The Sportsletter - Getting Green & Portal Panic

BY JEFF YODER & MARISSA KASCH

DEC. 15, 2023 | SUBSCRIBE | WEB VIEW

Happy Friday 🙌

It’s our last normal edition of 2023, and yesterday was full of surprises. The Raiders hung 63 on the Chargers. We got our first look at Shohei Ohtani in Dodger Blue. The transfer portal is going crazy. And we did some digging into Draymond Green’s status among the NBA’s most-ejected players. Spoiler: It's not good.

Letter Rip!

HOLIDAYS

🗓️ Holiday Schedule: The Sportsletter Team is off for the holidays beginning next Monday (Dec. 18). We’ll return to our normal schedule on Wednesday (Jan. 3). You’ll receive 3-4 newsletters from us over the break, so keep your eyes open.

CFB Bowl Guide (Saturday, Dec. 16)
Underdog Features (Wednesday, Dec. 20/27)
2023 Sports Rewind (Friday, Dec. 29)

🏈 Play The Sportsletter’s Holiday NFL Pick ‘Em

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NBA

The NBA's All-Time Most Ejectable Players

Image via Joe Stella / Media Mobilize

The NBA Suspended Draymond Green “Indefinitely,” So Where Does the Warriors’ Enforcer Rank on the League’s All-Time Ejections List?

Ah, nothing like a good old "M-E-P" award... The Most Ejectable Player. It's new. We made it up. Sometimes we create our own rules to make things work in our favor. Right, Draymond? Quite the rule-breaker, that one. The NBA suspended the Warriors’ enforcer “indefinitely” this week after he was ejected for the third time this season for hitting Suns’ center Jusuf Nurkic. He’s only appeared in 15 of the Warriors’ 23 games because of suspension time. That’s one ejection per every five games this season. The league will require him to go through mandatory behavior protocols before he’s allowed to return to the court.

Draymond’s Ejection Trajectory

In the year 2023 alone, Green is racking up the ejections and hitting the showers early. He has already stomped on Kings’ Domantas Sabonis in last year’s playoffs (Apr. 18), put Rudy Gobert in a chokehold (Nov. 14), and swung a haymaker at Suns’ Jusuf Nurkic (Dec. 12), on top of other less-notable flagrants and techs. He's received four ejections in his last 40-or-so games, which puts him alone in 2nd (20 ejections) on the NBA’s all-time ejections list. Only Rasheed Wallace (29) has more.

NBA’s Top-10 Most Ejected Players

1. Rasheed Wallace (29)

2. Draymond Green (20)

3. Dwight Howard (17)

T4. Anthony Mason (16)

T4. Charles Barkley (16)

T6. Shaquille O’Neal (14)

T6. Demarcus Cousins (14)

8. Matt Barnes (13)

T9. Reggie Miller (12)

T9. Dennis Rodman (12)

T9. Kenyon Martin (12)

*Draymond is the only active NBA player

Editor’s Note: Our team had some fun going down memory lane and reliving some of the craziest fights in NBA history. And while we try to stay positive and focus on the good things in sports, few things are more exciting than when competitiveness boils over. Read our 2022 Underdog Interview With Metta Artest (formerly Ron Artest).

Is Green Seeing Red?

Back to Draymond for a minute. One has to question if there’s something else behind his increasingly ugly antics. It wasn’t long ago he punched teammate Jordan Poole at practice, presumably for Poole’s youth and inexperience showing itself in key moments. Poole is now with the Wizards. Green has always been a fierce competitor, but there might be something else — something deeper — that’s led him to this point. A point where his NBA future hinges on his ability to get right, mentally.

One thing we know for certain — the NBA won’t take it anymore. On this list of the most-ejected players ever, Draymond will always be No. 2. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will cut him out of the league before he starts to sniff Rasheed Wallace’s 29-ejection record. In total, Draymond has 20 ejections, 163 technical fouls, and he’s paid $2.2 million in fines for his behavior. He’s also 33 years old. It's a "last-straw" moment.

ESPN: Draymond Green Suspended Indefinitely: What We Know After Latest Incident

USA Today: Why is Draymond Green Suspended Indefinitely? His Reckless Ways Pushed NBA to its Breaking Point

NCAA

Transfer Portal Panic 🚨

Photo: Icon Sportswire / Getty Images

The NCAA Transfer Portal Has Changed College Sports Forever (By Marissa Kasch)

Typically, at this point in the college football season, everyone is only talking about bowl games and the playoffs. This season, the conversation is markedly different. Nobody can dispute the college football landscape is changing, both quickly and drastically. And while there’s much discussion on the upcoming conference changes, Florida State and Georgia being excluded from the playoffs, NIL rules, and more, the infamous “Transfer Portal” has stolen the show.

People have staunch opinions about the mysterious portal. Like almost everything happening in college football right now, opinions are polarizing: You either think it’s the best thing to happen to college football (freedom!), or it’s single-handedly ruining the sport (we lost another starter?!). So let’s look into it.

The Transfer Process

Once a player enters the Transfer Portal, other schools may reach out for recruiting purposes. The portal primarily serves players, allowing them to weigh their options and choose the best fit. There’s only one problem: These players already did that when they originally committed. A player can withdraw his or her name from the portal at any time. However, if players enter the Transfer Portal, their scholarships could be in jeopardy. The school the athlete currently plays for is not obligated to continue to honor his or her scholarship if they enter the portal and return, even if a player withdraws. For fall sports, like college football, student athletes get a 45-day window to enter the portal with immediate eligibility. The window begins the day after the playoff field is set, which is why the portal is going crazy right now.

