Author: Shekari Philemon

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles made his position on Baker Mayfield unmistakably clear Thursday, stating without hesitation that he wants the quarterback as his long-term starter, even as contract negotiations between Mayfield and the organization remain at an early impasse. Bowles’s comments came in direct response to remarks Mayfield made last week in which the quarterback described the two sides as nowhere near aligned on a new deal heading into what is the final year of his current three-year, $100 million contract. The disconnect, at least publicly, appears real. The coach’s commitment to the player, however, appears equally…

The Seattle Seahawks held a private ring ceremony Thursday night for players, coaches, and football staff, unveiling championship rings that rank among the most elaborately engineered pieces of jewelry in Super Bowl history. Designed and produced by Jason of Beverly Hills, the rings were three months in the making and incorporate a level of mechanical complexity that required an entirely separate engineering process before a single stone was set. The same jeweler has created championship rings for three of the previous five Super Bowl champions, giving the design house a well-established presence in the upper tier of sports jewelry. What…

Denver Broncos linebacker Jonathon Cooper was arrested Thursday night on charges that he violated a protection order that had been put in place earlier in the week, marking his second arrest in less than two weeks and deepening a legal situation that now includes a felony charge. Cooper was booked into Douglas County Jail in Colorado at approximately 10 p.m. local time following his arrest by Parker Police. He remained in custody Friday morning when a court hearing was scheduled. The new charges include harassment through repeated phone calls and a violation of the protection order, which had been issued…

The Big3 basketball league, co-founded by rapper and entrepreneur Ice Cube, is moving toward a public stock offering with an eye on a $290 million valuation, a move that would make it one of the few professional sports properties available for everyday investors to own a piece of directly. The league announced Friday that it has entered into an agreement with Graf Global Corp., a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, as the vehicle for its market debut. The target is to begin trading on a major stock exchange in the fourth quarter of 2026 under the ticker symbol TONT,…

Victor Wembanyama’s night did not end when the final buzzer sounded at Madison Square Garden. The San Antonio Spurs superstar arrived at his hotel a few blocks south of the arena flanked by security, only to be met by jeering fans and at least one thrown egg captured on video and circulated widely online. The footage showed a projectile cracking against a street sign near the hotel entrance as Wembanyama made his way inside. Seconds after the egg landed, Wembanyama turned and confronted someone standing near the entrance before continuing through the door. It was not clear from the video…

By Thursday night, the number was already set. SpaceX locked in its share price at $135 ahead of its highly anticipated debut on the Nasdaq on Friday, June 12, closing out a process that looked almost nothing like a conventional initial public offering. For a company that has spent years redefining what is possible in aerospace, doing things the traditional way was never really on the table. The final pricing was less a decision and more a formality. SpaceX had announced the $135 figure weeks earlier, before its investor roadshow even began, removing the back-and-forth negotiation that typically defines the…

Pierre Gasly’s third-place finish at the Monaco Grand Prix may yet be restored after it emerged that Formula 1 used an inaccurate pit lane distance measurement to calculate the speed penalties that stripped him of his result. The Alpine driver crossed the line in third at last weekend’s race only to drop to seventh in the official standings after two five-second penalties for pit lane speeding were added to his race time. Gasly was one of five drivers penalized for marginally exceeding the pit lane speed limit, a pattern that immediately raised questions about the reliability of the data being…

Serena Williams’ brief and much-anticipated return to competitive tennis came to an unexpected halt on Thursday after her doubles partner was ruled out of the HSBC Championships at Queen’s Club with a knee injury, ending a comeback that had barely begun. Williams and 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko had won their opening doubles match in straight sets on Tuesday, a result that marked Williams’ first competitive appearance since the 2022 US Open. The partnership lasted just one match. Mboko sustained a left knee injury the following day after slipping and landing awkwardly during a singles match, forcing her to retire from…

Wimbledon unveiled a sweeping prize money increase on Thursday, boosting total payouts by 20 percent in what the All England Club described as by far the largest annual increase in the tournament’s history. Singles champions at the grass-court Grand Slam will take home 3.6 million pounds, equivalent to roughly 4.8 million dollars, when the event begins on June 29. Total prize money including player per diems will reach 64.2 million pounds, or approximately 85.8 million dollars. The announcement comes at a moment of genuine tension between the sport’s biggest stars and the Grand Slam tournaments over how revenues are divided,…

LeBron James has never lacked for confidence, and as his NBA career drifts toward its final chapter, that quality has not diminished. Asked recently to weigh in on the greatest of all time debate that has followed him throughout his career, James made his position clear without hesitation. When it comes to choosing the best player in basketball history, he is not stepping aside for anyone, including Michael Jordan. The remarks came during a wide-ranging interview published Monday as part of a profile for Time, in which James addressed his legacy, his rivals, and the uncertainty surrounding whether he will…