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BBC Sport pundit Nedum Onuoha and tactics correspondent Umir Irfan join Sam Harris to discuss Trent Alexander-Arnold’s tough return to Anfield with Real Madrid.
READ MORE: Liverpool ‘back to their best’ as they dominate Real Madrid
Victor Conte, the architect of a scheme to provide undetectable performance-enhancing drugs to professional athletes including baseball stars Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi and Olympic track champion Marion Jones decades ago, has died. He was 75.
Conte died Monday, SNAC System, a sports nutrition company he founded, said in a social media post. It did not disclose his cause of death.
The federal government’s investigation into another company Conte founded, the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, yielded convictions of Jones, elite sprint cyclist Tammy Thomas, and former NFL defensive lineman Dana Stubblefield along with coaches, distributors, a trainer, a chemist and a lawyer.
Conte, who served four months in federal prison for dealing steroids, talked openly about his famous former clients. He went on television to say he had seen three-time Olympic medalist Jones inject herself with human growth hormone, but always stopped short of implicating Bonds, the San Francisco Giants slugger.
The investigation led to the book “Game of Shadows.” A week after the book was published in 2006, baseball Commissioner Bud Selig hired former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell to investigate steroids.
Conte said he sold steroids known as “the cream” and “the clear” and advised on their use to dozens of elite athletes, including Giambi, a five-time major league All-Star, the Mitchell report said.
“The illegal use of performance-enhancing substances poses a serious threat to the integrity of the game,” the Mitchell report said. “Widespread use by players of such substances unfairly disadvantages the honest athletes who refuse to use them and raises questions about the validity of baseball records.”
Mitchell said the problems didn’t develop overnight. Mitchell said everyone involved in baseball in the previous two decades — including commissioners, club officials, the players’ association and players — shared some responsibility for what he called “the Steroids Era.”
The federal investigation into BALCO began with a tax agent digging through the company’s trash.
Conte wound up pleading guilty to two of the 42 charges against him in 2005 before trial. Six of the 11 convicted people were ensnared for lying to grand jurors, federal investigators or the court.
Bonds’ personal trainer, Greg Anderson, pleaded guilty to steroid distribution charges stemming from his BALCO connections. Anderson was sentenced to three months in prison and three months of home confinement.
Bonds was charged with lying to a grand jury about receiving performance-enhancing drugs and went on trial in 2011. Prosecutors dropped the case four years later when the government decided not to appeal an overturned obstruction of justice conviction to the Supreme Court.
A seven-time National League MVP and 14-time All-Star outfielder, Bonds ended his career after the 2007 season with 762 homers, surpassing the record of 755 that Hank Aaron set from 1954-76. Bonds denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs but has never been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Bonds didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.
Conte told the Associated Press in a 2010 interview that “yes, athletes cheat to win, but the government agents and prosecutors cheat to win, too.” He also questioned whether the results in such legal cases justified the effort.
Conte’s attorney, Robert Holley, didn’t respond to an email and phone call seeking comment. SNAC System didn’t respond to a message sent through the company’s website.
After serving his sentence in a minimum security prison he described as “like a men’s retreat,” Conte got back in business in 2007 by resuscitating a nutritional supplements business he had launched two decades earlier called Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning or SNAC System. He located it in the same building that once housed BALCO in Burlingame, Calif.
Conte remained defiant about his central role in doling out designer steroids to elite athletes. He maintained he simply helped “level the playing field” in a world already rife with cheaters.
To Dr. Gary Wadler, a then-member of the World Anti-Doping Agency, Conte might as well have been pushing cocaine or heroin.
“You are talking about totally illegal drug trafficking. You are talking about using drugs in violation of federal law,” Wadler said in 2007. “This is not philanthropy and this is not some do-gooding. This is drug dealing.”
The hallway at SNAC System was lined with game jerseys of pro athletes, and signed photographs, including athletics stars Tim Montgomery, Kelli White and CJ Hunter, all punished for doping.
Conte wore a Rolex and parked a Bentley and a Mercedes in front of his building. He told the AP in 2007 he wouldn’t drive over the speed limit.
“I’m a person who doesn’t break laws anymore,” he said. “But I still do like to look fast.”
Years later, he met with the then-chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency, Dick Pound.
“As someone who was able to evade their system for so long, it was easy for me to point out the many loopholes that exist and recommend specific steps to improve the overall effectiveness of their program,” Conte said in a statement after the meeting.
He said that some of the poor decisions he made in the past made him uniquely qualified to contribute to the anti-doping effort.
SNAC System’s social media post announcing Conte’s death called him an “Anti-Doping Advocate.”
Conte was also a musician, serving as a bass player for the funk band Tower of Power for a short time in the late 1970s. He is pictured on the back of the band’s 1978 “We Came To Play” album.
“He was an excellent musician and a powerful force for clean sports and he will be missed,” band founder Emilio Castillo posted on X.
Associated Press sports writers Janie McCauley and Chris Lehourites contributed to this report.
Former New York Jets executive Scott Pioli, who also played a key role in Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots dynasty, gives his reaction to the Jets trading away defensive stars Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams at the NFL’s trade deadline.
With confetti at his feet, a drink in his hand and a smile of equal parts relief and elation planted on his face, Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy gave the question of the night only a cursory thought.
Had the Dodgers cemented a dynasty?
“I guess so,” he said.
Over the last six seasons, Muncy had been one of six Dodgers players to have a hand in all three of their recent World Series championships. He had become one of the faces of a team that elevated itself to historic all-time heights.
But when the topic of the club’s legacy came up, as he stood on the field in the wake of the Dodgers’ Game 7 thrill ride in Toronto on Saturday night, the 35-year-old veteran’s mind was occupied by another thought. The pride he felt emanated from a different source.
“The thing that I’m most proud of is the culture that we have created,” he said. “I hope that’s what’s talked about the most.”
In the public discourse, of course, it won’t be.
These Dodgers, with their star-studded roster and record-setting $415 million payroll and long-established reputation as big-spending villains who might be ruining baseball, have only further fueled debates about the financial inequities of the sport.
With a labor battle looming next year, they will be turned into a proxy — the prime example, critics will argue, of what’s wrong with the only major professional sports league in North America without a hard salary cap.
Some of those concerns will be justified (the Dodgers are spending at levels MLB has never before seen, and well beyond most of their competition). Others will be exaggerated (they are also spending within the league’s rules, and re-investing revenues back into their roster at a higher percentage than almost all other franchises).
The players themselves, however, really couldn’t care less.
