A friend’s parent calls him “Turbo,” and he was doing all kinds of turbo things when the cameras caught him in the act.

“He has this crazy aura and energy about him,” said Byron. “He was cheering like that all game.”

Once the fans at Crypto.com Arena saw his flexing and chest beating, they couldn’t get enough. He was not only named Fan of the Game, but he was shown on the videoboard several times during the rest of the game, igniting a huge ovation every time and establishing himself as the team’s new talisman.

After the game ended with the Lakers stunning overtime victory, fans lined up to give him high-fives and cheer for him as his family descended a stairway.

He might be hearing more cheers in the future. He’s already been invited to their next home game by somebody from Doncic’s camp, and future invitations are sure to follow.

C’mon Lakers, get this kid in the building for a playoff game. Show that the sophisticated following of the world’s most glamorous sports franchise is actually rooted in the heart of a child.

After all, Laker fans know a hero when they see one, and the postgame chants for Jackson Tuyay were unmistakable.

“M-V-P … M-V-P … M-V-P!”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

‘Like old times': Tatum-Brown duo off to a dominant start for Celtics originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

For all the over-caffeinated consternation about how Jayson Tatum might reintegrate with his Boston teammates, the Celtics have thrived in Tatum’s 146 minutes of floor time since he returned from a nine-month absence. 

The Celtics have outscored opponents by 14.8 points per 100 possessions in Tatum’s limited time, which would be the best mark on the team if maintained over a larger sample. Even as Tatum shakes rust and fights his 3-point shot (27.1 percent beyond the arc on 9.6 attempts per game), the Celtics have outscored opponents by 45 total points in Tatum’s floor time. 

After Euro-stepping his way to a layup off a feed from Jaylen Brown in the fourth quarter of Boston’s gritty win over the Phoenix Suns on Monday night, Tatum remarked how “felt like old times” operating with his All-Star running mate.

The Jays have now shared the court for 101 minutes through five games together. Boston is outscoring opponents by a robust 24 points per 100 possessions during that span.

For context, Boston’s best high-volume two-man pairing (at least 1,000 minutes together) is the Derrick White-Neemias Queta combo at +13.8 net rating. The best two-man pairing in the entire league with 500-plus minutes together is the Oklahoma City Thunder duo of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Ajay Mitchell at +20.5.

In other words, the Jays are trending toward some of the best numbers in the NBA, at least in early returns. Boston has outscored opponents by 53 points in 213 possessions with the Jays together on the floor. A five-man pairing featuring the Jays with White, Queta, and Payton Pritchard is +30 in 21 minutes, having outscored opponents 67-37 in that span.

The Celtics have played solid competition during that span, too. A good chunk of the Brown/Tatum minutes came against Cleveland and San Antonio, then against a Phoenix team nestled just outside the top six in the West.

The Celtics have outscored opponents by 7.8 points per 100 possessions in each of the past two seasons during Brown and Tatum’s shared floor time. A larger sample might pull their net rating back to earth a bit, but the success while Tatum is still reacclimatizing is rather remarkable. 

Some wondered how the team would find shots for everybody upon Tatum’s return. But even as Brown operates as a bona fide MVP candidate, there have been plenty of looks to go around.

Tatum has averaged a team-high 18.6 shots per game in his five games back, while Brown is at 16.7 shots. What’s more, the combined averages for the Jays puts them in line with their output in recent seasons:

Tatum averaged just 26 minutes per game in his first four games back before bumping up to 31 minutes in each of the last two games. He’s still well below his career average of 34.5 minutes per game and last season’s minutes average (36.4 per game). His output will increase as he shakes more rust and gets extended run on the court.

It was fair to expect some bumps in the road as Tatum worked his way back. But, for the most part, it’s been smooth sailing. In fact, what’s been most obvious is how Tatum’s presence has made things easier for Boston’s supporting cast. All the attention the Jays draw is creating opportunities for others.

