Here are the full details of the trade, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and the Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach:

• Celtics acquire: Kristaps Porzingis, 2023 first-round pick from Memphis (No. 25 overall), 2024 first-round pick (from Memphis via Golden State)
• Grizzlies acquire: Marcus Smart
• Wizards acquire: Mike Muscala, Danilo Gallinari, Tyus Jones, 2023 second-round pick from Boston (No. 35 overall)

Here’s the list of protections on the 2024 first-round going to the Celtics:

The deal was struck shortly after a different three-team trade centered around Porzingis involving the Celtics, Wizards and Los Angeles Clippers reportedly fell apart. That trade had Malcolm Brogdon departing Boston for Los Angeles, among other moving pieces.

Smart was the No. 6 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft and spent nine years with the Celtics. He made the playoffs in each of those seasons and won the Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2021-22. Smart gives Memphis much-needed backcourt depth while superstar point guard Ja Morant serves his 25-game suspension to begin the 2023-24 season.

Porzingis provides the Celtics with frontcourt scoring, good outside shooting and strong interior defense. He averaged a career-high 23.2 points per game and shot 38.5 percent from 3-point range for the Wizards last season. He also played in 65 games — his highest total since 2016-17.

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Following a series of tournaments across the pond, Wimbledon will begin and feature the best athletes at the All England Club.

Last year the tennis world saw 23-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic defeat Nick Kyrgios in a thriller. On the women’s side Elena Rybakina beat Ons Jabeur to claim her first Grand Slam title.

Whether in the stands of Centre Court or from the comfort of your home, you’ll want to catch the intense action as it unfolds over the course of the two weeks.

So, here’s everything you need to know about 2023 Wimbledon, including how to watch and some of the odds:

When is the 2023 Wimbledon Championships?

The 2023 Wimbledon Championships will begin on Monday, July 3, and end Sunday, July 16.

Where is the 2023 Wimbledon Championships?

The 2023 Wimbledon Championships will be held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, England.

How can I watch the 2023 Wimbledon Championships?

The 2023 Wimbledon Championships can be watched on ESPN and Tennis Channel.

The full match schedule is as follows:

What are the 2023 Wimbledon Championships draws?

The Wimbledon draws have not been released yet.

Can Russians and Belarusians play 2023 Wimbledon?

Russian and Belarusian players will be allowed to compete at Wimbledon this year after they were banned from the event in 2022.

Wimbledon released a statement on March 31 saying, “Our current intention is to accept entries from Russian and Belarusian players subject to them competing as ‘neutral’ athletes and complying with appropriate conditions.”

The tournament added, “…expressions of support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in various forms and prohibit entry by players receiving funding from the Russian and/or Belarusian states (including sponsorship from companies operated or controlled by the states) in relation to their participation in The Championships.”

The Gals are headed to Australia and New Zealand having won two World Cups in a row in 2015 and 2019, and they’re well-equipped to continue to taste success this summer.

However, other countries from around the world have also bolstered their respective squads during the current cycle and could be in for a strong showing should destiny align in their favor.

So, which teams should be considered elite contenders? Let’s take a look at five, along with their FIFA World Ranking:

USWNT

To no surprise, the defending repeat champions lead the list. The Gals should have plenty of depth and star power to go far in 2023, with a balanced infusion of veterans and youngsters converging. Alex Morgan, Becky Sauerbrunn and Megan Rapinoe are back in Vlatko Andonovski’s squad, while Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman and Naomi Girma, among others, will provide fresh legs to the group. Not having Mallory Swanson is a significant blow, but the USWNT should have more than enough to make do in Oceania.

FIFA World Ranking: 1

England

The Lionesses have been one of the rising nations in women’s soccer the last few years, most notably winning the Euro 2022 tournament and the Finalissima. The major concern for manager Sarina Weigman is injuries: Beth Mead, Leah Williamson and Fran Kirby are just some of the key figures expected to miss the tournament due to ACL injuries. But they’ll still have Lucy Bronze, Georgia Stanway, Rachel Daly and more that will make them a tough team to beat.

FIFA World Ranking: 4

France

Les Bleus endured a rough spell lately, but a managerial change that saw Herve Renard – who last managed Saudi Arabia in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar – enter the fold. The vibes have boosted since, and they’ll definitely be a well-drilled squad that won’t be easy to crack. Eugenie Le Sommer, Wendie Renard and Grace Geyoro are just some of the players that will look to take France far.

FIFA World Ranking: 5

Germany

The DFB-Frauen have seen some slip ups lately, so manager Martina Voss-Tecklenburg will need to make sure her team bounces back quickly – which is highly probable. Injury to captain Alexandra Popp is going to be a worry considering her vital leadership and scoring prowess, but 25-year-old Lea Schuller (30 goals in 46 games) and Laura Freigang (12 goals in 19 games) have illustrated they can step up to the task. Dzsenifer Marozsan and Sara Dabritz will also be imperative in midfield.

FIFA World Ranking: 2

Australia

There could be a robust homecoming in store for one of the co-hosts this summer. Although New Zealand may not cause too much damage to its foes, Australia can surely do so with the backing of the home atmosphere. The Matildas, led by manager Tony Gustavsson, have quality veterans across the pitch, most notably Sam Kerr, who is one of the best in the world. Lydia Williams, Clare Polkinghorne and Tameka Yallop will also need to be reliable to take the team as far as possible. 

FIFA World Ranking: 10

Williams is a five-time Wimbledon singles champion and was a finalist at the grass-court major in 2017, two decades after her debut at the All England Club.

Ranked 697th, Williams beat 48th-ranked Camila Giorgi 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (6) on Monday at the Birmingham Classic. It was her first victory over a player in the top 50 in nearly four years.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion next plays Jelena Ostapenko at the Wimbledon warm-up event.

Williams’ younger sister Serena is a seven-time Wimbledon champion. Serena Williams lost in the first round at last year’s tournament and soon after announced her decision to step away from tennis.

Ukrainian player Elina Svitolina and British players Heather Watson and Katie Boulter were also given wild cards for the women’s draw. David Goffin, a Belgian who reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2019 and 2022, was among of the men given wild cards.

Wimbledon begins on July 3.

Asked about his stance on the Michael Jordan-LeBron James debate, Miller gave his take on the NBA’s GOAT, and it’s one you’ll probably need to hear to believe.

“I actually don’t think LeBron is the GOAT of basketball,” Miller said. “My GOAT of basketball is Paul George.”

Yes, he really said that.

George has put together a strong NBA resume, which includes eight All-Star selections, six All-NBA selections and four All-Defensive Team selections. Jordan and James, however, are in a completely different stratosphere, combining for 10 NBA titles, nine MVP awards and 33 All-Star nods.

Miller has been able to watch James through his 20-year career – he was 11 months old when James made his NBA debut with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003. Jordan’s championship heyday was well over by the time Miller was born, but the Chicago Bulls legend has gotten to see the Alabama forward grow as a player.

Jordan’s Charlotte Hornets own the No. 2 pick in the 2023 draft, and the team reportedly is leaning towards Miller for its selection. Miller got to meet Jordan during a workout, and he was still eager to meet the six-time NBA champion.

“It’s definitely exciting,” he said. “He’s Michael Jordan.”

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Still, Miller wasn’t impressed by everything he saw during his time with Jordan.

“I’ve seen him airball a free throw,” he said.

Even if he is selected by the Hornets on Thursday, Jordan would not be Miller’s employer for long. The Hornets announced on Friday that Jordan is selling his majority stake in the franchise, though he will still be in charge when the Hornets make their No. 2 selection.

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Major League Baseball has big plans for Europe, starting with an English reintroduction to the sport this weekend when the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs play a two-game series in London.

The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox featured in London four years ago, smashing six home runs in a European debut for MLB that was higher scoring — the Yankees won 17-13 — than the NFL’s first one in London in 2007 when the New York Giants beat the Miami Dolphins 13-10.

Though the coronavirus pandemic threw a curveball — the Cards-Cubs series was slated for 2020 — the success of the World Baseball Classic has provided a boost. Britain won a game at the tournament for the first time and found a star in Seattle Mariners prospect Harry Ford, who was born in Atlanta but has parents from the U.K.

“The U.K. has really been identified for us, London in particular, as the jumping off point for us to get into Europe,” Chris Marinak, MLB’s chief operations and strategy officer, told The Associated Press. “We feel like we proved that out in 2019. By coming back and having a really strong showing … we’re going to have the opportunity to really make some headway for growth both in the U.K. and throughout Europe.”

Britain is MLB’s biggest market in Europe in terms of broadcast revenue, merchandise sales and subscribers to digital products, though it trails the likes of Mexico, Japan, South Korea, China and Australia.

Audience research company GWI’s data showed that interest in baseball among British sports fans increased from 4% in 2019 to 5.9% last year, the league said. It added that MLB Europe’s social media channels since the 2019 series have more than tripled their followers to 452,000.

The New York-Boston series, a two-game set that drew nearly 119,000 fans to London Stadium, was a driver in the BBC signing a deal last fall to begin broadcasting a handful of games, including the London series, each season. MLB’s lead broadcaster in the U.K., the pay-TV service BT Sport, last year renewed its agreement to broadcast 15 games per season.

“We feel like the U.K. offers us a good model for growth in the Europe market,” Marinak said.

MLB’s first regular-season game outside of the United States — including Puerto Rico — and Canada was in 1996 when the New York Mets and San Diego Padres played a three-game series in Monterrey, Mexico. The league has also staged games in Tokyo and Australia. Earlier this season, Mexico City hosted a two-game series between the Padres and San Francisco Giants.

The Yankees are lobbying to play in Paris in 2025. The league hasn’t announced the City of Light just yet, but Marinak noted: “We see a lot of engagement in France.” The players’ association signed off on MLB holding a game in Paris in 2025 as part of last year’s collective bargaining agreement.

London is locked in for a series next year and another in 2026.

The Netherlands — bolstered by baseball’s popularity in Aruba and Curacao — and Italy boast the best national teams in Europe, though the Czech Republic is improving. Germany — which has become the NFL’s leading market in Europe — has a big U.S. military presence and has produced several big leaguers, including Minnesota’s Max Kepler.

“We’ve really focused on looking into Europe as once a year, maybe max twice a year … just because it’s such an effort to get over there, and it doesn’t really fit into the normal cadence of the major league schedule, but we really do think it’s important to bring live game content to the market,” Marinak said.

“We want to hit our priority markets but we may rotate around to Germany in the long run or if there’s a facility in the Netherlands that we could potentially look at, France we’ve talked about, the UK,” he continued. ”But for the medium term, we’re really focused on the UK as our primary vehicle.”

A suitable venue is the tricky part. Olympic-style, multi-use stadiums are possibilities, like Stade de France. Baseball was a demonstration sport at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin’s Olympiastadion. Renovating the Sydney Cricket Ground for the Australia series in 2014 “was sort of a complicated endeavor,” Marinak said.

The NFL, NBA and NHL have been staging games in Europe for years, leaving MLB playing catch up. Thirty years ago, MLB scheduled exhibitions between Mets and Red Sox minor leaguers at the Oval, but rain at the London cricket venue washed out the first two days. Technically, baseball’s connection with Britain goes way back, starting with exhibitions between the Boston Red Stockings and Philadelphia Athletics in 1874.

In a more modern development, MLB is giving individual teams certain marketing rights abroad, as the NFL does.

“They have the opportunity to pick a few markets and do sponsorships,” Marinak said. “We think that’s an opportunity to grow, where teams can activate in local markets and really pick places where they can bring their brand to bear and then also bring those relationships with some of those international partners back to the United States.”

Having a star player from abroad is vital, said sports economist Victor Matheson, a professor at the College of the Holy Cross. Pro leagues “tend to generate a reasonable amount of revenue in those players’ home countries.” Japanese phenom Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels is the shining example.

“That being said, with so few MLB players hailing from the UK or the rest of the EU, it’s my impression that MLB has made almost no inroads into Europe,” Matheson said.

MLB hopes Britain’s relative success in the WBC planted a seed. The 20-year-old Ford, whose parents are British, was Seattle’s top pick in the 2021 draft and hit a home run in Britain’s 7-5 win over Colombia — which qualified the team for the next WBC.

“You need that type of star to create the engagement and the interest in the local market,” Marinak said.

For now, the focus is on the weekend games at London Stadium.

“We’re optimistic that this is the next step in a long journey of linking Major League Baseball to the U.K. and the rest of Europe.”

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

The United States women’s national team announced their 23-player roster on Wednesday ahead of the World Cup slated to begin on July 20.

Head coach Vlatko Andonovski selected a mix of newcomers and veterans to represent the star-studded squad who will be making the trip to Australia and New Zealand. The team features six forwards, seven midfielders, seven defenders and three goalkeepers.

Here we take a look at five must-know facts about the USWNT’s roster ahead of the competition:

Three players will be competing in fourth Women’s World Cup

Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan and Kelley O’Hara will be competing in their fourth Women’s World Cup, becoming the 10th, 11th and 12th American players to hit the milestone.

“Honestly, it felt like I was getting called for the first time to go to a World Cup,” O’Hara said “TODAY.” “I’m so excited. This is my fourth one, but when I got the news I honestly broke out in tears I was so excited.”

Morgan and Rapinoe were the tournament’s co-leading scorers when the U.S. defended its title in France four years ago.

Fourteen players are making their Women’s World Cup debut

Welcome to the ‘ship!

Fourteen players will be making their Women’s World Cup debuts: GK Casey Murphy, GK Aubrey Kingsbury, D Alana Cook, D Emily Fox, D Naomi Girma, D Sofia Huerta, M Savannah DeMelo, M Kristie Mewis, M Ashley Sanchez, M Andi Sullivan, F Trinity Rodman, F Sophia Smith, F Alyssa Thompson and F Lynn Williams.

Between injuries and wanting the develop young players, Andonovski says this year is about growth.

“We are expecting the level of play at this World Cup to be the best it’s ever been, and all the teams must keep up with that growth,” the head coach said.

Savannah DeMelo becomes first uncapped player to make Women’s World Cup roster since 2003

Shocker alert.

DeMelo was on the 23-woman squad and marked the first time an uncapped player made a USWNT roster for the Women’s World Cup since Shannon Boxx in 2003.

