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Yahoo Sports Dan Wetzel and Sports Illustrateds Pat Forde discuss Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher and Clemson head coach Dabo Swinneys statements about their dissatisfaction with the state of college footballs transfer portal.

DAN WETZEL: A couple of interesting quotes of late about coaches complaining about the portal and the--

PAT FORDE: Coaches complaining, really?

DAN WETZEL: Yeah, coaches complaining.

PAT FORDE: Imagine.

DAN WETZEL: Hard to have a roster. The funny part is it's two ends of the spectrum. And we have William Christopher Swinney, who's a regular on this.

PAT FORDE: Yes.

DAN WETZEL: And then there's Jimbo Fisher, who seems to be causing much of the problems.

PAT FORDE: Yeah.

DAN WETZEL: Yeah, he's complaining too.

PAT FORDE: Of course. Here we go.

DAN WETZEL: Let's start with Jimbo, who recently picked up his sixth Rivals five-star in the class of '22 when they added another defensive lineman-- has one of the greatest recruiting classes, if not statistically, like, the greatest recruiting class of all time--

PAT FORDE: Ever.

DAN WETZEL: Yeah, ever. I don't know where, just A&M just all of a sudden is the hot place to go to school, has everybody in the sport rolling their eyes, and pointing at this collective, and all this stuff, which I say, hey, you know, better to be pointed at than be the guy doing the pointing, because you get the players.

PAT FORDE: Yeah, right?

DAN WETZEL: Jimbo, though, is not into the portal. His quote-- you don't even among your own guys who's in, who's out. You think you're deep at a position, then two guys leave. And there are outside voices sticking their noses in. That makes it hard.

There's nothing coaches hate more than outside voices. Thoughts on Jimbo, of all people, right now complaining about the portal.

PAT FORDE: Like, seriously? We have to hear from him? It's hilarious to me. Yeah, you know what? When you bring in the most heralded recruiting class, potentially ever, some other guys may want to leave because they see their playing time going out the window. And they may think it's time to look elsewhere. Gosh, that doesn't need to be-- that's not necessarily an outside voice, that's an informed opinion, perhaps, from the young men.

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Like, hmm, yeah, those three offensive linemen who are all five-stars, they play my position and I haven't gotten on the field yet. I don't want to be number two and maybe bumped down to number three. I'm going to go somewhere else. Welcome to the real world. That's how things happen. And the idea that these outside voices are corrupting what's going on at A&M-- if Jimbo can complain right now when he is absolutely conquering everything, he can complain about anything.

DAN WETZEL: I don't know what Jimbo is going to do, but complaining that guys are leaving when they, quite honestly, should be leaving--

PAT FORDE: Yeah. When you are overbooked with talent, things are going to even themselves out. Supply and demand.

DAN WETZEL: On the flip side, now, we often are very critical of Coach Swinney But here's his part, and maybe he's the antithesis of this-- at least he's complaining which I, again, $9 million a year. We're not doing our job as coaches and recruiters if we're bringing in a bunch of transfers, he said.

Now, he went on to have a bunch of others. I've always been about education, the collegiate model, and the collegiate experience-- I don't think what's been created now is healthy for the game. Those are his opinions. I can't argue with that. Always the guy says he's glad they're making money, but doesn't seem really all that happy about it.

[PAT LAUGHS]

So I guess the situation here is-- your thoughts on Coach Swinney here on those comments.

PAT FORDE: Well, I mean, it's always-- the great thing about Dabo is he's always going to have something to say. You know, you get him on a topic other than, why do your quarterbacks complete such a low percentage of their passes when their names aren't Trevor Lawrence, and it's going to be great because he's going to go off in some direction or another. And the tangent's going to be interesting.

Look, one of the things that we don't fully have our arms wrapped around yet but stands to reason is that in the transfer portal era, graduation success rate-- or academic progress rate, graduation success rate's going to go down, because credits aren't going to transfer, majors aren't going to be there. You're going to have to take different majors-- that sort of thing.

It's going to be harder from that standpoint to actually graduate. That I think-- we will wait and see what the numbers bear out. But it stands to reason that this is not an academically friendly situation. So if he really cares about academics, then he probably has a point there.

You know, I kind of like the concept of if we're doing things the right way, players aren't going to transfer. But the reality also is that there's just going to be x amount of playing time. And at places like Clemson, you're probably going have too many good players to fit into that playing time. So even if you're doing a good job, you're going to have guys are going to be like, eh, I'm not getting on the field and I came here as a four-star-- I'm going somewhere else.

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Jimbo Fisher and Dabo Swinney voice displeasure with the Transfer Portal | College Football Enquirer - Yahoo Sports

If it feels like every game of MLBs new season features a thrilling new face, well, youre not imagining things. The 2022 crop of rookies opening with big-league clubs is actually historic.

As The Ringers Ben Lindbergh showed this week, more highly ranked prospects made their debut in this seasons first week than in any previous non-strike season on record. The breadth of the noteworthy debuts also stands out: They included three of the consensus top five prospects in the sport, a long-awaited flamethrower and a hotly pursued Japanese star. And that didnt even include the rookie whose preternatural bat-to-ball ability may have made the biggest impression in the seasons first week.

