Good Morning, Stumpers!

For all of you NBA lovers, last night was the final time we had four games in one night. Yeah, you’re not alone, someone is definitely cutting some onions! Four games means a whole lot of action! We had multiple stunners! Outside of that, we’ll take one more look at SLIDE-GATE in this past NFL Draft, and then some wild scores from the Yankees and Red Sox. We’ll go over it all in today’s S T U M P!

Today’s Rundown

What’s in today’s edition?

• 🏈 Was it all Smoke and Mirrors During Draft?

• 🏀 Some NBA Playoff Action Ends! Some Continues!

• ⚾️ Fun day to be a Red Sox or Yankees Fan!

• 🏆️ Stephon Castle is your Rookie of the Year!

On This Day

On This Day…

🤝 Gehrig Sets Record, Retires

In the 1930’s, there weren’t many MLB players like Lou Gehrig. A guy so good that we still talk about him to this day. Not only was he a star, but he was one of the most consistent players in MLB history.

On this day in 1939, Lou Gehrig set an MLB record playing his 2,130th consecutive game for the New York Yankees. It was prove to be his last, as he would retire following the game. The record stood until Cal Ripken Jr. broke it in 1995.

Today’s Trivia

🧠 Test your sports knowledge…

Yesterday’s Trivia Answer: C. Wayne Gretzky! Shocking, I know, Gretzky is the all time leader in playoff goals!

Before We Dive In…

👀 Yesterday’s Must See’s

• 🤯 HOW did Daulton Varsho catch this behind his back?

• 😮 TYRESE HALIBURTON SAYS GOODNIGHT BUCKS

• 🎆 Can’t tell if this is love or a spat?? You be the judge!

• 🏀 16 first-half points for Russell Westbrook!

🔍️ Stump Spotlight

The LAST Shedeur Article… For Now

🪞 Was it All Just Smoke and Mirrors?

Look, however you feel about Shedeur Sanders aside, this article really isn’t about him. Its about the NFL teams who said all along they were going to draft him, didn’t, and now said they were never going to draft him. So what was real and what wasn’t?

Now that Shedeur fell all the way to the 5th round and pick 144 before he was selected to the Cleveland Browns, it seems as if every team that was “all in” on Sheduer never really was. Or at least so they say.

Since the draft was over all I’ve seen is all these NFL teams that were reportedly high on Shedeur have been covering their tracks. The Saints said they were focused on 2026 QBs the whole time, the Giants said they had him as their #1 QB at one point, but didn’t want to pull the trigger, and the Browns reportedly wouldn’t take him any earlier than the 5th round. What I can’t figure out though is if this is all just convenient or if it’s real.

I have no clue, obviously, what actually goes on in the NFL and behind closed doors. But I do find it hard to believe that all these teams were reportedly all in on Shedeur but just decided to not pull the trigger. Maybe it really was all smoke and mirrors the whole time, or maybe it’s just a bunch of teams who were afraid the be the franchise that finally pulled the trigger, hoping they could get the QB later on in the draft like the Browns did.

Here’s my theory, and it’s okay if you think I’m crazy: I think that when Shedeur started to slip, all the bad stuff that had been kind of hovering over him like a cloud finally caught up with him a little. The bad interviews, the Deion stuff, the drama, whatever it may be, nobody wanted to be the team who did it and took him. I think all the teams that were interested in him thought to themselves, “Wait a second, what am I missing?”.

Nobody wanted to lose their job over Shedeur. That’s really what happened. They played it very safe. And when it became the fifth round for the Browns, they thought the benefits outweighed the negatives. But you can’t sit there and tell me that all of these teams who were “all in” on him just did that to fool all of us?

I think these GMs really just laid an egg. They didn’t want to die on picking Shedeur, because we all know if you pick a QB high and it doesn’t pan out, you’re losing your job. But I don’t want to see all these different excuses as to why they decided not to like “we’re on to 2026” and “we were never taking him”. C’mon, we know you’re just trying to not look like the ass.

The Hot Stove

🏀 NBA Playoffs Review

Pacers def. Bucks in OT, 119-118 (IND WIN SERIES 4-1): This one was intense. I’ll start the story in OT. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but it became the Gary Trent Jr. SHOW! He hit FOUR STRAIGHT THREES in OT and it looked all but certain that this series was going back to Milwaukee. What happened next was inexplicable! A 6 point lead with 40 seconds to go was unbelievably vanished by turnovers and Indiana threes! Tyrese Haliburton hit the game-winning layup with 1.6 seconds to go when he went right by the Greek Freak! Unreal stuff! The Pacers move on, and will face off against the Cleveland Cavs! WOW!

