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Myanmar’s former leader Aung San Suu Kyi moved to house arrest
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#IFL #Real #Kashmir #beats #10man #Gokulam #Kerala #register #straight #win #relegation #stage">IFL 2025-26: Real Kashmir beats 10-man Gokulam Kerala to register third straight win in relegation stage
Real Kashmir FC secured a 3-0 victory against 10-man Gokulam Kerala FC in an Indian Football League 2025-26 relegation stage fixture at the Deccan Arena in Hyderabad on Thursday.
The Snow Leopards took the lead in the 26th minute through a Vitor Barata own goal before doubling their advantage in the 49th minute through Shedrack Charles. Mohammad Inam added the third goal three minutes later to seal a comfortable victory.
Gokulam Kerala was reduced to 10 men in the first half after Bouba Aminou was sent off for a second bookable offence.
The Snow Leopards moved to 11 points with their third consecutive victory, climbing to second place in the relegation stage standings. The Malabarians remained second from bottom with eight points, just one point above the relegation zone.
Gokulam Kerala made a lively start and created an opening as early as the second minute. Rahul Raju’s left-footed volley from the edge of the box drifted wide after Bouba had chested the ball down from a set-piece.
Moments later, Habib Fofana produced a crucial clearance at the far post to cut out Rahul’s cross, which was heading towards Moses Lalrinzuala for what looked like a simple tap-in.
Real Kashmir gradually grew into the match and began putting together meaningful attacks. Shedrack produced a powerful solo run, beating a couple of defenders before unleashing a shot from a tight angle that was saved low by goalkeeper Shibinraj Kunniyil.
The goalkeeper was called into action again midway through the half, this time keeping out a long-range effort from Marius Obekop.
Real Kashmir’s sustained pressure paid off in the 26th minute when it took the lead through an own goal. Obekop’s corner was attacked at the near post by Ahteeb Ahmad Dar, who failed to make contact. However, Ahteeb’s presence unsettled Barata, whose attempted headed clearance ended up in his own net.
The Malabarians were reduced to 10 men just before the drinks break when Bouba was shown a second yellow card for an aggressive challenge on Oinam Sanatomba Singh. The defender had been booked earlier in the half.
ALSO READ: IWL 2025-26: East Bengal maintains perfect league record; Gokulam Kerala ends winless run
Real Kashmir doubled its lead four minutes after the restart, again capitalising from a set-piece. Obekop’s corner was punched clear by Shibinraj, but Mohammad Inam sent the loose ball back towards goal. The effort struck Shedrack and came off the post, with the rebound falling kindly for the Nigerian striker, who had the simplest of tap-ins with no defender tracking his run.
The side from Srinagar found its third goal after capitalising on a mistake from Shibinraj. The goalkeeper came off his line to collect a stray pass and, while trying to release the ball quickly to a teammate, saw his throw intercepted by Inam in midfield.
The captain kept his composure from nearly 35 yards out and calmly chipped the ball into the empty net.
Real Kashmir comfortably held on to its three-goal advantage to register its third consecutive victory in the league.
Published on Apr 30, 2026
Real Kashmir FC secured a 3-0 victory against 10-man Gokulam Kerala FC in an Indian Football League 2025-26 relegation stage fixture at the Deccan Arena in Hyderabad on Thursday.
The Snow Leopards took the lead in the 26th minute through a Vitor Barata own goal before doubling their advantage in the 49th minute through Shedrack Charles. Mohammad Inam added the third goal three minutes later to seal a comfortable victory.
Gokulam Kerala was reduced to 10 men in the first half after Bouba Aminou was sent off for a second bookable offence.
The Snow Leopards moved to 11 points with their third consecutive victory, climbing to second place in the relegation stage standings. The Malabarians remained second from bottom with eight points, just one point above the relegation zone.
Gokulam Kerala made a lively start and created an opening as early as the second minute. Rahul Raju’s left-footed volley from the edge of the box drifted wide after Bouba had chested the ball down from a set-piece.
