Michael Jordan sues NASCAR but is dealt major legal blow just 2 days before his driver competes in Cup Series championship



Michael Jordan's racing team was dealt a painful blow by a United States district judge who denied his team's request for an injunction just before the culmination of the 2024 NASCAR season.

Jordan, who co-owns 23XI Racing with three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, was joined by Front Row Motorsports in a suit against NASCAR and its chairman. The lawsuit claimed NASCAR gave all Cup Series teams a last-minute offer in September; but both teams refused to sign the offer on antitrust grounds.

Judge Whitney summarized much of the claims by the racing teams as being speculative and not definitive.

As reported by the New York Post, the racing team owners claimed NASCAR's charter system limits competition by binding teams to the series, its tracks, and suppliers in an unfair manner.

The lawsuit said Chairman Jim France and NASCAR are "monopolistic bullies."

The teams wanted the court to grant an injunction that would release them from a clause in the NASCAR charter that prevents them from suing its sanctioning body. However, U.S. District Judge Frank D. Whitney ruled mid-day Friday that the two racing teams did not meet the burden required to be granted the injunction.

The injunction would have allowed the teams to compete as usual (as chartered teams) while still suing NASCAR. Instead, they may now have to compete as "open" teams, which does not guarantee them a spot in NASCAR races and limits their revenue. This could cause drivers and sponsors to leave the teams because they are not privy to those guarantees.

As reported by NBC Sports, the judge decided that the plaintiffs did prove they would suffer "irreparable harm if the injunction is not granted."

Judge Whitney summarized much of the claims by the racing teams as being speculative and not definitive.

"Although Plaintiffs have alleged that they will face a risk of irreparable harm, they have not sufficiently alleged present, immediate, urgent irreparable harm, but rather only speculative, possible harm," the judge wrote.

The judge also noted that the teams "alleged a possibility" that they will lose sponsorship agreements, citing that this wording is "too speculative."

The judge further wrote that the teams only "allege that their drivers may leave if Plaintiffs compete as open teams."

"Presently, this harm is too speculative to merit a preliminary injunction."

The judge went on, "Plaintiffs have not alleged that their business cannot survive without a preliminary injunction. Instead, they allege that their businesses may not survive without a preliminary injunction."

The ruling went on similarly about "potential" losses and future business losses being "merely speculative."

"As such, this speculative harm does not warrant the extraordinary relief of a preliminary injunction," he concluded.

The ruling comes just two days before the NASCAR Cup Series Championship in Phoenix on Sunday.

Four drivers are headed into the final race in a tie for first place in the Cup Series standings; one of whom is the No. 45 car driven by Tyler Reddick for Jordan's 23XI team.

23XI's other driver, No. 23 Bubba Wallace, is in 18th place. Both drive Toyotas.

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'I saw it over and over': Scottie Pippen claims scorekeepers gave Michael Jordan stats he didn't actually earn



Hall of Fame basketball player Scottie Pippen said in his memoir that scorekeepers incorrectly attributed statistics to Michael Jordan, often taking away from his own statistical totals.

The 58-year-old won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls alongside Jordan in the 1990s and was a threat on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.

In his memoir, titled "Unguarded," Pippen alluded to the idea that Jordan manipulated scorekeepers into wanting to doctor statistics in his favor.

"Michael was better at getting people to do whatever he wanted," Pippin reportedly wrote in an excerpt. "I saw it over and over, from the first training camp in 1987 to the last victory rally in 1998. Here's how it worked: Say I deflected the ball and tapped it over to him. I should get credit with the steal, right? Nope. More often than not, the steal went into his column on the stat sheet, and I could do nothing about it," Pippen claimed, according to Bounding into Sports.

'He was horrible to play with. It was all 1-on-1. He's shooting bad shots.'

Pippen recalled a time an official scorekeeper came into the locker room after a game and informed Jordan that he needn't worry and that they would "take care of" him.

"One night, a scorekeeper came into the locker room after the game to hand the stat sheets to Phil Jackson and the coaching staff. The sheet breaks down the points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocked shots, turnovers, and so on for everyone who played the game. I couldn't believe the look the guy gave Michael: 'See, MJ, we take care of you.' No wonder in the nine full seasons we played together, he averaged more steals than me in every year except two."

