Jeopardy! Champ Jamie Ding's 31-Game Winning Streak Comes to an End: Here's What He Says About Losing (Exclusive)

Jamie Ding's 31-game winning streak finally came to an end on April 27

People Jamie Ding on Jeopardy!Credit: Jeopardy Productions, Inc.

NEED TO KNOW

  • He still remains the 5th-winningest contestant in the show's history, but missed besting 2019 champion James Holzhauer by one game

  • He says that he's sad his run is over, but is at least glad it was a runaway

Jamie Ding'swinning streak onJeopardy!has come to an end.

After 31 straight games and winning $882,605 in prize money, the New Jersey native and Princeton grad was bested by Greg Shahade on the Monday, April 27, episode. WhileDingsays he's sad his run is over, he also says he's happy it ended in the way it did.

"I think my last game is unusual, because I was a super champ, but I also lost in a runaway, which I feel like is the first time that ever happened," he tells PEOPLE of Shahade beating him by 13,990 points.

"It almost makes me feel better about the thing because there wasn't really one clue or whatever that everything hinged on," Ding continues. He says that's why he opted to write a farewell note, that said "TTFN," (ta ta for now) on his final jeopardy answer

Jamie Ding on Jeopardy!Credit: Jeopardy!

"It being a runaway means that I got to write a goodbye message instead of nothing at all," he says. "I wouldn't have done that if there had even been a chance of me coming out with the victory."

Of course, the trivia wiz wishes he could have kept the streak going — he just missed bestingJames Holzhauer'sstreak, who won 32 consecutive games in 2019.

"Part of me is not OK and thinks that it would've been nice to go for more games. But on the other hand, it could have ended much earlier than it did," Ding, 33, says. "There were several people who were really strong and played well, and had a couple of things broken differently, I would have been done for weeks ago. So I'm both upset and pleased. Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened kind of thing."

Advertisement

Despite the streak ending, Ding says he's just pleased he had a chance to bring so many people together, and loved hearing how families were gathering around the TV together each night to root for him.

"I kept hearing how it was bringing people together, and I love that very much. I've heard people say, 'It's nice to have something positive on TV!'" he says.

According toJeopardy!'s official Leaderboard of Legends, Ding is still ranked at No. 5 in both consecutive games won and highest all-time winnings in regular-season play.

The only contestants to win more consecutive games than Ding are James Holzhauer in 2019 (32 games), Matt Amodio in 2021 (38 games), Amy Schneider in 2022 (40 games) and Jennings — who secured 74 wins in a row back in 2004.

Ding adds that "as an immigrant and a person of color, I was able to become part of the history of an American institution."

"Jeopardy!really is an institution and America's turning 250 years old and the federal government is going after immigrants in a way unlike anything that we've seen in the recent past," he says. "So I hope that immigrants can be seen in a positive light too."

Read the original article onPeople

Jeopardy! Champ Jamie Ding's 31-Game Winning Streak Comes to an End: Here's What He Says About Losing (Exclusive)

Jamie Ding's 31-game winning streak finally came to an end on April 27 NEED TO KNOW He still remains the 5th-w...
Inside Trump’s push to hire 140 new immigration judges - many with little to no experience in the field: report

The Trump administration haspurged more than 100 immigration judgesand hired more than 140 in their place, but many have no relevant legal experience in the field, according to a report.

The Independent US

In a bid to carry out the largest deportation campaign in U.S. history, as set out by President Donald Trump when he returned to office, the Justice Department replaced manyimmigration judges hired under the Biden administrationwith a more “malleable workforce,” a former appointee toldThe Washington Post.

There are approximately 700 immigration judges handling over three million cases across the country—andthey work for Trump’s Justice Department,and are not part of the judicial branch. They are responsible for deciding whether undocumented migrants should be granted asylum and be allowed to remain in the country, or whether they should be deported.

Many immigration judges quit or retired when Trump returned to the White House, inaddition to the more than 100 the Justice Department fired, according to thePost.

The new hires include an attorney who has represented three Jan. 6 rioters and a Minnesota-based attorney who asked what could be done to support the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers amid the crackdown in Minneapolis, where two American citizens were killed by federal agents.

