🏀 Y! Sports AM: MVP by elimination

👋 Good morning! Three days left in February. How is it already almost March?

In today’s edition: The rule that could decide the NBA MVP, a game of 0.1 inches, UConn vaporizes St. John’s, Champions League Round of 16, Play of the Day, and more.

Let’s sports…

🏀 EVERY GAME COUNTS

THE RULE THAT COULD DECIDE THE NBA MVP

(Josh Heim/Yahoo Sports)

In a vacuum, this year’s NBA MVP race looks a lot like last year’s, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokić separating themselves from the pack. But due to eligibility rules — and this year’s injury epidemic — the two strongest candidates for the award might not even qualify for it.

The 65-game rule: Three years ago, in order to reduce load management, the NBA implemented a new rule stipulating that players must appear in at least 65 (of 82) games to be eligible for end-of-season awards. And Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokić are currently flirting with ineligibility.

SGA, the current favorite (-125 at BetMGM), has already missed 11 games, including the last nine with an abdominal strain. That means he must play in at least 16 of OKC’s final 22 games — hardly impossible, but not guaranteed.

Jokić (+300) is in far more trouble, having already missed 16 of his allotted 17 games with various ailments. The chances of him playing at least 22 of Denver’s final 23 games falls somewhere between slim and none.

Other contenders in danger of becoming ineligible are Victor Wembanyama (+1400), who can miss only four more games, and Luka Dončić (+4500), who can miss only five more.

So who does that leave? Detroit’s Cade Cunningham (+425) is the only player left with better than 25-to-1 odds and fewer than 10 missed games. But Cade, of course, would be so much more than a mere process-of-elimination MVP.

The fifth-year guard is averaging 25.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 9.8 assists per game while also taking a major leap defensively. His 1.5 steals, 1.0 blocks and 108.0 defensive rating all represent career-best marks.

And you can’t beat his narrative, leading the first-place Pistons (43-14) to their best record in two decades just two years after they won 14 total games.

The dark horse: If anyone else can take advantage of all these injuries and make a late run for the award it’s probably Jaylen Brown (+2500), who’s been stellar in Jayson Tatum’s absence and has Boston (38-20) sitting in second place in the East.

Zoom out: Only one MVP in NBA history has failed to reach the 65-game threshold in a full 82-game season. That was Bill Walton, who played 58 games for the Trail Blazers in 1977-78 and narrowly beat out Spurs guard George Gervin. The next-closest was Joel Embiid, who played 66 games in 2023… one year before the rule change.

⚾️ SPRING TRAINING

JUSTTTT A BIT OUTSIDE

(MLB)

One-tenth of an inch is roughly the thickness of a coin. It’s also the distance by which Paul Skenes’ 1-1 curveball to Matt Olson missed the zone on Wednesday.

Upon further review: Home-plate umpire Chris Segal ruled the pitch a strike, but when Olson tapped his helmet, triggering MLB’s new Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System, the call was overturned.

“When the season gets rolling, that’s probably not the pitch that you’re going to be challenging, but you’ve got to feel it out a bit,” Olson said.

“I figured, whatever. It was a backdoor sweeper that I felt kind of held up a little bit. I just said, ‘Screw it, let’s rip it and see what happens.'”

The last word: “Good for [Olson], I guess,” said Skenes, who had four strikes overturned during the game, though none closer than this one. “I don’t know. I’ve got to throw it 0.1 inches lower.”

🇺🇸 SNAPSHOTS

PHOTOS ACROSS AMERICA

“USA! USA!” (Ishika Samant/Getty Images)

Newark, New Jersey — Olympic hero Jack Hughes (Devils) received a huge ovation in his first game back post-Milan, and he brought out Team USA teammate Tage Thompson (Sabres) to share the spotlight.

Golden boys: “I wasn’t expecting that. Very special. He’s a class act. Cares about his teammates, cares about his country,” said Thompson. “We battled through something together and we’re gonna be able to share that moment for the rest of our lives. We’re gonna be linked forever.”

Holy, Huskies! Absolute beatdown. (Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)

Hartford, Connecticut — No. 15 St. John’s managed just 40 points in Wednesday’s blowout 72-40 loss to No. 6 UConn, which is the fewest points a Rick Pitino-led team has ever put up in a game. And he’s been in the sport for five decades!

Ice cold: The Red Storm missed 24 straight shots (!!) to end the game. Their final made field goal of the night came at the 17:28 mark of the second half.

Claire Hutton (L) and Emma Sears smile for the camera. (Brad Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images)

Brentwood, Tennessee — The first day of training is in the books for the USWNT as the squad prepares for the 2026 SheBelieves Cup, where they’ll be seeking their eighth title in 11 tries.

Schedule: The Americans (No. 2 in the world) will play Argentina (30) this Sunday in Nashville, Canada (10) next Wednesday in Columbus, and Colombia (20) next Saturday in Harrison, New Jersey.

