The Kyrie Irving Problem Edition

Joel Anderson and Stefan Fatsis are joined by NPR’s Gene Demby to discuss the trade of talented, problematic superstar Kyrie Irving from the Brooklyn Nets to the Dallas Mavericks, and to preview the Super Bowl matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs. Also, Sabreena Merchant of the Athletic helps explain what an unprecedented free-agent frenzy means for the WNBA.

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• Follow Gene Demby on Twitter and listen to him on the NPR podcast Code Switch.

• The Brooklyn Nets traded perpetually disgruntled point guard Kyrie Irving to the Dallas Mavericks.

• The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that the Mavs beat out the Los Angeles Lakers and other teams for Irving.

• Irving was suspended last fall after promoting an antisemitic documentary.

• In the Ringer, Rob Mahoney wrote that when LeBron James breaks Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time NBA scoring record, “he’ll still be LeBron—fully in command, and scoring at will.”

• Check out this Washington Post interactive feature on the evolution of the NBA scoring record.

• For the first time, two Black quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes of Kansas City and Jalen Hurts of Philadelphia, will start in a Super Bowl.

• Hurts is the latest in a long line of Black quarterbacks in Philadelphia.

• The CBC’s Morgan Campbell on how two Black quarterbacks, Warren Moon and J.C. Watts, started in the Canadian Football League’s Grey Cup in 1981.

• Read Alex Kirshner’s story in Slate, “Tom Brady’s Career Was Never Going to Get a Happy Ending.”

• Follow Sabreena Merchant on Twitter and read her work in the Athletic.

• In the Athletic, Merchant and Chantel Jennings discussed whether WNBA superstars Breanna Stewart and Candace Parker forming superteams is good for the league.

• Merchant wrote that Stewart, who moved from Seattle to New York, is “the best player to ever change teams” in WNBA free agency.

• In Defector, Maitreyi Anantharaman said that Parker’s move from Chicago to Las Vegas “makes a scary team scarier.”

• Yahoo Sports’ Cassandra Negley explained how expanded free agency has fostered player empowerment in the WNBA.

Hang Up and Listen’s weekly Chuck Ealey:

Stefan’s Chuck Ealey: Philadelphia will never quit its underdog self-image.

On this week’s bonus segment, Joel, Stefan, and Gene Demby discuss Gene’s upcoming Code Switch episode about the NFL’s Rooney Rule on minority hiring.

Podcast production and edit by Kevin Bendis.

You can email us at hangup@slate.com.