The Trump administration has purged more than 100 immigration judges and hired more than 140 in their place, but many have no relevant legal experience in the field, according to a report (AFP/Getty)

Kerry Doyle told the outlet that she was hired under Biden to serve as an immigration judge but was then fired last year before she heard any cases. “They’re trying to create a malleable workforce that will do what they want without question,” Doyle, a former ICE official, told the outlet. “That’s what I think the goal is.”

Two-thirds of the new hires, who are paid between $159,951 to $207,500 per year, have no relevant legal immigration experience listed in their biographies, according to thePost’s analysis ofannouncementsby the Justice Department. Only 24 percent of them had worked for ICE, the immigration courts or for the Department of Homeland Security.

The National Association of Immigration Judges told the outlet that the usual training for new appointees has been cut from five weeks to three.

Advertisement

The Independenthas contacted the Justice Department for comment.

Under the second Trump administration, the immigration courts have been overhauled, largely overseen by deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller.

The Justice Department’s Board of Immigration Appeals has reportedly ushered in new orders for judges to dismiss cases on the request of the federal government so that defendants can be arrested. Judges have also been advised to grant asylum “more sparingly,” according to the newspaper.

There are approximately 700 immigration judges handling over three million cases across the country—and they work for Trump’s Justice Department, and are not part of the judicial branch (AFP/Getty)

Eyebrows have been raised at some of theappointments, which the Justice Department has been recruiting for in social mediaposts.

Melissa Isaak, an Army veteran, was named a temporary immigration judge in Atlanta this month. Isaak defended three Jan. 6 rioters accused of storming the Capitol after Trump lost the 2020 election, but she later withdrew from two of the cases, according to thePost. Isaak also falsely claimed that statistics show more men are victims of domestic abuse than women.

Another recruit appointed this month was Minnesota-based lawyer Nathan M. Hansen, who reportedly shared social media posts about the “Haitian invasion of Ohio,” as peddled by Trump and Vice President JD Vance during the 2024 presidential campaign. Hansen has promoted other conspiracy theories, including “Pizzagate,” which baselessly alleged Democrats were running a child sex trafficking ring out of a Washington, D.C., pizzeria, according to the newspaper.

In a recent news release, the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review agency touted the new appointees.

“EOIR remains committed to reducing the immigration court backlog and unwinding the policies of the Biden Administration that included a de facto open border and amnesty,” said the agency’s director, Daren K. Margolin. “These new highly qualified immigration judges have sworn to decide the cases before them based on the law — that is, the laws passed by the United States Congress.”

Inside Trump’s push to hire 140 new immigration judges - many with little to no experience in the field: report

The Trump administration haspurged more than 100 immigration judgesand hired more than 140 in their place, but many have no relevant le...
Strait of Hormuz stuck in limbo as Trump mulls Iran's latest offer

What to know about the Iran war today:The White House says the Trump administration is discussing — although not "considering" — an Iranian proposal that would see Iran and the U.S. mutually drop their respective restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz, but delay talks on the Islamic Republic's contentious nuclear program.Oil prices continued ticking up Tuesday with no clear sign of a solution to end the war emerging. The price of international benchmark Brent Crude topped $111 dollars a barrel early in the day, extending Monday's gains by about 2%. Fighting between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, which has been a major sticking point in efforts to cement a wider peace deal between the U.S. and Iran, continues. Israel warned more Lebanese civilians to flee their homes Tuesday ahead of military operations. Japanese supertanker among 4 ships tracked entering Strait of Hormuz despite Iranian blockade

CBS News

Four civilian ships appeared to leave the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday without Iranian interference, including a Japanese oil tanker carrying some two million barrels of crude from Saudi Arabia.

The Panama-flagged crude oil tanker Idemitsu Maru called at Saudi Arabia's Juamyah industrial port in early March, according to open source data from the MarineTraffic ship tracking website. For the past week it had remained anchored off the coast of Abu Dhabi in the Persian Gulf, until late Monday, when it sailed toward Iran's Larak island in the Strait of Hormuz.

On Tuesday morning, tracking data showed the vessel passing south of Iran's Larak island, which analysts say the regime had used as a "toll booth" to collect fees from some ships before military authorities declared the strait entirely closed again last week.

It was unclear whether the tanker's Japanese owner, Idemitsu Kosan Co, paid Tehran to secure the ship's transit.