DeMelo has been to training camps with the USWNT but has never appeared in a game. The 25-year-old out of Racing Louisville FC has six goals since May 1 in NWSL regular season and Challenge Cup games for 8 total goals this year and two assists.

“Every player has a different journey to get to this point,” Andonovski said about the selection.

The youngest player on the roster is 18, while the oldest is 37

The USWNT has a nice distribution of age across its roster.

The average age is 28.5 with forward Alyssa Thompson the youngest at 18 and Rapinoe the oldest at 37.

The collection of players is about the same as the 2015 and 2019 winning rosters.

“We have a really good mix of veterans and younger players,” Andonovski said. “I know as a group they are extremely motivated to make our country proud at the World Cup.”

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The USWNT is seeking its third straight Women’s World Cup title

This would be a record-breaking feat.

The U.S. is looking to become the first country, male or female, to win three consecutive World Cup titles.

The four-time champions won their last two titles in 2019 and 2015 — in France and Canada, respectively.

The U.S.’s first two titles came in 1991 after defeating Norway in the final and in 1999, when The Gals hosted the World Cup and edged China in the final.

Germany falls second in nations with the most titles with two.

The U.S. begins its title defense on July 21, when it meets Women’s World Cup newcomer Vietnam in Auckland, New Zealand (9 p.m. ET).

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Introduced by Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-MD), the legislation honors University of Maryland football player Jordan McNair, who died of heatstroke in 2018. It would require college athletic programs to create action plans to avoid heat-related illnesses and deaths.

“With this legislation, it’s common sense. It requires all of our colleges to have a plan in place to deal with the realities of heat,” Cardin said.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) is an original co-sponsor of the Senate legislation.

McNair was at a University of Maryland football practice in 2018 when he collapsed from heatstroke. He waited about 90 minutes until he arrived at a nearby hospital in critical condition and died two weeks later. His father, Martin McNair, has been advocating ever since.

“No parent in America sends their student athlete away to college for them to be abused, mentally, physically or in our case worse,” Martin McNair said on Capitol Hill in 2021.

Martin McNair said this legislation creates a standard for heat-related legislation at a federal level.

“We want something that works, it’s consistent and we can kind of use this as a template all the way across the board,” McNair said.

Under this new law, college athletic programs would be required to work with local emergency responders to create action plans. They would also need to have cold-water immersion equipment for emergencies.

“I never thought that he’d really be the poster boy for student athlete safety you know, across the nation,” Martin McNair said. “I’m still amazed and humbled by the work that we do.”

According to the Jordan McNair Foundation, at least 34 NCAA athletes have died of heat-related injuries or illnesses since 2000.

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The Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals will face off in the 2023 MLB London Series this weekend.

Stars will be out as these NL Central rivals visit the United Kingdom. Cardinals veteran Adam Wainwright is set to pitch on Saturday, while Cubs ace Marcus Stroman will start on Sunday.

Here’s all the details on how to watch the international event:

When is the 2023 MLB London Series?

The MLB London Series is set to take place this weekend, with games on June 24 and 25.

Who is playing in the MLB London Series in 2023?

As aforementioned, the Cubs and Cardinals will face off in London.

Where is the MLB London Series played?

Both games will be played at London Stadium in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, located in the Stratford district of London. The facility was built for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

How to watch Cubs vs. Cardinals in the MLB London Series

FOX and ESPN will broadcast the MLB London Series in 2023. Here’s the schedule:

• Saturday, June 24: 1:10 p.m. ET, FOX
• Sunday, June 25: 10 a.m. ET, ESPN

Has MLB played in London before?

Yes.

This year will be MLB’s second trip to London after the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees faced off there in 2019. The Cubs and Cardinals were originally supposed to play there in 2020, but that was rescheduled due to the pandemic.

The squad features six forwards, seven midfielders, seven defenders and three goalkeepers. Here is a full look at the roster:

Goalkeepers

• Aubrey Kingsbury
• Casey Murphy
• Alyssa Naeher

Defenders

• Alana Cook
• Crystal Dunn
• Emily Fox
• Naomi Girma
• Sofia Huerta
• Kelley O’Hara
• Emily Sonnett

Midfielders

• Savannah DeMelo
• Julie Ertz
• Lindsey Horan
• Rose Lavelle
• Kristie Mewis
• Ashley Sanchez
• Andi Sullivan

Forwards

• Alex Morgan
• Megan Rapinoe
• Trinity Rodman
• Sophia Smith
• Alyssa Thompson
• Lynn Williams

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Previewing USWNT's Group E at 2023 FIFA World Cup

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Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan and Kelley O’Hara will be competing in their fourth Women’s World Cup, becoming the 10th, 11th and 12th American players to accomplish the feat.

Alyssa Naeher and Julie Ertz are back for their third Women’s World Cup appearance, while Crystal Dunn, Emily Sonnett, Lindsey Horan and Rose Lavelle are set to make their second straight appearance. The remaining 14 players will be heading to the Women’s World Cup for the first time.

Head coach Vlatko Andonovski named the players to the team. The roster will not be made official until it is submitted to FIFA by the July 9 deadline.

“The task of selecting a World Cup Team is never easy, but I’m proud of the players for their work ethic and focus during the process and of our coaching staff for doing the work to put together the best team possible,” Andonovski said. “It’s the players that make the biggest impact on our environment, they push each other to be better and I know as a group they are extremely motivated to make our country proud at the World Cup. Every player has a different journey to get to this point so our roster has some amazing stories and we have a really good mix of veterans and younger players.”

The USWNT has won back-to-back Women’s World Cups and will begin its quest for a three-peat on July 21 against Vietnam in a group stage match. The Americans will also face the Netherlands, who they beat in the 2019 Women’s World Cup Final, and Portugal in Group E.

Before embarking to New Zealand, the team will play a Women’s World Cup Send-Off Match on July 9 in San Jose, Calif.

Victor Wembanyama has long been viewed as the clear consensus No. 1 pick in this year’s class. The only real question was which team was going to be lucky enough to be able to draft the French sensation, and that turned out to be the San Antonio Spurs.

But while the draft will get off to an unsurprising start, the drama will quickly kick into high gear.

The Charlotte Hornets face the draft’s first major decision at No. 2: Pair LaMelo Ball with Scoot Henderson in the backcourt or go wing with Brandon Miller. The Portland Trail Blazers, with Damian Lillard wanting to compete for championships, then face a possible franchise-altering decision at No. 3. There’s also trade potential with both picks, as teams like the New Orleans Pelicans reportedly eye Henderson, and as the Blazers reportedly search for win-now talent to surround Lillard with.

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Those two picks will be just the start of what could be a wild night in the NBA. Here’s how to watch it all unfold:

When is the 2023 NBA Draft?

This year’s draft takes place on Thursday, June 22.

Where is the 2023 NBA Draft location?

Barclays Center, home of the Nets, is the site of the 2023 NBA Draft. The Brooklyn, N.Y., venue has hosted every in-person NBA draft since 2013.

What time does the 2023 NBA Draft start?

The Spurs will officially go on the clock at around 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

Where can I watch the NBA draft in 2023?

The draft will be televised on ESPN and ABC.

Is the 2023 NBA Draft available on streaming?

Fans can also stream the event online at ABC.com and ESPN.com, or on the ABC and ESPN apps.

What is the 2023 NBA Draft order?

Here are the first 14 selections in the draft:

1. San Antonio Spurs

2. Charlotte Hornets

3. Portland Trail Blazers

4. Houston Rockets

5. Detroit Pistons

6. Orlando Magic 

7. Indiana Pacers

8. Washington Wizards

9. Utah Jazz

10. Dallas Mavericks

11. Orlando Magic (via Chicago)

12. Oklahoma City Thunder

13. Toronto Raptors

14. New Orleans Pelicans

You can check out the full draft order here.

The Canadian women’s soccer star has often been described as guarded, private and quiet. Sinclair herself admits that she is “awkwardly shy.”

But the 40-year-old has opened up in recent years, recently appearing on NBC’s “My New Favorite Futbolista” podcast to discuss her mother’s longtime battle with multiple sclerosis.

“My mom lived with MS for 40 years and, as a kid, I saw her battle,” Sinclair said on the podcast. “I saw her struggle. I saw her never give up. I saw her face the world bravely. She taught me a lot of perspective in life…Those days when I thought I was having a bad day. In the grand scheme of things, I have nothing to complain about.”  

Around the time that Sinclair became a teenager, she noticed her mother Sandra began to show up at her soccer games using a cane. Sandra soon told her that she had multiple sclerosis, a diagnosis and discomfort she hid from her children for 12 years. 

Sinclair at the time was not familiar with the disease and in the pre-smartphone era didn’t have instant access to information.

“All I could see was her physical capabilities being taken away from her, like she was walking with a cane,” Sinclair said. “At that moment in time, I didn’t know what that meant for the rest of her life.” 

Sinclair has always preferred to let her play do the talking. And oh the stories it could tell. 

Sinclair is soccer’s all-time leader for international goals scored with 190, she has won an Olympic gold medal and she is one of only three players in history to score in five different World Cup tournaments. And she’s one of Canada’s biggest stars.

She has long been in the spotlight on the field but has never sought it after the game ended. 

That changed when she was inspired by her mother to write her memoir “Playing the Long Game” after helping lead Canada to a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. The book was released just months after Sandra died in February of 2022.

“I think MS is a disease a lot of the time that people suffer through in silence and suffer with in silence,” Sinclair said. “People have heard of MS, but they don’t really know what it is. So for me, I just want people to know that they’re not alone.”

The first line of the book reads, “Talking about myself has never been something I’ve liked to do. For anyone who has followed my career, that won’t come as a surprise.”

She also described in the book the challenges she faced in connecting with new teammates. 

“It’s not my natural behavior to be outgoing until I really get to know you,” Sinclair wrote. “It’s not that I want to be standoffish, but I know I can seem that way.”

That, too, has recently changed. 

Sinclair’s longtime teammate Diana Matheson has noticed Sinclair making more of an effort to connect with her younger and often star-struck teammates.

“She’s Christine Sinclair, like, they’re in awe of her,” Matheson said on “My New Favorite Futbolista.” “And I think as she got older and embraced that leadership role, she’s aware of that and really intentionally put effort and energy into making sure she connected with those new players.”

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The conference and the thousands expected to attend it is an indication of the creep, or perhaps leap, of cultural acceptance for psychedelic substances that proponents say may offer benefits for things like post-traumatic stress disorder and alcoholism. Still, medical experts caution that more research is needed on the drugs’ efficacy and the extent of the risks.

NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who’ll soon debut with the New York Jets after years with the Green Bay Packers, has been open about his use of ayahuasca in the past and is slated to speak Wednesday. Rapper Jaden Smith, the son of Will Smith who has publicly shared the “ego dissolution” he felt when using psychedelics, will be speaking in Denver, too, as will former Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry, who is an advocate for researching psychedelics’ potential benefits for veterans experiencing PTSD.

The hosting organization, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, is the largest U.S. advocacy group. It has strategized to reach the full political spectrum, said Nicolas Langlitz, a historian of science who’s researched the boom and bust of psychedelic movements.

“Overall, this strategy has been tremendously successful,” he said. “At the time when any topic gets politically polarized, ironically these super polarizing substances now get bipartisan support.”

Still, Langlitz said, this conference is “purely designed to promote the hype,” which can exaggerate the potential benefits but can also drive further funding.

“Any kind of overselling is not good for science because science should be accurate rather than pushing things,” he said. “It’s a tradeoff. (The conference) generates interest, it generates ultimately more research, even though the research might be skewed toward positive results.”

Psychedelics are illegal at the federal level, though acceptance and interest in studying their potential benefits has grown. For example, some researchers believe psilocybin, the compound in psychedelic mushrooms, changes the way the brain organizes itself and can help users overcome things like depression and alcoholism.

The drugs themselves — and the interest in them — are not new. Mid-last century, authors Aldous Huxley and Ken Kesey helped spur the use of psychedelics during the counterculture movement, and optimism brimmed among some psychologists over the drugs’ potential to augment the human psyche.

But the Nixon administration criminalized psychedelics, pushing them underground.

“In both cases you have this upwelling of exuberance that may or may not be irrational,” said author Michael Pollan, who wrote a book on psychedelics and will be speaking at the conference. “But I think a big difference (now) is that the enthusiasm for the potential of psychedelics cuts across a much more representative slice of the population — it’s not about a counterculture.”

Republican strongholds, including Utah and Missouri, have or are considering commissioning studies into the drugs, partly inspired by veterans’ poignant stories. That’s why, though he stops short of promoting recreational use, Perry has become an unlikely flagbearer and helped get a bill passed in the Texas legislature in 2021 to fund a study of psilocybin for treating PTSD.

In Congress, successful proposals to fund psychedelic research for PTSD in veterans brought progressive Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York and far-right Rep. Matt Gaetz from Florida into an unlikely alignment.

Public interest also appears to be growing. Just six years ago in Oakland, California, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies held a conference with roughly 3,000 attendees and a smattering of lesser-known speakers and die-hard proponents.

This time, organizers estimate at least 10,000 attendees. Other famous speakers will include former NHL player Daniel Carcillo, who owns a company specializing in psychedelic therapies; Olympic silver-medal figure skater Sasha Cohen; comedians Reggie Watts and Eric Andre, top-10 podcaster Andrew Huberman; and Carl Hart, the chair of Columbia University’s psychology department.

The American Psychiatric Association has not endorsed the use of psychedelics in treatment, noting the Federal Drug Administration has yet to offer a final determination. The FDA did designate psilocybin as a “breakthrough therapy” in 2018, a label that’s designed to speed the development and review of drugs to treat a serious condition. MDMA, often called ecstasy, also has that designation for PTSD treatment.

Both Pollan and Langlitz believe further research is key — especially as the nation faces an unprecedented mental health crisis and people struggle to find adequate treatment. But, Langlitz said, it’s important to let research shape the narrative.

“I would just try to keep my mind open to the possibility that in retrospect we will tell a very different story from the one that the protagonists of psychedelic therapies are currently predicting,” he said.

A similar scene played out a week later steps from the Florida Panthers’ arena before Stanley Cup Final games, with young fans playing inside an inflatable rink underneath palm trees.

