Betting: Will the Brooklyn Nets improve with Blake Griffin on the roster?
Minty Bets gives her winners & losers for the week, including the Brooklyn Nets signing Blake Griffin, the NFL making Maia Chaka the first black woman as an on-field official, MVP frontrunner Joel Embiid donating $100k to charity, and Petr Yan losing the UFC 259 Bantamweight title bout to disqualification.
Video Transcript
MINTY BETS: Before we get started, get $25 when you sign up for the Yahoo Sports book today. It's time to recap this week's winners and losers. Let's start with a winner. Maia Chaka was recently added to the NFL's roster of officials for the 2021 season, making her the second woman and the first Black woman to be an on-field official. This is a huge leap forward for women and women of color as this is only the beginning of breaking through in a male-dominated industry. Congrats, Maia.
Let's move on to a loser. Now this is a hot take. Most people are excited about Blake Griffin signing with the Nets, but this isn't 2014 Blake.
- Here comes Griffin, and oh.
MINTY BETS: This is 2021 Blake.
- No more purse for Blake Griffin, who looks like a very old 31.
MINTY BETS: This season, he's only scoring 12 points per game and shooting 36%. Most telling is that Brooklyn's championship odds haven't changed at all. The Nets are still plus 280 to win it all.
Let's move on to a winner. The front runner for NBA MVP at plus 250, Joel Embiid, has decided to donate $100,000 of his all-star winnings to homeless shelters in Philly. The Sixers have said they'll match that contribution to those shelters. Unfortunately, the Process and Ben Simmons were forced to sit out the game after being in contact with a barber who tested positive for COVID. Wait, haven't we heard this story before?
Yeah, it was right before the Super Bowl, when Daniel Kilgore of the Kansas City Chiefs had his hair cut stopped mid cut when it came out that his barber tested positive for COVID. Guys, let's just hold off on the haircuts, at least right before big events.
And let's wrap things up with a loser. In the bantamweight title bout in UFC 259, Aljaman Sterling was the first fighter in UFC history to win a championship by disqualification. His opponent, Petr Yan, landed an illegal knee to Sterling's head when he was down. Alja bettors were just about to rip up their tickets, and then Yan bettors ended up with the worse beat of the night. Sterling cashed in at plus 650 via disqualification.
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