Queta and White have each finished seven of Tatum’s 22 total assists since returning. Queta is figuring out pick-and-roll tendencies after limited reps with Tatum the previous two seasons, while White has routinely thrived off Tatum feeds. White is shooting 9-of-21 (42.9 percent) on all Tatum feeds, and Tatum’s presence should help White push his 3-point efficiency back up this season. 

The continued attention on Brown is helping Tatum, too: Tatum is shooting 55.6 percent on all Brown feeds. 

Boston’s biggest priority over these final 14 games is getting Tatum reps with the core that he’ll share much of his floor time with in the postseason. That the Celtics have enjoyed as much success as they have in the infancy of his return is a rather tantalizing indication of where this team could go by the time the playoffs arrive.

The Atlanta Hawks arrive at American Airlines Center on Wednesday riding a 10-game win streak, which is the sort of thing that makes a 23-win home team either lie down or get ornery. The Mavericks have been ornery lately. Cooper Flagg has scored 21 or more in three straight, PJ Washington has strung together back-to-back good nights, and this group…despite racking plenty of losses…refuses to develop the losing habits that a lesser-coached, lesser-charactered roster might by mid-March.

The Hawks are led by Nickeal Alexander-Walker, who just dropped 41 on the Magic, and Jalen Johnson, who has been a walking triple-double threat over Atlanta’s last three games. The same two guys who gave Dallas fits in the first meeting. Worth noting.

Let’s scan the lines in search of value.

🏀 Fixture: Atlanta Hawks (37-31) @ Dallas Mavericks (23-46) 📍 American Airlines Center — Dallas, TX 🕖 7:40 PM CST, Wednesday, March 18, 2026 📺 KFAA Channel 29 / MavsTV / NBA League Pass

📊 DraftKings Snapshot (as of 5:17 AM CST) Spread: ATL -8.5 (-102) | DAL +8.5 (-118) Total: 238.5 (O -105 / U -115) Moneyline: ATL -355 | DAL +280

📉 Game Side Lean: Dallas +8.5

Ten-game win streaks have a way of ending in the exact building where nobody expects them to. The Mavericks are home, they’re motivated, and this particular group has a habit of playing spoiler when the moment calls for it. Atlanta is good—genuinely good—but 8.5 points is asking a lot against a Dallas team that has been competitive far more often than its record suggests. Gafford and Caleb Martin are both questionable, and the Mavs’ frontcourt limitations could matter. But Flagg is locked in, Washington is finding himself again, and the number feels too generous. Dallas covers or wins outright. Either way, we like the plus side.

🔮 Total Lean: Over 238.5

Defense is a concept both these teams engage with selectively and without great enthusiasm. Atlanta has been scoring in bunches on their win streak, and Dallas—especially in home games where the crowd gives them something to play for—pushes pace and gets out in transition. Neither team has the personnel to grind this into a 105-103 affair. Expect points.

🎯 Player Props We Like

Cooper Flagg Over 21.5 Points (-107) Three straight games of 21 or more, and Atlanta’s defense hasn’t exactly been its calling card during this win streak. Flagg is in a groove, the usage is there, and this is a home game against a team with legitimate playoff ambitions—which means Flagg gets to play hero ball with real stakes attached. This number clears with a good third quarter.

Onyeka Okongwu Over 7.5 Rebounds (-127) Okongwu averages 7.8 rebounds on the season and Dallas’s frontcourt situation—Gafford questionable, Cisse limited—creates a landscape where interior boards are up for grabs. He should eat. The juice is a little steep but the matchup earns it.

💡 Summary: Dallas +8.5 for a team that doesn’t know how to quit. Over 238.5 because neither defense is going to save anyone. Flagg in a groove, Okongwu feasting on a thin Dallas frontcourt. Four picks. Go Mavs. Oh, and tonight’s ice cream of choice is Dark Cherry Truffle—get you some.

