Nets can't talk to Doc Rivers

The Celtics were bounced early from the playoffs this season, but they're not ready to give up on coach Doc Rivers just yet. Celtics president Danny Ainge denied permission for the Nets to talk to Rivers, who has three years and $21 million left on his contract. Rivers did well to get the Celtics to the postseason despite an aging rotation and a season-ending injury to Rajon Rondo, but the Nets could offer a new opportunity -- if he decides he's done all he wants to do in Boston.

  • The Nets were denied permission to talk to Celtics coach Doc Rivers, who has three years left on his contract. Will Rivers leave Boston before his contract is up?

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      70%

    Discuss (Total votes: 2,417)

  • Would the Nets be championship contenders next season with Doc Rivers?

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      46%
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      54%

    Discuss (Total votes: 2,490)

  • What's the furthest Doc Rivers would take the Celtics if he stayed for the remainder of his three-year contract?

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      5%
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      31%
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      37%
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      17%
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      10%

    Discuss (Total votes: 2,365)

  • Where would you rank Doc Rivers among NBA coaches?

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      44%
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      45%
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      11%

    Discuss (Total votes: 2,416)

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We're honoring some of the most-liked comments from this week's conversations as well as some you might have missed that we think are worthwhile. Read on:

The sports world was stunned by the massive tornado that devastated Moore, Okla., a suburb of Oklahoma City. Kevin Durant responded by giving $1 million to relief efforts and visited demolished neighborhoods.

ran122005: "What a man......and did it without a press conference."

mattbauer06: "Some guys say the right things and some guys do the right things. Big respect to KD. Class act. Reminds me a little of Charles Woodson a few years ago donating 2 Million to Motts Children Hospital."

D1EHARD5OON3R: "You can play basketball for 15 years have all the trophies on the shelf. Real Heroes are ones that give a helping hand when everyone around them is unable. KD's Oklahoma's MVP."


Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro led the team to a franchise-best 56 wins. But Los Angeles went out in the first round of the NBA playoffs, and Del Negro was let go.

Max Rymerr: "The NBA is so volatile for head coaches. Del Negro helped take this team from joke city to lob city."

windycloud2:: "VDN mayn't be the best coach, but it wasn't his fault that they lost to Memphis! If you think about it, they replaced all of their tough-defenders, like Martin, Evan with veteran scorers or something!! Memphis killed on the boards. that didn't work. They should fire the GM!"

BigBoiJake823: "Mediocre coach. He had two seasons of Chris Paul/Blake Griffin to prove his worth, and the findings prove that he needs to be a feistier coach; inject some grit into his players. The Clippers have never been a tough team - but they certainly had the pieces this season, and maybe even last season too. Overall, they need a more accountable coach."


The Sergio Garcia-Tiger Woods feud spun out of control, as Garcia got himself in deep trouble by making a joke connecting Tiger Woods and fried chicken. Garcia apologized twice, but ESPN.com's Farrell Evans said that Garcia should have known better.

rstanbau: "Whatever he says today, is clear that Sergio was trying to elevate himself by personally demeaning Tiger on the basis of a stereotype. Nothing to do with golf. Nothing to do with competition. Just absolute classlessness. Regardless of what Tiger has or has not done, Sergio made himself less than he was by being the kind of person that makes remarks like that."

Marie83018: "Will the authentic Sergio please stand up! He just did, and it is not pretty. Sergio will pay for his comment in many ways and monetarily will be the least of them. If he thought that he was heckled at Bethpage Black, he ain't seen nothing yet. And that empty apology would have been better left unsaid."


Chuck Norris says the Jaguars should sign Tim Tebow. SportsNation knew what to do about this. As several users said, "I skipped straight to the comments."

chinsac: "If you shaved Chuck Norris's beard, you would not find his chin, you would find a mini Tim Tebow doing push ups wearing a Chuck Norris t-shirt, in which Chuck Norris is wearing a Tim Tebow Jacksonville Jaguars jersey."