The other three ships that appear to have left the Gulf via the strait include a Chinese-owned tanker, a container ship with links to Iran through its management company, and a Turkish cargo ship that had been stuck in Iraqi ports since the start of the war on Feb. 28. All three were at least partially loaded, according to the tracking data.

The Chinese oil/chemical tanker, which is part of the shadow fleet of ships used by Russia to transport Russian oil in breach of Western sanctions, switched off its location transponder before exiting the strait.

All four appeared to have passed through the Strait of Hormuz without incident by Tuesday, less than a week after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps attacked andseized at least two commercial shipsin the same part of the narrow waterway.

Israeli military warns residents in 16 more Lebanese towns and villages to evacuate

In its latest warning to Lebanese civilians to flee their homes, Israel's military told people in 16 towns and villages in the neighboring country to evacuate on Tuesday ahead of military operations.

Most of the locations appeared to be about 10 miles north of the border between northern Israel and southern Lebanon, over which Israeli forces have sent a significant ground force to occupy a swath of territory in recent weeks, which Israeli leaders say is necessary to remove the threat posed by the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah.

Hezbollah and Israel have accused each other of violating a tenuous ceasefire brokered by the Trump administration between the Israeli and Lebanese governments since it was first signed several weeks ago.

"In light of Hezbollah's terrorist organization violating the ceasefire agreement, the Defense Army is forced to act against it with force," Israel Defense Forces spokesman Avichay Adraee said in his warning to residents of the Lebanese towns and villages,issued Tuesday via social media.

He said the Israeli army did not intend to harm civilians, and "for your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move away from the specified area" to the north.

Lebanese authorities say Israel's aerial and ground assault in the country has killed more than 2,500 people and displaced more than 1 million from their homes.

The Israeli government and military have said forces will remain in a buffer zone that spans the countries' border and extends at least six miles into Lebanese territory, and that residents will not be allowed to return home, until the Hezbollah threat is removed.

Oil prices keep ticking up, stocks mixed as White House mulls Iran's latest proposal

Oil prices jumped and stocks sank Tuesday as the White House cast doubt on President Trump's willingness to accept an Iranian proposal to mutually lift restrictions and reopen the Strait of Hormuz to end the eight-week-old war.

Oil prices rallied more than 2%, with Brent topping to top $111, to extend Tuesday's gains.

The White House said Mr. Trump and his team met Monday to discuss the offer, but spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said the president had made his "red lines" clear. Sources told CBS News that Iran's offer did not include any immediate concessions on its contentious nuclear program, which Mr. Trump has made the cornerstone of his demands for a peace deal.

Hopes for a deal had been rising before last weekend, but Mr. Trump then scrapped plans for his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to travel to Islamabad for talks as it became clear Iran wasn't willing to engage on Washington's terms.

Iran's envoy to the United Nations Amir Saeid Iravani told a Security Council session the country would first need guarantees Washington and Israel would not attack again if it was to offer security assurances in the Gulf.

Stock prices were more mixed on Tuesday, with European shares opening with gains after a retreat in Asia.

The price of Brent crude before the war was around $70 per barrel, and it briefly shot to nearly $120 earlier in the conflict. Benchmark U.S. crude added $2.18 on Tuesday to trade at $98.55 a barrel.

In the U.S., the S&P 500 rose a modest 0.1% on Monday to another all-time high, while the Dow industrials dipped 0.1%. The Nasdaq composite index rose 0.2%. The outlook for Tuesday was slightly less optimistic, with futures for the S&P 500 slipping 0.1% and the Nasdaq down 0.4%.

Israeli spy chief says operations in Iran and Lebanon bringing info "from the heart of the enemy's secrets"

The head of Israel's Mossad has praised the spy agency's "groundbreaking" operations in the war against Iran and Hezbollah, saying it acquired intelligence "from the heart of the enemy's secrets."

"In the campaigns against Iran and Hezbollah, we worked shoulder-to-shoulder with the IDF, on both defense and offense," David Barnea said, referring to the Israeli military.

His remarks were delivered during a commendation ceremony at Mossad headquarters on Monday and published Tuesday.

"We acquired strategic and tactical intelligence from the heart of the enemy's secrets," Barnea said, adding that Mossad had "proved new, groundbreaking operational capabilities in target countries."