The debate over which player is taken first overall in this year’s NBA draft has to include Duke freshman Cameron Boozer, the clubhouse leader for national player of the year.

With his double-double consistency in leading the Blue Devils to the top of the USA TODAY Sports Men’s College Basketball Poll, Boozer has joined a pair of fellow freshmen who have paced the conversation since the summer in Kansas guard Darryn Peterson and Brigham Young forward AJ Dybantsa.

At various points this season, each of these three contenders has shown explosive bursts of production that paint him as the top player in a draft class that’s deep enough to have triggered tanking efforts among the worst teams in the league — and in turn made efforts to limit or prevent tanking a major theme for the NBA.

Bold predictions: Best March Madness upset picks, Final Four dark horse

NCAA Tournament stars: March Madness potential breakout players

"It's an extremely strong draft class," said Ben Pfeifer, an independent draft analyst. "And it starts at the top with, I think, three MVP-level, No. 1-pick-caliber guys in Peterson, Dybantsa and Cameron Boozer. But then I think even as you go down there is a ton of quality depth. I think there are more guys that could reasonably go in the lottery than lottery spots available and more first-round-quality players than first-round spots."

In this month's NCAA tournament, front offices and talent evaluators will be keeping close tabs on Boozer, Dybantsa and Peterson as they attempt to answer one of the most intriguing questions of the 2025-26 season: Who goes No. 1?

Cameron Boozer’s consistency propels Duke

Following in the footsteps of former Duke star Cooper Flagg, who had a memorable one-year run under coach Jon Scheyer and is now putting together a transcendent rookie season for the Dallas Mavericks, Boozer is averaging 22.5 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game for the top-ranked Blue Devils.

His consistency can’t be ignored: Boozer has scored in double figures in every game, has made at least half of his attempts in all but four games since early January and has played at least 31 minutes in every ACC game except for blowouts of Syracuse and Notre Dame.

“He’s been the most productive of all the freshmen and the most consistent at a high level,” said ESPN analyst Jay Bilas. “A lot of these guys are winners, but he’s got this winning gene that you don’t see very often.”

The son of former Duke forward and NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer, the freshman has excelled despite playing alongside a weaker supporting cast than the group that joined Flagg a season ago; two of Flagg’s teammates, Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach, were taken No. 4 and No. 10 overall in last June's draft, respectively.

In comparison, this year’s team has another pair of potential first-round selections in guard Isaiah Evans and center Patrick Ngongba II, though neither is currently predicted to be a lottery pick.

"I definitely don't think any of his teammates are as good as Kon Knueppel or Maluach were last year," Pfeifer said, adding Ngongba and Evans are both "mid-first round to potentially late-lottery-level players."

Still, whether Boozer is taken No. 1 depends in large part on which team is drafting first and that team’s personnel needs, and whether teams see a difference-making, franchise-shaping talent in the 6-9 forward. For example, the Indiana Pacers could choose Boozer should they land the first pick given next year’s expected return of guard Tyrese Haliburton.

“He’s a force,” Scheyer said of Boozer following Duke’s Feb. 28 win against Virginia. “No question about it. He sets a great tone for us with his rebounding and rim attacks.”

Darryn Peterson’s performance, availability spark acclaim, concern

There is no question Peterson can play at an absurdly high level.

The five-star recruit is averaging 19.8 points per game for No. 17 Kansas while making 44.2% of his shots from the field and 38.4% from 3-point range. He’s cracked the 20-point mark 11 times, led by a season-high 32 points in an overtime win against TCU in early January.

Along the way, his NBA-ready skill set and shot creation paints Peterson as a plug-and-play prospect with the potential to develop into an elite scorer and franchise cornerstone.

The question is whether Peterson will play — and that question has so far defined the Jayhawks’ season.

A herky-jerky year has seen Peterson miss games with a hamstring injury, an ankle injury and due to illness. He’s also left games with cramping issues, including during a win against Oklahoma State on Feb. 18 that saw Peterson check himself out of action three minutes into the second half.

