For more than a decade, Los Angeles’ premier sports teams — the Lakers and the Dodgers — have relied on big-ticket TV rights deals to boost their operations and player payrolls.
But major changes are looming.
The prospective new Lakers owners — investor Joshua Kushner and former Walt Disney Co. chief executive Bob Iger — will inherit an uncertain long-term television picture for the team when they assume control of the storied franchise.
Charter Communications’ Spectrum service broadcasts Lakers games on its SportsNet cable channel. The Lakers are set this fall to enter the 15th year of their long-term, $3-billion agreement with the cable company to bring regular season action to local viewers.
But Charter executives have discussed exiting that relationship, which guarantees the team about $200 million a year in revenue, according to people familiar with the company’s plans who were not authorized to comment.
Charter months ago retained investment bankers to find a buyer for El Segundo-based Spectrum SportsNet, which the company runs in tandem with the Dodgers-owned channel, SportsNet LA.
Charter’s interest in jettisoning the channel as fewer consumers watch cable TV has sparked fears within the Lakers organization about the stability of the critical revenue stream, according to a person familiar with the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly.
The Lakers and Kushner’s investment firm, Thrive Capital, declined to comment.
Stamford, Conn.-based Charter on Thursday finalized its $34.5-billion purchase of Cox Communications, making Spectrum the dominant internet and television provider in Southern California, covering Santa Barbara to the Mexican border.
In response to questions from The Times, Charter Chief Executive Chris Winfrey acknowledged the turmoil surrounding sports channels.
“The regional sports network business is significantly challenged,” Winfrey said during a Thursday conference call with reporters to highlight the Cox merger. “Most of the regional sports networks have gone bankrupt [but] Spectrum has so far remained committed.”
The company is seeking a new arrangement, but Winfrey declined to discuss ongoing conversations with the Lakers or the team’s potential proprietors after Lakers owner Mark Walter, who is facing a federal criminal investigation, abruptly decided to sell the team in a deal valued at $12.5 billion. A spokesperson for Walter and his holding company has stated that they are cooperating with authorities and expect the matter to be resolved “favorably.”
Spectrum, Winfrey said, “would love to find solutions” to make its relationship with the Dodgers and Lakers more acceptable. Over the years, the company has bled hundreds of millions of dollars providing the L.A. sports channels.
“We believe in the local teams, the Lakers and the Dodgers,” Winfrey said. “It’s very important to us. It’s very important to our customers — but that doesn’t mean that it’s a great economic agreement with us.”
The Lakers’ TV contract runs through 2032. The Dodgers’ arrangement with Spectrum extends to 2038, but clouds have been gathering for years as consumers find new ways to watch sports.
Millions of consumers over the last decade have migrated from pricey packages offered by Spectrum and other cable companies to lower-cost streaming options. Spiraling monthly cable bills — largely driven by increases in sports rights fees — have made cable TV less attractive to ordinary subscribers.
A pedestrian walks past Spectrum SportsNet in El Segundo on Aug. 13.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Cable TV audiences are shrinking and major sports leagues, including the NBA, recognize the younger viewers they desperately want to reach primarily get their entertainment on apps. Broken TV economics have prompted the NBA to begin making plans to build a centralized streaming platform for fans to watch basketball.
“It’s mostly the result of cord-cutting and just fewer homes receiving these networks,” said Scott Robson, a principal analyst with S&P Global Market Intelligence. “The league [would like] to create a centralized streaming hub and bring all 29 domestic clubs under one umbrella, whether that be through YouTube or some other streaming partner.”
But such plans could mean sharing revenue among the various teams, which could mean less money for large-market clubs such as the Lakers and world-champion New York Knicks, which benefit from their lucrative local TV contracts.
The group operated FanDuel-branded channels (previously Bally Sports) following the 2023 Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization of Diamond Sports Group. Those channels have long featured Clippers and Kings games.
Pressure was lifted off the NBA when the league struck its latest round of national TV contracts — $77 billion worth of deals that, beginning last fall, spread basketball games across ESPN, ABC, Amazon Prime Video, NBC and NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service.
The current NBA contracts “provided more money than the previous deal, and as a result, the teams rely less on the local rights payments than they have in the past,” Robson said.
Headwinds for the local sports channels, including those operated by Spectrum, pose the latest rocky chapter for Los Angeles sports fans.
It’s a reversal of fortune from a quarter-century ago, when media giants, including Rupert Murdoch’s Fox, recognized there were huge profits to be made by launching regional sports networks.
Murdoch even owned the Dodgers for a stretch to corner the market on what was then a Wild West shoot-out among TV programmers to launch cable channels.
Charter’s predecessor, Time Warner Cable, wanted in on the action. In 2011, former Time Warner Cable executives hammered out the 20-year agreement with the Lakers, then owned by the late Jerry Buss. Two years later, Time Warner doled out an even richer $8.3-billion deal to the Dodgers, which at the time were under new ownership — Walter and his partners with Guggenheim Baseball Management.
The fees were so steep that other pay-TV providers, including Cox, Dish Network and, for many years, DirecTV, refused to carry the Dodgers channel — leading to one of the longest blackouts in sports TV.
Charter took over the two channels in 2016, when the company absorbed Time Warner Cable. Winfrey, on Thursday, made it clear he was not a fan of those deals, calling them “something that we inherited … not something we did on our own.”
Over the years, the company has lost hundreds of millions of dollars. Last year, Spectrum began offering a streaming-only option to expand the audience for Dodgers’ games. Spectrum subscribers can also watch Lakers’ games on a streaming app.
Last fall, Charter retained boutique bank the Raine Group to find a buyer for the Lakers channel. It’s not clear whether Charter would like to shed its deal with the Dodgers organization, which owns SportsNet LA.
Iger is well familiar with the fragmented sports landscape and economics after years overseeing ESPN and ABC.
Spectrum is seeking “innovative ways … to find a better long-term solution,” Winfrey said. “We’re trying to be constructive and respectful on all fronts.”
LeBron James has moved back to the Eastern Conference, but the Lakers remain a major box office draw for the NBA.
With an almost brand new rotation after a busy offseason that elevated Luka Doncic to the team’s unquestioned leader, the Lakers have the maximum amount of nationally televised games in the NBA this season with 34, according to the league schedule released Thursday. The Lakers open the season against the Golden State Warriors on Oct. 21 on ESPN.
The slate is highlighted by a much-anticipated Christmas Day reunion with James that will be televised at 2 p.m. on ABC. The matchup at Crypto.com Arena will be James’ return to L.A. after the four-time NBA champion signed with the Philadelphia 76ers this summer following eight seasons with the Lakers. James will play on Christmas Day for the 21st time in his 24-season career, and the Lakers will play on the holiday for the 28th consecutive time.
The Lakers don’t meet James in his new home until March 4, when they finish a four-game trip in Philadelphia.
The Lakers have a frantic start to the season, playing 13 games in the first four weeks. They have three back-to-back sets during the busy stretch from the opener to the end of a three-game trip in Milwaukee on Nov. 11.
The Lakers have 14 sets of back-to-backs, the same as last season, and eight of the sets require travel between the games. Two require time changes: The Lakers play at Minnesota on Dec. 18 before gaining an hour while traveling to Denver to play Dec. 19, then lose an hour between Chicago on Jan. 2 and Toronto on Jan. 3.
The traditional Grammys trip begins in Indiana on Jan. 28 followed by a back-to-back set in New York (Jan. 30) and Charlotte (Jan. 31). The Lakers then continue the seven-game trip by circling back north from Charlotte to Boston (Feb. 2) and Brooklyn (Jan. 4), then heading West with stops in San Antonio (Feb. 6) and Phoenix (Feb. 8).
The reigning NBA champion New York Knicks, Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs and James’ 76ers each have 34 nationally televised games. The national broadcast appearances are spread throughout the NBA’s broadcast partners: ABC/ESPN, NBC/Peacock and Amazon Prime.
The final two games of the 82-game season will be determined in December as the NBA Cup midseason tournament plays out.
The Lakers were placed into Group C, which includes the Warriors, Spurs, Portland Trailblazers and Sacramento Kings. The group stage begins at Golden State on Oct. 30 followed by home games against Portland (Nov. 6) and Sacramento (Nov. 20). The final group game is Nov. 27 at San Antonio.
LAKERS’ 2026-27 SCHEDULE
October 21: vs. Golden State, 7 p.m. 23: vs. Clippers, 7 p.m. 25: at Utah, 2 p.m. 27: vs. Portland, 8 p.m. 28: at Clippers, 7:30 p.m. 30: at Golden State, 7 p.m.
November 1: vs. Toronto, 6 p.m. 2: vs. Miami, 7 p.m. 4: at Sacramento, 7 p.m. 6: vs. Portland, 7 p.m. 8: at Detroit, 3 p.m. 9: at Atlanta, 4 p.m. 11: at Milwaukee, 5 p.m. 15: at Phoenix, 1 p.m. 17: vs. Charlotte, 7 p.m. 18: vs. Utah, 7 p.m. 20: vs. Sacramento, 7 p.m. 23: vs. Utah, 7 p.m. 27: at San Antonio, 6:30 p.m. 29: at Memphis, 1 p.m. 30: at Houston, 4:30 p.m.
December 2: at New Orleans, 5 p.m. 14: vs. New Orleans, 7 p.m. 16: at Minnesota, 6:30 p.m. 18: at Minnesota, 5 p.m. 19: at Denver, 6 p.m. 21: vs. Indiana, 7 p.m. 23: vs. Denver, 7 p.m. 25: vs. Philadelphia, 2 p.m. 27: vs. Memphis, 6 p.m. 29: vs. Houston, 7 p.m. 31: at New Orleans, 5 p.m.