With so many new names to know, we thought it would be good to rank the nine most eye-catching rookies so far in this eye-catching-est season of rookies.

After whacking 38 homers for the Hiroshima Carp and leading NPBs Central League in batting average in 2021, Suzuki announced hed be heading to MLB. Projection systems loved the 27-year-old from the jump, instantly viewing him as one of the top 25 hitters in the majors thanks to a sturdy blend of power and patience. So far, hes looked the part.

Suzuki is pacing the Cubs offense with three homers including two in one game and an approach that has netted nearly as many walks (five) as strikeouts (six).

Most notably, his hot start is grounded in reality. Hes obviously not going to hit .368, but his early success is backed up by strong plate discipline and Statcast figures. In other words, Suzukis loud introduction to the league appears to be signal, not noise.

The 5-foot-9 outfielder won a job on Clevelands opening day roster with one extremely special skill and proceeded to post the best opening weekend of any major leaguer, rookie or not

That skill springs from an extremely relatable problem. I remember when I was younger, every time I struck out, I would want to cry, the 24-year-old Oregon State product recalled to FOX Sports. So I think I just told myself, I dont like to cry, so I just wont strike out.

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His ability to just do that is not relatable at all. Six games into his big-league career, Kwan has 10 hits, eight walks and one measly strikeout. He has swung and missed a grand total of twice and one of those was technically a foul tip. Alongside former college teammate Nick Madrigal, hes bringing an extreme contact-oriented style of hitting back into the mainstream. Its not likely to be as productive over the long haul as Suzukis over-the-fence game, but it sure is interesting to watch.

The most acclaimed prospect to hit the league on opening day, Witt is still getting his sea legs at the plate, but has already managed two special moments with a go-ahead knock and a game-saving defensive play.

The relatively unheralded Brash won Seattles No. 5 starter job and then knocked Pitching Twitter on its butt with his first start. Brash has stuff that makes you curse involuntarily.

The fastball zips in at 99 and the breaking ball flies like some sort of possessed Frisbee. He had the White Sox lineup off balance for most of the game in his debut start. More eyes will be on him next time.

Sometimes the best prospects leap to the big leagues with such speed that they require more adjustment time than a more seasoned professional player like Suzuki or even Kwan. Rodriguez and Torkelson are both top five overall prospects in the game, and both are likely to start ripping baseballs around the park in due time.

Consider Rays phenom Wander Franco. After debuting in June of last season, he batted .239/.297/.402 through the end of July. From Aug. 1 on? He slashed .322/.388/.523.

Youll want to be watching when these guys turn the corner.

It was a tougher road to the majors than expected for the former No. 2 overall pick, but the 6-foot-4 hurler who regularly lives in the triple digits with his fastball reached the majors as a starter. In his initial showing, the fastball was as hard as advertised, but also occasionally too straight to fool big-league bats.

A key piece of the return for Max Scherzer and Trea Turner, Ruiz opened the season with a pair of two-hit games. A switch-hitting catcher with excellent contact skills is a rare sight, and Ruiz could soon be a cornerstone of the Nationals.

OK, yes, Duran is a reliever. But he is also worth flipping the channel for. Hes throwing a completely ridiculous pitch called the splinker. Which is a splitter combined with a sinker. It goes 96 mph and drops like, well, a really good splitter.

Siri is already 26 and less of a prospect than the rest of these rookies, but after a long rise to the majors plagued by questions about his undisciplined approach and strikeout problems, his early performance deserves a nod.

As part of a center field timeshare for the Astros, he has shown some early signs that hes channeling his aggression instead of letting it rule the roost. While its way too early to read too much into swing rates, Siris is down so much it almost has to be on purpose. The good use of his aggression, meanwhile, won Houston a game on Tuesday night. Its always going to be a balancing act, but his power and speed could be a devastating combo.

Also exciting: Spencer Strider, Jeremy Pena, Seth Beer

Excerpt from:

MLB rookie rankings: Which of baseball's new stars made the best first impression? - Yahoo Sports

Phoenix Suns guard Mikal Bridges made his case during the 2021-22 NBA campaign as to why hes more than deserving of winning this seasons Defensive Player of the Year award.

But its going to take voters consisting of sportswriters and broadcasters looking beyond traditional defensive stats that often favor a centers candidacy.

Bridges, in an exclusive interview with Yahoo Sports, wants voters to dig deeper.

I would never discredit anybody, and obviously bigs have been winning that award for a while and they do a hell of a job, but the amount of times a big has won over a guard is just crazy, Bridges told Yahoo Sports. I think people take it for granted how tough it is to guard the top perimeter players in this league and not be able to really touch them because theyre going to get the foul call. I feel like as a defender on the perimeter, you just get disrespected. Im not even talking about me personally, but I dont understand how guards in general dont win it. These guards are shooting off ball screens, they get isos with the offense spaced out and a lot of shooters on the court. Youve got to guard these matchups one-on-one, and I think we just get taken for granted.