Jordan led the NBA in steals per game twice, in 1987-1988 and then again in the 1992-1993 season.

Pippen led the league once in 1994-1995.

Tension has grown between the former teammates over the years, with comments from Pippen becoming increasingly sour:

"He was horrible to play with. It was all 1-on-1. He's shooting bad shots," Pippen said in 2023 about the start of Jordan's career. "All of a sudden, we become a team and we start winning. Everybody forgot who he was. He was a player that, really, winning wasn't at the top of his category. It was scoring."

It was also no secret that Jordan's son, 33-year-old Marcus, dated Pippen's 49-year-old ex-wife Larsa for several years. The pair allegedly broke up in early 2024.

"What's wrong with this guy? I guess he has a book to sell," commentator Eric Butler told Blaze News. "What's weirder is that Pippen's ex-wife was dating Jordan's son. The whole relationship between the two is strange, right down to Pippen claiming Michael wasn't as good as everyone thinks, which is obviously not true," Butler added.

Pippen was a seven-time NBA All-Star and had his number 33 retired by the Chicago Bulls in 2005.

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Retired player suggests racist idea to 'fix' the NBA



Retired NBA player Gilbert Arenas has a solution to fix the NBA’s lack of defense — and it involves racism.

“I know what they can do. Get rid of all the Europeans,” Arenas said on his podcast, "Gils Arena."

“They have no athleticism, right? They have no speed, no jumping ability, they are a liability on defense.”

“They didn’t soften the rules for the Americans, they softened the rules to open it up international,” Arenas continued, adding, “This is not our league, this is not the American South, this is the Euro style.”

Steve Kim believes Arenas has unwittingly gone “MAGA.”

He notes that it’s basically the same thing as “the replacement theory” since “he’s blaming the immigrants.”

Whitlock agrees, seeing Arenas’ take as fairly racist and full of misinformation, but he does admit there are “tiny kernels of truth there.”

“Tiny kernels of truth in terms of the NBA wanted to extend its international reach. That was their whole big plan for ‘we’re going to overtake the NFL, we’re going to be the international game, they’re going to love us in China, they’re going to love us here,’” Whitlock explains, adding that the NBA is suffering “the consequences of globalism.”

“Now, the chickens are coming home to roost, and it’s not an American game,” he adds.

To hear more, watch the clip below.


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The untold story behind Michael Jordan, Phil Jackson & ‘The Last Dance’



The Chicago Bulls Basketball team has a long list of former players and coaches whose names have already gone down in history as some of the best there ever were: Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman, to name a few.

However, they all left the Bulls and left former college basketball coach — now a former Chicago Bulls head coach — Tim Floyd to make his own magic.

Floyd joined Jason Whitlock to discuss his time as head coach and shares a story that would have forever changed the history of the Bulls’ dynasty and the NBA.

Floyd says that he believes he was hired because they “wanted a college guy to go develop pros because the league was going to get younger.”

However, Bulls head coach was an intimidating seat to fill.

“You’re replacing a legend and a squad that had just won six titles in eight years. And the only two years they didn’t win, Michael was playing baseball,” Whitlock says.

Floyd was apprehensive about taking on the role at first and even told Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf that he wanted to wait to replace Phil Jackson.

Why?

A year before “The Last Dance,” Floyd was flown to Seattle to discuss taking Jackson’s spot with Reinsdorf after the 1995-96 season.

And he wouldn’t do it — yet.

“I think it’s too early,” Floyd said.

“This team is the Beatles,” he continued, “And I think it needs to die its own natural death.”

“So, indirectly,” Floyd jokes, “I take credit for the last two championships.”


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Whitlock: Basketball star Kevin Durant is this Olympic’s Charles Barkley



The hunt for Kevin Durant's basketball legacy and identity is over. We know exactly who Durant is and what he means to the game. The Tokyo Olympic Games clearly defined Durant.

In an era of fraudulently packaged, corporate-handcuffed professional athletes, Kevin Durant is the realest one playing. He's skinny Charles Barkley with championship rings.

When he was on the court, you couldn't take your eyes off Barkley. Built like a Hall of Fame offensive tackle, Barkley exploded up and down the court like a triple jumper. Off the court, you couldn't avoid Barkley either. His mouth and deeds courted controversy.

