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Sports Biz, NBA/NFL, Olympics 🏀 🏈 @FortyEightMins (MIA Heat/Team USA 🇺🇸 credentials) Past: 📊@CNBC • Risk Management Pro 🦉RT ≠ endorsements

[CC @CW_Crouse]

Back in 2025, Giannis hung out with some media and Heat staffers after the Bucks/Heat post game interviews in the away Locker Room to watch the rest of the Duke-Houston Final Four matchup.

He missed the first team bus and then the second one to watch it. He was the last Bucks player in the Locker Room.

The rest of the team? Well…..it was a Saturday night in Miami.

Giannis really loves basketball. Now that he’s on the Heat, he’s in the perfect situation.

This was one of my favorite moments covering the Heat over the past few seasons. I posted this on my IG last year.
(Second image is a screen shot from a video)

[CC @CW_Crouse]

How you do one thing is how you do everything

[CC @CW_Crouse]

@HPbasketball 😶‍🌫️

[CC @CW_Crouse]

Yes

[Ryan Paganetti @RyanPaganetti]

Could the tallest player in NBA Combine history change the outcome of a Super Bowl?

Tacko Fall is in camp with the 76ers, but he hasn’t played in an NBA regular season game since 2021. I think an NFL team should test him as a field goal blocker.

At the NBA Combine, Fall measured 7’7” in shoes, with an 8’2¼” wingspan and a 10’2½” standing reach. All three set clear Combine records. His reported maximum vertical puts his best possible fingertip touch around 12½ feet. He is currently listed at 311 pounds.

Here is the strategy: put two interior defenders on one guard and give them one job. Drive him backward as far as possible. Do not jump. Do not stop to throw their hands up. Keep pushing. Fall rushes into the lane they create and times his jump to meet the kick.

From the field goal rushes I’ve reviewed, interior defenders often get roughly a yard of push on a normal rush, with plenty of reps producing considerably more. Players and special teams coaches I’ve talked to believe that two defenders focused entirely on driving a guard backward could move him more than two yards into the backfield on some kicks. The test is exactly how far they can move that player.

I analyzed 1,681 practice field goal kicks recorded with TrackMan’s ball tracking technology. Their median launch angle was 29.5°. Assuming an eight yard hold, my estimated median height for the bottom of the ball is roughly:

• 11’6” one yard into the backfield
• 10’0” two yards into the backfield

At two yards, that estimated height is below Fall’s standing reach *without jumping*. At one yard, it is well below his best possible jumping touch. These are modeled ball heights, not predictions of his block rate.

On either hash, I would start by testing the guard on the side toward the middle of the uprights. A live drill would measure the guard’s displacement, Fall’s timing and whether his hand actually reaches the ball’s path.

The formation and jump must follow NFL rules. His teammates cannot push him into the formation or give him extra lift. I found no numeric glove finger length limit in the published rulebook, but I’d seek league review before giving Tacko 10XL Mickey Mouse gloves.

From 2021 through 2025, just 1.9% of NFL field goal attempts were blocked, while about one in four regular season games ended within three points. Even a modest improvement in blocks could matter. I think the upside could be much larger.

There may also be a “Wembanyama effect”: even when Fall does not block a kick, his presence alone could disrupt the entire field goal operation and reduce accuracy.

There may be a red zone role, too. My best estimate from NFL defensive back data is that Fall’s standing reach is about 2½ feet higher than the average defensive back. That alone does not make him a receiver, but it makes a goal line package worth testing.

I’ve discussed versions of this with NFL players, coaches and a GM. I know that GM explored a way to test it, and an active special teams coach has shown interest.

When Fall’s basketball situation permits, bring him in for a controlled workout with a real snap, hold and protection unit. Measure what happens before making any roster decision.

Minimal downside to testing. Potentially enormous upside if it works. One team gets to find out first.

[CC @CW_Crouse]

Real headline on Cam Ward

[CC @CW_Crouse]

@TheZachMamba24 @FortyEightMins @LegionHoops True. We do appreciate you not asking about Avengers. (You’ll get an opportunity to ask a question again btw).

[CC @CW_Crouse]

⤵️

[Shams Charania @ShamsCharania]

ESPN Sources: The NBA is expected to select the winning bid for owner of the Las Vegas expansion team in the very near future, with a price of at least $12-13 billion for the franchise and new arena among three finalist groups – Nancy Walton Laurie and Bill Laurie; Steve Apostolopoulos and Marc Lasry; Bill Foley and Jerry Colangelo.

[CC @CW_Crouse]

@WillManso Also a lack of independents given access to the Dolphins?

[CC @CW_Crouse]

Attending G2E rather than Heat Media Day/training camp. I’ll be back on that beat in Miami next week and all season (as I’ve been since 2023).

I might be 1-of-1 in regards to having any NBA affiliation here.

If you are in Vegas, shoot me a note.

[CC @CW_Crouse]

@BrettSiegelNBA The medical staff isn’t front office

[CC @CW_Crouse]

This is bad “journalism” and a bad recap of what Joe said in the video.

Listen to the answer before you read this tweet of it.

[Shamit Dua @FearTheBrown]

At media day, I asked Joe Dumars about the Pelicans’ sweeping FO changes. I clarified twice that I meant front office staff. He said, “I’m not sure who you’re talking about,” and answered about coaches. After I named medical and analytics, he cited alignment. Full exchange:

[CC @CW_Crouse]

@AmicoHoops Same

[CC @CW_Crouse]

Achane walking off on his own power at least.

Dolphins haven’t been winning but they grind out possessions. Ollie Gordon is up.

[FortyEightMinutes 🥇 @FortyEightMins]

Cool content by our own @Rparksjr85 on the Miami Heat’s Golden Oldies.

[FortyEightMinutes 🥇 @FortyEightMins]

This passage from Tim Tebow’s book on delayed gratification and growth 🙌

So true.

[Peter King @peter_king]

Cool to have Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells review my new book “The Game.” I stand by his criticism-turned-compliment: The story is God. Preorder the book: https://t.co/8YcQdVgaV4

[Alex Sherman @sherman4949]

The NFL currently doesn’t have partnerships with Kalshi and Polymarket, but NFL Commish Roger Goodell told me he’s open to it if certain conditions are met:

We think that there needs to be stronger regulations into the predictive markets,” Goodell said. “We want to see that to protect the integrity of our game. We want to make sure we're protecting the consumers that are on those platforms for the NFL. So, we're continuing to have conversations with them and talk to them about the things that we think they need to do to strengthen that so that they could be potential partners at some point in the future.”

https://t.co/ljGnBhw1ES

[Tennessee Titans @Titans]

Statement from the Tennessee Titans

[CC @CW_Crouse]

Never Forget

[NFL @NFL]

On the 25th anniversary of 9/11, we honor the memory of those who lost their lives and we continue to give back in their honor.

[NFL @NFL]

On the 25th anniversary of 9/11, we honor the memory of those who lost their lives and we continue to give back in their honor.

[Daniel Wallach @WALLACHLEGAL]

Connecticut issues 9 cease-and-desist letters to leading prediction market platforms, and nearly 30 subpoenas to PM suppliers, payment processors, and media companies including ESPN. https://t.co/Fm95fsskwX