ATLANTA — The name was a surprise, but the pick should not have been.
The bromide about teams picking the best available player rather than drafting for need does not apply to the Angels, at least not in the Perry Minasian era. The Angels’ front office must try to win now, with an ownership that does not believe in rebuilding, and without huge investments in major league free agency, international scouting or player development.
The Angels needed pitching. They drafted a college pitcher Sunday, in line with their no-margin-for-error strategy of selecting top college players and pushing them into the major leagues.
It’s been an emotional year for Bremner, who lost his mother to breast cancer in June.
On the day after she died, he saluted her in a long Instagram post that started this way: “Saying goodbye to you has been the hardest thing I have had to go through in my life. Why did this evil disease have to come into the life of such a pure hearted soul. Somehow through all this pain, darkness, and suffering there is light.”
The last four words: “rest easy my angel”
When his name was called Sunday, Bremner thought of his mother.
“I went to the Angels,” he said. “It’s weird how life works.”
The Angels invited him to Anaheim for a private workout last week. In a draft in which the hype around college pitchers focused on three left-handers from the Southeastern Conference, Bremner said his advisers told him about an hour before the draft started that the Angels might pick him.
And, after the Washington Nationals took high school shortstop Eli Willits — the son of former Angels outfielder Reggie Willits — with the No. 1 pick, the Angels were on the clock.
They had their pick of any pitcher in the country. They could have grabbed one of the SEC pitchers, or Corona High phenom Seth Hernandez. They went with the big right-hander from the Big West, with a fastball and a changeup that might already be ready for Anaheim.
The immediate expectation was that the Angels would cut a discount deal with Bremner, enabling him to collect a seven-figure bonus while enabling them to allocate more of their draft pool to swipe talented lower-round players away from college commitments. Bremner and Tim McIlvaine, the Angels’ scouting director, danced around that topic on Sunday.
But, if you’re the Angels, none of that scheming really matters if you don’t hit on the second overall pick of the draft.
McIlvaine said Bremner’s changeup gives him a go-to pitch, with a slider under development and a body that has yet to fill out.
“There’s a lot you can really dream on,” McIlvaine said.
The Angels need him to be right, and they need Bremner as a starter. A two-pitch pitcher would make a fine major league reliever, and don’t be surprised to see the Angels consider launching his major league career in that role later this season, if they stay afloat in the wild-card race. That could give them nine of their first-round picks on their active roster.
But you don’t use a first-round pick on a setup man. The Angels drafted two other pitchers among the top 10 overall picks within the past five years, and Reid Detmers and Sam Bachman now are setup men. Under Minasian, who was hired after the 2020 season, the Angels have drafted one pitcher that has delivered more than 1.0 WAR: Ben Joyce, a potential closer but now an injured setup man.
And the Angels’ second-round pick Sunday: an actual reliever, from the SEC. He is Chase Shores, who closed the College World Series clincher for Louisiana State and threw 47 pitches clocked at 100 mph or harder during the NCAA tournament.
As Bremner said, life works in weird ways.
“If you look at his second half of the year,” McIlvaine said, “I’d put it up against anybody in the country.”
In the second half of the season, his mother was dying.
“She came out to all the games,” he said, “all the way to the point where her body wouldn’t let her any more.”
In his last two games, weeks before she died, he gave up one run in 13-⅓ innings, walking two and striking out 23. That resilience was not lost on the Angels.
“I think, funny enough, as she got worse, that’s when I got stronger on the field,” Bremner said. “I feel I did a very good job of using that kind of negative energy and challenging it into pitching.
“Pitching angry, or pitching for her, or pitching for something bigger than myself, I feel like, in a way, it helped me on the field. But it’s not easy mentally to wrap my head around what’s going on off the field while trying to compete at a high level.”
That made Sunday a very different, and entirely memorable, mother’s day.
“I know she is watching over me,” he said, “and I know she is so proud of me.”
His mother, Jen, was born in Canada. The Canadians already are calling for him to represent her home country in the World Baseball Classic next spring, to honor her memory after losing her to cancer. Another pretty good ballplayer plays for Team Canada for the same reason, so you never know: Bremner could be teammates with Freddie Freeman next spring and Mike Trout next summer.
LONDON — Jannik Sinner defeated two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday to win his first Wimbledon championship and reverse the result of their epic French Open final five weeks ago.
The No. 1-ranked Sinner earned his fourth Grand Slam title overall, moving him one away from No. 2 Alcaraz’s total as the two no-longer-rising-but-firmly-established stars of the game separate themselves from the rest of the pack in men’s tennis.
This victory also allowed Sinner, a 23-year-old Italian, to put an end to several streaks for Alcaraz, a 22-year-old Spaniard.
Alcaraz had won the past five head-to-head matches between the pair, most recently across five sets and nearly 5 1/2 hours at Roland-Garros on June 8. Sinner took a two-set lead in that one, then held a trio of match points, but couldn’t close the deal, allowing Alcaraz to improve to 5-0 in major finals.
Jannik Sinner holds the trophy after winning the Wimbledon men’s singles final against Carlos Alcaraz in London Sunday.
(Kirsty Wigglesworth / Associated Press)
“I had a very tough loss in Paris. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter how you win or you lose the important tournaments. You just have to understand what you did wrong. Trying to work on that — that’s exactly what we did. We tried to accept the loss and then just kept working,” Sinner said Sunday. “And this is, for sure, why I’m holding this trophy here.”
This time, he didn’t waver, asserting himself in a match that featured moments of terrific play by both men, but also the occasional lapses — and one memorable, brief, interruption right before a Sinner serve when a Champagne cork came flying out of the stands and settled on the turf.
With Prince William and Princess Kate in the Royal Box, along with King Felipe VI of Spain, Alcaraz stepped into the sunlight bathing Centre Court as the owner of a career-best 24-match unbeaten run. He had won 20 matches in a row at the All England Club, including victories against Novak Djokovic in the 2023 and 2024 finals.
“It’s difficult to lose,” Alcaraz said. “It’s always difficult to lose.”
The last man to beat him at Wimbledon? Sinner, in the fourth round in 2022.
So this served as a bookend win for Sinner, who proved what he kept telling anyone who asked: No, there would be no carryover from his heartbreak in Paris. Hard to imagine, though, that that collapse wasn’t on his mind at least a little on Sunday, especially when he faced two break points while serving at 4-3, 15-40 in the fourth set.
But he calmly took the next four points to hold there, and soon was serving out the win.
“Very happy that I [held] nerves,” Sinner said.
When it ended, Sinner put both hands on his white hat. After embracing Alcaraz at the net, Sinner crouched on court with his head bowed, then pounded his right palm on the grass.
Yes, Sinner put the French Open behind him in the best way possible and demonstrated that his matchups with Alcaraz could delight tennis fans for years to come.
“Really happy to be able to build a really good relationship off the court,” Alcaraz said, “but then a great rivalry on the court that makes me improve every day.”
Sinner told Alcaraz: “Thank you for the player you are. It’s so difficult to play against you.”
Jannik Sinner reacts after defeating Carlos Alcaraz to win the Wimbledon championship in London on Sunday.
(Kirsty Wigglesworth / Associated Press)
These two guys have divvied up the past seven Grand Slam trophies, and nine of the last 12.
Fittingly, this marked the first time the same two men faced off in the title matches on the clay at Roland-Garros and the grass at the All England Club in the same year since Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal did it in 2006, 2007 and 2008. It hadn’t happened for more than a half-century before that trilogy.
Sinner has participated in each of the last four major finals, a stretch that began with a triumph at the U.S. Open last September and was followed by another at the Australian Open this January.
Wearing the same tape job and white arm sleeve to protect his right elbow that he has been using since falling in the opening game of his fourth-round win on Monday, Sinner never showed any issues, just as he had not while eliminating 24-time major champion Djokovic in the semifinals.
LONDON — Iga Swiatek won her first Wimbledon championship with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Amanda Anisimova on Saturday in the first women’s final at the tournament in 114 years in which one player failed to claim a single game.