Bridges, 25, has traveled the most distance on defense of anyone this season, hes seventh in defensive win-shares (3.7) which has contributed to the Suns 106.7 defensive rating that trails only the Boston Celtics (106.2), and hes in the 99th percentile of the most difficult defensive matchups assigned.

Hes always available and holds the longest active streak of 307 consecutive games played.

Furthermore, there are no slow nights for the fourth-year veteran. He goes from guarding Luka Doncic, to Ja Morant, to LeBron James, to Stephen Curry, to Damian Lillard to Donovan Mitchell on a nightly basis. His willingness to handle the toughest assignment is a critical component to why the Suns possess the leagues best record at 63-17.

Golden State Warriors defensive star Draymond Green said Bridges would be his choice for DPOY.

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That was so dope to hear that from Draymond, Bridges said of Green. Obviously with everything he does on the court, he understands how tough it is to guard a dude on ball. I just wish the voters would actually watch the games. But I can only control what I can control.

Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert and Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid are among those in contention for DPOY, but Bridges has better betting odds than both to win the award.

Its been 26 years since a guard was awarded the hardware. Hall of Famer Gary Payton was the last guard to receive it in 1996.

Im telling you, again, Ill never discredit none of the bigs, but they dont have the matchups we have to face, Bridges told Yahoo Sports. There are not as many talented bigs in the league as there are talented wing players and guards. Guarding one through four is tough. If you want to do the math, look up how many skilled players are one through four, and then how many skilled players are at the five. Obviously, you have a lot of talented fives, but out of all 30 teams, not every big on the team is very skilled. Thats just how I look at it.

But like I said, I never discredit what centers do because being an anchor on your team and pick-and-roll defense, being on the weak side, thats a part of the game as well. I understand why they get the love. But I just feel like when you really look at it, youve got to start looking at the guards and how being on that perimeter guarding one through four is tough.

Bridges has the most usage matchups this season, meaning his defense causes a ballhandler to terminate the possession via a field-goal attempt, free-throw attempt or turnover. He has 69 more of these than the next closest player, an indication that Bridges is guarding the players who shoot the most or forcing a player to do something he doesnt want to do.

Bridges holds those matchups to 91.8 points per 100 possessions and to an effective field-goal percentage of 48.4%.

The 6-foot-6 guard with a 7-foot-1 wingspan believes hes done enough to warrant breaking that guard-winning defensive drought.

For sure, Bridges told Yahoo Sports. Im not saying that there are not other really good defenders in this league. But for sure I think I should win. Im out there every night looking to match up with the best and make it a tough on guys. I pride myself on being available every single time. It is about team defense because I know Ive got four other guys with me, but when I guard a guy, I make it tough on them.

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Mikal Bridges: 'Crazy' how many times bigs have won Defensive Player of the Year over guards - Yahoo Sports

Kept you waiting, huh? The MLB regular season is finally back after a frantic offseason which saw half a billion dollars spent by one team as soon as free agency opened, followed by a nearly 100-day lockout.

As a result the season starts a little later this year. There are also some new rule changes and tweaks hello, universal designated hitter as a result of the labor negotiations.

But you came here for MLB season predictions are you're going to get them. Our most learned baseball experts Hannah Keyser, Zach Crizer, Jack Baer, Chris Cwik and Liz Roscher submitted their thoughts on how the 2022 MLB season will play out.

Disagree? We bet you do, and you can let us know about it in the comments.

Without further ado, here are your 2022 MLB predictions, awards picks and more from the Yahoo Sports Staff.

It's going to be a very blue World Series in 2022. (Graphic via Amber Matsumoto/Yahoo Sports)

Which manager will get the boot first in 2022? (Graphic via Amber Matsumoto/Yahoo Sports)

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MLB opening day 2022: Season predictions, awards and World Series winners - Yahoo Sports

Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is airborne. That simple declaration from the White House is what some experts around the world have known since 2020 and it could have major implications for U.S. businesses and organizations.

Dr. Alondra Nelson, head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and deputy assistant to President Joe Biden, announced the highly-awaited words in a recent statement.

"The most common way COVID-19 is transmitted from one person to another is through tiny airborne particles of the virus hanging in indoor air for minutes or hours after an infected person has been there," she said.

That single sentence confirms what was first uncovered in a March 2020 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIH) officials. However, that information was not relayed to Americans until several months later.

It took even longer for both the CDC and WHO to acknowledge COVID's spread via aerosols, despite growing evidence.

"SARS-CoV-2 remained viable in aerosols throughout the duration of our experiment (3 hours)" and was more stable on non-porous surfaces, the study said.

The latter point was emphasized by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) a month later, without acknowledging the former. Eventually, the U.S. adopted the idea that transmission in the air was dominant, but through larger particles, or droplets, in the summer of 2020.

Why droplets were favored over aerosols has to do with the difference in the way aerosol experts and public health experts define the size of the particle. A tug-of-war between both sides made headlines in the first few months of the pandemic and have continued under the radar ever since.

