Here's everything you need to know about the wonderful world of motorsports this week.

IndyCar has a very scary problem to deal with just days ahead of its marquee event — the Indianapolis 500.

For the third time in a week, one of Indy's star drivers found himself backwards and airborne at 230 mph. 

During a practice run before Sunday's qualifying session, two-time defending Indy 500 pole sitter Ed Carpenter's Dallara-Chevy spun and hit the wall at turn two of the four-turn, 2.5-mile long track. 

Earlier this week, Carpenter's teammate Josef Newgarden and 3-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves both suffered equally terrifying airborne crashes.

In recent years, IndyCar has featured only spec Dallara-built chassis. This year, organizers decided to shake things up and allowed the series' two engine manufacturers — Chevy and Honda — to design customized aerodynamic packages for the Indy 500.

According to the Indianapolis Star's Gregg Doyel, the Indy aerokits were rushed into use and were not tested until the race series reached the speedway on May 3.

All three crashes involved Chevrolet-powered cars.

So far, race officials have not been able to single out an exact cause of the accidents. Although the Honda-powered cars have not suffered any aerodynamic mishaps, IndyCar decided to scrap the "qualifying spec" aerodynamic packages across the board and instead use only the "race spec" packages for both qualifying and the race.  

The qualifying package is designed to maximize speed for short periods of time while sacrificing stability and drivability. Race packages are generally more conservative. Although they support lower speeds, they tend to be more stable and docile. However, no one is sure if the aerodynamic gremlins will show up at some point in race trim. 

Ultimately, qualifying for this year's 500 did go ahead on schedule, with 2008 winner Scott Dixon taking the pole position with a speed of 226.760 mph.

Formula One cars are about to get meaner, faster, louder, and have in-race refueling.

If you think this season's F1 cars are a bit too slow and quiet, things are about to change. According to Autoblog, Formula One will change its regulations for 2017 to allow the cars to run five or six seconds faster with each lap. This uptick in speed will be thanks to more aggressive aerodynamics, higher revving engines. There will also be louder, more crowd-pleasing exhaust notes.

In addition, in-race refueling will also make a return to the series, adding an extra dimension to teams' race strategies.

According to Autoblog, these changes have been agreed upon by representatives from the teams, engine suppliers, Formula One management, and the FIA — the world motorsports regulators. The new regulations will go into the rulebooks as soon they gains official approval from the F1 Commission, and the FIA's World Motor Sport Council.

SEE ALSO: Motorsports Tuesday: Mercedes-AMG and Nico Rosberg dominate in Spain

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The NBA's final four is set and all four teams have something in common, they've gone a long time without an NBA Championship.

Of the league's 30 franchises, 11 have gone at least 40 seasons without winning a championship, and three of those (Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors) will compete in this year's conference finals and still have a shot to end their respective droughts. The fourth team, the Houston Rockets, has not won a championship in 20 years.

Here are the championship droughts for every NBA team.

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The Los Angeles Clippers are just the ninth team in the NBA history to lose a series after leading 3-1. 

The Houston Rockets rattled off three straight wins to complete the comeback, eliminating the Clippers from the playoffs just days after it seemed like a guarantee that Los Angles would reach the Western Conference Finals.

In four seasons together, the trio of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan have yet to make it out of the second round of the playoffs.

For the Clippers, this sets up an uncertain future, one in which there's no easy way to significantly improve the roster.

The first hurdle the Clippers face this summer is Jordan's free agency. Jordan has emerged as one of the best centers in the NBA — a nimble seven-footer that can finish and defend the rim at an elite rate. Jordan is bound to get a max contract this summer, and L.A. has the advantage there, with the ability to give Jordan a five-year deal with bigger year-over-year raises than any other team.

The Clippers will almost be forced to give Jordan a max offer. With over $52 million dedicated to the core of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, J.J. Redick, and Jamal Crawford, and over $69 million on their payroll for next season, the Clippers have no means to find a player of Jordan's caliber if he leaves in the offseason.

Doc Rivers told USA Today's Sam Amick after Game 7:

"We don't talk about (free agency). DJ loves us, but you've always got to be concerned. DJ would be great. We've got to try to do whatever we can. He's obviously a free agent, and he has earned that right to be free. I don't want to say much on it, but we love him."

The Clippers' core is as good as there is in the league — they'd be foolish to think they need to break them up to get to the next level — but maxing out Jordan, who'd have a starting salary of about $20 million, means the Clippers will be paying about $72 million for five players.

And while the aforementioned Clippers' core is excellent and doesn't need tinkering, it's the surrounding depth that's troublesome. There was a broad assumption that the Clippers' lack of depth would hurt them in the playoffs. While their collapse against the Rockets can't be pinned on just one element, they were undoubtedly hurt by having to play their best players heavy minutes.

Doc Rivers has come under fire for building a poor bench, and now, they have very little flexibility to improve their depth. Not only are the Clippers above the salary cap, they only have one first-round draft pick in the next three years.

• 2015 — Pick goes to Boston Celtics for trading Doc Rivers to the Clippers.
• 2016 — Own
• 2017— Pick goes to Milwaukee Bucks (top-14 protected) from Jared Dudley trade.