A ceasefire in the war with Iran, which began with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Feb. 28, has so far held.

Advertisement

Iranian-backed Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the war on March 2 by firing rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in the initial U.S.-Israel strikes.

President Trump announced a ceasefire on the Lebanese front earlier this month, which has since been extended, though Hezbollah and Israel have continued exchanging fire.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Hezbollah's rockets and drones remained a key threat that demanded ongoing action by the Israeli military, adding that Israel would continue to carry out strikes.

Hezbollah has said it is responding to what it considers Israeli ceasefire violations.

Barnea said the military and Mossad had changed Israel's "strategic posture" and "strengthened its might," but added that the agency would "not rest on our laurels."

"When we see a threat, we will act with full force," he said.

Deputy Iranian defense chief says war shows U.S. can no longer "impose its policies on independent nations"

Iran's deputy defense minister said Tuesday that his country's ability to withstand the U.S.-Israel attack reflected "a broader global shift away from a 'unipolar unjust order' toward a multipolar world," according to Iran's ANA news agency.

ANA said General Reza Talaei-Nik made the remarks during a visit to Kyrgyzstan, where he held meetings with the defense ministers of that country, Russia, Pakistan and Belarus.

"The United States is no longer in a position to impose its policies on independent nations," the agency quoted him as saying. "Iran's resistance has made this clear globally."

It said Talaei-Nik claimed Washington would "eventually be forced to abandon its 'illegal and irrational demands'" and accept an agreement to end the war.

Iran revises death toll from elementary school strike down to 155 from over 175

Iranian state media shared a breakdown on Tuesday of the death toll from an airstrike that hit an elementary school on the first day of the U.S.-Israel war against the Islamic Republic.

Seventy-three boys and 47 girls were killed in the Feb. 28 strike on an elementary school in the southern city of Minab, state broadcaster IRIB and local media reported.

Twenty-six teachers, seven parents, a school bus driver, and a pharmacy technician at the clinic next to the school were also killed, IRIB said in a Telegram post.

That put the death toll at 155 instead of the more than 175 that had been reported earlier by Iranian officials.

An American Tomahawk cruise missile hit the school, and apreliminary U.S. assessmentsuggested last month that the U.S. was "likely" responsible for the attack but that the school was not intentionally targeted. It may have been hit due to the use of dated intelligence which wrongly identified the area as still part of an Iranian military installation, a person briefed on the preliminary intelligence told CBS News in March.

President Trump initially suggested that Iran itself may have been responsible, despite Iran not having Tomahawk missiles.

Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi described the attack in a video address to the United Nations Human Rights Council as a "calculated, phased assault."

Rubio says "core issue" remains preventing Iran regime from "sprinting towards a nuclear weapon at any point"

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked in aFox News interviewabout Iran's latest proposal to postpone discussions on its nuclear program but end its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz if the U.S. lifts its blockade and ends the war.

"It's better than what we thought they were going to submit," Rubio said of the offer, while questioning whether it was genuine.

"They're very good negotiators," he said, "and we have to ensure that any deal that is made, any agreement that is made, is one that definitively prevents them from sprinting towards a nuclear weapon at any point."

"There's no doubt in my mind that at some point in the future if this radical clerical regime remains in charge in Iran, they will decide they want a nuclear weapon," Rubio said. "That fundamental issue still has to be confronted. That still remains the core issue here."

White House says Iranian proposal to reopen Strait of Hormuz "being discussed"

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Trump met with his national security team Monday morning after Iran proposed a deal that would see both countries agree to the mutual reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, but delay the nuclear conversation.

"The proposal was being discussed. I don't want to get ahead of the president or his national security team," Leavitt said. "What I will reiterate is that the president's red lines with respect to Iran have been made very, very clear."

Mr. Trump has been adamant that the objective of the war is now to ensure Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon. He's indicated that any deal to end the conflict must include a handover of the Islamic Republic's enriched uranium, which is currently thought to be buried under facilities badly damaged by U.S. strikes in June 2025, and an end to Iran's domestic enrichment program.

Leavitt said she didn't want to go so far as to say the administration was "considering" the Iranian proposal.