The final between Vegas and Florida showcased the benefits of ball and roller hockey in many U.S. markets, with or without professional teams, where ice is hard to come by. The NHL earlier this year launched a street hockey program aimed at knocking down barriers to the sport, with the goal of creating interest in the game, even at more casual levels.

“The influence of our teams going to the South, and you see the players getting drafted out of California, Texas and Florida, and you’re seeing that influence already,” said former player Andrew Ference, who is spearheading the NHL Street program as part of his job with the league. “It’s a great success story that we have some NHLers coming from those areas, but imagine how many kids are left out. … There’s so many kids and families that aren’t going to have the ability to overcome some of those barriers that it takes in those cities.”

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Barriers range from cost and time commitments to the competitive nature of youth sports and even many families thinking they don’t belong in hockey. Stakeholders in the sport are trying many avenues to bring down those barriers, and street hockey is one of the latest attempts.

Ference, who played more than 1,000 NHL games as a defenseman from 1999-2015 and won the Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins, was lucky to have outdoor ice available to him half the year while growing up in Edmonton. Still, he thinks many future pros logged more time playing street hockey in driveways and cul-de-sacs during their formative years.

“All I did when I was a kid was play ball hockey: literally get home from school, go outside, play with my friends,” said retired goaltender Andrew Raycroft, who joined Ference at an NHL Street event in Boston this past weekend. “It’s the easiest way to get into the game. Certainly the cost of skates, sticks, ice time living in the city, it’s really tough. But you can still love the game and play the game.”

As Commissioner Gary Bettman said, “The more kids are playing hockey in any form, the better it is for the growth of the game.” His oldest grandson, Matthew, is a New Jersey high school state champion with a net in his family’s driveway, and his 5-year-old grandson is taking skating lessons.

Getting on the ice to skate is harder in some places.

According to Arena Guide, a site that tracks indoor and outdoor rinks in North America, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Louisiana, Arizona and Oklahoma have only 41 combined — many of them larger arenas not suited for youth hockey. USA Hockey’s last annual report counted just over 6,000 players in those six states combined, which is less than in North Carolina alone thanks to growth spurred by the Hurricanes playing there since 1997.

More ice rinks being are being built in other NHL markets like Dallas, Las Vegas and Tampa, which portends positive signs for the future, according to Bettman, who also pointed out how popular ball hockey has been for quite some time across North America.

Because of that, Ference said he and his colleagues aren’t trying to reinvent what street hockey is — just adding more structure to the old tradition of knocking on doors to see if enough neighborhood kids are around for a pickup game. But for a sport built on a team-first attitude, with attention to detail and discipline engrained from a young age, this isn’t about copying that.

“We don’t have to try to just kind of take ice hockey and put it on the street — basically take the skates off and take the exact same culture and put it on the street,” said Ference, now director of social impact, grown and fan development for the NHL. “Instead, let the kids that are doing the program kind of figure out how they want it to look and feel: What kind of moves do they want to do on a breakaway? What kind of music do they want on the playlist?”

Basically, make hockey fun.

Ference said the league drew inspiration from AND1 basketball, snowboarding and video games to try to see what elements of youth interest, culture and creativity could be derived from them. Basketball and winter sports have evolved as a result, and video games are a case of kids being able to try something without practice, to interact with friends and make mistakes more so than on the ice in organized hockey.

The idea is to create an enjoyable environment similar to flag football where the pressure is off but still open a new gateway to hockey.

“Hopefully getting a lot of the crossover athletes that look at it and see something cool and want to try something new,” Ference said. “They’re not committing their life to it, but you can create a lot of casual fans that way and people that have a good interaction with hockey. They might not be the complete diehard, all of them, but a lot of them will now be introduced to a sport that they wouldn’t have in the past.”

Who says you need to be loud to be a leader?

That’s not completely the case with Becky Sauerbrunn, the star captain of the United States women’s national team.

Sauerbrunn, 38, has been in the game a long time – even before her collegiate days at Virginia beginning in 2003. 

Two decades later, the St. Louis native continues to defy Father Time by playing at an elite level for both club (NWSL’s Portland Thorns) and country. If it wasn’t for a foot injury that forced her to miss out of the 2023 Women’s World Cup co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, Sauerbrunn would’ve made her fourth appearance in the quadrennial tournament, a testament to her longevity.

Her absence will be a significant loss to the U.S. side given her consistency and experience as a center back, though her leadership off the pitch is just as vital.

And she does so in quite a unique way. 

Gender inequality unfortunately remains a common theme in many aspects of life, and sports are not immune. 

For Sauerbrunn, her journey in speaking out against gender inequality and creating meaningful change started firsthand when she was a student-athlete in high school.

“I realized that in high school,” Sauerbrunn said on NBC’s “My New Favorite Futbolista” podcast. “I didn’t really know the words to use it, but going to the men’s soccer game as opposed to the women’s soccer game and [thinking] why were there more people at the men’s game and not the women’s game? 

“And then you go to a football match and our team was terrible and yet there were so many people there and we had these women’s teams, like our basketball team was super good, but people weren’t showing up for our games. And I was like, why? Why is this? I don’t understand this. I didn’t know how to phrase it or put any meaning behind it, but it was noticeable.”

Sauerbrunn gradually realized that gender equality isn’t normal. She might not have known the words for it, but she could tell something wasn’t right about the disparity. 

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She then made her USWNT senior debut in 2008 after rising through the ranks of the youth teams. In 2016, she was named captain of the team alongside Carli Lloyd during the Rio Summer Olympics.

Her time playing for the national team helped open her eyes, Sauerbrunn said. She began attempting to reconstruct the situation to make more sense of it, which helped her start thinking about the reasons behind why such gaps were prominent. 

“I started the process of unlearning it by being surrounded by women who had already gone through that kind of revelation, that this isn’t right,” Sauerbrunn said. “Why do I believe these things? 

“Because I remember going into the national team and we were getting like eight or 10,000 people at our games, whereas the men, you know, they were selling out, you know, 25, 26,000 people at their stadiums and not understanding why that was, not understanding anything about investing early on to see a return on the investment later on, and thinking like, well, no wonder the men make more money than us, like they get more people at these games.”

Sauerbrunn then started to speak out about the inequality, but she said that didn’t happen until she had been playing with the national team for a while. She began speaking to more women who had worked with the older generation of players, such as Julie Foudy, Michelle Akers and more, to spark conversations around earning a liveable wage by doing what they love.

Through conversations with the U.S. Soccer Federation, Sauerbrunn and Co. realized they would need to utilize their platform more often to apply pressure and give the women more leverage in their fight, as talks usually became stagnant and nonchalant.

When the historic equal pay agreement was struck in September of 2022 – a deal that gave women identical pay structures to men for appearances and tournament victories, revenue sharing and equitable distribution of World Cup prize money – Sauerbrunn felt pure elation on what she and the women had accomplished, along with plenty of gratitude for those who helped get it over the line.

“It felt really, really good. Really good,” she said. “And it was awesome that it was in D.C. and a packed house. We had just won the game. We had all these labor union leaders, you know, Major League Baseball, football, NWSL, obviously our own Players Association senators, you know, people there who were invested in the fight a lot longer than maybe we had been. And to sign it on that night in front of everybody and to be able to, like, thank the people that really helped us along the way, including that original group of women, it felt so good. So good.”

But while most fans and supporters only saw the final result, they don’t see or experience the specific details and preparation that go into fighting for something as important as gender inequality. 

So, while people know the players struggled in their fight for change, they don’t know exactly how certain players struggled. Sauerbrunn, for example, is a major introvert. 

That may sound like it doesn’t add up given her years of experience as a captain, but it can be extremely difficult to lead a social charge when you’re not exactly a social person. Sauerbrunn has embraced the concept, but still scuffles with it.

“I don’t think I’ve ever gotten over it.” she said. “I think I’ve embraced the uncomfortableness of putting myself out there. I think what really changed for me is knowing how important these issues are and how important it is to lend your voice to it and whether that’s you’re in the forefront or you’re amplifying someone else’s message.

“But I’ve been so fortunate to be given a platform where for some reason people listen to me sometimes when I talk and I think what comes of that is a responsibility to use it wisely. And for me, it would be a disservice to myself and to a lot of disenfranchized or marginalized people to not use my voice when I have the ability to.” 

Sauerbrunn also believes her introverted nature is a secret superpower, especially considering how she’s surrounded by more extroverts. She credits a book she read a few years ago called “Quiet” that delves into introversion, which provided her a fresh perspective on her traits and helped her find balance with her team.

“[‘Quiet’] really helped explain to me why in the way that I am, but also any fears that I harbored about being leader or using my platform explained it away for me, like, got those fears to be less dominating in my mind because with so many extroverts, you need somebody who’s kind of sitting back and listening and kind of trying to get all these threads to come together into a cohesive rope,” she said. “And that’s kind of my … I think that’s my superpower.”

You don’t need to be loud to be a leader or to create change. Being an introvert shouldn’t limit anyone when fighting for something you believe in, and Sauerbrunn laid out the perfect blueprint.

Listen to the full conversation with USWNT captain Becky Sauerbrunn on NBC’s “My New Favorite Futbolista” podcast here.

The 48th edition of the tournament — usually held in South America — will begin on June 20 and will run through the final on July 14, Concacaf announced in a statement.

The full schedule, along with host cities and venues, have not been revealed yet, however.

Defending champions Argentina — along with being the reigning World Cup winners — will be among the 10 Conmebol nations competing, with six additional teams coming from Concacaf.

The teams from Concacaf will be determined via the 2023-24 Nations League. The four semifinalists will automatically clinch a spot, while two additional teams will need to go through a qualifying play-off round to secure a berth.

The “strategic collaboration agreement” in place between Concacaf and Conmebol to host the South American-based tournament in the U.S. will also see four Conmebol guest nations competing in the inaugural Concacaf W Gold Cup in February and March 2024.

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Those four teams were determined based on the results of the 2022 Women’s Copa America: Brazil (champion) Colombia (runner-up), Argentina (third place) and Paraguay (fourth place).

The United States last hosted the men’s Copa America tournament in 2016, which also included a total of 16 teams. Chile won the tournament for the second time, with the U.S. placing fourth.

Ecuador was next in line in Conmebol’s rotation of the host nation for the tournament. However, the country in 2022 declined the opportunity, citing internal security issues.

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Police spokesperson Angel Rodriguez confirmed in an email that the incident happened Sunday but did not provide further details.

The Sun-Sentinel reported that the alleged incident happened at Haulover Park.

“We are aware of the situation and have been in contact with Tyreek, his representatives and the NFL. We will reserve further comment at this time,” a Dolphins spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday.

The Kansas City Chiefs traded Hill to Miami last year, and the Dolphins gave the three-time All-Pro a $120 million, four-year contract extension that made Hill the highest-paid wide receiver in NFL history. The 29-year-old caught 119 passes for 1,710 yards and seven touchdowns in 2022.

Kuzma has declined his $13 million player option with the Washington Wizards for next season, a person with knowledge of his decision said Tuesday, meaning he will be a free agent. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither side disclosed the move.

ESPN first reported Kuzma had declined the option. The move was not a surprise: Kuzma had said to The Washington Post and The Athletic in December that he was not planning to exercise the option, and given what he will command on the market, his decision makes sense.

Kuzma is coming off the highest-scoring season of his six-year career. He averaged 21.2 points for the Wizards, who are finalizing a trade that will send three-time All-Star Bradley Beal to the Phoenix Suns. It’s possible that Kuzma could return to Washington on a far more lucrative deal; $13 million for someone averaging more than 20 points a game would be an absolute steal.

Free agency opens June 30.

Meanwhile, the Toronto Raptors announced Tuesday that guard Gary Trent Jr. has exercised his $18.5 million option for next season, meaning he will bypass the chance to be a free agent.

Trent averaged 17.4 points this past season for Toronto, his third consecutive season averaging at least 15 points.

Over his five-year career with the Raptors and Portland, Trent — the son of former NBA guard Gary Trent — has averaged 14.4 points.

The 7-foot-5 star French center threw the ceremonial first pitch at the New York Yankees-Seattle Mariners game on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium, but it didn’t quite go as planned.

Wembanyama — sporting a pinstriped Yankees jersey with Joe DiMaggio’s No. 5 on the back — stepped up to the plate while applauding fans and went through his wind up motion, but the right-handed toss went wide left of the catcher and into the dirt.

Here’s another angle of the pitch:

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Wembanyama is in New York with the upcoming draft being held at the Barclays Center, home of the Brooklyn Nets.

Perhaps even more amusing was seeing Wembanyama riding the subway for the first time en route to Yankee Stadium. He had to crouch slightly just to fit.

And in case you were curious, here’s what the size of a baseball looks like in Wembanyama’s grasp, as he shared on his Instagram:

The 2023 draft is slated for Thursday, June 22. This time, though, he’ll have a classic basketball in his hands.

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The 2023 NBA Draft is just a few days away, and with it, we’ll soon know where the top prospects in this year’s class will be headed to potentially change a franchise’s trajectory.

Though there’s no real intrigue for the top overall selection, what happens after will be a domino effect worth paying attention to.

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Here are four things to know about the 2023 NBA Draft:

When and where is the 2023 NBA Draft?

Barclays Center, home of the Brooklyn Nets, is the venue for the event on Thursday, June 22

Who has the first pick in the 2023 NBA Draft and how many are there?

The San Antonio Spurs have the first pick in the draft and there are a total of 58 selections (The Philadelphia 76ers and Chicago Bulls forfeited a second-rounder due to violating free agency rules).

Which NBA team has the most selections in the 2023 draft?

The Charlotte Hornets and Indiana Pacers each have five picks going into Thursday.

Who are the top three players in the 2023 NBA Draft?

French star center Victor Wembanyama is the consensus No. 1 overall pick, while guard Scoot Henderson (G League) and forward Brandon Miller (Alabama) are the next two best prospects. 

The international star reportedly will appear in his first game for Inter Miami on July 21, when the team faces Cruz Azul in the Leagues Cup.

Inter Miami owner Jorge Mas revealed the news to Axios on Monday.

That game will be played at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Inter Miami’s home arena. The team will increase capacity at the stadium by 3,000 to 3,200 before Messi’s debut, increasing the total capacity to around 22,000.

