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New York Times
26-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
New stars appear in NBA, MLB
The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic's daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox. Good morning! Please wish my father a happy birthday today. Happy birthday, Dad. Today we focus on two drafts, one that happened last night and one set to occur in just three weeks. Let's start with last night's first round of the NBA Draft, where saw a new star born and a bunch of other question marks take shape: The biggest flop? My New Orleans Pelicans, already in dire straits, trading next year's first-round pick unprotected to Atlanta in order to trade up for Maryland's Derik Queen at No. 13. That pick could be No. 1 next year, and they let it go for the No. 13 pick in this year's draft. Unreal stuff. See every pick here. Let's hope we see some of these guys in Las Vegas at summer league. Misiorowski outshines Skenes In one of the most anticipated pitching matchups of the MLB season, Brewers rookie Jacob Misiorowski dazzled while Pirates ace Paul Skenes faltered in a 4-2 Milwaukee win. Misiorowski struck out eight in five scoreless innings, while Skenes allowed all four runs in just four innings of work. In 16 innings pitched this year, Misiorowski has 19 strikeouts to just seven walks and two earned runs. Lord. Eno Sarris broke down why Misiorowski is so hard to hit. Advertisement Oilers jettison Kane Edmonton traded Evander Kane to Vancouver for a 2025 fourth-round pick, both teams announced yesterday, in what could set off a flurry of offseason moves for the Stanley Cup runners up. In truth, Edmonton desperately needed to get off Kane's contract and, somehow, retained none of Kane's salary in this deal. For that, the Oilers get high marks in our trade grades. More news 📫 Love The Pulse? Check out our other newsletters. We've talked tangentially about how much baseball's minor-league development system, paired with collegiate NIL funds, has altered how young players make career choices. What was once an easier decision — opting for the minors right out of high school — is now more balanced, with fewer minor-league franchises to play for and the opportunity to make legit money in college. It's easy to see the corresponding effect in the majors. Yesterday, we wrote about Chase Burns' debut in Cincinnati, which came a little over a year after he was pitching at Wake Forest. Same goes for his college teammate Rhett Lowder, Skenes, Dylan Crews, Jac Caglianone, Nick Kurtz and so on. So … who's next? Keith Law, who's written plenty on this overall theme, picked a few names from next month's MLB Draft class that could earn a major-league roster spot sooner than you think. Two that stood out to me: See the full list here, which includes two LSU Tigers. Harrumph. 📺 CWC: Juventus vs. Manchester City 3 p.m. ET on TNT/DAZN Two titans of this competition finally clash, though both are set to advance to the knockout rounds no matter the result. It should be a fantastic match, and playing on a June afternoon in Orlando will make it even harder on the players. Tune in. 📺 MLB: Braves at Mets 7:10 p.m. ET on MLB Network New York has had an abysmal stretch, but I'm most curious about Atlanta, which has the talent makeup of a title contender but has played to a frustrating standstill just below .500. Baseball season is long, but why does it already feel over for the Braves? Get tickets to games like these here. Come for the Arch Manning content, stay for Cooper and Ellen's parenting tips. Bruce Feldman scored an exclusive interview with Arch's parents, who prepared him for this exact moment. Great story. Mike Jones picked his NFL offseason winners and losers. The Raiders! The MLB trade deadline creeps ever closer. We have full buyer/seller tiers here. Fascinated to see what the Orioles do. Advertisement To drill down further: The Cubs might have the most pressure at the deadline, because the clock is ticking on Kyle Tucker. Ken Rosenthal analyzed a thorny situation. The summer transfer window is set to open July 1, and as Paul Tenorio detailed, multiple USMNT players could be on the move. Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Sam Vecenie's NBA mock draft. Most-read on the website yesterday: NBA Draft live blog. Big day.