Money, after all, might have given them the talent to win back-to-back World Series. But it took something else to help them get to, and especially conquer, the mental and physical test they faced in Saturday’s Game 7.
“When you come to the Dodgers, and you put on that Dodgers uniform, it’s all about, ‘How do you do what you need to do to win the game? How do you help the team win the game?’” Muncy said, his hoarse voice beginning to crack. “I seriously can’t put into words how much it means to me that we’ve created something that’s that special. that everyone knows about now.”
Dodgers second baseman Miguel Rojas, right, celebrates with Max Muncy after the team won Game 7 of the World Series.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Culture and camaraderie might be clichéd traits easy to point to in the wake of any World Series championship, but they were nonetheless present in the Dodgers’ quest to repeat this year.
Take the first big turning point of this postseason: The iconic “wheel play” the Dodgers ran to defend a bunt in the ninth inning of Game 2 of the National League Division Series.
That maneuver was suggested and executed by Mookie Betts — a player the Dodgers signed for $365 million five years ago to be a Gold Glove right fielder, but who moved to shortstop out of roster necessity on a full-time basis this season and transformed into a Gold Glove finalist.
Dollars might be the reason Betts now plays in Los Angeles. But it was his tireless daily routine of taking infield grounders, and his ability to learn from and overcome early-season growing pains, that made that moment possible.
“For him to play that caliber of shortstop, I think, is underappreciated,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. “I don’t think people are paying enough attention to how difficult that was.”
Clinching the NLDS required contributions from another star talent serving in an unexpected new role.
When rookie Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki signed with the Dodgers this offseason, it enflamed the external worries about their hoarding of talent. Sasaki, however, struggled as a starter, missed most of the year with a shoulder injury, then faced a decision ahead of the playoffs about whether or not to move to the bullpen.
He accepted, despite having never been a reliever in his professional career before. And in the playoffs, he fulfilled the team’s gaping hole at closer, highlighted by the three perfect innings he pitched in their NLDS-clinching Game 4 win.
From left, Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki celebrate after winning the World Series.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
“For Roki to come through in that spot after the year he’s had,” Muncy said at the time, “that was just so huge for us.”
The NL Championship Series was the one time the Dodgers clearly outclassed a playoff opponent, rolling past the overmatched Milwaukee Brewers behind historic starting pitching performances from Blake Snell (a $182 million signing last offseason), Yoshinobu Yamamoto (a $365 million signing the winter before) and Tyler Glasnow (a $136.5 million acquisition), then an all-time two-way showing in Game 4 from Shohei Ohtani (the $700 million man who has been at the center of the consternation over the Dodgers’ spending).
The World Series, however, brought an unexpectedly stiff challenge from the Toronto Blue Jays — who were heavy underdogs to the Dodgers despite their own top-five payroll of $278 million.
In the Fall Classic, the Dodgers’ sheen of invincibility was shattered. Their lineup struggled. Only Yamamoto maintained his previous level of dominance in the rotation. A long-suspect bullpen finally faltered. And in many facets of the series (in which the Blue Jays outscored the Dodgers 34-26 and hit .269 to the Dodgers’ .203 team average), the Dodgers looked second-best.
“I mean, big picture-wise, we didn’t play very well,” Friedman said. “But those big pivotal moments is where our guys really showed up … Which I think gets at who they are, the compete, how much they care about each other, how much they care about bringing a championship back to LA in back-to-back years.”
There was Game 3, when the Dodgers prevailed in an 18-inning marathon by getting an unforeseen boost from little-known reliever Will Klein, who was willing to sacrifice his arm in a grueling four-inning outing despite spending most of this year stuck in the minors.
There was Game 6, when the team survived a potential season-ending, ninth-inning jam thanks to the veteran defensive instinct Kiké Hernández (the high-energy October stalwart who started every game of the playoffs after limited playing time in the regular season) and Miguel Rojas (who has become one of the emotional leaders of the team since being acquired in a 2023 trade for a minor-league prospect, despite also serving in a depth role for most of the summer) flashed on a victory-sealing double play.
“That’s what makes us really tough,” Rojas said. “[We’re] competing every single day, and regardless of what the situation is, I think everybody [is able to] just kind of forget about the past and focus on the moment right now.”
Game 7 provided the ultimate test.
The Dodgers trailed early, with Rogers Centre shaking after Bo Bichette’s third-inning three-run homer. They couldn’t lean on Ohtani, who looked gassed while starting the game as a pitcher on short rest. They had to claw their way back instead, playing from behind all the way into the ninth inning — when their season was two outs away from ending in failure.
“We just kept going and going and going,” Muncy said. “I’m just really proud of all the guys for not giving up hope.”
It would’ve been easy to do so. After two exhausting years — full of deep postseason runs and season-opening international trips and the daily pressure that came with their heavy offseason expenditures — the club’s tank appeared to be teetering on empty. Sheer talent, after all, can only sustain for so long.
“It’s been a long journey for the team, for the organization, for every player out here,” Rojas said before Game 6. “It’s been really stressful and everybody’s mentally tired.”
But this, Muncy declared, is where the Dodgers’ culture kicked in.
“It’s all about the team. It doesn’t matter about yourself,” he said. “When you’re coming in off the field and you have a whole group of guys in [the dugout] saying, ‘Hey, great inning. Let’s scrap something together. Let’s get a guy on base. Let’s get a run in,’ that kind of means everything.”
In the end, the Dodgers conjured their most heroic moments for when they needed them most.
With one out in the ninth, it was none other than Rojas — who was uncertain to even play in Game 7 after aggravating an intercostal injury the night before — who tied the score with a miraculous home run swing.
“When you play the game right, treat people right, are the teammate like Miguel is, I think we said it in there, the game honors you,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “Just doing whatever he could to help this team win.”
From there, the Dodgers (turning to their fourth traditional starter out of the bullpen on the night) summoned Yamamoto, who did something no record-breaking contract could have ever predicted by throwing 2 ⅔ scoreless innings on zero days’ rest after his 96-pitch start in Game 6.
“Can’t evaluate that,” Friedman said.
“That’s going to go down in history as one of the best championship performances in any sport,” pitching coach Mark Prior added.
Will Smith, one of the few homegrown talents on a team of hired guns, delivered the winning swing with his home run in the 11th.
“To me, he kind of epitomizes a lot of the success that we’ve had looking back,” Friedman said. “In terms of our scouting process, our player development process, how well they work together, and then him coming through and having the impact he’s had at the Major League level.”
And fittingly, it was Betts who recorded the championship-clinching outs on a double-play chopper hit to him at short.
“A perfect bow on what was an incredible season for what he did at shortstop this year,” Friedman said.
