The Rock Chalkboard

IMO Memorial Day Classic: Yohan Traore continues to excel
A 6-foot-10, 210-pound center by way of France, Traore is a skilled, efficient, and productive big man with a good natural frame. His efficiency comes in how he generally plays within himself offensively and does what is asked of him on the floor. Traore displays a natural shooting touch not only inside but out to 15 feet and he always looks dunk everything he possibly can while operating inside or in the dunker spot. He also has great hands, is a solid rebounder, and runs the floor with purpose. Traore has the size, mobility, and skill as a big man that high major guards would love to play with.

Projecting the two-deep for Kansas football's defense in 2021
Kansas football is into its summer workout slate as of this week, with players returning to campus and new players arriving into the weekend. The Jayhawks have added seven transfer players since the start of the week, and the roster situation still could be tweaked ahead of the start of preseason camp in August and the first game in September.

Transfer portal notebook: The latest on high-profile transfers
June was supposed to be about the recruiting world reopening, but the first few days of the month have seen the transfer portal bounce back like AMC stock. After a post-spring lull, things have been plenty busy: Two former four-star running from a pair of SEC powers entered the portal, Georgia landed two of the top overall players in the transfer rankings and one of the SEC’s leading tacklers shocked his team by announcing his intentions to leave.

Bits o Chalk

A Los Angeles Lakers sequel that failed to live up to the original
A few moments after the Los Angeles Lakers won the NBA championship last October inside the NBA bubble at Disney's ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, one of the cameramen who'd been allowed in to record the celebration happened upon LeBron James and Anthony Davis walking together in a hallway exiting the arena.

Devin Booker drops 47 points as Phoenix Suns end Los Angeles Lakers' reign in first round
Anthony Davis could barely move, and the Los Angeles Lakers could not move on, seeing their repeat NBA title hopes cut short with a 113-100 loss in Game 6 of their first-round series with the Phoenix Suns.

Tampa Bay Rays say prospect Tyler Zombro hospitalized after taking line drive off head in Triple-A game
Thursday's Triple-A game between the Norfolk Tides and Durham Bulls was called in the eighth inning after Bulls pitcher Tyler Zombro was hit in the head by a line drive.

Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski says he is retiring for family, not due to changes in sport
You know, my [athletic director], my friend, Kevin White comes up there and he calls me a GOAT," Krzyzewski joked at the news conference about his retirement on Thursday. "I was glad he didn't call me a donkey. And then, it's not about having a run next year. It's about having a finish, just so we're on the same wavelength."

Damian Lillard says 'it's back to the drawing board' for Portland Trail Blazers after Round 1 exit
"I mean, we didn't win a championship, so obviously where we are now isn't good enough," Damian Lillard said. "I don't know what a shakeup looks like or what changes will be made or could be made, but obviously as is, it wasn't good enough. We came up short against a team without their starting point guard and shooting guard (Will Barton and Jamal Murray). ... Obviously, where we are isn't good enough to win a championship if it's not good enough to get out of a first-round series with two of their best three or four players not on the floor."

Johnny Manziel says he made 'decent living' selling autographs at Texas A&M, but 'never took a dollar' before winning Heisman Trophy
Johnny Manziel says he "made somewhat of a decent living" by selling autographed items during his days at Texas A&M, but that he "never took a dollar" until after he won the Heisman Trophy in 2012.

Denver Nuggets eliminate Portland Trail Blazers behind MVP performance from Nikola Jokic
"I love our team. I love every player in that locker room, one through seventeen," Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. "We continue to find ways to win. Last year, this year, people don't realize what we're missing right now with injuries, so I couldn't be more proud of a group of players that I truly love coaching every single day."

Eraser Dust

The 50 best teen TV shows ever | EW.com
To kick off EW's I Want My Teen TV series — during which we'll bring you new content all summer long — we've ranked the 50 best teen television shows of all time. Before you start telling us all the reasons we're wrong, let us lay out our guidelines for how we defined a "teen show."

House Democrats unveil transportation bill aimed at green investments - The Washington Post
Democrats on the House transportation committee unveiled a $547 billion transportation funding package Friday that would ramp up spending on rail and transit, while encouraging states to fix existing roads rather than build new ones.

Dr. Anthony Fauci says publicly released email about lab leak is being misconstrued - CNN
"So of course, if we knew back then that a substantial amount of transmission was asymptomatic people. If we knew that the data show that masks outside of a hospital setting actually do work when we didn't know it then. If we realize all of those things back then, of course," he said. "You're asking a question, 'Would you do something different if you know what you know now?' Of course people would have done that. That's so obvious."

UFO report: US intelligence officials have no evidence confirming Navy pilot encounters were alien spacecraft - CNNPolitics
US intelligence officials have found no evidence confirming that unidentified flying objects encountered by US Navy pilots in recent years were alien spacecraft but also have not reached a definitive assessment as to what these mysterious objects might be, according to five sources familiar with the findings of an upcoming report on UFOs that is expected to be delivered to Congress later this month.

20 Songs Rock's Biggest Stars Refused to Play Live
A list of songs that artists have either refused to play temporarily or retired permanently from their live sets.

Bitcoin tumbles after Elon Musk tweets breakup meme - CNN
The Tesla (TSLA) CEO tweeted a meme about a couple breaking up along with the bitcoin hashtag and a broken heart emoji. The post included lyrics from a song by rock band Linkin Park titled "In the end."