Swiatek’s victory on a sunny, breezy afternoon at Centre Court took just 57 minutes and gave Swiatek her sixth Grand Slam title overall. She is now 6-0 in major title matches.
The 24-year-old from Poland finished with a 55-24 edge in total points and accumulated that despite needing to produce merely 10 winners. Anisimova was shaky from the start and made 28 unforced errors.
Swiatek already owned four trophies from the French Open’s red clay and one from the U.S. Open’s hard courts, but this is the first title of her professional career at any grass-court tournament. And it ended a long-for-her drought: Swiatek last won a trophy anywhere more than a year ago, at Roland-Garros in June 2024.
Catherine, the Princess of Wales, was sitting in the Royal Box on Saturday and took part in the on-court ceremony afterward.
Swiatek is the eighth consecutive first-time women’s champion at Wimbledon, but her triumph stands out from the others because it came in a stunningly dominant performance against Anisimova, a 23-year-old American who was participating in her first final at a major.
Anisimova eliminated No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals but never looked like she was the same player Saturday. When it was over, while Swiatek climbed into the stands to celebrate with her team, Anisimova sat on the sideline in tears.
All the way back in 1911, Dorothea Lambert Chambers was a 6-0, 6-0 winner against Dora Boothby.
Swiatek never had been past the quarterfinals of the All England Club and her only other final on the slick surface came when she was the runner-up at a tuneup event in Germany right before Wimbledon began.
Swiatek spent most of 2022, 2023 and 2024 at No. 1 in the WTA rankings but was seeded No. 8 at Wimbledon after going more than a year without claiming a title anywhere. She served a one-month doping ban last year after failing an out-of-competition drug test; an investigation determined she was inadvertently exposed to a contaminated medical product used for trouble sleeping and jet lag.
Anisimova, who was born in New Jersey and grew up in Florida, was a semifinalist at age 17 at the 2019 French Open.
She took time away from the tour a little more than two years ago because of burnout. A year ago, she tried to qualify for Wimbledon, because her ranking of 189th was too low to get into the field automatically, but lost in the preliminary event.
Anisimova will break into the top 10 in the rankings for the first time next week.
Before Jerry Hairston Jr. became a voice of the Dodgers, that buoyant broadcaster on Spectrum Sports Net LA putting a blue-tinged spin on pregame and postgame analysis, he was a Major League ballplayer for 16 seasons.
The name Hairston is synonymous with baseball, Jerry and his brother Scott the third generation of men whose livings were made on the diamond.
Their father, Jerry Hairston, played 14 big league seasons through the 1970s and ‘80s. Their uncle John was a ballplayer. And their grandfather, Sam Hairston, was a career .300 hitter in the Negro American League in the 1940s.
The lineage between the lines benefited Hairston Jr., who leaned on his dad for advice whenever he struggled at the plate.
“If things aren’t going the right way or if I feel passive or uneasy at the plate, I definitely give him a call,” Hairston Jr. said in 2011, shortly before joining the Dodgers for the last two years of his playing career.
Following a father’s footsteps into a family business is a tried and true path. And it’s become increasingly frequent in baseball. Nearly every fan knows that Ken Griffey Jr.‘s father was a cog in the Big Red Machine, that the son of San Francisco Giants star Bobby Bonds is the all-time home run king, that Prince Fielder‘s dad, Cecil, was an equally prolific slugger.
But the MLB draft — which will be held Sunday and Monday in Atlanta as part of the All-Star Game weekend — will feature a plethora of familiar names. Will any of them blossom as quickly as Bobby Witt Jr., the Kansas City Royals superstar whose father pitched for six MLB teams in 16 seasons?
The No. 1 prospect in this year’s draft as ranked by MLB Pipeline is Ethan Holliday, an infielder from Stillwater High in Oklahoma. The name should sound familiar because Ethan’s brother, Jackson, was the first overall pick in the 2022 MLB draft by the Baltimore Orioles and already has secured the starting job at second base.
Oh, and their father, Matt Holliday, was a seven-time All-Star who batted .299 with 316 home runs over a decorated 15-year career with the St. Louis Cardinals and Colorado Rockies.
“My dad’s never put pressure on me, Jackson’s never put pressure on me, nor my mom,” Ethan Holliday told Nice Kicks. “Nobody’s ever put pressure on me to play the game. I just fell in love with it and I love playing. I love training. And like the pressure and expectations — those things have kind of always been there since I was really little with my dad playing in St. Louis and playing youth baseball there.”
The fathers of other highly regarded prospects in this year’s draft may not be as much of a household name as Holliday. The No. 5 prospect is Eli Willits, a shortstop from Fort Cobb-Broxton High in Oklahoma whose father, Reggie Willits, was an Angels outfielder from 2006 to 2011.
Two uncles of Quentin Young, the No. 37 prospect from Oaks Christian High in Westlake Village, were first-round picks who grew up in Camarillo: Dmitri and Delmon Young. Cade Obermueller, a left-handed pitcher from the University of Iowa, is the No. 53 prospect. His dad, Wes Obermueller, was a second-round pick out of Iowa in 1999 and pitched in five MLB seasons.
Dodgers coach Dino Ebel made it to triple A as a player and is regarded as one of baseball’s best third base coaches. His oldest son, Brady, a shortstop from Corona High, is the No. 64 prospect and should be available to the Dodgers, who have the Nos. 40 and 41 overall picks, the latter from the Gavin Lux trade to the Cincinnati Reds. Brady will play for College World Series champion Louisiana State if he isn’t drafted high enough for his liking.
A player who rivals the Hairstons for MLB family ties is Cam Leiter, a right-handed pitcher from Florida State and the No. 114 prospect. His uncles Mark and Al Leiter combined to pitch in more than 750 MLB games and his cousins Jack and Mark Leiter Jr. are current MLB pitchers. Cam’s dad, Kurt Leiter, advanced to double A with the Orioles.
Jayden Stroman, the son of 11-year MLB veteran pitcher Marcus Stroman, has taken a different path from his dad, emerging as the No. 130 prospect as an outfielder after playing at three different high schools.
Draft-eligible players not ranked among the top 200 whose fathers were MLB stars include Kaeden Kent, Brady Counsell, Max McGwire, Manny Ramirez Jr. and Carsten Sabathia.
Kent is a left-handed-hitting infielder from Texas A&M whose dad Jeff Kent was a power-hitting second baseman with the Dodgers and Giants for 17 years. Counsell’s dad, Craig, played 16 years and is now manager of the Chicago Cubs. McGwire’s dad, Mark, hit 573 home runs and Ramirez’s dad hit 555. Sabathia’s dad, CC, will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in a couple weeks.
That’s a lot of familiar names, but hardly an anomaly. Last year nearly 40 draft picks had a close relative with an MLB pedigree.
The first three rounds of the 2025 draft will be broadcast live Sunday, with a pregame show at 3 p.m. PDT on MLB Network and ESPN. Rounds four through 20 will be streamed Monday on MLB.com beginning at 8:30 a.m.
According to rankings released Friday based on sales of Nike jerseys from the Fanatics network, fans have purchased Ohtani’s No. 17 Dodgers jersey more than that of any other player during the first half of the 2025 season.
It’s not Ohtani’s first time at the top of the jersey sales rankings. The two-way superstar from Japan was No. 1 for the 2023 regular season, his last with the Angels, and the 2024 regular season, his first with the Dodgers. His jersey was also the top seller during the most recent offseason, after he was named the 2024 National League MVP and won his first World Series championship.
According to MLB, Ohtani’s jerseys have sold more than any other player in the U.S., Japan and worldwide since 2023.
New York Yankees superstar and reigning American League MVP Aaron Judge is No. 2 on the 2025 list, followed by Freeman at No. 3 and Betts at No. 4. Freeman and Betts also joined Ohtani in the top four in sales during the offseason, with Freeman at No. 2 and Betts at No. 4.