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden listens to Dr. Alondra Nelson, his pick for OSTP Deputy Director for Science and Society (Reuters)

Deeming the coronavirus airborne places a burden on businesses, schools, and other indoor venues to ensure proper masking when COVID-19 levels are high in an area. In addition, it also presents the problem of revamping air systems or adding filtration and ventilation.

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Marina Jabsky, an industrial hygienist with the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, explained how to think about it.

"If you've ever been in the same room as somebody who's smoking, regardless of how far apart form them you're standing, you're gonna smell the smoke, right? Because the air particles will expand to fill the space," Jabsky said.

And size matters. The larger the space with fewer people in it, the lower the concentration is going to be.

"If you do not have a solid, well-functioning ventilation system, you're going to have a buildup of concentration of particles, and that's where the risk really increases," Jabsky said.

That's the reason behind the push for better quality masks, which the U.S. government has provided to Americans via retail pharmacies and community health centers for free. It's also why the American Rescue Plan (ARP) included $122 billion for schools and $350 billion for state, local and Tribal governments to help provide better ventilation systems.

One industry in particular was forced to quickly figure out how to keep its employees safe. After facing a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) at the start of the pandemic, hospitals are now able to regularly supply PPE to their staff. However, the cost of that PPE has gone up significantly compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Hospitals also adapted by either putting in better filtration systems, adding ventilation, or increasing the number of isolation rooms as needed. The steps to ensure filtration and ventilation came after it was discovered the virus was airborne.

"If it were droplet, and only droplets, then some of the masking requirements and some of the ventilation requirements might not be necessary," said Nancy Foster, vice president of quality and patient safety policy at the American Hospital Association.

Foster told Yahoo Finance that for droplets, proper masking is still be necessary, but some of the bigger facility upgrades might not be.

A person wearing a mask walks out of a store past a "Wear a face mask" sign, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., February 9, 2022. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

There is lingering pressure from some experts to maintain droplets as part of the definition of how the virus is transmitted. And that can impact the difference in which protective gear is used by health professionals.

Dr. Abraar Karan, an infectious disease doctor at Stanford, explained why.

He said droplets may not be the primary route, but they aren't excluded in the range of particle sizes.

Scientists have noted "both droplets and aerosols, and particles of sizes in between the two" hold the potential for spread, Karan said.

"People can still have larger droplets that land in their mucosa or land in other exposed areas. So it doesn't make sense to completely remove the idea of droplets," he said.

In a February interview with Yahoo Finance, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky didn't call it airborne, but noted Sars-Cov-2 was like any other respiratory virus and that masking and ventilation are essential to curb transmission.

Kim Prather, an aerosol expert at UC San Diego, is another expert who has consistently asked for widespread acknowledgement of airborne transmission, pointing to another coronavirus, SARS, noting it was airborne as well.

"One of the biggest lessons learned (then) was you've got to follow the precautionary principle. If you think it has any chance of being airborne, that has to be out there....whether it's the dominant (pathway) or not," she said.

OSTP's Nelson agreed, citing the CDC's latest definition of the spread of the disease that included "small droplets and aerosol particles that contain the virus."

It's why in her statement, Nelson included ways to cost-effectively upgrade air systems for businesses.

"Were saying it more loudly now and with a unified voice across the federal government that the most important mitigation measures for restaurants and businesses are masking, distancing, and dilution or removal of COVID-19 virus particles in the air. These actions are more effective at reducing the spread of COVID-19 than sanitizing surfaces, which the CDC has said is not a substantial contributor to new infections," Nelson said.

But, according to Dr. Georgia Lagoudas, sanitizing is still a useful strategy.

"Over the past two years, we've had to deal with an evolving virus and learning new science," said Lagoudas, OSTP's Senior Advisor for Biotechnology and Bioeconomy.

In April 2020, (the same day former President Donald Trump infamously suggested digesting disinfectant to get rid of COVID-19), DHS acting under secretary Bill Bryan said the virus could survive on surfaces for up to 18 hours in low humidity, low temperature environments.

The idea of aerosolized virus staying suspended for up to three hours wasn't discussed. Officials were mostly focused on symptomatic or asymptomatic spread, in addition to figuring out how to detect and curb transmission, as well as identify what substances break down the viral particles.

However, identifying aerosols became especially important after it became clear asymptomatic spread was occurring at a higher rate than expected. It's why masking was recommended soon after Bryan's presentation.

"Those two things have made the difference for this over every other disease process that we've seen in our lifetimes," said Dr. Joe Vipond, an emergency room doctor in Calgary, about asymptomatic and airborne spread.

"But neither of these changes, by the WHO or the CDC, were done in an open fashion," Vipond added.

Linsey Marr, an aerosol expert and professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech, noted the reliance on droplets missed the mark of how easily and effectively COVID-19 transmits.

Nelson used "strong, powerful, clear words that we should have heard from the CDC two years ago," Marr said.

Saskia Popescu, an assistant professor in the biodefense program at George Mason University, recently told Yahoo Finance the topic remains important.

"We definitely need to talk about aerosol transmission," she said.

"We need to make it very clear to people you can get infected by breathing it," Popsecu added.