All of it, Muncy proudly noted, exemplified what the Dodgers maintain was the ethos of their team; the kind of intangibles that won’t show up on a balance sheet or payroll list, even with all the money they’ve spent.
“That’s what we’ve created here,” Muncy said. “And that’s what I’m most proud of.”
“We kept going, and we persevered,” manager Dave Roberts echoed. “And we’re the last team standing.”
LIV Golf events will be extended to 72 holes from 2026, putting them in line with the sport’s established tours.
The Saudi Arabia-backed circuit began in 2022 with 54-hole events and the unconventional format of events played a role in players being denied official ranking points.
Most LIV events have been played from Friday to Sunday but will now be contested from Thursday of tournament weeks – apart from a Wednesday start for February’s LIV Golf Riyadh.
Two-time major winner Jon Rahm, who won his second straight LIV title in August, said that “this is a win for the league, and the players”.
“LIV Golf is a player’s league,” said the former world number one. “We are competitors to the core and we want every opportunity to compete at the highest level and to perfect our craft.
“Moving to 72 holes is the logical next step that strengthens the competition, tests us more fully, and, if the growing galleries from last season are any indication, delivers more of what the fans want.”
Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points play a key role in determining entry into golf’s four majors.
LIV Golf players have slid down the rankings with Rahm now 71st in the world while Dustin Johnson, another former world number one, is 604th.
“Playing 72 holes just feels a little more like the big tournaments we’ve all grown up playing,” said Johnson. “I’ve always liked the grind of four rounds.”
Bryson DeChambeau, who is also on the LIV tour, added: “Everyone wants to see the best players in the world competing against each other, especially in the majors, and for the good of the game, we need a path forward.”
For each regular season event, the individual competition will be decided over 72 holes of stroke play.
The team competition will continue to run concurrently, with each team’s cumulative individual stroke play scores determining the team result.
“The move to 72 holes marks a pivotal new chapter for LIV Golf that strengthens our league, challenges our elite field of players, and delivers more of the world-class golf, energy, innovation and access that our global audience wants,” said LIV Golf chief executive Scott O’Neil.
“The most successful leagues around the world – IPL, EPL, NBA, MLB, NFL – continue to innovate and evolve their product, and as an emerging league, we are no different.”
MADISON, Wis. — Out in Wisconsin’s state capital, where the orange leaves are falling and every other person seems to wear the red and white of the University of Wisconsin Badgers, the pride and pain of rooting for the Dodgers in 2025 played out in the household of Carolina Sarmiento and Revel Sims.
They’re urban planning professors, Southern California natives — he’s from Eagle Rock, she’s from Santa Ana; they met at UCLA — and longtime friends of mine who have lived in Madison for a decade but are still involved in immigrant and anti-gentrification activism back home. I visited them recently as part of a speaking tour of Midwestern colleges and found myself in the middle of a debate that passed through the lives of too many people we know back home.
It’s one that’s unlikely to completely fade away no matter how many rings and parades the Boys in Blue rack up:
Is it OK to, well, revel, in this year’s World Series champs?
On one hand the Dodgers won back-to-back titles for their first time ever and became the first team to do so in a generation. The squad looked like Los Angeles at its best: people from across the world who set aside their egos to win and bring joy to millions of Angelenos in a most difficult year for the City of Angels.
L.A., a city long synonymous with winning — the weather, the teams, the people, the food — has suffered a terrible losing streak that started with the deadly and catastrophic Eaton and Palisades fires and continues with mass deportations that the Trump administration vows to escalate.
That’s where the rub came for Sarmiento and other Dodgers fans. For them, the actions and inactions of the team this year have been indefensible.
“For me, it started when the Dodgers went to the White House,” said the 45-year-old as we drove to their blue-and-white house. She especially took issue with shortstop Mookie Betts, who skipped a White House visit in 2019 when he was with the World Series-winning Boston Red Sox but shook Trump’s hand this time around, describing his previous snub as “very selfish.”
“Who got in his ear?” she exclaimed, bringing out dried mangoes for us to snack on as we waited for Sims to come home. “Since when has standing up for injustice been about you?”
Sarmiento didn’t grow up a Dodgers fan but bought into the team once she and Sims became a couple. They and their two young sons usually attended Dodgers games on trips back home and regularly caught the Dodgers in Milwaukee whenever they played the Brewers. One time, manager Dave Roberts “happily” signed a jersey for them when the family ran into him at a hotel, Sarmiento said.
In Madison, she long wore a Dodgers sweatshirt emblazoned with the Mexican flag that Sims bought for her because “it was a way to represent home. But not anymore. I tell Revel, ‘Babe, I’m not asking you to boycott the Dodgers forever, but they gotta give us something back.’”
Sure, the Dodgers blocked federal agents from entering the Dodger Stadium parking lot in June just after la migra raided a Home Depot facility. Shortly after, the team donated $1 million to the California Community Foundation to disburse to nonprofits assisting families affected by Trump’s deportation Leviathan.
But as the summer went along, Sarmiento grew frustrated that only Dodgers outfielder Kiké Hernández spoke out against immigration raids and Trump’s deployment of the Marines and National Guard. She also wondered why Dodgers chairman Mark Walter wouldn’t address charges that companies he has investments in do business with Trump’s deportation machine. One has a stake in a private prison company that contracts with the federal government to run immigrant detention centers; another has a joint venture with Palantir, which ICE has contracted to create data surveillance systems that would make the Eye of Sauron from “The Lord of the Rings” series seem as innocuous as a teddy bear.
“After a while, it’s like a woman who knows her partner is a cheater but keeps saying, ‘He’s not a cheater, he’s not a cheater’ and then gets upset when he cheats on her again. At that point, all you can say is, ‘Girl…‘”
I brought up how many Dodgers fans I know saw the team’s World Series win as a giant middle finger to Trump.
The heroes of Games 6 and 7, outfielders Kiké Hernández and second baseman Miguel Rojas, come respectively from Puerto Rico and Venezuela, a commonwealth Trump has neglected and a country he’s salivating to invade. The team’s most popular player, Shohei Ohtani, still proudly speaks in his native Japanese despite being in the U.S. for eight years and knowing some English. Tens of thousands of fans came out for the Dodgers victory parade and celebration at Dodger Stadium, many of them undoubtedly immigrants.
Isn’t it OK to let folks be happy?
“It’s like community benefit agreements,” Sarmiento responded, referring to a tactic by neighborhood groups that sees them win commitments from developers on issues like open space, union contracts and affordable housing with the threat of protests and lawsuits. “You know what’s coming, so you try to get something out of it. This year was a political moment that fans could’ve taken and they didn’t, so the Dodgers gave nothing.”
