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Inside The NBA Crew Discusses Reaction to Kyrie Irving Comments

“We’ve suspended people and fined people who have made homophobic slurs,” Barkley added. “And that was the right thing to do. If you insult the black community, you should be suspended or fined heavily.”

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Inside the NBA

Members of Inside the NBA on TNT studio and broadcast team offered their thoughts to the situation involving Kyrie Irving on Tuesday night.

Irving has found himself in hot water over a since-deleted tweet about an antisemitic movie.

On TNT’s pregame show, both Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley offered their thoughts on Irving. Shaq said Irving just displays just a general lack of awareness of what he puts out on social media.

“Some people are conscious, some people are not. I can tell he’s not conscious, he doesn’t really care about what’s going on,” Shaq said. “But us, I know that the game that we used to love and promote it brings people together. And it hurts me sometimes when we have to sit up here and talk about stuff that divides the game. Now we gotta answer for what this idiot has done.”

Barkley thinks it’s wild that the league didn’t discipline him for the tweet sooner.

“I think (the NBA) should have been suspended him,” Barkley said. “I think (NBA commissioner Adam Silver) should have suspended him. First of all, Adam is Jewish — you can’t take my $40 million and insult my religion. You gonna insult me, you have the right, but I have the right to say, ‘You can’t take my $40 million and insult my religion.’”

“We’ve suspended people and fined people who have made homophobic slurs,” Barkley added. “And that was the right thing to do. If you insult the black community, you should be suspended or fined heavily.”

On the Nets/Bulls game broadcast on TNT, Reggie Miller said it was interesting how the NBA as a community didn’t collectively stand up against what Irving put out there compared to incidents that were racial in nature involving former Clippers owner Donald Sterling and soon to be ex-Suns owner Robert Sarver.

“When Donald Sterling stepped in it, when Robert Sarver just recently stepped in it, our voices in the basketball community and our players were vocally strong in some type of discipline being handed down — or be gone,” Miller said. “The players have dropped the ball on this case when it’s been one of their own. It’s been crickets.

“And it’s disappointing, because this league has been built on the shoulders of the players being advocates,” he added. “Right is right and wrong is wrong. And if you’re gonna call out owners, and rightfully so, then you’ve got to call out players as well. You can’t go silent in terms of this for Kyrie Irving. I want to hear the players and their strong opinions as well, just as we heard about Robert Sarver and Donald Sterling.”

Some in sports media offered their reaction to Miller’s comments.

The Nets are looking into some kind of discipline on Irving, but Barkley felt like it’s too late. The NBA Players Association released a statement on the situation but didn’t refer to Irving by name.

“Antisemitism has no place in our society. The NBPA is focused on creating an environment where everyone is accepted,” the statement said. “We are committed to helping players fully understand that certain words can lead to hateful ideologies being spread. We will continue to work on identifying and combating all hate speech whenever it arises.”

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Report: NFL to Put Christmas Day Doubleheader Up For Bids

Bidding is expected to start at $50 million among the current NFL media partners but some think the games could sell for $75 million to $100 million apiece.

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The NFL will reportedly put its Christmas Day games up for auction, allowing its current media partners to bid for the games. Now, it’s up to CBS, FOX, ESPN, NBC, and Prime Video to pay up for rights to one of these two marquee games.

According to Front Office Sports Michael McCarthy, preference will be given to linear networks, so Prime Video and Peacock may sit this one out. Bidding is expected to start at $50 million but McCarthy and his sources expect that number to rise. John Kosner, the former ESPN executive, thinks the new Christmas Day games could sell for $75 million to $100 million apiece.

The NFL announced a Wednesday Christmas Day doubleheader during its annual league meetings. The league originally said it wouldn’t force games on Christmas Day if the holiday fell on an odd day of the week, though as the NFL continues to put games on days outside of Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays, and sometimes Saturdays, we’re running out of days that don’t feature NFL football.

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Colorado Rockies & DirecTV Reach Agreement to Carry Games on TV

“Colorado sports fans have made DIRECTV the top destination for their favorite local teams. We will continue to work with MLB…so fans can get their games.”

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Colorado Rockies

Breathe easy, Rockies fans — you will be able to watch your club on linear TV this year. At the buzzer, DirecTV and the Colorado Rockies agreed on terms to distribute the team’s games throughout its local service.

Starting today, DirecTV Choice subscribers across Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Southern Idaho, Western Nebraska, and Northern New Mexico can now watch the Rockies on a special channel simply titled, “ROCKIES.” The games will be available on DirecTV and DirecTV STREAM via channel 683.

“Colorado sports fans have made DIRECTV the top destination to get all their favorite local teams,” said Rob Thun, chief content officer of DIRECTV. “We will continue to work with MLB, the NBA, NHL, and other top leagues and their local franchises so the most avid fans can get the games they want while other customers have more choice over the content they want to pay to have in their homes.”

Reports just days ago out of Colorado said there were “no guarantees” the Rockies would not find a TV home in time for Opening Day following the sunsetting of AT&T SportsNet. The only other way to watch the team is to use its direct-to-consumer Rockies.tv streaming service, which fans say is too pricey for a team that lost 103 games last season. Luckily, the team was able to secure a TV home for 2024, though the future is still uncertain.

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Erin Andrews Reveals Infertility Journey in Emotional ‘Today Show’ Interview

FOX reporter Erin Andrews sat down with ‘The Today Show’s’ Kristen Welker to discuss her journey, how Welker’s own journey inspired her, and more.

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Erin Andrews

FOX reporter Erin Andrews shared her story of infertility and surrogacy with NBC’s Today Show. Last summer, Andrews and her husband welcomed a baby boy via surrogate after trying for a decade to get pregnant via IVF, during which she was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2016. Today, she sat down with Kristen Welker to discuss her journey, how Welker’s own journey inspired her, and more.

Andrews says Welker’s announcement on the Today Show made her think a baby could be possible. “I remember Kristin Welker’s announcement on your show,” Andrews said last year, “and I actually watched that the morning Mac was born, because that just hit me.”

When they finally sat down, Welker asked Andrews why her journey resonated with the sports reporter so much:

“Because I see myself in you. Kristen, the video of you moderating debates after you’re waiting on bad news or maybe you just received it, that’s me. I can tell you every stand-up I’ve done at a football game where I’ve gotten the news that it didn’t work. I’d be talking about Tom Brady going for this record and my record is that I still was failing…I would have chest pains every time I was waiting for the call if it worked, and I knew it wouldn’t work.

Erin Andrews on ‘Today’

Andrews knew surrogacy was the only path to having a child. Although her family’s first attempt failed, her second attempt was a success, and she got to hear her child’s heartbeat for the very first time. The pair discuss the complex emotions that come with surrogacy, saying that bonds with their child could be affected because they didn’t carry their child. However, Welker assured Andrews that those feelings go away once you can talk to your child.

Once her son was born in June, who Andrews called, “a miracle,” she then talks about her child glowingly, talking about how he is just like mom — vocal. “He’s all me,” she says.

Andrews supports Baby Quest, a non-profit that grants money to families in need of IVF or surrogacy to have a baby but don’t have the funds to pursue these expensive treatments. Both Andrews and Welker acknowledged how difficult and unattainable their journies are for some families — and Andrews even used the NFL’s “My Cleats, My Cause” initiative to raise awareness for her cause.

“People don’t need to feel embarrassed that they have a surrogate or are looking for other help,” Andrews said.

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