January 2: at Chicago, 5 p.m. 3: at Toronto, 4 p.m. 5: at Washington, 4 p.m. 7: vs. Boston, 7 p.m. 8: vs. Detroit, 7 p.m. 11: at Clippers, 7 p.m. 13: at Portland, 7 p.m. 14: vs. Orlando, 7 p.m. 17: vs. Milwaukee, 6 p.m. 19: at Sacramento, 7 p.m. 21: at Golden State, 7 p.m. 22: vs. Sacramento, 7 p.m. 24: vs. Washington, 1 p.m. 26: vs Oklahoma City, 8 p.m. 28: at Indiana, 4 p.m. 30: at New York, 5:30 p.m. 31: at Charlotte, 4 p.m.
February 2: at Boston, 5 p.m. 4: at Brooklyn, 4 p.m. 6: at San Antonio, 5:30 p.m. 8: at Phoenix, 6:30 p.m. 10: vs. Clippers, 7 p.m. 12: vs. Denver, 7 p.m. 16: vs. Chicago, 7 p.m. 18: vs. Houston, 7 p.m. 26: at Denver, 7 p.m. 28: at Dallas, 12:30 p.m.
March 2: at Orlando, 4 p.m. 4: at Philadelphia, 4 p.m. 6: vs. Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m. 7: vs. Brooklyn, 7:30 p.m. 11: vs. New York, 7 p.m. 12 vs. Cleveland, 7 p.m. 14: vs. Golden State, 7 p.m. 16: at Portland, 7 p.m. 17: vs. Phoenix, 7 p.m. 19: vs. Atlanta, 7 p.m. 21: vs. Dallas, 7 p.m. 23: at Miami, 5 p.m. 25: at Cleveland, 4 p.m. 28: at Houston, noon 30: at Memphis, 5 p.m.
April 1: at Oklahoma City, 6:30 p.m. 4: vs. San Antonio, 7 p.m. 6: vs. Dallas, 7 p.m. 7: vs. Minnesota, 7 p.m. 9: vs. Minnesota, 7 p.m. 11: vs. Phoenix, 5:30 p.m.
Jaylen Brown and Giannis Antetokounmpo will play homecoming games a week apart in January.
The 2026-27 NBA schedule was released Thursday, setting the dates for the two former NBA Finals MVPs to return to face the teams that traded them this summer.
The schedules for opening night and Christmas already were unveiled this week, so those two games were among the most intriguing matchups not yet known. Brown, who was dealt from the Celtics to the rival Philadelphia 76ers in a stunning move, will play his first game back in Boston on Jan. 21.
Antetokounmpo was expected to be traded by Milwaukee this offseason — at one point speculation was that he might be swapped for Brown — and eventually was dealt to Miami. The Heat will travel to face the Bucks for the first time on Jan. 28.
Both of those games, which will be on Thursday nights, will stream on Prime Video.
Other details about the schedule:
From start to finish
The season will open Oct. 20 with a tripleheader, highlighted by LeBron James, Brown and the 76ers visiting the New York Knicks, who will receive their rings after winning the franchise’s first championship since 1973.
The regular season ends April 11. All-Star weekend is set for Feb. 19-21 in Phoenix.
Busy nights and nights off
Every team will play on Monday, Nov. 2, and there will then be no games the following night, which is election day in the U.S. The league is leaving that first Tuesday in November as an open day in hopes that fans and members of the NBA community will participate in the voting process.
No teams will play on Saturday, April 10, the second-to-last day of the regular season. Every team is then in action on the final day, with all the games matching Eastern Conference teams and the one interconference matchup scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. EDT. The games involving West teams are set for 8:30 p.m.
Where to watch the games
There will be 90 regular-season games televised nationally on ABC or NBC, up from 79 last season. Every team will be scheduled to appear on national TV at least twice.
Throughout the season, games will stream on Peacock on Monday nights, be shown on NBC and Peacock on Tuesdays, be televised by ESPN on Wednesdays, and stream on Prime Video on Fridays.
Saturday night primetime games on ABC begin Dec. 12 with the Knicks visiting the Heat, while NBC’s “Sunday Night Basketball” returns Jan. 24 with Oklahoma City visiting Golden State.
Prime Video will begin streaming Thursday night doubleheaders in January and some Saturday afternoon games starting Feb. 6 with Portland at Memphis, when Ja Morant returns to face the Grizzlies for the first time.
A lot of TV time
The NBA champion Knicks have the most appearances on ABC with six, while the Lakers, 76ers, San Antonio Spurs and Minnesota Timberwolves all are featured on ESPN eight times.
The Knicks, Spurs, 76ers, Thunder, Warriors, Lakers, Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets all get the maximum 11 appearances on NBC.
Back-to-backs and schedule breaks
Teams will average 14.2 sets of back-to-back games, the lowest total since the NBA Cup was added to the schedule, and no team will have more than 16. No team will play eight games in 12 nights, or 18 in 30.
There are 59 back-to-back games involving at least 750 miles of travel, down from 74 last season.
No team will be scheduled to play the night before games in the NBA Cup, or if they are in nationally televised games on Christmas Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents Day, Sunday nights on NBC or Saturday nights on ABC.
Milestone moments
If Kevin Durant averages 26 points, as he did in his first season in Houston, he could move past Kobe Bryant into fourth place on the career scoring list sometime around Jan. 16, when the Rockets would be at the midpoint of their schedule.
Indiana’s Rick Carlisle is set to become the eighth man to coach 2,000 NBA games on March 8.
Westbrook, a former NBA Most Valuable Player, holds the record for the most career triple-doubles in league history.
Published On 13 Aug 202613 Aug 2026
Triple-double king and former NBA MVP Russell Westbrook announced his retirement after 18 seasons on Wednesday via social media.
“Sometimes you don’t even know when you’ve already watched the end. You had to be there. And now it’s over,” Westbrook wrote on his social media post.
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Westbrook’s decision was announced during a three-and-a-half-minute video. He didn’t respond to any of the questions by the narrator, but the theme made it clear Westbrook was leaving on his own terms.
At the end of the video, the screen read: “The greatest thing he left behind couldn’t fit inside a museum. It never had to be said.”
Westbrook, 37, recorded 209 triple-doubles, including a record 42 during his stellar 2016-17 Most Valuable Player (MVP) season. He averaged a career-high 31.6 points to go with 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists that season to become the first player since the legendary Oscar Robertson (1961-62) to average a triple-double over a full season.
A nine-time All-Star, he ranks fifth all-time in career assists (10,351) and 14th in scoring (27,176). Westbrook led the NBA in assists three times and scoring twice.
In 2021, Westbrook was named to the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team. He was named All-Star Game MVP in consecutive seasons (2015, 2016) and won a gold medal with the United States in the 2012 Olympics in London.
He averaged 20.9 points, 8.0 assists and 6.9 rebounds in 1,301 regular-season games with seven franchises.
In 135 career playoff games, Westbrook averaged 22.5 points, 7.1 assists and 6.7 rebounds.
Russell Westbrook (R) and then-Oklahoma Thunder All-Star teammate Kevin Durant made the NBA Finals together in 2012 [Kevin Jairaj/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters]
Oklahoma City and Westbrook’s run to the NBA Finals
Westbrook was selected fourth overall by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 2008 NBA Draft, and the franchise relocated to Oklahoma City before his rookie season.
Westbrook spent 11 seasons with the franchise and teamed with Kevin Durant to make the Thunder one of the top teams in the NBA. Oklahoma City reached the NBA Finals in 2012, when James Harden was also on the team, before losing to the Miami Heat.
Westbrook made eight of his All-Star appearances with the Thunder. His other was when he averaged 27.2 points for the Houston Rockets in 2019-20, his lone season with the team.
“Russell Westbrook is the ultimate competitor,” Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti said in a statement. “His internal belief and unbridled fearlessness helped establish the foundation of our organization from day one in 2008 and he elevated the confidence and inspired our community in every year thereafter.
“Russell will be as successful in his life after basketball as he was during his career because his qualities and gifts transfer. His impact on our community is still felt today, and he is beloved for his devotion as much as his talent.
“He built a Hall of Fame career not by making statements or simply by breaking records, he did it by showing us all the power of asking one simple question: Why Not?”
Westbrook bounced around to five teams over his last six seasons. He averaged 15.2 points and 6.7 rebounds in 64 games (with 58 starts) for the Sacramento Kings last season.
Westbrook was a college star at UCLA before leaving for the NBA after two seasons. He was the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore.
Multiplatinum American rapper NBA YoungBoy has revealed that he has a heart condition — and likely “one or two” albums left in his artistic career.
While a guest on an “Open Thoughts” podcast episode uploaded on Tuesday, the 26-year-old singer-songwriter from Baton Rouge, La., was asked by host Funny Marco if he ever felt like pulling back after performing back-to-back shows. In response, the “Bandit” singer recalled the moment when a doctor told him the left side of his heart was swollen.
“I never told nobody, I just kept doing every show,” said YoungBoy, who also goes by YoungBoy Never Broke Again and whose given name is Kentrell DeSean Gaulden. “I finished my tour out like that.”
The rapper did not disclose the specifics of this health condition but shared that a side of his heart is “still enlarged.”
“That explains the music, though, right?” YoungBoy followed up, grabbing his chest. “She’s hurting.”
The rapper has released a total of nine studio albums in his career, gaining early co-signs from Louisiana legends including Boosie Badazz and Kevin Gates. His first four LPs — including “Until Death Call My Name” (2018), “Top” (2020), “Sincerely, Kentrell” (2021) and “The Last Slimeto” (2022) — went platinum.
But NBA YoungBoy fans should brace themselves for what is to come — or not. The singer revealed on the podcast that he only has one or two albums left in his career. “I’m going to tour one more time throughout my whole life,” the rapper said, “and that’s it.”
The podcast — which has more than 2 million views since Tuesday — was filmed in South Korea, where YoungBoy moved in an apparent attempt to start over with a clean slate after a series of run-ins with the law in the U.S.
In his youth, the hitmaker spent six months in juvenile detention after committing a robbery, an experience that inspired his 2015 debut mixtape “Life Before Fame.”