The same is true of Durant. His rail-thin, 7-foot body belies his playing style. And his authenticity and transparency keep him in the news cycle.

Thirty years ago, the force of Barkley's personality and playing style overshadowed Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird at the Barcelona Olympics. Barkley was the leading scorer on the Dream Team and the biggest attraction.

In perhaps the weirdest and most disappointing Olympics in history, Kevin Durant was the lone star and biggest attraction. He came across as the only star athlete who actually wanted to be in Japan. Gymnast Simone Biles, the face of the Games, sure didn't want to be in Tokyo. Naomi Osaka? U.S. track and field sprinters?

Leading this Olympic basketball team to the gold medal was important to Durant. He accomplished his goal Friday night, scoring 29 points in an 87-82 victory over France. It's Durant's third Olympic gold medal. He draped himself in the American flag and celebrated like representing his country meant something to him and his teammates.

Durant is a "real one," which is urban slang for someone who values their authenticity. That's the connection between Barkley and Durant.

Kevin Durant wears his flaws. He feuded with Draymond Green when they were teammates at Golden State. Durant traded Twitter barbs with his former OKC teammate Kendrick Perkins. Durant once had to apologize for explaining his authentic reaction to visiting India and being shocked by the country's primitiveness. Everyone remembers Durant getting busted with a burner social media account. Durant's nasty Instagram exchange with actor Michael Rapaport featured some very regrettable language.

Durant, like him or not, tells people exactly how he feels. He engages with people he probably shouldn't. Durant is real.

Let me tell you the realest thing about Durant — his hair. We've seen LeBron James drop a fortune trying to fix the bald spot at the top of his dome. Durant's bald patch is worse. He doesn't care. He owns his George Jefferson. It reminds me of the way Barkley owned his weight problem.

Kevin Durant is relatable.

When he entered the NBA 13 years ago, he had loftier goals than being the most relatable superstar of his era. He wanted to define his era. He had a chance to unseat LeBron James as the heir to the throne vacated by Michael Jordan a decade earlier.

When the Seattle Supersonics selected Durant with the No. 2 pick in the 2007 draft, James had yet to win an NBA title or MVP trophy. Despite a four-year head start, he was still within Durant's reach.

Five years later, Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden — playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder — met LeBron's Miami dream team in the NBA Finals. Had the Thunder won, it would've ruined LeBron's legacy and catapulted Durant to the top of the NBA food chart. It would've been the second consecutive year that James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh failed on basketball's biggest stage.

The Heat won the series 4-1. Durant and OKC never made it back to the NBA Finals. Westbrook refused to defer to Durant, who was clearly the more talented and transcendent player. Frustrated and desperate to make ground on James, Durant bolted Oklahoma City for a Western Conference rival and championship-proven Golden State. His goal of defining his era ended when he left Oklahoma.

By the time he won his first title with the Warriors in 2017, James held three championship rings — two with Miami and one with Cleveland.

Kevin Durant will never be regarded as the best player of his generation. That title belongs to LeBron James. Durant likely won't be regarded as the best shooter of his generation. His former Golden State teammate Steph Curry owns that distinction.

Durant will be Charles Barkley with championship rings. Barkley seems much happier than Michael Jordan.

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Greg Couch: Aaron Rodgers’ last chance with the Packers proves he’s no Michael Jordan



Aaron Rodgers thinks he's Michael Jordan starring in "The Last Dance," the wildly popular documentary that chronicled the Chicago Bulls superstar's sixth and final NBA championship.

The truth is, Rodgers is actually starring in "Last Chance," a reality show documenting his final, desperate attempt to surpass Bart Starr and Brett Favre as the greatest Green Bay Packer.

According to reports, after an off-season of foot-stomping and breath-holding, Rodgers has decided to come back and play this season for the Packers after all. Whatever his problems were with the Packers organization, he never made them clear. Instead, he apparently leaked veiled threats of retirement to the NFL media-industrial complex. Now, the word is the Packers and Rodgers have reached an agreement that will make this Rodgers' final season in Green Bay.