New York Times
18-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
The Panthers start a dynasty, and Caitlin Clark gets in a fight
The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic's daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox. Good morning! Hug a Boston sports fan today? There was no comeback. No best Stanley Cup Final ever, no dream realized of finally taking a title back to Canada. That is how good the Florida Panthers are, an unstoppably demoralizing force of nature. For it, they now reign as back-to-back Stanley Cup champions. Seeing Marchand lift the cup on the same night Rafael Devers suited up for the Giants has to be tough for Boston sports fans. More on that in a bit. With the win, Florida teams now have won four of the last six Stanley Cup titles, just as the hockey gods intended. Is this Panthers team a dynasty? Not by the literal definition, but they are just the third repeat champions of the salary-cap era. That counts for something. Let's keep moving: Caitlin Clark, darling of the WNBA, is not afraid of chirping back. We've seen her get in multiple tiffs during her young career, but last night's fracas against Connecticut could be the spiciest. Let's watch the highlight first: The Fever and Sun got into a scuffle after Caitlin Clark was poked in the eye by Jacy Sheldon. Afterwards, Marina Mabrey shoved Clark. Clark, Mabrey and Tina Charles were called for technicals. Sheldon received a flagrant. 🎥 @NBATV | H/T @nosyone4 — The Athletic WBB (@TheAthleticWBB) June 18, 2025 Yowza. Clark scored 20 points in the win, while Sheldon and Mabrey combined for eight points and were a cumulative minus-38. Welp. Read our full report from the scene. Devers: I'll play anywhere In his introductory Giants news conference yesterday, Rafael Devers said he is open to playing multiple positions with his new club, which is sure to enrage Red Sox fans. Boston traded Devers on Sunday after a rift between player and club, which predominantly centered around Devers' refusal to play first base. To twist the knife more, the Giants have asked Devers to start taking grounders at first — and he's game, apparently. Read his full comments here. Advertisement Haliburton pushing to play Despite what appears to be a serious calf strain, Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton wants to play in a do-or-die Game 6, a source told The Athletic. Haliburton, a superstar in these playoffs, was clearly hobbled by the injury in a lackluster Game 5 performance, and it's already leading to what-if questions for the Pacers about this finals run. Vegas has already accounted for Haliburton's injury, too. Monahan to be phased out Despite earlier reports, Jay Monahan's time as PGA Tour commissioner will indeed be coming to a close at the end of next year, making way for new CEO Brian Rolapp, who was officially introduced to players yesterday. Rolapp will take over day-to-day duties this summer from Monahan, who will turn his focus to bigger-picture items. Gabby Herzig was there at Rolapp's first news conference yesterday, and I was tickled to learn Rolapp only plays five to 10 rounds of golf per year. Read her full report here. More news 📫 Love The Pulse? Check out our other newsletters. We'll be quick here. This serves as both a legitimate point of conversation and a tease for what we'll be writing tomorrow, which focuses on the men's Club World Cup. It started this week, by the way, though you may have missed it. Which is kind of the point — do we care about the CWC? We'll separate this into three camps: Vote here. We'll fold the results into the newsletter tomorrow. 📺 MLB: Angels at Yankees 7:05 p.m. ET on Prime Video Normally this would not be on alert for me, but the Angels have secured at least a split of this four-game series and are just two games under .500. Aaron Judge, meanwhile, has one hit in his last four games and the Yanks have lost five straight. Hm. 📺 MCWS: LSU vs. Arkansas 7 p.m. ET on ESPN Pray for my sanity tonight, as my Tigers once again face Arkansas with a trip to the Men's College World Series finals on the line. Root for them with me? Thanks. Catch up with all our MCWS stuff on the live blog. Get tickets to games like these here. There are niche things one thinks about more often than they should. One of mine is the 2018 Nigerian World Cup kit, which I still see out and about today. There's a reason for that: it was a cultural phenomenon the moment it was released online. We have the inside story of how it happened. By name recognition alone, Michigan freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood is a star. Austin Meek talked to five high school coaches who faced Underwood last year to get a full scouting report. Advertisement Jim Bowden has six deals he'd like to see before the MLB trade deadline, including an interesting Sandy Alcantara swap. Cristiano Ronaldo paints his toenails black. Why? Brooks Peck did the job we all dream of: ranking new MLB concession items across the country. Give me a trident's worth of Dr. Pepper, please. Our writers reviewed the F1 movie called 'F1: The Movie.' It was … fine. Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Brendan Quinn's affecting story on Adam Scott, who saw what might be his last chance at a second major roll away Sunday. Most-read on the website yesterday: Aryna Sabalenka's follow-up apology about her comments following the loss to Coco Gauff in the French Open final.
