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Over the next few weeks The Crossover will be examining one big-picture question for every NBA team. Today we take a look at the Charlotte Hornets, who were 23–42 when the season was suspended. When Will the Front Office Commit to a Rebuild?  The Hornets are fortunate their owner is only receiving attention for his playing career during Last Dance mania , because Charlotte’s future under Michael Jordan remains as murky as ever. The Hornets appeared ready to move forward in a big way last summer by not offering Kemba Walker a full max contract, paving the way for him to sign with the Celtics. (Though if Charlotte had planned on that strategy for a while, why not try to trade Walker for something during his final season?) Walker’s departure was compounded by the head-scratching move of signing Terry Rozier to a three-year deal soon after. Charlotte was finally getting close to ridding itself of high-priced vets who don’t move the needle, why bring in another one, particularly when

Haney will be suspended for verbal and emotional abuse of athletes. Former U.S. Olympic coach Maggie Haney has been suspended for eight years by USA Gymnastics for verbal and emotional abuse of athletes. USA Gymnastics confirmed the penalty in a statement Wednesday. The decision came after two months of hearings that included Olympic champion Laurie Hernandez testifying against her longtime coach and world champion Riley McCusker writing a letter critical of Haney. “The independent hearing panel -- comprised of three members of the gymnastics community, including an attorney, a club owner, and a former national team athlete -- found that Ms. Haney violated the USA Gymnastics Code of Ethical Conduct, Safe Sport Policy, and other policies,” USA Gymnastics said in the statement. Haney is suspended from membership and any coaching of USA Gymnastics athletes or in member clubs for eight years, effective immediately, followed by a two-year probationary period. After the suspension conc

Even the rotating cast of bench players for the 1990s Bulls were treated like rock stars in public. But they had to work hard for that honor. In January of 1993, NBA veteran Darrell Walker received a call from Bulls general manager Jerry Krause. “Would you be interested in a 10-day contract with us?” Krause asked him. “With you guys, absolutely,” Walker responded. The Pistons had waived the 6’4’’ guard earlier that season and before the Bulls reached out for his services, Walker’s NBA career seemed all but over. He had played nine prior seasons, but was still looking for what had been an elusive first NBA title. What better team to join than the two-time defending champion Chicago Bulls? A first 10-day contract turned into a second 10-day, which turned into a contract for the rest of the season. By June, Walker had won a title. “I was able to be part of the Rolling Stones,” he says of what turned out to be his final NBA season. Beginning in the 1990-91 season, 44 different players

A battle with his vision almost derailed Michael Neustifter's baseball career. He still has a path forward. The renowned specialist in Nashville held the tests results on the 21-year-old college third baseman seated in front of him. The patient’s mother sat next to her son. The doctor ruled out any structural abnormality of the eyes. He could diagnose only one reason why this otherwise healthy young athlete suddenly was losing his vision. “There is this very, very rare condition called visual snow syndrome,” the doctor said. He opened a reference book to the pages describing the condition. “All these symptoms match up with what you’ve been experiencing.” The next words out of the doctor’s mouth would change the young man’s life. “I’m sorry. There is no cure.” *** Sometime this summer Major League Baseball will conduct an ad hoc version of its amateur draft. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, which halted all baseball since mid-March, it may be shortened from its usual 4

Sammy Davis comes to the Boston Pride after four standout seasons at Boston University. Now she's pursuing both a professional hockey career and a doctorate degree. If you’re of a certain vintage, you desperately want Sammy Davis’ dressing room nickname to be Junior. After all, the former standout at Boston University and the first overall pick in the 2020 National Women’s Hockey League draft will be counted on to be really good, versatile and entertaining with the Boston Pride. “We’re all younger, so the girls I play with have no clue who Sammy Davis Jr., is,” Davis said. “But the adults all razz me about it.” Perhaps that’s because, unlike their male brethren, women hockey players don’t go for the low-hanging fruit when it comes to nicknames. One thing that is so intriguing about many women’s hockey players is they lead such incredibly interesting lives off the ice, while being among the best in the world on it. And Davis is no exception. As a redshirt senior at BU this past s

The lack of group licensing allowed under the NCAA's new name, image and license recommendations would make video games and replica jerseys "unworkable." The NCAA Board of Governors is moving toward allowing student-athletes to be compensated from their  name, image and likeness , but EA's 'NCAA Football' video game is unlikely to make a return.  The NCAA Board of Governors  has moved toward allowing student-athletes to be paid for sponsorships and endorsement deals as early as the 2021-22 academic year. However, the co-chair of that group, Big East commissioner Val Ackerman, said the new guidelines would not allow student-athletes to be represented in video games with school licensing. "It was the group’s conclusion that group licenses, which would combine school trademarks with student-athlete NIL in products like video games, replica jerseys and trading card collections are unworkable in college sports, largely because of the absence of a collect

Ideal draft landing spots and a clear path to the starting lineup have given these five rookies a chance for immediate fantasy success. With the NFL Draft now completed, some rookies will enjoy a nice boost to their 2020 fantasy value thanks to landing in ideal situations. Let’s take a closer look at five of these players and see how they might help your fantasy team. RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Kansas City Chiefs No player saw his fantasy value rise post-draft more than Clyde Edwards-Helaire (CEH). He landed with the best offense in the NFL, and he has an inventive coach who knows how to use him properly. Speaking of such, Andy Reid sees CEH as a better version of his old Eagles running back, Brian Westbrook. That is enormous praise, indeed. If you have never seen Westbrook play, take a look here to see how tremendous he was.  CEH should be the first overall pick in dynasty leagues , and I expect that he will go in late round two of redraft formats.  RB Cam Akers, Los Angeles Ra