data-mm-id=”_xlgmaxdad”>The 2020 NBA Playoffs are approaching and it's become clear who the legitimate contenders are who will will most certainly come up short in the postseason. Only one team can win the title, but how many teams have a legitimate shot? Below are three real championship contenders and four pretenders who are going to learn that it just isn't their year.NBA CONTENDERSLos Angeles LakersThe last eight seasons that LeBron James was healthy, he took his team to the NBA Finals. His team won three of those titles. He usually has a second superstar with him and that role is played by Anthony Davis who has a whopping 13 games worth of playoff experience. Luckily guys like Danny Green and… Dwight Howard… fill out the roster. At 35-years old, LeBron is still near …

data-mm-id=”_wx73v633z”>The 2020 NFL Draft has come and gone with surprisingly little error. As the dust settles, everyone thinks their team landed the steal of the draft (except Packers fans, probably). The logical next step for those of us who participate is evaluating the fantasy value of the players selected last week to see if there's a late-round steal to be had. Here are three rookies who could be in line for very productive first seasons and could win you bragging rights. Cam Akers / Don Juan Moore/Getty ImagesCam Akers, RB, Los Angeles Rams The Rams needed a new workhorse in the backfield after releasing Todd Gurley outright earlier in the offseason, and they very well may have found it in Akers. The Florida State product was a monster last season, racking up 18 touchdown…

data-mm-id=”_ou7wszdju”>It's funny how fast people forget about greatness. One year after being a first-team All-NBA selection, two years after winning his third NBA title, four years after winning his second straight NBA MVP award, and people are already acting like Steph Curry is a relic of the past. Kenny Smith was the latest to fall victim to this trendy trend, saying on TNT last night that he doesn't think Curry can shoot as well from deep as Dame Lillard. Curry laughed it off on social media, but I'm genuinely ready to die on the Steph-Curry-is-a-better-deep-shooter-than-Dame-Lillard hill. Quite frankly, I feel I have the high ground. Kenny Smith says he doesn’t think Steph Curry could shoot as deep as Damian Lillard pic.twitter.com/xHa7JL0sdZ— NBA Central (@Th…

data-mm-id=”_h78w0tn9d”>Skip Bayless, who follows zero people on Twitter, combined several of his passions into one tweet on Christmas Day. Weightlifting. Bragging. Building a take around LeBron James. Here it is. I'm lifting weights while watching LeBron-Luka. They finally closed the gym in my gated community. LA is now the world Covid epicenter. Got a new home gym for Christmas. Cardio every day. Lift every Mon/Wed/Fri, even on Christmas. Love it. #NeverMiss— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) December 26, 2020Can you imagine how jacked the 69-year-old is going to be in a few months now that he won't have to waste time walking down to the clubhouse at his gated community and can use that time for extra sets of tricep pulldowns and calf raises? Dude's going to look NICER…

data-mm-id=”_9p7k4z430″>Two months ago, when the Golden State Warriors were playing the Sacramento Kings in the first round of the playoffs, Draymond Green's future with the franchise was considered up in the air. He could hit free agency after the season was over and his evisceration of Domantas Sabonis' chest made many pundits publicly question whether the Warriors really wanted him back. At that time, we here at The Big Lead pondered where Green might end up should he leave the Warriors. Golden State would go on to defeat the Kings even after Green got suspended for the stomp but fell to the Los Angeles Lakers in the following round. Now Green has officially opted out of his contract and will become an unrestricted free agent. Golden State Warriors four-time NBA champion D…

data-mm-id=”_nujaedpkw”>The Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce romance has been really good for ratings and NBC's Sunday Night Football got a big boost from her latest appearance at a Kansas City Chiefs game. The Chiefs' 23-20 win over the New York Jets in Week 4 scored huge ratings for the network. This week's Sunday Night Football drew an average audience of 27 million viewers, which was up 22 percent over the same week in 2022. At its peak (from 9:30 to 9:45 p.m. ET), the game had 29.4 million viewers. NBC claims the audience also included 2 million more women.NBC also made the following notes:Compared to an average of the first three weeks of "Sunday Night Football," the biggest demographic gains were among girls 12 to 17 (53%), women 18 to 24 (24%) and women older …