Moments later, Habib Fofana produced a crucial clearance at the far post to cut out Rahul’s cross, which was heading towards Moses Lalrinzuala for what looked like a simple tap-in.
Real Kashmir gradually grew into the match and began putting together meaningful attacks. Shedrack produced a powerful solo run, beating a couple of defenders before unleashing a shot from a tight angle that was saved low by goalkeeper Shibinraj Kunniyil.
The goalkeeper was called into action again midway through the half, this time keeping out a long-range effort from Marius Obekop.
Real Kashmir’s sustained pressure paid off in the 26th minute when it took the lead through an own goal. Obekop’s corner was attacked at the near post by Ahteeb Ahmad Dar, who failed to make contact. However, Ahteeb’s presence unsettled Barata, whose attempted headed clearance ended up in his own net.
The Malabarians were reduced to 10 men just before the drinks break when Bouba was shown a second yellow card for an aggressive challenge on Oinam Sanatomba Singh. The defender had been booked earlier in the half.
ALSO READ: IWL 2025-26: East Bengal maintains perfect league record; Gokulam Kerala ends winless run
Real Kashmir doubled its lead four minutes after the restart, again capitalising from a set-piece. Obekop’s corner was punched clear by Shibinraj, but Mohammad Inam sent the loose ball back towards goal. The effort struck Shedrack and came off the post, with the rebound falling kindly for the Nigerian striker, who had the simplest of tap-ins with no defender tracking his run.
The side from Srinagar found its third goal after capitalising on a mistake from Shibinraj. The goalkeeper came off his line to collect a stray pass and, while trying to release the ball quickly to a teammate, saw his throw intercepted by Inam in midfield.
The captain kept his composure from nearly 35 yards out and calmly chipped the ball into the empty net.
Real Kashmir comfortably held on to its three-goal advantage to register its third consecutive victory in the league.
Published on Apr 30, 2026
Real Kashmir FC secured a 3-0 victory against 10-man Gokulam Kerala FC in an Indian…
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#Deadspin #Michael #Soroka #Dbacks #chase #series #victory #Brewers">Deadspin | Michael Soroka, D-backs chase series victory vs. Brewers
Apr 23, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Michael Soroka (34) throws against the Chicago White Sox in the first inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images The Arizona Diamondbacks will look for Michael Soroka to continue his hot start when they visit the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday afternoon in the deciding contest of a three-game series.
Soroka (4-0, 2.60 ERA) will oppose fellow right-hander Brandon Woodruff (2-1, 3.77).
The Diamondbacks evened the series with a 6-2 victory on Wednesday. Nolan Arenado belted a three-run homer, and Adrian Del Castillo, Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll each added a solo shot.
Kevin Ginkel relieved starter Eduardo Rodriguez with two outs in the fifth and allowed a single before getting the final out of the inning. Ginkel followed with a perfect sixth, and Juan Morillo, Taylor Clarke and Paul Sewald each finished with a hitless inning as the bullpen retired the final 13 hitters.
“Today, it was the bullpen that carried a lot of the workload,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “There was a big three-run home run by Arenado, but the bullpen was the difference maker.”
The Diamondbacks have not had a starter go more than five innings in the last nine starts. Soroka was the most recent Arizona starter to get through at least six innings, doing so on April 17, when he threw seven in a 6-3 victory over Toronto.
Milwaukee, which recorded a 13-2 win in the series opener vs. Arizona, led 2-0 on Wednesday before the Diamondbacks rallied behind the long ball.
“When we first got behind, we didn’t respond,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “We got a man on second right away, and then we had some empty at-bats, and that wasn’t our typical way of doing things.
“It’s been our story the first month of the season that we haven’t been consistent.”
Soroka has gone at least five innings in each of his five starts this season. He did not get a decision in his most recent start, allowing one run on seven hits in five innings in his team’s 4-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox last Thursday.
Soroka is 1-1 with a 9.00 ERA in two career appearances vs. Milwaukee, including one start in 2023.
