The Comeback: Today’s Top Sports Stories & Reactions
The Comeback: Today’s Top Sports Stories & Reactions
Bronny James
Oct 8, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Sacramento Kings center Maxime Raynaud (42) boxes out Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James (9) in the second half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
A flurry of roster cuts was made across teh NBA before 5 p.m. Eastern on Saturday.
The Los Angeles Lakers were among the teams trimming their roster; however, one notable name remained rostered. Although it was widely expected that Los Angeles would part ways with forward Dalton Knecht, the young player remains a member of the franchise as of Monday afternoon, despite struggling last season.
While he still remains positioned to leave the organization, whether it be via being waived or traded, it’s not a complete shock, given the franchise’s pressing need for another center that could be found via the trade market in a deal involving the forward.
Another prime candidate to exit the organization is his draftmate Bronny James, who joined Los Angeles as the 55th pick in the draft. The franchise will have to part ways with either James or Knecht by Monday’s official NBA opening-night roster deadline.
One analyst believes the Lake Show is best off trading James.
“If I were the Lakers, I’d be trying to trade Bronny right now to some owner who wants to sell some jerseys,” CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn posted on X. “I’d rather keep Knecht on the books as possible trade salary than cut him and deal with dead money. The Lakers don’t really need the James brand like other teams do.”
Why Did Fox Sports Abruptly End Barstool's Deal with 'Big Noon Kickoff'?
Dave Portnoy and Barstool are OUT at Fox's "Big Noon Kickoff" college football pregame show, a month into their second season together. What really happened here, what does it mean for Barstool's FS1 show, and what can the move tell us about the state of college football coverage? It's The Play-By-Play LIVE! 0:55 Big Noon ditches Barstool 22:42 Why Fox's response to McAfee didn't work 29:03 Will 'Wake Up Barstool' continue? 35:30 Jason Kelce great first impression calling game 38:19 Fox #2 MLB booth needs an overhaul Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-play-by-play/id1763654809 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4HaEA8ssc7LpPoJ8pKT1hk Awful Announcing on X: https://twitter.com/awfulannouncing Awful Announcing on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/awfulannouncing Awful Announcing on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/awful\_announcing/ Awful Announcing on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@awful\_announcing Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
LeBron's Polymarket Payday, Sophie's Pivot & Arch's Apology w/ TYT's Rick Strom | The Play-By-Play
LeBron James will make $15M from Polymarket this year, giving us our first sense of the dollars at play as prediction markets overtake sports betting.Rick Strom of @tytsports joins to react to the news.Plus, Sophie Cunningham has relaunched her podcast and is already back to thinly veiled takes on who "belongs" in the WNBA.And both Arch Manning and Steve Sarkisian have apologized to Holly Rowe and ESPN after the controversy over Sark's aborted postgame interview.It's The Play-By-Play LIVE!1:40 LeBron takes Polymarket's money14:05 The UT fallout24:05 Sophie's next stepsAwful Announcing on X: https://twitter.com/awfulannouncingAwful Announcing on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/awfulannouncingAwful Announcing on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/awful\_announcing/Awful Announcing on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@awful\_announcing Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dan Le Batard Calls Out ESPN On Diversity; Do We Still Need Beat Reporters; Was Mike Macdonald Off the Record?
Dan Le Batard is on ESPN's case on its recent diversity track record, and the Worldwide Leader took the rare step of responding to Le Batard on the record. Plus, Mike MacDonald gave the Seahawks another PR mess and beat reporters continue to disappear after the McClatchy layoffs. It's The Play-By-Play LIVE! 1:10 Mike Macdonald hot mic moment15:10 ESPN vs Le Batard on diversity33:40 Do we need beat reporters?Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-play-by-play/id1763654809 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4HaEA8ssc7LpPoJ8pKT1hk Awful Announcing on X: https://twitter.com/awfulannouncingAwful Announcing on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/awfulannouncingAwful Announcing on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/awful\_announcing/Awful Announcing on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@awful\_announcing Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Adam Schefter Stops Halfway with Cardinals Trade Scoop; Is CFB Media Getting Off the Arch Manning Rollercoaster?
Adam Schefter reported Marvin Harrison Jr. was on his way out of Arizona, but failed to report where he was going, opening another can of worms for the maligned ESPN NFL insider. It's also time for Stock Watch Stock Watch on the Arch Manning experience at Texas, after another late-game collapse and more questions about whether he was coronated too soon. It's The Play-By-Play LIVE! Awful Announcing on X: https://twitter.com/awfulannouncing Awful Announcing on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/awfulannouncing Awful Announcing on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/awful\_announcing/ Awful Announcing on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@awful\_announcing Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
James feels that James hasn’t shown enough offensively to justify a roster spot.
“(He) Just hasn’t reached the point of offensive viability through two years, and the defensive threshold is just so freaking high at that size that if he’s never gonna make shots, he basically has to be a Jamal Shead-level pest to even justify a roster spot and he isn’t,” he wrote.
If James is ultimately cut ahead of Monday’s deadline, there’s always the outside possibility he finds his way back onto a team with his father somehow on the East Coast as a Philadelphia 76er.
Duke Blue Devils
Duke Blue Devils
Oregon wide receiver Evan Stewart
Oregon wide receiver Evan Stewart
Mike Vrabel
Mike Vrabel