Sports

8:00 AM ET Andrew LopezESPN ORLANDO, FLA. — PAOLO BANCHERO was only five years old when the SuperSonics left his hometown of Seattle to become the Oklahoma City Thunder. Still, despite growing up in a city without an NBA team, Banchero was raised by the NBA. Long before the Orlando Magic made Banchero the No.

Dec 17, 2022 ESPN staff Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin has scored goal No. 800 — reaching the feat with a hat trick against the Chicago Blackhawks on Dec. 13, the 29th of his career. Go inside Ovechkin’s journey to 800 — and what comes next — with our Ovechkin 800 project, narrated by Emily

8:00 AM ET JERRY KILL CONSIDERS himself something of a Mr. Fix-It for programs in need of a serious overhaul, the college football equivalent of an HGTV host who must convince an overwhelmed couple that the crumbling mess they just took out a mortgage to buy can, with a little hard work and the right

Dec 17, 2022 Bradford Doolittle Close ESPN Staff Writer Sports reporter, Kansas City Star, 2002-09 Writer, Baseball, Baseball Prospectus Co-author, Pro Basketball Prospectus Member, Baseball Writers Association of America Member, Professional Basketball Writers Association David Schoenfield Close ESPN Senior Writer Covers MLB for ESPN.com Former deputy editor of Page 2 Been with ESPN.com since 1995

Dec 18, 2022 ESPN News Services MELBOURNE, Australia — Venus Williams has been awarded a wild-card entry to play at the Australian Open next month, 25 years after she played the Grand Slam tournament for the first time. The 42-year-old Williams has reached the final twice in Australia, including a loss to her younger sister,

Goals 0 Shots 0 0 Shots on Target Fouls Committed 0 0 Fouls Against Assists 0 Offsides 0 Discipline 0 Yellow 0 Red Goals 0 Shots 0 0 Shots on Target Fouls Committed 0 0 Fouls Against Assists 0 Offsides 0 Discipline 0 Yellow 0 Red Saves 0 Shots 0 0 Shots on Target Fouls

3:44 PM GMT England’s Rugby Football Union (RFU) on Friday approved the application by a bidder for the planned takeover of Wasps but rejected another for Worcester Warriors after an assessment by the governing body’s Club Financial Viability Group. Financially-hit Wasps and Worcester have both been suspended for going into administration and will drop from

9:30 AM ET Ryan Hockensmith Close Ryan Hockensmith is a Penn State graduate who joined ESPN in 2001. He is a survivor of bacterial meningitis, which caused him to have multiple amputation surgeries on his feet. He is a proud advocate for those with disabilities and addiction issues. He covers everything from the NFL and

Dec 15, 2022 Associated Press SANDUSKY, Ohio — Hailie Deegan will drive full time in the NASCAR Truck series next season with ThorSport Racing. ThorSport formally added Deegan to its driver lineup Thursday as it announced a manufacturer move from Toyota to Ford. Deegan, a 21-year-old California native, will race in the Truck series for

Dec 15, 2022 Associated Press LONDON — Iga Swiatek and Rafael Nadal were honored by the International Tennis Federation as its 2022 ITF World Champions on Thursday after each claimed two Grand Slam titles this season. The ITF determines its awards based on criteria that include all events and give special weight to the four

Dec 14, 2022 December 14, 1947 was a Sunday afternoon. Yes, most of the men who gathered in Daytona Beach, Fla. on that chilly, gray day were dressed in suits. But no, it was not a church service. Far from it. There was entirely too much brown liquor on the table and cigar smoke in

8:00 AM ET Picture this: Zion Williamson vs. Ja Morant in this year’s Western Conference finals. The New Orleans Pelicans and Memphis Grizzlies look capable of bringing that showdown to NBA audiences this year with their recent surge to the top of the West standings. Then again, just a few weeks ago, some were quivering

7:56 AM ET British No. 1 Emma Raducanu branded comments about her as untrue as she said the attention she has received after her meteoric rise in tennis has been “intense.” Raducanu, who received an MBE award from King Charles for her services to tennis, broke onto the scene with an impressive Wimbledon campaign in

1:54 PM ET TEMPE, Ariz. — Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL, coach Kliff Kingsbury said Tuesday afternoon. Murray went down in Monday night’s 27-13 loss to the New England Patriots after a 3-yard run on the third play of the game. He was carted off

8:59 AM ET ESPN News Services Mississippi State football coach Mike Leach died Monday night after complications related to a heart condition, the school announced. He was 61. Leach’s family said, in a statement released Tuesday by the school, that Leach participated in organ donation at the University of Mississippi Medical Center as “a final

Dec 13, 2022 Mike CoppingerESPN Naoya Inoue, ESPN’s No. 2 pound-for-pound boxer, has proved peerless through 24 fights as he cruised to another inside-the-distance victory on Tuesday in Tokyo. Paul Butler was no match. He really wasn’t ever expected to be. The Englishman was simply there to hand over his WBO belt to Inoue, who

Dec 12, 2022 Associated Press Tony Stewart‘s Superstar Racing Experience is moving to ESPN and a new night as the network plans to use the all-star summer racing series to revitalize its “Thursday Night Thunder.” ESPN said Monday it signed a multiyear agreement with Superstar Racing Experience that begins in July. SRX will air on

7:00 AM ET The return of the MLB winter meetings meant the opportunity to speak to all 30 managers in the same room for the first time since 2019. Not wanting to let an opportunity like that slip by, we asked the skippers for their take on baseball’s new rules debuting next season — the

6:45 AM ET None of this was planned. It just sort of happened, as bromances often do. Boston Bruins goaltenders Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark would celebrate winning mini-games in practice by hugging it out. They never really talked about it because it just felt natural. So imagine Swayman’s surprise when he won last season’s

Dec 10, 2022 It might not have been as compelling as some had hoped, but at least golf fans got to watch Tiger Woods on a golf course — under the lights on a Saturday night, no less. Get exclusive access to more than 3,000 premium articles a year from top writers.• Schoenfield: Are the