Arizona’s Ildemaro Vargas singled in his first at-bat Wednesday, extending his club-record season-opening hitting streak to 22 games and overall streak to 25 games.
Vargas’ streak ties him with Joe Torre for the third-longest season-opening hitting streak in the majors since 1940. Ron LeFlore hit in 30 consecutive games with Detroit in 1976, and Atlanta’s Edgar Renteria opened with 23 straight in 2006.
Vargas is batting .372 with six homers, six doubles, two triples and 20 RBIs this season.
Arenado also has been hot, batting .404 with five homers, a double and 15 RBIs over his last 14 games.
Woodruff took his first loss of the season his last time out, allowing three runs in five innings in a 6-0 defeat against Pittsburgh on Friday as the Brewers managed just one hit against Paul Skenes and two relievers.
Woodruff is 3-1 with a 4.81 ERA in eight career games (seven starts) against the Diamondbacks.
Milwaukee’s Jake Bauers had an RBI double Wednesday to extend his hitting streak to seven games. Bauers is batting .345 with four doubles and five RBIs over that span.
–Field Level Media
Apr 23, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Michael Soroka (34) throws against the Chicago White Sox in the first inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images The Arizona Diamondbacks will look for Michael Soroka to continue his hot start when they visit the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday afternoon in the deciding contest of a three-game series.
Soroka (4-0, 2.60 ERA) will oppose fellow right-hander Brandon Woodruff (2-1, 3.77).
The Diamondbacks evened the series with a 6-2 victory on Wednesday. Nolan Arenado belted a three-run homer, and Adrian Del Castillo, Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll each added a solo shot.
Kevin Ginkel relieved starter Eduardo Rodriguez with two outs in the fifth and allowed a single before getting the final out of the inning. Ginkel followed with a perfect sixth, and Juan Morillo, Taylor Clarke and Paul Sewald each finished with a hitless inning as the bullpen retired the final 13 hitters.
“Today, it was the bullpen that carried a lot of the workload,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “There was a big three-run home run by Arenado, but the bullpen was the difference maker.”
The Diamondbacks have not had a starter go more than five innings in the last nine starts. Soroka was the most recent Arizona starter to get through at least six innings, doing so on April 17, when he threw seven in a 6-3 victory over Toronto.
Milwaukee, which recorded a 13-2 win in the series opener vs. Arizona, led 2-0 on Wednesday before the Diamondbacks rallied behind the long ball.
“When we first got behind, we didn’t respond,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “We got a man on second right away, and then we had some empty at-bats, and that wasn’t our typical way of doing things.
“It’s been our story the first month of the season that we haven’t been consistent.”
Soroka has gone at least five innings in each of his five starts this season. He did not get a decision in his most recent start, allowing one run on seven hits in five innings in his team’s 4-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox last Thursday.
Soroka is 1-1 with a 9.00 ERA in two career appearances vs. Milwaukee, including one start in 2023.
Arizona’s Ildemaro Vargas singled in his first at-bat Wednesday, extending his club-record season-opening hitting streak to 22 games and overall streak to 25 games.
Vargas’ streak ties him with Joe Torre for the third-longest season-opening hitting streak in the majors since 1940. Ron LeFlore hit in 30 consecutive games with Detroit in 1976, and Atlanta’s Edgar Renteria opened with 23 straight in 2006.
Vargas is batting .372 with six homers, six doubles, two triples and 20 RBIs this season.
Arenado also has been hot, batting .404 with five homers, a double and 15 RBIs over his last 14 games.
Woodruff took his first loss of the season his last time out, allowing three runs in five innings in a 6-0 defeat against Pittsburgh on Friday as the Brewers managed just one hit against Paul Skenes and two relievers.
Woodruff is 3-1 with a 4.81 ERA in eight career games (seven starts) against the Diamondbacks.
Milwaukee’s Jake Bauers had an RBI double Wednesday to extend his hitting streak to seven games. Bauers is batting .345 with four doubles and five RBIs over that span.
