The Dallas Cowboys can’t say no to adding players with spotty off-field histories.
The latest player with a troubling past is offensive lineman Josh Ball, a fourth-round pick. Ball started his college career as a highly-recruited player and a starter for Florida State in 2017. In 2018 he was suspended by Florida State after an accusation of multiple violent acts against his girlfriend.
In 2018, a sworn petition by Ball’s ex-girlfriend claimed Ball is a “violent person” and detailed 11 incidents of violence against her and others throughout their 18-month relationship. He was accused of slapping her, and in another incident, accused of throwing her to the floor. In another incident, Ball was accused of grabbing and shoving her. Ball’s ex-girlfriend sought a protective order and a joint resolution ordering Ball to stay away from her Tallahassee residence and other places she frequents. Ball was not charged with any crimes.
Ball continued his college career at Marshall after a stop at Butler Community College (Kansas), the Cowboys picked him Saturday, and he didn’t want to talk about the accusations when he spoke to the media.
“The past is the past and everybody’s moved on so I don’t really have a comment on all that.” – Josh Ball with us. Bad answer to me if allegations are true. Some people don’t get to move on from that trauma so easily.
Ball is far from the first player the Cowboys have added that has off-field questions. He’s not even the first in this draft.
First-round pick Micah Parsons was accused in a civil lawsuit of participating in hazing incidents at Penn State. Second-round pick Kelvin Joseph was suspended by LSU before the 2019 Fiesta Bowl for violating team rules, and he transferred to Kentucky.
The Warriors now are two-and-a-half games behind the No. 7 seeded Suns, who possess the head-to-head tiebreaker, so even if they finish with identical 47-35 records, Golden State wouldn’t be able to surpass Phoenix in the standings.
Entering Thursday’s road game against the Portland Trail Blazers, the Warriors trail the Lakers by half a game and trail the Sacramento Kings by one full game.
While the Warriors are heavy favorites to beat the Trail Blazers at Moda Center, the Kings have a tough matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans, who have won the previous four matchups against Sacramento this season. And the Lakers are idle Thursday.
So the Warriors have a chance to pull into a three-way tie record-wise with the Lakers and Kings heading into Friday, when all three teams are in action.
The Warriors hold the tiebreaker over the Lakers, while the Kings hold the tiebreakers over both the Warriors and Lakers.
The battle for play-in tournament positioning is coming down to the wire, with every game carrying immense meaning.
But for now, the Warriors know that even if they win out, they can’t climb into the top six in the West to guarantee a first-round NBA playoff series.
They are going to have to win one or two single-elimination play-in games in order to secure a first-round series.
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