Strait of Hormuz stuck in limbo as Trump mulls Iran's latest offer

What to know about the Iran war today:The White House says the Trump administration is discussing — although not "considering...
‘I miss our land. Chernobyl broke us’: The families who lost their homes after world’s worst nuclear accident

Olena Maruzhenko remembers her mother sobbing when Soviet police told them to evacuate their home in the village of Korogod innorthern Ukraine.

The Independent US

Just 12km away, a reactor at theChernobyl Nuclear Power Planthad exploded, sending a shaft of blue light into the night sky and throwing clouds of radioactive material into the surrounding area.

Local authorities told Olena and their mother that they would only need to leave their home for three days. They had no idea that the worst nuclear disaster in history had unfolded.

“We believed we would definitely return,” Olena recalls toThe Independentas the world marks the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster.

“The 26 April, 1986, is a date that is forever etched in my memory with black sadness. We could not imagine leaving our homes without knowing where to go.”

Olena and her mother were among 350,000 people who were evacuated from the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Hundreds of buses were sent to ferry workers from Pripyat, an industrial city created to house workers from the nearby plant located around 100km north of Kyiv.

Olena was evacuated from her hometown of Korogod on 4 May 1986 (Olena Maruzhenko)

The disaster began when reactor number 4 at the power plant exploded at 1.23am, after a test went catastrophically wrong.

In the days that followed, a massive and uncontainable release of radioactive material spread across Europe. Firefighters and workers were exposed to lethal radiation as they attempted to contain the blaze. Thousands of animals were mercifully slaughtered as residents were evacuated from nearby towns.

The Soviet government sought to downplay the scale of the accident.

In the forty years since Chernobyl, thousands of people have suffered devastating health consequences due to high radiation exposure, including thyroid cancer.

Vast areas were contaminated by the radiation, devastating the region’s environment. Luscious green forests turned a reddish brown, while vital soil for agriculture was polluted for decades.

Picture taken from a helicopter in April 1986 shows a general view of the destroyed 4th power block of Chernobyl's nuclear power plant few days after the catastrophe (AFP/Getty)

Korogod was once a town surrounded by forests, rivers and lakes that provided rich sources of mushrooms, berries, fish and herbs sold in bustling local markets. After the disaster, it became a grey and decrepit ghost town in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, a 30km area restricted to human habitation.

The official Soviet death toll, given in 1987, was 31. But after including those who suffered lasting health effects, the toll is significantly higher.

The husband of Natalia Dykun, another resident of Korogod, was one such person. He was diagnosed with cancer after the disaster and eventually died from the disease.

Advertisement

“We became hostages of the Chernobyl disaster,” she says. “The treatment did not help and he died very young. In almost every house near us, someone from the family began to get sick, and later almost every family lost a relative to cancer.”

Bumper cars sit idle at an overgrown amusement park in Pripyat, Ukraine, a town left abandoned following the nearby 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster (AP)

Natalia was 28 at the time of the explosion. She recalls the silence from the Soviet authorities causing “great harm”, with residents “completely unprotected, both morally and physically”.

Most residents from the towns near Chernobyl only truly understood the scale of what had happened when they discovered new towns were being built to house them.

Natalia says she was “devastated” to see a new village being built in an open field with “no forest or water nearby”. Her home used to be surrounded by nature.

Ferris wheel in the ghost city of Pripyat near Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant on April 23, (AFP/Getty)

Olga Mikhalova was only 15 when she learned she would never be returning home. “The accident and evacuation changed us forever,” she says.

“Family ties were broken, neighbourly ties. We would not wish this on anyone.”

Olena, who was living with strangers in the aftermath of the tragedy, watched the news in tears when she found out new homes were being built. “I still dream of my village, my native house. I miss our land. The Chernobyl accident broke us.”

Olga Mikhalova was just 15 when told she would not be returning home (Olga Mikhalova)

Slavutych, a planned city on the western bank of the Dnieper River, still houses around 20,000 people. It was built for those evacuated from the abandoned city of Pripyat, perhaps the most famous of those evacuated after the explosion. Chilling images of Pripyat, including its haunting abandoned fairground, are an enduring symbol of the lives and communities lost in just a matter of hours.

“When we realised that we would not return home, it was very difficult for us, the young, to come to terms with this, and it was even more difficult for the older generation,” says Olga. “This is a tragedy for many generations.”