–Field Level Media
Apr 23, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Michael Soroka (34) throws against the Chicago White Sox in the first inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images The Arizona Diamondbacks will look for Michael Soroka to continue his hot start when they visit the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday afternoon in the deciding contest of a three-game series.
Soroka (4-0, 2.60 ERA) will oppose fellow right-hander Brandon Woodruff (2-1, 3.77).
The Diamondbacks evened the series with a 6-2 victory on Wednesday. Nolan Arenado belted a three-run homer, and Adrian Del Castillo, Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll each added a solo shot.
Kevin Ginkel relieved starter Eduardo Rodriguez with two outs in the fifth and allowed a single before getting the final out of the inning. Ginkel followed with a perfect sixth, and Juan Morillo, Taylor Clarke and Paul Sewald each finished with a hitless inning as the bullpen retired the final 13 hitters.
“Today, it was the bullpen that carried a lot of the workload,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “There was a big three-run home run by Arenado, but the bullpen was the difference maker.”
The Diamondbacks have not had a starter go more than five innings in the last nine starts. Soroka was the most recent Arizona starter to get through at least six innings, doing so on April 17, when he threw seven in a 6-3 victory over Toronto.
Milwaukee, which recorded a 13-2 win in the series opener vs. Arizona, led 2-0 on Wednesday before the Diamondbacks rallied behind the long ball.
“When we first got behind, we didn’t respond,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “We got a man on second right away, and then we had some empty at-bats, and that wasn’t our typical way of doing things.
“It’s been our story the first month of the season that we haven’t been consistent.”
Soroka has gone at least five innings in each of his five starts this season. He did not get a decision in his most recent start, allowing one run on seven hits in five innings in his team’s 4-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox last Thursday.
Soroka is 1-1 with a 9.00 ERA in two career appearances vs. Milwaukee, including one start in 2023.
Arizona’s Ildemaro Vargas singled in his first at-bat Wednesday, extending his club-record season-opening hitting streak to 22 games and overall streak to 25 games.
Vargas’ streak ties him with Joe Torre for the third-longest season-opening hitting streak in the majors since 1940. Ron LeFlore hit in 30 consecutive games with Detroit in 1976, and Atlanta’s Edgar Renteria opened with 23 straight in 2006.
Vargas is batting .372 with six homers, six doubles, two triples and 20 RBIs this season.
Arenado also has been hot, batting .404 with five homers, a double and 15 RBIs over his last 14 games.
Woodruff took his first loss of the season his last time out, allowing three runs in five innings in a 6-0 defeat against Pittsburgh on Friday as the Brewers managed just one hit against Paul Skenes and two relievers.
Woodruff is 3-1 with a 4.81 ERA in eight career games (seven starts) against the Diamondbacks.
Milwaukee’s Jake Bauers had an RBI double Wednesday to extend his hitting streak to seven games. Bauers is batting .345 with four doubles and five RBIs over that span.
–Field Level Media
Apr 23, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Michael Soroka (34) throws against…
Sports news
#fake #playoff #series #NBA #world #start">A fake playoff series is taking over the NBA world — how did this start?
When the NBA playoffs began earlier this month, 19-year-old Zinzy was disappointed that the Memphis Grizzlies, his favorite team, weren’t in the mix.
The Grizzlies were fresh off a 25-game, rebuilding season and were on the outside looking in for the first time in years.
So, he had a goofy idea — what if he jokingly live-tweeted a fake playoff series, as a gimmick?
At first, he was planning on doing so with a good friend who was a Phoenix Suns fan, who was worried that his team might miss the playoffs, too.
“We were talking, and I was like, ‘Wouldn’t it be so funny if you got knocked out, if you didn’t qualify for the playoffs, and we just did this fake playoff series in our heads?’” Zinny told SB Nation. “And he was like, ‘Yeah, that would be cool.’ And then, they made the playoffs eventually, and I was just like, that kind of sucks.”
But, after thinking about it a little bit more, Zinzy decided to do it anyways. In part, because it’d be funny. And, in part, because it was something to bring together a community that had long meant so much to him.