By 2016, the Louisiana native would be connected to a series of shootings in Baton Rouge. He served time for attempted second-degree murder, eventually pleading guilty to a lesser charge of aggravated assault with a firearm, for which he was sentenced to a suspended 10-year prison term and three years of active probation.
Following his release from prison in 2017, he released the Southern hip-hop track “Untouchable,” which marked his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 and set the course for his popular-music career. By 2023, YoungBoy would become the youngest artist ever to reach 100 entries on the musical chart.
However, serious legal troubles have cast a shadow on the rap prodigy’s career, including in 2018 when he was charged with a kidnapping and assault involving his girlfriend. She later denied the allegations, despite surveillance footage that showed the artist throwing her to the ground.
In December 2024, a federal judge in Utah sentenced the rapper to a 23-month sentence on gun-related charges after he pleaded guilty to firearm possession as a convicted felon. The charges stemmed from a 2020 arrest during a music video shoot in Baton Rouge where police recovered multiple firearms and drugs on the scene. A month before his sentence, the rap star also pleaded guilty to his involvement in a years-long prescription drug fraud scheme in Utah, avoiding prison time in exchange for a $25,000 fine.
In May 2025, President Trump pardoned YoungBoy, clearing his sentence and other active probation restrictions and drug testing requirements. The artist reacted to the pardon on his Instagram story, saying that it “opens the door to a future I’ve worked hard for and I am fully prepared to step into this.”
When YoungBoy was asked by Marco if he would consider a move back to the United States, the singer replied, “Never in my life.”
Later on, the “Make No Sense” singer hinted at some other legal roadblocks ahead in his transition across the globe: “It can’t be my home until they give me my visa, right?”
Times staff writer Alexandra Del Rosario contributed to this report.
The Lakers start the in-season tournament on Oct. 30 on the road against the Golden State Warriors at 7 p.m. PDT on Prime Video, the NBA announced Wednesday during another stage of the schedule release that will wrap up Thursday. The NBA Cup opener is a second matchup in the first weeks of the season between the Lakers and the Warriors, who begin their regular-season schedules on Oct. 21 at Crypto.com Arena.
The Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings and San Antonio Spurs are also in the Lakers’ five-team Group C. The Lakers have Cup home games against the Trail Blazers (Nov. 6, 7 p.m.) and Kings (Nov. 20, 7 p.m.) and play their last group-stage Cup game at San Antonio at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 27.
With 30 teams split into six groups for the NBA Cup, teams play a round-robin group stage before the top team in each group and the best second-place team in each conference advance to the eight-team quarterfinal stage.
The quarterfinals (Dec. 4 and Dec. 5) and semifinals (Dec. 8 and/or Dec. 9) will be hosted in NBA team markets, a departure from the previous formats that placed only the quarterfinals in team arenas before playing the semifinal and championship in Las Vegas. The championship game, scheduled for Dec. 11, will be played at Butler University’s Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
The in-season tournament, now in its third season, was launched to increase the stakes during a long NBA regular season. It incentivized competition in part by dangling more than $500,000 in prize money for each player on the winning team.
The NBA Cup just produced its first NBA champion, with the New York Knicks becoming the first team to win the regular-season tournament and the NBA title in the same season.
The Los Angeles Lakers are to be sold for a reported record-breaking $12.5bn, external (£9.3bn) – less than a year after Mark Walter took a majority stake in the NBA franchise.
Josh Kushner, the brother of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared, and former Disney chief executive Bob Iger are buying the controlling interest in one of the world’s most iconic sports teams.
Walter bought his share, reportedly worth an estimated $10bn (£7.45bn), from the Buss family in a deal that was unanimously approved by the NBA Board of Governors in October 2025.
Kushner and Iger said in a statement: “As lifelong NBA fans, we are deeply honoured for the opportunity to become stewards of the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the most iconic sports franchises in the world.
“We have immense respect for the leadership and vision of Jerry and Jeanie Buss.
“Our long-term commitment is to build on that foundation, compete at the highest level, and serve this extraordinary team, its fans, and the city of Los Angeles.”
The Lakers will see a familiar face for its annual Christmas Day game this season.
LeBron James, who signed with the Philadelphia 76ers last month, will be making his return to Los Angeles on Dec. 25 when the Lakers host Philadelphia at Crypto.com Arena, the NBA revealed Tuesday morning in what it called a “sneak peek” of the 2026-27 schedule. The game is scheduled to tip off at 2 p.m. on ESPN and ABC.
The full schedule will be revealed Thursday.
The league also unveiled its opening week slate, with the Lakers set to host the Golden State Warriors on Oct. 21 in a game scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPN.
James, entering his 24th season in the NBA, will also figure prominently in the opening week broadcast schedule as the 76ers will take on the New York Knicks on Oct. 20 at Madison Square Garden on NBC and Peacock. The game will be James’ first with his new team and will feature the Knicks raising a banner to mark their first NBA championship since 1973.
Two days later, the 76ers will play their home opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team that drafted James in 2003, in game that will be broadcast on ESPN.
Don Nelson, the second-winningest coach in NBA history who won five championships as a player with the Boston Celtics, died Sunday. He was 86.
Nelson’s death was announced by the Golden State Warriors, one of the teams he coached. They did not release details.
Nelson is one of two coaches in NBA history to have at least 250 wins with three different franchises — Milwaukee, Dallas and Golden State — also serving as general manager for all three franchises. He was a three-time coach of the year and made the playoffs 18 times in 31 seasons. He went to the conference finals three times with the Bucks and once with the Mavericks, never winning a title.
Nelson introduced what is now known as the point forward, and his up-tempo style of offense created a buzz. He said the idea of shifting from the dominant big men of the 1970s to an offense focused on speed and the fast break came from his playing days under Hall of Fame Celtics coach Red Auerbach.
The Celtics’ Don Nelson drives to the basket under pressure from Milwaukee’s Cornell Warner on May 12, 1974, in Milwaukee.
(Associated Press)
“The league really hadn’t seen an offense like the one we were running, and the results were undeniable,” Nelson wrote in 2016 in the Players’ Tribune.
Nelson said that “without Red Auerbach teaching me the mechanics of running the fast break, none of it would have been possible. He deserves all the credit for Nellie Ball, and for how fast the game of basketball is played today.”
Nelson played 11 of his 14 seasons in Boston and was on five Celtics championship teams under four different coaches. He became an assistant coach in Milwaukee after retiring as a player, then took over after coach Larry Costello resigned 18 games into the 1976-77 season. Nelson coached the Bucks for 11 seasons starting in 1976 and won seven straight division titles.
In Nelson’s second season, Milwaukee overcame a 29-point fourth quarter deficit to beat Atlanta 117-115 in regulation.
“I coached the team as though I was still playing for the Celtics, while implementing a few of my own strategies,” Nelson wrote. “I knew I wanted to play unconventional basketball and use speed to my advantage.”
His fast-paced offenses were probably best on display with Golden State in the “Run TMC” era featuring future Hall of Famers Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin. Nelson said he wanted them on the court at the same time.
Nelson spent 11 seasons over two stints with Golden State. The first one was punctuated by a rift with rookie star Chris Webber, who was traded away a month into his second season. Nelson, demoralized by the trade, missed nine games that season because of illness and resigned under pressure three months later in February 1995.
In between, Nelson was fired after less than one season in New York in 1995-96, then coached in Dallas for eight seasons, missing 21 games with the Mavericks starting in December 2000 to recuperate from prostate cancer surgery.
Nelson’s son, Donnie, joined his father as an assistant coach with the Mavericks in 1998, later became general manager and remained with the organization until 2021. Together they persuaded 20-year-old German star Dirk Nowitzki to pass up European basketball and join the Mavericks. Don Nelson also developed Steve Nash into one of the NBA’s top point guards before Nash went on to win back-to-back MVPs with the Phoenix Suns in 2005 and 2006.
Golden State Warriors coach Don Nelson celebrates with his team after breaking the record for NBA career coaching victories with a victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on April 7, 2010, in Minneapolis. It was Nelson’s 1,333rd win.
(Paul Battaglia / Associated Press)
“Don Nelson was a true innovator whose influence on the game of basketball is still felt today,” current Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “He consistently challenged conventional thinking, experimented with different lineups and styles of play and saw possibilities in the game that others often did not. So much of what is now commonplace in the modern NBA can be traced back to the way Nellie approached the game.”
At Golden State, Nelson’s “We Believe” Warriors led by Baron Davis upset Nowitzki and the top-seeded Mavericks in the first round of the 2007 playoffs in one of the biggest shockers in NBA history. In his final season as a coach, Nelson mentored rookie Stephen Curry in 2009-10.
“One of the big reasons I was drafted by the Warriors was because of Don Nelson. The story is he never liked rookies, but from Day 1 he challenged me and gave me an opportunity to be my best self on the court,” Curry said in a statement released by the Warriors. “He taught me a lot during our one season together and I’ll never forget the night he became the winningest coach in NBA history in Minnesota. We were so happy for him. He had an immeasurable impact on the sport and will go down as one of the greatest minds in the history of the game.”
Davis added: “When I think of Nellie, I’ll always think of the ‘We Believe’ team and our incredible run in 2007. He understood what made us go and made us believe we could beat anybody, ultimately helping us make history as the first No. 8 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed in a seven-game series. That time in my life and career was truly special, and Nellie was a huge part of making it possible.”
Don Nelson laughs while receiving the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award during a news conference on June 8, 2025, in Oklahoma City.
(Kyle Phillips / Associated Press)
Nelson retired as the NBA’s career coaching wins leader with 1,335, just ahead of Lenny Wilkens’ 1,332. Nelson kept that top spot for nearly 12 years before close friend and now-retired San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich passed him in March 2022.
Nelson was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012. In 2025 he received the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by the National Basketball Coaches Assn. Miffed that the Mavericks sent Luka Doncic to the Lakers in a blockbuster trade, Nelson wore a pair of Doncic’s signature Jordan Brand sneakers to the awards ceremony. He called the trade a “tremendous mistake.”