Messi’s deal is for two and a half years with an option for 2026, according to Mas. The contract, which gives Messi an ownership stake in the club, will pay him between $50 and $60 million per year.

Ticket prices for Messi’s expected debut were already spiking from the moment he signed with the club. Now that the date is confirmed, fans will surely be flocking to their ticketing apps in search of seats.

The deal announced Tuesday said Joe Gibbs Racing has “received a significant investment” from Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment for the minority stake in the team. The private equity platform Arctos Partners will also be making a minority investment in JGR.

Gibbs, meanwhile, will become a limited partner in Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, pending approval by the NBA and NHL. HBSE owns the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils. Josh Harris, the founder, is head of the ownership group for the Commanders.

“Josh Harris, David Blitzer and their entire team have a vision that has delivered winning franchises in basketball, hockey, soccer and youth sports,” Joe Gibbs said in a statement. “Their teams are among the most successful in their leagues in growing audience and sponsorship and their commitment to the communities they work in are unparalleled. I am excited to join the HBSE family and to have their support in growing Joe Gibbs Racing.”

Gibbs won three Super Bowls coaching Washington’s NFL team and had two stints as its head coach. He is both an NFL and NASCAR Hall of Famer.

“In recent years I’ve been fortunate enough to get to know Coach Gibbs and am proud to count him as a trusted friend and adviser. Joe is a winner. First in football and then with Joe Gibbs Racing, he has led organizations that build winning cultures based on strong values and a deep commitment to family and faith,” Harris said. “This investment and partnership aims to support his vision and allow Joe Gibbs Racing to continue its track record of excellence long into the future.”

HBSE and Arctos will work to enhance and support the marketing, sales and business side of the operation. Gibbs advised Harris during his pursuit of the Commanders and issued a statement of support when the tentative agreement between Harris and Dan Snyder was announced in May.

Joe Gibbs Racing was founded in 1992 and won its first race in 1993 — the Daytona 500 with Dale Jarrett. JGR has 204 Cup wins and 197 Xfinity wins, and five Cup titles with Bobby Labonte, Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch.

JGR this year fields cars for Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. HBSE will have no role in the day-to-day operations of JGR, which is headed by Gibbs and company president Dave Alpern.

The former No. 1 overall pick has battled through injuries since entering the NBA in 2019. Williamson has played in just 114 games over his first four seasons while missing 194 due to various ailments.

Now, he’s wrapped up in multiple storylines as the 2023 NBA Draft inches closer. Williamson is involved in a complicated love triangle with a former adult film star and a woman who is apparently pregnant with his child.

On top of that, he’s been mentioned in trade rumors as the New Orleans Pelicans assess their future plans. The Ringer’s Bill Simmons, citing a source, said Williamson might not be on the team by Thursday’s draft.

Here are five teams that could potentially trade for the former All-Star forward, plus a look at what those teams have to offer (note: these are not hypothetical trade offers, just a compilation of these teams’ possible tradeable assets):

Portland Trail Blazers

Tradeable assets: Nos. 3 and 23 overall picks, Anfernee Simons, Shaedon Sharpe, Keon Johnson

If the Blazers hope to keep Damian Lillard happy, they have to significantly improve the team. Adding Williamson could be a good first step, especially since they own two first-round picks. The Pelicans reportedly covet Scoot Henderson, who could be there for the taking at No. 3. There’s another connection too, as Williamson rehabbed his foot injury in Portland last year.

Charlotte Hornets

Tradeable assets: Nos. 2 and 27 overall picks, Terry Rozier, Gordon Hayward, Mark Williams, Nick Richards

The Hornets were one spot away from being able to draft Victor Wembanyama, but Williamson could be a nice consolation prize. With LaMelo Ball likely off the table, they don’t have a ton of intriguing young players to deal. But the No. 2 pick, plus a veteran in Rozier or Hayward, could be enough to entice the Pelicans – who are looking to win now. Charlotte reportedly prefers another Pelicans forward, Brandon Ingram, over Williamson in a trade for the second pick.

New York Knicks

Tradeable assets: Immanuel Quickley, R.J. Barrett, Mitchell Robinson, Quentin Grimes, Obi Toppin, protected 2024 first-round picks from Dallas, Detroit and Washington

Unlike the first two teams, the Knicks don’t have a high draft pick – or any 2023 draft pick – to offer. Instead, New York has a collection of solid young pieces. Williamson could have ended up in New York if the 2019 lottery played out differently, and he certainly has an affinity for the Big Apple. Williamson and Barrett were college teammates at Duke, which could make for a good story if the Knicks were able to pull off the trade without including the latter.

Houston Rockets

Tradeable assets: Nos. 4 and 20 overall picks, Jalen Green, Tari Eason, Alperen Sengun, two future first-round picks from Brooklyn, two future first-round pick swaps with Brooklyn

The Rockets’ rebuild is expected to be accelerated this offseason. They hired Ime Udoka as head coach and have just under $50 million in projected cap space. Houston has stockpiled young players since trading away James Harden, though none of them look like sure-fire stars just yet. With plenty of future picks, two first-rounders in 2023 and the desire to start winning again, the Rockets could make sense as a Williamson suitor.

Atlanta Hawks

Tradeable assets: No. 15 overall pick, Dejounte Murray, John Collins, De’Andre Hunter, Onyeka Okongwu, Jalen Johnson, AJ Griffin, protected 2024 first-round pick from Sacramento

OK, this one seems unlikely. But it’s fun to imagine pairing Williamson with Trae Young. Atlanta has several different types of players to trade depending on what New Orleans wants. They have a bevy of solid role players, including Collins and Hunter. Then there are the young, promising players like Okongwu, Johnson and Griffin. If the Pelicans want a big-name player, Murray fills their need at point guard.

___

NEW ZEALAND

AUCKLAND

Indigenous name: Tamaki Makaurau

Venue: Eden Park will stage the first match in New Zealand between co-host New Zealand and Norway. It will be the first of five group matches. The stadium will also host one match in the round of 16, one in the quarterfinals and one in the semifinals. The stadium has a capacity of 40,000 to 60,000, depending on configuration. It was the main stadium for the 1990 Commonwealth Games and hosted the finals of the 1987 and 2011 Rugby World Cups, and a semifinal game at the 2015 Cricket World Cup. It stands in suburban Mount Eden near the dormant volcano of that name, known to indigenous Maori as Maungawhau.

Weather: Auckland is sub-tropical with warm summers and wet winters. Temperatures average 8-23 degrees Celsius year round (46-73 degrees Fahrenheit). Temperatures in July and August typically range from 11-15 Celsius (52-59 Fahrenheit).

About: Auckland is New Zealand’s largest city with an urban population of about 1.6 million. About 41% of Auckland’s population was born overseas, giving it the eighth-largest proportion of foreign-born residents of any city in the world. It has the largest ethnic Polynesian population in the world. Maori have lived in the area since the 14th century. Europeans settled Auckland in 1840 and made it New Zealand’s capital until Wellington replaced it in 1865. Auckland is built on an isthmus between the Waitemata Harbor on the Pacific Ocean and Manukau Harbor on the Tasman Sea. One of its landmarks is the 328-meter (1,076 foot) Skytower, the second tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere. Auckland is surrounded by the Auckland Volcanic Field, which comprises about 50 dormant or extinct volcanoes. Auckland is known as the City of Sails for its large sailing community. It is the home to the America’s Cup syndicate Team New Zealand and has hosted the America’s Cup regatta three times. Many workers commute to downtown Auckland by ferries which serve points on the Waitemata Harbor and Hauraki Gulf. Waiheke Island is the largest in the Gulf with a population of about 10,000 and is famous for its vineyards.

Hometown Football Ferns: Erin Nayler (IFK Norrkoping), Ashleigh Ward (Southampton), Jaqui Hand (Colorado College).

HAMILTON

Indigenous name: Kirikiriroa

Venue: Waikato Regional Stadium has a capacity of 25,800 and is primarily a rugby venue. Formerly known as Rugby Park, it was due to host a match on the contentious 1981 tour of New Zealand by South Africa’s Springboks. But anti-apartheid protesters broke down fences and occupied the ground, preventing the rugby international from taking place. The stadium will host five matches in the group stage.

Weather: temperatures in July and August range from 6-14 degrees Celsius (43-57 degrees Fahrenheit).

About: Hamilton, with a population of 180,000, is an inland city on the banks of the Waikato River in Waikato province. Waikato is a leading farming center known for crop and dairy farms and home to some of New Zealand’s top thoroughbred stud farms. Colloquially known as “the Tron” by New Zealanders, it has the relaxed vibe of a large rural town. It also is a center of indigenous Maori culture. The largest iwi (tribe) in the region is Waikato-Tainui, which has substantial land and property holdings, including two major Hamilton hotels.

The city of Rotorua, popular among tourists for its boiling mud pools and geysers, is 100 kilometers (60 miles) away. Hobbiton, a location in the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movie series, is 43 kilometers (26 miles) away near the township of Matamata.

Hometown Football Ferns: Michaela Foster (Wellington Phoenix), the daughter of Ian Foster, head coach of the All Blacks, New Zealand’s national rugby team.

WELLINGTON

Indigenous name: Te Whanganui-a-Tara

Venue: Wellington Regional Stadium, otherwise know as Sky Stadium or as the “Cake Tin” for it’s circular shape, seats 35,400 and is situated on the waterfront close to the central railway station. The stadium will host seven group matches, including the United States vs. Netherlands on July 27, one match in the round of 16 and one in the quarterfinals.

Its proximity to downtown means fans can walk to the ground from the central city or from trains arriving from Wellington’s suburbs. Ferries that cross the Cook Strait to link the North and South Islands leave nearby.

Weather: Wellington isn’t known as “Windy Wellington” for nothing. It is one of the windiest cities in the world by average windspeed. Temperatures in July and August on average are between 7-12 degrees Celsius (45-54 degrees Fahrenheit). Rain is common in those months.

About: New Zealand’s capital has an urban population of 212,000 and is known as a civil service city but with a bohemian vibe. Parliament buildings and the adjacent “Beehive” executive offices are not far from the stadium. Much of the central business district stands on land reclaimed since 1840 and the city also sits on one of New Zealand’s most active fault lines.

Wellington mostly nestles between steep hills to the west and it’s natural harbor. Houses perch above the city and harbor among native bush on steep hillsides. The city is home to film director Peter Jackson, who made the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies, including at locations nearby, and Weta Workshops, which creates special effects and props for film and television, recently for the Avatar series of movies.

Wellington is popular for its compact city center, making it is easy to walk to most places. The city has one of the best restaurant and cafe scenes in New Zealand.

Hometown Football Ferns: C.J. Bott (Leicester), Emma Rolston (Wellington Phoenix), Kate Taylor (Wellington Phoenix).

DUNEDIN

Indigenous name: Otepoti

Venue: Dunedin Stadium, otherwise known as the Forysyth Barr Stadium, is the only indoor venue for matches in New Zealand. It has a capacity of 31,000. It is situated in northern Dunedin, close to the University Oval cricket venue and near the wide Otago University Campus, an easy walk from the central city.

Weather: Average temperatures in July and August range from 1-13 degrees Celsius (34-55 degrees Fahrenheit).

About: Dunedin is a college town and has a deep Scottish heritage. The name Dunedin, or Dùn Èideann, is the Scottish Gaelic form of Edinburgh. Scots first settled the city in 1848 and many thousands more arrived later.

The city’s many stone buildings remember the Scottish towns from which the settlers came and Dunedin has a tradition of pipe bands which often play at major sporting events. Dunedin also has a long history of Asian settlement. Many settlers from mainland China were attracted to Dunedin by the goldrush in Otago province in the 1860s.

The college campus and ornate railway station are landmarks near the central city. Lanark Castle on the Otago Peninsula was built by politician and entrepreneur William Lanark in 1872 in the style of an English stately home. It is reputedly haunted. Lanark committed suicide by shooting himself in the Parliament in Wellington in 1898 after the collapse of the Colonial Bank of New Zealand, of which he was a director and shareholder.

The Royal Albatross Colony at Taiaroa Head is the only mainland breeding colony of Royal Albatross in the world. It is open daily to visitors who can see adult birds which have a wing span of more than three meters (10 feet) and their chicks which are hatched and remain at the colony until they are able to fly.

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AUSTRALIA

SYDNEY

Indigenous name for Sydney Cove: Warrane

Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, is the only city with two venues for the tournament.

The 82,500-seat Stadium Australia, the centerpiece of the 2000 Olympics, is in the western suburbs on the way to Parramatta. It will host the opening game in Australia featuring the Matildas against Ireland in Group B, as well one round of 16 match, one quarterfinal match, one semifinal match and the final.

Sydney Football Stadium, a 42,000-seat venue on the southeastern edge of downtown on the route to Bondi Beach, will host five group games and one in the round of 16.

Weather: Average temperatures range from 8-18 degrees Celsius (46-64 degrees Fahrenheit) in late July and August, with moderate humidity and relatively low chance of rain.

About: Australia’s biggest and most vibrant city is renowned for its vast natural harbor, a spectacular backdrop to the Sydney Opera House — the iconic building with the white, wave-like roof on Bennelong Point — and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

It was the site of the first European settlement in Australia in 1788. Remnants of the colonial period are evident in the Rocks, where some of the buildings are made of convict-chiseled sandstone blocks. The precinct is on the western side of Sydney Cove and close to Circular Quay, where there’s a terminal for ferries that travel across the harbor to such places as Manly on the northern beaches.

Hometown Matildas: Alanna Kennedy (Manchester City). Caitlin Foord (Arsenal) and Emily van Egmond (San Diego Wave) grew up nearby.

In a country featuring some unique native fauna, the animal emblems of New South Wales are the platypus and kookaburra.

MELBOURNE

Indigenous name: Naarm

Venue: Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, also known as AAMI Park, will host four group games and two in the round of 16. It is a 30,000-seat soccer and rugby venue in the Victoria state capital’s expansive sports precinct across the road from Melbourne Park, home to the Australian Open tennis tournament. It’s within walking distance of the city along the Yarra River and from the Melbourne Cricket Ground, venue for the 1956 Olympics and spiritual home of Australian Rules football.

Weather: Average temperatures in late July and August range from 6-15 degrees Celsius (43-59 degrees Fahrenheit), with moderate humidity and a regular prospect of light rain.