The rest was history — since his first Warriors-Grizzlies Tweets on April 18th, tens of thousands of NBA fans have posted Tweets and ashared Instagram posts reacting to an NBA playoff series that isn’t actually taking place.
How the heck did we get here?
The story actually begins six years ago, in Nigeria
In 2020, Zinzy was a 13-year-old living in Nigeria who had never even taking a liking to basketball.
“I was very ignorant of the sport, right?” he recalled. “I was like, basketball is boring.”
Then, one night, a friend of his dragged him to watch a Grizzlies game on television at 2am. Almost immediately, he found himself enthralled, drawn to the Grizzlies’s bright-blue uniforms and captivated by rising superstar, Ja Morant.
After doing his homework, he learned that the franchise that had never won an NBA title, and had not had a ton of success relative to other teams. And, in a funny way, that made him want to become a Grizzlies fan even more.
“I did some research on all the teams. And I was like, ‘The Grizzlies don’t have any championships.’ And I love that. It sounds dumb saying it aloud. But, if I could go support a team, and I feel like I’m part of the bigger of their history when they’re winning, then that would definitely feel good.”
Since 2020, there have been plenty of highs and plenty of lows. The Grizzlies made the playoffs four times in five years. They saw Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr, and Desmond Bane all become stars. In that span, Zinzy estimates that he’s watched more than 70% of Grizzlies games.
But, the 2025-2026 season was a tough one. They traded away Bane in the offseason, and Jackson Jr ahead of the midseason trade deadline. Now, it appears like it could be the end of the road for Morant, too, with trade rumors circling the point guard all season.
So, on the heels of a such a difficult season and the fanbase in flux, Zinzy viewed the gimmick as something silly that could bring the fanbase together.
The 2026 Warriors-Grizzlies playoff series began one night in a dorm room
One night, while studying for his final exams at the University of Manitoba in Canada, where he was studying environmental design, he randomly began to live-tweet a fake series between the Grizzlies and the Warriors.
“I just got this idea, like – I can still do this on my own,” Zinzy said. “I can do it on Twitter, right? So I just, I tweeted fake stats of Ja and Steph in a Game 1 battle. Then right after that, a couple of days later, I decided to fake live-tweet Game 2 out of nowhere.”
He didn’t think much of it at first.
But, slowly but surely, other major fan accounts on NBA Twitter decided to get in on the bit. It helped that several Warriors fan accounts with big-time followings, like @WarriorsMuse and @BasketballPerformances, also jumped in and partook in the fictional series joke.
The whole thing really blew up on Monday night, when Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr were actually sitting courtside at an Orlando Magic playoff game to support their old Grizzlies teammate, Desmond Bane.
The broadcast kept panning over to Morant and Jackson Jr each time they celebrated a Bane triple, and eventually, fans flocked to social media to post photos of Morant and Jackson Jr, jokingly writing captions along the lines of: “What are they doing?? They have a game tomorrow!”
“I just seen my timeline talking about, ‘Don’t they have a game?’” Zinzy said. “And I was like, ‘This is crazy. Like, why do so many people get the reference?’
Since that night, even official accounts like Overtime have gotten in on the joke. Zinzy has aligned the schedule of his fake Warriors-Grizzlies series with the ongoing Houston Rockets series against the Los Angeles Lakers series. He’s also gained more than 4,000 followers since the gimmick began almost two weeks ago.
Above all, the joke has brought a joy and a levity after what was a difficult season for diehard Memphis fans.
“I watched every game that I could,” he said. “And it’s crazy, because some of them, we were tanking… And I’ve tried, believe me, I’ve tried to detach myself from this team. I mean, the team is so bad. I say it all the the time I could be doing plenty of other things with my time — and then I would still come home, put up my TV, sit down for two, two and a half hours, and watch us lose by thirty.”
He’s enjoying seeing that the joke he began in his dorm room just a few weeks ago has brought laughter to so many Grizzlies fan. The fanbase has provided him with an immense sense of community as he moved from Nigeria to Canada for college a few years ago. He used to livestream games with several other Grizzlies fan accounts, and today, he’s in several different groupchats with thousands of other fans.
