data-mm-id=”_0zrbmaanx”>One of the points The Last Dance has really hammered home for basketball fans is how hard it is to win championships in consecutive seasons. Playing at least 98 games two or three years in a row, and being rewarded with only three and a half months to recover, takes an immense physical toll. There's the mental weight of being defending championships, dealing with the expectations and the fact that the team has a target on its back every night they take the floor. Then there's the issues that naturally arise with teammates, who are people as well as basketball players. Most people don't get along with their coworkers all the time, much less if they have to work with the same two dozen people, day in and day out, for years at a time– and most people don't work with some of the most maniacally competitive characters in the world. That's how it was for Jordan's Bulls back in both 1993 and 1998: it's really freaking hard to win back-to-back-to-back titles. It may not even be that much fun, either. ESPN's Nick Friedall penned an article published today about the weight the Golden State Warriors felt in the second leg of their attempted three-peat, and general manager Bob Myers said there wasn't joy in their 2018 title run. “”The second time with Kevin [in 2018] it felt like, ‘Well, we just did what we were supposed to do, and great job,'” Warriors president and general manager Bob Myers said of the last time the Warriors won a title. “It wasn’t joy. I’m sure a lot of people felt differently. It wasn’t anybody’s fault. I think there’s just a weight to everything. And so I’m sure [the Bulls] felt that weight of everything, weight of relationships.””- ESPN In retrospect, 2017-2018 was the first full season that the general discourse among fans towards the Warriors was filled with vitriol. Nobody outside of the Bay Area was rooting for Golden State back in 2016-2017, but there was still a chance they could fail, that Kevin Durant's addition would somehow backfire. Their stroll to a championship that season proved a team with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Durant resulted in the inevitable. The cracks didn't start to show within the Warriors until the 2018-19 season, and the tax of playing into June several years in a row resulted in a torn Achilles for Durant and a torn ACL for Thompson. It's all just a lot. You could see similar consequences affecting the Miami Heat in the last season of their run; LeBron James and Co. looked simply exhausted by the final game of the 2014 Finals. The Los Angeles Lakers tried to trade Pau Gasol, Kobe Bryant's valuable sidekick, after two championships and ultimately couldn't secure the third for the three-peat. Kobe and Shaq's personal issues dissolved the early 2000s Lakers dynasty after three rings. NBA teams can be a very fragile ecosystem, and championship contention pushes everyone to the brink. It's remarkable to know all that and still see repeat champions. The final two episodes of The Last Dance should portray that better than anything.
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In reality, if Rodgers wants to leave for Arsenal, then he probably could, with hints that he may have a release clause in his contract. However, the better question would be, should he leave Leicester for Arsenal?
Leicester are better placed for success
It would be silly to claim that Arsenal are not a bigger club than Leicester. In terms of stadium, history and reputation, the Gunners dwarf the Foxes.
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Linda Sembrant s stoppage-time winner scraped a dramatic 1-0 win over Belgium that sent Sweden through to the Women s Euro 2022 semi-finals.
With Sweden s 33rd and final attempt of the match, Sembrant fired home to break the hearts of a Belgium side who were contesting their first knockout game in Women s European Championship history.
Peter Gerhardsson s side will now take on hosts England in the semi-finals in Sheffield on Tuesday.
Stina Blackstenius thought she had given Sweden the lead in the 25th minute, but her goal was ruled out for offside following a VAR review.
Belgium mustered just one attempt on goal in the first half and Sweden continued their domination after the interval, but Nicky Evrard s instinctive save kept Blackstenius close-range h…
Wilfried Zaha has no intention of leaving Crystal Palace in the January transfer window, despite being linked with the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City.
Zaha produced another impressive performance on Sunday as Palace stopped City s winning streak in the Premier League at 18 games, the Eagles holding the league leaders to a 0-0 draw at Selhurst Park.
And it would have been even better for Palace had Luka Milivojevic converted a stoppage-time penalty after Raheem Sterling was adjudged to have fouled Zaha in the area.
Despite Palace s problems this season Zaha has been a beacon of hope with a string of fine displays, and that has led to links with teams higher in the table.
Roy Hodgson has received assurances the 25-year-old will not be sold and the for…
Bayern Munich have confirmed the capture of Rennes teenager Mathys Tel, with the highly rated forward joining on a five-year deal in a €20million-plus move.