Pistons def. Knicks, 106-103 (NYK lead 3-2): On the road after two straight home losses, it would have been easy for the Pistons to mail it in at the Garden! No sir, not this Detroit team. The Pistons played a complete game with Cade Cunningham leading the way with 24, 8, and 8! It was not the game the Knicks needed from their stars. KAT had 17 and Brunson 16, very different from their 30 point games just a few days ago. The Pistons now will head home with a chance to force a GAME 7!

Celtics def. Magic, 120-89 (BOS WIN SERIES 4-1): This one may have gotten UGLY late, but this young Magic team was a fun fun watch! The played hard and their two young stars, Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner were ballers. All that being said, the Celtics look strong, very strong! Tatum and Brown both showed out last night, and despite stinkers from both Kristaps Porzingis and Derrick White, they won handily! Tatum had 35, 10, and 8 to put his stamp on the series clinching game! The Celtics now await the winner of the Knicks-Pistons series!

Nuggets def. Clippers, 131-115 (DEN lead 3-2): This one was the Jamal Murray Invitational! It was shades of the bubble, when the guy just could not miss! Murray ended the game with a series high 43 points, and he went 8/14 from three! Nikola Jokic tacked on a very modest triple-double for his third of the series, and Russell Westbrook had a game with 21 points (16 in the first half). The Clippers tried to fight back from a 22 point deficit in the fourth again. They brought in down to 12, but then the Nuggets took over. We head back to LA for a MASSIVE Game 6!

⚾️ Yankees, Red Sox Have Homer Party

It was a good day to be atop the AL East, and a bad day to be the bottom dwellers of the division. The Red Sox and Yankees both brought some serious power on the road against division rivals. Boston, who started a series against the Blue Jays yesterday, began the game with a leadoff home run by Jarren Durran. Two batters later, Alex Bregman launched his 6th of the season. The Red Sox would in total hit five home runs in the first three innings, as Kristian Campbell, Raffy Devers, and Wilyer Abreu joined in on the fun. Red Sox 10, Blue Jays 2. The Yankees said “hold my beer”, as the bombers from the Bronx hit FOUR homers in the first inning, all solo shots and three of them in a row. In total, they would hit 6 long bombs and rack up 15 runs as they continue to be one of the best hitting teams in baseball. Grisham, Judge, Rice, Bellinger, Rice (again), and Wells would all put the ball over the fence. Yankees 15, Orioles 3.

🏆️ Castle Wins Rookie of the Year

That makes back-to-back Rookie of the Year Award winners for the San Antonio Spurs now that Steph Castle has taken home the 2025 award. Last year Wemby, now Castle. The Spurs are in really good hands. The fourth pick of the 2024 NBA draft took home the award after receiving 92 first-place votes over Zaccharie Risacher of the Atlanta Hawks and Memphis Grizzlies’ Jaylen Wells. Castle played in 80 games as a rookie, starting in 47, leading all rookies in total points, made field goals, and steals, while also hitting more than 100 more free throws than any other first-year guy. Castle is the first UConn alumni to win the award since Emeka Okafor captured it in 2004-05. Big things are on the horizon in San Antonio.

⬇️ Quick Links

• 🐝 Ex-HS phenom signs with Sacramento State bball

• 😢 Injured PSG star likely out for 2nd leg of UCL semis

• 🤕 Florida Panthers’ Aaron Ekblad suspended 2 games for hit

• 👏 Luka covers costs to restore vandalized Kobe mural

What To Watch

🏀 NBA Playoffs - We’ve got 2 games tonight…

• TNT Doubleheader: Warriors @ Rockets (7:30 PM ET - GS leads 3-1), T’Wolves @ Lakers (10:00 PM ET - MIN leads 3-1)

⚾️ Major League Baseball

• MLB Network: Tigers @ Astros (2:10 PM ET), DBacks @ Mets (7:10 PM)

• More To Watch: Yankees @ Orioles (6:35 PM ET on Prime), Red Sox @ Blue Jays (7:07 PM ET), Cubs @ Pirates (6:40 PM), Nats @ Phillies (6:45 PM), full schedule

🏒 NHL Playoffs on ESPN

• Canadiens @ Capitals (7:00 PM on ESPN), Panthers @ Lightning (7:30 PM on ESPN2), Blues @ Jets (9:30 PM on ESPN)

⚽️ Soccer

• UCL Semi-Finals: Barcelona vs Inter Milan (3:00 PM ET - Leg 1)

The Moment You’ve Been Waiting For

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