Draft picks are more highly valued in today's NBA than ever before. With only one first-round pick to call their own until 2018, the Clippers lose the ability to add cheap talent to their core. 

Rivers is to blame for some of this. The Clippers have used first and second round picks to move players like Jared Dudley and acquire players like Austin Rivers. The Dudley trade has looked worse and worse throughout the season as the Clippers were forced to give up a first-round pick to get the Bucks to take Dudley's contract while Dudley also re-emerged as a pivotal "three-and-D" wing for the Bucks.

Rivers hasn't managed contracts well, either. This past offseason, he tied up nearly $8 million in salary to Hedo Turkoglu, Glen Davis, and Spencer Hawes, the latter of whom is still under contract for over $17 million for the next three seasons. The Clippers could look to ease their payroll by trading Redick, Crawford, or Hawes, but it would be tough to get equal value back. Redick is one of the NBA's best shooters, Crawford is one of the NBA's best bench scorers, and Hawes' value has plummeted so much over the last season that it'd be tough to even unload him.

As currently constructed, the Clippers will have cap space in 2016 when the salary cap jumps to $89 million, but it might only be enough to improve marginally. Including DeAndre Jordan's $20 million salary for 2016, the Clippers would already have a payroll exceeding $78 million, with only six players on the team. Though they'd have about $10 million in cap space that summer as of now, that won't include any signings made between now and then. By the time 2016 comes around, the Clippers will probably have even less cap room with several roster spots to fill, not to mention Paul would be going on 32, entering his 12th season.

The Clippers are only a few pieces away from being legitimate title contenders. Their core six players of Paul, Griffin, Jordon, Redick, Crawford, and Matt Barnes all played well throughout the playoffs, and together, they're a formidable rotation. What the Clippers need is a stronger supporting case, and they have almost no means to build one.

Without cap space or draft picks, the Clippers will have to rely on Rivers' already spotty GM history to convince good players to come on team-friendly deals. It could happen — the Miami Heat made it work — but it's not comforting for Clippers fans to think their team could be a perennial underachiever because they don't have the flexibility to build a deep team without a few lucky bounces.

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Business Insider is hiring a reporter to work on our growing lifestyle vertical.

This vertical is focused on leisure — how Business Insider's audience of leaders in tech and business should spend their time and money when they're not at work.

The ideal candidate is familiar with the luxury market, and feels comfortable covering a range of topics, from fashion to wine, society parties to motorcycles.

From advising on workwear to rating restaurants, this job offers a unique platform for someone with great taste and strong opinions.

We're looking for the following: 

• Excellent writing skills
• Familiarity with a range of subjects that fall under lifestyle and luxury
• Big ideas and strong opinions about leisure and style
• Demonstrated presence on social media
• Ability to be creative and package stories in a exciting ways, and work at a fast pace
• A journalism background

Apply here with a résumé and cover letter if this sounds like your dream job, and specify why you're interested in working on our lifestyle section. 

This job is full-time and based in our New York City headquarters. Business Insider offers competitive compensation packages complete with benefits. 

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The Miami Marlins fired manager Mike Redmond less than an hour after his team was nearly no-hit by the Braves and fell to 16-22, 6.0 games back in the NL East.

That Redmond was fired was not a surprise, as many had speculated the move was imminent. What was shocking was that the Marlins replaced Redmond with Dan Jennings, their current general manager. The move was first announced by Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.

Unlike other sports, there is typically a very clear line between the manager and the front office in Major League Baseball and rarely does one person try to be both the coach and the person in charge of player personnel. According to Jon Morosi of Fox Sports, Jennings is the first person to serve as both GM and manager since Atlanta Braves general manager Bobby Cox named himself manager in 1990 for one season before relinquishing his role as GM. In that case, Cox had previous experience as a manager.

Jennings does have coaching experience, but that came nearly 30 years ago at a high school in Alabama.

Rather, Jennings' specialty is personnel and scouting, having served the Marlins and previously the Devil Rays and Mariners in those functions for the past 27 years.

The move was so surprising that even Jennings' mother, who is married to a man who has been a high school coach for over 50 years, asked if he has lost his mind.

The one advantage Jennings may have is the support of Marlins star slugger Giancarlo Stanton. While Stanton has not commented publicly yet on the hiring, Jennings did just give Stanton a record $325 million contract this past off-season, a contract Stanton had to be talked into signing. Stanton wanted assurances the team was done jettisoning key players and now he is that much closer to the person who makes the moves.

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The Los Angeles Clippers' daunting offseason could get even more complicated.

Chris Paul and unrestricted free agent center DeAndre Jordan are reportedly feuding, according to Bill Reiter of Fox Sports.

From Reiter:

All season, multiple sources say, a growing schism emerged between Jordan and point guard Chris Paul, and it could contribute to Jordan's decision to stay or go as a free agent.

Sources say Paul's well-known edginess and drive ground on Jordan's nerves for much of the year. Contributing to the problem was Paul's view that Jordan lacked the appropriate commitment to working on his free throws, including not working enough with the Clippers shooting coach on that issue, sources said.

Jordan shot a dismal 39.7% on free throws this year. He was so bad that the Spurs and Rockets both turned to a "hack-a-Jordan" strategy where they intentionally fouled him every possession for long stretches of games.

