🎧Sports Brief: Luka and LeBron Lead Surging Lakers’ Return to Glory; Red Storm Storms Back

A recently traded NBA superstar brings “Showtime” back to Hollywood...

Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (L) touches hands with teammate forward LeBron James during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz in Los Angeles on Feb. 10, 2025. Mark J. Terrill/AP Photo

What’s cookin’, sports fans? Welcome to the extra large and turbo-charged Epoch Times Sports Brief for Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. I’m Bill Thomas, we’re hours away from a brand new month; we’ve got some rockin’ good stories to share with you right now, and here’s what’s brewing in the thrilling world of sports.

A recently traded NBA superstar brings “Showtime” back to Hollywood; a legendary coach leads a surprising college basketball program to the precipice of greatness; and a fabled Russian hockey star skates full speed toward an unfathomable NHL record.

Also, the best players in college football showcase their skills at a challenging gridiron gathering, and with free agency just around the corner, the stakes are sky high for some big-time NFL superstars.

We’ll leap into each one of these knockout stories and we tip it all off for you in the NBA, where this weekend, a pair of crosstown rivals battle in a star-studded Hollywood celebration—and no, we’re not talkin’ about the Academy Awards.

Luka and LeBron Lead Surging Lakers’ Return to Glory

The Lakers and the Clippers are barreling toward the NBA playoffs and both tonight and Sunday, they’re gonna be running the court against each other in a pair of crucial back-to-back Western Conference showdowns, and it’s all happening at the Crypto.com Arena in downtown L.A.

The purple and gold are still riding high off of the recent trade that brought high-scoring Luka Doncic to town and so far, he looks like the real deal and he appears to rather enjoy the town’s glitz and glamor. Crowded beaches, fake tans, porcelain caps, $8-million-dollar fixer-upper condos, and 5-hour commutes. What’s not to like?

With all-universe LeBron James and Austin Reaves tagging along for the ride, the sky’s the limit for this rising 35–21 Lakers team, which should continue to gel and could upset several title hopefuls when the playoffs kick off in just a couple of months.

Meanwhile, superstar Kawhi Leonard is finally working his way back into the rotation for the surprising Clippers, and as we all know, when the two-time NBA Finals MVP heats up, there’s practically no stopping him.

Surprising veteran guard Norman Powell has been a revelation and he leads the Clips in scoring, but he’s been banged up and is questionable to play this weekend.

However, you can always count on cagey veteran James Harden—is he still around?—to toss up more airballs than dunks but score a boatload of points along the way. So far, the Clips have been shockingly competitive due in part to their smothering defense, making this team one to keep an eye on as we head into the season’s home stretch.

We’ll hang with hoops now and because Selection Sunday is just two weeks away, the college basketball season is heatin’ up. For one team and its legendary coach, it’ll be a prime-time opportunity to cap a remarkable turnaround by icing their first conference title in decades, and here’s the dribble—the double dribble.

Red Storm Storms Back

The St. John’s Red Storm is on the verge of clinching their first outright Big East title in 40 years and tomorrow night, they’re gonna try to complete their mission by knocking off Seton Hall at Madison Square Garden.

The Red Storm has already clinched at least a share of the title but 72-year-old head honcho Rick Pitino says his team is not interested in sharing anything with anyone—especially championships.

The legendary head coach has already won a pair of NCAA tournaments at both Kentucky and Louisville, and following a decade of controversy, he’s now positively itching to add more hardware to his collection.

In only his second season, he’s leading a remarkable turnaround for the New York-based also-rans and they’ve already vaulted all the way up to number 7 in the rankings—which is the highest they’ve been in more than 30 years.

The Red Storm is now an astonishing 25–4, including 15–2 in the conference, and with the way they spread the ball around and press teams on the perimeter, this is a squad no one wants to see in their bracket when the seedings for March Madness are announced just two weekends from now.

Speaking of announcements: As required by podcast law, we pause here for station identification. This is the Epoch Times Sports Brief program, podcasting on no particular assigned frequency and powered by a 1.21 gigawatt stainless steel, lime green transmitter purchased from the Montgomery Ward Catalog back in 1978. Now, back to our program currently in progress.

We head now to the ice and with the second half of the NHL season underway, all eyes are on a legendary player, his first-place team, and an exciting race to break a mythical hockey record.

The ‘Great 8’ Chases a Hockey Dream

Right now, Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin is now only 12 goals away from obliterating the “Great One” Wayne Gretzky’s decades-old record for the most goals scored in NHL history.

Earlier this week, Ovey notched his 30th goal this season in a 3–1 loss to Calgary, marking the 19th time he’s reached that mark in his illustrious 20-year career. Making his accomplishment even more amazing is that earlier this season, he missed 16 games with a broken leg.

Meanwhile, the surprising Caps are at the top of both the Metropolitan Division and the Eastern Conference, and only the high-flying Winnipeg Jets have won more games in the entire league.

In case you’re interested, Ovechkin’s gonna get his next chance to drop the puck in the back of the net tomorrow afternoon, when the Caps welcome the hard-nosed Tampa Bay Lightning to Capital One Arena.

Meanwhile, fans across the league are laser-focused on what they’re calling the “Gr8” chase and if the Great 8 keeps it up, he’ll smash the mark in a number of weeks and the courageous Caps are gonna be skating all the way toward another Stanley Cup.

We shift gears now to the gridiron and even though the Super Bowl is in the rearview mirror, the NFL action never stops. More now on what’s going down in the greatest sport on earth.