“We don’t just interact on the timeline,” Zinzy said. “We actually join groups, join DMs, we talk about other things outside of sports, talk about life. It’s just a really nice community. They don’t judge.
He’s never actually made it to Memphis, but that’s a dream he hopes to see realized sooner rather than later.
“The fanbase has been one of the best groups of people I’ve ever met – in real life, Twitter, TikTok, it’s great people everywhere.”
Zinzy is preparing for a crucial Game 6 between the Grizzlies and Warriors, which tips off on Friday.
When the NBA playoffs began earlier this month, 19-year-old Zinzy was disappointed that the Memphis Grizzlies, his favorite team, weren’t in the mix.
The Grizzlies were fresh off a 25-game, rebuilding season and were on the outside looking in for the first time in years.
So, he had a goofy idea — what if he jokingly live-tweeted a fake playoff series, as a gimmick?
At first, he was planning on doing so with a good friend who was a Phoenix Suns fan, who was worried that his team might miss the playoffs, too.
“We were talking, and I was like, ‘Wouldn’t it be so funny if you got knocked out, if you didn’t qualify for the playoffs, and we just did this fake playoff series in our heads?’” Zinny told SB Nation. “And he was like, ‘Yeah, that would be cool.’ And then, they made the playoffs eventually, and I was just like, that kind of sucks.”
But, after thinking about it a little bit more, Zinzy decided to do it anyways. In part, because it’d be funny. And, in part, because it was something to bring together a community that had long meant so much to him.
The rest was history — since his first Warriors-Grizzlies Tweets on April 18th, tens of thousands of NBA fans have posted Tweets and ashared Instagram posts reacting to an NBA playoff series that isn’t actually taking place.
How the heck did we get here?
The story actually begins six years ago, in Nigeria
In 2020, Zinzy was a 13-year-old living in Nigeria who had never even taking a liking to basketball.
“I was very ignorant of the sport, right?” he recalled. “I was like, basketball is boring.”
Then, one night, a friend of his dragged him to watch a Grizzlies game on television at 2am. Almost immediately, he found himself enthralled, drawn to the Grizzlies’s bright-blue uniforms and captivated by rising superstar, Ja Morant.
After doing his homework, he learned that the franchise that had never won an NBA title, and had not had a ton of success relative to other teams. And, in a funny way, that made him want to become a Grizzlies fan even more.
“I did some research on all the teams. And I was like, ‘The Grizzlies don’t have any championships.’ And I love that. It sounds dumb saying it aloud. But, if I could go support a team, and I feel like I’m part of the bigger of their history when they’re winning, then that would definitely feel good.”
Since 2020, there have been plenty of highs and plenty of lows. The Grizzlies made the playoffs four times in five years. They saw Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr, and Desmond Bane all become stars. In that span, Zinzy estimates that he’s watched more than 70% of Grizzlies games.
But, the 2025-2026 season was a tough one. They traded away Bane in the offseason, and Jackson Jr ahead of the midseason trade deadline. Now, it appears like it could be the end of the road for Morant, too, with trade rumors circling the point guard all season.
So, on the heels of a such a difficult season and the fanbase in flux, Zinzy viewed the gimmick as something silly that could bring the fanbase together.
The 2026 Warriors-Grizzlies playoff series began one night in a dorm room
One night, while studying for his final exams at the University of Manitoba in Canada, where he was studying environmental design, he randomly began to live-tweet a fake series between the Grizzlies and the Warriors.
“I just got this idea, like – I can still do this on my own,” Zinzy said. “I can do it on Twitter, right? So I just, I tweeted fake stats of Ja and Steph in a Game 1 battle. Then right after that, a couple of days later, I decided to fake live-tweet Game 2 out of nowhere.”
He didn’t think much of it at first.