We greeted Sims as he walked in. The two of us walked down to the basement, where he watched the World Series in exile on a big-screen TV.
“It’s a little lonely being a Dodgers fan out here,” joked the 48-year-old, although he was heartened to have seen a fellow University of Wisconsin professor decked out in a Freddie Freeman jersey earlier in the day. Sims grew up going to Dodger Stadium with his father and remembered going to games on his own in the mid-2000s “when it wasn’t a pretty time.”
He brought up the Dodgers’ owner from that era: Frank McCourt, who raised ticket and concession prices seemingly every year and who still partially owns the parking lots surrounding Dodger Stadium. Fans responded to his disastrous regime by protesting before and during games. “It was disheartening to not see that in the stadium this year, when there was an even bigger problem going on.”
Sims felt “conflicted” rooting for the Dodgers this year. He watched every game he could but admitted he found the team celebrating ethnic pride nights “hollow” as raids increased across Los Angeles and the Trump administration attacked the rights of groups that the Dodgers were honoring.
“It would’ve been easy [for the Dodgers] to make a bland statement — ‘We’re a team full of immigrants in a city of immigrants and we’re proud of us all’ — and you wouldn’t have to go any further. They have a historical obligation to do that because of their history.”
But not rooting for the Dodgers was never an option.
Pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto stands onstage at the World Series celebration at Dodger Stadium on Monday.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
“I want to see L.A. people happy. The parade! It’s a free holiday. People just ditch work and don’t get in trouble for it. We’re the only city — not New York, not Boston, not San Francisco — with a chant against us. We’re despised and misunderstood. So if the Dodgers win, L.A. wins.”
Sarmiento joined us. “She’s my better political half,” Sims cracked. “Caro said to pick another sport.”
“No I didn’t!” she kindly replied. “I just said to take a pause, just for now. A political pause.”
Sims admitted that that a vintage jacket that he used to bring out every October as the Dodgers made another playoff run and Wisconsin turns cold was still in the closet. “I haven’t worn any gear all year.”
“When you went to the game!” Sarmiento shot back, referring to a visit to Milwaukee earlier this year with his local softball team.
“I went with a Valenzuela jersey to represent L.A.,” Sims responded as Sarmiento shook her head.
He laughed.
“I love the team. I just don’t like this team for not saying anything. But it’s what I signed up for.”
Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos Group took control of football operations after he bought a 27.7% stake in United in February 2024.
Since Amorim’s arrival, United have spent about £250m on new signings and while Ronaldo says they have “good players”, he feels that some of them “don’t have in mind what Manchester United is”.
“Manchester United is still in my heart,” added the five-time Ballon d’Or winner, who won seven major honours with the club between 2003 and 2009.
“I love that club. But we have all to be honest and look for ourselves and say, ‘listen, they are not in a good path’.
“So, they need to change and it’s not only about the coach and players, in my opinion.”
Ronaldo’s contract at Old Trafford was terminated after an interview with Morgan in November 2022, in which he said he felt “betrayed” by United and that he was being forced out.
He added that he did not respect then-manager Ten Hag and criticised the Dutch boss again in September 2024, saying that United must “rebuild everything”.
Ronaldo signed a new contract last summer with Al-Nassr that expires in 2027 and he is expected to play for Portugal in the 2026 World Cup.
Asked by Morgan when he might retire, Ronaldo replied: “Soon. But I think I will be prepared.
“It will be tough, of course. But Piers, I prepare my future since [the age of] 25, 26, 27 years old. So I think I will be capable to support that pressure.”
Welcome back to the Lakers newsletter, where we’re likely standing at an airport as you read this.
The NBA schedule is in full swing. The chaos JJ Redick mentioned at the beginning of the season has arrived. The Lakers played a game with seven standard contract players. Austin Reaves went on a heater for the ages, scoring 51 points in a game, 41 in the next, then hitting the game-winner in the one after that. Nick Smith Jr. threw up in the hallway at Moda Center then dropped 25 on the Portland Trail Blazers.
But through it all, the Lakers are crediting their 6-2 start to something that can’t be measured in the box score.
There seems to be an advanced statistic for everything now. As a math person, I wholeheartedly embrace the nerdification of sports. But the thing Redick preaches most to his team is something that can’t be quantified.
Just “playing hard.”
It sounds simple, but, in fact, there is a way to do it wrong.
“That’s what we call ‘fake hustle,’” guard Marcus Smart said. “It’s all for the cameras. It’s all just to look good so you don’t get in trouble in the film room. But when you’re playing hard, you can feel it. You can feel the way you’re playing, you can feel the way the energy. Your body can feel it. Your mind can feel it. And you’d be surprised how the game turns out because of that.”
The Lakers’ early season commitment to simply playing hard has helped them weather injury storms and roster uncertainty. They’ve gone 3-1 in games without Luka Doncic. One of those victories was without Doncic and Austin Reaves, and all have been on the road. LeBron James hasn’t even played a minute this season.
“There’s certain things that we are doing right now that we did not do until mid-to-late January of last year,” Redick said before the Lakers’ game against Memphis.
Naturally, only hours after praising his team’s consistent competitiveness, Redick was frustrated with the effort in the second quarter against the Grizzlies. He called his players “zombies” as they let Memphis score 19 unanswered points in the second quarter.
So, no, things aren’t perfect yet.
But in a long season, with pieces that are still finding their way together, any early glimpse at some of those intangible, championship team qualities are meaningful. Redick lauded his team’s confidence, belief and connectivity in the win over Portland without Doncic or Reaves. Getting any or all of their stars back will change the complexion of what this team will ultimately achieve in April, May or — they hope — June, but the Lakers don’t want to it to affect what they do any given night.
“I think it all started in training camp, really just going as hard as we can, JJ not giving the crap who’s out there,” center Deandre Ayton said. “He wants to play Laker basketball.”
After the Lakers beat the Grizzlies, Smart gave the team a B+ in how hard it’s playing. But after Monday’s win in Portland in which Smith scored 25 points off the bench, Smart upgraded the rating to a B++.
So there’s still room to grow on this report card.
New Lakers majority owner Mark Walter.
(Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
The Lakers officially have a new majority owner.
Mark Walter’s acquisition of the Lakers was unanimously approved by the NBA board of governors last Thursday. It was a monumental week for the billionaire. One day after the sale went final, Walter hoisted the Commissioner’s Trophy for the second time in as many years with the Dodgers, who won the World Series in epic Game 7 fashion. Then on Sunday, Walter was sitting courtside at Crypto.com Arena in a royal blue Dodgers jacket to watch the Lakers defeat the Heat. An arena employee shook Walter’s hand, presumably thanking him for bringing L.A. another championship and already dreaming about the next one that could come for the purple and gold.
