giri nathan

giri nathan

@girinathan.bsky.social

CHANGEOVER, my book about Alcaraz & Sinner, is out now: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Changeover/Giri-Nathan/9781668076248 giri[at]defector[dot]com

6.6K followers571 following751 posts

giri nathan
@girinathan.bsky.social

watched parent neglect child climbing a risky ladder due to phone, looked at phone screen and it was a slop slideshow like Sometimes We Confuse CURATION For CREATION. humiliating stuff

giri nathan reposted

maitreyi anantharaman
@maitreyiaa.bsky.social

Five players in the Finals were top-10 on the WNBA steals leaderboard this year! I wrote a bit about what steals have meant in this series and talked to all five about their approach to steals:

Defector@defector.com

These WNBA Finals are made of steal: defector.com/these-wnba-f...

defector.comThese WNBA Finals Are Made Of Steal | DefectorATLANTA — The shooting gods may be weeping, but these WNBA Finals are a steal lover’s delight. Jordin Canada, at 5-foot-6, shoots the gap and sneaks behind the unsuspecting. Angel Reese, who can time…
giri nathan
@girinathan.bsky.social

appears JD Vance couldn’t make a statement on the attempted mass shooting at a Hindu temple because he has to prioritize his base (potential Hindu temple mass shooters) over his family

giri nathan
@girinathan.bsky.social

actual 12yo me was fixated on gatorade fierce melon, which was already knicks color, and more importantly left me with the indelible phrase "fierce melon"

Barry Petchesky@barryp.bsky.social

12-year-old me would've bought the Knicks championship Snapple every day

giri nathan
@girinathan.bsky.social

i aspire to be the sort of person who does not know what "Sneako" is but i am irreversibly the sort of person who needs to follow Michael Porter Jr podcast clips

giri nathan
@girinathan.bsky.social

what are some essays that tackle strategy in sports and games that are still lucid and interesting to the general reader? (not looking for theory, looking for general-audience writing that does a good job explaining strategy as instantiated in actual leagues/competitions)

giri nathan reposted

maitreyi anantharaman
@maitreyiaa.bsky.social

digging up my Angel Reese feature from 2024 “She understands that basketball, at its core, is a 40-minute series of tiny opportunities, each of which can be seized by the person who wants it more.”

defector.comAngel Reese Has Genius In Her Fingertips | DefectorReese can scrape the basketball back to herself with what seems like a sliver of her nail. Her best boards find her bending backward mid-air, like a wide receiver hauling in a touchdown pass at its hi...

giri nathan reposted

Leonard Pierce
@leonardpierce.bsky.social

The thing that frustrates me the most about Brennan and her ilk yammering on about Caitlin Clark being disrespected is that Clark is far and away the best-known, most promoted, most famous player in women's basketball, well beyond her actual (and considerable) accomplishments as an athlete!

giri nathan@girinathan.bsky.social

What is Christine Brennan's 10-point plan to Properly Respect Caitlin Clark?

defector.comChristine Brennan Has Fully Lost It Over Caitlin Clark | DefectorIf you listen to a certain subset of the media—not necessarily the sports media—the state of the WNBA is dire. A generational talent is being squandered. Weak leadership has failed a league on the cus...

giri nathan reposted

The Second Serve
@the2ndserve.bsky.social

"For a guy who wasn’t getting any free points, grinding away in both service and return games alike, trying to win by virtue of raw baseline meritocracy, Nishikori took his career about as far as his physical tools could take him." @girinathan.bsky.social www.thesecondserve.com/kei-nishikor...

thesecondserve.comKei Nishikori: A Wizard Prepares to Disappear - The Second Serve - Home of OPEN Tennis MagazineKei Nishikori plays his last Japan Open

giri nathan reposted

🐈Rex Parker🐈‍⬛ ✏️ 🧐
@rexparker.bsky.social

“Everything is phone”—this is v good

giri nathan@girinathan.bsky.social

at the intersection of broader disconcerting trends—everything is phone, everything is gambling, and nobody knows how to be around each other in public—lies the 2026 U.S. Open

defector.comThe State Of The U.S. Open Is The State Of Us | DefectorIt’s being shouted from all corners: The U.S. Open has become an overcrowded, overpriced circus awash in influencers, aspirational influencers, corporate stooges, drunken buffoons, brand activations, ...

giri nathan reposted

Ben Rothenberg
@benrothenberg.bsky.social

These gambling-sponsored push notifications, which have been thrusted at tennis fans for days now, are deeply trashy work by the U.S. Open. They historically wouldn’t have credentialed reporters if it was our websites pushing this stuff.

giri nathan
@girinathan.bsky.social

i don’t think Mertens gets enough credit for unreal consistency. i doubt many other player on tour have hit at least 3R for an almost five-season chunk of Slams

giri nathan
@girinathan.bsky.social

we gotta change the parameters of the sport to make this more the norm, rather than an anomaly #raisethenets

James Hansen@jameskhansen.bsky.social

the @girinathan.bsky.social they're so good + they can't serve yet = the best matches between younger players theory is indeed undefeated

giri nathan
@girinathan.bsky.social

so often see my timeline aligned in ironclad support of a seemingly random player in a match i’m not paying attention to and then i deduce who his opponent is lol

giri nathan
@girinathan.bsky.social

came out for the vibes and honey deuces, saw a cursed ancient beast crying and dying

Meghan O'Keefe@megsokay.bsky.social

Imagine being an aspiring IG influencer who only knows a little about tennis and you land Ashe tickets for tonight and have to watch THIS happening in real time. 🎾

giri nathan
@girinathan.bsky.social

you're out there exploring your innermost demons and the limitations of the human body and this is who is there to witness you (amazing thread)

The Body Serve@thebodyserve.bsky.social

I imagine this is the only way they can get women to talk to them? It's tragic to watch. One dude tried to leave by climbing down the row below rather than ask ppl beside him to get up. Of course, multiple palomas in....falls forward, ends up on his ass & whacks a woman in her head with his shoe

giri nathan
@girinathan.bsky.social

genAI service where people pay me for shitty blurry photos and videos to post on social media suggesting to their friends that they were at The Event but in reality can just stay home

Carrielina BOO-kova@carriempruett.bsky.social

Last month I paid $100 to sit at a beautiful amphitheatre to see and hear Bob Dylan. I sort of saw Bob and his band from a great distance and heard everybody around me talking nonstop.