But, slowly but surely, other major fan accounts on NBA Twitter decided to get in on the bit. It helped that several Warriors fan accounts with big-time followings, like @WarriorsMuse and @BasketballPerformances, also jumped in and partook in the fictional series joke.
The whole thing really blew up on Monday night, when Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr were actually sitting courtside at an Orlando Magic playoff game to support their old Grizzlies teammate, Desmond Bane.
The broadcast kept panning over to Morant and Jackson Jr each time they celebrated a Bane triple, and eventually, fans flocked to social media to post photos of Morant and Jackson Jr, jokingly writing captions along the lines of: “What are they doing?? They have a game tomorrow!”
“I just seen my timeline talking about, ‘Don’t they have a game?’” Zinzy said. “And I was like, ‘This is crazy. Like, why do so many people get the reference?’
Since that night, even official accounts like Overtime have gotten in on the joke. Zinzy has aligned the schedule of his fake Warriors-Grizzlies series with the ongoing Houston Rockets series against the Los Angeles Lakers series. He’s also gained more than 4,000 followers since the gimmick began almost two weeks ago.
Above all, the joke has brought a joy and a levity after what was a difficult season for diehard Memphis fans.
“I watched every game that I could,” he said. “And it’s crazy, because some of them, we were tanking… And I’ve tried, believe me, I’ve tried to detach myself from this team. I mean, the team is so bad. I say it all the the time I could be doing plenty of other things with my time — and then I would still come home, put up my TV, sit down for two, two and a half hours, and watch us lose by thirty.”
He’s enjoying seeing that the joke he began in his dorm room just a few weeks ago has brought laughter to so many Grizzlies fan. The fanbase has provided him with an immense sense of community as he moved from Nigeria to Canada for college a few years ago. He used to livestream games with several other Grizzlies fan accounts, and today, he’s in several different groupchats with thousands of other fans.
“We don’t just interact on the timeline,” Zinzy said. “We actually join groups, join DMs, we talk about other things outside of sports, talk about life. It’s just a really nice community. They don’t judge.
He’s never actually made it to Memphis, but that’s a dream he hopes to see realized sooner rather than later.
“The fanbase has been one of the best groups of people I’ve ever met – in real life, Twitter, TikTok, it’s great people everywhere.”
Zinzy is preparing for a crucial Game 6 between the Grizzlies and Warriors, which tips off on Friday.
When the NBA playoffs began earlier this month, 19-year-old Zinzy was disappointed that the Memphis Grizzlies, his favorite team, weren’t in the mix.
The Grizzlies were fresh off a 25-game, rebuilding season and were on the outside looking in for the first time in years.
So, he had a goofy idea — what if he jokingly live-tweeted a fake playoff series, as a gimmick?
At first, he was planning on doing so with a good friend who was a Phoenix Suns fan, who was worried that his team might miss the playoffs, too.
“We were talking, and I was like, ‘Wouldn’t it be so funny if you got knocked out, if you didn’t qualify for the playoffs, and we just did this fake playoff series in our heads?’” Zinny told SB Nation. “And he was like, ‘Yeah, that would be cool.’ And then, they made the playoffs eventually, and I was just like, that kind of sucks.”
But, after thinking about it a little bit more, Zinzy decided to do it anyways. In part, because it’d be funny. And, in part, because it was something to bring together a community that had long meant so much to him.
The rest was history — since his first Warriors-Grizzlies Tweets on April 18th, tens of thousands of NBA fans have posted Tweets and ashared Instagram posts reacting to an NBA playoff series that isn’t actually taking place.
How the heck did we get here?
The story actually begins six years ago, in Nigeria
In 2020, Zinzy was a 13-year-old living in Nigeria who had never even taking a liking to basketball.
“I was very ignorant of the sport, right?” he recalled. “I was like, basketball is boring.”
Then, one night, a friend of his dragged him to watch a Grizzlies game on television at 2am. Almost immediately, he found himself enthralled, drawn to the Grizzlies’s bright-blue uniforms and captivated by rising superstar, Ja Morant.