By that point, Peterson had scored 23 points on 7-of-10 shooting in just 18 minutes of action.

“It's a concern," Kansas coach Bill Self said postgame. “I thought we were past it, but obviously we're not. It's certainly a concern."

Since that game, Peterson is averaging 31.6 minutes a game, so whatever message was sent was received.

Another issue has been Peterson’s lackluster play against the top opponents on the Jayhawks’ schedule. In four games against the best teams in the Big 12 — a loss to Arizona, a split with Houston and a loss to Iowa State — Peterson averaged 15.5 points while shooting 19-of-56 from the field and 9-of 26 from deep.

With Boozer, there may be a concern that his long-term NBA impact won’t match the expectations heaped on the No. 1 pick, especially in a draft class with this much star power. But Peterson’s candidacy for the top pick comes with a different sort of risk: Does he have the makeup to stand up to the hype and pressure that come with going No. 1 overall?

"I’m not concerned about it unless something is revealed that’s factual that gives me concern," said Bilas. "I know him to be a competitor in talking to everybody that’s dealt with him, so I’m not worried about it. The talent there is undeniable, and there’d have to be a red flag you can see from 50 miles away to keep you from a talent like that."

AJ Dybantsa does it all for BYU

Meanwhile, Dybantsa has been a dynamic and consistent scorer for a BYU team that started the season 17-2, but has stumbled lately as the Cougars deal with injuries.

His commitment to BYU as a five-star prospect from Brockton, Massachusetts, was seen as emblematic of the NIL era. After reaching last year’s Sweet 16 before falling to Alabama, the Cougars were expected to take a step forward by adding Dybantsa into a mix that included holdovers such as guard Richie Saunders and fellow newcomer Robert Wright III, a Baylor transfer.

The question of whether the Cougars parlay this roster into a deeper postseason run will be answered soon. But Dybantsa has met and even exceeded expectations as the nation’s top scorer and one of the most well-rounded wings in the Power Five.

He’s scored at least 20 points in 13 games in a row, and averaged 31 points in the Cougars' three Big 12 tournament games. Dybantsa poured in a season-high 43 points in a 91-78 win against rival Utah on Jan. 24.

"He's a truly absurd scorer," Pfeifer said. Dybantsa has "some of the best footwork you're ever going to see from a player this age," he added.

"Truly absurd stuff that he can do with pivots and step-throughs and just creative moves that you very rarely see players like him pulling out on a basketball court."

Overall, he’s averaging 25.3 points per game, 6.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game while making 51.3% of his attempts. Dybantsa has already become just the 20th freshman since 2000 to score at least 700 points and is just the third freshman to lead the country in scoring since the NCAA began officially tracking statistics in the late 1940s.

"I don't think it's hype with AJ Dybantsa," Bilas said. "I think it's factual. Like, when you saw him in high school, you knew: This guy is the real deal. And he's done nothing but elevate judgment on that. So whatever expectation he had as a freshman, I think by all measure he's exceeded it. It's like he's made in a lab for the NBA. He's got size and crazy length and a skill set that is transferrable to the league right now."

NBA mock draft: Who goes No. 1?

In the latest mock draft from For The Win, AJ Dybantsa is projected to go No. 1 to the Indiana Pacers, followed by Darryn Peterson to the Washington Wizards at No. 2 and Cameron Boozer to the Sacramento Kings at No. 3.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NBA draft No. 1 pick a 3-way race between Dybantsa, Boozer, Peterson

A recently discovered letter, of unknown age and origin:

To Adam Silver and the basketball powers-that-be: Why so quiet?

From your mighty cloud on high, you struck Utah and Indiana for their heresy and crimes against the sanctity of the game. You sent doctors and insisted on micromanaging every personnel decision of these pitiful teams, lest your followers dwindle into disbelief through the mighty vice of tanking’s temptation. The underlings have paid the price, and your word was made law.

