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Good morning! Check out the fancy all-caps dateline below. It means I’m a serious journalist on the ground in the Bay Area for the Super Bowl. Coming up:
🏈 The latest from San Francisco
↔️ More NBA trades
🤕 Vonn’s injury
Pulse Live: Musings from Super Bowl HQ
SAN FRANCISCO — We have larger NBA news to get to, but I wanted to highlight the fact that I am in the Bay Area for what brands call the Big Game this week. Two quick observations you won’t find anywhere else:
Radio Row and the NFL Fan Experience are bigger than ever this year. Expect some more content from Radio Row later this week. I was also impressed with the variety of fan types at the main event for them yesterday. Check out this spiral from an unnamed newsletter writer:
I made the next one. You’ll just have to believe me.
I could not believe the nugget I read this morning about Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald, who could become the first head coach who primarily calls the defensive plays to win a Super Bowl. That feels impossible, but our story highlights what makes his scheme so special.
OK, let’s go to the trade board:
Trades! Everywhere! Which of yesterday’s NBA deals matter
Trade deadlines in professional sports have conditioned us to believe everything will happen on deadline day. Teams want to gather as much leverage as possible to win negotiations. But sometimes, these deals can operate on a timetable of their own. We saw this in yesterday’s flood of NBA transactions.
A few highlights before we get perspective:
James Harden is indeed a Cleveland Cavalier after a blockbuster trade that sends Darius Garland to the Clippers in the swap, as sources confirmed to The Athletic. Harden joins Donovan Mitchell to create one of the NBA’s most star-studded backcourts. More on that deal here.
Grizzlies star Jaren Jackson Jr. is going to Utah for three first-round picks and more players, which is a stunner. Bulls stalwart Nikola Vučević is heading to the Celtics in exchange for Anfernee Simons. Jaden Ivey and Mike Conley Jr. landed in Chicago after a three-team deal.
It was a lot, unexpectedly. I asked The Bounce’s Zach Harper what stood out to him most:
“I’m interested in what Cleveland thinks it’s doing. It started with the De’Andre Hunter trade to Sacramento, but this Harden-for-Garland deal goes deeper into how little this organization believes in this core. The first- and second-apron luxury tax thresholds are designed to make you prove you believe in your roster. The Cavs did a few months ago. Now they don’t. And now they are saving money in a way that may show they don’t think they can convince Mitchell to stay when it’s time for his next extension (summer of 2027). They were the other talk of the league last season, and now they’re bailing.”
Sounds stressful. We’ll have more on the actual deadline in the next two days. And there are still big names on the board.
News to Know
Joseph Prezioso / Getty Images
Kraft also not selected for HOF
A week after news broke of former Patriots coach Bill Belichick being denied entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, a source confirmed to The Athletic yesterday that Patriots owner Bob Kraft also missed the necessary votes to get in. Both warrant a bust in Canton, whenever that happens, but this has been a complete mess, from the pettiness we talked about last week to the enhanced focus on a new, convoluted voting process. Read more.
Vonn tore ACL
In a brutal twist, Lindsey Vonn — one of the best skiers we’ve ever seen, attempting an Olympic comeback at 41 — tore her ACL in a World Cup race Friday, a week before the official comeback began. Despite the news, she’s holding hope that she can bear the pain and still compete, though that remains to be seen. See our full update here.
More news:
Fanatics had to apologize after the Super Bowl jersey disaster you may have seen on social media. See the mess here.
The Giants are hiring former Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy to the same position.
Colombian soccer star James Rodriguez is in talks to sign with MLS’ Minnesota United. Our Tom Bogert called it a “shocking” move.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was outspoken about killings in Minnesota and Palestine during a news conference yesterday. Read his comments.
U.S. officials renamed its space for Olympic athletes from Ice House to Winter House. See more here.
The College Football Playoff set its schedule for the next two years. It’s even worse now.
Sam Bennett, 4 Nations hero and reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner, will join Canada’s Olympic hockey team in place of the injured Anthony Cirelli.
A Lions fan sued Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf and others after an altercation during a game. Full story here.
Watch Guide
📺 Olympics: Alpine Skiing
5:30 a.m. ET on Peacock
The opening ceremony isn’t until Friday, and this is only a training session, but it’s our first televised event of these Olympic Games. The rest of the day’s programming features curling. See the schedule here. We made it.
📺 Soccer: Newcastle at Manchester City
3 p.m. ET on Paramount+
This is the second leg of the Carabao Cup semifinal, and City leads 2-0 on aggregate. If you’re around a TV during the day, throw it on.
📺 NBA: Nuggets at Knicks
7 p.m. ET on ESPN
All is not lost in New York despite earlier reports. The Knicks have won six straight and sit second in the East at 32-18. As our Power Rankings also noted, the Nuggets are fully back thanks to Nikola Jokić’s return from injury. This is a good game, and Thunder-Spurs follows directly after.
Get tickets to games like this here.
Pulse Picks
Beware those afraid of heights: We have tales from the scariest catwalk in the NHL and maybe pro sports overall — Calgary. This was equal parts riveting and terrifying. What a read.
Very serious and important: What color is the Gatorade bath going to be at Sunday’s Super Bowl?
David Betancourt has a fun look at the creative process behind these new comic book-themed sports cards. Pretty cool.
Heartwarming: At the Olympics, Team USA and Norway are partners in success.
Andrew Marchand profiled NBC’s Molly Solomon, who could be considered one of the greatest sports TV execs of all time.
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: The Bad Bunny NFL anonymous player poll.
Most-read on the website yesterday: NBA trade deadline live blog.
📫 That’s all for now! Say hello at thepulse@theathletic.com, and check out our other newsletters.