Redick said he spoke briefly with Walter after the news and came away impressed with Walter’s enthusiasm to learn about a new league.
“Baseball is an individual sport masquerading as a team sport. It’s a different thing,” Redick said. “Daryl Morey said it best on a podcast a couple years ago. He said the NBA now is the equivalent of the Giants when Barry Bonds was in his prime, basically getting to bat every single time and not only that, getting to pick who pitches to him every single time. That’s what the NBA is. … The impact of star players, a guy like Luka, a guy like LeBron, a guy like AR, it’s just different than any other sport.”
Miso pork katsu sando from Tokyo Sando food cart in Portland.
(Thuc Nhi Nguyen / Los Angeles Times)
As my Uber driver dropped me off at my hotel in Portland, we drove by a collection of food trucks around the corner. He recommended that I make a stop for lunch. Little did he know, I had already scoped out the entire area, and I had my target locked.
The miso pork katsu sando from Tokyo Sando felt like culinary perfection after a chaotic back-to-back turnaround.
No Big 3, no problem: Nick Smith Jr. helps lead Lakers to fourth consecutive win
Jake LaRavia won’t be unknown to Lakers fans much longer with games like this
Luka Doncic drops triple-double to power Lakers to victory over Heat
Luka Doncic returns and Lakers get a road win at Memphis
NBA approves Buss family sale of Lakers to Dodgers majority owner Mark Walter
Austin Reaves hits game-winner as Lakers hang on to defeat Timberwolves
As always, pass along your thoughts to me at [email protected], and please consider subscribing if you like our work!
French Open champion Gauff reset admirably following her scrappy display against Pegula and reasserted herself as a title challenger with this solid performance.
She produced just three double faults and reduced her total unforced errors by over half (30), with her more consistent serving in particular providing a significant confidence boost before her meeting with Sabalenka.
Displaying calmness and confidence from the back of the court, Gauff appeared largely in control after taking charge of the opening set.
After breaking world number eight Paolini to love at the first opportunity, Gauff withstood three break points to establish a commanding 3-0 lead – and struck back immediately when the Italian offered a response, before serving out the set.
With 29-year-old Paolini’s resistance fading, Gauff converted the first break point of the second set following a superb forehand winner, before sealing victory with a dominant five-game streak.
“I was just trying to play relaxed,” said Gauff. “I played a WTA Finals where I lost all three matches and I was determined to not make a repeat of that.
“I know today was important to keep myself in the tournament.”
From Jack Harris: The celebration had hardly begun, when Shohei Ohtani first voiced the theme of the day.
“I’m already thinking about the third time,” he said in Japanese, standing atop a double-decker bus in downtown Los Angeles with thousands of blue-clad, flag-waving, championship-celebrating Dodgers fans lining the streets around him for the team’s 2025 World Series parade.
Turns out, he wasn’t alone.
Two days removed from a dramatic Game 7 victory that made the Dodgers baseball’s first repeat champion in 25 years, the team rolled through the streets of downtown and into a sold-out rally at Dodger Stadium on Monday already thinking about what lies ahead in 2026.
With three titles in the last six seasons, their modern-day dynasty might now be cemented.
But their goal of adding to this “golden era of Dodger baseball,” as top executive Andrew Friedman has repeatedly called it, is far from over.
“All I have to say to you,” owner and chairman Mark Walter told the 52,703 fans at the team’s stadium rally, “is we’ll be back next year.”
Photos: World Series champion Dodgers parade through Downtown L.A.
Fernando Valenzuela to be considered for National Baseball Hall of Fame induction
Yoshinobu Yamamoto was the pitching star for the Dodgers, but who would you consider to be the hitting star in the World Series?
Shohei Ohtani, who hit .333 with three doubles, three homers, five RBIs and six runs scored
Will Smith, who hit .267 with two doubles, two homers and a team-leading six RBIs, including the go-ahead homer in the 11th inning of Game 7
Max Muncy, who hit .214 with two homers, including a clutch homer in the eighth inning of Game 7 to bring the Dodgers within one
Miguel Rojas, who only went two for 10 but hit that tying, ninth-inning homer in Game 7
or someone else?
Vote here in our poll and let us know.
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: After Nick Smith Jr. had scored eight consecutive points, slashing to the rim for a layup followed by two deep threes, Rui Hachimura could tell the 21-year-old guard was going to deliver a big game just when the Lakers needed it.
“Keep going,” Hachimura encouraged Smith during a second-quarter timeout.
Smith did. Straight to the tunnel, where the third-year guard got sick.
With their three biggest stars out, the Lakers literally gutted out a 123-115 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday at Moda Center as Smith fought through an uneasy stomach to notch 25 points and six assists in the Lakers’ fourth consecutive victory.
Smith, playing on a two-way contract with the South Bay Lakers, gave the Lakers (6-2) the perfect substitute off the bench as Luka Doncic (leg) and Austin Reaves (groin) sat out. He delivered electric shooting, making five of six shots from three-point range. With the team’s primary ball-handlers sidelined against an aggressive Portland defense, Smith steadied the offense. He also ignited it with 17 second-half points.
Bam Adebayo had 25 points and 10 rebounds, Norman Powell added 21 points in his return to Southern California and the Miami Heat held off the Clippers 120-119 on Monday night.
Powell was a key member of the Clippers for three seasons before being traded to the Heat before this season
Andrew Wiggins scored 17 points and Kel’el Ware added 16 to help the Heat end a two-game losing streak and win on the road for the second time in five games. Miami is 1-2 to open a four-game trip.
From Gary Klein: Puka Nacua returned to the Rams’ lineup in spectacular fashion, catching a touchdown pass, amassing nearly 100 yards receiving and picking up key yardage on a fourth-down jet sweep during a victory over the New Orleans Saints.
But that rushing play, which ended with a crushing hit, came with a cost.
On Monday, Nacua was scheduled to have a scan of his injured ribs, though coach Sean McVay said during a videoconference with reporters that “I feel optimistic … in regard to where we’re potentially heading.”
McVay on Monday said he felt “sick” about leaving Nacua susceptible to injury because of the play call.
“I’m kicking myself about putting him in that spot where he sustained that shot to the ribs,” McVay said
From Sam Farmer: A bad situation on the Chargers offensive line just got worse, as the team announced Monday that standout left tackle Joe Alt will undergo season-ending ankle surgery.