New York Times
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Carolina avoids further infamy, and a CFP battle heats up
The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic's daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox. Good morning! Don't throw your college pitcher too long today. Finally, for a night, there is peace in Carolina. A 3-1 series deficit isn't ideal, sure, but gone are the Hurricanes from a strange, ignominious place in the sports world — losing 15 straight conference final games. Quickly: Now comes the harder part: doing it again, especially against a Panthers team that has steamrolled everyone in front of it during this postseason run. Game 5 is tomorrow. Big playoff night tonight, too. More on that in a bit. Let's keep moving: Osaka, Fritz lose Naomi Osaka and Taylor Fritz, two of the biggest names in the French Open, are already heading home after first-round defeats yesterday. Osaka fell to No. 10 seed Paula Badosa in a loss that left her near tears. Fritz, the world No. 4 and top American men's seed in this tourney, came up short against Germany's Daniel Altmaier. Fritz has already had a great year, but clay isn't his best surface. Advertisement Fight over CFP intensifies The fabric of college football is changing by the day, as the College Football Playoff — freshly expanded to 12 teams this past year — could move to 14 or even 16 in the near future, and the power conferences continue to squabble over the overall number of teams and automatic bids assigned to each conference. From the outside, it appears a 14-team format would mostly benefit the Big Ten and SEC, while 16 teams could even odds a bit. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said yesterday his members are intrigued by a 16-team format. It's a mess. Clark out 2 weeks Caitlin Clark suffered a strained quadriceps and will miss at least two weeks, the Fever announced yesterday. It's tough for Clark, an MVP favorite, and Indiana, who most expect to make the playoffs this year. If she misses the prescribed two weeks, it'll only be four games lost, though. Stay tuned. More news 📫 Love The Pulse? Check out our other newsletters. As the NBA and NHL playoffs inch closer to a conclusion, the summer's most prominent sport — baseball — continues a slow burn in the background. I want to talk about two things (three players, really), based on our fresh Power Rankings published this morning: Baseball season is incredibly long, yes, but barring unforeseen circumstances I suspect we'll be talking about all three of these guys in September. See the full Power Rankings here. Almost finished: 📺 NBA: Knicks at Pacers 8 p.m. ET on TNT/Max I mean, yes. This has been an incredible series. I have no idea what will happen. Just don't turn it off if someone goes up by 20. Huge news, too: Tyrese Haliburton's dad will be allowed in the building. 📺 NHL: Stars at Oilers 8 p.m. ET on ESPN Another great series! Edmonton appears in control here, but that's more of a gut feeling than anything. Or maybe it's because Connor McDavid is scoring again. Get tickets to games like these here. Keith Law penned a fiery, must-read column on a new problem emerging in the baseball ecosystem: College coaches cannot be trusted with their pitchers' arms. Read it here. Jaelan Phillips was going to be a superstar in the NFL. Then he missed most of the last two seasons with injuries. How did he cope? As Dan Pompei writes today, it was mostly music … and fantasy novels, and his cat. Great story. Advertisement Novak Djokovic said he hopes to have a similar sendoff to Rafael Nadal's warm goodbye at the French Open this week. I thought his comments were interesting. Laurie Whitwell published an incredible account of Manchester United's disaster season. There is already tremendous pressure on next season. Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Our story on Nadal's emotional farewell to the French Open and Roland Garros. Read it if you missed it. Most-read on the website yesterday: The live blog from Thunder-Timberwolves. Ticketing links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
New York Times
08-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Are the Celtics and Panthers cooked?