It's unclear whether any of this matters. Paul was reportedly feuding with Blake Griffin in 2013, and things have been fine between the two ever since. But "a league source familiar with the inner workings of the Clippers organization" told Reiter that the Paul rift is part of the reason it's possible that Jordan leaves the team in free agency this summer.

Jordan is eligible for a five-year deal with more than $100 million from the Clippers. Considering the team's current roster situation and the fact that the salary cap is set to explode in 2016-17, it stands to reason that the Clippers are going to give him a max offer.  

He'd have to take less money if he left (four years, ~$80 million). It's also hard to believe he'd find a team that gives him a better chance to win a title. 

Even if there is a Jordan-Paul feud, it'd have to be really, really bad if Jordan was willing to sacrifice money and a title opportunity to leave.

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Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is famous for being full of energy. During his 14-year tenure, he often jumped around on stage at events, did crazy dances, and yelled his lungs out.

Ballmer has brought the same intensity to his new role as owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. He bought the basketball team for a record $2 billion last year. 

"I want them to be hardcore," he told Bloomberg in August, before the season began.

The Clippers were eliminated by the Houston Rockets in the second round of the playoffs Sunday.

To honor the end of Ballmer's first season as team owner, we've taken a look back at some of his greatest moments over the years.

In what was arguably Ballmer's most memorable moment, the then-Microsoft CEO jumped up on a stage, yelling and dancing, before beginning a presentation at an early 2000s Microsoft event. Many people refer to the moment as Ballmer's "monkey boy dance."

Watch it on YouTube »

At another event, he got really sweaty while chanting "developers, developers" over and over.

Watch it on YouTube »

At a conference in 2008, an attendee asked Ballmer to get up and show his love for web developers. He happily obliged.

Watch it on YouTube»

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Despite reports early in the offseason that the Seattle Seahawks and Russell Wilson were close to a $100+ million contract extension, it appears that the two sides are actually nowhere close to a deal.

Recently, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com reported that the Seahawks were offering Wilson a deal comparable to those of Andy Dalton and Colin Kaepernick. Danny O'Neil of 710 ESPN in Seattle put the value of Seattle's offer at $80 million over four years.

That's a far cry from where Wilson wants his contract to be, which is reportedly at or above the seven-year, $126.7 million contract signed by Jay Cutler of the Chicago Bears, the richest contract in NFL history in terms of total value.

Michael Vick, then with the Atlanta Falcons, signed a contract with a total value of $138 million in 2004. However, Vick ultimately only received about $30 million of that contract when he was sent to prison and the deal was voided.

NFL insider Jason Cole of Bleacher Report calls the Cutler contract "the starting point basically for where Russell Wilson wants to be."

According to Cole, using the Cutler deal as the floor for a new deal was pushed by Wilson's former agent, Bus Cook, who also represents Cutler. While Wilson has since re-signed with his former baseball agent (who is now also a certified football agent), the split between Wilson and Cook was deemed "amicable" according to Cole. In addition, Cook implored Wilson to get a deal like Cutler's and to avoid signing a deal like Kaepernick's or Dalton's.

While Kaepernick's contract was reported as a "record" $126 million contract when it was first signed, the deal turned out to be a complete sham with only $25.9 million in truly guaranteed money. Dalton's $96.0 million contract had even less guaranteed money than Kaepernick ($17 million).

Meanwhile, Cutler's deal includes $54 million guaranteed, a sum exceeded only by Tony Romo ($55 million guaranteed) and Ndamukong Suh ($60 million guaranteed), according to Spotrac.com.

With the gap between the two sides this big and with the Seahawks having less than $11 million in cap space for the 2015 season, it is looking more and more like a deal won't get done and the Seahawks will have to use the franchise tag (a one-year contract worth the average of the five highest-paid quarterbacks) on Wilson starting in 2016.

If that happens, don't be surprised if we start to here more about the possibility of Wilson returning to baseball.

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Injuries have slowed Washington Nationals Bryce Harper's growth in his first three seasons, but early in 2015, he's healthy and playing the best baseball of his career.

The Nationals are 12-4 in May, and Harper is on a hot streak, batting .411 on the month to go with a .529 OBP, 1.511 OPS, nine home runs, and 22 RBI.

Harper is still only 22 years old and finally starting to live up to the hype when he entered MLB. After a slow start, he currently leads the NL in runs, home runs, RBIs, walks, OBP, and OPS.

Behind Harper's improvement has been a subtle change to his approach in the batter's box. While Harper has always had unreal power, he's known to be aggressive at the plate, taking big cuts and chasing anything in his reach. Harper has been more patient at the plate in 2015, and it's helping him to the best season of his career.

As ESPN's David Schoenfield noted, Harper has improved in several areas that reflect this new patient approach. He's chasing fewer pitches out of the strike zone than in 2014, and his swing and swing-and-miss rates are all down from last season.

According to FanGraphs, Harper is posting a career-best walk percentage (21.2%), a lower strikeout percentage than in 2014, and a career-best batting average for balls-in-play at .383. He's swinging at better pitches and getting more hits off those swings.

