This story is part of FanSided’s Fandoms of the Year, a series spotlighting the teams, athletes and cultures that defined sports fandom in 2025.
The end of the year brings with it the usual barrage of rankings and lists. It’s a time for reflection, looking back at the year that was and turning our attention to the year to come. At FanSided, that reflection takes the form of Fandoms of the Year, our way of recognizing and honoring the best and most impactful fandoms from that year.
While this exercise is overwhelmingly positive, because celebrating fandoms is what we do (it's in our name), we still have our axes to grind. So to avoid rolling into a new year with bad juju, we thought we’d bury these negative feelings, literally.
Welcome to Sports Obituaries. What follows is a series of eulogies for sports topics and eras that we’re ready to say goodbye to before turning the page to 2026. So put on your best mourning outfit, grab a box of tissues and join us as we celebrate saying goodbye to the sports stuff that no longer brings us joy.
Obituary: The Jordan vs. LeBron Goat Debate
Cause of Death: Redundancy, severe overexposure, Victor Wembanyama
After decades of tantalizing and terrifying sports Hot Take Artists and fans alike, The Jordan vs. LeBron Goat Debate has passed. While the debate’s exact date of birth is unknown, the US Central Intelligence Agency believes it was first slipped into the teleprompter on ESPN’s “Around the Horn” by the Chinese government, sometime during LeBron’s rookie season, in an effort to destabilize the United States from within.
In its prime, the debate spent most of its career on ESPN’s “First Take,” once appearing as a topic on 2,479 consecutive episodes, a record that still stands today and might still be going had Tony Romo not suffered a season-ending injury. It helped launch and sustain a pantheon of Hot Take Artists, including Stephen A. Smith, Colin Cowherd, Jim Rome, Chris "Mad Dog" Russo, and, of course, Skip Bayless.
Reached by phone for this obituary, Bayless breathed heavily for 134 minutes, occasionally sighing and saying nothing intelligible except for three instances where he softly muttered “Dak Prescott.” Finally, he whispered, “Six championships.” Then he hung up. Bayless later wrote an email apologizing, saying that he would miss The Jordan vs. LeBron Goat Debate more than the pre-load management NBA, talking about Johnny Manziel and Tim Tebow and his credibility.
In its later years, the debate ran out of oxygen. Not because the shouting stopped, but because the audience stopped believing. As Tinkerbell taught us, a lack of applause can be deadly. Sports media luminaries such as Jay Mariotti desperately tried to save the debate. Mariotti wrote a Substack article about it as recently as 2024, but it was too late. The case was terminal.
The Jordan vs. LeBron Goat Debate is survived by its partner, Nick Wright, and their only child, The Mahomes vs. Brady Goat Debate.
In lieu of flowers, Bayless asks that fans give LeBron absolutely nothing. — Patrick Allen
Obituary: Anyone stopping the Dodgers from buying championships
Cause of Death: Miguel Rojas, Bottom of the Outfield Wall, Canada
We are here not to mourn the death of the idea that anyone in the baseball world could defeat the Dodgers this season, but to honor the life of the season that was, where it once seemed as if everything might go wrong during Los Angeles’ expensive repeat build.
The Dodgers’ pallbearers nearly included Roki Sasaki, Tanner Scott, Michael Conforto, Hyeseong Kim, and Kirby Yates. The addition of all five of these men resulted in spit-flecked screeds about how the offseason had grown unfair; the performances of all five of these men resulted in the same spittle emerging from the mouths of Dodgers fans, aghast at another blown lead or whiff.
But, as September turned to October, and summer turned to fall, and leaves turned to…well, still leaves, but on the ground now, the 2025 Dodgers’ life story changed. Bouncing almost effortlessly off the Reds, Phillies, and Brewers, the idea that anyone else in MLB could stop the Dodgers from purchasing their title took a turn for the worse. The National League lived a full life, born in 1876 and somehow surviving for 10 years under Rob Manfred’s watch. Tragically, the NL expired at the age of 149 as the 97-win Brewers tripped over their shoelaces for four consecutive games; the Dodgers, rolling a pair of coins through their dirt-free fingers, declined to reimburse them for the repairs.