The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic's daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox. Good morning! I will accept dried fish for soccer tickets. Look, this feels mean. But after a most consequential night of playoff hoops and hockey, looking at our results through the lens of the losers is more important. Even more importantly: How cooked are these guys? 👨🍳 Simmering: The Winnipeg Jets This is a team that dominated the regular season yet barely escaped the first round. A 3-2 home loss to the Stars last night was again nerve-wracking, but Dallas is not St. Louis — namely because Mikko Rantanen is a Star. He scored all three goals last night. At 0-1, Winnipeg might already be in trouble. Advertisement On a rolling boil: The Denver Nuggets Yes, this series is 1-1, but did you watch that game last night? Every missed opportunity for Oklahoma City in Game 1 came back karmically in a 149-106 Game 2 win, an astounding contest from wire to wire. Nikola Jokić scored just 17 points and fouled out. The Thunder had eight players in double figures. So, yes, a tie series — but maybe not for long. Hard sear: The Florida Panthers Time and time again, the Maple Leafs have the opportunity to embody their past failures, and every time they course correct. Toronto's 4-3 win last night over the defending champs puts them up 2-0 in what we thought — and could still be! — a dogfight. Broken thermometer: The Boston Celtics We've had over 12 hours to process the Knicks' 91-90 win last night and I still can't reconcile what I saw. It's as if I'm cooking a nice cut of beef, the thermometer reads 135 degrees and yet the inside of the steak looks like rubber. Boston is still very much alive in this series, but to squander two 20-point leads at home to these Knicks is unfathomable. Another defending champion down 2-0. Another final play thwarted by Mikal Bridges. I have no idea what happens from here. BRUNSON HITS TWO FREE THROWS. BRIDGES TAKES THE BALL AWAY. KNICKS TAKE 2-0 SERIES LEAD. — NBA (@NBA) May 8, 2025 I'll be sad when we have fewer fantastic playoff games every night. Let's keep moving: This may be one of the more interesting Pulse Polls we've ever done, because it's a circle back to a poll we ran last summer on a similar topic. It also *serious tone* portends to the world at large. An overwhelming number of you, as I suspected, think NBC using AI to recreate Jim Fagan's voice is lazy and cheap. I agree — I'm of the mind that AI should be used for utilitarian purposes, not creatively. Two points to make in this specific case: Still, with all due respect to Fagan's memory, it feels silly to focus so much on that past in this regard rather than moving forward. Find a new voice to anchor your basketball coverage for decades to come. Is that so hard? Thank you, as always, for voting. Cowboys get another weapon George Pickens, the mercurial uber-talented Steelers wide receiver, is heading to Dallas in exchange for a third-round pick and a fifth-round pick, the Cowboys announced yesterday. The Athletic's Dianna Russini reports the two sides had been discussing the deal since before the draft, which checks out after Pittsburgh acquired DK Metcalf earlier this offseason. The deal makes sense for Dallas, but I still don't know what's happening with the Steelers. We'll have more on that this weekend. Advertisement Also: Emergency trade pod! Yes, Jerry Jones seems desperate. Tickets for fish, please The story of Bodø/Glimt is incredible: a small Norwegian club, playing near the top of the world, finding itself in the semifinal of a European soccer tournament. Premier League blueblood Tottenham Hotspur travels north today for their second-leg matchup, and some fans in the stands will have traded dried fish and reindeer meat for tickets. I love it, and I'm a Spurs fan. Read more here. More news 📫 Love The Pulse? Check out our other newsletters. 📺 NBA: Warriors at Timberwolves 8:30 p.m. ET on TNT/Max One question lords over everything here: Can Golden State survive without Steph Curry? He will miss at least the next three games with the hamstring injury he suffered in Game 1. Minnesota has an opening here down 1-0. 