Nationals hitting coach Rick Schu described Harper's progression to Washington Post's Barry Svrluga:

"He wants to hit the ball in the seats. He wants to drive in runs. Especially with the team struggling a little bit [offensively], he wants to be the guy to knock in that run. Sometimes he’ll over-swing at times at some fastballs that he can usually hit if he’s staying calm.

...

"We always say, "Don’t rage out there.' He just gets to trying so hard. Hitting is aggressive, but it’s got to be that controlled aggressiveness. He’s really starting to get that downshift."

Nationals manager Matt Williams also described the importance of Harper's patience to Svrluga:

"You also want to swing at a good pitch. You also want to swing at your pitch. To be patient enough to do that is important. It’s really important. So if they’re not going to going to throw you a pitch to hit, the nature of the game is to take your walk."

Harper told Washington Post's James Wagner about the helpful advice Williams gave him during spring training:

"He looked at me and said, 'It’s not how far, it’s how many.' You can get a ball out of the field that’s 375 and hit it 376. It still counts the same. You can hit a ball 900 feet. It still counts the same as 300 feet."

Harper's improved efficiency is also impressive considering, as Svrluga notes, Harper is batting between Jayson Werth and Ryan Zimmerman, who have batting averages of .202 and .243, respectively. Neither has an OBP above .300. He's carrying the offense, driving in runs while still maintaining his efficiency.

With his newfound patience comes the scariest prospect of all: When the ball is in his zone, he can crush it. In mid-May, Harper had a string of three games where he hit six home runs, becoming the youngest player to achieve the feat in MLB history. 

Harper's combination of bat speed and strength is insane:

What Harper is doing is borderline unprecedented. Although it's his fourth year in MLB, he's still only 22. Mike Trout, the reigning MVP, and Kris Bryant, the Cubs' super-prospect, are both older than Harper.

Harper is already one of the scariest batters in baseball, and he only stands to get better because of his combination of raw power, smarts, and efficiency at the plate.

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Rory McIlroy has become one of the fittest and strongest golfers in the world. In an interview on "The Dan Patrick Show," he explained that it's not only good for him but may also be good for the sport of golf as a whole.

Since 2010, McIlroy has dropped his body fat percentage from 24% to 10% and has added 20 pounds of muscle.

His newfound fitness regimen — McIlroy works out five times a week, 90 minutes a day — has reminded many of Tiger Woods. It also helped McIlroy become the first golfer to appear on the cover of Men's Health magazine.

The comparison to Woods has raised red flags for many since Woods has seen his success on the course decline in recent years as he has battled a number of injuries. The injuries have led to rampant speculation that the extra muscle Woods added to his frame has hurt his game.

McIlroy was a guest on "The Dan Patrick Show" and defended his added size.

"I think golf has progressed, it has become more of an athletic sport," McIlroy said. "When you look at some of the moves guys make at the ball, you need to be strong in certain areas. You don't need to be built like a linebacker but you need to have stability and strength in certain areas in your body."

According to McIlroy, the benefits of more athletic-looking golfers transcend the course. When he was asked how much of a golfer's look is "vanity" and the desire to look athletic, McIlroy says that it helps the sport's image and credited Woods for changing the perception.

"If more golfers look athletic, it portrays a much better image for the game," McIlroy told Patrick. "That encourages kids to maybe pick up the sport or pick up a club and maybe it encourages parents to get them into golfing as well. Because maybe 15-20 years ago the image of golf wasn't athletic, it wasn't the way it is now and Tiger has changed that. If you look at some of the younger guys, the look is much different. I think that is a great thing for golf."

One of those who has been critical of McIlroy's new physique is legendary golf coach Butch Harmon, who worried aloud that "you can almost hurt yourself in the gym if you get too bulky."

However, Gary Player, a legendary fitness buff himself has defended McIlroy in the most succinct way possible.

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On May 6, the day the NFL released its massive report concluding the New England Patriots likely deflated footballs before the AFC title game, the team indefinitely suspended the two employees at the center of the scandal without pay.

Since then, the team and owner Robert Kraft have been defiant. They even published a sprawling 20,000-word rebuttal to the NFL's report denying any wrongdoing.

But the strong words were undermined by the team's original decision to essentially fire to the two employees, Jim McNally and John Jastremski. Why punish them if they didn't do anything wrong?

Well, according to a new report from ESPN's Adam Schefter, it was actually the NFL's decision to punish McNally and Jastremski, not the team's.

From Schefter:

For those asking why Patriots suspended two employees if those two did nothing wrong, as New England claims: NFL asked Pats to suspend them prior to discipline being handed down, per a league source in New York. New England obliged with the NFL's request.

This complicates what the NFL said in a statement about the punishments.

"Patriots owner Robert Kraft advised Commissioner Roger Goodell last week that Patriots employees John Jastremski and James McNally have been indefinitely suspended without pay by the club, effective on May 6th," the statement read.

On first read, that seems to imply that the team suspended the two. But note the language — it only says that Kraft told Goodell that they had been suspended, not that he had ordered it.

If Schefter's report is to be believed, it gives the Patriots' denials a little more weight because the team never actually felt the need to punish McNally and Jastremski. It's also worth noting that Schefter's information comes from a "league source in New York," not from someone within the Patriots who wants to make them look innocent.