About: Melburnians call the city of 4.6 million the sporting capital of Australia. It’s the only Southern Hemisphere venue for one of the four tennis Grand Slam tournaments, as well as a regular early-season stop on the Formula One calendar. The Melbourne Cup — the most prestigious horse race in the Southern Hemisphere — is held each November and is dubbed “The race that stops a nation.” The Australian Football League’s Grand Final in late September is cause for a government-mandated holiday in Victoria. Melbourne has a thriving restaurant scene and a love for laneway cafes and coffee culture. Trams have been a popular mode of public transport since the 1880s, in the wake of the gold rush that made Australia’s second city one of the most prosperous in the world.

Hometown Matildas: Steph Catley (Arsenal).

The state’s animal emblem is the Leadbeater’s possum.

BRISBANE

Indigenous name: Meeanjin

Venue: Brisbane Stadium, also known as Lang Park or Suncorp Stadium, is a 52,000-seat venue on the northwestern edge of the downtown area, usually Queensland’s home of rugby league. It will host five group games, one in the round of 16, one in the quarterfinals and the playoff for third place.

About: A lush, laidback sub-tropical bayside city, Brisbane is the fastest growing state capital in the country. The city, dissected by the Brisbane River, is a hub for a regional population of 4 million, including the Gold Coast to the south and the Sunshine Coast to the north, which are popular for their long, sandy surf beaches. The southeast corner of the so-called Sunshine state is well into planning for the 2032 Olympics, with Brisbane set to be the third Australian host city. The city staged the World Expo in 1988 on a strip of riverfront land now called Southbank, which is across the Go Between bridge from the stadium.

Weather: Average temperatures in late July and August range from 10-22 degrees Celsius (50-72 degrees Fahrenheit), with low humidity and relatively low chance of rain.

Hometown Matildas: Clare Polkinghorne (Vittsjo GIK) and Katrina Gorry (Brisbane Roar on loan from Vittsjo GIK).

Koalas are the animal emblems of Queensland.

ADELAIDE

Indigenous name: Tarntanya

Venue: Hindmarsh Stadium, also known as Coopers Stadium, will host four group games and one in the round of 16. It’s an 18,000-seat soccer stadium on the northeastern edge of the downtown area.

Weather: Average temperatures in late July and August range from 8-17 degrees Celsius (46-63 degrees Fahrenheit), with moderate humidity and prospect of rain.

About: A stepping-off point for Kangaroo Island, the Great Australian Bight and the Nullarbor Plain, Adelaide is within easy driving distance of South Australia’s most prestigious vineyards in the Barossa and McLaren Vale. The city has abundant parkland, wide open streets in a grid pattern and has been called Australia’s City of Churches, reflecting its many stone religious buildings dating back to the 1840s. Adelaide was the first Australian city established by free settlers rather than as a penal colony. It was home to the Australian Grand Prix from 1985-96 and hosts the annual Tour Down Under, the opening race of the international cycling union’s world tour. The Adelaide Oval is rated among the most picturesque cricket venues in the world.

Adelaide is in the central Australian time zone, which is 30 minutes behind the east coast cities of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane during the winter months.

Hometown Matildas: Alex Chidiac (Melbourne Victory on loan from Racing Louisville).

The southern hairy-nosed wombat is the animal emblem of South Australia.

PERTH

Indigenous name: Boorloo

Venue: The 22,000-seat Perth Rectangular Stadium, also known as HBF Park or Perth Oval, is east of the city’s downtown area and will host five group games.

Weather: Average temperatures in late July and August range from 8-19 degrees Celsius (46-66 degrees Fahrenheit), with moderate humidity and high chance of rain.

About: In terms of distance, it’s closer to the Indonesian capital of Jakarta than it is to Sydney, which is an almost 4,000-kilometer (2,450-mile) drive to the east. Situated on the Swan River, which is a sacred place for the Noongar First Nations people, Perth is the capital of the biggest state in Australia and is one of the most isolated cities of 1 million-plus in the world. Yet after riding the gold rush in the 1890s and the more recent mining and resources boom, Perth has become prosperous and is often rated among the world’s most livable cities. Locals often refer to the two-thirds of Australia beyond the state border as “over east.” It’s close to some of Australia’s famous surf spots, including Main Break at Margaret River, and has more bright sunny days than any other city in Australia.

Perth is in the Australian western time zone, which is two hours behind Australian eastern standard time and 90 minutes behind Adelaide in the winter months.

Hometown Matildas: Sam Kerr (Chelsea).

The Numbat and Black Swan are the animal emblems of Western Australia.

The crew of Sensation missed out on more than $3 million in prize money at the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament after the 619.4-pound fish they caught was disqualified due to “mutilation caused by a shark or other marine animal,” according to a statement from the tournament.

It took over six hours for the crew to reel in the marlin and bring it back to shore Saturday night, according to the tournament’s website. Once the crew hoisted the marlin up, it was clear that it had bite marks on its body.

The tournament made the disqualification official the following morning after consulting with biologists.

“The Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament follows IGFA rules regarding mutilated fish as outlined in Rule #23 in the Big Rock Official Rules,” the tournament wrote in its statement. “IGFA rules state that the following situation will disqualify a fish: ‘Mutilation to the fish, prior to landing or boating the catch, caused by sharks, other fish, mammals, or propellers that remove or penetrate the flesh.’”

With Sensation’s catch disqualified, Sushi was named the winner with its 484.5-pound fish, beating out second-place Chasin (479.8 pounds) and C-Student (470.2 pounds). 

The Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament dished out $5,835,075 in overall prize money. The Sensation crew would have been awarded $3.5 million for its catch, including over $700,000 for catching a marlin over 500 pounds. Instead, Sushi came away with $2,769,438 in earnings.

“It’s very disheartening,” Sensation owner Ashley Bleau said, via NBC affiliate WITN.

Bleau officially protested the results of the tournament, saying Big Rock is not an IGFA Tournament and that the mutilation rule is not applied uniformly. Prize money is put on hold until the protest is resolved.

The 2023 edition of the quadrennial tournament will pit the Gals against three solid nations, with one placed inside the top 10 of FIFA’s international rankings of the women’s teams.

It won’t exactly be a walk in the park for the USWNT as injuries are beginning to surface. Youngster Mallory Swanson tore her patella tendon in April and isn’t likely to be fit in time for the games in July, and veteran defender Becky Sauerbrunn announced in June she will miss out with a foot injury.

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So, who will the USWNT face and what can you expect from the competition? Let’s take a look:

Who will the USWNT play in the 2023 World Cup group stage?

The USWNT will play these three opponents, in order of appearance: Vietnam, the Netherlands and Portugal.

What is the USWNT’s schedule at the 2023 World Cup?

For the opening three group stage games, here is how the USWNT’s schedule lines up:

• Vs. Vietnam on Friday, July 21 at 9 p.m. ET
• Vs. the Netherlands on Wednesday, July 26 at 9 p.m. ET
• Vs. Portugal on Tuesday, Aug. 1 at 3 p.m. ET

What are Vietnam, the Netherlands and Portugal’s FIFA women’s rankings?

Based on FIFA’s latest international ranking of the women’s teams on June 9, here are the placements for the USWNT’s opponents:

• Vietnam: 31
• Netherlands: 9
• Portugal: 21

The USWNT, for comparison’s sake, is No. 1.

What is the USWNT’s head-to-head record vs. Vietnam?

Believe it or not, this will mark the two nation’s first time meeting each other in any setting, so the head-to-head record currently is blank.

What is the USWNT’s head-to-head record vs. the Netherlands?

The Netherlands may be inside the top 10 ranking-wise, but the USWNT’s record is extremely favorable. The Gals are 8-1-1 (win-draw-loss) in 10 games against the Dutch, with the last matchup stemming from July of 2021. The U.S. scored 31 times in those games while conceding just eight goals, a difference of plus-23.

What is the USWNT’s head-to-head record vs. Portugal?

If 8-1-1 sounded advantageous, here’s the USWNT’s all-time record vs. Portugal in 10 games: 10-0-0. Their last meetup came in June of 2021, with the U.S. scoring 39 times and allowing zero across the ten matches.

The 105-meter long, 68-meter wide (114 yards by 74 yards) was built by hand on the tussocky plains of the McKenzie Country in front of the 3,724-meter (12,217-foot) mountain on which Sir Edmond Hillary trained for his successful assault on the summit of Mount Everest.

Two teams of local girls, named Pukaki and Tekapo after pristine alpine lakes nearby, were invited to play the first friendly match on the pitch on Tuesday, refereed by New Zealand Football National Referee Development Manager Lindsey Robinson.

“I came here today to referee the game in the most beautiful place on earth,” Robinson said. “Aside from the stunning landscape it was a great game of football.

“I’m incredibly excited about so many visitors coming to New Zealand to enjoy the game and enjoy this beautiful part of the world.”

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Tourism New Zealand worked with local indigenous Maori and the Department of Conservation to ensure the project was executed in a way that respected mana whenua (the rights of New Zealand’s Indigenous people) and had no lasting impact on the land.

The pitch was created over six weeks, adhering to strict environmental and sustainability principles with a philosophy of “tread lightly” ensuring the land could be returned to its natural state.

The match between Pukaki and Tekapo ended in a 1-1 draw.

Eight-year-old Immy Ivey was amazed she was able to play beneath Aoraki Mount Cook.

“It’s cool playing football in the mountains because when you score a goal, instead of just having plain grass, you can see the big mountains instead which is nice for a change,” Ivey said.

New Zealand and Australia are co-hosting the Women’s World Cup, which kicks off July 20 and features 32 teams. The final is set to be staged in Sydney on Aug. 20.

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Including the USWNT, 32 nations will be battling in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup beginning in late July, which will be co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia for the first time ever.

The USWNT took home the ultimate prize in each of the last two tournaments in 2015 and 2019, but as women’s football grows, so will the quality of the competition.

From the teams competing to their schedules and more, here’s everything to know about the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup calendar:

When does the 2023 Women’s World Cup start?

The first game of the tournament is on Thursday, July 20. Co-host New Zealand will kick things off against Norway for the sole game of the day.

When is the 2023 Women’s World Cup Final?

The final won’t transpire until exactly a month later. The last two teams will duke it out on Sunday, Aug. 20, in Sydney, Australia.

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What is the schedule for the 2023 Women’s World Cup?

There are 32 teams divided across eight groups. The four teams in each group will play each other once, round-robin style. The USWNT will compete in Group E against Vietnam, the Netherlands and Portugal. Here’s a look at the Group E schedule, with all kick-off times in ET:

• Friday, July 21: USA vs. Vietnam – 9 p.m.
• Sunday, July 23: Netherlands vs. Portugal – 3:30 a.m.
• Wednesday, July 26: USA vs. Netherlands – 9 p.m.
• Thursday, July 27: Portugal vs. Vietnam – 3:30 a.m.
• Tuesday, Aug. 1: Portugal vs. USA – 3 a.m.
• Tuesday, Aug. 1: Vietnam vs. Netherlands – 3 a.m.

You can view the full schedule for all groups and knockout stage games here.

What are the groups for the 2023 Women’s World Cup?

Here is a look at the eight groups for the tournament:

Group A

• New Zealand
• Norway
• Philippines
• Switzerland

Group B

• Australia
• Canada
• Republic of Ireland
• Nigeria

Group C

• Costa Rica
• Japan
• Spain
• Zambia

Group D

• China
• Denmark
• England
• Haiti

Group E

• Netherlands
• Portugal
• USA
• Vietnam

Group F

• Brazil
• France
• Jamaica
• Panama

Group G

• Argentina
• Italy
• South Africa
• Sweden

Group H

• Colombia
• Germany
• Morocco
• South Korea

How to watch the 2023 Women’s World Cup

English-language viewers can tune into the World Cup on Fox, which will broadcast 29 matches on its main network. The rest will air on FS1. All matches will be available to stream on the Fox mobile app.

The games will be broadcast in Spanish on Telemundo and Univision. All 64 matches will be streamed on Peacock.

The tennis Hall of Famer announced the news Monday on Twitter after what she said was a full day of tests at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

“Thank you to all the doctors, nurses, proton and radiation magicians etc- what a relief,” she wrote.

Navratilova, 66, revealed she had been diagnosed with throat cancer and breast cancer in January and that she would begin treatment that month. She had been diagnosed with a noninvasive form of breast cancer in 2010 and had a lumpectomy.

The 18-time Grand Slam singles champion had noticed an enlarged lymph node in her neck in November and a biopsy revealed the early stage throat cancer. But Navratilova felt well enough to return to her TV work with the Tennis Channel by the Miami Open in March.

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The 2023 NBA Draft is nearing, so after months of draft discourse and debate, fans will finally know who will be the newest members of their team.

For the San Antonio Spurs, that seems a given. The Spurs won the No. 1 overall pick in May’s draft lottery, giving them the golden opportunity to select star French center Victor Wembanyama.

After Wembanyama comes Scoot Henderson (G League), Brandon Miller (Alabama) and more several highly touted rookies who could make a difference for whichever team they end up on.

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But when will all of this transpire? Here’s a breakdown:

When is the 2023 NBA Draft?

The 2023 draft will take place on Thursday, June 22.

What time is the 2023 NBA Draft?

The event will start at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. San Antonio will be on the clock shortly after.

What is the 2023 NBA Draft order?

Here are the first 14 selections in the draft:

1. San Antonio Spurs

2. Charlotte Hornets

3. Portland Trail Blazers

4. Houston Rockets

5. Detroit Pistons

6. Orlando Magic 

7. Indiana Pacers

8. Washington Wizards

9. Utah Jazz

10. Dallas Mavericks

11. Orlando Magic (via Chicago)

12. Oklahoma City Thunder

13. Toronto Raptors

14. New Orleans Pelicans

You can check out the full draft order here.

When was the first ever NBA draft?

The first ever NBA draft occurred in 1950, which came after the organization rebranded itself from the Basketball Association of America (BAA). Chuck Share, a center from Bowling Green, went No. 1 overall to the Boston Celtics.

Is the NBA draft always in June?

Yes, the NBA draft is typically held around the end of June following the conclusion of the postseason and is one of the key starting points of the offseason.