Born in Muskegon, Mich., Nelson attended high school in Rock Island, Ill., and averaged a double-double in college at Iowa. He spent his retirement years living on the Hawaiian island of Maui and owned several short-term rentals on the island.
Memphis Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke’s May 11 death ruled accidental, with effects of heroin and cocaine cited.
Published On 8 Aug 20268 Aug 2026
The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner reported on Friday that Memphis Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke died due to the effects of heroin and cocaine.
The medical examiner ruled Clarke’s May 11 death an accident. The combined effects of multiple prescription medications were also identified as a significant contributing condition, though the specific medications were not disclosed. The full medical examiner’s report has not yet been released.
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Clarke, 29, was discovered unresponsive in a bedroom at a residence in California’s San Fernando Valley and was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. The medical examiner conducted an examination the following day before formally certifying the cause and manner of death on Friday.
Clarke spent his seven-year NBA career with Memphis after finishing his college career at Gonzaga. He averaged 10.2 points and 5.5 rebounds over 309 games (50 starts) and finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting in 2019-20.
Injuries limited Clarke during his final seasons. He missed more than a year after tearing an Achilles tendon in 2023 and appeared in only two games during the 2025-26 campaign because of knee and calf ailments.
About six weeks before his death, Clarke was arrested in Arkansas on charges that included possession and trafficking of a controlled substance following a traffic stop.
Following Clarke’s death, the Grizzlies remembered him as an “outstanding teammate and an even better person” whose influence extended beyond the organisation and into the Memphis community.
By not extending his contract a summer ago, they made it clear: They were ready to move on. And they have. They found their way to a front-line center and got a whole lot younger. And get this: They got better. In the long run and probably in a sprint too.
Maybe it seems sacrilegious to suggest they’ve improved by parting ways with the greatest player of all time and trading for a fifth-year pro who missed all but five games last season with the Utah Jazz after suffering a torn labrum.
Maybe you’re finding it hard to get fired up about the new guy with no playoff experience. And you’re used to the Lakers collecting the biggest names — not guys whose games are unfamiliar. Giannis, say. Not … Walker.
But please, stop and consider the tankathon Utah has been running; the last thing the Jazz wanted was Kessler on the court winning games for them.
You also still might be experiencing sticker shock on the Lakers’ behalf. They’re getting Kessler on a $130-million, four-year deal after completing a sign-and-trade that sent out a 2031 first-rounder, 2033 first-rounder and first-round pick swaps in 2028 and 2030.
But position, position, position is to the NBA what location, location, location is to real estate — and if this fit proves as fun as Doncic seems to believe, then Kessler’s contract is going to feel like a real fair trade on the hot center market.
Because, defensively, the Lakers’ new 7-foot-2 center is a shot-blocking, space-eating deterrent in the post. That’s invaluable when you’re going with Doncic and Austin Reaves on the perimeter.
Offensively, Kessler has good hands and good handoff timing. You can call for him to screen all day. He has a radar for the rim, sixth in the NBA in dunks per game in 2024-25.
And Kessler is a blessing on the glass, the king of second chances. His 4.6 offensive rebounds per game in 2024-25 led the NBA.
Also: LeBron is going to turn 42 this season; Kessler is 25.
Walker Kessler was a big presence in the paint for the Jazz before he got hurt last season.
(Frank Franklin II / Associated Press)
Age and experience count for a lot in life. But increasingly, today’s NBA is proving a young man’s game — and check ball, the Lakers are now in it.
Out went Deandre Ayton (28 years old), Rui Hachimura (28), Luke Kennard (30) and Marcus Smart (32). Jaxson Hayes (26) too, the only departing rotation player younger than 28.
In come Quentin Grimes (26), Sandro Mamukelashvili (27), Collin Sexton (27), Ziaire Williams (24), Jaden Hardy (24) and rookie summer league sensation Cameron Carr (21). Also, Kevon Looney, who will be Kessler’s backup big, and Matisse Thybulle, a proven defender on the wing, who are 30 and 29, respectively, and the only additions not younger than Doncic (27) and Reaves (28).
Still, I get it. You’re not wowed by the incoming group.
Were you wowed when the Dodgers acquired Max Muncy, Justin Turner or Chris Taylor? Probably not. But those guys went on to help the club win World Series titles.
Were the Dallas Mavericks banking on lob threat Derrick Jones Jr. — on a minimum contract — being a catalyst for their run to the 2024 NBA Finals? Do Lakers fans remember Doncic’s 17 assists to guys like Dante Exum, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Grant Williams in a 2023 victory over LeBron and Anthony Davis?
Doncic is manning the Lakers’ elevator now; it’s his job to lift his teammates to new heights. He can do it. He better do it.
Because the margins can be major, but they don’t account for most of the Lakers’ offseason grade this summer.
So give them a B+.
Not an A. No, because not every assignment has been completed.
There’s the minor matter of a starting five. The Lakers don’t appear to have one of those just yet.
They might yet add Jonathan Kuminga at forward. Or perhaps someone already rostered — hello, 22-year-old, skyscraping Adou Thiero — is waiting to wow us all in that role?
Normally, not having an answer to the most basic of questions at this point in the summer would fail you.
But this year is different.
Filling the hole at center was weighted so heavily among the Lakers’ priorities — and landing Kessler earned them so much extra credit — it bumps their grade almost all the way up.
Of course, this was only the introductory course.
The real tests for this fresh new roster — down an all-time talent but so much more solid in the center — come when the season begins. Or, really, when the postseason does.
And expecting that opponents won’t have an easy time coming up with answers for Doncic and his new dominant defensive center, the Lakers are now set up to score well there too.
NEW YORK — If LeBron James knows where he will play this coming season, he’s still not saying.
The NBA’s career scoring king and current free agent spoke publicly for the first time in weeks Thursday afternoon, though stopped short of revealing which team he’ll choose to play for this fall — despite at least one cry from someone in a jampacked room shouting for him to “pick a team.”
“It’s going to be fun wherever I land,” James said.
The four-time NBA champion was recording an episode of his “Mind the Game” podcast alongside guest co-host Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers in New York on the opening day of Fanatics Fest, a four-day event featuring dozens of athletes, celebrities and sports legends. Single-day general admission tickets were sold out, organizers said, and it’s likely that many of those patrons — there were at least several hundred there, phones out to capture the moment — were hoping to hear James’ next decision.
Not yet, he said.
“There’s no decision,” James said.
Thursday’s appearance has been planned for months; it was announced publicly in May. James playfully chided Haliburton for asking him about his future — “didn’t we talk about this in the back?” James asked, and Haliburton said he’d ”leave it alone.”
Of course, they didn’t leave it alone. James made reference to a slew of teams such as Cleveland, Miami, Philadelphia and Golden State, though didn’t appear to give much in the way of hints. He did sip from a bottle of red wine that he opened and shared with Haliburton, calling it one of his podcast traditions.
And when fans shouted out suggestions for James’ next team — one even asked him to play for the New York Yankees — no clues were forthcoming.
“We’ll see,” he said.
If former Lakers forward LeBron James knows where he plans to play next season, he wasn’t sharing that news with fans on Thursday.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
James is the NBA’s oldest active player at 41 and the only player in league history to have a career spanning 23 seasons; this coming season will be his 24th. Speculation has been rampant for more than two months about his future, officially starting in May when the Lakers were eliminated from the NBA playoffs.
At that time, James said he didn’t know what he would be doing.
And the only developments that he’s revealed since came on June 30, when he said he would play this coming season and that he was leaving the Lakers after an eight-season run highlighted by the 2020 NBA title.
For more than two weeks, the NBA has been waiting to hear what comes next. James, as he did in a social media post at the time, lauded his time with the Lakers, who also offered him well wishes as he moves forward.
“I spent eight great years with the Los Angeles Lakers,” James said.
James’ resume is beyond compare in NBA history. He’s a 22-time All-Star, a 21-time All-NBA selection, a four-time Most Valuable Player, a four-time NBA Finals MVP, a three-time All-Star Game MVP, and was a member of the NBA’s 75th anniversary team.
He’s also coming off a season where he averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 7.2 assists per game. For his career, he’s averaged 26.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 7.4 assists in more than 1,600 games.
The podcast was the first of two known speaking engagements for James in New York on Thursday.
He also has an appearance at the Game Plan Summit, an invitation-only event presented by CNBC and Boardroom. James is slated to have a conversation with Boardroom co-founder Rich Kleiman — Kevin Durant’s longtime business partner — about “how he’s built an empire beyond basketball, what’s ahead for him in business, and why the next generation of athletes is poised to wield more influence than ever before.”
James started his career in Cleveland in 2003 and spent seven seasons with the Cavaliers before heading to Miami for four seasons — where he won his first two titles. He then returned to Cleveland for four more seasons, leaving in 2018 to start an eight-season run with the Lakers.
Cleveland and Miami are believed to be on James’ radar again as he weighs this decision, as are several other teams including Philadelphia, Minnesota and Golden State.
“I’m looking forward to what comes next as I wind down my journey,” James said.
Whyno and Reynolds write for the Associated Press. Reynolds reported from Miami.
LAS VEGAS — NBA commissioner Adam Silver reiterated Tuesday night after the Board of Governors meeting that the investigation into whether the Clippers circumvented the salary cap by funneling money to Kawhi Leonard for an endorsement deal he allegedly never fulfilled still is not completed.
Silver said his “timeline remains this summer” to make his findings known after high-powered New York law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz wraps up its investigation and presents the findings to the NBA.
The investigation centers on a $28-million endorsement deal to Leonard from a company called Aspiration that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer invested $60 million into.
With the investigation being about 11 months old, Silver was asked about a timeline for the NBA to announce the results.
“As you know, I am not conducting the investigation, nor is the league office,” Silver said. “It’s being conducted by the Wachtell law firm, independent of the league. Of course, as I have said previously, we all have an interest in wrapping this up and as I most recently said in an interview, that I’m hopeful that it will wrap up this summer so that will continue to be the goal here.”