But it also makes things messy. The NFL released the Wells report on May 6 but waited until May 11 to punish the team and Brady. Yet according to the league's statement, McNally and Jastremski were punished on May 6. If that decision was ultimately the NFL's, why did they hand down discipline for the two employees immediately but wait nearly a week to go after the team and Brady? And why did the Patriots comply?

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The Philadelphia 76ers could be the big winners of the 2015 NBA Draft if the pingpong balls bounce their way at the draft lottery on Tuesday night.

The 76ers have not been subtle about their radical rebuilding plan. They've clearly tanked in hopes of gaining as many draft picks as possible and turning those picks into future superstars.

A dream scenario could unfold Tuesday night that would kick-start the 76ers' rebuilding plan quicker than many people believed.

While it's unlikely, there's a chance the Sixers could have three picks in the top 11. In the best-case scenario, they could have the first, sixth, and 11th picks.

In 2014-15, the Sixers finished with the third-worst record in the league. According to Tankathon's lottery odds chart, that guarantees the Sixers a top six pick in this year's lottery. Odds say the Sixers have a 26.5% chance at picking No. 5, a 22.6% chance at picking No. 4, and about a 15% chance at each of the top three picks.

As if a top six pick wasn't good enough, the Sixers could go home with two extra lottery picks if they get lucky.

Philadelphia could reap the rewards of the disastrous Steve Nash-Lakers trade. The Lakers sent the Suns a top-five protected 2015 first-round pick for Nash in 2012, which the Suns then dealt to the Sixers as part of a three-team trade at this year's trade deadline.

While the Lakers, who had the fifth-worst record in the NBA this season, have a 35% chance at the No. 5 pick, they have a 16% chance at the No. 6 pick. If that pick falls out of the top five, the Lakers lose it, and it goes to the Sixers. There's a 1.2% chance the pick falls to No. 7.

The odds on the Lakers pick:

• Lakers keep it: 82.8%
• Sixers get it: 6th pick (16%), 7th pick (1.2%)

Similarly, the Sixers also managed to get in on the Kevin Love trade from the summer of 2014. While that deal revolved around the Cavaliers getting Love and the Timberwolves getting Andrew Wiggins, the Sixers sent Thaddeus Young to the Wolves in exchange for the Heat's top-10 protected 2015 pick, which the Cavaliers had from LeBron James' 2010 "Decision."

Much like the Lakers, the Heat finished with the 10th-worst record in the NBA this season, and they have an 87% chance at getting the No. 10 spot. However, if that pick falls out of the top 10, it goes to the Sixers — there's an 8.9% chance it falls to No. 11 and a 0.2% chance it falls to No. 12.

The odds on the Heat pick:

• Heat keep it: 88.9%
• Sixers get it: 11th pick (8.9%), 12th pick (0.2%)

In an ideal world, the Sixers could end up with the draft picks No. 1, 6, and 11. In a less ideal world, the Sixers will still have a top-six pick of their own, plus the chances at picks No. 6 and 7 and picks No. 11 and 12 (and a very slim chance at No. 13).

The odds on the best-case scenario are slim (~0.2%). The odds of them getting all three picks (~1.5%) aren't all that much better. But they've given themselves a chance to hit the jackpot with some smart trades.

The Sixers are hoarding assets, and even if they don't get all three picks, if they can get two, they could be in prime position to get their rebuilding plan moving. They'll have Nerlens Noel, the runner-up Rookie of the Year, Joel Embiid, who has looked good as of late, last year's No. 12 pick Dario Saric, and a handful of lottery picks this season, plus cap space.

SEE ALSO: Sixers GM gave the best explanation yet for his radical tanking plan

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New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft will not appeal the NFL's Deflategate penalties.

"I'm going to accept reluctantly what he has given to us," he said at a news conference at the NFL owners' meetings. "We won't appeal."

Kraft had been adamant that his team did nothing wrong. When the Wells report was first released, he put out a defiant statement challenging its conclusions, which were highly critical of the Patriots.

When the NFL announced its penalties against the team a week later — a $1 million fine and the loss of a first- and fourth-round draft pick— Kraft said the punishment "far exceeded any reasonable expectation."

Given those statements, as well as the fact that the team created a 20,000-word denial website to combat the Wells report's conclusions, many thought Kraft was gearing up for a legal fight. At his news conference on Tuesday, he maintained that his team was innocent but ultimately decided it wasn't worth fighting anymore.

"I can try to end it or extend it, and I have given a lot of thought to both options," he said before announcing he would end it.

"At no time should the agenda of one team outweigh the collective good of the full 32."

It's a major victory for NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who has used the Deflategate scandal to reestablish a power base among NFL owners.

Kraft's decision does not affect Tom Brady, who is still appealing his four-game suspension through the NFLPA.

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When boxers step into the ring to face WBA middleweight titleholder Gennady Golovkin, they almost never make it to the final bell.

Golovkin (33-0 with 30 KOs) recorded his 20th-straight knockout Saturday, stopping Willie Monroe Jr. in the sixth round. The 33-year-old from Kazakhstan is arguably the second-best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, behind only Floyd Mayweather. Unlike the boring and defensive-minded Mayweather, however, Golovkin’s penchant for knockouts has made him one of the most exciting fighters to watch.