For the 2024 regular season, Betts ranked at No. 4, while Freeman came in at No. 18. Freeman has been riding a wave of popularity since the World Series, during which he hit a walk-off grand slam in Game 1 and eventually was named the series MVP.
New York Mets star Francisco Lindor has the No. 5 jersey of 2025 so far, followed by Mets teammate Juan Soto, Rafael Devers of the San Francisco Giants, Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros, Fernando Tatis Jr. of the San Diego Padres and Bryce Harper of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, in his 18th MLB season, has the No. 20 bestselling jersey.
LONDON — Jannik Sinner overwhelmed a not-fully-fit Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 in the Wimbledon semifinals on Friday to set up a showdown for the championship against Carlos Alcaraz.
The No. 1-ranked Sinner’s victory at Centre Court put him in his first final at the All England Club.
No. 2 Alcaraz defeated Taylor Fritz 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (6) earlier Friday to move within one victory of a third consecutive Wimbledon title.
Sinner, a 23-year-old Italian, and Alcaraz, a 22-year-old Spaniard, now head into a rematch of their epic final at the French Open four weeks ago. Alcaraz won that one after fending off three match points.
“Hopefully it’s going to be a good match, like the last one,” Sinner said. “I don’t know if it’ll get better, because I don’t think it’s possible.”
Alcaraz is 5-0in Grand Slam title matches. Sinner owns three major trophies.
They are far and away the leaders of men’s tennis — and are at the height of their games right now. This will be the seventh straight major tournament won by one of them.
“The things we are doing right now are great for tennis,” Alcaraz said.
Alcaraz takes a career-best 24-match winning streak into Sunday. Sinner will be participating in his fourth consecutive Grand Slam final, after winning the U.S. Open last September and the Australian Open in January, before his heartbreaking defeat in Paris after wasting a two-set lead.
For the 38-year-old Djokovic, his lopsided loss brought an end to his latest bid for an eighth Wimbledon title — which would tie the men’s mark held by Roger Federer — and for an unprecedented 25th major trophy.
Djokovic was diminished two days after slipping and doing the splits on what he called a “nasty” and “awkward” fall in the last game of his quarterfinal victory. He canceled a practice session Thursday, had his upper left leg checked by a trainer during a medical timeout after the second set against Sinner and was simply unable to move the way the world is so used to seeing.
Right after that treatment, Djokovic grabbed a 3-0 lead in the third set and was a point from going up 4-0. But Sinner took six of the remaining seven games.
“We all saw, especially in the third set, that he was a bit injured,” Sinner said. “He’s been in a very difficult situation.”
When it ended, Djokovic picked up his equipment bags and was given a standing ovation as he headed toward the locker room. He paused to smile, wave and give a thumbs-up to the crowd.
Djokovic exited in the semifinals at all three Slams this season, including quitting after a set against Alexander Zverev because of an injured hamstring at the Australian Open.
There was more intrigue in Friday’s first semifinal, particularly when Fritz led 6-4 in the fourth-set tiebreake with two chances to force things to a fifth. But Alcaraz collected the next four points by forcing mistakes by Fritz to finish off the win, then rocked back on his heels, spread his arms wide and screamed.
“I’m just really proud about the way that I stayed calm,” Alcaraz said, “and (was) thinking clearly.”
With five-time Wimbledon champion Bjorn Borg and celebrities such as Anna Wintour and Leonardo DiCaprio looking on, Alcaraz marked some of his best shots with a shout of “Vamos!” or a raised index finger.
“A lot of the things that I would have changed, I think would have only helped me for a point or two, and then I think Carlos would have just made an adjustment,” said the fifth-seeded Fritz, the runner-up to Sinner at the U.S. Open, “and I don’t think it would have been a long-term answer.”
The temperature topped 85 degrees Fahrenheit, with no clouds interrupting the blue sky overhead to offer protection from the sun. For the second consecutive day, spectators had trouble in the heat; there were two brief delays in one second-set game while fans needed to be helped.
As everyone paying attention — including Sinner — knows by now, Alcaraz is not just any foe.
“He has so many different ways to win,” Fritz said, “and he’s very good at making adjustments.”
Kobe Bryant was in a great mood as the Lakers assembled in El Segundo for their 2009 media day.
And for good reason. The Lakers had just won their 15th NBA title a few months earlier and were favored to win No. 16 at the conclusion of the upcoming season (spoiler alert: they did).
The Times’ article covering that preseason kickoff event described Bryant as “beaming” as he posed for photos and filmed various promotional videos, including one intended for use at Dodger Stadium.
At one point, Bryant stood with a baseball bat ready to take a swing. At another, he placed an oversized, blue foam finger over his hand. Throughout the process, the reigning Finals MVP wore his full Lakers uniform.
On Thursday, the Dodgers unveiled a Bryant bobblehead that seems to have been inspired by that day nearly 16 years ago. The late Lakers legend is wearing his basketball uniform, holding a bat and standing in a batter’s stance.
And he is beaming.
The Dodgers will be giving away the bobblehead to the first 40,000 ticketed fans when they play the Toronto Blue Jays on Aug. 8 at Dodger Stadium.
Bryant and daughter Gianna were among the nine people who died in a Jan. 26, 2020, helicopter crash in Calabasas. During a pregame ceremony honoring Bryant on his birthday (Aug. 23) that year, every Dodgers player and coach took the foul line wearing a gold Lakers jersey featuring either No. 8 or No. 24, the two numbers he wore during his Hall of Fame career.
The team also honored Bryant by giving fans special Dodgers jerseys designed in his honor at one game each in 2023 and 2024.
LONDON — At least Novak Djokovic could laugh about it afterward.
Yes, he took what he called a “nasty slip” on his second match point at Wimbledon on Wednesday. Yes, he slid into the splits and ended up face-down on the Centre Court grass. And, yes, those sorts of things aren’t ideal for a 38-year-old seeking an unprecedented 25th Grand Slam title.
Still, Djokovic dusted himself off and took the next two points, reaching the semifinals at the All England Club for a men’s-record 14th time with a 6-7 (6), 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 victory over No. 22 seed Flavio Cobolli to set up a showdown against No. 1 Jannik Sinner.
“Well, I finished the match,” Djokovic said with a chuckle. “It did come at an awkward moment, but somehow I managed to … close it out. Obviously, I’m going to visit this subject now with my physio and hopefully all will be well in two days.”
That’s when he will take on three-time major champion Sinner, who didn’t play like someone dealing with an injured right elbow while using terrific serving and his usual booming forehand to beat 10th-seeded Ben Shelton 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-4.
“I look forward to that,” said Djokovic, who has lost his last four meetings with Sinner, including in the French Open semifinals last month. “That’s going to be a great matchup.”
Novak Djokovic lies on the grass court after slipping and falling while attempting to return a shot Wednesday.
(Kin Cheung / Associated Press)
Djokovic is 2-0 against Sinner at Wimbledon, eliminating him in the 2023 semifinals and 2022 quarterfinals.
Against Cobolli — like Sinner, a 23-year-old from Italy — the late-match tumble was not the only thing that was far from smooth for Djokovic. He served for the opening set at 5-3 but was broken at love. He later was a point from owning that set before first-time major quarterfinalist Cobolli came through.
Djokovic did stretches and breathing exercises at changeovers. He whacked his shoe with his racket after one miss in the fourth set. He seemed bothered at times by the bright sun above Centre Court.
He also showed off all of his considerable skills, accumulating 13 aces, holding in 19 of 21 service games, using a drop-shot-lob-drop-shot combination to take one point and limiting his unforced errors to 22 — half as many as Cobolli.
On Friday, Djokovic will try to reach his seventh consecutive final at the All England Club and get one win closer to equaling Roger Federer’s men’s mark of eight trophies there. The other men’s semifinal is two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, who defeated Djokovic in the 2023 and 2024 finals, against Taylor Fritz.
Against Shelton at No. 1 Court, Sinner wore a white sleeve on his right arm with strips of tape visible underneath — one above the elbow, one below it — after he was hurt when he fell in the opening game of his fourth-round match against Grigor Dimitrov on Monday.