📺 NHL: Oilers at Golden Knights 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN Let's see how much of a lead Las Vegas can open up here before the eventual third-period Edmonton barrage. It's eerie at this point. Get tickets to games like these here. Two years ago, Nic Enright couldn't see his future, exhausted from cancer treatments. He's now on the verge of making the major leagues. Incredible story here. Keith Law's first MLB mock draft of the season is out, which is cause for celebration. Yes, there's another elite Holliday in the pipeline. Read his picks. Eno Sarris identified 10 stats that should worry MLB teams. He's so good at this. Let's not lose sight of the fact the Islanders won the NHL Draft Lottery on Monday. We have a fresh mock draft in light of it. See the picks. Rustin Dodd drank coffee like Dan Campbell, an absolute caffeine sicko. It did not go well, but it was interesting. Tyrese Haliburton laughs at the 'overrated' jabs, but in truth, he was miserable early this season. Jared Weiss has a wonderful story on how Haliburton recaptured his joy. It shows. Advertisement Is Dabo Swinney back? Did he ever leave? Seth Emerson writes about Swinney's second wind in the NIL era. Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: The George Karl story. Most-read on the website yesterday: Our live blog from the PSG-Arsenal match. Ticketing links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
New York Times
07-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
The NBA's unbelievable second round continues, plus a Champions League classic
The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic' s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox. Good morning! Be overrated today. The Upside Down: Home-court advantage is for suckers Each spring, NBA rights holders bless us with melodramatic ads for the playoffs. Big drama! Every night! Tune in for every second and consume every ad! Please! Most of the time, each game isn't a must-watch, especially this early in the postseason. We still have eight teams left. Flukes can still linger at this point. And yet, this year? The ads were correct. The second round is cooking. No home team has won a game. Even down to the minutiae, nothing has gone as expected. Teams with long breaks look lost. Teams with no rest look fresh. Nothing is real. Last night's slate was the best we've had so far: In the late game, the Warriors outpaced the Timberwolves 99-88 in a contest that wasn't as close as that 11-point margin suggests. And they did it largely without Steph Curry , who left the game in the first half with a hamstring injury. Minnesota scored just 31 points in the first half. Draymond Green hit four 3-pointers, Jimmy Butler and Buddy Hield were electric and Anthony Edwards — the prince who was promised — came out flat. Golden State 1, Minnesota 0. The earlier game was even more shocking. The top-seeded Cavaliers entered the game missing three key contributors and still opened up a massive early lead over the Pacers, who had already stolen Game 1 in Cleveland on Sunday. Donovan Mitchell had 48 points, but it wasn't enough to stop Tyrese Haliburton, Mr. Overrated , from swiping a Game 2 win with what can only be conveyed in video form. Just look at the situation here: Pacers down two, 12 seconds left, Haliburton at the line with a chance to make it a one-point game with plenty of time to foul. Instead, this happens: TYRESE HALIBURTON WINS GAME 2 FOR THE PACERS 😱🤯 WHAT. A. WILD. PLAY. — NBA (@NBA) May 7, 2025 With that, the Pacers are up 2-0 . Unbelievable. This is the first time in NBA history all road teams have won Game 1 in the second round. Let's move on to our other playoff sport: News to Know Oilers, Canes surge The NHL also put on some excellent playoff action last night, with two impressive comebacks to boot. In Las Vegas, Edmonton — in true Oilers fashion — overcame an early deficit with three third-period goals in a 4-2 win over the Golden Knights to take a 1-0 series lead. Ditto for the Stanley Cup favorite Hurricanes, who needed overtime to outlast Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals, 2-1. Inter stuns Barca in CL classic In what is already one of the best Champions League matches ever played, Inter Milan topped FC Barcelona 7-6 on aggregate yesterday, despite blowing two separate 2-0 leads over both legs of this semifinal matchup. I thought it was over after Raphinha punched in an 87th-minute goal, which gave Barca a 6-5 aggregate lead with mere minutes to