Cocca was hired in February and took over for Gerardo “Tata” Martino, who left when his contract ran out following Mexico’s group-stage exit at the 2022 World Cup. Cocca managed just seven games for El Tri and earned a 3-3-1 record.

Mexico placed third in the Concacaf Nations League after losing 3-0 to the U.S. men’s national team in the semifinals and beating Panama in the third-place match on Sunday.

“In the last week, I have found many deficiencies,” Mexican Football Federation commission president Juan Carlos Rodriguez said on Monday. “A game against the United States can be lost, there’s always that risk because this is football and the win can go one way or the other. What cannot be accepted was the way in which it happened.”

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Along with Cocca, Rodriguez announced that Rodrigo Ares de Parga will no longer be the executive director of Mexico’s national teams.

Cocca had managerial success in Mexico’s domestic leagues before taking over the senior national team. He won consecutive Liga MX titles with Atlas in the 2021 Apertura and 2022 Clausura. The 51-year-old Argentine also previously managed clubs in Argentina and Colombia.

Lozano, meanwhile, led Mexico to a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He will manage El Tri when the squad begins the Gold Cup group stage with matches against Honduras on June 25, Haiti on June 29 and Qatar on July 2.

“The natural thing to do would be to wait for the end of the Gold Cup, but today we don’t have time to waste,” Rodriguez said.

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A uniform from Chamberlain’s 1959-60 rookie season with the Philadelphia Warriors sold at auction over the weekend for $1.79 million through SCP Auctions, becoming the most expensive game-worn, vintage (pre-1980) NBA jersey ever sold.

Chamberlain was drafted third overall by the Warriors in the 1959 NBA Draft, and he wasted no time rewriting the league’s history books.

Wilt the Stilt averaged a league-leading 37.6 points and 27.0 rebounds per game in 1959-60 and shattered the NBA’s single-season scoring record. He became the first player in league history to be named Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season. Wes Unseld is the only other NBA player to accomplish the feat.

As for the rookie uniform, SCP Auctions said that Chamberlain wore the jersey and shorts combination for every home game during the 1959-60 campaign. The company says it was procured “directly from Wilt Chamberlain decades ago by his close friend who would become a trusted collector in the hobby,” and multiple authenticators also confirmed that the stains on the jersey are Chamberlain’s blood.

While Chamberlain’s rookie uniform set vintage records, it is far from the most expensive NBA jersey of all time. A game-worn Michael Jordan jersey from the 1998 NBA Finals in his “Last Dance” season with the Chicago Bulls sold for $10.1 million last September.

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Less than halfway through the president’s term, Walsh was in a comfortable spot in the Cabinet as labor secretary. Then he got a call about an interesting opportunity: running the NHL Players’ Association.

The former mayor of Boston and longtime Bruins fan was intrigued and earlier this year accepted the role as executive director. Now three months in, Walsh is trying to get to know players and what they care about most, learning about everything from the Arizona Coyotes’ arena situation to the salary cap and future international competition.

“This job is more like being the mayor,” Walsh said in a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press during the Stanley Cup Final in Las Vegas. “You wake up in the morning, you’re planning on a smooth day and there’s an issue that pops, and that’s the issue of the moment. And then when that issue’s over, there’s another issue that comes right behind it. And if there’s a celebration on anything, that celebration’s short-lived because you’re on to the next issue.”

With the current collective bargaining agreement in place through the 2025-26 season, the most pressing issue concerns the Coyotes, set to go into a second season in a 5,000-seat rink on Arizona State’s campus after a referendum for a new arena in Tempe failed.

Walsh has met more with Arizona’s players than anyone else among the nearly 200 members he has spoken to so far.

“These are National Hockey League players playing in a college arena,” Walsh said. “Players that are heading into the prime of their career now playing in this arena for a couple seasons — it’s just not right. It’s not good for the game.”

When Walsh speaks to players, he finds out what they think is good or not so good for the game. Many, like Connor McDavid, prioritize returning to the Olympics after a lengthy absence and getting a World Cup of Hockey on the schedule, while others are more concerned with the cap going up and keeping escrow payments down.

Several months after helping the U.S. avert a nationwide rail strike, this job hearkens back to the days when Walsh was president of the Laborers’ Union Local 223 in Massachusetts. With players aged 18-38 in various stages of their careers, he said the NHLPA membership is diverse in what it cares about, just like any other workplace.

“One thing I’ve learned quickly is that this truly is a union because every player has a different concern,” Walsh said. “And I think it’s important for me to get to know the membership so I can represent them the best I can, understanding the challenges they have.”

Walsh, 56, also has gotten to know Commissioner Gary Bettman since taking over in March. They attended an event together at the Canadian Embassy in Washington in April and have met several times to discuss the cap, the Coyotes and more.

“To me, the vital signs seem good,” Bettman told the AP recently. “We’re getting better acquainted. I like him. I respect him. I think he’s smart. I think he’s going to be good for the players, and I look forward to working with him.”

Walsh called it a “very cordial working relationship,” while acknowledging there will be disagreements ahead “that put us on two different sides of a fence — and we will have to deal with that when the time comes.” Collective bargaining talks in the coming years almost certainly will bring that conflict.

Kevin Shattenkirk, a veteran defenseman who was on the search committee, said Walsh was engaging and commanding right away and gave out his cellphone number to players to call any time after his first interview.

“Part of his pitch was that he was going to be readily available to players at any moment — any time that we needed him,” Shattenkirk said Sunday. “With his experience in working in labor unions, I think he knows how important that is. It’s important for the head of it to be accessible and also at the same time to be strong and powerful and know which way he’s leading his organization.”

For now, Walsh is trying to lead the way in preparing players for life after hockey and growing the game beyond the nearly $6 billion in revenue. He watches football, basketball and baseball differently since shifting from politics to sports, thinking about what other leagues have done and how it might apply to the NHL.

Walsh is a fan of increasing interest in Sweden and other places in Europe with games there and wonders about opportunities for hockey in Latin American countries and among underserved populations in North America.

“We have teams like the Dallas Stars and the Coyotes and even the (Florida) Panthers to some degree: large Latino populations,” Walsh said. “You think of Boston — are we tapping into Latino population in Boston, New York, Chicago, places like that?”

Just getting a chance to tackle tasks like that excites Walsh, who said he still has a very strong, close friendship with Joe Biden. The president, when Walsh left in February, called him “one tough union chief” and a model for future labor secretaries.

This is just a different challenge, one that Walsh feels his entire career has prepared him for.

“There’s not many opportunities that probably could have come on my plate that I would’ve been like, ’Oh, this is perfect,’” he said. “This is kind of my whole life coming full circle: labor movement, running a union, opportunities to grow the game, to be progressive in thinking as to how do we grow the game, how do we strengthen the union.”

Wyndham Clark’s victory Sunday will be remembered for how a 29-year-old newcomer to the big time held off some of the biggest names in the game to stamp a poignant exclamation mark on a U.S. Open that had been, to that point, kind of hard to love.

Clark’s mother, Lise, died of breast cancer in 2013 — a family tragedy that sent him spiraling. The win brought with it a chance to share memories, and a chance to reflect on the long road between then and now.

“I didn’t show any emotion off the course, but when I was on the golf course I couldn’t have been angrier,” Clark said of his state of mind when he first learned of his mom’s diagnosis. “I was breaking clubs when I didn’t even hit that bad of a shot. I was walking off golf courses.”

The road back led him to leave college at Oklahoma State for a fresh start at Oregon. It involved a relatively quick rise for an aspiring pro golfer, but one pushed off course by typical slumps and close calls that led to more than one crisis in confidence.

“I’ve had many times where I’ve gone home and was yelling in my car and punching things and just so mad that I’m like, ‘Why can’t I do what my peers are doing?’” Clark said.

Through it all, he kept in mind what his mother used to tell him about his golf game: Play big.

“She called me ‘Winner’ when I was little, so she would just say, ‘I love you, Winner,’” Clark said.

Becoming a winner Sunday meant holding off the first- and third-ranked players in the world: Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler. All three leaders shot even-par 70 in the final round. Clark’s 70 was good enough to beat McIlroy by one and Scheffler by three.

“I guess you’re just hoping for the other guy to slip up or make a mistake or give you a glimmer of hope,” McIlroy said. “Wyndham was pretty much rock-solid all day.”

Clark stayed cool when trouble beckoned as it always does at what’s known as golf’s most exacting test, even when it isn’t. He saved bogey after whiffing his third shot from the heavy greenside rough on the par-5 eighth. He made an up-and-down par save on No. 9 from a knee-high lie in the rough.

He hit big shots under pressure, nailing a 228-yard fairway metal to 20 feet to set up birdie for a three-shot lead over McIlroy on the par-5 14th. Then, with his lead down to one, he hit the green from 200 yards on No. 18 and two-putted from 60 feet to seal the deal.

“An up-and-coming star,” his caddie and one-time assistant coach at Oregon, John Ellis, called him. “If he wasn’t one before, he is one now. First time he has actually competed in a major for a chance to win and he shows he can handle the heat.”

Clark handled Los Angeles Country Club, a first-time host that he got an early look at thanks to a friend who is a member and who invited Clark over for a round about a week before the show came to town.

Not everyone loved this place.

The U.S. Open’s first return to Los Angeles in 75 years got roundly criticized for its small galleries, its wide-but-crooked fairways, its blind tee shots and an overall feeling that it did not live up to the U.S. Open’s exacting standards.

There were two record rounds of 62 (Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele) on opening day and a 63 that felt ho-hum (Tommy Fleetwood) on Sunday.

There were two record-tying nine-hole scores of 29 (Tom Kim on Saturday, Austin Eckroat on Sunday).

Fowler, who shared the third-round lead with Clark, needed only 62 holes to tie a U.S. Open record with 22 birdies, but did nothing over the final 10 holes to get back into the hunt.

The four-day scoring average was 71.76, which broke the record for a tournament that dates to 1895.

Even Clark was less than pleased after Saturday’s third round, which ended in near darkness — a scheduling call that placed the weekend action on prime time TV on the East Coast.

The Denver native said playing in the dark reminded him of when he was a kid and he would practice in the twilight at Cherry Hills Country Club — the course where Arnold Palmer put the U.S. Open in the American conscience with his stirring comeback in 1960.

Cherry Hills and Denver have another champion to celebrate. Clark’s win came six days after the Nuggets wrapped up the NBA title.

But the action was in L.A. on Sunday. With the sun setting on the year’s third major, Clark had nothing to gripe about. He was near the 18th green holding the trophy and taking pictures — with his caddie, Ellis, and also his sister, his girlfriend and dozens more friends and family who have been along for this ride.

All in all, a perfect way to celebrate Father’s Day.

Well, almost perfect.

“All I really wish is that my mom could be here and I could just hug her and we could celebrate together,” Clark said “But I know she’s proud of me.”

Both are soarin’ and flyin’ with no limit to the stars they can reach in heaven.

After the USMNT beat Canada 2-0 in the 2023 Concacaf Nations League Final on Sunday, the players took to the locker room to illustrate their other talent — singing.

Weston McKennie led the players in singing “Breaking Free” from Disney’s hit 2006 movie “High School Musical” that starred Zac Efron (played the character Troy Bolton) and Vanessa Hudgens (Gabriella Montez), as captured on Folarin Balogun’s Instagram Live.

The song was a duet performed by Efron and Hudgens towards the end of the film about breaking free from the challenges they faced throughout the movie and that they believe they can achieve great things now that they’re together.

The players can be heard reciting some of the lyrics: “We’re soarin’, flyin’. There’s not a star in heaven that we can’t reach.”

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The 2-0 win was headlined by center back Chris Richards (Crystal Palace) scoring his first goal for the Stars and Stripes in the 12th minute with Balogun (on loan at Stade de Reims from Arsenal) also netting his first in the 34th.

The performance capped a dominant few days against the top Concacaf clubs, with a 3-0 rout of Mexico in the semifinal on Thursday providing another example of what the USMNT could do at their best.

As Troy and Gabriella say when they close the song: “You know the world can see us, in a way that’s different than who we are.”

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The USMNT triumphed over their neighbors up north with a 2-0 win in the 2023 Concacaf Nations League Final at Allegiant Stadium, home of the Las Vegas Raiders.

Whereas the win against Mexico was dominant in the sense that the USMNT limited El Tri’s opportunities and brightened the scoreboard without breaking too much of a sweat, the victory vs. Canada combined clutch finishing, defending the box more often and overcoming injuries to key personnel all over the pitch.

The scoring started in the 12th minute when Borussia Dortmund’s Gio Reyna delivered a corner that connected with Crystal Palace’s Chris Richards for the headed goal. It marked Richards’ first goal in the Stars and Stripes’ kit.

Reyna wasn’t done assisting there nor was a first-time scorer netting a goal for the U.S. In the 34th minute, he laid off a brilliant through ball as Folarin Balogun made a run in behind Canadian center back Scott Kennedy’s shoulder. Balogun reached the ball first, then smashed it home brilliantly past goalkeeper Milan Borjan.

That marked Balogun’s first goal with the USMNT following his national allegiance switch from England. He made his debut against Mexico in the semifinal on Thursday but was not among the goalscorers in the 3-0 rout despite a solid all-around showing in the No. 9 role.

Canada kept trying to break the deadlock, but there was just no way past the brilliant defending from the USMNT’s defensive line and Matt Turner in goal.

Sergino Dest and Weston McKennie both missed out after being red carded in the semifinal vs. Mexico and Miles Robinson came away with an injury, so he couldn’t start alongside Richards. Reyna also exited at halftime with a calf injury despite a strong outing in the No. 10 role.

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Joe Scally, Brenden Aaronson, Luca de la Torre and Walker Zimmerman all stepped up throughout the game for those players and exemplified a true next-man-up identity. Antonee Robinson also deserves plaudits for holding down the left flank and making several pivotal clearances, while Yunus Musah shined yet again without McKennie or Tyler Adams forming the double pivot alongside him.

Canadian stars Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David — the goalscorers in their 2-0 semifinal win vs. Panama on Thursday — looked threatening all game, but neither supplied the final touch necessary to get on the scoreboard.

Christian Pulisic, who scored a brace against Mexico on Thursday, was named the best player of the tournament, while Turner was named the best goalkeeper for keeping yet another clean sheet.

