U.S./World Sports category, Page 6
Miami’s Lionel Messi at $20.4 million earns more than 21 other MLS teams’ payrolls this year
NEW YORK — Lionel Messi is the highest-paid player in Major League Soccer for the third straight year with total annual compensation of $20,446,667, greater than the entire payroll of 21 teams. Messi’s base compensation is $12 million, the Major League Soccer Players Association said Wednesday. His figures cover his...
NBA owners unanimously approve $1.5B sale of Wolves, WNBA’s Lynx from Taylor to Lore-Rodriguez group
MINNEAPOLIS — The $1.5 billion sale of the Minnesota Timberwolves from Glen Taylor to an investment group led by e-commerce entrepreneur Marc Lore and former baseball star Alex Rodriguez gained NBA approval on Tuesday, finalizing a complex and contentious process more than four years after the deal was reached. The...
Cooper Flagg set to become Mavericks’ new main man as the expected No. 1 pick in NBA draft
NEW YORK — Cooper Flagg and his Duke teammates were together celebrating a victory over North Carolina the night of Feb. 1 when one of them saw the news that had rocked the basketball world. The Dallas Mavericks were trading Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. “We just all...
How NIL money is reshaping the NBA draft: Fewer early entrants, more college stars staying put
Will Wade’s work building N.C. State into an immediate winner included the pursuit of an entrant in the NBA draft, just in case he returned to college. It wasn’t a huge risk: With all the cash flowing in college, the number of early entrants to the NBA draft has continued...
Pacers’ bright future becomes cloudier because of Tyrese Haliburton’s torn Achilles
INDIANAPOLIS — Tyrese Haliburton took the Indiana Pacers to heights few thought possible after they started this season with a 10-15 record. Getting back might take some time after team officials confirmed Monday that the two-time All-Star tore his right Achilles tendon in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, an...
NBA Draft flush with international talent, including Duke center Khaman Maluach
There’s no Victor Wembanyama in the class headed to the NBA Draft this week. There’s no Zaccharie Risacher, either. For the first time since 2022, the first pick in the draft will not be someone from France. Wembanyama had that title in 2023. Risacher had it last year. This year,...
Nobody is really off when it comes to NBA offseason
Kevin Durant already has been traded to Houston. The New York Knicks are looking for a coach. Cooper Flagg is about to become the No. 1 pick in the draft. Expansion plans likely will take a big step forward in a few weeks. The Los Angeles Lakers just got sold....
NASCAR set for summer stretch March Madness style
LONG POND — It’s time to bust out the brackets, pick an upset or two, and follow winners on the road — a journey over city streets, concrete and bricks — to the final four and beyond. Totally awesome, baby? Forget all the upset specials in March. NASCAR will find...
The Thunder are NBA champions, and they might be just getting started
OKLAHOMA CITY — The promise came three years ago from Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti. It might have been overlooked for a couple of reasons. One, the Thunder were awful at the time. Two, he was speaking Latin. “Labor omnia vincit,” Presti said after the 2021-22 season, quoting a...
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scores 29, Thunder win NBA title
OKLAHOMA CITY — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished off his MVP season with 29 points and 12 assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder won the NBA championship, pulling away in the second half to beat the Indiana Pacers, 103-91, on Sunday night. Jalen Williams scored 20 and Chet Holmgren had 18 for...
Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton injured in NBA Finals; Father says it’s an Achilles
OKLAHOMA CITY — Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton was starting a move toward the basket, and his right leg didn’t seem to move with him. And the ensuing scene was heartbreaking for the team. Haliburton — who was playing with a strained right calf — tumbled to the court in...
Chase Briscoe holds off Denny Hamlin to win at Pocono
LONG POND — Chase Briscoe returned to victory lane Sunday at Pocono Raceway, conserving fuel down the stretch to hold off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin for his first win with his new race team. Briscoe raced his way into an automatic spot in NASCAR’s playoffs with the win...
Duke’s Khaman Maluach, Maryland’s Derik Queen headline big men in NBA Draft
Duke’s Khaman Maluach anchored the interior for an elite defensive team that reached the Final Four. Maryland’s Derik Queen was the offensive focal point for a team that reached the NCAA Tournament’s second weekend. Those freshmen are the headliners among big men in the upcoming NBA Draft. While there’s a...