Sinner, the runner-up to Alcaraz at Roland-Garros, had an MRI exam on Tuesday and initially canceled a practice session that day but did hit some balls in a 20-minute session at an indoor court later.
“When you are in a match with a lot of tension, you try to not think about it,” Sinner said. “It has improved a lot from yesterday to today.”
He played as though nothing were amiss, winning 27 of 29 service points in the first set while accumulating a total of 15 winners to just one unforced error.
“You can’t go into a match thinking that the guy’s not going to be at 100%,” Shelton said. “His ball was coming off pretty big today, so I didn’t see any difference.”
Shelton stayed right with him until 2-all in the tiebreaker. That’s when Sinner surged in front, helped by a double fault and four consecutive forehand errors by Shelton.
At the outset of the second set, Shelton finally made some headway in a return game, getting a pair of break points at 15-40.
On one, Sinner produced a forehand winner. On the other, he pounded a 132 mph serve — his fastest of the match — and rushed forward, getting to deuce when Shelton’s backhand pass attempt found the net. That was followed by a 118 mph ace and a 125 mph service winner.
Those were Shelton’s only break chances.
A first for Swiatek
Iga Swiatek reached the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over 19th-seeded Liudmila Samsonova that went from a stroll to a bit of a struggle in the late stages Wednesday.
“Even though I’m in the middle of the tournament, I already got goosebumps after this win,” said Swiatek, who will face unseeded Belinda Bencic on Thursday for a spot in the final. “I’m super happy and super proud of myself.”
Bencic beat No. 7 Mirra Andreeva 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal since the 2019 U.S. Open. The other semifinal is No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka against No. 13 Amanda Anisimova; they advanced with wins Tuesday.
Taylor Fritz thought the motivational note he wrote to himself after losing at Wimbledon four years ago would stay private. His girlfriend, influencer Morgan Riddle, later shared it on social media.
“That note was never supposed to be public,” a smiling Fritz said after his 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (4) win over Karen Khachanov set up a semifinal meeting with two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz.
Fritz had written to himself in the note that “nobody in the whole world is underachieving harder than you” and urged himself to get his act together.
Not only does Fritz forgive Riddle, he also credits her for having such a big impact on him rising to No. 5 in the world rankings in pursuit of his first Grand Slam title.
“There’s been a pretty constant results-and-ranking rise since we’ve been together,” Fritz said. “I think I would have to say she’s been a big help to me just kind of keeping me focused, having someone who cares and just pushes you to just do better and do the right things, be healthier.
“Almost like kind of just mother me in a way,” he added, chuckling to himself, “with like, the diet and going to sleep on time.”
A smiling Fritz later added: “Yeah, that maybe wasn’t the best choice of words.”
The 27-year-old American, who was the runner-up at last year’s U.S. Open, didn’t face a break point in the first two sets against No. 17 Khachanov, who rebounded in the third set. It was 4-all in the fourth-set tiebreaker before Fritz claimed the final three points on Court No. 1.
It’s the first time Fritz has reached the last four at Wimbledon. He’s won two grass-court titles this season — Stuttgart and Eastbourne — and was happy he wouldn’t be facing Alcaraz on clay, which would be “an absolute nightmare.”
“Grass is very much so an equalizer. It can be an equalizer. So trust in how I’m playing,” he said. “I truly know the way that I played the first two sets today, there’s not much any opponent on the other side can do.”
Alcaraz: Golf first, then Fritz
The second-seeded Alcaraz is within sight of a Wimbledon three-peat. He extended his winning streak to 23 matches this season by beating Cameron Norrie 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 on Centre Court.
Alcaraz, who has beaten Novak Djokovic in the past two finals at the All England Club, faced only five break points and saved all of them.
He wants to hit some other greens, though, before he faces Fritz
“For sure I’m going to play some golf, just to switch up my mind a little bit,” Alcaraz said
The 22-year-old Spaniard has been playing golf with Andy Murray during his Wimbledon run.
This time, his opponent could be actor Tom Holland, whom he had run into earlier.
“I would love to play against him in the golf course. For me it would be such an honor. I will try to set it up in these two days that I will have much time to do it. So let’s see if he will be available, and we’ll tee it up.”
LONDON — Defending Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova lost to No. 10 seed Emma Navarro 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the third round on Saturday, extending a recent run of one-and-done winners at the All England Club.
Krejcikova faded in the third set, getting her blood pressure checked at the changeover after Navarro broke her to lead 3-2 at No. 1 Court. Krejcikova ate a banana and drank liquids during the medical timeout, while Navarro walked to her guest box and spoke to her coach during the break in action.
When play resumed, Krejcikova showed clear signs of being in distress, often leaning over and placing her hands on her knees between points.
“Part of you is telling yourself, ‘Just put a bunch of balls in the court, and that’s all you have to do.’ But then, she’s an amazing player, injuries or no injuries. So that’s not good enough,” said Navarro, who was born in New York, grew up in South Carolina and won the 2021 NCAA championship for the University of Virginia. “And then you trick yourself into taking too much off the ball and not playing the way you want to play. Not an easy challenge, for sure.”
Still, she managed to break right back to 3-all, before Navarro broke yet again and then held to lead 5-3. Two games later, it was over.
“I was able to serve a bit better and gained a little bit of traction on my return games, and from the ground, just played a little bit stronger,” said Navarro, 24, who will meet No. 7 Mirra Andreeva, an 18-year-old Russian, on Monday for a quarterfinal berth. “I like to play scrappy, so I was able to play a few more scrappy points, get a few more balls back in the court.”
Most points were decided by what Krejcikova did. That’s how she ended up with 34 winners — 21 more than Navarro — and 53 unforced errors. Remarkably, Navarro finished with just 11 unforced errors.
Whoever ends up winning the women’s title on July 12 will be the ninth champion in the past nine editions of the grass-court Grand Slam tournament. Serena Williams was the last repeat champ in 2016.
The trophy-takers since then have been Garbiñe Muguruza in 2017, Angelique Kerber in 2018, Simona Halep in 2019, Ash Barty in 2021 — all of whom are now retired — Elena Rybakina in 2022, Marketa Vondrousova in 2023 and then Krejcikova. Rybakina also lost Saturday, while Vondrousova exited in the second round.
Last year’s triumph was the second at a major tournament for Krejcikova, who also won the 2021 French Open and was the No. 17 seed at Wimbledon this year.
This has been a fortnight filled with surprises, and Navarro is one of four top-10 seeds left in the women’s bracket. The others are No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who won her third-round match Friday against Emma Raducanu, and No. 7 Mirra Andreeva and No. 8 Iga Swiatek, who both won Saturday.
Bronny James stood with his back to the wall with both hands buried in his workout shorts, his practice with the Lakers summer league team complete, his voice sounding more confident now that he’s entering his second season in the NBA.
He had to endure the outsized pressure and criticism of playing last season with his superstar father, LeBron James, a season in which Bronny and his dad made history by becoming the first father-son duo to play together in an NBA game.
Now, Bronny is more assured about his talents and he’ll get to showcase what he’s worked on when the Lakers play the Golden State Warriors in the California Classic on Saturday in San Francisco.
The Lakers will play three games there and then head to Las Vegas for the NBA Summer League.
That is where the most anticipated summer game could take place because the Lakers open the action against Cooper Flagg, the No. 1 overall pick in the June draft, and the Dallas Mavericks on July 10.
Like all last season, James knows a lot of people will pay attention to that game — to him, still, and to Flagg.
“Last year it was a crazy environment for me to step in and produce right off the rip, like being nervous too,” Bronny said. “So, I feel like this year, I’ll be able to go out and play freely and know what I’m gonna go out and do for me and my teammates. So, yeah, I’m just really excited to be able to play nervous-free.”
Dalton Knecht got some extra shots up after practice Wednesday, his stroke looking just as impressive as it did last season when he shot 37.6% from three-point range during his rookie season with the Lakers.