It marks consecutive Nations League titles for the USMNT after beating Mexico in the 2019-20 final, the first edition of the tournament. Mexico finished in third in the 2023 tournament after beating Panama 1-0 in the third-place game earlier on Sunday.

Next up for manager B.J. Callaghan and the USMNT is the Concacaf Golf Cup, which begins against Jamaica on June 24. The U.S. also are the defending champions in that tournament, so they’ll hope to go 2-for-2 this summer.

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Clark on Sunday claimed the 2023 US Open title at the Los Angeles Country Club, making it his first major championship triumph.

The 29-year-old finished the tournament going 10-under, just edging Rory McIlroy by one stroke — the US Open champion in 2011 and a four-time total major winner — who recorded a nine-under.

Clark started the action on Sunday tied with Rickie Fowler, another pro golfer hunting for his major championship victory. Fowler, however, stumbled down the leaderboard in stunning fashion and ended up in a three-way tie for fifth place going five-under.

Though the US Open is Clark’s first major win, he won his first PGA Tour event last month in May in the Wells Fargo Championship. He topped Xander Schauffele by four strokes in his first-place finish. That triumph also saw him earn $3.6 million, the same figure the winner receives for winning the 2023 US Open.

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World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler finished in third with a seven-under score, while Australian Cameron Smith grabbed fourth at six-under. Fowler’s tie for fifth came alongside Tommy Fleetwood and Min Woo Lee.

Scheffler, along with Clark and McIlroy, shot an even-par 70 on Sunday that kept their scores intact from Saturday’s round three action.

Clark will collect $3.6 million in prize money, as aforementioned, from a record purse that totaled $20 million. McIlroy will take home $2.16 million for second while Scheffler claimed $1.4 million.

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Balogun made it 2-0 against Canada in the 34th minute of the 2023 Concacaf Nations League Final on Sunday, scoring off a well-weighted pass from Gio Reyna past goalkeeper Milan Borjan.

The 21-year-old made a run behind Canadian center back Scott Kennedy’s shoulder and smashed home Reyna’s through ball.

Balogun, who switched his national team allegiance from England to the U.S. earlier in the year, started against Mexico in the semifinal on Thursday but was not among the scorers in the 3-0 rout, though he had a solid all-around performance.

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The Arsenal youth academy prospect just finished his first full season in a top-five league with Stade de Reims of France’s Ligue 1, where he logged 21 goals and two assists in 37 appearances as a loanee from the English Premier League side.

Crystal Palace center back Chris Richards scored the first goal of the game on a header from Reyna’s corner kick in the 12th minute.

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Goalkeeper Unai Simon saved two shots as Spain beat Croatia in a penalty shootout after their tense Nations League final had finished 0-0 Sunday.

The Bilbao goalkeeper used his feet to save a penalty by Lovro Majer when the shootout was level at 3-3 and then dived full-length to tip Bruno Petković’s spot kick around the post.

Dani Carvajal converted his penalty — with a “Panenka” chip — to seal the victory.

Spain’s other previous titles came in the 2010 World Cup and the European Championships in 1964, 2008 and 2012.

Midfielder Rodri, who punched the air after scoring his penalty, has four titles this season after also winning a historic treble with his club, Manchester City. He was named the player of the Nations League tournament to cap his memorable year.

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Spain did not manage a shot on target until the 84th minute of the match and when substitute Ansu Fati finally looked like breaking the stalemate, Ivan Perišić was on the goal line to block his effort. It was Spain’s only goal-bound attempt, compared to five by Croatia.

In the first period of extra time, Majer broke through and fell in the penalty area under a challenge by Nacho, but German referee Felix Zwayer ruled that the Spain defender had played the ball and waved off Croatia’s appeals for a penalty.

Croatia’s fans – many wearing shirts with Modric’s name and No. 10 on the back — far outnumbered their Spanish counterparts at De Kuip stadium in Rotterdam.

But they were forced to leave disappointed as their nation and the 37-year-old Modric continued their wait for a first international title.

Croatia finished second at the World Cup in 2018 and third in Qatar last year. Modric, meanwhile, has won the Champions League five times with Real Madrid and was named FIFA’s world player of the year in 2018, breaking the decade-long dominance of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo on the title. But he has not been able to cap his glittering career with international honors.

Spain’s players went to a small section of their fans in one corner of the stadium to celebrate their victory.

Both sides came close in the first half.

Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livaković fumbled an innocuous shot by Fabián Ruiz and the ball bounced off the post in the ninth minute, but Livaković recovered quickly to block an attempt by Álvaro Morata, who was flagged offside. Three minutes later, Gavi dragged a shot just wide.

But after weathering the early storm, Croatia — with Modric directing the action from midfield — then created the best chances.

Twice, Modric curled crosses to find Ivan Perišić at the far post but both times Simon in the Spain goal saved. But he saved his two best saves for the penalty shootout.

ITALY THIRD — AGAIN

Federico Dimarco scored in the sixth minute and Davide Frattesi poked home a rebound to double the lead in the 20th to put Italy on course to beating the Netherlands 3-2 to secure third place in the Nations League for the second time in two attempts.

Steven Bergwijn put the Netherlands back in contention in the 68th minute only for Federico Chiesa to restore the Azzurri’s two-goal lead four minutes later. Substitute Georginio Wijnaldum completed the scoring with one minute of regulation time to go as Italy held on.

The defeat in Enschede meant that Ronald Koeman’s team conceded seven goals in two matches as hosts of the Nations League final four, after losing 4-2 to Croatia after extra time on Wednesday. Spain beat Italy 2-1 to set up the final.

The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported Sunday, citing sources, that Washington Wizards star guard Bradley Beal is heading to the Suns in a trade involving Chris Paul, Landry Shamet and “a handful of second-round picks and multiple pick swaps.”

This marks the end of an 11-year run for Beal in Washington. The Wizards have considered him their franchise player since selecting him with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft.

Speculation of a trade out of Washington emerged this past week as the franchise enters a rebuild. However, there was concern that Beal’s no trade clause could pose an issue in negotiations. He signed a five-year, $251 million extension last offseason.

Beal’s agent Mark Bartelstein told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski it was an “extremely complicated process with so many different hurdles to get through.”

Beal led the Wizards to five playoff appearances and earned three All-Star nods. He averaged 22.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 695 games.

Recently, however, his career has been plagued with injuries. Beal, who turns 30 on June 28, has averaged 50 games played in the past three seasons.

He’ll be joining a Suns team that’s coming off three consecutive playoff appearances, including the 2021 NBA Finals. With a revamped star trio of Beal, Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, the Suns clearly are seeking a title next season.

In exchange, Washington is acquiring Paul, Shamet and a number of future draft options.

Paul, 38, was a key veteran presence for Phoenix but recently saw a dip in production, averaging a career-low 13.9 points per game this past season. He spent his first 12 seasons with two franchises and now is headed to his fourth team in seven years.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Sunday the Wizards plan to field offers from third teams to give Paul a chance to land with a contender.

Shamet is heading into his eighth season in the NBA and has established himself as a key role player, averaging 8.7 points and 2.3 assists this past season.

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Verstappen won for the sixth time this season — the fourth in a row — and Red Bull remained a perfect 8 for 8 on the year. The victory for the two-time reigning world champion was the 41st of his career, which ties the 25-year-old with Senna for fifth overall.

Lewis Hamilton holds the all-time record with 103 wins, but the seven-time champion said in Canada he expected Verstappen to surpass the mark.

“A century for the team,” Red Bull principal Christian Horner radioed Verstappen. “Fantastic. And thank you for producing that race victory.”

Hamilton and the rest of the field had hoped to give Verstappen a challenge at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, where rain throughout the weekend scrambled the competition and created hope that Red Bull would legitimately be challenged.

Fernando Alonso thought he had a shot, and it was improved when Nico Hulkenberg was given a qualifying penalty that moved Alonso to the front row next to Verstappen for the start.

But Hamilton, starting alongside Mercedes teammate George Russell on the second row, got a surprise jump on Alonso and snagged second place at the start. Verstappen still easily pulled away from both, and on the first dry day of the weekend in Montreal, rolled to another easy win.

The one bright spot for everyone chasing Verstappen was that his margin of victory over Alonso was only 9.5 seconds.

Only?

Yes. Verstappen has been so dominant this year that he typically wins by 20-plus seconds a race. In fact, Alonso himself noted following Saturday qualifying that the only way to even pressure Verstappen was to be “two seconds behind them. Not 20 seconds behind them.”

It wasn’t an overwhelming Red Bull rout; Sergio Perez, who had hoped to “reset” his season in Canada, was a distant sixth.

Hamilton finished third for his second consecutive podium and was followed by Ferrari teammates Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr.

Alex Albon of Williams was seventh and followed by Esteban Ocon of Alpine.

Lando Norris, who earlier in the race received a five-second penalty for unsportsmanlike behavior, waged a frantic last-lap battle that thrilled the fans who had sat through an otherwise predictable Verstappen parade. Norris of McLaren complained on his radio that the rear wing on the Alpine was flapping and a danger to him as the trailing car.

Norris chased Ocon for the final lap and the two had a wheel-to-wheel battle into the final chicane, where Norris had to bail out on the game of chicken. Norris dropped from ninth to 13th.

Lance Stroll was ninth for Aston Martin, a disappointment for the only Canadian in the field. His father owns Aston Martin and Lawrence Stroll had expected both of his cars to make the podium.

Less than a week after leading the Denver Nuggets to their first NBA championship, Jokic was back in his hometown of Sombor on Sunday to enjoy his big passion of horse racing.

Thousands of his supporters in the usually sleepy northern Serbian town of some 47,000 people also converged on the local horse racing track where Jokic was watching his family-owned horses compete in harness races. Many had T-shirts with Jokic’s portrait, some reading “Be the Next Champion” and “Sombor, the Town of Champions.”

A billboard reading “Welcome Home MVP” showed Jokic with his No. 15 Nuggets jersey, also depicting galloping horses.

After winning the NBA title, Jokic was concerned about whether he could return home in time for Sunday’s races after the team’s victory parade in Denver on Thursday. He joked that he would ask Nuggets president Josh Kroenke to lend him the team plane to make sure he arrived on time.

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This was a special day for the Sombor hippodrome. Beer and barbecue stands were in full swing, and so was the celebratory mood with people waiting in long lines to attend.

Jokic arrived late to the track, followed by local media. Famously shy and laconic, he was not in a talkative mood and declined to talk to journalists, passing them by as he entered the racetrack.

Appearing in the stands from time to time amid members of his family and friends, he watched every race his family’s stable participated in, then disappeared out of sight. He was in the company of his wife and daughter, brother, father and friends.

The crowd erupted with applause and joy when Jokic first appeared, wearing a polo shirt that had the “Dream Catcher” inscription after the name of the first horse that he purchased years ago.

His father Branislav said Jokic wouldn’t be answering questions from reporters.

“He told me ‘Dad, I have had enough of publicity during these past few days,’” Branislav Jokic said. “And I believe him.”

Jokic developed a strong passion for horses and horse racing in his youth and it nearly took him away from basketball when he was a kid, his father said.

Denver clinched the NBA title on Monday by beating the Miami Heat 94-89, with Jokic posting 28 points and 16 rebounds and collecting the trophy for the most valuable player of the NBA Finals.

Jokic, nicknamed Joker by his fans, is coming off a historic playoff performance, where he became the first player to lead the league in total points (600), rebounds (269) and assists (190) in a single postseason.

Williams played for six teams — Philadelphia, Toronto, the Los Angeles Lakers, Houston, the Los Angeles Clippers and Atlanta. He last played in the 2021-22 season with the Hawks.

Out of 1,123 regular-season games played over 17 seasons, Williams came off the bench in 1,001. He scored 13,396 points off the bench, which is 2,117 more than Jamal Crawford and 2,249 more than Dell Curry.

Williams and Crawford are the only three-time recipients of the Sixth Man award in league history.

Williams was the 45th pick in the 2005 NBA draft. Out of the 60 players taken that year, only Chris Paul scored more points in the NBA than Williams — who went straight to the league out of high school.

He finishes his career with 15,593 points, 131st in NBA history.

Fowler looked to have his first 54-hole lead in a major until he missed a 3 1/2-foot par putt on the final hole at Los Angeles Country Club and settled for an even-par 70. Clark was reeling after his third bogey on the back nine, but drilled his approach at a tight pin on the 18th to 6 feet for a birdie and a 69.

The final hour saved what had been a stale atmosphere among the glitz of LA, with just about everyone playing a part.

Rory McIlroy had two quick birdies and stayed in the hunt with a 69, leaving him one shot behind the co-leaders. He will play in the penultimate group with Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world who finished eagle-birdie for a 68.

This wasn’t just any eagle. He holed a 7-iron from 196 yards on the 17th hole — which had only yielded four birdies all day — and finished with a 20-foot birdie putt.

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For so long, it was all about avoiding mistakes on a North course that baked under a blazing sun and finally felt like a U.S. Open. And then Fowler with his big putt, Scheffler with his big shot, and loads of mistakes by so many others turned this into the show everyone expect.

Now it falls to Fowler to see if he can finally deliver a major championship, and to McIlroy to see if he can end nine long years without one.

Clark held his nerve to the end and was right there with him, even after a rare errant shot into the barranca on the 17th. He smartly took a penalty drop and made a 7-foot putt to escape with bogey.

The university announced his resignation Saturday night.

Huggins was charged with driving under the influence on Friday night after his SUV had stopped in the middle of traffic in Pittsburgh with a shredded tire. According to a criminal complaint, a breath test determined Huggins’ blood alcohol content was 0.21%, more than twice the legal limit.

The move comes a month after the university suspended him for three games for using an anti-gay slur while also denigrating Catholics during a radio interview.

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Huggins, 69, of Morgantown, West Virginia, was pulled over by police in Pittsburgh on Friday night. He was charged with driving under the influence, was released from custody and will appear at a later date for a preliminary hearing, according to a police report.

In a statement to the West Virginia community, Huggins said: “Today, I have submitted a letter to President Gordon Gee and Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker informing them of my resignation and intention to retire as head men’s basketball coach at West Virginia University effective immediately.

