DeAndre Hopkins Released
After months of trade speculation, the Arizona Cardinals released wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins on Friday. He had been with the Cardinals for three seasons and was under contract through the 2024 season.
Releasing Hopkins now saves Arizona $8.15 million in cap space this season, but the team will take a dead cap hit of $22.6 million. That’s not nothing, friends.
In his three seasons with the Cardinals, Hopkins had 221 receptions for 2,696 yards and 17 touchdowns. After missing the first six games of last season for violating the NFL’s PED policy, Hopkins had 64 receptions for 717 yards and three touchdowns in 2022.
Next stop? TBD.
NBA Eastern Conference Finals
Well, well, well. Things have certainly gotten interesting in the Eastern Conference Finals. After the Denver Nuggets won the West by sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers, it looked like the Miami Heat were going to do the same to the Boston Celtics, but no.
The Celtics won Game 4 to stay alive Tuesday, and then won Game 5 Thursday night, 110-97, to bring the series to 3-2. No NBA team has come back from a 3-0 series deficit, but Boston is certainly trying. However, now it’s back to Miami.
Game 6 will tip off on Saturday at 8:30 pm ET/5:30 PT from Kaseya Center. The Heat are gonna want to win that one, because Game 7 in Boston sounds tough.
Stanley Cup Playoffs
Meanwhile, over in the NHL, things have been a little sweepy there too.
In the Eastern Conference, the Florida Panthers completed their sweep of the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night and will head to their first Stanley Cup Final in 27 years. Fun Fact: The Panthers were an eighth seed. Who will they play? Great question.
It was looking like the Vegas Golden Knights were a sure thing, but the Dallas Stars had something to say about that and won Thursday night to avoid a sweep. The NHL has also never had a team come back from 3-0 deficit, but we shall see.
The puck drops in Game 5 on Saturday at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT from T-Mobile Arena and will be on ABC/ESPN+.
Davante Adams
After a 30-29 Monday night loss to the Kansas City Chiefs last season, Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams pushed a cameraman who fell to the ground. Adams was charged with misdemeanor assault, and on Thursday, the cameraman filed a civil suit.
In the suit, the cameraman said he was scared for his life after the incident, was diagnosed with a concussion, and has been the subject of harassment and death threats. He is also seeking damages from the Raiders, while the Chiefs, and two other companies, have been named in the suit for a lack of proper security.
Rose Zhang
20 year-old golfer Rose Zhang is turning pro. The Stanford sophomore, who was the first woman to win two NCAA Division I individual national championships, will join the LPGA at next week’s Mizuho Americas Open in New Jersey. Zhang made the announcement on Friday.
The United States Golf Association has granted Zhang a special exemption into the U.S. Women’s Open in July and into the AIG Women’s Open in August.