I spend too much time on here: "Chuck Norris taught Tebow how to Tebow."

Sholla09: "I would rather have Norris at QB than Tebow."

normbasebowl31: "I'm not even sure if this is a real article. I am on ESPN and not The Onion, right?"

Dear normbasebowl31: After Dennis Rodman visited North Korea, we weren't so sure ourselves.

Spittsburghjoe2: "Chuck Norris' tears can make Tim Tebow an elite QB. Too bad Chuck Norris never cries."

JohnOBX: "Well we've finally found one thing Chuck Norris does not excel in...football scouting."

That comment received 87 likes. The following reply to it got 349:

bad03xtreme: Chuck Norris now knows your name, may he have mercy on your soul..."

JacobJuettner: "Chuck Norris just banned the ESPN Mods."

What do you think? Leave your comments below.

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The WNBA is set to tip off its 2013 campaign with the '3 To See' as the centerpiece of this summer's festivities. Will Skylar Diggins (Shock), Elena Della Donne (Sky) and Brittney Griner (Mercury) automatically help their respective teams improve on their less than stellar records from a season ago? Are the reigning champion Fever the early favorites to repeat as champions? Where do the defending Western Conference champion Lynx place?

2013 WNBA Power Rankings

Dream

Dream

Atlanta Dream
2012 record: 19-15

Fever

Fever

Indiana Fever
2012 record: 22-12

Liberty

Liberty

New York Liberty
2012 record: 15-19

Lynx

Lynx

Minnesota Lynx
2012 record: 27-7

Mercury

Mercury

Phoenix Mercury
2012 record: 7-27

Mystics

Mystics

Washington Mystics
2012 record: 5-29

Shock

Shock

Tulsa Shock
2012 record: 9-25

Silver Stars

Silver Stars

San Antonio Silver Stars
2012 record: 21-13

Sky

Sky

Chicago Sky
2012 record: 14-20

Sparks

Sparks

Los Angeles Sparks
2012 record: 24-10

Storm

Storm

Seattle Storm
2012 record: 16-18

Sun

Sun

Connecticut Sun
2012 record: 25-9

Your Rankings

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Roy Hibbert's week has been ... well, not bad, exactly. Not great either. Strange? Eventful? He's already in the news for not being put in the game to guard LeBron James in the final seconds of Game 1, a decision which SportNation found to be pretty questionable. On Thursday night, Hibber took to his Twitter account to call out the Heat's Shane Battier for his alleged dirty play earlier in the game:

Battier himself has not responded, although his own Twitter account has been dark since early April. Maybe if Hibbert had used "@ShaneBattier" in his message, we'd have a real Twitter fight on our hands; for now, it's disappointingly one-sided.

What do you think? Leave your comments below.

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Rafael Nadal has steadily moved up the ATP rankings with wins in six of eight tournaments this season. Has the seven-time French Open champion proved to be the frontrunner to win another Coupe des Mousquetaires (Musketeers' Trophy)? Is there a high likelihood that Novak Djokovic will stand in his way and win at Roland Garros for a second time?

Rank the top contenders in the women's draw

French Open men's contenders

Tomas Berdych

Tomas Berdych

ATP ranking: 6
French Open seed: 5

Marin Cilic

Marin Cilic

ATP ranking: 11
French Open seed: 9

Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic

ATP ranking: 1
French Open seed: 1

Roger Federer

Roger Federer

ATP ranking: 3
French Open seed: 2

David Ferrer

David Ferrer

ATP ranking: 5
French Open seed: 4

Richard Gasquet

Richard Gasquet

ATP ranking: 9
French Open seed: 7

Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal

ATP ranking: 4
French Open seed: 3

Janko Tipsarevic

Janko Tipsarevic

ATP ranking: 10
French Open seed: 8

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

ATP ranking: 8
French Open seed: 6

Stanislas Wawrinka

Stanislas Wawrinka

ATP ranking: 11
French Open seed: 9

Your Rankings

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Miguel Cabrera's stellar season

Miguel Cabrera has been having an OK week -- if by "OK," you mean he's hit six home runs, including one that shouldn't have been a home run but was helped along by an unwitting Michael Bourn. He has homered in four straight games, including one last night that helped the Tigers to a 7-6 win over the Twins. Forget the Triple Crown -- Cabrera's on pace (and yeah, we know that "on pace" is an iffy term this early) to break at least one long-standing record, and might achieve another feat that hasn't happened since the 1940s.

