The fall of an MLB superstar, plus a sad day in the NBA

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Good morning! Consider basket weaving today. Inside: 

Forgotten Faces: The fall of Yasiel Puig

There was a brief period where Yasiel Puig was probably MLB’s most talented player. His story was inspirational, that of a talented Cuban player defecting to the United States. He put together an unforgettable debut season, where pundits wondered if he should be an All-Star in his rookie season despite playing for just a month prior. 

Nearly 13 years later, Puig is playing for a semi-pro team in Toronto and has possible jail time ahead of him. How did he get here? 

It’s the subject of a fantastic story by Dan Robson today. Two takeaways from me: 

• I was covering MLB when Puig debuted, and I will never forget how stunning he was. An electric hitter and a better fielder, Puig mania was real. Over his first two seasons, he posted an .888 OPS (well above average) and made the All-Star team in his second year. Most saw a superstar coming of age. 
• He promptly faltered, both on and off the field. Sexual assault lawsuits, illegal gambling, lying to federal law enforcement. Puig was out of the league by 2019, at 28 years old. 

So now he’s hitting home runs at a sparsely packed game in Toronto, full of fans who don’t know what to make of the now-35-year-old. He has just two weeks until he reports for sentencing. 

Read the full story here.

About Last Night: In the NHL, grit

I think, at this point, it’s easy to say the NHL playoffs have been slightly more entertaining than the NBA’s postseason. So far, before you yell at me. Just look at last night’s games: 

• Vegas escaped overtime with a 3-2 win over Anaheim at home thanks to Pavel Dorofeyev’s punch-in. It was his second goal of the game and sent the home crowd into a frenzy. Again, playoff hockey is the best. The Golden Knights have a 3-2 series lead. 
• Earlier, the Sabres knotted up their series with the Canadiens at 2-2 in what was the most impressive game of the evening: on the road, on the ropes in what felt like an elimination game for a Buffalo team with little playoff experience. The 3-2 win in front of that Montreal crowd was plain gutsy. Great series, this.
  

In the NBA, there is a feeling of inevitability if Victor Wembanyama plays. San Antonio routed visiting Minnesota 126-97 to take a 3-2 lead in that series. Wembanyama scored 27 points and grabbed 17 rebounds. It’s hard to count out this Minnesota team, but don’t be shocked if this one is wrapped Friday. 

Let’s move on to some sobering updates:

News to Know

Grant Burke / NBAE via Getty Images

A tough day in the NBA
Despite the aforementioned playoff game, the NBA news of the day emerged via tragedy: 

• Jason Collins, the league’s first openly gay active player, died yesterday at the age of 47 following a prolonged bout with brain cancer. Collins was, in short, an inspiration and will be remembered as a titan of the NBA’s history. Make some time for Mirin Fader’s tribute.
  
• Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke (pictured), just 29, was found dead Monday at a home in California. Officials are still investigating the cause of death. Clarke, a 2019 first-round pick, was due in court Friday for an arraignment stemming from an arrest last month in Arkansas. Current and former teammates paid tribute to him yesterday.

Elsewhere in the league, sources told The Athletic that 76ers team president Daryl Morey will not return to the organization next season, but Nick Nurse will remain as head coach. More here.

Everyone’s ganging up on Ole Miss
Before this week, the animus between LSU and Ole Miss after Lane Kiffin’s job swap had actually died down a bit. Then, in a Vanity Fair piece, Kiffin indicated that a stronger sense of “campus diversity” at LSU factored into his switching jobs, adding that he struggled with convincing Black recruits to attend Ole Miss over segregation concerns. Everyone’s very mad, and it was great timing for ABC to announce that this fall’s game between the two schools will be in prime time. 

Later in the day, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian took a potshot at Ole Miss’ academic rigor — or lack thereof — by indicating in a USA Today story that transfers only have to “take basket weaving” in order to get an Ole Miss degree. Read his quotes here. What a day.

Sinner ties a record
Jannik Sinner won his 31st consecutive ATP Masters 1000 match at the Italian Open yesterday, which equals the record set by Novak Djokovic. Sinner, 24, will be the overwhelming favorite in the remainder of his Italian Open matches, as the Masters 1000 level is one rung below the Grand Slams. He’s playing really, really well heading into a Carlos Alcaraz-less French Open.

More news:

• Navy’s athletic director is open to moving the Army-Navy game up a week. It’s all connected to the College Football Playoff.
  
• A day after the game was postponed, the Montreal Victoire advanced to the PWHL Finals with a win over Minnesota.
  
• The Lakers want LeBron James back, of course, but general manager Rob Pelinka said yesterday James is not the offseason priority.
  
• MLB and its players’ union began negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement. It could get ugly.
  
• NFL international news: The Bengals and Falcons are heading to Spain, while the Saints and Steelers will play in Paris.
  
• Missouri running back Ahmad Hardy was released from the hospital, per a source, after suffering a gunshot wound over the weekend. He’ll begin rehab immediately.
  
• Cristo Fernández, the actor who portrays Dani Rojas on “Ted Lasso,” signed a contract with a USL club to actually play pro soccer. See more.
  
• A massive anti-doping investigation in rugby resulted in multiple long suspensions for notable players, including an 11-year ban for a former Georgian captain. Read our full report.

📰 Find more news here 24/7.

Watch Guide

📺 EPL: Crystal Palace at Manchester City
3 p.m. ET on USA Network
City is heavily favored here and must win this match if they have any dream of catching Arsenal in the Premier League title race. Wonky things can happen when pressure is applied. 

📺 NBA: Cavaliers at Pistons
8 p.m. ET on ESPN
The home team has won all four games in this series. Cleveland has momentum. The fun part is that these two are quite evenly matched. Lock in. 

📺 NHL: Wild at Avalanche
8 p.m. ET on TNT and HBO Max
Colorado can close out Minnesota here in five games. So much for that Avalanche antidote the Wild cooked up. Still time to make tweaks, I guess?

Get tickets to games like these here.

Pulse Picks

The biggest drama in tennis arguably does not come during the actual match. It occurs during the handshake. I love this story. 

The one thing missing from golf’s last few years? A true battle between Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy in a major. 

(Also, sign up for our golf newsletter for full PGA Championship coverage this weekend.) 

Thirty years ago, Spike Lee had an odd request for New Era: He wanted a red Yankees hat. It sparked a baseball hat revolution. 

The newest craze in college football is … mixed-use districts. 

Stephen Nesbitt took reader questions for MLB rule changes. The results were more fun than I expected. 

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Our news story on the Nebraska football players losing an NIL appeal. 

Most-read on the website yesterday: The Brandon Clarke story above.

📫 That’s all for now! Say hello at thepulse@theathletic.com, check out our other newsletters and connect with me on Instagram for more.