Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum told the website Complex it is “surreal” when he receives a text from Michael Jordan after a solid performance. Jordan, Charlotte Hornets owner, was silent after Tatum dropped 51 points on the Hornets back on Jan. 16.

It was the best of St. Louis against the best of Kansas City going at it at last Saturday's Show-Me Champions Classic at Vashon High.

As the NBA nears its All-Star break, the league turned in one of its most entertaining evenings of the season Wednesday.

St. Louisan Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics will be a starter in the upcoming National Basketball Association All-Star Game.

Vashon High and Staley High from Kansas City are outstanding high school basketball teams and favorites to win state championships in their respective classes in March.

Michael Lee of the Washington Post was part of a team that assembled a series of articles detailing the shameful treatment of Black NFL coaches entitled "Blackout."

Vashon High defeated Pattonville 76-61 in the featured game of the Sweet Hoops All-Girls Showcase on Saturday evening at Lutheran North.

I know because he went to school with my parents, Robert and Erma Reid, at the HBCU. My father and he were acquaintances, and I once played a Khoury League youth baseball game with Savage and my dad in the stands.

The lineup is set for the eighth annual Sweet Hoops All-Star Basketball Showcase on Saturday Jan. 21 at Lutheran North, a top girls event in Missouri.

 St. Louisan Jayson Tatum entered the Boston Celtics' record books with a special performance on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in Charlotte. 

Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee is one of the most historic Historically Black Colleges and Universities [HBCUs.]

The San Antonio Spurs celebrated the 50th anniversary of the franchise on Friday night with more than 68,000 guests, including Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors.

While his recovery period continues, Buffalo Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin has been released from a Buffalo hospital and is now home.

St. Louisan Jeremy Maclin will become one of the newest members of the College Football Hall of Fame.

Football

Sophomore running back Amar Johnson of South Dakota State picked the right time to have the best game of his collegiate football career.

Vashon High defeated visiting Park Hill South 66-55 on Friday night in a girls basketball showdown featuring top teams from St. Louis and the Kansas City area.

On Friday morning, it was announced that Hamlin had his breathing tube removed and that he was able to speak with those around him.

The Highland Optimist Shootout is annually one of the top high school basketball events in the Midwest region. It is always a fantastic way to kick off the new year.

The Buffalo Bills shared some very positive news on his condition Thursday. The team released a statement that states Damar Hamlin has “shown remarkable improvement over the past 24 hours” and although he’s still critically ill, he’s shown that he “appears to be neurologically intact.”

The family of Damar Hamlin expressed gratitude for the outpouring of support shown toward the Buffalo Bills safety who suffered cardiac arrest after making a tackle while asking everyone to keep the hospitalized player in their prayers on Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 3, 2022.

As the calendar turns to 2023, there are some things I would like to see happen in the coming year on the local and national sports scene. It will be a happier athletic new year if:

Several basketball teams from the St. Louis metro area were in Columbia last weekend to participate in the Norm Stewart Classic. The event is a continuous 48-hour hoop festival that was held at The Mizzou Arena. Games started last Thursday night and ran straight through until Saturday night.

Deion Sanders’ crocodile tears before the 2022 Celebration Bowl in Atlanta weren’t enough to prevent North Carolina Central from putting the bite on Jackson State’s dream of an undefeated season.

Legendary National Football League running back and Hall of Famer Franco Harris has passed away. He was 72.

Girls’ basketball season has tipped off, so let’s shine the spotlight on the area’s top girls’ basketball players. 

Jayson Tatum’s career-best season was on hold Sunday night as he missed the Boston Celtics’ 95-92 home loss to the Orlando Magic for “personal reasons,” according to the team.

KMOX broadcaster Mike Claiborne is the definition of professional. He’s always prepared, knows his stuff, and presents in a calm, fact-based way.

The high school basketball season is already off to a fast break.

Deion Sanders watched as embattled Florida State University football coach Mike Norvell marched his team to an impressive 9-3 record and a berth in the Cheez-It Bowl against Oklahoma.

A tremendous year of St. Louis area high school football concluded last weekend with three additional state championships coming home.

The Cardinal Ritter College Prep Lions concluded its perfect football season with its first state championship.

 The John Burroughs Bombers made history in girls basketball last season when they won the Missouri Class 4 state championship, which was the first in the school's history.

 A pair of former St. Louis area prep basketball standouts will be featured at this evening's championship game at the Maui Jim Maui Invitational in Hawaii.