As war rages in Ukraine, with Russian forces playing fast and loose around Chernobyl and the southern Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, experts have toldThe Independentthat we are closer than ever to another nuclear disaster.

The outer shell of Chernobyl’s reactor number 4 was struck by a Russian drone last year (International Atomic Energy Agency)

For those who have suffered the most catastrophic effects of a nuclear accident, this is unthinkable.

“As a person who survived the evacuation, I feel especially acute anxiety when war touches nuclear facilities,” Olena says. “This causes fear and incomprehension, why humanity, having had such an experience, is taking risks again.”

Natalie fears for the future generations. “This irresponsibility of the enemy and the risks for the surrounding world of a repeat of the disaster are very frightening and we are in constant stress and fear. We are no longer afraid for ourselves, but for our children and grandchildren.

“Irresponsibility and insecurity in relation to nuclear energy and infrastructure is a crime before the whole world.”

‘I miss our land. Chernobyl broke us’: The families who lost their homes after world’s worst nuclear accident

Olena Maruzhenko remembers her mother sobbing when Soviet police told them to evacuate their home in the village of Korogod innorthern ...
Where to watch Boston Celtics vs. Philadelphia 76ers Game 4 NBA playoffs: Live stream, start time, TV channel, odds for Sunday, April 26

The Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers meet in Game 4 of their first-round playoff series. The Celtics took a 2-1 lead in the series after winning Game 3 108-100. Boston is 7.5-point favorites for Game 4. The over/under for the matchup is set at 213.5.

Yahoo Sports

Advertisement

How to watch Boston Celtics vs. Philadelphia 76ers

Odds

  • Spread: Philadelphia 76ers +7.5

  • Moneyline: Philadelphia 76ers +240 (28.2%) / Boston Celtics -300 (71.8%)

  • Over/Under: 213.5

Series schedule

Game 1:Celtics 123, 76ers 91Game 2:76ers 111, Celtics 97Game 3:Celtics 108, 76ers 100Game 4:Sun., April 26 at Philadelphia (7 p.m., NBC)Game 5:Tue., April 28 at Boston (TBD)*Game 6:Thu., April 30 at Philadelphia (TBD)*Game 7:Sat., May 2 at Boston (TBD)if necessary

Where to watch Boston Celtics vs. Philadelphia 76ers Game 4 NBA playoffs: Live stream, start time, TV channel, odds for Sunday, April 26

The Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers meet in Game 4 of their first-round playoff series. The Celtics took a 2-1 lead in the series...
Malik Nabers initially questions Giants' selection of Arvell Reese with No. 5 overall pick

The New York Giants took an edge prospect with a top-five pick for the second year in a row and the third time in the past five drafts on Thursday night, and their top wide receiver appeared perplexed by the decision when it reached the podium in Pittsburgh.

Yahoo Sports

After the Giantsused the first of their two top-10 picks on Arvell Reese, Malik Nabers voiced his confusion about New York’s selection of the Ohio State product with the No. 5 overall pick in the2026 NFL Draft.

Nabers, whom the Giants took out of LSU with the sixth pick in the 2024 draft, clearly wanted his team to snag Reese’s Ohio State teammate, safety Caleb Downs.

“Don't get me wrong, I love the player,” Nabers said of Reeseon a Bleacher Report livestream. “But ... where do you play? You want to be on the outside and rush, but we just drafted somebody last year to do that same position.”

Nabers was alluding to the Giants taking former Penn State star Abdul Carter with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 draft.

Three years before that, New York scooped up Kayvon Thibodeaux from Oregon with the fifth pick in the 2022 draft. Thibodeaux and Carter are both pass rushers playing the linebacker position for the Giants. Reese files into a similar category.

In 2022, the Giants also had two top-10 picks, the second of which they used on former Alabama offensive lineman Evan Neal.

Those picks haven’t panned out the way New York envisioned. That put more pressure on general manager Joe Schoen and new head coach John Harbaugh to hit a home run in the first round of this year’s draft.

They feel they did so, coupling Reese with former Miami offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa, whom they chose with the 10th pick.

Round 1 grades|Best available players for Day 2|Draft guide

In the aftermath of the Reese pick at No. 5, Nabers explained why he wanted New York to take Downs at that spot instead.