  • Miguel Cabrera (55 RBIs) is on pace for 198 RBIs, which would break Hack Wilson's single-season record of 191. Will he break Wilson's record?

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      68%

    Discuss (Total votes: 53,832)

  • Who is more responsible for Miguel Cabrera having 55 RBIs so far?

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      62%
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      38%

    Discuss (Total votes: 36,279)

  • What chance would you give Miguel Cabrera (.391 batting average) of hitting .400 or better this season?

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      58%
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      27%

    Discuss (Total votes: 35,461)

  • What chance do you give Miguel Cabrera (leads in AVG and RBIs, one home run behind Chris Davis) of repeating as the Triple Crown winner?

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      67%
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      33%

    Discuss (Total votes: 7,034)

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The Chicago Bears have announced they will retire Mike Ditka's No. 89 on Dec. 9 during halftime of their "Monday Night Football" game against the Dallas Cowboys at Soldier Field. The former player, legendary coach and current ESPN analyst will join 13 Bears greats to have their numbers retired. Can you name them all in five minutes or less? Take the quiz below!

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Welcome to SportsNation! On Friday, ESPN.com senior MLB writer Jayson Stark will drop in to chat some baseball.

Jayson Stark has been a senior baseball writer for ESPN.com since 2000. His regular contributions include the newsy Rumblings and Grumblings column and his tilted look inside baseball's numbers and quirks, the Useless Information Department.

Click here for information on Stark's newest book "Worth The Wait" - which tells the story of the Philles' 2008 World Series championship. Read an excerpt of the book here.

Send your questions now and join Stark Friday at 1 p.m. ET!

More Jayson Stark: Search | Blog | Chats | MLB index

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When will the Packers retire No. 4?

Brett Favre holds numerous league and franchise records. He led the Packers to their first Super Bowl win since 1967. But yet, the team hasn't honored his accomplishments by retiring his jersey. Current Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers hopes it will take place before Favre is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But will No. 4 hang in the upper decks of Lambeau Field anytime soon? Who is most to blame for the dissension?

  • When will the Packers retire Brett Favre's No. 4 jersey?

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      45%
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      8%

    Discuss (Total votes: 24,179)

  • Which side is more at fault for the rift between Brett Favre and the Packers?

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      60%
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      40%

    Discuss (Total votes: 10,387)

  • Will Brett Favre and the Packers ever reconcile?

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      76%
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      24%

    Discuss (Total votes: 9,815)

  • What role would be the best fit for Brett Favre if he was to rejoin the Packers organization?

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    Discuss (Total votes: 9,715)

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Chuck Norris supports Tim Tebow

Tim Tebow may have his detractors (and a dearth of available quarterbacking jobs), but one of his true believers might trump all the rest. Actor Chuck Norris gave Tebow his support in a column this week, urging the Jacksonville Jaguars to sign the nomad quarterback. As celebrity endorsements go, it's tough to trump somone who spawned one of the oldest and most pervasive internet memes, but will anyone listen?

  • Will Tim Tebow ever play another down in the NFL?

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      74%
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      26%

    Discuss (Total votes: 11,720)

  • Should the Jaguars sign Tim Tebow?

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      69%
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      31%

    Discuss (Total votes: 11,723)

  • Which league would be a better fit for Tim Tebow?

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      52%
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      48%

    Discuss (Total votes: 10,481)

  • Are Chuck Norris jokes still funny?

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      56%
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      24%

    Discuss (Total votes: 11,064)

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