Author: Shekari Philemon

Chicago Sky find a way despite a dramatic Sparks comeback There were stretches on Wednesday night at Wintrust Arena when it looked like the Chicago Sky might give the game away. They built a lead, watched it evaporate and then had to summon something extra in the fourth quarter to make sure the night ended the right way. It did. Chicago defeated the Los Angeles Sparks 95 to 88, improving to 12 wins and 19 losses on the season. The win was not always pretty, but it was complete when it mattered most. A balanced offensive effort, a productive bench…

British boxer Raven Chapman is recovering in a Danish hospital after undergoing emergency surgery for a brain haematoma following a sudden collapse during a sparring session on July 24, with her management confirming she has been taken off sedatives and is awaiting repatriation to the United Kingdom. Chapman, 32, collapsed unexpectedly after a sparring session in Denmark. Emergency services were called immediately, and she was airlifted to a local hospital. Doctors diagnosed her with a brain haematoma and cerebral oedema, and she underwent emergency surgery to stop the bleeding and reduce the swelling. She was subsequently placed in a medically…

Stefon Diggs is signing a one-year deal worth up to $12 million with the Washington Commanders, returning a veteran wide receiver to an offense that had been searching for reliable production opposite Terry McLaurin. Diggs, 32, grew up in suburban Washington and played college football at the University of Maryland, and he had made his desire to play for the Commanders known before the deal materialized. He attended Maryland’s first fall practice on Wednesday and expressed enthusiasm about the combination of the university and the team. The signing gives Washington a proven complement to McLaurin, who has produced five 1,000-yard…

Lonnie Walker IV is returning to the NBA, agreeing to a one-year, $3.3 million deal with the Denver Nuggets after a season in the EuroLeague with Maccabi Tel Aviv, where he averaged 15.2 points and 2.5 rebounds on a lucrative multiyear contract. He and Maccabi reached a separation agreement this week to allow him to pursue the NBA opportunity. He last played in the league with the Philadelphia 76ers in 2024-25, averaging 12.4 points across what was his most recent NBA stint. The guard is entering his eighth professional season and has averaged 10 points per game across his NBA…

Dillon Brooks agreed to a three-year, $73 million contract extension with the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday, keeping the forward in Phoenix through the 2029-30 season. The deal was negotiated between the Suns’ front office and Brooks’ representation over recent weeks. The extension makes official what the organization had signaled for months, including a public statement from the team’s owner in January that Brooks was not going anywhere. When a trade was floated online, the owner responded directly to shut it down, saying the Suns were not interested and that Brooks was staying. The 30-year-old is coming off the best individual…

Alex Eala kept her perfect North American hard-court run intact on Wednesday with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 victory over Alycia Parks in the second round of the National Bank Open in Toronto, moving to 6-0 on the swing and setting up a third-round meeting with Catherine McNally. The win extended a stretch that began with five consecutive victories culminating in the DC Open title in Washington, D.C. last week, and it also served as a direct rematch of a defeat she suffered to Parks in the first round of this year’s Australian Open, where Parks won 6-0, 3-6, 2-6. The…

The 1 Point Slam is a one-point-per-match knockout tennis event that turned an Australian amateur into a millionaire, and it is returning to the Australian Open ahead of the 2027 edition of the Grand Slam. Tournament organizers confirmed Wednesday that the event will again offer a top prize of one million Australian dollars, equivalent to approximately $705,000 at current exchange rates, when it runs in the days before the main draw begins at Melbourne Park on Jan. 17. The slam format is exactly what the name suggests. Each match lasts exactly one point. A player wins or loses on a…

Jaxson Dart scored a rushing touchdown at Giants training camp on Tuesday, then tossed the ball into the helmet of the nearest defender on his way back to the huddle. That decision cost his team 15 yards and ended the first-team offense’s work for the day. After scrambling left and running untouched into the end zone, Dart threw the ball at the helmet of cornerback Greg Newsome. The ball struck Newsome’s helmet and bounced away. Multiple defensive players converged on him as he walked back toward his teammates, and the incident drew an immediate reaction from the sideline. Harbaugh assessed…

Carson Beck did not know he was going to start Thursday’s Hall of Fame Game against the Carolina Panthers until this week, and even then, the Arizona Cardinals rookie quarterback says he is not nervous about it. Beck will get the nod for the Cardinals in Canton, Ohio, after the team elected to rest both its regular-season starter Jacoby Brissett and backup Gardner Minshew in what amounts to a preseason exhibition. For a third-round pick still finding his footing in an NFL training camp, the surprise assignment could have been unsettling. It was not, at least according to Beck. He…

Jalon Walker, the Atlanta Falcons’ second-year edge rusher and first-round pick from the 2025 NFL draft, has suffered a torn ACL in his right knee during Tuesday’s training camp practice, a source confirmed, almost certainly ending his 2026 season before it began. Walker went down during an 11-on-11 drill late in the session and was immediately surrounded by trainers. Players on both sides of the ball took a knee on the field, a somber and visible signal of the moment’s gravity. Walker was carted off without an aircast applied but with his head in his hands as he departed. Practice…