Advertisement

“The reason why I say Caleb Downs,” Nabers said, “you have to get ’em when they’re available.”

Nabers added: “And becausewe just traded [Dexter Lawrence], you need interior D-Line. I understand getting [an] outside ’backer. He wants to rush, OK cool. But I’m saying, though, when you eliminate something from there, you have to put something in the back end. …”

Nabers was then predictably upset when Downs fell to the NFC East rival Dallas Cowboys, who traded up to get him with the 11th pick.

“I’d rather get him than play against him,” said Nabers, who played against Downs when Downs was at Alabama in 2023,on the Bleacher Report livestream. “I got to play against this thing again. … Bro, he’s good. He’s very good. He’svery good.”

Nabers’ comments about the Reese pick unsurprisingly made the rounds on social media. He responded to the noise on X.

“First off, we have to stop overreacting,”Nabers posted. “I would never intentionally take away from the biggest moment/night of Arvell’s life. Very excited to see him play on the team and happy that we have another dawg on the squad!!”

Less than 10 minutes later, Nabers fired off another post.

“NEVER ONCE WAS NOT HAPPY CHILLAT,”he wrote.

Although Reese is yet another edge prospect the Giants have prioritized, it appears they don’t see their growing linebacking corps, which also includes Brian Burns and Tremaine Edmunds, as homogeneous.

“Arvell is a versatile player, and we're going to play him at inside backer, Will linebacker,” Harbaugh said Thursday night,via SNY. “Our defense is pretty flexible, positionless, you might call it. We have an opportunity to move those guys around, but he'll line up next to Tremaine, and he'll be in the A gap, the B gap, the C gap, the D gap off the edge. He'll be moving around with all of our guys, Abdul and Brian and Kayvon and Tremaine.

“He's gotten better every single year playing off the ball and on the ball, so he does both. Probably why he was our highest-rated non-quarterback player in the draft. He's an exciting player. We are fired up to have him.”

Malik Nabers initially questions Giants' selection of Arvell Reese with No. 5 overall pick

The New York Giants took an edge prospect with a top-five pick for the second year in a row and the third time in the past five drafts ...
Jaden McDaniels Sends Blunt Message About Nikola Jokic Incident

Minnesota Timberwolvesforward Jaden McDaniels has been at the center of multiple instances of drama during the team's first-round series against theDenver Nuggets.

Athlon Sports

Following Minnesota's Game 2 win, McDaniels told the media that he felt the Nuggets were bad on defense, calling out the team's starsNikola JokicandJamal Murray, among others. With just seconds remaining in Saturday's 112-96 Game 4 win, McDaniels embraced the villain role even more.

With the game seconds away from ending and both teams essentially accepting the result, McDaniels opted to take a wide-open layup. An act that isn't technically breaking any rules, but is widely discouraged within basketball circles when the game is viewed as over.

The layup resulted in three-time MVP Nikola Jokic charging McDaniels and appearing to shove him out of bounds before being separated by other players and the officials. The altercation led to Jokic and T-Wolves forwardJulius Randlegetting tossed, with suspensions/ fines possibly in their future.

As for McDaniels, he seemed completely unbothered by the situation after the game.

Advertisement

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels (3) shoots against Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) in the fourth quarter at Target Center. Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

When asked what Jokic said to him after, McDaniels told reporters he had no idea what words were exchanged.

"I don't know what he said to be honest," McDanielssaid. "I just seen someone (charging him) that was big as hell."

With the win, the Timberwolves took a 3-1 series lead and will have a chance to bounce Jokic and the Nuggets out of the playoffs. TheNBAhas yet to announce punishments, so Monday's Game 5 may see both teams missing key players. The one thing we do know, is that things may get testy.

Related: NBA Facing Punishment Decision After Nikola Jokic, Jaden McDaniels Incident

This story was originally published byAthlon Sportson Apr 26, 2026, where it first appeared in theNBAsection. Add Athlon Sports as aPreferred Source by clicking here.

Jaden McDaniels Sends Blunt Message About Nikola Jokic Incident

Minnesota Timberwolvesforward Jaden McDaniels has been at the center of multiple instances of drama during the team's first-round s...

 

PYN MAG © 2015 | Distributed By My Blogger Themes | Designed By Templateism.com