College Football’s Best Showcase Their Skills

Right now, the NFL combine is underway in Indianapolis, where more than 300 absolutely starving prospects are gonna be sprinting, lifting, and doing jumping jacks and pirouettes for the crowd in an effort to crank up their draft value and add boatloads of cheddar—sharp cheddar—to their juicy contracts.

The big dawgs on the D-line, the D-backs, and the tight ends have already flexed their muscles, but beginning tomorrow, all eyes are gonna be squarely focused on the sport’s divas, the quarterbacks, along with the speedsters, the running backs and wideouts. On Sunday, the big fellas on the O-line get their chance to shine as well.

Sports Brief Host commentary: It wouldn’t hurt to point out though that each team has a fine cheerleading squad too. Hey Sports Brief head writer in charge—show the love. Now, back to our program currently in progress.

Meanwhile, coaches, managers, and front office executives from all over the country are gonna be watching very closely as each team in the league looks to identify the next diamond in the rough who can lead their squads to the promised land—next year’s Super Bowl in Santa Clara, California.

By the way, a pair of players expected to be chosen at the top of April’s draft are also weighing in regarding their prospects. Two-way superstar and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter thinks he deserves to be the top overall pick and that any team that doesn’t choose him will regret it. Of course, that’s what they all say, but in his case, he’s right. (He may in fact be right, but when you pat yourself on the back in such a hearty fashion, you risk overextending your arm. Please be careful, Mr. Hunter!)

Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter also says he’s worthy of being the number one pick but a pair of nagging injuries are causing some kerfuffles. However, doctors have just revealed that Carter does not need surgery to deal with a stress injury to his foot, and though he won’t be participating in the combine, he’s expected to show off his skills at Penn State’s pro day at the end of March.

And now, a short Sports Brief commercial break, Today’s Sports Brief program is brought to you by new Sugar Frosted Kerfuffle Flakes. Kerfuffle Flakes now come in a 300-ounce box to satisfy the breakfast cravings of every #1 draft pick on the planet, and they stay kerfluffely krunchey, even in milk. Now, back to our program.

More now from the NFL and some very good news to share with you regarding this year’s free agents as well as one of the league’s most popular players.

NFL Veterans Say ‘Show Me the Money’

Following a devastating loss in the Super Bowl less than three weeks ago, the future of one very prominent tight end appeared to be in serious jeopardy. However, Travis Kelce, who’s been known to paint the town from time to time with Ms. Taylor Swift, has just announced that he will be returning next season to play for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Apparently, the future Hall of Famer didn’t want to exit with a bad taste in his mouth from the brutal shellacking they took at the hands of the Eagles and with one more year to go on his ginormous contract, Kelce looks to roll it back once again for his 13th lucky season and take one last shot at winning a fourth Super Bowl title.

Meanwhile, he’s not gonna be alone, as the Chiefs have just slapped the franchise tag on massive guard Trey Smith. They’re hoping to sign the linchpin of their line to a long-term deal but if they don’t reach an agreement by July, he’ll simply have to make do with the biggest payday of any interior lineman in the league, a whopping $23 million plus. Not bad for a former late-round pick.

By the way, right now every free agent in the league is absolutely jumping for joy following yesterday’s announcement that next season’s NFL salary cap is gonna be a massive $279 million per team. That’s a bump of nearly $24 million from last season, and the increased payday bodes well for any player who’s not currently under contract and is looking to score a juicy new deal.

Hey, we’re out of time now, so we’re gonna exit stage left, and bust out, but we’ll be back next week with another edition of The Epoch Times Sports Brief.

Truth is, we’re not really out of time, it’s just that one of the cable channels is running a marathon of “Joanie Loves Chachi”—all 17 episodes. It’s like ice cream and sardines—we just can’t get enough of that show.

If you have any thoughts, comments, or suggestions about the Sports Brief program, we’d love to hear from you, but only if you have kind, gushing, complimentary, platinum kudos for the multi-talented, under-fed, finely attired, well-coiffed, and generally ill-behaved Sports Brief crew. You can find us at [email protected].

Also, our Sports Brief motto is missing and before it ends up in the bargain bin at the dollar store, help us out. If you have a rockin’ good Sports Brief Motto you can share with us, that would be just groovy. Send along your best Sports Brief motto to [email protected] or simply post your motto here in the comments thread. We really do need a Sports Brief Motto—something like: Candy is dandy, but sports don’t rot your teeth.

For all of us here at The Epoch Times Sports Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.

Sports Brief craft services (it’s a fancy term for show biz lunch) were provided by me. I brought fried bologna sandwiches in for everybody today on account of a well-fed Sports Brief crew is a productive Sports Brief crew.

The Epoch Times Sports Brief program is written each week by Davey Ross—a man who’s no stranger to a deck of cards. In fact, in the Sports Brief dining room, he’s affectionately referred to as “The King of Canasta.”

And finally, sometimes every week on this almost award-winning program, we leave you with a highly notable quote and this comes to us from Ernest Hemingway who said:

“There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.”

Hemingway was an American journalist, novelist, and short-story writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954.

America (no, not the Neil Diamond song from his 1980 movie “The Jazz Singer”—the country). America, thank you for making us your one-stop source for a concise, accurate, and engaging rundown of all the sports stories you absolutely need to know about.

Enjoy another great weekend of sports, stay safe, play by the rules (unless you’re golfing, then feel free to mildly adjust your scorecard), and remember, let’s all continue to watch out for one another! Have a superb day today, and don’t forget to keep your eyes on the game. Bye for now.