Alt, who missed three games earlier in the season because of an ankle injury, re-injured the same ankle during Sunday’s victory at the Tennessee Titans when linebacker Jihad Ward was blocked into the back of his legs.
“Feel bad for Joe,” Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh told reporters. “I know it’s going to be OK. It’s not going to be life-altering. Feel bad for him.”
From Ben Bolch: It was the sort of postgame rant that Mick Cronin usually saves for a bad loss at a time when he’s trying to swing a season back in the right direction.
This one came after a victory in the season’s first game.
That’s how few positive takeaways there were for UCLA on Monday night on its home court.
Having beaten two quality opponents in exhibition games, the 12th-ranked Bruins struggled mightily in a game that counted against a team from the Big Sky Conference.
Most of the problems came on the defensive end.
“There’s so many mistakes,” Cronin said after his team held on for an 80-74 victory over Eastern Washington at Pauley Pavilion, “I’d like to fire myself for our defense.”
————
From Kara Alexander: The No. 3 UCLA women’s basketball team won its first game of the season, defeating feisty San Diego State 77–53 on Monday at the Honda Center.
The Bruins (1–0) built an eight-point lead in the first quarter, but the unranked Aztecs (0–1) managed to cut the deficit by three by the end of the period.
San Diego State struggled to score in the second quarter when UCLA went on a 12–2 run.
The scoring gap continued to increase as the Bruins extended their lead to 15 points, ending the first half with a 37–22 advantage.
From Andrés Soto: For most of Monday night, USC played exactly like a team with 13 new players.
Coach Eric Musselman’s preseason concerns about the Trojans’ offense likely were not abated after USC struggled in the first half of its season opener against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo at Galen Center.
Cal Poly, a mid-major coming off a 16-19 season, wouldn’t let USC run away with the game, with the Trojans clinging to a six-point lead at halftime.
But then sophomore forward Jacob Cofie — one of 10 transfer portal additions — came alive in the second half, notching a 23-point double-double as the Trojans pulled away for a comfortable 94-64 win.
1934 — The Detroit Lions rush for an NFL-record 426 yards in a 40-7 rout of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The only bright spot for the Pirates is scoring the first touchdown against Detroit this season, ending the Lions’ shutout streak at seven games.
1951 — The U.S. wins six of eight singles matches and ties another to win the Ryder Cup 9½-2½ over Britain at Pinehurst in North Carolina.
1960 — Wilt Chamberlain of Philadelphia scores 44 points and sets an NBA record by missing all 10 of his free throws in the Warriors 136-121 victory the Detroit Pistons.
1984 — Seattle’s Dave Brown returns two interceptions for touchdowns in a 31-17 triumph over the Kansas City Chiefs.
1987 — NBA announces four new franchises; Charlotte and Miami for 1988 and Minneapolis and Orlando for 1989.
1989 — Sunday Silence holds off the late charge by favorite Easy Goer to win the $3 million Breeders’ Cup Classic by a neck at Gulfstream Park.
2000 — R.J. Bowers rushes for 128 yards to become the first player in NCAA history to gain 7,000 yards in his career, leading Grove City past Carnegie Mellon 14-10.
2000 — In the highest scoring Division I-AA game in NCAA history, Ricky Ray passes for 344 yards and three touchdowns and scores three more to lead Sacramento State over Cal State Northridge 64-61.
2006 — Rod Brind’Amour of Carolina scores his 1,000th career point, assisting on a goal in the Hurricanes’ 3-2 win over Ottawa.
2007 — Adrian Peterson runs for an NFL-record 296 yards and three touchdowns in Minnesota’s 35-17 win over San Diego.
2012 — Andrew Luck breaks the NFL’s single-game rookie record by throwing for 433 yards in leading Indianapolis to a 23-20 win over Miami
2016 — Cam Atkinson, Nick Foligno, Scott Hartnell and Josh Anderson score two goals apiece and the Columbus Blue Jackets beat Montreal 10-0, matching the biggest loss in the Canadiens’ storied history.
2017 — Quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw rushes for a career-high 265 yards and Army ends Air Force’s 306-game scoring streak with a 21-0 victory.
2017 — With a 31-24 overtime victory over Nebraska, Northwestern becomes the first Football Bowl Subdivision program to win three consecutive overtime games.
Compiled by the Associated Press
1959 — Cubs shortstop Ernie Banks wins his second consecutive NL MVP award.
1976 — Baseball holds its first free agent draft with 24 players from 13 major league clubs participating. Reggie Jackson eventually signs the most lucrative contract of the group, $2.9 million over five years with the New York Yankees. Others free agents are Joe Rudi, Don Gullett, Gene Tenace, Rollie Fingers, Don Baylor, Bobby Grich and Willie McCovey.
2001 — Luis Gonzalez’s RBI single caps a two-run rally off Mariano Rivera in the bottom of the ninth, and the Arizona Diamondbacks win their first championship by beating the New York Yankees 3-2 in Game 7.
2009 — The New York Yankees win the World Series, beating the defending champion Philadelphia Phillies 7-3 in Game 6 behind Hideki Matsui’s record-tying six RBIs.
Compiled by the Associated Press
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Based on a true story, starring Toby Jones, Lesley Manville and Harry Lawtey
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Remember when soccer was being touted as the next big sport in the U.S.? Well, it looks like that moment has finally arrived.
Or not. It all depends on who you ask and how you interpret what they tell you.
On one hand, there’s the recent Harris Poll that found 72% of Americans profess an interest in soccer, a 17% increase from 2020. A quarter of those are “dedicated” fans and 1 in 5 say they are “obsessed” with the sport.
On the other hand, there’s the stark decline in attendance and TV viewership for the country’s top two domestic leagues, MLS and the NWSL, and the underwhelming crowds that showed up last summer for the FIFA Club World Cup and the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
LAFC fans lift up a banner honoring Carlos Vela during a ceremony to honor him before a match against Real Salt Lake at BMO Stadium on Sept. 21.
(Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)
These contrary findings — a growing fanbase at the same time attendance and viewership numbers are falling off a cliff — come at an important inflection point for soccer in the U.S., with the largest, most ambitious World Cup kicking off at SoFi Stadium in fewer than 200 days.
“The short answer is yes, the World Cup will be a watershed moment for soccer in America. However, it’s unlikely to immediately lead to a significant increase in ticket sales for MLS and NWSL. Soccer fandom in America develops differently from that of other sports,” said Darin W. White, executive director of the Sports Industry Program and the Center for Sports Analytics at Samford University, which next year will launch a major five-year study to explore how soccer can become mainstream in the U.S.