The Clippers traded Leonard to the Raptors for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two first-round picks, a pick swap and two second-round picks. Leonard, who spent the last seven seasons with the Clippers, led the Raptors to the NBA championship in 2019. The Raptors then decided to put the trade on hold until the investigation is over.
“And I just want to clarify, so everyone understands, the league did not pause the trade,” Silver said. “The parties that did the trade made the decision not to go forward given that the investigation would remain open and the possible impact on Kawhi or his contract was yet to be known and so they chose not to live with that uncertainty. But, that was well-known before the trade was proposed and I didn’t think there was any reason for people to believe that the status of Kawhi Leonard would change merely because he was traded. The investigation needs to run its course.”
The Clippers have consistently denied any wrongdoing regarding the investigation.
Because of the probable length of the report, Silver was asked about reading such a voluminous amount of information and if things would be resolved before the start of next season.
Silver also didn’t talk about whether Leonard is being investigated for any other side deals.
“I don’t know specifically what will be in the report,” Silver said. “To the best of my information, the report is not done. I do get regular updates from our general counsel, who is Rick Buchanan, and he deals with on a weekly basis on who they are talking to and what they are finding on a preliminary basis. But my understanding is that Wachtell is now in the process of going through the information they’ve gathered and drawing conclusions from that information. And I think, yes, it is realistic to think that this can be wrapped up, and I would say needs to be wrapped up before the beginning of next season.”
Alexander, who signed a two-way deal with the Jazz last week. was injured in game against Chicago Bulls.
Published On 14 Jul 202614 Jul 2026
Utah Jazz guard Trey Alexander was taken from the court on a stretcher after appearing to injure his side on a drive to the basket in an NBA Summer League game against the Chicago Bulls.
Alexander, who signed a two-way deal with Utah last week, made contact with the Bulls’ Caleb Wilson during Monday night’s match while driving towards the basket. After tossing the ball towards the hoop, he went behind the basket, clutching his side or abdomen. He then dropped to the ground, appearing to be in great pain.
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The 23-year-old was taken from the Thomas & Mack Center court on a stretcher. The incident occurred with just more than two minutes left in the fourth quarter.
There was no immediate word from the Jazz on Alexander’s injury.
Alexander played three seasons at Creighton University and skipped his final year of eligibility to turn pro. The rookie of the year in the G League, the NBA’s minor league, for the 2024-2025 season played 24 games for the Denver Nuggets that same season and nine games for the New Orleans Pelicans last season.
Under his current contract, Alexander is to play for the Jazz and its G League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars.
The Toronto Raptors have put the brakes on acquiring Kawhi Leonard from the Clippers, announcing Thursday that the trade is on hold until the NBA investigation into whether the Clippers circumvented salary cap rules is complete.
“The NBA league office informed us that as a result of the ongoing investigation involving the Clippers, we would assume the risk of any potential outcome of the investigation impacting Kawhi,” the Raptors said. “In light of this, we will wait until the league’s investigation is complete.”
The trade sent Leonard to Toronto for forward Brandon Ingram, shooting guard Gradey Dick, two first-round draft picks, a pick swap and two second-round picks. Leonard has spent the last seven seasons with the Clippers after leading the Raptors to the 2019 NBA championship.
The probe was triggered in September when the “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast aired an episode detailing a contract Leonard received from Aspiration, a self-described “socially-conscious and sustainable banking services and investment products” firm. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer invested $60 million in the now-defunct company that in turn agreed to pay Leonard $28 million for endorsements he never fulfilled.
The investigation is being conducted by Wachtell Lipton, a high-powered New York law firm the NBA has frequently used when attempting to determine off-the-court wrongdoing by team owners, players or referees. There is no timetable for its conclusion, and the league had no comment Thursday.
Ballmer invested $50 million in Aspiration in September 2021. A month later, the Clippers announced a $300-million sponsorship deal with the company. Ballmer nearly granted Aspiration naming rights to the team’s new $2-billion venue as well, but instead chose financial services firm Intuit.
Two years later when Aspiration was experiencing severe financial difficulties, Ballmer made an additional $10 million investment and Clippers co-owner Dennis Wong — Ballmer’s former college roommate — invested $1.99 million in Aspiration nine days before Leonard received a $1.75 million payment from the company. Leonard ultimately was paid $21 million of the $28 million agreed upon in his contract with Aspiration.
Leonard averaged 25.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.7 steals over six seasons with the Clippers and was selected to four All-Star teams, four All-NBA teams and two All-Defensive teams while in L.A. Leonard averaged a career-high 27.9 points while playing 65 games last season.
“The Raptors remain eager to bring Kawhi back to Toronto and look forward to a swift resolution for our players, our organization, and our fans,” the Raptors said.
Reasons for the Clippers to trade Kawhi Leonard are apparent. So are reasons to keep the seven-time All-Pro forward who turned 35 on Monday.
For now, the team is engaged in discussions and entertaining offers for Leonard, who is highly regarded despite being central to a league investigation into allegations of salary-cap intervention.
Representatives for Leonard, who has one year remaining on a three-year, $152.4 million contract, have informed other teams he prefers to remain with the Clippers and would only sign an extension with the Toronto Raptors or San Antonio Spurs if the Clippers trade him, ESPN reported. Leonard helped both of those teams to NBA titles, the Raptors in 2019 and the Spurs in 2014. He was Finals MVP both years.
However, the Athletic reported that the Dallas Mavericks offered to trade power forward P.J. Washington, shooting guard Klay Thompson and draft picks for Leonard. Mavericks president Masai Ujiri held the same position with the Raptors when they won the 2019 championship.
If Leonard doesn’t agree to a contract extension with Dallas, he essentially would be a one-year rental and not worth as much in trade capital. Ujiri engineered the trade in 2018 that brought Leonard to the Raptors without the player agreeing to an extension, and the result was a championship followed by Leonard bolting to the Clippers.
Another factor in assessing Leonard’s trade value and the Clippers’ motivation to move him is the ongoing NBA investigation involving team owner Steve Ballmer, Leonard and the now-bankrupt sustainable financial technology firm Aspiration.
Triggered in October when the “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast detailed a $28 million endorsement contract Leonard received from Aspiration, the NBA hired a prominent law firm to conduct the probe. Findings could be announced soon because NBA commissioner Adam Silver said June 2 that it was time to “wrap it up.”
Aspiration had a $300 million, 23-year endorsement deal with the Clippers and Ballmer personally invested $60 million into the company, whose co-founder Joseph Sanberg was convicted of two counts of wire fraud and sentenced to 14 years in federal prison. Ballmer admits introducing Leonard to Aspiration executives but has denied that he knew details of the endorsement deal that Leonard never fulfilled.
Silver has not stated that the NBA would hold up any trade involving Leonard because of the investigation. Still, the Clippers expressed at the end of the regular season that keeping the 14-year veteran was a priority.
“Our plan is to win with Kawhi,” Clippers president Lawrence Frank said.
Leonard is coming off his best season of six with the Clippers, averaging a career-high 27.9 points over 65 games. He has averaged 20.7 points a game during his career.
The Raptors are rumored to be dangling former Lakers forward Brandon Ingram and first-round draft picks
Former Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger and Thrive Capital founder Joshua Kushner have hired investment bankers and discussed making a bid for the National Basketball Assn. expansion team in Las Vegas, according to people familiar with their plans.
The bid would be for a majority investment in the team, according to the people, who asked to not be identified because the discussions are private. The NBA’s board of governors approved the exploration of a potential franchise expansion in Las Vegas and Seattle in March.
Iger and Kushner are discussing making the bid through Thrive Eternal, a company set up by Kushner’s firm to invest in iconic brands and cultural assets. The company operates as a holding company, structured to raise new capital and make investments into businesses without a set exit timeline. Iger is involved with Thrive as an advisor.
It’s unclear what the size of the bid and the valuation of the franchise would be. Representatives for Thrive Capital and Iger declined to comment.
Iger, who took over as CEO of Disney from 2005 to 2020 and then again from 2022 to March of this year, had a tenure marked by acquiring marquee entertainment franchises and expanding them, including Pixar, Marvel Entertainment, Lucasfilm and 21st Century Fox. The executive previously bought a controlling stake in Angel City Football Club, a women’s soccer team, with his wife, Willow Bay. A big basketball fan, he’s had a lot of experience with the NBA through Disney’s ESPN sports networks.
Kushner, meanwhile, has been building an investment portfolio of tech startups for decades, from investing early into OpenAI and Instagram, and working on dozens of incubations through his venture firm, Thrive Capital. The venture firm has total assets under management of more than $50 billion, according to a regulatory filing. Earlier this year, the firm raised more than $10 billion for its largest fund ever. The NBA discussions show the latest iteration in how Thrive is expanding beyond its roots of investing in technology startups, into also influencing culture through entertainment and sports.
Announced in April, Thrive Eternal, which operates a permanent capital vehicle, raised its initial capital from existing Thrive investors. “These are assets with qualities that cannot be replicated by technology,” Kushner said in a social media post. “In a world shaped by abundant intelligence where creation scales and distribution fragments, we believe they will matter even more.”
Thrive Eternal’s first investment, though not a controlling stake, was backing a Major League Baseball team, the San Francisco Giants. The capital of that deal is set to go toward the Giants’ Oracle Park and its surrounding real estate, according to a person familiar with the matter, Bloomberg previously reported.
If only. If Rob Pelinka could use the Dodgers’ blueprint to renovate, Lakers fans wouldn’t even be sweating this summer.
But, you know. Baseballs and basketballs, apples and oranges.
The windup and sales pitch are the same, though: Deliver a sustainable, high-rising, championship build. On time and … about that budget. One team has none. The other’s is tight.
In baseball, they wear caps. In the NBA, they’re compelled to stay under them.
In baseball, they can swing freely (for now). In basketball, they’re hamstrung by aprons.
Ned Colletti had it easier, and he lasted only two relatively successful seasons in his role as Dodgers general manager after Mark Walter’s Guggenheim Baseball Management group bought the ballclub in 2012.