play. Instead, Francesco Acerbi tied it in the 93rd to force extra time, where Davide Frattesi ended it in the 99th. Just an incredible game I wish I could watch again. Akron ineligible for postseason The Akron football team will not play in a bowl game next year, the NCAA said, as a result of the program's poor Academic Progress Rate score. It's the first time in over 10 years a program has incurred such a penalty. The Zips have not played in a bowl game since 2017. Read more . More news Defense attorneys in the ongoing Hockey Canada sexual assault trial grilled the complainant yesterday. We had multiple writers on scene in Ontario. Sue Bird is the new managing director for the USA women's national basketball team , sources told The Athletic . An F1 surprise: Alpine team principal Oliver Oakes resigned yesterday, effectively immediately. More details here . The Yankees designated Carlos Carrasco for assignment yesterday. They have a few candidates to take his spot in the rotation. Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur will play their next match two days earlier after discussion with the Premier League. Read our full report. 📫 Love The Pulse? Check out our other newsletters. Pulse Polls: A new AI slant? From a PR perspective, NBC was doing everything right. After reacquiring NBA rights last summer, the network retooled its once-beloved coverage by hiring smart talent and, of course, bringing back 'Roundball Rock,' which is a home run. And then yesterday, news trickled out of a possible snag: In trying to truly harness the nostalgia of all this, NBC said it will use AI to recreate Jim Fagan's voice for promotional materials. Fagan, who died in 2017, was the classic voice of the network's 1990s promos. There's a lot to parse here. Feelings on AI, nostalgia for the 90s, etc. Before I opine, I want to know how you feel about it. Do we think this is: Harmless and cool. You're overreacting, Branch. Lazy and cheap. Stop living in the past, NBC. Make your voice heard here . We'll publish the results tomorrow. What to Watch 📺 UCL: Arsenal at Paris Saint-Germain 3 p.m. ET on CBS/Paramount+ If this is anything like yesterday's Inter-Barca match, it's must-watch stuff. And don't forget about Declan Rice's heroics against Real Madrid in the quarters. PSG is up 1-0 on aggregate right now. A win puts them through to the Champions League final. 📺 NBA: Knicks at Celtics 7 p.m. ET on TNT/Max We are back with both upset series tonight, and I'm choosing this one because I am most curious if New York's Game 1 performance was a fluke. In Oklahoma City, I know Nikola Jokić will keep Denver in the series. Boston still feels like the favorite here, but the moxie of this Knicks group is unimpeachable. 📺 NHL: Stars at Jets 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN Yes, I'm picking against the No. 1 series in our power rankings, but I do this to help you plan your night. Panthers-Maple Leafs airs simultaneously with our pick above, so turn on ESPN early if you care more about the pucks. Either way, a stellar night of TV. This is Game 1 of what should be a great series. Get tickets to games like these here . Pulse Picks Thousands of you clicked on this wonderful story about George Karl yesterday … which actually published this morning. Apologies for that. You can read it here now, I promise . Just call him Mr. Nugget: Aaron Gordon has been Denver's most clutch player in this surprising playoff run. Behind him, the Nuggets won't go quietly against the NBA's best team. The Magic and Rockets are not so different, as John Hollinger writes — both full of promise and both dealing with the same problems . James Mirtle thinks Panthers center Sam Bennett should be suspended for his hit on Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz . I agree. Aaron Judge may be the best right-handed hitter in modern history, as Jayson Stark detailed . We're expanding on this tomorrow, too. Here's a name to remember for next year's Premier League campaign: Liam Delap , the Ipswich Town star every elite club wants . Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday : Jeff Zrebiec's column on the Justin Tucker saga. Read it here . Most-read on the website yesterday : The Champions League live blog . Ticketing links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication. (Top photo: AP Photo / Abbie Parr)