“The World Cup will bring millions of new Americans into the pipeline. Over the next few years we expect these new fans to progress through the pipeline, giving soccer a substantial enough fan base to tip the scales and help make soccer part of the ongoing mainstream sports conversation. I am confident that the World Cup will enable soccer to reach that critical mass.”
Steven A. Bank, a professor of business law at UCLA who has written and lectured extensively on the economics of soccer, isn’t as optimistic.
“The risk isn’t that U.S. soccer will be in the same place in 10 years, but that it will have regressed,” he said.
“For the World Cup to benefit domestic leagues’ attendance, ratings, and revenue, as well as youth and adult participation rates in playing soccer, it will have to be the catalyst for more domestic investment in the game. The question isn’t whether the World Cup will convince enough people to become fans or to move from casual to dedicated or obsessive fans. It’s whether it will convince enough wealthy people and companies to risk the kind of money necessary to compete with the top leagues for the top talent.”
U.S. captain Christian Pulisic drives the ball during an international friendly against Ecuador at Q2 Stadium on Oct. 10 in Austin, Texas.
(Omar Vega / Getty Images)
That investment could be a boost to both first-tier domestic leagues, which saw their attendance and TV rating fall dramatically this year. After setting records in both 2023 and ‘24, MLS watched its average attendance fall 5.4% — to 21,988 fans per match — this season. According to Soccer America, 19 of the 29 teams that played in 2024 saw their attendance drop; more than half saw declines of 10% or more.
The TV audience also appears to be relatively small, although the fact Apple TV, the league’s main broadcast partner, rarely releases viewer data has hampered efforts to draw any firm conclusions. MLS said last month that its games attracted 3.7 million global aggregate viewers a week on all its streaming and linear platforms, an average of about 246,000 a game on a full weekend. While that’s up nearly 29% from last year, the average viewership figure is about 100,000 smaller than what the league drew for single games on ESPN alone in 2022, the last season before Apple’s 10-year $2.5-billion took effect.
NWSL also saw overall league attendance fall more than 5%, with eight of the 13 teams that played in 2024 experiencing declines. And TV viewership in the second year of the league’s four-season $240 million broadcast deal was down 8% before the midseason July break, according to the Sports Business Journal.
That follows a summer in which both the expanded Club World Cup and the Gold Cup struggled to find an audience. Although the 63-match Club World Cup drew an average of 39,547 fans per game, 14 matches had crowds of fewer than 20,000. The Gold Cup averaged 25,129 for its 31 games — a drop of more than 7,000 from 2023. And five matches drew less than 7,800 people.
“There’s a danger of taking this year’s decline out of context,” said Stefan Szymanski, a professor of sports management at the University of Michigan and author of several books on soccer including “Money and Soccer” and “Soccernomics” (with Simon Kuper). “Last year was a record year. It’s really about the diminishment of the Messi effect.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a moment of crisis. And the way MLS is looking at this strikes me that they’re entirely focused on a post-World Cup [bump], which they think they’re going to get. I’d be skeptical myself about that. I don’t think it will do that much for them.”
Szymanski said the World Cup could hurt the league by underscoring the huge difference in the quality of play between elite international soccer and MLS.
“Americans are not dumb,” he said. “They know what’s good quality sport [and] not good quality sport. And they know that MLS is low level. The only way, in a global marketplace, you can get the top talent to have a truly competitive league is to pay the salaries.”
Which brings us back to Bank’s conclusion that fixing soccer in the U.S. isn’t about the soccer, it’s about the money being spent on the sport. For next summer’s World Cup to have a lasting impact, the “bump” will have to come not just from an increase in attendance and TV viewership but in investment as well. And, as Szymanski argues, that means additional investment in players as well.
“If all it does is attract eyeballs for this competition,” Bank said “I’m not sure it does more than the Olympics does every four years when it temporarily raises the profile of a few sports for some people who were not casual fans before.”
Scotland will face Belgium, Israel and Luxembourg in qualifying for the 2027 Women’s World Cup.
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The Dodgers walked into a packed home stadium when their World Series parade was over, waving to an adoring crowd that viewed them as more than back-to-back champions.
They were beloved Angelenos.
Many of the players are on a first-name basis with the city, and if they aren’t, they’re identified by a nickname.
Players who were once strangers are now extended members of hundreds of thousands of families.
Ordinarily, a team as old as the Dodgers would have to consider a roster makeover. Freddie Freeman and Miguel Rojas will be 37 by the start of the next World Series. Max Muncy will be 36, Kiké Hernández 35, Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernández 34 and Shohei Ohtani 32.
But under these circumstances, how could the Dodgers think of breaking up their team?
How could they unload any of their superstars, regardless of how much they could decline in the next year? How could they not retain their key free agents, regardless of how old they are?
They can’t, they can’t and they can’t.
The Dodgers have to run this back — again.
“Obviously, we would love everybody to come back,” Freeman said.
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Muncy has a $10-million team option for next season. The Dodgers have to pick it up.
Rojas and Kiké Hernández are free agents. The Dodgers have to re-sign them.
Freeman won’t be making the calls on his teammates, of course. The decisions will be made by president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, who was characteristically evasive when asked about the efforts the Dodgers would make to keep their out-of-contract players.
“Obviously, guys who have been here and been a big part of it start with a major upper hand,” Friedman said. “That being said, they’re free agents. They’ve earned the right to go out and talk to the 29 other teams as well.”
Muncy doesn’t have a choice to leave if the Dodgers exercise his option, but Rojas and Kiké Hernández have said they would like to return next season.
Whatever Friedman decides shouldn’t preclude the Dodgers from shopping on the free-agent market, with Kyle Tucker and Steven Kwan being potential additions to their outfield.
But the nucleus of the Dodgers would be even older than it was this year when their collective age presented a variety of problems.
Their 18-inning victory in Game 3 clearly diminished them more than it did the Toronto Blue Jays, who won the next two games. In retrospect, that should have been expected, as the Dodgers struggled to maintain consistency on offense over a grinding six-month regular season.
While Betts transformed into one of the league’s best defensive shortstops, he experienced a sharp offensive decline. Muncy was limited to 100 games because of injuries. Teoscar Hernández wasn’t close to being the same player he was last year.
There were times that even Ohtani started to show the effects of being on the wrong side of 30. Ohtani’s father acknowledged this reality in a congratulatory open letter he wrote to his son, which was published in the Monday edition of Sports Nippon.
