7:00 AM ET For Robin Lehner, the situation would have been comical had it not been so maddening. The blade popped off the Vegas Golden Knights goaltender’s skate — twice — against the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 1 of their quarterfinal series on Tuesday night. At one point, he was scrambling on the ice to
6:35 PM ET Before their Champions League quarterfinal against Atletico Madrid, RB Leipzig boss Julian Nagelsmann called on Tyler Adams and the rest of his players to step out of the shadows and embrace the blinding spotlight that used to shine on their former star striker Timo Werner. With Werner watching his old team in
11:06 AM ET SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The San Francisco 49ers are making George Kittle the highest-paid tight end in NFL history. By a lot. The Niners and Kittle agreed to a five-year, $75 million contract on Thursday, league sources confirmed to ESPN. The deal was first reported by Barstool Sports, which reports Kittle received
3:41 PM ET Associated Press Reigning US Open champion Bianca Andreescu pulled out of the Grand Slam tournament Thursday, saying the coronavirus pandemic prevented her from properly preparing for competition. Andreescu joins 2019 men’s champion Rafael Nadal in skipping the US Open. A year ago at age 19, Andreescu became the first woman in the
6:18 PM ET Associated Press Robert Ryland, the first Black professional tennis player and later a coach to such stars as Arthur Ashe and Serena and Venus Williams, has died. He was 100. Ryland died Aug. 2 at his stepson’s home in Provincetown, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod, his wife, Nancy Ingersoll, confirmed to The New
6:26 PM BST Hosting rights for the next two men’s and women’s Rugby World Cups will be awarded within the same process as World Rugby attempt to build on the success of Japan 2019, the governing body announced on Thursday. The announcement means the 2025 and 2029 women’s and 2027 and 2021 men’s World Cup
5:07 PM ET Associated Press CLEVELAND — Indians pitcher Zach Plesac feels he and teammate Mike Clevinger have been unfairly portrayed as “bad people” in the aftermath of the pitchers being quarantined by the team for violating COVID-19 protocols last weekend in Chicago. Plesac said he posted a six-minute video on his Instagram page Thursday
11:00 AM ET All the scenarios, all the magic numbers, all the scoreboard watching — it’s all getting settled on Thursday. Here is where things stand as four teams battle for two spots in this weekend’s Western Conference play-in: Portland Trail Blazers: win and they’re in (as the No. 8 seed). Memphis Grizzlies: win and
1:41 PM ET Steve KimESPN For two years, IBF lightweight titlist Teofimo Lopez Jr. and his outspoken father, Teofimo Lopez Sr., have been asking for a fight against unified champion Vasiliy Lomachenko. After extensive negotiations and public comments regarding an impasse, a deal was finally reached on Wednesday night and the two will fight on
10:47 AM ET The delicate balance of player safety and pushing forward with football may have hit a tipping point at Florida State, where three wide receivers, including star Tamorrion Terry, have publicly spoken out about a lack of transparency in coronavirus testing at the school. On Wednesday night, D.J. Matthews tweeted that he had
4:29 PM ET Associated Press LEXINGTON, Ky. — Serena Williams came back and won the last four games to beat her older sister, Venus, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a hard-hitting, back-and-forth, second-round matchup at the Top Seed Open on Thursday. It was the 31st meeting of their careers — 22 1/2 years after the first.
4:11 PM BST All 12 top-flight clubs will take a stand against racism with different gestures as Premiership Rugby committed itself to making the sport more diverse and inclusive, on Wednesday. Harlequins, Leicester and Wasps players will take a knee to support the “Black Lives Matter” movement when the Premiership season resumes this weekend. 1
2:51 PM ET Associated Press GREENSBORO, N.C. — Harold Varner III tied his career low round with an 8-under 62 to grab the early lead at the Wyndham Championship on Thursday. Varner was three shots in front of Wesley Bryan and Brian Harman among the early starters at the Sedgefield Country Club. Varner had eight
1:49 PM ET More than seven out of 10 sports fans support teams and athletes speaking out on issues of social justice and racial equality, according to an online survey of 837 sports fans conducted for ESPN. Of the 71% of fans who supported athletes speaking out, 44% strongly supported it. Nearly half of the
2:24 PM ET Montreal Canadiens coach Claude Julien was admitted to a Toronto hospital after experiencing chest pains following his team’s game on Wednesday night. Montreal GM Marc Bergevin said he does not believe the issue is related to COVID-19, but Julien was undergoing tests on Thursday. “He’s for sure in really good hands,” Bergevin
6:55 AM ET NFL NationESPN As 2020 NFL training camps move from strength and conditioning work to padded practice over the next week, the competition for starting jobs will heat up across the league. There will be a maximum of 14 padded practices per team and, with no preseason games due to the coronavirus pandemic,
England great James Anderson returned to form with two wickets against Pakistan at Southampton on Thursday as Fawad Alam’s long wait for a Test recall ended with a duck. Pakistan were 126-5 at stumps after a combination of rain and bad light cut short play on the first day of the second Test. Anderson had
1:27 PM ET Associated Press LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, a four-time Kentucky Derby winner, is recovering after recently testing positive for COVID-19. His condition was disclosed in a tweet posted by grandson Brady Wayne Lukas. “Wayne recently tested positive for COVID-19 and has since been isolating at home and