Knecht, too, is especially looking forward to playing in Las Vegas.
“Vegas, I mean, I feel like all of us didn’t care who we played [last summer],” Knecht said. “It was just go out there and play. Our fans always show up. We go out there all the time and it’s pretty much Laker fans that sell out that arena and show us so much love. We’re just trying to go out there and try to put on a show no matter who we are playing.”
Lakers rookie Adou Thiero, their second-round pick (36th overall) out of Arkansas whom they acquired in a trade with the Timberwolves, is dealing with a left knee injury and will not play this summer. The Lakers said Thiero is in the final stages of his return to play and expected to be fully cleared for training camp.
For James, one year of playing in the NBA has made a difference as he approaches this summer.
He appeared in 27 games last season, starting once, and averaged 2.3 points per game on 31.3% shooting, 28.1% from three-point range.
“Yeah, it’s definitely some more excitement than nervousness, for sure,” James said. “I’m just ready to go out there and play and be better than I was the last time I was playing. Just having that mindset of being ready to play and ready for whatever’s thrown at me, no matter the role, what I gotta do on defense, offense, everything. Being a good teammate for my new summer league team, stuff like that.”
Besides skill work, James said his plan for the summer is to be in “elite condition” and to “be disruptive on the defensive end.”
“So that’s my main focus, probably why I’m getting a little leaner,” he said. “But I still got 215 [pounds] on me still. So, I’m just running a lot, getting a lot of conditioning in. And then just staying on top of my diet, eating healthy, being a professional. It’s just Year 2, so I gotta lock in on the things that I didn’t know before my rookie year and being better and excel with that. Yeah, my main focus is this year, or this summer, has been being in elite condition. That’s what I’ve been talking to my coaches about.”
Knecht played in 78 games last season, averaging 9.1 points over 19.2 minutes per game.
As the season progressed, Knecht said the game slowed down for him and that allowed him to improve.
When the Lakers were eliminated from the playoffs by the Timberwolves, Knecht said he went to work right away. In his eyes, there was no time to waste.
“Right after the [playoff] loss, I pretty much started right away. Didn’t take much time off,” he said. “So I was getting in the gym, starting at 6 a.m., going with the guys at 10 and then coming back later at night just to get as many shots as I can, just working on my game and my cuts.”
LONDON — Before Wimbledon began, Coco Gauff reflected on the significance of her breakthrough performance at the place six years ago — a run to the fourth round at age 15 — and what aspirations she harbored as she prepared to return.
“Even when I see videos of me during that time, it just doesn’t feel like it’s me. It felt like a dream. I’ll always have special memories from that run and, I guess, it definitely fueled the belief that I can be on tour and live out my dream,” she told The Associated Press.
“It’s something that always holds a special place in my heart. Obviously, I would love to win this tournament just for it to be like a full-circle moment,” she continued. “I feel like it would be like the start of the dream, and — I don’t want to say ‘the finish,’ because I obviously have a lot of career left, but — a full-circle type of situation.”
A week after that conversation, the No. 2-ranked Gauff was out of the bracket at the All England Club in the first round with a 7-6 (3), 6-1 loss to unseeded Dayana Yastremska at No. 1 Court on Tuesday night. Gauff was undone by serving troubles, including nine double-faults, and more than two dozen unforced errors in all, not to mention Yastremska’s hard, flat groundstrokes.
It was an abrupt, and mistake-filled, exit for Gauff, who so recently earned her second Grand Slam title — at the French Open via a three-set victory over No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final.
After Tuesday’s defeat, Gauff said, “I definitely was struggling in the locker room. I don’t like losing. The main thing I’m sure my team and everyone is going to tell me (is): ‘You did well at Roland-Garros. Don’t be so upset.’ Things like that.”
But as much as she’ll want to move on and focus on what’s to come, the 21-year-old American acknowledged as she dabbed away the tears welling in her eyes during her news conference that she felt “a little bit disappointed in how I showed up today.”
It’s instructive to remember — setting aside that captivating 2019 debut, which featured a victory over Venus Williams — that Wimbledon’s grass courts actually have produced Gauff’s least successful Grand Slam results.
Yastremska’s take? She said she considers Gauff “much better on clay court and hard court than on grass.”
This was the second time in the past three years that she was sent home in the opening round. She’s never been past the fourth round at the All England Club, whereas at every other major tournament, including the hard-court Australian Open, she’s at least reached the semifinals.
Her first Slam trophy arrived on the hard courts of the U.S. Open in 2023 when she was 19. She already was the 2022 runner-up on the red clay at the French Open before going one step better this time.
Sabalenka’s self-described “unprofessional” comments after last month’s title match in Paris became a real topic of conversation and, perhaps, a distraction. Gauff and Sabalenka sought to put it behind them — and tell fans they should, too — by filming TikTok videos together once they got to Wimbledon.
“I was a little bit overwhelmed with everything that came afterwards,” Gauff said, “so I didn’t feel like I had enough time to celebrate and also get back into it.”
It’s not easy to manage the tricky transition from the Roland-Garros clay to the Wimbledon grass. There’s a reason it’s been a decade since a woman won both in the same season — and a reason that woman was Serena Williams.
By the end of the night, Gauff was eager to look ahead to the upcoming North American hard-court circuit, culminating with a trip to New York in late August.
“I mean, obviously I’m not going to dwell on this too long, because I want to do well at the U.S. Open. Maybe losing here (in the) first round isn’t the worst thing in the world,” she said, “because I have time to reset.”
When Candace Parker was on the court, the Sparks were dominant. On the afternoon her jersey was retired, they had a chance to channel that energy — but the Sparks were anything but overpowering.
In a matchup between the two franchises Parker led to WNBA titles — the Sparks and Chicago Sky — her hometown team played spoiler, earning a 92-85 victory at Crypto.com Arena.
Angel Reese, the self-proclaimed queen of “Mebounds,” proved too much for L.A. to handle — for the second time in five days.
Reese finished with 16 rebounds, including four on the offensive glass. Her impact extended beyond the boards, with Reese adding 24 points and seven assists.
Entering the game, Sparks coach Lynne Roberts praised Reese as “elite,” underscoring her high motor and physicality, adding that the Sparks would need to be the aggressors to slow her down.
But they were out-hustled and out-muscled down the final stretch of the game.
“We just got to be tougher,” Roberts said. “Sustain runs, handle adversity, performance issues, bad calls — whatever.”
For the Sparks, it was a must-win game — not only to build on their recent 85–75 win over the Indiana Fever, but also to avoid spoiling Parker’s retirement celebration.
“We would have loved [to have won],” Roberts added. “I think we all wanted that win for her, so it’s disappointing — it’s kind of extra disappointing.”
Sparks guard Kelsey Plum (10) draws a foul while driving in front of Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese Sunday at Crytpo.com Arena.
(Jessie Alcheh / Associated Press)
While the Sparks (5-12) struggled against Reese for most of the game, forward Emma Cannon gave L.A. a surge off the bench. Undersized Cannon made life difficult for Reese during key stretches, drawing a technical foul during a tense third-quarter exchange in the post.
Cannon’s second-half performance briefly turned the tide. With the Sparks trailing by 12 — their largest deficit of the game — Cannon helped fuel a 24–5 run that put L.A. ahead 60–53. She finished with a season-high 15 points in four minutes.
But the Sky didn’t go away. By the end of the third, the Sparks led just 62–61 — and in the fourth, Chicago closed strong. Behind Reese, the Sky ballooned the lead back to double digits — 82–72 — too much for the Sparks to overcome.
“We have to learn how to finish games, and it’s not necessarily what the other team does,” Cannon said. “It’s just about us actually digging in and buying in and finishing it.”
A rally in the final minutes, led by Kelsey Plum, Azurá Stevens and Dearica Hamby, fell short.
Plum (22 points), Stevens (17 points) and Hamby (20 points) accounted for the bulk of the Sparks’ offense, combining for 59 of the team’s 85 points.
