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🚨 HEADLINES

🏀 Losing streaks: The Pistons (20 straight losses) and Spurs (17 straight losses) are, shall we say, struggling at the moment.

🎾 Nadal vs. Alcaraz: Netflix’s first foray into live sports was last month’s celebrity golf tournament; its second will be a tennis match in March between Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal.

🏀 All-Tournament Team: LeBron James (MVP), Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Tyrese Haliburton and Giannis Antetokounmpo were named to the All-Tournament Team for the NBA’s In-Season Tournament.

🏈 Drake declares: QB Drake Maye has opted out of UNC’s bowl game and declared for the NFL draft, where he could be the No. 1 overall pick.

🏀 WNBA mock draft: The top five picks in our first mock: Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, UConn’s Paige Bueckers, Stanford’s Cameron Brink, UConn’s Aaliyah Edwards, Virginia Tech’s Georgia Amoore.

⚾️ OHTANI’S DEFERRED DODGERS DEAL

Move aside, Bobby Bonilla. There’s a new deferred payments king in town.

The news: Shohei Ohtani will defer $68 million per year of his $70 million annual salary over the course of his 10-year, $700 million deal with the Dodgers, The Athletic reports.

• The deferred portion of the contract will be paid to Ohtani without interest from 2034 to 2043.

• The deferrals were reportedly Ohtani’s idea and will help the Dodgers spend more money to add talent around him.

At a glance: Here’s what Ohtani’s payouts will look like over the next 20 years.

• 2024: $2M

• 2025: $2M

• 2026: $2M

• 2027: $2M

• 2028: $2M

• 2029: $2M

• 2030: $2M

• 2031: $2M

• 2032: $2M

• 2033: $2M

• 2034: $68M

• 2035: $68M

• 2036: $68M

• 2037: $68M

• 2038: $68M

• 2039: $68M

• 2040: $68M

• 2041: $68M

• 2042: $68M

• 2043: $68M

Between the lines: Ohtani is believed to make $50 million annually in non-baseball income, per The Athletic, and he earned roughly $42 million playing for the Angels.

• So that makes it easier for him to defer $680 million and essentially create a retirement annuity that pays him more money than any human could ever need.

• But this deal is still hard to wrap your head around. Is the world’s best baseball player really about to be paid like a mediocre bench player for the next decade?

The Dodgers love deferrals: Ohtani’s star teammates have reached similar deferral agreements, per the Orange County Register.

• $57 million of Freddie Freeman’s six-year, $162 million deal is deferred from 2028 to 2040, and $115 million of Mookie Betts’ 12-year, $365 million deal will be paid from 2033 to 2044.

• Consider this: In 2043, the Dodgers will pay Betts ($11 million) and Ohtani ($68 million) a combined $79 million. Betts will be 50. Ohtani will be 48.

Wild stat: Ken Griffey Jr., who retired in 2010, will earn more next season ($3.6 million) than Ohtani, thanks to his own deferred payment plan with the Reds.

In closing: “Gotta admire Ohtani’s optimism that we still have a functioning society in 2043,” tweeted The Athletic’s Melissa Lockard.

🏈 A COMEBACK FOR THE AGES

Entering Monday, NFL teams had lost 767 straight games when trailing by 14 or more points in the final three minutes.

That streak is over: The Titans staged a comeback for the ages in Miami, scoring two late TDs to stun the Dolphins, 28-27.

• Tennessee is the only team this century to overcome a 14-point deficit in the final three minutes and win in regulation.

• The winning TD was scored by Derrick Henry, who became the third player in NFL history* with 10+ rushing TDs in six straight seasons.

Meanwhile, in New Jersey… Tommy DeVito and the Giants beat the Packers, 24-22, on a last-second field goal** in the other half of ESPN’s simultaneous doubleheader. That’s three straight wins for the undrafted rookie, whose family and agent need a reality show.

