Author: Shekari Philemon

The Washington Wizards selected BYU forward AJ Dybantsa with the first overall pick in the NBA draft on Tuesday night, choosing the 6-foot-9 freshman over Kansas guard Darryn Peterson in a decision that marks the most significant moment of the franchise’s ongoing rebuild and introduces a potential cornerstone piece to a young roster that is beginning to take meaningful shape. Dybantsa averaged 25.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.1 steals per game in his lone college season while shooting 51 percent from the field, leading all of Division I in scoring. He becomes the first player to accomplish that…

Liam Paro wrote his name into Australian boxing history on Wednesday evening, claiming the IBF welterweight title with a unanimous decision victory over Lewis Crocker at Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane to become the first Australian male fighter to win world titles in two different weight classes since the legendary Jeff Fenech. All three judges scored the 12-round contest 115-113 in favor of Paro, a result that reflected a competitive fight between a technically superior southpaw and a physically imposing opponent who made the Australian earn every point he accumulated over the course of the night. A fight that tested…

New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith is under active investigation for battery after police in Davie, Florida, reversed course on the matter within 24 hours, with detectives now handling a case that authorities had described as inactive just one day earlier. Officers were called to Smith’s home Sunday afternoon after a woman identifying herself as his former girlfriend contacted emergency services and reported that he had assaulted her. No arrests were made at the scene. On Monday, the Davie Police Department characterized the matter as not an active case but said it was still under review. That assessment changed quickly.…

Kyle Pitts has agreed to a three-year, $54 million contract extension with the Atlanta Falcons, the team that made him the fourth overall pick in 2021 and has now committed $36 million in fully guaranteed money to keep him through the 2028 season. The deal carries an average annual value of $18 million, making it the third-largest contract for a tight end in NFL history on that measure, behind only two other established stars at the position. The extension replaces the franchise tag the Falcons had applied to Pitts for the 2026 season and was reached well ahead of the…

Liam Lawson has directly challenged the version of events Red Bull presented when they demoted him after just two races at the start of last season, saying the team built a false narrative around his exit that he finds deeply at odds with what he actually experienced during that period. Lawson had replaced Sergio Perez heading into 2025 and was seen as one of Formula 1’s most promising young talents. After a difficult opening weekend in Australia and an even harder weekend in China, he was moved back down to the junior team Racing Bulls, with Yuki Tsunoda taking his…

Marketa Vondrousova, the Czech player who became Wimbledon’s first unseeded women’s champion when she won the title in 2023, has been suspended for four years by an independent anti-doping tribunal after refusing to submit a sample during an out-of-competition test at her home last December. The International Tennis Integrity Agency confirmed the ban on Monday, stating that Vondrousova had declined to provide a sample when a doping control officer arrived at her home at around 8 p.m. on December 3, 2025, and that she had instead signed a refusal form. The suspension runs through June 21, 2030, and can be…

Julius Randle is returning to New York in a three-team trade that sends the three-time All-Star forward from Minnesota to the Brooklyn Nets, moves veteran center Nic Claxton to the Chicago Bulls, and unlocks the financial flexibility the Timberwolves needed to secure a long-term commitment from one of their most important players. Randle and Minnesota’s 28th pick in Tuesday’s NBA draft will go to Brooklyn. The Nets will send their 33rd pick to Minnesota. Chicago’s portion of the deal includes a forward moving to the Timberwolves. The financial structure is central to the trade’s logic, with Randle’s $33.3 million salary…

The Milwaukee Bucks are trading Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat in one of the most consequential transactions in recent NBA history, ending a 13-season run between a franchise and the player who defined its modern era with a championship in 2021, a trade that reshapes the Eastern Conference and adds another chapter to Miami’s long history of landmark acquisitions under its longtime president. The deal sends Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis to Miami in exchange for Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., and Kasparas Jakucionis, along with three first-round draft picks including the 13th selection in Tuesday’s draft, a…

Philipp Lahm, who captained Germany to the World Cup in 2014, has launched one of the most pointed critiques of FIFA’s leadership to emerge from within the football world, writing in a prominent German newspaper that the governing body is selling out the sport’s most important event and undermining the trust of fans who struggle to separate the tournament they love from the organization running it. Lahm’s column described a governing body that has prioritized revenue over credibility and questioned whether the integrity of the World Cup itself is being compromised in the process. His criticism was not from a…

Kylian Mbappe scored twice as France defeated Iraq 3-0 on Monday to move to four goals for the tournament, but his effort to draw level with the all-time World Cup scoring record was immediately surpassed by Lionel Messi, who scored both goals in Argentina’s 2-0 win over Austria earlier the same day to take the outright record to 18 goals and extend his lead at the top of the scoring charts. Mbappe’s brace brought his career World Cup total to 16 goals, drawing him level with Germany’s Miroslav Klose in what would have been a record-equaling moment had Messi not…