“It’s a choice when you’re hit with adversity or you lose, when you don’t perform the way you want to,” Roberts said on learning lessons from losses. “It’s a choice as to how you approach it, and there is no magic formula.”
Parker honored
The game was a tribute to Parker. At the arena entrance, fans were greeted by a purple and gold floral arrangement shaped like the No. 3. Video messages from Lakers legends, including Magic Johnson and Michael Cooper, played throughout the festivities.
Before Parker received a thunderous ovation as her No. 3 jersey was revealed in the rafters, she addressed the fans.
“They say athletes have two deaths — one being when your career ends — but I look at it as two lives,” Parker said during her halftime speech. “It’s never easy to put the ball down and move from your first love. That’s something I learned throughout my career here through basketball, and I’m going to carry it into the next phase of life.”
Former Sparks star Candace Parker waves while standing beside her family during her jersey retirement ceremony Sunday at Crypto.com Arena.
(Jessie Alcheh / Associated Press)
Before the game, she also reflected on the full-circle moment — standing in the same arena where she won her first WNBA championship, fittingly against her hometown team, the Chicago Sky. She won a title with the Sky in 2021 and will see her jersey retired by the franchise this August.
“Seeing the No. 3 in the rafters where I first picked up the ball, and where is home now, is incredible,” Parker said. “It’s about dreams and opportunity. … So I hope that that inspires those little girls out there.”
Her jersey is just the third retired in Sparks history, joining former teammate Leslie’s No. 9 and longtime general manager Penny Toler’s No. 11.
“When it was time for me to say goodbye, I knew when I handed the keys to Candace Parker,” said Leslie, who introduced Parker during the halftime jersey retirement ceremony. “She not only took the key to the building — but she ran with it.”
In 2000, whispers of a 13-year-old phenom from Naperville, Ill. — a Chicago suburb — began reverberating through the AAU circuit. Generational. Dominant. Striking. Perhaps the greatest women’s basketball prospect ever. Candace Parker’s name rang out far beyond her hometown.
Word soon reached every elite college basketball program in the country — from Durham, N.C., to College Park, Md., to Knoxville, Tenn. — each clamoring for her talents. Few truly stood a chance.
“Her game at such an early age was something I had never seen in person,” said Nikki Fargas, then an assistant coach at Tennessee. “To see her do it so young tells you a lot. … She was undeniable, and her presence was felt.”
Long before Parker’s illustrious professional career and her Sparks jersey retirement ceremony Sunday — three championships, two MVPs, rookie of the year, defensive player of the year, Finals MVP, two Olympic golds, seven All-Star nods and 10 All-WNBA selections — she was simply “Ace,” a sweatband-wearing, bob-cut sporting teenager set to graduate.
Fargas, who won a national title under legendary coach Pat Summitt, was Tennessee’s recruiting director in 2003 and was looking to make a splash with her first class. The moment she saw Parker in person, she was certain: Parker would be a Lady Vol.
By her senior year in high school, Parker had grown into a 6-foot-4 national player of the year and state champion.
Candace Parker was considered one of the top college recruits while at Naperville Central High in a suburb outside of Chicago.
(Anne Ryan / Associated Press)
Fargas attended all of Parker’s games at Naperville Central High, a nearly 1,100-mile round trip. She sat in the Redhawks’ gym bleachers, decked out in Tennessee orange while sending a not-so-subtle message, often with Summitt by her side.
Fargas made her final pitch clear and direct: Parker could become the greatest under Summitt.
Joining Rocky Top
On Nov. 11, 2003, at the start of her senior year, Parker committed to Tennessee live on ESPNews — the first women’s basketball player to commit on national TV. Parker later told ESPN, “I wanted to be a professional basketball player. I loved that Knoxville was centered around women’s basketball.”
“Candace is the most versatile 6-foot-3 player at this stage of her game that I’ve ever seen,” Summitt said in a Tennessee news release announcing Parker’s signing a letter of intent. “She can play every position on the floor, from point guard to post, … Truly a great inside-outside player. … The total package.”
Parker’s arrival sent a jolt through Rocky Top. At just 18, she brought weighty expectations — it was championship or bust. For several years, it had been bust for Tennessee, which hadn’t won a national title since the late ’90s.
After missing her freshman year because of a knee injury, Parker proved to be better than advertised, propelling the Lady Vols back onto the national stage.
“Even in college, not only did she dunk, but she was able to pass, able to shoot at her position, able to do things that bigs weren’t doing,” said Noelle Quinn, a former Southland prep star and head coach of the Seattle Storm. “It was easy for Candace. It was easy for that team.”
Tennessee coach Pat Summitt gives instructions to Candace Parker during the 2007 NCAA title game against Rutgers.
(Tony Dejak / Associated Press)
Quinn experienced the Summitt-Parker era firsthand. In 2006, she led UCLA into an early-season clash on the road against No. 1 Tennessee — the start of Parker’s first title run.
“It was an amazing environment to play in — a game I’ll never forget,” Quinn recalled. Parker and Quinn led their teams in scoring — Parker with 22 points, Quinn with 20. Tennessee’s dominance with Parker at the helm was clear, Quinn said.
At the height of the team’s back-to-back championship runs, Fargas said traveling with the Lady Vols “was like traveling with rock stars.” Summitt’s fearless approach — taking on anyone, anywhere — kept Tennessee in the spotlight, with Parker as the undisputed headliner.
“What we’re seeing right now with Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark — bringing awareness, getting people to watch and increasing attendance — Parker was doing that already,” Fargas said. “Fans would be lined up at our hotel. Our bus would pull up and there were the fans.”
By the end of her college career, Parker had accomplished everything — two-time AP player of the year, 2008 Naismith college player of the year, and most outstanding player during both national title runs — the last of which was Summitt’s final championship.
“She fits in at the top,” Fargas said of Parker’s place in program history. “When you talk about Lady Vols, Parker is maybe the first of the names people talk about. … She was different.”
Big L.A. dreams
Parker was arguably the WNBA’s most anticipated prospect — a franchise-altering talent. Yet one question loomed: Who would land her?
In 2006, the Sparks were in championship contention, reaching the conference finals with MVP Lisa Leslie. But when Leslie missed the following season on maternity leave, the team plummeted to 10–24 — tied for worst in the league.
With a 34.1% chance at the No. 1 pick, the pingpong balls bounced the Sparks’ way.
Candace Parker, left, and Lisa Leslie crack jokes as they check their height at a Sparks photo shoot in 2008.
(Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)
Questions swirled about how Parker and Leslie would coexist. Leslie says she never saw a problem — only potential. She called herself “Smooth” and Parker “Silk,” and welcomed the role of hardening the rookie, likening it to “having another baby.”
For a time, Leslie lived a few floors from Parker in the team’s player housing, keeping tabs on Parker’s habits. She’d make her oatmeal and slice up fruit because Parker “wouldn’t eat well,” gently pushing through rookie stubbornness toward authority, nudging her toward the weight room and stressing the importance of body maintenance.
The wisdom of one MVP — and the freedom granted by Sparks coach Michael Cooper — helped ignite the greatest rookie season in WNBA history. Parker captured both rookie of the year and MVP honors, joining an exclusive club with NBA legends Wilt Chamberlain and Wes Unseld.
“Candace always showed greatness,” Leslie said. “Each generation, we’ve done our part. You carry that torch as far as you can, and hand it off with grace.”
The torch was Parker’s to bear into the next decade. But nine seasons in, she was still chasing her first Finals appearance, let alone a championship. Years of coaching changes, early playoff exits and unmet expectations had left the franchise — and its star — without a title.
Brian Agler’s first year as Sparks head coach started rocky with a 3–14 record, as Parker sat out the first half of the 2015 season after playing overseas. As the losses mounted, Parker prepared for a return and called Agler to arrange a closed workout.
“I think she wanted to play into me as, ‘OK, I’m gonna come back and get ready,’” Agler said. “But in reality, she was sort of measuring me up.”