Known as one of boxing's most powerful fighters, Golovkin owns the highest knockout percentage in middleweight title history at nearly 91 percent.

He throws, on average, 17 power punches per round — five more than the average boxer.

As reactions to Mayweather-Pacquiao showed, people seem to prefer an aggressive hard-hitting fighter rather than a tactical one.

Golovkin’s recent fight against Monroe drew 12,000 fans and drew a decent 1.3 rating on HBO. While the boxing world can’t get enough of “GGG,” the rest of the fighters in the middleweight division don’t want any part of him. 

The biggest, and really only, criticism against Golovkin has has been the poor level of competition he’s faced. He knows this, and told ESPN’s Dan Rafael he's been clamoring for a big-time pay-per-view fight against either Miguel Cotto or Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, the two worthy fighters in his weight class.

"Canelo? Not the future — right now I am ready for the big fights. Miguel and Canelo. Right now. Not in the future. I am ready for the big fights right now. The next show." 

The boxing world, however, shouldn’t hold its breath. Cotto is scheduled to fight Danny Geale June 6, and is then expected to fight Alvarez in the fall. Even if the winner of Cotto-Alvarez agreed to fight Golovkin, it wouldn't happen until late-spring of 2016 at the earliest.

Trainer Robert Garcia is even more pessimistic, telling Fighthype he doubts a fight with Cotto will ever materialize, and any fight with Alvarez won’t happen for at least a few years. 

“He’s got power, he’s got tremendous power. Cotto is business, and smart. I don’t think he’d do the fight [against Golovkin]. I think Canelo will do it in a couple of fights, in a couple of years.” 

Until then, Golovkin will continue to fight anyone who’s willing to face him. While the weak opponents may deter some, Tom Loeffler, the managing director of Golovkin’s promoter K2 Promotions, told Rafael he doesn't believe it won’t hinder Golovkin in any serious manner.

“We will keep doing what we are doing while we try to get a big one. People love to come out and come to see him fight regardless of who he fights. People just want to see him in the ring because he is so exciting.”

While Golovkin can continue to draw crowds of 10,000 plus people, the real money is in pay-per-view. But, at 33-years old and without a prime pay-per-view worthy fighter willing to face him, Golovkin may never even have an opportunity to cash in.

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The Houston Rockets have been one of the biggest surprises of the season, finishing second in the West in the regular season before making a run to the conference finals.

Despite a star-studded duo of James Harden and Dwight Howard, most people thought the Rockets would fall apart this season after a disastrous offseason that saw them swing for the fences in free agency and come up well short.

Heading into the summer of 2014, the Rockets were bent on adding a third star to their team and unloaded much of their roster to make it work financially. They lost Chandler Parsons to the Dallas Mavericks for nothing, gave a draft pick for the Lakers to take Jeremy Lin, and traded center Omer Asik to the Pelicans just to clear enough cap space.

Instead of using the extra cap space to sign a star, the Rockets missed on their two biggest targets. Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh both re-signed with their original teams for five-year max offers that were worth millions more than the Rockets could offer. Houston was left with a top-heavy team with little depth that many people didn't think could contend in the deep Western Conference.

However, Houston rebounded and wisely used that cap space and found bargain-bin players from around the league to create a diverse, well-rounded team.

Signings (Trevor Ariza, Josh Smith)

In the wake of losing Parsons, the Rockets signed Trevor Ariza to a four-year, $32 million contract. Though Ariza is older and doesn't have the upside of Parsons (or the cheap contract the Rockets could have kept Parsons on), he has filled in more than admirably. Ariza averaged 13 points and five rebounds per game while shooting 35% from three and often defending the opponent's best perimeter player during the regular season. 

The Rockets also made the bold move of signing Josh Smith, the player the Pistons spent $27 million to cut because nobody would trade for him. Smith has long been a divisive player — an elite athlete and defender, one of the best passing big men in the league who shot long jumpers too frequently and slipped into cruise control too easily.

With Houston, however, Smith played near the peak of his capabilities. Smith's basic numbers have been solid — about 12 points, six rebounds, two assists per game in the regular and postseason — but he's become more efficient (a combined 45% from the field, 35% from three-point range) and has been valuable on the court for the Rockets. With Smith on the court, the Rockets had a 7.4 net rating (second on the team) during the regular season and have a 2.6 net rating with Smith on the court in the playoffs, best on the team.

Trades (Jason Terry, Corey Brewer, Pablo Prigioni)

The Rockets have also picked up cheap players in trades throughout the year. They traded for Jason Terry in September, picking up what they thought would be a backup veteran guard. Instead, because of a wrist injury to starting point guard Patrick Beverley, the 37-year-old Terry has been forced to play and has played well, averaging nine points and nearly three assists per game with 38% three-point shooting in the playoffs.

The Rockets also traded for wingman Corey Brewer from the Minnesota Timberwolves midseason for a relatively low cost. Brewer has been productive in the playoffs, averaging 12 points on 46% shooting, 35% from downtown, with three rebounds per game. Though he's far from a go-to scorer, Brewer can heat up quickly, as he did in the Rockets' come-from-behind Game 6 victory over the Clippers, when he scored 15 points in the fourth quarter.