*One of three: Henry joins LaDainian Tomlinson and Adrian Peterson.

**35 years later: Eddie Murphy predicted this outcome in the 1988 film, “Coming to America.”

⚽️ GIRONA: LALIGA’S SURPRISING LEADER

The last 19 LaLiga titles have been won by three clubs: Barcelona (11), Real Madrid (6) and Atlético Madrid (2). Currently sitting ahead of all three of them is Girona — the unlikeliest of contenders, Jeff writes.

Where it stands: Girona didn’t reach LaLiga until 2017, played in the second tier as recently as last year and spent six seasons this century in the fourth tier. On Sunday, they beat Catalan rival Barcelona, 4-2, to take sole possession of first place.

1. Girona: 41 points (13-2-1)

2. Real Madrid: 39 points (12-3-1)

3. Atlético Madrid: 34 points (11-1-3)

4. Barcelona: 34 points (10-4-2)

What they’re saying: “The first thing to say is we are safe [from relegation],” manager Míchel said after Sunday’s win, giving you a sense of the club’s expectations in recent years. “I don’t know if we can win LaLiga, but tonight I realized we can beat any opponent.”

• Girona got the job done against Barcelona with the same blueprint they’ve used all season: Win high-scoring games.

• Their 38 goals are the most in LaLiga and their 20 goals allowed are the most among the top eight.

Context: Just how unexpected was Girona’s victory on Sunday? ESPN’s Gabriele Marcotti explains…

“The city of Girona is less than 60 miles from Barcelona, the football club played amateur ball for most of its history, and many Girona fans are Barça fans too. For Barça, this isn’t losing to a little brother who you never regarded as a rival; this is losing to your pet goldfish.”

The big picture: Girona may be new to title contention, but their owners are not. City Football Group, a holding company that’s majority owned by an Emirati private equity firm, bought a controlling stake in 2017.

• CFG’s most valuable club is Manchester City, which it bought in 2008 and turned into a juggernaut. Since then, they’ve built a soccer empire, acquiring 11 more clubs since 2013, including NYC FC.

• One perk of CFG’s ownership is access to talent at other CFG clubs. One of Girona’s top players is young Brazilian Sávio (four goals, five assists), who is on loan from CFG’s French club, Troyes.

The bottom line: More than half the season remains, but the sample size is big enough, and impressive enough, to wonder if Girona could pull off a Leicester City-like title run.

🏈 SUPER SENIORS HEADLINE ALL-AMERICA TEAMS

The AP All-America team, announced Monday, is full of super seniors* playing their fifth or sixth season of college football, Jeff writes.

First-team offense: Three of the 14 selections are in their fifth or sixth year, including Heisman winner Jayden Daniels.

• QB: Daniels, LSU (5th year)

• RB: Cody Schrader, Missouri (6th); Ollie Gordon II, Oklahoma State (2nd)

• T: Olu Fashanu, Penn State (4th); Joe Alt, Notre Dame (3rd)

• G: Cooper Beebe, Kansas State (5th); Zak Zinter, Michigan (4th)

• C: Jackson Powers-Johnson, Oregon (3rd)

• TE: Brock Bowers, Georgia (3rd)

• WR: Rome Odunze, Washington (4th); Malik Nabers, LSU (3rd); Marvin Harrison Jr., Ohio State (3rd)

• All-Purpose: Travis Hunter, Colorado (2nd)

• Kicker: Graham Nicholson, Miami-Ohio (3rd)

First-team defense: Four of the 13 selections are in their fifth or sixth year, including Bednarik Award winner (best defender) Payton Wilson.