You did not hesitate to pass righteous judgment against the wicked in the past. Yet now, as Utah dives to the bottom of the pile, the gods have fallen silent?

Clear and obvious tanking measures continue to spread like a plague across the dregs of professional basketball, and the protectors are nowhere to be seen. Their influence is muted. Their hand is invisible. My faith has reached a point of crisis — a hinge point from which I feel destined to fall. I feel on the verge of collapse, as Sacramento, Washington, Brooklyn, Dallas, and yes, even my home of Utah, laugh in the face of judgment, smile in the crosshairs of your vengeance, and mock your authority with every subsequent contest.

Are you there? Can you hear my plea? All I can ask is for justice to be handed to the deserving. Were you simply hoping to make an example of the unpopular? Do you fear those beneath you so deeply?

NBA Olympus has fallen, and Silver is tarnished.

(Author Unknown)

Previous volumes of The Great Tank Race: I | II | III

1- (+3) Indiana Pacers (15-54)

Like waves upon a stormy sea, the Pacers rise and fall in the order of the tank race. Just a month ago, they had dropped all the way to fourth place.

But then they lost 14 straight and lurched right to the bottom again. Congratulations are in order because that is their second streak of 13+ losses this season, and they are just two away from tying Sacramento’s record of 16. The lords of the tank shook off the chains of mediocrity and have embraced bloated, unapologetic self-sabotage. I have never seen something quite so beautiful in my entire life. Indy has not won a basketball game since the last edition of this saga and has brought meaning to meaningless basketball.

The possibility of adding one of this year’s top prospects should have the Pacers’ front office in a frenzy, because I can imagine any of Dybantsa, Peterson, Boozer, or Wilson pairing effortlessly with Tyrese Haliburton. When all seemed lost, they reclaimed their throne and kingdom.

I bend the knee to you, O rightful King of the Great Tank race.

2- (+0) Washington Wizards (16-52) 1.5 GB

Yes, Trae Young is finally wearing basketball shorts again, but Washington is in no rush to push him into heavy minutes at this point in the season. Gradually bringing their injured stars along on minutes restrictions cost Utah $500,000. That service is free in the nation’s capital.

If you thought that Indiana’s 14-game losing streak is impressive, the Wiz are not far behind — currently shuffling through a 13-game slumber of their own. Two titans of the tank are doing battle at the top, and there’s very little the higher-ups of the league can do to stand in their way.

3- (+2) Brooklyn Nets (17-51) 2.5 GB

Yes, one-man shooting gallery Egor Demin is out for the year with plantar fasciitis, and yes, the Nets have done very well to position themselves in the bottom three (equal odds for the number one pick), but there’s trouble over the horizon. When it comes to strength of schedule, the Brooklyn Nets have 14 games and the fifth-easiest remaining slate of any team in the NBA — easier than any of their tank race adversaries.

Considering their paper-thin curtain of just a half-game separating Brooklyn from Sacramento, the comfort of the top-3 and an equal share of number-one pick odds exchange hands of the Tank Race contenders on nearly a game-by-game basis.

Brooklyn, a team that quintuple-dipped in the first round of last year’s draft, is hungry for more. They’ll have plenty of chances to claim losses at the expense of their tank race foes down the home stretch. Lose those games, however, and the crowded mass at the bottom of the standings could spit you out far from the top pick.

4- (-3) Sacramento Kings (18-51) 3.0 GB

Kings.

You guys can’t even tank right.

5- (+1) Utah Jazz (20-48) 5.5 GB

With the hope that Keyonte George receives a full recovery from his hamstring tear suffered against New York, Keyonte’s availability was only going to hurt his team’s chances in the Tank Race. Utah has become one of basketball’s most exciting teams, promising a starting lineup of George (who is playing at an All-Star level this season, and I will personally fight anyone who disagrees), Markkanen, JJJ, Kessler, and Ace Bailey/whoever Utah snags with their first-round pick. Heck, Cody Williams just had a 34-point, 7-assist, 7-rebound game against Portland. The atmosphere is crackling in the Salt Lake Valley.