The midseason trade for 38-year-old point guard Pablo Prigioni has been crucial, too. Prigioni, like Terry at the beginning of the season, didn't figure to be a big part of the Rockets' plans, but because of Beverley's injury, he's had to play. While his basic stats are unimpressive, he provides needed ball-handling relief for Terry and Harden, and he's actually a pesky defender, even at his age. With Prigioni on the court, the Rockets have a 104.3 defensive rating in the playoffs, the best number of any regular rotation player on the team. 

The Rockets are still buoyed by Harden and Howard, the latter of whom is finally healthy and has provided the Rockets with a needed defensive anchor. However, what originally looked like a shallow team that would have to rely solely on star power has turned into a fairly well-rounded squad that can throw different looks at opponents.

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The 2015 NBA Draft lottery is tonight in New York, and will air on ESPN at 8:30 p.m. eastern time.

While 14 teams theoretically have a chance at acquiring the No. 1 pick in the draft, the odds are weighted in the favor of the Timberwolves (25% chance), Knicks (19.9%), Sixers (15.6%), and Lakers (11.9%).

Here's the full odds for getting the top pick for every lottery team:

1. Minnesota Timberwolves (16-66): 25% chance
2. New York Knicks (17-65): 19.9% chance
3. Philadelphia 76ers (18-64): 15.6% chance
4. Los Angeles Lakers (21-61): 11.9% chance
5. Orlando Magic (25-57): 8.8% chance
6. Sacramento Kings (29-53): 6.3% chance
7. Denver Nuggets (30-52): 4.3% chance
8. Detroit Pistons (32-50): 2.8% chance
9. Charlotte Hornets (33-49): 1.7% chance
10. Miami Heat (37-45): 1.1% chance
11. Indiana Pacers (38-44): 0.8% chance
12. Utah Jazz (38-44): 0.7% chance
13. Phoenix Suns (39-43): 0.6% chance
14. Oklahoma City Thunder (45-37): 0.5% chance

While the Timberwolves may have the best chance to land the top pick, it's not a guarantee. In fact, since the lottery was created in 1990, the team with the worst record has landed the top pick only three times.

As last year's lottery showed — with the Cleveland Cavaliers winning the lottery with only a 1.7 percent chance — nothing is set in stone.

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The State of North Carolina is the home of college basketball but Kansas is the home of lottery picks.

Over the last 15 drafts, 13 players from the University of Kansas were selected among the top 14 picks in the draft, three more than other school. North Carolina, Duke, and Connecticut have each had ten players taken amongst the lottery picks.

The run by Kansas is even more impressive if you consider that they have had eight players taken among the top 14 picks over the last five years alone including last year's top pick, Andrew Wiggins.

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Race favorite Richie Porte had a forgettable day at the Tour of Italy on Tuesday after he flatted on the run-in to the finish of stage 10, accepted a wheel from a rider on another team, then got hit by the race jury with a two-minute time penalty for taking the wheel.

The rider who gave up his wheel to Porte, Simon Clarke, is a fellow Australian.

At first it seemed like everyone was overjoyed at seeing a rider from another team help out one of the favorites.

Many were thrilled to see one Aussie helping out another in a moment of potential disaster.

After crossing the line, Porte, who rides for Sky Pro Cycling, was down 1 minute, 9 seconds on race leader Alberto Contador, his main rival.

Being just over a minute down is not the end of the world in a three-week stage race, and even though Porte would have had to work hard to make up the time, he still had a fighting chance.

The race itself tweeted this act showed that "cycling is the best sport":

Yet the rules say that you can't take a wheel from a rider on another team:

So now Porte is trailing Contador by a whopping 3 minutes, 9 seconds after 10 stages into the 21-stage race.

Up until today, Porte had a decent shot at potentially beating Contador and winning the Giro, his first grand tour, or three-week race. 

After fellow Aussie and former Tour de France champion Cadel Evans retired earlier this year, Porte is Australia's best chance at winning a grand tour. Needless to say this new blow will come as a major disappointment to him, his team, and his fans.

While Porte can technically still win the Giro d'Italia, of course, the penalty is a bad news. He's likely aiming for a third-place finish now, at best. Of course, if he can somehow manage to win the race, it would go down as one of the greatest comebacks in the race's history. 

There are many tough stages to go before the race finishes in Milan on May 30, including several brutal mountain stages. But Contador is one of the best climbers in the race, and it's unlikely that Porte will be able to do much to undo the damage done. If anything Contador could extend his lead.

"Not the best of luck for me today but guess it could have been worse," Porte said on Twitter. "Ready to fight all the way to Milan!"

He added on Instagram: "If that's not Aussie mate ship then what is? Punctured and clarkey gave me his front wheel #oweyouabeer"

Porte, who is a probably a stronger time-trial rider than Contador these days, can maybe gain some time back in the TT, but even that is not certain. Contador is riding strong, even though he's nursing an injured shoulder.

Team Sky issued this statement:

Richie Porte has received a two-minute time penalty at the Giro d'Italia following his late puncture on stage 10. 