Pelinka has it tougher as the Lakers’ general manager and president of basketball operations. But like Colletti before him, with Walter having purchased the majority stake in the Lakers, Pelinka is going to have to crash the hourglass and build a winner with haste. Er, the winner.
If the Lakers lay anything but an 18th brick on their championship foundation in the next couple seasons, Pelinka’s story probably is going to go a lot like Colletti’s.
When free agency opens Tuesday, Pelinka is just going to have to show us how creative he can be, how clever and cunning.
He already hit a grand slam with the Luka Doncic trade in 2025. In one of the NBA’s all-time heists, Pelinka brought the then-25-year-old Slovenian superstar to L.A. from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for essentially an aging and injury-prone Anthony Davis and just one first-round draft pick.
Before that, Pelinka hit another home run with Austin Reaves; a four-bagger so deep that Doncic’s undrafted backcourt-mate has now procured the proverbial bag. (Four years, $185 million worth of baggage to the Lakers.)
With those pillars cemented, Pelinka’s job is delivering the A-list center Doncic reportedly desires.
Lakers GM Rob Pelinka pulled off a blockbuster trade to acquire Slovenian superstar Luka Doncic. Can Pelinka build a winner around Doncic?
(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)
Doesn’t matter that all the perceivable candidates — from the Utah Jazz’s Walker Kessler to the New York Knicks’ Mitchell Robinson, the Milwaukee Bucks’ Myles Turner, the Detroit Pistons’ Jalen Duren, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Jarrett Allen, the Mavericks’ Daniel Gafford, even old friend A.D. — sit on a spectrum of unlikely to unwise.
Still, the best plan: Make Doncic happy; make a run at Kessler.
He’s a 24-year-old, defensively adept big man who would be a great pickup, just hard to get. But whether it’s overpaying in restricted free agency or working out a sign-and-trade deal, pry him away from the Jazz.
After nailing down a center, Pelinka also needs to really hit on the margins. Because in the modern NBA, the marginal is major.
The current contenders have depth borne of seasons spent tanking and loading up in the draft on athletic, affordable young talent or, in the case of the recently crowned Knicks, having a leading man take $113 million less than he was eligible for, as Jalen Brunson effectively did, to be able to play with his best buds.
In L.A., the Lakers don’t really have the first option and shouldn’t ever expect the second.
But Pelinka doesn’t have to swing for the fences every time; he doesn’t need to wow us now, he needs to have wowed us later. Take swings like he did trading for Rui Hachimura or netting sharpshooter Luke Kennard.
Former Laker Pau Gasol, right, speaks with GM Rob Pelinka during a Lakers practice in 2025.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
No one bats 1.000, of course, not even Andrew Friedman, the architect of the Dodgers’ three World Series titles since taking over as president of baseball operations in 2014.
But for the Lakers’ potential $51 million of cap space, for all of this summer’s much-hyped optionality, Pelinka’s competitive new boss isn’t the type to forgive errors that are forever front of mind for the Lakers’ faithful.
Pelinka can’t strike out on free agent signees like Gabe Vincent and Kendrick Nunn. Can’t let someone like Alex Caruso walk. Can’t whiff on draftees like Dalton Knecht or Jalen Hood-Schifino — and better hope he hasn’t on this year’s selection, Cameron Carr, who fell to the Lakers at No. 24.
The wrinkle, this offseason: Last year’s Lakers — 41-year-old LeBron James, Hachimura, Kennard and, if he opts out, Marcus Smart — will be among the most attractive free agents on the market, and they’re proven fits for a team that reached the second round of the playoffs.
But merely re-signing those guys won’t improve the Lakers’ odds of getting past the Oklahoma City Thunder or San Antonio Spurs in the playoffs.
And simply outspending those teams isn’t an option, either. So Pelinka is going to have to go bargain hunting, he’s got to find some hidden gems, pull some tricks out of his sleeve. Surprise us, like great general managers are supposed to do.
This is Pelinka’s opportunity to show us his blueprint for bringing another title to Los Angeles, to build a case for himself.
Questions surely will follow Dusty May as he leaps to the Dallas Mavericks after coaching Michigan to the NCAA national championship.
Can he provide blessed amnesia to the Mavericks faithful? Can he help them forget Luka Doncic and Nico Harrison and Anthony Davis and Jason Kidd? Can he allow them to peer into a future anchored by budding superstar Cooper Flagg without constantly checking the rearview mirror?
May, 49, was hired Tuesday as the Mavericks’ head coach,. He led Michigan to the pinnacle of March Madness last season and posted a 64-13 record in two years. He also coached Florida Atlantic to the 2023 Final Four and a 60-13 record in the last two of his six seasons there.
“We set out to find a leader who embodies the values we want to define our organization,” Mavericks president Masai Ujiri said in a statement. “Dusty has won at every stage of his career because of his ability to build. He develops players, creates accountability, and brings people together around a shared standard of excellence. His work ethic is extraordinary, and his teams consistently reflect his values.”
The list of high-profile college coaches who struggled to replicate their success in the NBA is daunting: Rick Pitino, John Calipari, John Beilein, Lon Kruger, Tim Floyd and Mike Montgomery immediately leap to mind.
Not only did May not coach or play in the NBA, he barely played in college. He was a 5-foot-10 point guard at NAIA Oakland City for one season before transferring to Indiana and serving as team manager under coach Bobby Knight.
But his arrival will divert attention from the past, from the hugely unpopular and disastrous trade of Doncic to the Lakers for Davis and spare parts on Feb. 1, 2025.
Mavericks fans staged a faux funeral complete with a casket a day later in front of the Dirk Nowitzki statue outside American Airlines Center. They booed Harrison — the general manager who engineered the deal — at every home game and chanted “Fire Nico.”
When Doncic returned as an opponent, Mavericks fans chanted “MVP” when the Laker shot free throws.
Harrison admitted to underestimating the backlash from fans but defended the trade, initially saying he had “no regrets.” By November, he was fired and updated his social media profile to “unemployed.”
Next to go was Kidd, a Hall of Fame point guard who helped the Mavericks to their only NBA title as a player and to the NBA Finals as a coach. At the time, it wasn’t clear whether Kidd was an advocate of the Doncic deal or a victim of a front-office blunder. But Mark Cuban, the Mavericks’ former majority owner who currently owns 27% of the team, indicated March 31 during a podcast that Kidd was complicit.
“I think there was animosity between [Harrison] and some people on Luka’s team — his agent and some of the people around them,” Cuban said. “I don’t think they got along. I think there were issues.
“J-Kidd had coached Anthony Davis and was close to him, and Nico was close to AD since he was like 13 years old. So I think there was some confirmation bias as well. But that doesn’t justify our coach and our general manager to stand up and trade our best player.”
Doncic, 26, flourished in his first season in Los Angeles despite a late-season injury that kept him out of the playoffs. The shooting guard led the NBA with 33.5 points per game and he will be a franchise cornerstone. Davis played only 20 games with Dallas because of injuries and in February was traded to the Washington Wizards.
The makeover began when the Mavericks secured the first pick in the 2025 NBA draft despite having only a 1.8% chance of obtaining it through the lottery. They took Flagg, a forward from Duke who went on to lead Dallas with 21 points per game and was named rookie of the year.
Next, they hired respected former Raptors executive Ujiri as team president. And now they have added May as coach. This week they will add two more promising players via the first round of the draft.
“I am honored to join the Dallas Mavericks organization,” May said in a statement. “This is one of the most respected franchises in professional sports, with passionate fans, a talented roster, and a clear commitment to building a championship organization.”
The franchise is trying to eliminate reminders while attempting to instill hope for the future.
“When you study [May’s] journey, you see someone who has earned every opportunity through preparation, discipline, humility, and an unwavering commitment to improvement,” Ujiri said. “We believe those qualities make him the right leader for the Dallas Mavericks.”
Meanwhile at Michigan, a loaded roster will report to interim coach Mike Boynton Jr., May’s top assistant and the head coach at Oklahoma State from 2019 to 2024. Players are allowed to enter the transfer portal for 15 days following a coaching change, so job one for Boynton will be to keep them from fleeing.
NEW YORK — They started their pro careers in Spain and now two Real Madrid prospects are taking on L.A. Baba Miller doesn’t have to look far for inspiration with Luka Doncic playing in the same city.
After admiring Doncic’s path from Real Madrid to the top of the NBA, Miller hopes to carve his own path in L.A. after the Clippers drafted the late-blooming Spanish forward 36th overall in the NBA draft on Wednesday.
The versatile big man was just 6 feet 2 when he was 14. Now standing 6-11 as a mature 22-year-old, Miller called that kid “chubby.” But once he started growing rapidly, Miller slimmed down. When he struggled to hold up against more physical players, his youth coach started playing him at the wing. The position change, along with his developing body, set the stage for his creative style of play.
As a senior at Cincinnati, Miller averaged 13 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.2 blocks per game. He was just one of three players nationally to average at least 13 points, 10 rebounds and three assists last season. He was the first Bearcat to lead the team in points, rebounds and assists since Oscar Robertson in 1959-60.
Miller has not yet developed his three-point shooting, averaging just 29% during his college career, which began with two seasons at Florida State. His career-best for three-point shooting was 34.2% (39 for 114) during one season at Florida Atlantic.
The Clippers waited until late in the second round to get their knockdown shooter and used a trade to get the rights to Northwestern forward Nick Martinelli with the 55th pick. The Clippers got the pick from the Houston Rockets in exchange for cash, according to ESPN reports, and added the two-time Big Ten scoring champion. Averaging 23 points, 6.2 rebounds and two assists last season, Martinelli shot 51% from the field and 41.7% on threes.
The Clippers traded their 52nd pick to Atlanta for the Hawks’ No. 57 pick and cash, according to reports. After sending the rights to North Carolina’s Henri Veesaar to Atlanta, the Clippers will get French prospect Narcisse Ngoy, a 7-foot, 235-pound center who played for a second-tier team in France and figures to be a long-term project.