After doing his homework, he learned that the franchise that had never won an NBA title, and had not had a ton of success relative to other teams. And, in a funny way, that made him want to become a Grizzlies fan even more.
“I did some research on all the teams. And I was like, ‘The Grizzlies don’t have any championships.’ And I love that. It sounds dumb saying it aloud. But, if I could go support a team, and I feel like I’m part of the bigger of their history when they’re winning, then that would definitely feel good.”
Since 2020, there have been plenty of highs and plenty of lows. The Grizzlies made the playoffs four times in five years. They saw Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr, and Desmond Bane all become stars. In that span, Zinzy estimates that he’s watched more than 70% of Grizzlies games.
But, the 2025-2026 season was a tough one. They traded away Bane in the offseason, and Jackson Jr ahead of the midseason trade deadline. Now, it appears like it could be the end of the road for Morant, too, with trade rumors circling the point guard all season.
So, on the heels of a such a difficult season and the fanbase in flux, Zinzy viewed the gimmick as something silly that could bring the fanbase together.
The 2026 Warriors-Grizzlies playoff series began one night in a dorm room
One night, while studying for his final exams at the University of Manitoba in Canada, where he was studying environmental design, he randomly began to live-tweet a fake series between the Grizzlies and the Warriors.
“I just got this idea, like – I can still do this on my own,” Zinzy said. “I can do it on Twitter, right? So I just, I tweeted fake stats of Ja and Steph in a Game 1 battle. Then right after that, a couple of days later, I decided to fake live-tweet Game 2 out of nowhere.”
He didn’t think much of it at first.
But, slowly but surely, other major fan accounts on NBA Twitter decided to get in on the bit. It helped that several Warriors fan accounts with big-time followings, like @WarriorsMuse and @BasketballPerformances, also jumped in and partook in the fictional series joke.
The whole thing really blew up on Monday night, when Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr were actually sitting courtside at an Orlando Magic playoff game to support their old Grizzlies teammate, Desmond Bane.
The broadcast kept panning over to Morant and Jackson Jr each time they celebrated a Bane triple, and eventually, fans flocked to social media to post photos of Morant and Jackson Jr, jokingly writing captions along the lines of: “What are they doing?? They have a game tomorrow!”
“I just seen my timeline talking about, ‘Don’t they have a game?’” Zinzy said. “And I was like, ‘This is crazy. Like, why do so many people get the reference?’
Since that night, even official accounts like Overtime have gotten in on the joke. Zinzy has aligned the schedule of his fake Warriors-Grizzlies series with the ongoing Houston Rockets series against the Los Angeles Lakers series. He’s also gained more than 4,000 followers since the gimmick began almost two weeks ago.
Above all, the joke has brought a joy and a levity after what was a difficult season for diehard Memphis fans.
“I watched every game that I could,” he said. “And it’s crazy, because some of them, we were tanking… And I’ve tried, believe me, I’ve tried to detach myself from this team. I mean, the team is so bad. I say it all the the time I could be doing plenty of other things with my time — and then I would still come home, put up my TV, sit down for two, two and a half hours, and watch us lose by thirty.”
He’s enjoying seeing that the joke he began in his dorm room just a few weeks ago has brought laughter to so many Grizzlies fan. The fanbase has provided him with an immense sense of community as he moved from Nigeria to Canada for college a few years ago. He used to livestream games with several other Grizzlies fan accounts, and today, he’s in several different groupchats with thousands of other fans.
“We don’t just interact on the timeline,” Zinzy said. “We actually join groups, join DMs, we talk about other things outside of sports, talk about life. It’s just a really nice community. They don’t judge.
He’s never actually made it to Memphis, but that’s a dream he hopes to see realized sooner rather than later.
“The fanbase has been one of the best groups of people I’ve ever met – in real life, Twitter, TikTok, it’s great people everywhere.”
Zinzy is preparing for a crucial Game 6 between the Grizzlies and Warriors, which tips off on Friday.
When the NBA playoffs began earlier this month, 19-year-old Zinzy was disappointed that the Memphis…