Porte suffered a flat tyre inside the last 10km of Monday's stage into Forlì and received a spare wheel from Orica-GreenEdge rider Simon Clarke. Unbeknownst to the riders, the move contravened a UCI ruling for 'non-regulation assistance to a rider of another team'. Both received a time penalty after the stage, and a fine of 200 Swiss Francs.

The decision means Porte has dropped to 12th place in the general classification, three minutes and nine seconds behind race leader Alberto Contador.

Commenting on the time penalty, Team Principal Sir Dave Brailsford said: "It is obviously disappointing that a sporting gesture made in the heat of the moment has resulted in such a strong penalty. No one was trying to gain an unfair advantage.

"This has however just strengthened our resolve and determination to fight for this race. Richie and the whole team are ready to take it on and there is a lot of this Giro left."

As VeloNews reported, it's hardly the first time there was a friendly gesture made between riders from different teams:

Teams often pass rival riders a water bottle from the car or have their mechanics stop to help a rider from another squad.

The jury turns its head when team mechanics give their own cyclists a “magic spanner” by holding the bike and pretending to fix it as they make their way to the group again after a crash or mechanical. They also use a similar “sticky bottle” move, which often goes somehow unnoticed as well.

The Giro d’Italia faced a difficult decision Tuesday: dock time and hurt the race overall battle, or turn a blind eye and risk being ridiculed in public.

“But what credibility can the Giro have if we are to allow something like this? This credibly applies, even if sometimes this hurts someone,” race director Mauro Vegni told VeloNews.

“I can understand this ‘fair play,’ like how they wrote back and forth on Twitter, but the rules are that way, the rules say that: You can’t pass equipment to another team.”

The consensus on Twitter was that the penalty was harsh and the UCI's rulings are all but predictable. Here's a sample:

SEE ALSO: A fan trying to take a photo caused a horrific crash at Italy's biggest bike race

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Robert Klemko of the MMQB.com recently took a very detailed look at La'el Collins' tumultuous period before, during, and after the NFL Draft in late April and early May.

A month before the draft, Collins — an offensive lineman from LSU — was considered a lock to be drafted in the first round with ESPN's Todd McShay projecting Collins to be the 11th pick and Mel Kiper predicting the lineman would go as high as No. 16.

If Collins would have been taken in that range, he would have received a contract worth $10 million-$13 million over the next four years with all of it guaranteed.

However, that changed just days before the draft in late April when Baton Rouge police told ESPN they wanted to talk to Collins in connection with the death of Brittany Mills, a woman authorities believed he had been romantically involved with at one time. Mills was pregnant at the time of her death, but a paternity test determined earlier this month he was not the father of her child, ESPN reported.

Collins eventually was interviewed by police and was never named a suspect in her death. We've reached out to his agents for comment.

Before the paternity test results came out, Collins was removed from "multiple" NFL draft boards pending "additional clarity" on the murder case, according to Yahoo's Charles Robinson.

There was still some speculation that Collins would be drafted in one of the later rounds where a team could potentially get a first-round talent and only have to give him a contract with less than $100,000 guaranteed.

To avoid this scenario, Collins' agent, Deryk Gilmore, first lobbied the NFL to remove Collins from the draft and enter him in this summer's supplemental draft. That would give them a chance to fully clear their client's name to the satisfaction of NFL teams. The NFL denied this request, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported.

At this point, Collins' agent did the calculations, according to Klemko, and decided it was better for his client to go undrafted. The big differences were the amount of guaranteed money and the length of his first contract.

If Collins had been drafted late in the sixth or early in seventh round, his contract would have been terrible.

Players drafted in the sixth or seventh round this year received contracts worth $2.3 million-$2.4 million over four years with just $50,000-$150,000 guaranteed and no hope of becoming a free agent until 2019.

If Collins went undrafted his situation would have been much better.

By going undrafted, Collins was able to choose among numerous offers (29 teams contacted Collins' agent after the draft, according to Klemko) allowing him to decide which situation was best for his future. The downside is teams were still limited by how much they could offer Collins.

Collins ultimately signed with the Dallas Cowboys who gave him $1.6 million, all the money left in their rookie free agent pool, according to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network.

While that is nearly $1 million less in total value compared to a late-round pick, the upside is that the Cowboys were able to make the entire $1.6 million guaranteed and Collins will be eligible for a new contract in 2018, one year earlier when he can sign a more lucrative deal if he plays well.

The threat.

At this point Collins' agent made a bold move.

According to Klemko, Collins' agents told teams that if he was drafted after the third round, he would not sign with the team and would instead sit out a year and re-enter next year's draft. It was a gamble with multiple risks, and teams could have simply ignored the threat.

After the draft, one of Collins' agents admitted that the move was a bluff.

"We can put it on the record now: We were never going back in the draft," his agency's general counsel, Rick Smith, told Klemko. "If someone had drafted him, we would’ve had a long, long discussion about it, but at the end of the day you can’t go back in the draft. He could get injured, gain weight, or 10 great tackles could come out. Too many risks."

The bluff worked. Collins went undrafted and then signed with Dallas.

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Scott Winn directed this amazing video featuring motorcyclists standing on their bikes while traveling at high speeds, also known as motorcycle surfing. 

Video courtesy of Scott Winn

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