Dr. Leyla Asadi, an infectious disease doctor, expressed a similar sentiment.

I think that the word airborne is very straightforward. It gives you a really excellent mental model, you dont need a complicated chart," she said.

Jose-Luis Jimenez, an aerosol expert and chemistry professor at the University of Colorado, has been one of the leaders of the effort to ensure global understanding of the virus's route of transmission.

He and Marr penned a recent op-ed highlighting the problem now is too many people will remember what they were first told which was that the virus didn't spread far. This is why the combination of COVID-fatigue and politically-aligned resistance to mask use will remain an obstacle for ending the pandemic, they wrote.

However, the outlook isn't entirely grim. With the White House now behind the push, improving indoor air quality is a goal that can be worked toward beyond COVID.

It's "something we should be thinking about not just because of COVID, but because of general health," Popescu said.

There have long been studies showing those in urban or lower-income areas suffer from chronic health issues related to poor air quality. With upgraded air systems, that could improve overall health.

Its a chronic problem of not investing in infrastructure, not investing in ventilation, NYCOSH's Jabsky said.

Prather noted, "We clean our water, we will not drink unfiltered water, but we will breathe unfiltered air. I mean, how does that make sense? We need cleaner indoor air."

Jabsky hopes the pandemic acts as a catalyst for the cause.

At this point, if were having a global pandemic that is due to a disease that is airborne (and that is) not incentive enough to deal with our ventilation issues, I just dont know what is going to be the stimulant, she said.

Marr explained what's needed is an overhaul of regulations and standards.

"I think there's longer term changes, in terms of how we design and operate our buildings that we should be thinking about. And, ultimately, to put some teeth into this, there will need to be standards and regulations. And those will take years," she said.

Follow Anjalee on Twitter @AnjKhem

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US, WHO officials and experts agree (sort of) on how COVID-19 spreads - Yahoo Finance

(Reuters) -Spirit Airlines would start talks with JetBlue Airways Corp on its $3.6-billion offer, the budget carrier said late on Thursday as it could likely lead to a "superior proposal" to the one from Frontier Group Holdings.

JetBlue made an unsolicited offer of $33 per share in cash earlier this week, beating a near $25 per share cash-and-stock bid from Frontier made in February.

"We look forward to engaging with the Spirit Board to finalize our combination, to create a national low-fare challenger to the four large dominant U.S. carriers that will result in lower fares and better service for customers," JetBlue Chief Executive Robin Hayes said.

Frontier did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Spirit said the discussions with JetBlue would be in keeping with the terms of its merger agreement with Frontier.

Denver-based Frontier and JetBlue are in a tug of war for Florida-based Spirit to capture a larger share of the leisure market and better compete with legacy carriers.

The moves towards consolidation come at a time when the pandemic battered airlines industry is working through higher fuel and labor costs to keep up the demand from travelers.

Either deal is sure to invite a close scrutiny from U.S. antitrust authorities, who have taken an aggressive stance under the Biden administration toward deals that reduce competition and raise prices.

JetBlue is already facing an antitrust lawsuit over its partnership with American Airlines Group Inc. The suit filed in September alleges the deal would lead to higher fares in busy northeastern U.S. airports.

Shares of Spirit have lost 1.5% since JetBlue made its bid on April 5, while those of JetBlue have dropped 11.4%.

(Reporting by Nilanjana Basu and Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

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Spirit Airlines to start talks with JetBlue on its $3.6-billion bid - Yahoo Finance

Each week during the 2021-22 NBA season, we will take a deeper dive into some of the leagues biggest storylines in an attempt to determine whether the trends are based more in fact or fiction moving forward.

[ Last time on Fact or Fiction: The Phoenix Suns are championship favorites ]

We are approaching the two-month mark since the Philadelphia 76ers traded Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and two first-round picks to the Brooklyn Nets for James Harden. Simmons has not yet played for the Nets, and somehow we are left wondering if the Sixers would take a mulligan on the trade.

Harden is not the same top-three MVP candidate he was for four straight seasons from 2016-20, when his general manager informed us, "It's just factual that James Harden is a better scorer than Michael Jordan."

That same executive, Daryl Morey, left Houston for Philadelphia in 2020, spent his first two seasons with the 76ers trying to reunite with Harden and succeeded at this year's trade deadline. Morey either ignored Harden's production in the meantime or felt confident the 10-time All-Star was sandbagging the rest of us.

From 2016-20, 28.4 of Harden's league-leading 32.4 points per game (55.4 effective field-goal percentage) came inside of 8 feet, on pull-up 3-pointers or at the free-throw line. He was a one-man offense, spending possessions breaking down his defender off the dribble, looking for a step into a layup or out to a jumper.

Losing a step is a bigger deal when one in either direction was your signature.

Harden's points from inside of 8 feet, pull-up 3s and free throws are down to 19.5 per game (49.6 eFG%) this season. Of the 294 players who have attempted at least 200 shots inside of 8 feet, Harden's 48.8% success rate ranks 273rd, right between Devonte' Graham and Dennis Smith Jr. Among the 72 players who have attempted at least 100 pull-up 3s, Harden's 33.7% shooting ranks 39th. His free throws, which had risen to 11.8 per game in 2019-20 the most by a guard since Jordan's 11.9 in 1986-87, are down to 8.3.