The NL was survived by its younger sibling, the American League, but only briefly. The league’s lone remaining representative, the Toronto Blue Jays, succumbed to the heat death of the universe after a brief experimental treatment revived them using the power of friendship and an injection of Ernie Clement. Stretched to the upper limits, the AL let out one last raspy gasp, then flatlined as Alejandro Kirk waddled to first base for the final out.
“I really thought we’d do it to ‘em,” said New York Mets owner Steve Cohen. “I paid Juan Soto the richest contract in MLB history. I guess it only works when they pay for stuff. Somehow, all I bought was the largest collapse in MLB history. As well as gout.”
“I have gout,” Cohen added.
The idea that any MLB team might someday defeat the Dodgers by any means died arm-in-arm with Yankees Exceptionalism, which passed on when owner Hal Steinbrenner cried about his profit margins and city taxes. — Adam Weinrib
Obituary: The Tiger vs. Jack GOAT debate
Cause of Death: Injury, scandal, pursuit of perfection in an imperfect game
“Tiger will do more than any other man in history to change the course of humanity." – Earl Woods, 1996.
Put that quote on the headstone of the Tiger Woods vs Jack Nicklaus golf GOAT debate. Only add the meme of the person standing over the freshly packed grave with Jack’s face on him.
Earl’s bombastic quote about his son after Tiger won his third U.S. Amateur title, one more than Jack, started the debate. Tiger perpetuated it by admitting breaking Jack’s record of winning 18 majors was his only focus. The media latched onto it, and even Jack admitted Tiger had the potential to break his record.
None of it came to fruition.
The boy who Earl lauded as a savior, who Earl himself saw no fault in, turned out to be human, in many of the same faulty ways Earl was. A cheating scandal rocked the foundation of the debate, destroyed the confidence of the chaser, and gave the pursued enough confidence to question whether the man who had breathed down his neck for so long had the ability to ever surpass him.
The answer is now a resounding no.
Injuries dealt the final blow. Another back surgery this year; lord knows how many Tiger has had. But it was also Tiger’s desire to chase perfection (of his body, of his mind, of his swing) that dealt death by a thousand paper cuts to one of the most transcendent athletes of all time. Training like a Navy SEAL, weight lifting like a bodybuilder, not following doctor’s advice, changing his swing countless times; it all added up.
Tiger didn’t change humanity in any discernibly positive way. He was arrested, got into a near-death car crash, and dealt with public humiliation following his cheating scandal. It wasn’t pretty.
He never reached his goal of breaking Jack’s record. He never lived up to the hype the media created about him. Now, he will never win another PGA Tour event, let alone a major.
And so, in the year of our Tiger, I mean Lord, 2026, the debate died a quiet death, surrounded by no one, as the people who started it and perpetuated it went quietly into the night. — Brian Giuffra
Obituary: Trust in Lane Kiffin
Cause of Death: Cryptic tweets, left-behind dogs, gumbo
Our nation’s trust in Lane Kiffin dissolved on Nov. 30 in a horrific, month-long car wreck, during which increasingly angered pedestrians were unable to either look away or intervene.
Kiffin, once left on the tarmac after being fired by USC, was persona non grata in the college football world for a half-decade; the only high-profile leadership position he was able to obtain an interview for was “Head Toastmaster, Raising Cane’s” (a job he lost out on to Bobby Petrino). After a small-school surge at Florida Atlantic, he was hired by Ole Miss prior to the 2020 season, purportedly a changed man. Kiffin smiled. He kissed babies. Sometimes, he even did both at the same time.
At the height of his powers with a playoff-bound team in 2025, however, Kiffin was infected by an evolved strain of the Bayou Flu, triggered by LSU head coach Brian Kelly’s protracted and lucrative firing. The decision became a circus, an outright spectacle, with or without cause. Said Kiffin, as the nightmare scenario powered by illicit beaucoup bucks became more and more ghoulish, “Yeahhhh, I gotta get a piece of that.”