• Edge: Laiatu Latu, UCLA (5th); Jalen Green, James Madison (5th)

• DL: T’Vondre Sweat, Texas (5th); Jer’Zahn Newton, Illinois (4th)

• LB: Wilson, NC State (6th); Edgerrin Cooper, Texas A&M (4th); Dallas Turner, Alabama (3rd)

• CB: Cooper DeJean, Iowa (3rd); Kool-Aid McKinstry, Alabama (3rd)

• S: Xavier Watts, Notre Dame (4th); Malaki Starks, Georgia (2nd)

• DB: Terrion Arnold, Alabama (3rd)

• Punter: Tory Taylor, Iowa (4th)

Plus: 19 of the 54 second- and third-team All-Americans are also super seniors.

*Why so many super seniors? College athletes who were around in 2020 were granted an extra year of eligibility due to the pandemic.

🌎 THE WORLD IN PHOTOS

Louisville — Clemson beat Notre Dame, 2-1*, on Monday to win its fourth men’s soccer national title. Only Saint Louis (10), Indiana (8) and Virginia (7) have won more.

Ankara, Turkey — A Turkish soccer match fell into chaos on Monday after a club president punched an official in the face. All league matches were suspended.

Val Thorens, France — The top three finishers cross the line during the first ski cross event of the FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup season.

*Defense wins championships: Notre Dame scored on a penalty kick in the 89th minute. It’s the only goal Clemson conceded during the entire NCAA tournament.

📆 DEC. 12, 2002: LEBRON’S TV DEBUT

21 years ago today, LeBron James played in his first nationally-televised game, erupting for 31 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists in St. Vincent-St. Mary’s upset win over Oak Hill Academy, the nation’s top-ranked team, Jeff writes.

Legend left awestruck: “I came here with high expectations,” said Bill Walton, who called the game for ESPN2 alongside Dick Vitale. “I’m leaving more impressed than I could have ever believed.”

More on this day:

• 🏈 1982: The Patriots beat the Dolphins, 3-0, on a snowy day in New England after the Pats cleared an area with a plow to give their kicker a clean look* on his fourth-quarter field goal attempt in “The Snowplow Game.”

• 🏁 2021: Max Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton in a thrilling and controversial finale to win his first of three straight Formula 1 titles.

*Never again: The following year, the NFL banned in-game use of snowplows.

📺 WATCHLIST: CONNOR VS. CONNOR

Connor McDavid and Connor Bedard face off for the first time tonight (10pm ET, ESPN) as the red-hot Oilers* host the struggling Blackhawks, Jeff writes.

• McDavid: The reigning MVP has recorded 20 points during Edmonton’s (12-12-1) seven-game winning streak.

• Bedard: The No. 1 pick has impressed for Chicago (9-17-1), leading the team and all rookies with 23 points.

More to watch:

• 🏀 NBA: Lakers at Mavericks (7:30pm, TNT); Warriors at Suns (10pm, TNT)

• ⚽️ Champions League: Matchday 6 (12:45-3pm, Paramount+) … Eight games kick off the final matchday, with another eight tomorrow.

• 🏒 NHL: Red Wings at Blues (7:30pm, ESPN)

• 🏀 NCAAM: Hofstra at No. 21 Duke (7pm, ESPN2)

*Quite the turnaround: The Oilers started the season 2-9-1, tied for their worst start in franchise history. They’re 10-3 since then.

🏀 NBA TRIVIA

The Lakers plan to hang an In-Season Tournament championship banner at Crypto.com Arena.

Question: How many NBA championship banners are already hanging there?

Answer at the bottom.

⚾️ ROYALS ADD MLB’S GOOD LUCK CHARM

The Royals have signed veteran reliever Will Smith. Should we crown them now or wait until October?

The ultimate good luck charm: Smith has won three straight championships with three different teams, the first athlete in major U.S. sports history to do that (while playing in at least one game of each title run).

• Braves in 2021

• Astros in 2022

• Rangers in 2023

Looking ahead: It will take a minor miracle for Smith to win a fourth straight World Series in Kansas City, where he began his career. The Royals just had their worst season ever (56-106) and only the Rockies and A’s have worse title odds for 2024.

___

Trivia answer: 17

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