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Where once Harden was a historic foul-drawing machine and an exceptional scoring guard at high volume from both beyond the arc and at the rim, he is now a mere mortal at getting to the free-throw line, a below-average shooter from distance and a poor finisher around the basket. That combination is a slippery slope.

One-time NBA MVP James Harden is limping into a pivotal postseason. (Nic Antaya/Getty Images)

Harden's first three games with the Sixers were encouraging, if you were one who held out hope his statistical decline was the result of his disinterest in playing for the Rockets and Nets. He averaged a 26.7 points (on 60/41/91 shooting splits), 7.3 rebounds and 12 assists in a trio of wins. Since then, his averages have dipped to 20-7-10 on 36/30/89 splits over his last 16 games. Philadelphia's only victory against a top-five seed in the Eastern Conference during that span came when Harden rested against the Miami Heat.

In two recent games against the Toronto Raptors, the Sixers' first-round opponent if the playoffs started today, Harden combined for 30 points on 8-for-24 shooting from the field (1 for 8 from 3-point range). Philadelphia lost both games when the gap between peak Harden and this version was all the difference.

First, it was a right hamstring strain at the end of last season that slowed him at the start of this regular season. Now, it is left hamstring tightness that has slowed at the end of it. Sixers coach Doc Rivers suggested in late March that Harden still needed three weeks to "be there at 100%." We will see if he can flip a switch in the playoffs, but history tells us he has had a hard time doing that even when healthy.

There is a chance that Harden is feeling the effects at age 32 of being so durable for the first 11 years of his career. He has twice led the league in minutes and did not miss more than 10 games in a season until last year. Harden's decline begs the question of why he is averaging 37.2 minutes per game third in the NBA behind Toronto's Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam when his performance is said to be injury-related. Harden's 32,579 career minutes fall in the range of when superstars of years past have called it careers.

Harden's former Rockets teammate Chris Paul suffered a similar hamstring injury in the 2018 playoffs, limped through the next season and amounted to a salary dump at the end of his tenure in Houston. He adopted a plant-based diet and has enjoyed a career resurgence ever since, rejoining the All-NBA elite.

Chances of Harden embracing a similar lifestyle change seem slim, given his response to adversity in Houston and Brooklyn. He is a regular on the NBA's traveling nightlife scene, and he has shown up to his past two training camps out of shape. The party has not stopped as he recovers from his latest injury.

It would be fascinating to know what the communication was like between Morey and Harden over the last two years. Did Morey blindly trust that Harden's late arrival to Houston last season and his two-week hiatus from Brooklyn were just blatant attempts to force breakups and not indicative of a broader issue? Or was Harden in his ear, dismissing the mounting injuries, reminding him of what was and what could be again?

Barring a drastic turnaround, the Sixers will not survive the Eastern Conference playoff gauntlet and maybe not even the first round, not with this edition of Harden and the absence of the depth they dealt to get him.

Whether or not Morey regrets trading for Harden already, the deal is done. He can not reset the clock on a less expensive CJ McCollum deal or wait on better offers for Simmons and significantly more assets in the offseason. Morey must now decide whether Harden is worth the massive contract he will seek this summer.

There are questions about how and why the paperwork to pick up Harden's $47.4 million was not filed on time. Answers vary, depending on who you ask. Harden has indicated he plans to stay in Philadelphia. There is some speculation that he could decline his option, allowing Morey to create cap room for a third star in a shallow free-agency market, and then re-sign for a lower annual salary. That would be a first for Harden and requires an awful lot of trust in a player who reportedly broke his word to re-sign in Brooklyn.

Fool me once and all that.

Harden is eligible for a four-year extension that would pay him more than $60 million at age 37 in 2026-27. Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix recently reported that some within the Sixers organization are "wary" of giving Harden that contract, which if you are not wary of that deal, you have not been paying attention. Tying the remainder of Joel Embiid's prime to an overindulged Harden could eventually cost them Embiid.

Only, the Sixers have invested significantly in Harden already. Simmons held value, however far it had fallen, as did Curry and both first-round picks, the second of which outlasts Embiid's recent extension. As soon as Harden signs his next contract, he becomes near-impossible to trade, based on the money alone. If his performance this season is any indication of what to expect, his contract would easily be the NBA's worst.

Pay Harden if you believe he can win a title, but there is mounting evidence that Harden cannot achieve in Philadelphia what eluded him in his Houston prime no matter how extraordinary Embiid has been.

If the end result of trading an All-NBA player, one of the league's best shooters, a quality backup center and two first-rounders is an albatross contract, you lost the trade, regardless of what becomes of Simmons. The entire of point of waiting to deal Simmons was to ensure the Sixers extracted maximum value, and Morey convinced himself Harden was the missing championship piece, only they are still a long shot in the East.