Friday, Rodgers and his star receiver Davante Adams celebrated the QB's return from off-season purgatory by tweeting pictures of Jordan and Scottie Pippen fist-bumping. The pics were a nod to "The Last Dance" and a window into how Rodgers views his 17th NFL season.

He's Michael Jordan. Adams is Scottie Pippen. Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst is Jerry Krause, the Bulls executive Jordan and Pippen treated as their personal punching bag.

Rodgers has a Jordan obsession that appears to have created a delusion. The two-time NFL MVP and one-time Super Bowl winner fancies himself as having Tom Brady's seven-Super Bowl resume, which would qualify Rodgers as football's Michael Jordan. Rodgers isn't qualified. He's obsessed. He told reporters last summer how much he enjoyed watching "The Last Dance." He explained how he idolized Jordan as a kid and even made sure to attend Jordan's last regular-season game.

He's a Jordan superfan, not a Jordan impersonator.

Jordan was known for making last-second, game-winning, gut-wrenching shots. Rodgers couldn't punch it in on first and goal from the 8 in last season's NFC Championship Game.

Jordan bullied and cajoled his teammates to meet his standard of performance. His teammates feared letting him down. Jordan was a mafia boss. He made offers Pippen, Toni Kukoc, Dennis Rodman, Steve Kerr, and Horace Grant couldn't refuse. Jordan never made vague pleas for understanding. He was never that weak. He ridiculed Krause openly, mocked him for trying to take credit. The message was clear and strong. The championship banners were his statements.

Rodgers is an aloof enigma. His leadership style is unknown and undefined. He's more of a serial killer than mafia don.

What drove Rodgers' summer of discontent?

Maybe he wanted to try to pressure Krause, I mean Gutekunst, and management to build a championship team around him. Or maybe he was still just throwing a little temper tantrum over the Packers taking his replacement, Jordan Love, in the first round of the 2020 NFL draft.

Whatever it was, Rodgers' obsession with Jordan and the Bulls and the ESPN docu-series "The Last Dance" left him playing from the wrong playbook for months. Rodgers came off as a cross between a 4-year-old not getting what he wanted and a diva. Jordan never lost a PR battle.

Six championships buy you a lot of patience from fans. One Super Bowl from one of the great quarterbacks of all time constitutes a failed dynasty, no matter what Rodgers and Adams think they have going.

Rodgers spent the off-season parading around, letting everyone know that he didn't need the Packers as much as they needed him. He appeared as the host of "Jeopardy," did his commercials with Jake from State Farm, made his wedding plans, danced and played guitar in Hawaii, showed up as a celebrity sighting at the Kentucky Derby.

His Derby appearance set off Twitter because he was wearing a button that said "Turd Ferguson." Turd Ferguson was the name Norm Macdonald wrote years ago on "Saturday Night Live," when he was playing the part of Burt Reynolds on "Celebrity Jeopardy."

Rodgers was having so much fun, and even more, he wanted to make sure everyone knew it. At one point, NFL legend Terry Bradshaw called Rodgers "weak" and "dumber than a box of rocks."

And the NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported that a "death knell" of Rodgers' relationship with Packers management came when they cut receiver Jake Kumerow.

Whoever Jake Kumerow is.

When public sentiment started turning on Rodgers, he went to his friend and ESPN personality Kenny Mayne.

"It's just kind of about a philosophy and maybe forgetting that it is about the people that make things go," Rodgers told Mayne during a "SportsCenter" interview. "It's about character, it's about culture, it's about doing things the right way …

"I think sometimes people forget what really makes an organization. History is important — legacy of so many people who've come before you. But the people, that's the important thing. People make an organization, people make a business. And sometimes that gets forgotten."

It would have seemed like a strange rant to go off on if you didn't know about Rodgers' Jordan obsession. Years ago, when Jordan was feuding publicly with Bulls management, Krause said that organizations win championships, not people.

"Culture is built brick by brick," Rodgers said on ESPN, channeling his inner Michael Jordan. "The foundation of it by the people — not by the organization, not by the building, not by the corporation. It's built by the people."

The only thing left now for Rodgers is to come to practice this week, tail between his legs, and try to mend things with his teammates and fans. What will he say? I have a pretty good guess. When Jordan returned after his first retirement from the Bulls, he did it with just a two-word statement:

"I'm back."