Agler believed it was a test to see whether she thought he was the right fit — if he could lead the team to a championship, just as he had done with the Seattle Storm in 2010.
Sparks forward Candace Parker drives past Lynx forward Rebekkah Brunson during a game in 2012.
(Stacy Bengs / Associated Press)
By the following season, with the pieces in play, contending for a championship seemed within reach. But the 2016 season wasn’t without turmoil for Parker. She was surprisingly left off the USA Olympic team, faced marital strife and mourned the loss of Summitt, who died of complications from Alzheimer’s.
On the court, Parker remained a force, and helped foster the rise of one of the league’s best — former No. 1 overall pick and MVP Nneka Ogwumike. Like Leslie had done for her, Parker took Ogwumike under her wing.
“For the most part, I was someone who paid attention to what vets did, and I spent a lot of time watching what she did,” Ogwumike said of Parker. “She helped me understand [the game] from a different lens, from a more advanced perspective coming in from college. We were able to develop some great chemistry.”
Agler said their connection “was as special as I’ve seen,” adding that Ogwumike “probably understood Candace better than most anybody.”
In Parker’s first WNBA Finals, she led the Sparks through a dramatic series against the Lynx, capped by a 28-point and 12-rebound performance in Game 5 to secure the title and Finals MVP.
Through tears, she found the only words she could muster: “This is for Pat.”
“I’m sure it [the pressure] was there for her,” Agler said. “I just remember when we won, how happy she was. She almost collapsed on the floor with joy. … That’s really the only time I’ve seen her that way in a public setting.”
Soon after the championship run, a divide grew between Parker and the organization. In her new book, “The Can-do Mindset,” Parker reflects on strained relationships with the front office, a carousel of head coaches and a growing distrust that ultimately fractured her relationship with the Sparks.
“The culture was toxic, and whether I wanted to admit it or not, I was a part of that culture and had been absorbed in that toxicity,” Parker wrote in her book, referring to the breakup. “I had to admit to myself that I didn’t like who I’d become in my years with the Sparks. It takes two to tango. So though I didn’t create the culture, I was still at fault in my own way.”
Chasing more titles and ownership
Candace Parker, center right, celebrates with Chicago Sky teammates after winning the 2021 WNBA title.
(Paul Beaty / Associated Press)
After 13 years, Parker decided to leave the Sparks. It’s a move Leslie called “unfortunate,” adding she had “no idea how they let her get away.” But Parker announced she was ready to find “a sense of peace,” signing with the Chicago Sky — moving as close to her native Naperville as possible.
During free agency, Parker called Azurá Stevens, who had just wrapped her first season with the Sky. Curious about the team and open to a fresh start, Parker asked about Stevens’ experience. Stevens still describes the conversation as “surreal,” thrilled by the idea of sharing the court with her childhood idol.
Growing up, Stevens — now the Sparks’ starting forward — modeled her game after Parker. Standing 6-foot-6, she admired Parker’s versatility and poise, and now, the two would be teammates in the same starting lineup.
“We had an up-and-down year and went through a lot that season,” Stevens recalls of the team finishing .500. “Candace definitely led the way. … A strong veteran presence for us to keep us level-headed. And once we got to the playoffs, we flipped the switch.”
Seattle Storm guard Lexie Brown — like Stevens — followed Parker’s career. Finally playing alongside her in Chicago, what stood out wasn’t just Parker’s talent, but her relentless devotion while juggling motherhood, a broadcasting career and a championship run. “I remember watching her on TNT the night before, and she’d pull up to practice with some of her makeup still on,” Brown said. “She was really dedicated to helping us win. That was a special season for me.”
In the twilight of her career, Parker still showed flashes of the once baby-haired assassin who shook up the WNBA.
“It was a homecoming for the whole year,” Stevens said of Parker’s move to Chicago. “Being able to go back home and then bring a franchise its first championship is really special. The city really showed out for her.”
After two seasons in Chicago, Parker decided to reunite with Fargas — the coach who recruited Parker to Tennessee and eventually became president of the Las Vegas Aces.
With a championship pedigree and legacy to match, Parker’s new role was no longer the star but the connector. Her signing was meant to elevate A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young — all former No. 1 picks — to their fullest potential.
“She brought a calmness to our team,” Fargas said. “We already had a high-powered offense. … But having her on our team definitely helped raise and bring a championship culture.”
Candace Parker won her third WNBA championship with the Las Vegas Aces in 2023.
(Lindsey Wasson / Associated Press)
The outcome? A third championship with a third different team — another WNBA first.
But the victory came with a bittersweet edge. An ankle injury sidelined Parker for much of the season. “She did everything in her power to get back to us. … I know that was very difficult for her,” Fargas said.
With wear and tear piling up, Parker announced her retirement — opening with a borrowed line from a Jay-Z verse on the track “Dear Summer”:
“Dear Summer, I know you gon’ miss me …”
“I love his lyrics, but I love how he’s redefined what rappers are capable of,” Parker said of Jay-Z during an interview with ESPNW in 2023. “That’s what I hope to do for women’s basketball players. … I want to be that business leader, that business mind.”
Soon after retiring, Parker joined an investment group aiming to bring a WNBA franchise to Tennessee. Billionaire and former Gov. Bill Haslam — now chairman of the NHL’s Nashville Predators — and his wife, Crissy, led the Nashville-based bid. They’ve assembled a star-studded roster that includes Parker, Pro Football Hall of Famer Peyton Manning and country music icons Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.
“When I called her the first time, I said, ‘Candace, we’d love you to be involved, and we don’t just want your name,’” Haslam recalled. “She was really quick to say, ‘Well, that’s great, because that’s the only way I would be involved.’”
With the WNBA set to expand to 16 teams by 2028, the group submitted its formal bid in January. The group proposes calling the team Tennessee Summitt.
“To see Candace join an ownership group — why not?” Fargas said. “Why aren’t there more opportunities for the players who helped shape this league? Why aren’t there those opportunities to allow them to not only play the game, but also invest in it?”
LAS VEGAS — Ilia Topuria continued his ascension up the pound-for-pound ladder with a major statement via a vicious first-round knockout of Charles Oliveira to win the vacant lightweight championship Saturday night at UFC 317.
Topuria used a sharp right hand to set up a devastating left hook that dropped Oliveira to end the bout at the 2:27 mark of the opening round, fulfilling his prediction of a first-round KO while sending the announced crowd of 19,800 into a frenzy.
“I always say I represent the new generation of mixed martial arts,” said Topuria, who closed a -400 favorite at BetMGM sportsbook.
Topuria (17-0), who now has 10 first-round finishes to his credit, moved up to the 155-pound weight class following a successful campaign in the featherweight division last year. He claimed that belt with a second-round knockout of Alexander Volkanovski and defended his title by finishing Max Holloway in the third round of an October bout in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Topuria, who came in ranked fourth on UFC’s pound-for-pound list, joined nine others who have held a UFC belt in two weight classes. He is the first undefeated fighter to become champion in two UFC divisions.
“I think tonight was his big night,” UFC CEO and president Dana White said. “We have a star on our hands.”
Oliveira (35-11), who has the most finishes in UFC history, was hoping to become the first fighter to win the lightweight belt on separate occasions.
Fellow lightweight Paddy Pimblett was in the audience and summoned to the ring, where a heated exchange led to Topuria shoving the eighth-ranked contender and igniting a rivalry from years ago.
“If you’re ready, I’m here,” Topuria shouted to Pimblett before he entered the ring.
White wasn’t happy with Pimblett getting in the ring, knowing the history of bad blood between the two.
The two have been at odds for some time, after they came to blows when Pimblett threw a bottle of hand sanitizer at Topuria’s head in 2022.
“That was a heavy knockout, I’ll give you that,” Pimblett said to Topuria. “But you will never knock me out.”
Replied Topuria: “I’m going to submit you.”
In the co-main event, flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja (30-5) successfully defended his belt by applying a rear-naked chokehold to defeat Kai Kara-France (25-12) at the 1:55 mark of the third round.