Executives always face an internal battle between analytics and relationships. We will find out how much Morey values both, and the future of the Sixers will hang in the balance of the decision between them.

Determination: Fact

Ben Rohrbach is a staff writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach

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NBA Fact or Fiction: The James Harden conundrum - Yahoo Sports

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Yahoo, the premier global media and technology company, today announced a partnership with Cross Screen Media, a tech firm specializing in optimized local TV and CTV ad planning and measurement, to enable more strategic planning, efficiency and measurement for advertisers ahead of 2022 midterm campaigns. Yahoo will also be Cross Screen Medias first programmatic partner to utilize the companys new measurement solution, ScreenImpact, which will enhance Yahoos market-leading end-to-end advanced TV product suite and make the Yahoo demand side platform (DSP) an even stronger platform for political advertisers.

2022 midterms will be focused on federal, statewide and local elections, with competitive races up and down the ballot. For political campaigns, understanding audience screen preference and cost efficiencies is a critical component to optimizing budgets and reducing excess targeting. Through the partnership, advertisers will gain localized political campaign insights from Cross Screen Media as well as cost and reach analysis of Yahoos DSPs inventory across CTV, digital and linear to more efficiently and effectively reach voters. The 2022 midterm elections are expected to be one of the first campaign cycles where CTV will take a more significant share; roughly $1.5 billion.1

The Cross Screen Media platform enables advertisers to plan, activate, and measure CTV, linear TV, and digital video down to the hyper-local level. Brands and agencies benefit from unified planning with high value inventory, and full visibility into how each campaign performed across all screens. Networks and inventory partners can quickly highlight the highest value inventory for their customers to effectively reach their custom audience.

ScreenImpact, Cross Screen Medias new measurement solution, displays frequency and deduplicated reach at the total level and is split out by screen type and network. Users can seamlessly toggle between digital metrics like CPMs and linear TV metrics like GRPs for every output, empowering marketers with all levels of experience to leverage these insights. The measurement solution builds upon Yahoos robust suite of planning and measurement tools by amplifying Yahoos ability to provide zip code-level insights, which are critical to political campaigns.

Through the partnership, both Yahoo and Cross Screen Media advertisers benefit from the companies robust data insights, which can be activated across CTV and all digital channels within Yahoos omnichannel DSP. Advertisers will be able to effectively expand the on-target reach and measurement of each campaign through access to Yahoos premium inventory.

The 2022 midterms will capitalize on the surge in CTV viewership, programmatic flexibility and targeting prowess, said Ivn Markman, Chief Business Officer of Yahoo. Together with Cross Screen Media, were helping clients uncover coveted audience insights and providing the necessary tools to effectively budget and forecast campaigns.

Yahoos unified advertising technology stack facilitates both buy and sell-side capabilities as well as an exchange -- all tightly integrated to work better together. As an end-to-end, full-stack technology partner, Yahoo can uniquely support publishers and advertisers in unlocking the full value of their content and marketing, while putting consumer experiences first. Yahoo is a trusted partner for political campaigns, bringing sustainable identity solutions and access to a full spectrum of CTV supply to support advertisers in reaching relevant voters with key messages.

Yahoo shares our commitment to constantly improve planning and measurement technology to maximize advertisers success, said Michael Beach, CEO of Cross Screen Media. Yahoo is on the forefront of innovation in CTV and digital video, and we are thrilled to partner with their team to drive value and results for advertisers ahead of 2022 elections.

About Yahoo

Yahoo is a global media and tech company that connects people to their passions. We reach nearly 900 million people around the world, bringing them closer to what they lovefrom finance and sports, to shopping, gaming and newswith the trusted products, content and tech that fuel their day. For partners, we provide a full-stack platform for businesses to amplify growth and drive more meaningful connections across advertising, search and media. To learn more, please visit yahooinc.com.

About Cross Screen Media

Cross Screen Media is a marketing analytics and software company empowering marketers to plan, activate, and measure Connected TV and audience-driven Linear TV advertising at the local level. Our closed-loop solutions help brands, agencies, and networks succeed in the Convergent TV space. For more information, visit CrossScreenMedia.com.

1AdImpact, 2021

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Yahoo and Cross Screen Media Partner to Enable Greater Political Campaign Insights, Efficient Measurement Ahead of 2022 Midterms - Business Wire

Talk of a looming recession is rampant around the globe, and now a major U.S. bank has issued its own dire forecast for the global economy.

Its been over a month since Russia invaded Ukraine, leading to an unforeseen and prolonged fallout for the global economy. Combined with an inflation problem that was already spiking the prices of virtually every commodity, global institutions have begun ringing the alarm bells that we are on the brink of a long-anticipated recession.

In an investment strategy report sent to clients on Thursday, Bank of America analysts warned that inflation always precedes recessions and that tighter monetary policies being put in place to control surging prices make a recession shock very likely.

Inflation has been the bane of the U.S. economy for months, and rates have hit new highs since the war began. The annual inflation rate jumped to 7.9% in February, the highest its been in four decades, and the latest forecasts suggest Marchs rate could reach 8.5%, according to investment bank UBS. Such a rate would be the highest since 1981.