⚽️ SURVIVE AND ADVANCE

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 16 TEAMS LEFT

(UEFA Champions League)

The Champions League Round of 16 was confirmed after Wednesday’s playoff finales, with clubs from eight countries still alive in the quest for European soccer supremacy.

Who’s left: England rules the roost with over one-third of the remaining field, and twice as many teams as any other nation.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England (6): Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Newcastle United, Tottenham

🇪🇸 Spain (3): Atlético Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid

🇩🇪 Germany (2): Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich

🇮🇹 Italy (1): Atalanta

🇫🇷 France (1): PSG

🇵🇹 Portugal (1): Sporting CP

🇹🇷 Turkey (1): Galatasaray

🇳🇴 Norway (1): Bodø/Glimt

What’s next: The remaining teams will learn their opponents and potential route to the final in tomorrow’s Round of 16 draw, held at UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

👋 SIGNATURE GREETING

THE ORIGIN OF “HELLO, FRIENDS”

(Chris Condon/PGA Tour via Getty Images)

Jim Nantz’s signature greeting — “Hello, friends” — has become iconic over the years, especially for golf fans. Turns out, there’s a heartwarming story behind it, as Nantz shared on the Vanity Index Podcast.

Jim Nantz:

So, my father suffered from Alzheimer’s, and it was a 13-year battle that really helped, in many ways, to define my life, and what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.

I’m gonna fast forward to 2002, and I’m by his bedside, and I mentioned to him, “Hey, I’m in Minnesota this weekend for the PGA Championship, and when I come on the air, I’m going to look into that camera and I’m gonna say, ‘Hello, friends.’ And that’s for you, dad, because you have nothing but friends. You got it? That’s going to be my little trigger line to let you know in that very moment, I’m thinking of you.”

Sure enough, I’m at Hazeltine that Saturday. I come on the air, and I said, “Hello, friends. Jim Nantz along with Lanny Wadkins…” I looked into that lens with that red tally light, and I was just imagining my father was back in Houston saying, “He said it! He said he was going to say it!”

And I thought it was a one and done, to be honest. I just was going to send that message out one time. But after the show, a good friend of mine at CBS said, “I heard you say ‘Hello, friends.’ What was that all about?” I told him the backstory, he said, “That sounds like you. You ought to do that, like, all the time.” So I did it the final round on Sunday, and I’ve done it every show since.

And ya know, my dad’s been gone now for a long time. He’s been gone since 2008. But I’ve said it over and over again. … And for that flicker of a second, I still think of him every single time. I say, “Hello, friends,” and I think of my dad watching down on me, and it relaxes me, and I fall into the flow of the show.

📺 VIEWING GUIDE

WATCHLIST: THURSDAY, FEB. 26

Fears gets the crowd going during last week’s win over UCLA. (Adam Ruff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

🏀 No. 13 Michigan State at No. 8 Purdue

Two of the nation’s best point guards take the floor tonight at Mackey Arena (8pm ET, Peacock) in a Big Ten heavyweight showdown.

Floor generals: Spartans sophomore Jeremy Fears Jr. and Boilermakers senior Braden Smith, both Player of the Year candidates, lead D-I by a mile in assists per game with 9.2 and 8.7, respectively.

🏒 NHL on ESPN

The Rangers host the Flyers in the first leg of tonight’s doubleheader (8pm) before the action heads to Los Angeles, where the Kings host the Oilers in a Pacific Division clash (10:30pm).

Dynamic duo: Edmonton’s Connor McDavid has an NHL-best 98 points (34 goals, 64 assists) while teammate Leon Draisaitl ranks fifth with 80 points (29 goals, 51 assists).

More to watch:

🏀 NBA: Rockets at Magic (7:30pm, Prime); Timberwolves at Clippers (10pm, Prime) … All four are firmly in the playoff (or play-in) picture with roughly one-third of the season left.

⛳️ PGA: Cognizant Classic (6:45am, ESPN+; 2pm, Golf) … Brooks Koepka and Shane Lowry headline the field at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens.

⛳️ LPGA: HSBC Women’s World Championships (9:30pm, Golf) … Auston Kim (-6) leads by a stroke in Singapore.

Got plans tonight? Gametime is the best place to score last-minute tickets to the events happening in your city. Get tickets now!

⚾ ON THIS DAY

MLB TRIVIA

(MPI/Getty Images)

91 years ago today (Feb. 26, 1935), the Yankees released 39-year-old Babe Ruth, ending his legendary tenure with the team.

Question: Which team did Ruth join the following day?

(A) Boston Red Sox

(B) New York Giants

(D) Boston Braves

(E) Birmingham Black Barons

Answer at the bottom.

🏒 HIGHLIGHT

PLAY OF THE DAY

You’ve never seen a goal quite like this.

Trivia answer: (D) Boston Braves

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