My recent actions do not represent the values of the University or the leadership expected in this role. “

On Friday night, an officer observed garbage bags with empty beer containers both inside the vehicle and in the trunk, according to a criminal complaint. Huggins said he had been to a basketball camp with his brother in Sherrodsville, Ohio. An officer said Huggins was asked multiple times what city he was in but never got a response. A breath test determined Huggins’ blood alcohol content was 0.21%, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08% in Pennsylvania. A blood sample also was taken from Huggins at a hospital before his release.

It was Huggins’ second such arrest. The other occurred in 2004 when he was the head coach at Cincinnati.

West Virginia’s athletic department said in a statement it was aware of Friday’s incident. “We are gathering more information and will take appropriate action once the review is complete,” the statement said.

Last month Huggins agreed to a three-game suspension, a $1 million salary reduction and sensitivity training for using the slur during an interview with Cincinnati radio station WLW. Huggins was asked about the transfer portal and whether he had a chance of landing a player at West Virginia from Xavier, a Jesuit school.

Brazil said this was the first time its outfield players have worn black shirts.

Forward Vinícius Júnior, appearing for Brazil, has been racially abused in Spain this season while playing for his Real Madrid club at away games.

Before the friendly at Espanyol’s stadium, the teams posed in front of a banner that read “With racism, there is no game” in Portuguese. Vinícius and his teammates also took a knee.

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Vinícíus added a goal from the penalty spot to round off a 4-1 win for the five-time world champions.

On Thursday, Vinícius agreed to join a revived FIFA task force to tackle racism in soccer.

Brazil plays Senegal in Lisbon on Tuesday and will continue its anti-racism campaign.

Huggins, 69, of Morgantown, West Virginia, was pulled over by police in Pittsburgh on Friday night. He was charged with driving under the influence, was released from custody and will appear at a later date for a preliminary hearing, according to a police report.

It was Huggins’ second such arrest. The other occurred in 2004 when he was the head coach at Cincinnati.

In a statement, West Virginia’s athletic department said it was aware of Friday’s incident. “We are gathering more information and will take appropriate action once the review is complete,” the statement said.

Officers observed a black SUV in the middle of a road blocking traffic just before 8:30 p.m. The vehicle had a flat and shredded tire, and the driver’s side door was open, according to the police report.

Officers directed Huggins to move off the road so they could help with the tire, then activated their lights when they observed Huggins having trouble maneuvering the SUV to allow vehicles to pass. Upon questioning, officers suspected he was intoxicated and asked him to exit the vehicle. The report said he failed standard field sobriety tests, was taken into custody without incident and transported for further testing.

In June 2004, Huggins pleaded no contest to driving under the influence in a suburb of Cincinnati and was ordered to attend a three-day intervention program. The University of Cincinnati suspended him indefinitely with pay and told Huggins to rehabilitate himself.

Huggins was allowed to return to work two months later, saying that “I made a terrible mistake, and what bothers me most is I hurt other people. All I can do is work like crazy to be a better person, a better coach, be better at everything I do and make those people proud of me.”

By 2005, Huggins’ 16-year career at Cincinnati was over; he was fired amid a power struggle with the school’s president as well as the aftermath of the 2004 arrest.

After spending one season at Kansas State, Huggins took his dream job at West Virginia, his alma mater, in 2007.

Last month Huggins agreed to a three-game suspension, a $1 million salary reduction and sensitivity training for using the slur during an interview with Cincinnati radio station WLW. Huggins was asked about the transfer portal and whether he had a chance of landing a player at West Virginia from Xavier, a Jesuit school.

“Catholics don’t do that,” Huggins said. “I tell you what, any school that can throw rubber penises on the floor and then say they didn’t do it, by God they can get away with anything.

“It was the Crosstown Shootout. What it was, was all those (expletive), those Catholic (expletive), I think.”

In a joint statement later that week, West Virginia University President Gordon Gee and athletic director Wren Baker said the university “made it explicitly clear to Coach Huggins that any incidents of similar derogatory and offensive language will result in immediate termination.”

Huggins’ salary of $4.15 million will be reduced by $1 million. That reduction will be used to directly support WVU’s LGBTQ+ Center, as well as a mental health center at the university and other groups that support marginalized communities. He is suspended for the first three games of the 2023-24 season. In addition, his contract will be amended from a multiyear agreement to a year-by-year agreement that began on May 10 of this year and ends on April 30, 2024.

Huggins entered the Basketball Hall of Fame last September. In 41 seasons, his teams have gone to 25 NCAA Tournaments, finished ranked in the top 10 of The Associated Press poll seven times and finished under .500 five times. The Mountaineers have 11 NCAA Tournament appearances under Huggins.

The Pride Night event began about two hours before the first in a three-game series against the rival San Francisco Giants. The Dodgers have held Pride Nights for 10 years, but Friday’s event came as debate continued over the team’s plan to recognize the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence with a Community Hero Award during the Pride Night celebration.

As representatives of the group, known for about three decades of community and charity work, were recognized on the field before the game, protesters gathered in a Dodger Stadium parking lot.

The award recognizes the group’s efforts to promote human rights, diversity and spiritual enlightenment, but the Dodgers’ announcement about plans to honor the Sisters was met with backlash from some Catholic groups and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida. He called the Sisters a lewd mockery of Christianity.

Emotions over the high-profile controversy remain high.

A protest organized by the Catholics for Catholics religious organization was planned for the hours ahead of Friday’s game at Dodger Stadium. The ‘prayerful procession was organized. “in reparations for offenses committed against Jesus Christ and all Christians,” the group said on its website.

The Sisters said they are devoted to community service, ministry and outreach for marginalized communities.

“After 27 years of activism and protests ourselves including the ones fighting Proposition 8 for our right to marry the ones we love, we certainly cannot complain about our fellow Angelenos expressing their 1st Amendment rights,” the Sisters told The Los Angeles Times in an email.

Another protest against the Sisters’ involvement was organized in a Dodger Stadium parking lot.

LA Archbishop dedicates Mass for ‘healing’

Hours ahead of first pitch, Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez dedicated a Mass “for healing due to the harm caused by the Dodgers decision to honor a group that intentionally denigrates and profanes the Christian faith.”

“Friday, we celebrate the feast of Jesus’ Sacred Heart,” Gomez said in a statement. “… We will be praying in a special way for our city and country, for an end to prejudice, and for renewed respect for the religious beliefs of all Angelenos and all Americans.

“In a message to the faithful, the Archdiocese emphasized the ‘disappointment, dismay and pain’ caused by the actions of the group against the Christian faith and the Dodgers decision to honor the group even after acknowledging the concerns of the community.”

The Dodgers declined to comment on Gomez’s remarks.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Conference of Bishops issued a statement that said, in part, “This year, on June 16 — the day of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus — a professional baseball team has shockingly chosen to honor a group whose lewdness and vulgarity in mocking our Lord, His Mother, and consecrated women cannot be overstated. This is not just offensive and painful to Christians everywhere; it is blasphemy.”

Timeline of Events

On May 5, the Dodgers withdrew the invite in a move that drew criticism from local elected officials and LGBTQ+ advocacy groups who said the entire message of the Pride movement is one of inclusion, and that banning the Sisters was deemed an affront to that mission.

The Dodgers pulled the Sisters from their Pride Night the day after Bill Donohue, president and CEO of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, had emailed Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred to urge the team to yank the group.

Some of Southern California’s most prominent LGBTQ+ organizations threatened to skip the stadium Pride night. The Sisters issued a statement expressing deep offense at being uninvited and calling the decision a capitulation to hateful and misleading information from people outside their community.

On May 22, the Dodgers reversed course and re-invited the Sisters to be part of Friday night’s event.

“After much thoughtful feedback from our diverse communities, honest conversations within the Los Angeles Dodgers organization and generous discussions with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the Los Angeles Dodgers would like to offer our sincerest apologies to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, members of the LGBTQ+ community and their friends and families,” the team said in a statement. “In the weeks ahead, we will continue to work with our LGBTQ+ partners to better educate ourselves, find ways to strengthen the ties that bind and use our platform to support all of our fans who make up the diversity of the Dodgers family.”

About a week later, the team announced plans for a “Christian Faith and Family Day” at Dodger Stadium on July 30.

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The USMNT reached the final after beating Mexico 3-0 in the semifinal on Thursday. Christian Pulisic netted a brace while Ricardo Pepi came off the bench and scored the dagger in the 78th minute in a game full of drama.

It also marked Folarin Balogun’s first cap with the team after switching his allegiance from England, while Chris Richards and Miles Robinson illustrated what they could achieve together as a powerful center back duo.

Canada is coming into the final after beating Panama 2-0. Jonathan David and Alphonso Davies, Les Rouges’ two marquee players, each found the back of the net.

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USMNT Jun 15

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January of 2022 was the last time these two nations met in a match, and it was Canada that prevailed against the Gregg Berhalter-led USMNT side.

Here’s everything to know about the USMNT-Canada 2023 Concacaf Nations League Final:

When is the USMNT-Canada 2023 Concacaf Nations League Final?

The USMNT and Canada will face off on Sunday, June 18.

What time is the USMNT-Canada 2023 Concacaf Nations League Final?

Kick-off time for the final is slated for 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT.

Where is the USMNT-Canada 2023 Concacaf Nations League Final?

Allegiant Stadium, home of the Las Vegas Raiders, is the venue for the matchup. It was also the venue for the USMNT-Mexico semifinal.

How to watch the USMNT-Canada 2023 Concacaf Nations League Final

The game will be available to stream on Paramount+ in English, while Univision will broadcast the game in Spanish.

Will Sergino Dest and Weston McKennie play in the Concacaf Nations League Final?

If the U.S. wants to retain the Nations League title it won in 2019-20, it will have to do so against Dest and McKennie, two guaranteed starters. Both players received straight red cards against Mexico and are ineligible to be in the squad. Tyler Adams remains out due to injury.

Will Gregg Berhalter coach the Concacaf Nations League Final?

Berhalter was officially announced as the USMNT manager on Friday, but he won’t take over until after the Gold Cup that ends on July 16. B.J. Callaghan remains the interim manager after Anthony Hudson’s brief stay.

Officials have been trying to stamp out the troubling tradition for just as long, with fines, banishment from stadiums, and now early finishes.

Play was halted because of the deafening noise in the 90th minute at Allegiant Stadium with the U.S. up three goals. When action resumed, 12 minutes of stoppage time were signaled but the persistent chanting caused Salvadoran referee Iván Barton to end the match in the eighth added minute.

Four players were ejected in a testy second half of the game, which the U.S. won 3-0 for a spot Sunday in the CONCACAF Nations League final against Canada.

Christian Pulisic scored two goals and Ricardo Pepi scored one in a strong showing, but this game will be remembered much more for the ugliness.

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USMNT Jun 15

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“In terms of the chant, I want to make it very clear first and foremost, for our beliefs and our culture, it has no place in the game,” B.J. Callaghan said after his first game as U.S. interim coach. “It has no place in our value system.”

FIFA fined Mexico 100,000 Swiss francs ($108,000) in January for anti-gay chants by fans at two games. That came after the sport’s governing body banned fans from two of Mexico’s games in 2021 after the chants broke out at an Olympic qualifying tournament.

FIFA also fined Mexico 60,000 Swiss francs ($65,000) in 2021 for the chants.

Before the stoppage of play, Americans Weston McKennie and Sergiño Dest were ejected by Barton along with Mexicans César Montes and Gerardo Arteaga.

That means McKennie and Dest are suspended for the final against Canada.

“These are rivalry games. These are derby games. Things like this happen across the world and in no way am I embarrassed,” Callaghan said about the ejections. “It comes from a good place. They care about each other so much in that locker room that they’re standing up for each other. Sometimes does it have an issue where we take a red card? Yeah, but when you know where it comes from, you can accept it and it’s a learning lesson for us.

As Callaghan coached the game on an interim basis, news broke that Gregg Berhalter had agreed to return as U.S. national team coach after being cleared in a domestic violence investigation. The U.S. Soccer Federation announced Friday that Berhalter will coach the team through the 2026 World Cup. He won’t take over until after CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Pulisic, the top American player, said last week the USSF should consider bringing Berhalter back.

Luca de la Torre and Joe Scally are possible replacements for McKennie and Dest in the final.

“It’s definitely a blow,” Tim Weah said. “It comes with the game. I know the red cards are definitely a bummer, but it happens. Aggressive match tonight.”

Striker Folarin Balogun made his debut after the 21-year-old decided to play for the U.S. over England and Nigeria.

“The boys told me it was going to be intense, but I’m definitely still shocked by the events,” said Balogun, who at one point was shoved to the field. “I was just on the floor because I was in pain, but when I looked up I just saw so many people around and I knew my teammates were just trying to defend me.”

Making his first start for club or country since April 15, Pulisic put the U.S. ahead in the 37th minute and doubled the lead in the 46th. He has 25 goals in 59 international appearances, including four goals against Mexico. Pepi scored in the 79th, five minutes after replacing Bologun.

With its first three-goal victory over Mexico in 23 years, the U.S. stretched its unbeaten streak against El Tri to six (four wins, two draws), matching the Americans’ longest, from 2011-15.

The U.S. went ahead when Gio Reyna poked the ball off Montes and then while prone, poked it forward off Jorge Sánchez. Pulisic burst behind the defenders, took a pair of touches and from the edge of the 6-yard box slotted the ball past goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa.

McKennie started the move toward the second goal with a long pass down a flank to Weah, who crossed. A sprinting Pulisic got behind Israel Reyes and Sánchez, stabbing the ball in with his left foot from 6 yards.

Montes was given a straight red card in the 69th for kicking Balogun while the two were challenging. McKennie was given a red card two minutes later for placing a hand on Sánchez’s neck during the ensuing arguing and shoving.

Pepi scored his seventh international goal, receiving a pass from Dest, taking a touch and rounding Ochoa. Dest and Arteaga were sent off in the 86th for shoving each other.

“There was moments on both teams that we could have handled better,” Callaghan said.

Notes: Reyna, his hair dyed blonde, made his first start for club or country since March 27, also the last time Dest and goalkeeper Matt Turner had appeared in any match. … Canada beat Panama 2-0 in the opener on goals by Jonathan David in the 25th and Alphonso Davies in the 69th. Mexico and Panama meet in the third-place match.