The Federal Reserve has been laser-focused on the problem for months, and the central bank began hiking interest rates weeks ago in an effort to temper demand and counter runaway inflation.

Higher interest rates have led to an inversion of the so-called yield curve, which means that short-term yields have suddenly become much more attractive than the traditionally higher long-term ones. A surge in short-term yields is an indicator that investors believe the immediate future of the market is better than the long-term view.

BofA analysts say this inversion is a sign that a recession is nigh.

Yield curves always steepen as recessions begin, the report read.

BofA has joined a chorus of financial institutions warning about the likelihood of an immediate recession.

Market-watchers have cautioned that an economic slowdown is the reasonable outcome to assume, given current low unemployment numbers in the U.S. and rising inflation rates. And a growing list of billionaires, global investors, and Wall Street personalities have expressed more and more certainty that the trends we are seeing point to one clear conclusion: A recession is close.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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Recession shock: Bank of America is the latest major institution to deliver a grim warning for the future - Yahoo Finance

U.S. first-time unemployment claims fell much more than expected last week to reach the lowest level since 1968, with the rate of new layoffs and firings staying low compared to pre-pandemic averages.

The Labor Department released its latest weekly jobless claims report Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET. Here were the main metrics from the print, compared to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg:

Initial jobless claims, week ended April 2: 166,000 vs. 200,000 expected and a revised 171,0000 during prior week

Continuing claims, week ended March 26: 1.523 millionvs. 1.302 million expected and a revised 1.506 million during prior week

The number of new claims filed last week marked the least in more than five decades and represented a third consecutive week that new claims were below 200,000. The prior week's new claims were also markedly downwardly revised to 171,000, from the 202,000 previously reported for the end of March. Prior to the pandemic, new claims were averaging around 218,000 per week throughout 2019.

Some of the volatility in the most recent weekly jobless claims data likely reflects a change in the way the Labor Department adjusted the figures to account for seasonal factors. Starting in Thursday's report, the Labor Department returned to using "multiplicative" seasonal adjustment factors for the data. Over the course of the pandemic, the Labor Department had been using "additive" seasonal adjustment factors, which help smooth out large shifts in the data as had been the case with the anomalous spikes in jobless claims that took place during the early wave of lockdowns in 2020.

"In times of relative economic stability, the multiplicative option is generally preferred over the additive option," the Labor Department said Thursday. "However, in the presence of a large level shift in a time series, multiplicative seasonal adjustment factors can result in systematic over- or under-adjustment of the series; in such cases, additive seasonal adjustment factors are preferred since they tend to track seasonal fluctuations more accurately in the series and have smaller revisions."

Story continues

Even with the revisions, however, the underlying trend in the data still reflects an incredibly tight labor market, according to many economists.

"The trend is flattening, at an extraordinarily low level," Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, wrote in an email Thursday morning.

"The new data show that the downward trend has been steadier since the fading of the Covid Delta wave, but it is now slowing. Claims cannot fall to zero; some firms struggle even at the peak of booms," he added. "Still, the clear message here is that the bar for layoffs is very high, given the extreme tightness of the labor market."

Continuing claims, which track the total number of individuals claiming unemployment benefits across regular state programs, also unexpectedly rose in the latest report following a marked upward revision to the prior week's data. These came in at 1.523 million, rising from the upwardly revised 1.506 million continuing claims from the prior week, which were upwardly revised from the 1.307 million previously reported.

The latest weekly jobless claims data comes on the heels of another solid monthly jobs report from the Labor Department, which showed a significant rise in hirings and a drop in the jobless rate to a near 50-year low. Non-farm payrolls grew by 431,000 in March, while the unemployment rate improved by a greater-than-expected margin to 3.6%. And as of last month, the U.S. labor market was just about 1.6 million payrolls short of its pre-pandemic levels.

"No wonder inflation is out of control, the labor market is at full employment where the costs go up astronomically for companies to bring new workers in to run the factories and work the cash registers across the country," Chris Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS, wrote in a note earlier this week. "The cost of living crisis is aided and abetted by the worst labor shortage that America has ever faced. Waiting for more workers to join the labor force and 'participate' in order to bring down wages and inflation is a pipe dream."

The strong labor market has also emboldened the Federal Reserve to press ahead with more monetary policy tightening, including more aggressive interest rate hikes and balance sheet reduction process starting in the near-term. Earlier this week, Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard said it was "of paramount importance" to get inflation down, further reinforcing the central bank was committed to focusing monetary policy efforts on bringing down prices rather than optimizing for further employment growth in an already tight labor market.

"The labor market appears to be moving past the pandemic, rapidly closing in on a complete recovery," Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote in a note. "Even as the labor market is tight, suggesting optimism about economic conditions, a four-decade high in prices is tempering expectations."

"Even as consumer balance sheets are healthy and virus concerns are facing, there are downside risks that could weigh on household and economic activity more broadly going forward," she added.

Emily McCormick is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter: @emily_mcck

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Jobless claims: Another 166,000 Americans filed new claims last week - Yahoo Finance