The 17-year-old will link up with the Bundesliga champions on a contract through to 2027 after showing glimpses of his potential in Ligue 1 last season.
Tel skippered the France Under-17 team to glory in the European Under-17 Championship final last month, and he has now been rewarded with a bumper switch to one of the continent s biggest clubs.
Bayern are one of the best teams in the world, the forward said. I m very much looking forward to this great challenge and I will give my all for this club.
I ve been very impressed with the discussions with Hasan Salihamidzic and the Bayern management…
Burnley manager Sean Dyche has moved to dismiss any speculation that Danny Ings could move away from the club next month.
The England Under-21 international is out of contract at the end of the season, leading some to suggest that Burnley could cash in on the striker in the January transfer window.
Ings goals, along with those of Sam Vokes, fired Dyche s side to promotion from the Championship in 2013-14, and he has reportedly caught the eye of a number of other Premier League clubs with four goals and a string of impressive top-flight performances.
But despite the ongoing speculation, Dyche remains unfazed by any talk of Ings leaving Turf Moor.
[I have] no concerns whatsoever, he said. I ve been asked that question for the last two years.
…
Juventus coach Antonio Conte has refuted suggestions he dislikes rival coaches Rafa Benitez and Rudi Garcia.
Conte was involved in public verbal stoushes in the media with the Napoli and Roma bosses respectively in the latter part of the Serie A campaign one Juve went on to win for a third straight Scudetto.
Benitez got under Conte s skin by offering advice on how to beat Benfica a side Benitez mastered with Chelsea in the 2012-13 UEFA Europa League final ahead of Juve s Europa semi-final with the Portuguese outfit this term.
Benfica would win the two-leg semi 2-1 on aggregate.
Also, Garcia niggled Conte by claiming the smaller Italian clubs do not try against Juventus, to which the latter took offence.
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France coach Raymond Domenech on Tuesday opted for youth over experience with veteran goalkeeper Gregory Coupet overlooked in the 20-man squad for a friendly against Sweden in Gothenburg on August 20.
The 35-year-old Coupet paid the price for his first team place not being assured in his new club Atletico Madrid and his mediocre performance at the European championships where he conceded six goals during their first round exit.
Rennes right back Rod Fanni and Yoann Gourcuff of Bordeaux have been given their first call-up.
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…
Real Madrid won the Spanish Supercup for the first time since 2003 with a 4-2 win at home over Valencia with goals by Ruud van Nistelrooy, Sergio Ramos, Ruben de la Red and Gonzalo Higuian.
The Spanish champions headed into the return leg of the tournament which is contested each year between the league champions and the winners of the King s Cup with a 3-2 deficit.
Valencia midfielder David Silva, who helped Spain to win Euro 2008, opened the scoring in the 32nd minute with an accurate shot that slipped in the left side of the net as Real keeper Iker Casillas looked on helplessly.
Real striker van Nistelrooy equalised four minutes into the second half with a penalty kick that slid past the right side of Valencia goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand.
The Spani…
U.S. Soccer elected Carlos Cordeiro as its 32nd president on Saturday in Orlando.
Cordeiro, who won on the third ballot, replaces Sunil Gulati and will serve a four-year term. He won the first contested U.S. Soccer presidential election since 1998, emerging victorious from an eight-candidate field that also featured Paul Caligiuri, Kathy Carter, Steve Gans, Kyle Martino, Hope Solo, Michael Winograd and Eric Wynalda.
Cordeiro received just 36.3 percent of the vote during the first round of voting, but then received 41.8 percent in the second round and finally 68.6 percent in the third and final round.
With a 68.6 percent majority vote, has been elected U.S. Soccer President. »
— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer)
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Pep Guardiola has urged football to learn lessons from the Barry Bennell affair after the former youth coach was convicted of multiple sex assaults on boys.
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The former Crewe Alexandra coach and Manchester City scout admitted to seven charges of indecent assault on three boys before the trial, two of whom were also part of the allegations he was tried on.
City issued a statement expressing sympathy with the victims and detailing an internal review launched in 2016, which is on-going and has identified allegations of child sex abuse in relation to two men with potential historic connections to the club, one of whom is Bennel…