It marked the second time the fighters met, nine years after their quarterfinal clash on the reality show “The Ultimate Fighter,” also won by Pantoja, but by unanimous decision.
Pantoja, who closed a -250 favorite and extended his win streak to eight fights, won the title two years ago when he beat Brandon Moreno by decision, and has now defended his title successfully four times.
Ilia Topuria celebrates after defeating Charles Oliveira in a lightweight title fight at UFC 317 Saturday in Las Vegas.
(John Locher / Associated Press)
The 35-year-old Brazilian was joined in the ring after his victory by No. 12 Joshua Van, who put on a show of his own.
Van (15-2-0) defeated No. 1 contender Brandon Royval (17-8-0) in a slugfest in which both fighters displayed incredible boxing skills. Van, who closed a -120 favorite, used an overhand right to drop Royval before closing out the bout with a severe ground-and-pound to secure the unanimous decision.
The 419 combined significant strikes landed were the third most in a UFC fight, and the most in both a three-round bout and a featherweight clash.
Moments after Pantoja’s win, Van challenged Pantoja with both standing nose to nose before exiting the octagon.
Other matches from the main card:
In a lightweight bout, No. 9 Beneil Dariush (23-6-1) survived a first-round knockdown to defeat No. 11 Renato Moicano (20-7-1) via unanimous decision.
In a bantamweight battle, Payton Talbott (10-1-0) used a much-improved ground game to register a unanimous decision over Felipe Lima (14-2-0).
The Lakers were busy making moves Thursday, doing all they could to move up in the second round of the NBA draft.
Moving up to No. 36 in the draft with their second trade of the day, the Lakers acquired Adou Thiero out of Arkansas.
To get what many with the Lakers and around the NBA view as a “super athletic wing” in the 6-foot-6 Thiero, the Lakers first traded their 55th pick and about $2.5 million in cash to the Chicago Bulls for their 45th pick. Then the Lakers sent that No. 45 pick and cash considerations to the Minnesota Timberwolves to acquire the rights to Thiero (originally selected by the Brooklyn Nets), according to a person with knowledge of the deal not authorized to speak publicly.
The deal will be finalized at a later date.
Thiero averaged 15.1 points on 54.5% shooting from the field and 5.8 rebounds last season for the Razorbacks.
He needs to improve his shooting, as do many second-round wing players, but the Lakers think Thiero will improve on that over time.
Adou Thiero speaks on the phone after being acquired by the Lakers at the NBA draft on Thursday.
(Jeff Haynes / NBAE via Getty Images)
The Lakers and other NBA scouts compare the 220-pound Thiero to Knicks forward OG Anunoby, a three-and-D player that L.A.’s scouts thought might be drafted in the first round.
Though the Lakers are in need of a center, they also need athleticism at the wing to play alongside Luka Doncic, and Thiero helps address that need.
One scout said Thiero is athletic and will “catch lob passes” from Doncic.
“It feels good. A dream come true,” Thiero said. “Just happy to be here. Playing for the Lakers, too, that’s a blessing for sure.”
When asked about the Lakers’ roster, Thiero said: “LeBron! It’s going to be fun learning from everybody. But you got Bron, you got Luka, AR (Austin Reaves). It’s a lot of people on that team. I’m just ready to get with the guys and work.”
And the Lakers were happy to go from No. 55 to No. 36 and not give up future assets to draft Thiero. The Lakers didn’t have a first-round pick in Wednesday night’s draft.
People around the league said the Lakers had their eye on Ryan Kalkbrenner out of Creighton, but the 7-foot-1 center didn’t last on the board long, going to the Charlotte Hornets at No. 34.
In other Lakers news, Austin Reaves declined the team’s maximum offer of four years for $89 million, according to a person with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly.
Reaves, 27, still has two years left on his deal, for $13.9 million next season and $14.9 million in the 2026-27 season, and he holds a player option for the last year of his deal.
He was third on the Lakers in scoring last season, averaging career-highs in scoring (20.2), assists (5.8), rebounds (4.5) and minutes per game (34.9). He shot 46% from the field and 37.7% from three-point range.
Clippers move up to get Kobe Sanders
Nevada’s Kobe Sanders shoots a free throw during a game against Colorado State in December.
(Andrew Wevers / Getty Images)
The Knicks drafted guard Kobe Sanders out of Nevada at No. 50 and traded him to the Clippers for Mohamed Diawara, the No. 51 pick.
Sanders, 23, is a 6-9 wing player who averaged 15.8 points per game last season.
The Clippers chose Penn State center Yanic Konan Niederhauser with the 30th and final pick in the first round on Wednesday.
The most pressing need the Lakers have is finding a rim-running, shot-blocking young center to put alongside Luka Doncic for the present and future.
But the Lakers don’t have a first-round pick to use in Wednesday night’s NBA draft, and when they do make their choice in the second round at No. 55 on Thursday night in the two-day event, that’s probably not where they are going to find that sort of talent.
So, the Lakers will look for the proverbial “best player available” and look to develop him and most likely have him play for the South Bay Lakers, their G League team.
The big news for the Lakers will be the contract status of Doncic, LeBron James, Austin Reaves and Dorian Finney-Smith.
The Clippers, on the other hand, have the last pick in the first round of the draft, at No. 30. They also have the 51st overall pick in the second round.
And they too will be looking for the best player available with those selections.
With the unlikelihood of the draft providing them a rotation player, the Lakers will continue to build their team in other ways, from free agency to trades.
James, 40, has a player option for next season at $52.6 million and he has to let the Lakers know of his decision by June 29. He can opt-in to his deal with an extension or opt-out and sign a new contract.
James averaged 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 8.2 assists and shot 51.3% from the field per game last season, and he was named to the All-NBA second team.
Doncic can sign an extension with the Lakers starting on Aug. 2. He will earn $45.9 million next season and $48.9 million for the 2026-27 season if he exercises his option.
He can sign a four-year extension for $229 million, with the $51-million first-year of that deal replacing his player option from 2026-27. Or Doncic could sign a three-year extension for $165 million, and that would include a player option for the third season.
Reaves is eligible to sign an extension off his $13.9-million salary for next season starting July 6. Reaves can sign a four-year deal for $89.2 million.
Finney-Smith has a player option that will pay him $15.3 million, and he too is looking for an extension.
Lawrence Frank, the president of basketball operations for the Clippers, talked in May about the team’s needs in the draft.
Frank said the Clippers could use some frontcourt help, a playmaker and some shooting.
Several NBA mock drafts have the Clippers taking Noah Penda at No. 30. He’s a 6-foot-8 forward from France. Penda, 20, played last season at Le Mans, where he averaged 10.9 points and 6.1 rebounds.
“In the draft, typically you’re always going for the best available, especially if it’s a younger player,” Frank told the media in May after the team had been eliminated from the first round of the playoffs by the Denver Nuggets. “Because by the time that player hits his prime, our team will be completely different. … So, you are drafting best available, but we have certain characteristics that we really prioritize.
“Positional size is important to us. Basketball IQ and processing is important to us. The ability to pass, dribble and shoot is important to us. And then the DNA, the makeup, the toughness, the competitiveness, examples of where they are really shown resiliency, grit. So, there’s a lot of things into it, but those typically are kind of in general of how we look at it.”
Clippers veterans James Harden, Nicolas Batum and Norman Powell also have contract decisions to make.
Harden has a player option for $36.3 million and he has to inform the Clippers of his decision by June 29. The consensus around the NBA is that Harden will opt out and seek a two-year extension from the Clippers.
Harden, 35, who averaged 22.8 points, 8.7 assists and 5.8 rebounds, made the All-Star team and was All-NBA third team.
Batum, a favorite of his teammates and Clippers coach Tyronn Lue, has a player option for next season that pays him $4.9 million and he has to let the team know by June 29 of his decision.
Powell, 32, has one more year on his deal that pays him $20.4 million next season. Powell, who averaged a career-high 21.8 points per game, also is likely looking for an extension.