Sports play through another dangerously hot day in parts of the U.S.
CHICAGO — The shade — under the roof and the upper deck, in every dugout and tunnel — was a popular place at Wrigley Field on Sunday. The sunny seats, not so much. Several major league teams played through a second straight day of muggy conditions as dangerously hot temperatures...
Oklahoma native Kristin Chenoweth to perform national anthem before Game 7 of NBA Finals
OKLAHOMA CITY — At 4-foot-11, Kristin Chenoweth is still making it to the NBA Finals. The award-winning actress, singer, Oklahoma native, Oklahoma Hall of Fame inductee and unabashed Thunder fan is performing “The Star-Spangled Banner” before Game 7 of the title series between the Thunder and the Indiana Pacers on...
Kevin Durant is going from the Suns to the Rockets in a blockbuster trade, AP source says
The Houston Rockets are acquiring 15-time All-Star and four-time Olympic gold medalist Kevin Durant from the Phoenix Suns in a blockbuster deal struck Sunday, a person with knowledge of the agreement told The Associated Press. The Rockets are giving up Dillon Brooks, Jalen Green and six future picks — including...
Club World Cup crowds swing from empty seats to ‘hostile’ atmospheres
MIAMI — As kickoff approached it was clear — the fans weren’t coming. The Club World Cup, soccer’s shiny, new competition, has been billed as the event to breathe new life into the world’s most popular sport. It began a week ago in the United States, where sports stadiums of...
NBA Finals: 2 teams, 1 game, 1 trophy. Pacers at Thunder will decide a champion
OKLAHOMA CITY — It started with 30 teams, most of them fairly optimistic about their chances when the season began eight months and 1,320 games and 35,543 3-pointers and 299,608 points ago. Only two teams remain. For one game. Game 7. The NBA season ends Sunday night when the Indiana...
Denny Hamlin celebrates new son with top spot for NASCAR race at Pocono
LONG POND — Pocono Raceway paints its signature black rocks outside the garage in gold lettering with a last name and race car number highlighted to honor some of NASCAR’s greats. Jimmie Johnson has one. So does Richard Petty, among others. So where’s the celebratory boulder for Denny Hamlin, who...
Duke’s Cooper Flagg, Rutgers’ Ace Bailey headline NBA Draft’s available forwards
Cooper Flagg and Ace Bailey were the first two names mentioned last summer when it came to college basketball’s top incoming freshmen. Now they’re the headliners among forwards in the NBA Draft. Flagg led Duke to the Final Four and became only the fourth freshman named Associated Press men’s national...
Rutgers’ Dylan Harper headlines bevy of 1-and-done guards set to go high in NBA Draft
There’s a deep set of high-end guard prospects in the upcoming NBA Draft. Rutgers point guard Dylan Harper is positioned to be the first name called after projected No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg, while Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe, Texas’ Tre Johnson, Oklahoma’s Jeremiah Fears and Illinois’ Kasparas Jakucionis are possible top-10...
Pacers roll Thunder, send NBA Finals to deciding Game 7
INDIANAPOLIS — Obi Toppin scored 20 points, Andrew Nembhard added 17 and the resilient Indiana Pacers sent the NBA Finals to a winner-take-all Game 7 by rolling past the Oklahoma City Thunder, 108-91, on Thursday night. Pascal Siakam had 16 points and 13 rebounds for Indiana, andTyrese Haliburton — playing...
After a whopping sale, the Los Angeles Lakers will no longer be the Buss family business
LOS ANGELES — The Buss family’s decision to sell a controlling stake in the Los Angeles Lakers at an eye-popping franchise valuation of $10 billion marks the end of nearly a half-century when one of the most valuable properties in the sports world was run by an eccentric father and...
2-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova announces she will retire in September
LONDON — Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova plans to retire in a few months, the Czech player said Thursday. The announcement on social media came a day after Kvitova was granted a wild card for Wimbledon. “I am excited and very much looking forward to soak in the beauty of...
Game 6: Thunder look to clinch title, Pacers try to extend NBA Finals
INDIANAPOLIS — The NBA season could end on Thursday night. It’s Game 6 of the NBA Finals, with the Oklahoma City Thunder leading the Indiana Pacers 3-2 in the title series. Game 6 is in Indianapolis and Game 7, if necessary, will be Sunday. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder are...