Outwardly, Kiffin continued to swear loyalty to Oxford, MS. Unfortunately, all his statements affirming his desire to stay put were sent from 17 different private planes, buzzing between Gainesville, Baton Rouge, and Abu Dhabi for some reason (probably).
Finally, Kiffin’s decision to defect became official on the Sunday after his Egg Bowl win. America’s trust in the visored coach remained on life support as he begged to stay with his current team through the playoff, and officially passed away hours later, when that proposal was denied, and we all learned his family dog/unofficial mascot “Juice” Kiffin didn’t even belong to him (and that everyone in his Hot Yoga classes hated every minute of the experience).
Services will be held downtown at Our Lady of Unholy Fake Cajun Accents. Any pallbearer who does not board the plane with the coffin carrying our positive opinions of Kiffin won’t have a position on his LSU staff. — Adam Weinrib
Obituary: Tanking
Cause of death: Flattened lottery odds, smart executives
After decades of being used as a lifeline for flailing NBA executives, tanking has passed. It’s unclear how old it WAS, but rest assured it survived far longer than anyone wanted.
In recent years, tanking — the “process” of losing games to increase a team’s odds of getting a higher NBA Draft pick, and theoretically a better player — declined in health. Once seen as the only way for small market teams to succeed, general managers hid behind the practice to swindle their fans into thinking they had a plan (or that being bad on purpose was a good one). Smart GMs caught up and re-built teams into contenders without utilizing the method, shining a glaring light on the tanking grifters.
The Indiana Pacers made the NBA Finals while never picking higher than sixth in the draft (with that being their only top-10 pick since 2010). The Denver Nuggets grinded away for years while developing second round pick Nikola Jokić. They won 33 games in Jokić’s rookie season, increased that total for the next three years, and became a perennial playoff team. Jokić blossomed into the best player in the league, and the Nuggets won the championship in 2023 after years of not embracing the tank.
The NBA’s decision to flatten lottery odds provided the death knell to tanking, as losing on purpose no longer carried the promise of a guaranteed top three pick (though nobody seemed to tell the Utah Jazz). Horrified, a swath of GMs are now faced with the realization they might actually have to make good picks and signings around the margins in order to build a successful team.
Death rarely provides happiness, but tanking’s demise was met with jubilation among fans who appallingly want their teams to try to win games. The clubs’ analytics departments might never recover.
At Tuesday’s memorial service, Sam Hinkie read a 13-page manifes… — sorry, eulogy — in which he scoffed at the mourning congregation and said, “Don’t you see how smart I am!” Joel Embiid planned to speak but injured his knee walking to the podium and will be re-evaluated in 6-8 weeks. — Vince Nairn
Obituary: Dallas Mavericks fandom
Cause of Death: Incompetence, lack of social awareness, Luka Dončić trade
After years of being the franchise that valued loyalty above all else, Dallas Mavericks fandom has passed. The fandom was born in 1980 when the NBA brought on the Mavs as an expansion franchise, but it took off when Dallas drafted Dirk Nowitzki in 1998. He took the Mavs from a bottom-feeder with no direction and made them a contender. He played his entire 21-year career in one uniform, and just months before his final season, the Mavericks traded up to draft a new face of the franchise in Luka Dončić.
Being a Mavericks fan meant being loyal in everything you do, so it was a shocking, deadly blow when the franchise itself traded its superstar in the middle of the night just months after reaching the NBA Finals. It was inconceivable. Dallas would never trade their guy, but Nico Harrison did just that by sending Luka to the hated Lakers. In the process, he quickly and painfully killed Mavs fandom.
Luka Dončić was on pace to be the next Dirk. He was building his forever home in Dallas and led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals in 2024 before reaching his prime. They had their superstar capable of lifting the team to heights nobody thought were possible, and it was all ripped away by a general manager who valued his ego over the franchise and its fans.