Any of Dybantsa, Boozer, Peterson, or even Darius Acuff would be incredible additions to a Jazz squad that feels they are just one foundational player away from competing in the Western Conference — and they’re tanking like their lives depend on it.

Losers in 2 of their last 10, Utah is climbing the ladder — or sliding down the fireman’s pole, depending on which way you prefer to orient your standings page — and gaining ground on a Kings team that is 5-5 in their last 10, and actively competing on a nightly basis against the customs of the Tankers’ Guild.

You tell me which is detrimental to the integrity of the game.

t6- (+1) Dallas Mavericks (23-46) 8.0 GB

Cooper Flagg is Cooper Flagg-ing once again, and the Mavericks are winning basketball games. This is tremendous news for Utah, whose shirt collar has become damp with condensation after these months of the Mavericks breathing down their necks in the standings.

The Mavs lucked into the number one pick last season after one of the most sanity-defying trades in recent memory, and have only made the Luka exchange worse by turning around to sell low on an aging, and (surprise, surprise) injured Anthony Davis. Yes, Nico Harrison is no longer with the team, and the whole “win-now” motivation behind dealing Doncic was his idea, but Dallas is years removed from competitive basketball, even if Kyrie Irving decides to return from his cryogenic chamber to play NBA basketball again.

If Dallas gets the number-one pick, we revolt.

t6- (-3) New Orleans Pelicans (23-46) 8.0 GB

Bad news, Atlanta. The Pelicans learned how to win.

New Orleans’ first-round pick is owned by the Hawks, all because the Pelicans needed Derik Queen. Queen is excellent for a late-lottery pick, don’t get me wrong, but New Orleans has sabotaged their own future during a present that promised, well, many more lottery picks before they can set their gaze upon trophies.

The Hawks — as hawks often do — swooped at the opportunity to claim an easy kill. The Pelicans are no longer a bottom-three team, no, but this is a bleak organization, and has been for an agonizingly long time.

Calvin Barrett is a writer, editor, and prolific Mario Kart racer located in Tokyo, Japan. He has covered the NBA and College Sports since 2024.

NOME, Alaska (AP) — Former reality TV star Jessie Holmes cruised to a repeat victory in the Iditarod, the roughly 1,000-mile (1,609-kilometer) sled dog race in Alaska.

Holmes guided his dog team across the finish line Tuesday night in the old Gold Rush town of Nome, a Bering Sea coastal community. He pumped both fists in the air as the crowd cheered for him and his team of 12 dogs.

After finishing, the dogs got steaks and Holmes answered some questions accompanied by his lead dogs, Polar and Zeus.

“Zeus led every single run except one. I just wanted to let someone else have some fun. And Polar deserves it more than anybody,” he said. “He leads by example.”

The race started March 8 in Willow, a day after the ceremonial start was held in Anchorage. The course took dog teams and their mushers over two mountain ranges, along the frozen Yukon River and across the unpredictable Bering Sea ice.

Holmes, a former cast member on the National Geographic reality show “Life Below Zero,” is the third competitor in the 54-year history of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race to repeat the year after winning for the first time. The others were Susan Butcher in 1986-1987 and Lance Mackey in 2007-2008. Both went on to win four titles.

Holmes told The Associated Press before the Iditarod that this year’s race was the most important of his career. “That’s hard to put that on yourself because you got to live with that pressure every day,” Holmes said. “And if I do not make it, it is going to absolutely crush me.”

He will pocket about $80,000 for this year’s win, up from the $57,000-plus he took home last year. This year's purse was boosted by financial support from Norwegian billionaire Kjell Rokke, who participated in a newly created, noncompetitive amateur category. Rokke reached Nome on Monday, under rules that allowed him to have outside support from a former Iditarod champ, flexible rest periods and to swap out dogs.

