Among sports fans old Deadspin, specifically the previous iteration with columnists like Drew Magary, is pretty beloved.
Currently Defector is trying hard to occupy the gap left by it.
"Beloved" doesn't necessarily mean good journalism. The type of rage-bait that includes trying to publicly shame a Native American child for painting his face in team colors and wearing a family headdress to a football game is likely to make you quite beloved among a certain crowd.
To be clear, the “beloved” era (while noting its subjectivity) is in reference to the pre-G/O Media era, which was run under a different editorial direction. That team has since moved to Defector.
The controversy you are referencing happened last fall, years after that team had left.
Oh, I didn't know that. Thanks for the information.