Nearly half of Wednesday’s second-round picks changed hands on draft day. Some, like the 56th pick that went from Chicago to the Lakers to the Dallas Mavericks, bounced around multiple times.
Nick Martinelli drives against Maryland forward Solomon Washington during a game last season.
(Nam Y. Huh / Associated Press)
Ohio State guard Bruce Thornton, one of 10 prospects who attended the second round, walked across a stage lit up in New York Knicks blue and orange and put on a Knicks cap as the 31st pick, but was told shortly before the photo opportunity with NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum that he would be traded. By the time he spoke with reporters at a news conference, he was wearing a bedazzled Rockets hat.
“No state tax,” Thornton said with a wide smile, “so even better.”
The Clippers already bolstered their backcourt during the draft by taking Illinois guard Keaton Wagler fifth in the first round Tuesday. Wagler is expected to pair with former All-Star guard Darius Garland, with the Clippers trying to win their first playoff series since 2021.
The Clippers added frontcourt depth during last year’s draft with Yanic Konan Niederhauser, but the 6-11 center suffered a Lisfranc injury in March and missed the end of the season. After trading starter Ivica Zubac to the Indiana Pacers midseason, helping the Clippers secure the draft pick that turned into this year’s top-five selection, the team had only 38-year-old Brook Lopez at center. The Clippers have a team option on Lopez’s $9.2-million contract.
In his meetings with the Clippers, Miller could sense that the organization was hoping to add impact role players to help take the franchise that has had 15 consecutive winning seasons over the hump to postseason glory.
“They got guys like Darius and Kawhi [Leonard] that are already established stars in the league,” Miller said. “So I feel like just coming in and trying to help the team be better is the main goal. Every team’s goal is trying to win a championship eventually, so just trying to stay the course on that and be part of that.”
Until Tuesday night, only one Mexican-born player had been an NBA draft pick. Eduardo Nájera was selected 38th overall in the second round by the Houston Rockets in 2000 and enjoyed a 12-year career as a backup forward with five teams.
Karim López joined him when the Detroit Pistons snapped him up at No. 21, making him the first Mexican-born first-round draft selection.
Lopez donned the Pistons’ cap handed to him by NBA commissioner Adam Silver, then was immediately traded to the Memphis Grizzlies.
López, a 19-year-old 6-foot-9 forward, became emotional when Silver announced the pick. He sobbed beneath the cap.
“It’s just super special,” he said. “I’m blessed. I mean, I have no words.”
Born in Hermosillo in the Mexican state of Sonora, López joined the prestigious Joventut Badalona youth academy in Badalona, Spain, at age 14 to accelerate his development. The academy counts former NBA players Ricky Rubio, Rudy Fernández and Raül López among its alumni.
During his post-draft television interview, he displayed a custom design inside his suit jacket: Mexico’s tricolor flag.
“I just wanted to represent my culture, represent where I’m from, represent my faith, and just represent myself, basically,” López said. “Show who I am.”
Memphis clearly targeted López while adroitly obtaining five second-round picks in the process. They received three picks from the Pistons and two from the Oklahoma City Thunder in return for moving back from the No. 16 draft position.
Whether López fulfills his potential and becomes the fifth Mexican-born player to take the court with an NBA team remains to be seen. Reviews are mixed.
“I had Karim López rated quite a bit higher than [the No. 21 pick] and was surprised to see him slide this far,” Hollinger wrote, giving the pick an “A” grade partially because the Grizzlies also collected the five second-round picks.
Vecenie pointed out that López doesn’t shoot well and has defensive deficiencies, saying that his game might be better suited for European leagues than the NBA.
“I’m not sure how he gets on an NBA court early in his career,” he wrote. “I love his frame and physicality. I love that he rebounds and attacks with aggression. But I’m not sure he’s good enough without the ball to make an early impact in the NBA.”
Should López make the Grizzlies’ roster, he would join Horacio Llamas, Gustavo Ayón, Jorge Gutiérrez and Nájera as the only NBA players born in Mexico.
“It means a lot to me,” Lopez said. “It’s just a great opportunity for me and my country to have this platform and have this opportunity. So super blessed and definitely take it with a lot of pride.”
Noteworthy NBA players of Mexican descent born in the United States include former UCLA standout Jaime Jaquez Jr. and former Lakers reserve Juan Toscano-Anderson.
Jaquez averaged 15.4 points a game in 2025-2026, his third season with the Miami Heat. Toscano-Anderson played five seasons in the NBA — including winning a championship with the Golden State Warriors in 2022 — and now is with Pallacanestro Trieste of the top Italian league. López is already a veteran of international basketball, having spent the last two seasons with the New Zealand Breakers in Australia’s top pro league. He averaged 11.9 points and 6.1 rebounds last season.
He will join No. 3 overall pick Cameron Boozer with the Grizzlies, who are rebuilding after finishing 25-57 and 13th in the Western Conference last season.
“A goal of mine is to hopefully reach young people in Mexico,” Lopez told ESPN in March when he declared for the draft. “Trying to grow the sport and inspire athletes and people in general to follow their dreams. Show people that it doesn’t matter where you’re from.”
From Broderick Turner: In the first round of Tuesday night’s NBA draft, the Lakers made a trade with the New York Knicks, acquiring Cameron Carr, who the Knicks had selected with the 24th overall pick.
The Lakers then took guard Sergio De Larrea from Spain with the 25th pick and traded him to the NBA champion Knicks, along with cash considerations. The Lakers went to Spain recently to watch De Larrea work out.
Lakers president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka didn’t talk about the trade because the NBA had not made it official as of late Tuesday night. Carr was in New York at the draft, but he also didn’t speak with the media.
In need of athletic wing players on a team that could have up to nine free agents, the Lakers got one with 21-year-old Carr.
The 6-foot-5 Carr averaged 18.9 points per game at Baylor, 5.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists. Carr shot 49.4% from the field and 37.4% from three-point range.
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The Clippers picked Wagner fifth overall in the NBA draft Tuesday at Barclays Center, using the franchise’s highest draft pick since 2009 on the former Illinois guard. During a hectic draft process in which some top players don’t speak to the team that ultimately picks them, Wagler said the Clippers showed consistent interest and communicated with him and his agent, giving him confidence he could hear his name called early during Tuesday’s loaded first round.
“I’m just super excited to get out there,” Wagler said. “They have a great front office and coaching staff and players, and I just can’t wait to get out there and get going.”
The 6-foot-6 guard was named Big Ten freshman of the year after averaging 17.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game. Under-recruited out of high school, the Kansas native held college offers from schools including Oral Roberts, DePaul and Murray State before starring at Illinois.
When NBA Commissioner Adam Silver read Wagler’s name aloud, he hugged everyone at his table, walked between two smoke towers and grabbed a Clippers hat with a bedazzled team logo before shaking Silver’s hand.
From Maddie Lee: Chuckie Robinson hadn’t recorded a hit yet as a Dodger. As the third-string catcher, joining the major league squad midseason, his main focus had to be the defensive side. Anything on offense was a bonus.
Because of a rash of injuries, he was the only Dodgers catcher available Tuesday. And in the fourth inning, Robinson stepped up to the plate and lined a single into shallow left field, moving Alex Call to third, and setting up Shohei Ohtani for a sacrifice fly.
That’s how the Dodgers routed the Twins 12-3 on Tuesday, with contributions from up and down the lineup. And that’s how the Dodgers (51-29) have claimed the best record in the majors, despite injuries to key players.
“The depth,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said when asked what that record reflected. “We’ve got really good depth, we’ve got really good players, guys that care. Doesn’t matter what’s happening; we’ve got a lot of guys injured right now, and you’ve got guys stepping up, making big plays, big at-bats.”
Freeman himself went three for five with a pair of doubles and two RBIs on Tuesday. But Robinson, with starting catcher Will Smith still on the injured list with a neck injury and backup catcher Dalton Rushing temporarily unavailable after a concussion scare Monday, also had two hits and brought in a run with a sacrifice bunt.
Rookie right-hander Ryan Johnson gave up one hit over six scoreless innings, Nolan Schanuel hit an early two-run home run and the Angels beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-1 on Tuesday night.
In his third career start, Johnson (1-2) carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning before Jeremiah Jackson hit a line drive single to center with one out. Johnson allowed one walk with career highs of eight strikeouts and six innings, while throwing 90 pitches.
A second-round draft pick by the Angels in 2024, Johnson earned his second career win against a Baltimore offense which combined to score 18 runs over its previous two games.
World Cup: Matt Freese took different path to become U.S. goalie
United States goalkeeper Matt Freese.
(Kelvin Kuo / Los Angeles Times)
From Kevin Baxter: Playing in goal for the U.S. men’s national soccer team is a little like playing right field for the Yankees. You’re following a long line of great players, making the comparisons — and the high expectations — unavoidable.
Matt Freese is the latest to be thrown into that crucible. But he considers that pressure to be a privilege, not a problem.
“I wouldn’t say it’s intimidating, I would say it’s inspiring,” he said before the U.S. training session Tuesday morning in Irvine. “It’s a long line of goalkeepers that I’ve looked up to for my whole life — and there were some before my life as well.”
Two games into this summer’s World Cup he’s certainly held his own with that group, giving up just one goal for a team that’s unbeaten and already through to the next round. However Thursday’s group-stage finale with winless Turkey will be far from meaningless for Freese since his first start for the U.S. came against Turkey 55 weeks ago, bringing his whirlwind international team career full circle.