“Shohei, you’re 31 years old,” Toru Ohtani wrote in Japanese. “I think that as a baseball player, you’re in your prime, but there will come a time when you have to decide between pitching and hitting. When you can’t pitch anymore, you can be an outfielder. I think that if you practice, you can definitely do it.”
That being said, the team has to be kept together.
A championship can force teams into sentimental decisions, as was the case last winter when the Dodgers re-signed Teoscar Hernández to a three-year, $66-million contract.
This winter, they will have to settle similar disputes between their hearts and minds. They should listen to their hearts.
The players deserve it. The fans demand it.
Captain Ben Stokes has extended his England central contract through to the end of the next home Ashes series in 2027.
Stokes, whose previous deal was due to expire at the end of next summer, is one of 14 players to sign on for two years.
They include pace bowler Jofra Archer, who has signed an extended contract following his return to Test cricket.
England said the contracts reward performances in the past year, while also looking ahead to the upcoming schedule. The home Ashes in 2027 is followed by a 50-over World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
All of the 16 players in the squad for the upcoming Ashes in Australia have been handed a contract of at least one year.
Eleven of the Ashes squad – including Stokes, Archer, Joe Root and Harry Brook – have signed two-year deals.
Four of the five with one-year contracts – batters Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope, spinner Shoaib Bashir and seamer Matthew Potts – are not multi-format players, while 35-year-old pace bowler Mark Wood is entering the final part of a three-year contract he signed in 2023.
The extension of Stokes’ contract is particularly eye-catching.
The 34-year-old all-rounder has a chequered injury record and is currently recovering from a shoulder problem.
However, he is on track to be fit for the first Ashes Test in Perth on 21 November, which would be his first action since July.
In signing a longer deal, it indicates the potential for him to lead England into the 2027 Ashes and also aligns his future with head coach Brendon McCullum, who is contracted to England until the end of the World Cup that year.
CITY SECTION PLAYOFFS
MONDAY’S RESULTS
Semifinals
DIVISION I
#5 GALA 21.5, #1 LA Marshall 8
#3 North Hollywood 15.5, #2 Chatsworth 14
DIVISION II
#1 Granada Hills Kennedy 17.5, #4 Bell 10
#2 Carson 20.5, Gardena 9
Note: Division II Finals Nov. 5 at 11 a.m. at Balboa Sports Center; Division I Finals Nov. 6 at 11 a.m. at Balboa Sports Center.
After you smashed our Champions League top scorers quiz, we thought we’d mark the return of Europe’s premier club competition by testing you on appearances.
For this week’s big Tuesday quiz we want you to name every player who has played in at least 100 Champions League matches.
How many can you get? Good luck!
Bam Adebayo had 25 points and 10 rebounds, Norman Powell added 21 points in his return to Southern California and the Miami Heat held off the Clippers 120-119 on Monday night.
Powell was a key member of the Clippers for three seasons before being traded to the Heat before this season.
Andrew Wiggins scored 17 points and Kel’el Ware added 16 to help the Heat end a two-game losing streak and win on the road for the second time in five games. Miami is 1-2 to open a four-game trip.
James Harden scored 29 points and Kawhi Leonard added 27 as the Clippers lost at home for the first time in four games this season.
Ivica Zubac had nine points and 12 rebounds for the Clippers. Derrick Jones Jr., Bradley Beal and John Collins each scored 12 points.
The Heat shot 54.2% from the field and made 12 of their 25 three-point attempts to 50% for the Clippers, who were 17 of 41 from long range. The Clippers had 21 turnovers that the Heat turned into 37 points.
Miami led 120-116 after two free throws from Adebayo with 56 seconds remaining. Adebayo missed a shot inside with 26 seconds left and Harden made a three-pointer on the other end with 20 seconds left to pull the Clippers within a point.
The Clippers had a chance to win it, but Leonard missed a 26-foot step-back three-pointer at the buzzer.
The Clippers trailed by as many as 13 points in the third quarter before getting even 105-105 with 9:55 remaining on a three-pointer from veteran Chris Paul.
Warnock said: “There is a great player in Conor Bradley, but he needs to stay fit and get a run of games to build up a relationship with Salah. These things can take time, even with the best players.
“Trent leaving has had an impact on Salah. Their partnership, if not exactly unnoticed, was almost taken as read. Yes, they are world-class individuals, but it was also a partnership.
“They really complemented each other. Trent could go inside, draw people towards him, which freed up more space for Salah. And when Salah drove at people he had the ability to feed Trent because teams were backing off.”
Alexander-Arnold’s comfort in possession with his fellow defenders, plus the ability to move into midfield, means his presence is also sorely missed elsewhere.
Warnock said: “I think Ibrahima Konate probably misses him as well. He knew he could give Trent the ball under pressure. I think it is having an impact on the right-hand side of the pitch, both in defence and attack.
“Liverpool also created a box system in the centre of midfield, which they did so well, when Trent was in the side.
“There was a lot of praise given to Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai, but Trent was a big part of that as well. Losing that extra body in the midfield area, when he was in there, is also missed because opponents were drawn to him, fearful of what he could create.”
Jeremie Frimpong, signed in a £29m deal from Bayer Leverkusen to compete with Bradley for the place vacated by Alexander-Arnold, has had his Anfield start curtailed by hamstring injuries.
Warnock said: “The biggest issue with Frimpong is not only injuries, but what is his best position? At Bayer Leverkusen he spent a lot of time as a right wing-back.”
The No. 3 UCLA women’s basketball team won its first game of the season, defeating feisty San Diego State 77–53 on Monday at the Honda Center.
The Bruins (1–0) built an eight-point lead in the first quarter, but the unranked Aztecs (0–1) managed to cut the deficit by three by the end of the period.
San Diego State struggled to score in the second quarter when UCLA went on a 12–2 run.
The scoring gap continued to increase as the Bruins extended their lead to 15 points, ending the first half with a 37–22 advantage.
UCLA center Lauren Betts scored 21 points and grabbed four rebounds, guard Gabriela Jaquez recorded a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds and guard Charlisse Ledger-Walker, who returned to the court after redshirting last season, contributed 12 points and five assists.
The Bruins opened the third quarter with a 16–0 run. Although the Aztecs fought hard to close the gap, the Bruins maintained control, ending the quarter with a 58–38 lead.
San Diego State pushed UCLA again in the fourth quarter, but the Aztecs couldn’t make a meaningful dent in their deficit.
Aztecs sophomore guard Kaelyn Hamilton came off the bench to lead her team with 11 points, while guards Nat Martinez and Nala Williams scored 10 points apiece.
UCLA will play its home opener Thursday against UC Santa Barbara.