Talk » to actually back them up inside the cage -- while

Former Boston Celtics guard Evan Turner has agreed to a four-year, $70 million deal with the Portland Trail Blazers, his agent told ESPNs Jeff Goodman.Turner posted a message to Celtics fans on Instagram late Friday afternoon.?The deal cannot be officially signed until July 7, when a leaguewide moratorium on signings and trades is lifted.During two seasons in Boston, Turner averaged 10 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists over 27.8 minutes per game. Celtics coach Brad Stevens often leaned on Turners ballhandling abilities, especially during the 2014-15 season. Turner started 57 games that season, often running the offense while rookie Marcus Smart got his feet wet.Turner, 27, settled into a reserve role this past season (with Isaiah Thomas elevating to starting point guard) and finished fifth in NBA Sixth Man of the Year voting. Known for his ability to create off the dribble, especially pulling up from the midrange, Turner often poked fun at himself for shooting just 14.5 percent beyond the 3-point arc before the All-Star break. He then went out and shot 52.4 percent from long distance over the final two months of the season.Before rejuvenating his career in Boston, the 6-foot-7 Turner was continually referenced as the No. 2 pick in the 2010 draft. With the Celtics, Turner embraced his supporting role and endeared himself to his coach and teammates with his personality. Turner also cemented his reputation as one of the most quotable players in the league.Information from ESPNs Chris Forsberg was used in this report.Marlins Jerseys 2019 . Meanwhile, there were huge victories for Sunderland and West Ham over fellow relegation rivals, leaving the battle to avoid the drop up for grabs with the bottom 11 teams separated by just six points. Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres scored second-half goals to seal a fourth straight victory for Chelsea, which climbed above Arsenal and Manchester City in the standings ahead of their games on Monday and Sunday respectively. Miami Marlins Shirts .ca! Hi Kerry, Its another day and here we are looking at another dubious hit to the head. In this case Blue Jackets forward Brandon Dubinsky elbowed Saku Koivu in the head about a second after he dished off the puck to a teammate, knocking him unconscious. https://www.cheapmarlinsjerseys.us/ . -- Eastern Kentucky thrives off creating havoc for others. Miami Marlins Pro Shop .C. -- Manny Malhotra had two goals and an assist, leading the Carolina Hurricanes to a 6-3 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. Miami Marlins Store . Its the second straight game Bell has scored in extra time for Kelowna, which beat the Brandon Wheat Kings 6-5 on Friday, and he now has four game-winning goals on the season.NEW YORK -- It likely went down as the line of the night on Saturday at the UFCs historic debut at Madison Square Garden. But it might as well sum up Conor McGregors entire career.Id like to take a chance to apologize to ... absolutely nobody! McGregor said, setting off a cacophony of noise -- both supportive and derisive -- inside the legendary arena.McGregor, fresh off of making history at UFC 205 by becoming the promotions first fighter to hold world titles in two weight divisions simultaneously, need not seek repentance from anyone in the fight game. Not even as his behavior in recent days, from showing up late once again at Thursdays news conference to answering questions with constant profanity, has become increasingly crass for even his standards.The worlds most famous fighter took over The Worlds Most Famous Arena and made it his home on Saturday with a second-round knockout of lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez, just as he said he would do. In fact, just as he said he would do to every single fighter he has faced over 10 appearances in the Octagon since his 2013 debut -- save for a brief hiccup at welterweight against Nate Diaz in March, which he avenged four months later.As the great Muhammad Ali used to say, its not bragging if you can back it up. And until anyone at 145 -- where McGregor has held the UFCs featherweight title since last December -- or 155 pounds can do anything to stop him, the brazen Irish sensation has free reign to be just as Notorious as he wants to.The Ali reference is apropos in this sense because McGregor is the first combat sports athlete since The Greatest to truly possess Ali-like qualities. No, the parallel isnt perfect, particularly from the sense of cultural significance. But when it comes to entertainment value and the bold ability to back up the endless rhetoric that acts as his shield, McGregor stands alone within his own era.McGregors victory over Alvarez caps a 12-month span of financial and in-cage success that tops what any fighter has done in UFC history. So on the very saame night as the 23rd anniversary of the UFC, in the promotions first appearance in the state of New York since 1997 following a well-documented battle, there was no other fighter worthy to have his face on the marquee on the brightest possible stage.ddddddddddddHaving already supplanted his contemporaries as the greatest draw in UFC history, McGregor is now attempting to creep closer toward the idea of becoming its greatest fighter, as well. No, hes not there yet. To many, he might not even be close. But hes building a resume that each day is becoming harder to quantify with an asterisk like what happens when he finally faces an elite wrestler with a full training camp? Those days, of penalizing his arrogance and lack of a complete game with qualifiers, is nearing completion.Are there fighters in both weight classes in which McGregor holds titles that you could legitimately favor to beat him tomorrow? No question. Unbeaten lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov, who looked like a beast in mauling Michael Johnson on Saturday before calling out McGregor, is one of them.But the more he continues to make the kind of outrageous claims that hes talented and just crazy enough to actually back them up inside the cage -- while doing so in such spectacular and effortless fashion -- the closer McGregor comes to mixed martial arts immortality.Like Ali, he spoke of his all-time greatness from the very beginning, long before any of us -- or possibly himself -- was truly in a position to believe it. But theres no longer room to deny it.McGregor couldnt have said it any better Saturday after the fight when he proclaimed, Youve got to have size, reach, length -- youve got to have attributes to defeat me. One of those attributes is audacity, and right now he has no peer.For that, McGregor need not apologize. As long as he continues to back it up, the UFC is his world and the rest of us are just bystanders. 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