Mavericks fandom reached its peak in 2011 when Dallas unexpectedly won the championship. Dirk led the Mavs to wins over Kobe Bryant’s Lakers, Kevin Durant’s Thunder, and the Heatles with LeBron James in one of the most memorable playoff runs in NBA history. Nowitzki’s loyalty paid off in stunning fashion and cemented him as one of the GOATs.
Mavericks tried to recover after the franchise won the lottery and the rights to draft Cooper Flagg, but it was too late. The heartbreak was just too much and proved fatal.
Dallas Mavericks fandom is survived by Mark Cuban and the man who got so many involved, Dirk Nowitzki. It was preceded in death by the creator, Donald Carter.
In lieu of flowers, Cuban and Nowitzki ask that you cheer for Luka Dončić, no matter how painful it is to root for the Lakers.— Tyler Watts
Obituary: ESPN as the only go-to network for NBA coverage
Cause of Death: Amazon Prime, NBC’s revival, Kendrick Perkins, Stephen A. Smith
After endless LeBron James debates, mispronouncing superstars’ names, and spotlighting the wrong personalities, the days of ESPN being the only go-to network for NBA coverage have mercifully come to an end.
The ‘worldwide leader in sports’ had been trending in the wrong direction for quite some time, making such baffling decisions as letting top-end talent like Zach Lowe go while inking Stephen A. Smith to a five-year, $100 million contract. I guess yelling comes at a premium price.
Likewise, Kendrick Perkins has remained a key fixture in ESPN’s NBA coverage despite his constant poor takes, unintelligible rambles, and forced catchphrases.
When TNT announced a halt to NBA coverage, the future was looking bleak for national audiences. That all changed when NBC and Amazon inked deals to join the fray, and boy, did they bring the heat.
A look at the NBA broadcast teams for NBC Sports and Amazon Prime 📺 pic.twitter.com/guKZEsnRB7
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) July 15, 2025
Unsurprisingly, both outlets have already passed ESPN’s quality of coverage in just about every aspect behind their loaded rosters. Amazon Prime and Peacock even air games in 1080p! In 2025! What a concept!
This is the first year in a long time that ESPN has had multiple serious threats to its stranglehold on national NBA coverage. Let that be a loud warning (or a final blow — we’re good with either.)
In lieu of flowers, ESPN asks that you donate to Stephen A. Smith’s next presidential campaign. He could use the money.— Josh Paredes
Obituary: Chicago Bears' century-long search for a franchise QB and all of the jokes followed
Cause of death: Caleb Williams beneath the wings of a shirtless Ben Johnson
After the longest-fought battle of its kind, the Chicago Bears’ search for a true franchise quarterback has finally taken its last breath. It isn’t a world most folks are used to living in; namely, lovers of cheese, those living surrounded by frozen lakes and the hard-working people up in the Motor City.
But, it is a reality all of us now must face.
After precisely 105 years of Bears fans absorbing countless punches to the gut (and, if we’re honest, their ego, self-worth and often reputation), all of that is now officially put to rest thanks to the arrival of one Caleb Sequan Williams.
From the very onset of his Bears career, Williams took on the many attempts of critics to try and prove that he would not ultimately be found guilty as the root cause of death, in this scenario.
Yet, thanks to a now-world renown, shirtless Ben Johnson, his offensive ingenuity and Midway Mantra of “Good, Better, Best” that’s become much more than just three simple words … Williams has crushed the franchise’s need to find their one, true quarterback.
The beauty in this passing is, quite frankly, the idea that Mr. Williams is still so incredibly far away from his inevitable potential. The death of a brutal search has now brought to life a stunningly-beautiful and always-exciting career path for the former USC star.
It isn’t a matter of if Williams is the Bears’ first, real franchise quarterback. He undoubtedly is.
The real question is, just how high will he reach atop the all-time list of greats, and why does the answer undoubtedly include some combination of Chris Farley, Jim McMahon and a Polish sausage? — Ryan Heckman