Holmes' first Iditarod was in 2018. His seventh place finish earned him rookie of the year honors. He has now raced in the Iditarod nine times, earning seven top 10 finishes. He’s been in the top five the last five races.

He appeared for eight years on “Life Below Zero,” which chronicled the hardships of people living in rural Alaska.

Holmes used the money he earned from the show to buy better dogs and equipment, and also was able to purchase raw land near Denali National Park and Preserve. A carpenter by trade, he’s carved his homestead in the wilderness, where his closest neighbor is about 30 miles (48 kilometers) away.

Rokke, who now lives in Switzerland, provided $100,000 in additional prize money and $170,000 to Alaska Native villages that serve as checkpoints. Another musher in the noncompetitive “expedition” class, Canadian entrepreneur Steve Curtis, pledged $50,000 to help youth sports programs in the villages. Curtis did not finish the race.

The race’s biggest critic, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, has claimed that more than 150 dogs have died in the history of the Iditarod. It urged Rokke to spend his money to help dogs rather than put them through “hazards and misery.”

The Iditarod has never provided its count of dogs who have died on the race.

One dog has died in this year's race, a 4-year-old female named Charly on musher Mille Porsild's team, the Iditarod said in a statement Tuesday. A necropsy will be conducted.

Thirty-four competitive mushers started, matching the inaugural 1973 race for the second fewest in race history. The retirements of many longtime mushers and the high cost of supplies, such as dog food, have kept the fields small this decade.

Since March Madness became part of the sports vernacular, the NCAA Tournament bracket pool has become a familiar exercise. Broadly speaking, participants come from two main categories. There are the more casual fans who only pay attention to men’s college hoops around tourney time. They’ll do a modicum of research but will for the most part rely on name recognition and seeding to fill out their brackets.

Then there are the diehards, those who follow the sport from November onward in hopes of accumulating more knowledge for when the bracket is finally unveiled.

March Madness bold predictions: Best upset picks, Final Four sleeper

This is for the latter group, the ones who have been watching certain teams all season and are all too aware just how wildly unpredictable they can be. These are the teams that will cause self-described bracket experts the most angst as they consider their picks. They’re the teams that have the talent necessary for a deep run, even perhaps capable of sending a No. 1 packing. But they are also inconsistent enough that they’re just as likely to flame out in the first weekend. As you consider what to do with these eight teams, all we can say is, good luck.

Kansas

The Jayhawks’ history with Bill Self at the helm suggests their Final Four potential shouldn’t be dismissed. Their Big 12 results this season were a mixed bag, however, with impressive wins against Arizona and Iowa State mingled with ugly losses to bottom-tier finishers West Virginia and Arizona State. KU’s inconsistency isn’t entirely attributable to Darryn Peterson’s inconsistent health status, though that is certainly part of the story. Flory Bidunga can be dominant at times and invisible at others, and Melvin Council Jr. can be sizzling hot or ice cold.

Purdue

The Boilermakers were voted No. 1 in the preseason poll. At the start of the campaign and again at the end they looked the part. In between, however, they presented as a middle-of-the-pack Big Ten squad, a curious situation for a team with several multi-year starters. When Purdue struggled, there were issues at both ends of the floor, at times disinterested on defense and making bad decisions with the ball. Did the Boilermakers figure things out at the Big Ten tournament, or will there be a relapse at an inopportune time?

REGION BREAKDOWNS, PREDICTIONS: East | South | Midwest | West

PRINTABLE BRACKET: Fill out your picks for NCAA Tournament pools

Arkansas

There are many reasons to back the Razorbacks in their region. Their SEC tournament title would seem to indicate they’re heating up at the right time, and coach John Calipari has taken his share of teams to the final weekend. But their path to the SEC championship was cleared for them a bit as they didn’t have to face Florida or Alabama, and as good as Darius Acuff Jr. has been over the last few weeks, only a few teams have gone the distance with a talented freshman lead guard.