Group K Portugal 5, Uzbekistan 0 Colombia 1, Congo DR 0
Group L England 0, Ghana 0 Croatia 1, Panama 0
Today’s World Cup TV schedule
All times Pacific Noon, Bosnia-Herzegovina vs. Qatar, FS1, Telemundo Noon, Switzerland vs. Canada, Fox, Telemundo 3 p.m. Morocco vs. Haiti, FS1, Universo 3 p.m., Scotland vs. Brazil, Fox, Telemundo 6 p.m., Czechia vs. Mexico, Fox, Telemundo 6 p.m., South Africa vs. South Korea, FS1, Universo
World Cup Group standings
Group A Country, W-D-L, Goal Differential, Points x-Mexico, 2-0-0, +3, 6 South Korea, 1-0-1, 0, 3 Czechia, 0-1-1, -1, 1 South Africa, 0-1-1, -2, 1
Group B Canada, 1-1-0, +6, 4 Switzerland, 1-1-0, +3, 4 Bosnia-Herzegovina, 0-1-1, -3, 1 Qatar, 0-1-1, -6, 1
Group C Brazil, 1-1-0, +3, 4 Morocco, 1-1-0, +1, 4 Scotland, 1-0-1, 0, 3 Haiti, 0-0-2, -4, 0
Group D x-United States, 2-0-0, +5, 6 Australia, 1-0-1, 0, 3 Paraguay, 1-0-1, -2, 3 Turkiye, 0-0-2, -3, 0
Group E x-Germany, 2-0-0, +7, 6 Ivory Coast, 1-0-1, 0, 3 Ecuador, 0-1-1, -1, 1 Curacao, 0-1-1, -6, 1
Group F Netherlands, 1-1-0, +4, 4 Japan, 1-1-0, +4, 4 Sweden, 1-0-1, 0, 3 Tunisia, 0-0-2, -8, 0
Group G Egypt, 1-1-0, +2, 4 Iran, 0-2-0, 0, 2 Belgium, 0-2-0, 0, 2 New Zealand, 0-1-1, -2, 1
Group H Spain, 1-1-0, +4, 4 Uruguay, 0-2-0, 0, 2 Cape Verde, 0-2-0, 0, 2 Saudi Arabia, 0-1-1, -4, 1
Group I x-France, 2-0-0, +5, 6 x-Norway, 2-0-0, +4, 6 Senegal, 0-0-2, -3, 0 Iraq, 0-0-2, -6, 0
Group K x-Colombia, 2-0-0, +3, 6 Portugal, 1-1-0, +5, 4 Congo DR, 0-1-1, -1, 1 Uzbekistan, 0-0-2, -7, 0
Group L England, 1-0-1, +2, 4 Ghana, 1-0-1, +1, 4 Croatia, 1-0-1, -1, 3 Panama, 0-0-2, -2, 0
x-clinched round of 32
The top two teams in each group plus the next eight best third-place teams advance to the next round.
Note: The U.S. is locked into a July 1 knockout stage game against the third-place team from either Group B, E, F, I or J at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
This day in sports history
1910 — James Braid wins his fifth British Open with a four-stroke victory over Sandy Herd.
1911 — John McDermott becomes the first American-born winner of the U.S. Open when he beats Michael Brady and George Simpson in a playoff. McDermott finishes two strokes better than Brady and five strokes better than Simpson.
1913 — John Henry Taylor wins his fifth and final British Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club at Hoylake, England.
1922 — American Professional Football Assn. is renamed the National Football League.
1922 — Charter NFL club Chicago Staleys renamed Chicago Bears by team founder, owner and head coach George Halas.
1928 — John Farrell beats Bobby Jones by one stroke in a 36-hole playoff to win the U.S. Open.
1947 — Jim Ferrier wins the PGA championship by defeating Chick Harbert 2 and 1 in the final round.
1958 — Brazil, led by 17-year-old Pele, beats France 5-2 in a semifinal of the World Cup. With Brazil up 2-1 in the second half, Pele scores three consecutive goals.
1968 — Joe Frazier stops Mexican challenger Manuel Ramos in 2nd round TKO at NYC’s Madison Square Garden in his first heavyweight boxing title defense.
1968 — Canada’s Sandra Post beats Kathy Whitworth by seven strokes in a playoff to become the first non-U.S. player and rookie to win the LPGA championship.
1980 — The Atlanta Flames relocate to Calgary, Alberta. The NHL team keeps the name “Flames.”
1990 — Criminal Type becomes the first horse to win consecutive $1 million races after capturing the Hollywood Gold Cup. He had previously won the $1 million Pimlico Special on May 12.
1991 — The NHL’s Board of Governors adopts instant replay.
1992 — NBA Draft: LSU center Shaquille O’Neal first pick by Orlando Magic.
1995 — Stanley Cup Final, Meadowlands Arena, East Rutherford, NJ: New Jersey Devils beat Detroit Red Wings, 5-2 for a 4-0 series sweep; Devils’ first Stanley Cup finals appearance.
1998 — NBA Draft: Pacific center Michael Olowokandi first pick by Los Angeles Clippers.
2000 — Rick DiPietro is the first goalie drafted No. 1 when the New York Islanders select the 18-year-old star from Boston University at the NHL Draft.
2001 — Karrie Webb, 26, captures the LPGA Championship by two strokes to become the youngest woman to complete the Grand Slam.
2004 — NBA Draft: Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy power forward Dwight Howard first pick by Orlando Magic.
2010 — John Isner outlasts Nicolas Mahut in the longest match in tennis history. Isner hits a backhand winner to win the last of the match’s 980 points, and takes the fifth set against Mahut 70-68. The first-round match took 11 hours, 5 minutes over three days, lasting so long it was suspended because of darkness — two nights in a row. Play resumed at 59-all and continued for more than an hour before Isner won 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 70-68.
2010 — John Wall is selected as the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft by the Washington Wizards, and a record number of Kentucky teammates follow him. Four more Wildcats are among the top 30 selections, making them the first school ever to put five players in the first round.
2011 — NHL Draft: Red Deer Rebels (WHL) center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins first pick by Edmonton Oilers.
2013 — Bryan Bickell and Dave Bolland score 17 seconds apart in the final 1:16 of the third period and the Chicago Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup with a stunning 3-2 comeback victory in Game 6 over the Boston Bruins.
2016 — NHL Draft: ZSC Lions (NLA) center Auston Matthews first pick by Toronto Maple Leafs.
2018 — Harry Kane scores a hat trick to propel England to its most emphatic World Cup victory and into the knockout stage. With John Stones heading in twice and Jesse Lingard curling in a shot, England beats Panama 6-1 and scores its most goals ever in a World Cup game.
2022 — American Katie Ledecky wins the 800m gold medal in 8:08.04 at the World Swimming Championships in Budapest; completes 400/800/1500m treble for unprecedented 4th time at a single worlds.
2024 — The Florida Panthers win their first title in franchise history defeating the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 in Game 7. MVP: Connor McDavid (Oilers C).
Compiled by the Associated Press
This day in baseball history
1936 — Rookie Joe DiMaggio hit two homers in the fifth inning and added two doubles in the New York Yankees’ 18-4 victory over the St. Louis Browns.
1950 — Wes Westrum of the New York Giants hit three home runs and a triple in a 12-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
1955 — Harmon Killebrew hit his first major league homer, off Billy Hoeft at Griffith Stadium, but the Detroit Tigers beat the Washington Senators 18-7.
1962 — Jack Reed, a substitute outfielder, hit a homer off Phil Regan in the 22nd inning to give the New York Yankees a 9-7 win over the Detroit Tigers in a game that lasted 7 hours, 22 minutes. It was the only homer Reed hit in the majors.
1968 — Jim Northrup tied a major league record by hitting two grand slams in one game as the Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians 14-3.
1983 — Don Sutton of the Milwaukee Brewers became the eighth pitcher in major league history to strike out 3,000 batters. Sutton’s 3,000th victim was Cleveland’s Alan Bannister in a 3-2 win over the Indians.
1984 — Oakland’s Joe Morgan hit his 265th home run as a second baseman, breaking Roger Hornsby’s career home run record for that position. Morgan’s homer off Frank Tanana was the 267th of his career and led the A’s to a 4-2 win over Texas.
1993 — Carlton Fisk of the White Sox, plays his 2,226th and final major league game, surpassing Bob Boone’s record of 2,225 for most games caught.
1993 — The Marlins obtain OF Gary Sheffield and P Rich Rodriguez from the Padres for P Trevor Hoffman, Andres Berumen and Jose Martinez.
1994 — Jeff Bagwell hit three homers, two in one inning to tie a major league record, as the Houston Astros beat the Dodgers 16-4.
1997 — Randy Johnson of the Seattle Mariners struck out 19 batters — one short of Roger Clemens’ major league record for a nine-inning game. He became the first AL left-hander to fan 19, but the Oakland Athletics won 4-1.
2002 — Both starters in the first game of the Angels-Texas doubleheader — Joaquin Benoit and Aaron Sele — threw 96 pitches, 53 strikes and 43 balls. Benoit and the Rangers won 8-5.
2003 — Brad Wilkerson hit for the cycle, going 4-for-4 with four RBIs, in Montreal’s 6-4 win over Pittsburgh. It was the first cycle in the majors this season and was performed in sequence — single, double, triple and homer.
2014 — Brothers B.J. and Justin Upton tied the major league record for brothers homering in the same game as teammates, accomplishing the feat for the fourth time, in Atlanta’s 3-2 win over Houston. Other brothers who had homered in the same game four times were Jeremy and Jason Giambi for the Oakland A’s and Vladimir and Wilton Guerrero for the Montreal Expos.
2015 — Pavin Smith homered and drove in three runs and Brandon Waddell turned in another strong College World Series pitching performance, leading Virginia over Vanderbilt 4-2 for the school’s first baseball national championship.
2017 — Three Oakland A’s players, Matt Olson, Jaycob Brugmand and Franklin Baretto, hit their first career home run in a 10-2 win over the White Sox.
2019 — The Yankees tie a record belonging to the 2002 Rangers by homering in their 27th straight game on their way to defeating the Blue Jays.
2018 — The Dodgers set a National League record with seven solo home runs in an 8-7 win over the Mets.
2021 — The Chicago Cubs throw the first combined no-hitter in franchise history beating the Dodgers 4-0. It was the seventh no-hitter of the season.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
