Author: Shekari Philemon

Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving has offered to pay the $11,941 NFL fine levied against Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair for writing the name of a Palestinian girl killed in Gaza on his eye black during Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills. The fine is standard NFL procedure. League uniform and equipment rules prohibit players from displaying personal messages without prior approval. Al-Shaair wrote the name Hind Rajab on his eye black. Rajab was killed in 2024 along with six members of her family after their car came under fire in Gaza City. The Israeli military acknowledged last month for…

Baker Mayfield faces the Cleveland Browns and Deshaun Watson on Sunday in Tampa, and the man who coached him in Cleveland in 2018 has not softened his view of what was given away when the trade happened in 2022. Ken Zampese, now the Buccaneers’ senior offensive assistant and pass game specialist, told ESPN that the Browns had the guy and gave him up. He said that in 2018, when they went 5-3 in the second half of the season after the organization had started 1-31 across the previous two years, the city came alive because they had finally found a…

Max Verstappen completed the Max vs 100 go-karting challenge in just 14 laps and 35 minutes Wednesday at Silverstone, well inside his 30-lap, 75-minute allotment, and was already joking about raising the stakes. He had been given 30 laps to pass 100 rivals from the back of a 101-kart grid on a custom-built 2.45-kilometer track made up of 1.3 kilometers of permanent Silverstone infield karting track and 1.15 kilometers of temporary circuit built specifically for the event. The race was broadcast live globally on ESPN and Disney Plus. After finishing, Verstappen told reporters that maybe 200 drivers are next, and…

The WTA Finals are moving to Charlotte, North Carolina, starting in 2027, with the tour’s headquarters also relocating from St. Petersburg, Florida, the organization announced Wednesday. The year-end championship will be held at Spectrum Center, home of the NBA’s Hornets, from 2027 to 2029. The arena seats approximately 19,000 and has hosted tennis exhibitions the past two seasons. The event will run five days rather than the current eight, adjusted to accommodate the Hornets’ schedule. The financial context WTA chairperson Valerie Camillo acknowledged the tour’s difficult financial position on a call with reporters Tuesday, saying 2026 is a year of…

The Phoenix Suns are signing center Duop Reath to provide frontcourt depth while Mark Williams recovers from shoulder surgery expected to sideline him for several months, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania on Wednesday. Reath, 30, spent three seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers before being traded to Atlanta in February and subsequently waived. Portland signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2023 and converted him to a standard NBA deal midway through a breakout rookie season in which he averaged 9.1 points and 3.7 rebounds. His minutes declined over the following two seasons. Phoenix’s frontcourt also includes Khaman Maluach,…

Henry Cejudo will make his professional boxing debut against Javon Walton on Sept. 26 at James L. Knight Arena in Miami after the originally scheduled opponent withdrew due to injury, Misfits Boxing announced. Cejudo, a former two-division UFC champion and Olympic gold medalist, will face the 20-year-old best known for playing Ashtray in the HBO series Euphoria, who holds a professional boxing record of 3-0-1 with one knockout. The bout is the main event of the Misfits Boxing card. Cejudo’s original opponent, influencer boxer Nurideen Shabazz, was forced out due to injury. In a statement, Cejudo said the withdrawal did…

Max Verstappen said it would be quite embarrassing if any of the 100 competitors he faces in Wednesday’s go-karting event at Silverstone turns out to be faster than him, but acknowledged the challenge ahead as he prepares to start from the back of the grid with the goal of passing all of them. The four-time Formula 1 champion will begin at the rear of a 101-kart grid, working through the field over 30 laps while the other competitors drive identical karts to keep conditions equal. Rivals come from around the world and include Red Bull athletes, content creators, journalists and…

The US Open men’s final between Alexander Zverev and Ben Shelton averaged 3.2 million on ABC, the largest audience for that match since ESPN’s family of networks began televising the tournament in 2009, ESPN announced Tuesday. The women’s final, won by Elena Rybakina over Aryna Sabalenka, averaged 2.7 million and was up 13 percent from last year. The all-American men’s semifinal between Shelton and Frances Tiafoe averaged 3.1 million, the largest men’s semifinal audience in ESPN’s US Open coverage history. The Shelton-Carlos Alcaraz quarterfinal, the latest-finishing match in US Open history, averaged 1.6 million across the full broadcast. Nearly 967,000…

Attorneys representing the former girlfriend of Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs filed a motion Tuesday to permanently seal discovery materials in his criminal case, citing their client’s privacy interests. Attorneys Ramses Jalalpour and Amir Tahmassebi said in a statement that the motion is consistent with their client’s desire to protect her privacy, particularly in light of him taking responsibility for his actions in the criminal proceeding. The statement identifies the woman as ANM, consistent with how she was identified in the criminal complaint. Brown County Circuit Judge Marc A. Hammer temporarily sealed court materials last Thursday after Jacobs…

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said the investigation into the Los Angeles Clippers and Kawhi Leonard is closed, addressed expansion plans for Las Vegas and Seattle, discussed the Lakers’ ownership sale, and spoke about the future of a European NBA league and the incoming WNBA commissioner at a news conference Tuesday following the league’s board of governors meeting. The Clippers case He called the landmark penalty that included suspending owner Steve Ballmer for a year, fining the Clippers $30 million and stripping the franchise of five future first-round picks part of the league’s core responsibility to enforce rules that everyone agrees…