Current Transfer Portal (Football Only)

FBS Total: 1,643 Players
Power 5: 780 Players
Scholarship Quarterbacks: 113

*Transfer Portal Opened December 4

Transfer Portal or Free Agency?

One of the biggest criticisms of the Transfer Portal is that it closely resembles NFL free agency. College football players used to ascend to the next stage up (from high school) with stars in their eyes for the game they loved. But since NIL rules changed, those stars have been replaced by dollar signs. When you give college athletes the opportunity to monetize their name, image and likeness, while giving them access to new teams (and markets) each year, what did we think would happen?

Notable QBs in the Portal

QB Kyle McCord (Ohio State) — TBD

QB Jeff Sims (Nebraska) — TBD

QB D.J. Uiagalelei (Oregon State) — TBD

QB Cameron Ward (Washington State) — TBD

QB Dante Moore (UCLA) — TBD

QB Will Howard (Kansas State) — TBD

QBs Already on to the Next Team

QB Dillon Gabriel (Oklahoma) — Oregon

QB Riley Leonard (Duke) — Notre Dame

QB Taylen Green (Boise State) — Arkansas

QB Tyler Van Dyke (Miami) — Wisconsin

Fun Fact: Five of the last seven Heisman Trophy winners were transfers. So there’s that.

Whether you love or hate it, the Transfer Portal is here to stay. We all have our opinions, and there’s good and bad. Though the portal isn’t perfect, it may finally allow new teams the opportunity to compete for the new 12-team playoff coming next year. Either way, it’s a glimpse into the future of college sports... And it's unlike anything we’ve seen before.

FOX Sports: Transfer Portal Questions: Which Players, Teams Have Made the Best Moves So Far?

HIGHLIGHTS 🎥

Lightning Round ⚡️ (Raider Revival)

Photo: Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images

Raiders Hang 63 on Chargers, Ohtani Introduced by Dodgers, NBA Top Teams & Stamkos Nets 4 Goals

🏈 Raiders Send Chargers Into Oblivion (63-21)

Four days after the Raiders put up zero (0!) points against the Vikings, Las Vegas sent the Chargers to the doghouse with a 63-21 blowout on Thursday Night Football. Chargers’ head coach Brandon Staley probably just lost his job. His team flat-out gave up. Raiders rookie QB Aidan O’Connell (20/34, 248 yards, 4 TDs) was electric. The Raiders had three other offensive touchdowns and two defensive TDs. The Chargers had five turnovers. It was 42-0 at the half in Vegas. This was one of the craziest games of the year.

⚾️ Dodgers Introduce Mr. Shohei Othani

Shohei Ohtani was wearing Dodger Blue for the first time on Thursday as the two-way superstar was introduced by the team. It was his first time speaking with the media since Aug. 9, two weeks before he suffered a pitching injury that required surgery. He did a solid job dodging questions about medical timelines and what other teams offered him in free agency. Class act.

🏀 T-Wolves & Celtics On Top of NBA

Two teams are tied atop the NBA standings as we enter the holiday break. Both the Celtics and Timberwolves were winners last night, and they’re now 18-5 and in first place in their respective conferences. The Wolves took down the Mavs last night (119-101) despite another big night from Luka Doncic (39-13-6). The Celtics held off a rally from the Cavaliers (116-107) behind Jayson Tatum’s 27-11 night.

🏒 Stamkos Nets 4 in Lightning Strike

The Oilers’ eight-game win streak came to an end last night at Rogers Place. The Lightning handed Edmonton their first loss since Nov. 22 (7-4) thanks to the stick of Steven Stamkos (4 goals). The 33-year-old Stamkos had only scored 10 goals all season (28 games) — an average of 0.35 goals per — but his four-goal night was a new career-high.

NEWS 📰

Indiana Pacer, Hall of Famer & ABA Champion George McGinnis Dies at Age 73 (ESPN)
Ban on Eagles’ ‘Tush Push’ Play Denied at NFL Winter Meetings (B/R)
Zach LaVine Wants Lakers Trade, But Key Issues Stopping Bulls (SI)
Ben Roethlisberger Says Steelers Tradition Hurt by ‘Bad Coaching’ (Yahoo! Sports)
Newest Episode of ‘Coach Prime’ Reveals Details of Deion Sanders-Jay Norvell Incident (USA Today)
Dodgers Complete Trade With Rays for Pitcher Tyler Glasnow (ESPN)

PARTNER

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HOLIDAY SCHEDULE 🗓️

The Holiday Must-Watch List

Happy holidays, team! With 18 days between now and our next full edition, there’s a lot to look forward to. For the sake of space, here’s our list of top-5 games to watch from most major sports, including five football (CFP & NFL Christmas Day), five NBA games on Christmas Day, and five college hoops games we’ll be watching. Ongoing NHL, Soccer, and UFC/Boxing matches are waiting, too. Check your inbox tomorrow as we kick off the College Football Bowl Season (42 games!) with a full schedule. Enjoy!

🏈 College Football (CFP Semi-Finals)

#4 Alabama vs. #1 Michigan (Jan. 1, 5:00 pm, ESPN)

#3 Texas vs. #2 Washington (Jan. 1, 8:45 pm, ESPN)

*Look for Tomorrow’s CFB Bowl Guide

🏈 NFL

NFL Week 15 Schedule (Dec. 16-18)

NFL Week 16 Schedule (Dec. 21-25)

NFL Week 17 Schedule (Dec. 28-31)

🎄 NFL Christmas Day Games

Raiders at Chiefs (1:00 pm CBS)
Giants at Eagles (4:30 pm FOX)
Ravens at 49ers (8:15 pm ABC)

🎄 NBA Christmas Day Games

Bucks at Knicks (Noon ESPN)