This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.
Gooood morning, Winners! Thanks so much for reading this morning. We appreciate you. Hope you have a fantastic weekend ahead of you.
LeBron James dropped a bit of a bombshell on Thursday night when he told everyone that if Bronny James was making his USC debut on the same night the Lakers play, he’d be missing the game to go watch his son.
"Family over everything." 🙌
Bron says he'll miss a Lakers game if Bronny makes his USC debut the same day
(via @SpectrumSN) pic.twitter.com/znln6U7NBy
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 1, 2023
“Looking forward to his first game whenever he’s cleared and whenever he’s ready to have his first game. I already told my teammates that if they’re playing the same day we’re playing I’m going to have to catch them the next game.”
LeBron is getting into his Vin Diesel bag. Family over everything. That’s nice, man.
For those of you who don’t know, Bronny was just medically cleared to practice with USC again after suffering a cardiac arrest over the summer. He’ll be making his debut with the team soon.
It makes sense for James to do this considering the circumstances. Of course, some people had a problem with this. Because there’s always someone who has a problem with anything LeBron James does. Especially if it’s not playing for his basketball team.
But, look, man. This is a father who just experienced something extremely traumatic with his son. A cardiac arrest is no joke. That situation could’ve turned out much worse than it did. So, naturally, as a father, James wants to be there for the biggest moments of his son’s career. I don’t think it’s a problem if he takes the time to do that.
Plus, let’s be real about this. Put the family part of it aside, LeBron James has played over 66,300 minutes in the NBA throughout his career. He literally just broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record for the most minutes played. Ever.
I think it’s fair to say he’s earned a night off if he wants one.
Dak’s MVP day
Dak Prescott added to the MVP-worthy resume with a dazzling game in a Thursday night win over the Seahawks.
Prescott threw for 299 yards and three touchdowns in what our Robert Zeglinski is calling his quarterbacking magnum opus.
“We’ve seen a lot of great Prescott performances over the years. Thursday night might have been his picture-perfect magnum opus. Prescott has now thrown 20 touchdown passes to just two picks in his last six games. He is in complete command of the Cowboys’ offense, with no one providing any resistance. In fact, if Prescott didn’t play for Dallas — the team everyone loves to hate — we’d have given him his flowers a long time ago. It’s high time we adjust our perspective for this sublime quarterback.
The Cowboys are now 9-3 and nipping at the heels of the rival Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC East. It’s largely thanks to Prescott, who deserves MVP honors, regardless of who he plays for.”
It’s been 30 years since Emmitt Smith was the last Cowboy to win the NFL’s MVP award. If Dak can keep this up, there’s no question that will be changing soon.
READ MORE: Thursday Night Football’s biggest winners and losers
The NCAA game is still happening!
For all of my sports gaming nerds out there, rejoice. We are still getting our EA Sports College Football video game, according to On3 Sports.
BREAKING: EA Sports' new College Football game is still expected to be released this summer, @PeteNakos_ reports‼️https://t.co/E2muNotV48 pic.twitter.com/ELVnswgNwc
— On3 (@On3sports) November 30, 2023
There was thought to be a hurdle with The BrandR Group representing the players suing OneTeam Partners, the company EA Sports was using to get player opt-ins for the game.
Players were reportedly only being paid $500 a pop to use their likenesses in the game, however, which is what led to the lawsuit. Now that that’s being settled, though, it seems things are in the clear.
I cannot wait to play this game. When we get it, it’ll have been a decade since the last college football video game released. Michigan’s Denard Robinson was on the cover of it. That’s how long it’s been, folks.
Next summer can’t get here quickly enough.
Photo Friday: Beating Duke will always be a thing
Just take one look at this photo and you probably know what happened even if you don’t watch college hoops.
Yup. That’s right. Somebody beat Duke. In this case, that somebody was Arkansas.
I always love a good court-storming. These moments are still the coolest in sports for me. It shows me fans are still passionate — sometimes, things can feel a little too cool. These fans are excited.
And they should be! This is one of their best home wins ever. It doesn’t matter if Duke isn’t the best team these days. Sure, they’d already lost twice before this.
But it’s still Duke. Beating the Blue Devils is always something worth celebrating in my book.
Quick hits: Jerry Jones’ meeting with Prime … NHL Power Rankings … and more
— Jerry Jones met with Deion Sanders and Sheduer Sanders at the Cowboys game. It probably meant nothing but it could mean EVERYTHING. Cory Woodruff has more.
— Mary Clarke has her December power rankings ready to go for the NHL action so far. Penguins, WYD?
— Speaking of Dak Prescott, he had a message for his haters. Gotta respect it. Charles Curtis has more.
— Geno Smith confirmed that Micah Parsons was left unblocked on the Seahawks’ final play on purpose. I have one question. Why?!?!? Here’s Charles with more.
— Christian D’Andrea has you covered with prop bets in the NFL this week.
— Here’s Charles with the next location for ESPN’s College GameDay. Conference Championship week is here, folks.
Thanks so much for reading, pals! We appreciate you. Hope you have a fantastic weekend. Let’s chat again on Monday. Until then, peace.
-Sykes ✌️
