Sports

Kanye West dropped a reference to the No. 24 jersey in his lyrics, rapping on Jay-Z and T.I.’s “Swagga Like Us,” “Tryin’ to get that Kobe number, one over Jordan.” From the moment he came into the league, Bryant paid homage to the greats who came before him. Now it’s current NBA players who pay

6:00 AM ET SANTA CLARA, Calif. — For most quarterbacks selected in the top three of the NFL draft, the immediate expectation is for them to take downtrodden franchises and elevate them to the league’s loftiest heights. More often than not, it doesn’t work. It’s why, at the time the San Francisco 49ers used the

Aug 24, 2022 As a young hockey fan, Trevor Zegras would dream about pulling off video-game moves as an NHL player. Now he’s on the cover of “NHL 23,” a video game that features a move named in his honor that he made famous as an Anaheim Ducks rookie sensation last season. “It’s weird. I

3:39 PM ET Associated Press TROY, Ala. — A former Troy University football player has filed a lawsuit against an ex-teammate and three coaches, saying he was abused while on the team, including being sexually assaulted with a pool cue. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Montgomery, names former Troy punter Jack Dawson; special

Aug 23, 2022 Alyssa RoenigkESPN Close Alyssa Roenigk is a senior writer for ESPN whose assignments have taken her to six continents and caused her to commit countless acts of recklessness. (Follow @alyroe on Twitter). COCO GAUFF IS at a crossroads. She’s sitting in the passenger seat of her first car while her dad, Corey,

7:05 PM ET NEW YORK — The New York Yankees are 6-14 in August, drawing the ire of their entire fan base, while manager Aaron Boone is publicly showing his frustration by slamming tables in news conferences. But Yankees general manager Brian Cashman did not hesitate to stand behind the slumping club on Monday. “The

8:30 PM ET ESPN News Services WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Kyle Larson outlasted Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott on a restart with five laps to go and won the weather-delayed NASCAR Cup race at Watkins Glen International on Sunday. Elliott had control of the race late, but a caution gave Larson a chance and he

1:30 PM ET Sadio Mane scored twice as Bayern Munich demolished VfL Bochum 7-0 on Sunday, the Bundesliga champions maintaining their perfect start to the 2022-23 season. The Bavarians are two points clear at the top with nine points from three league games, and have now scored a league-record 15 goals in their three games

Aug 19, 2022 WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. — UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman hasn’t fought in nearly 10 months. Usually, those who follow this sport refer to that amount of time between fights as a “layoff” — but nothing about how Usman chose to spend those 10 months sounds like much of a break. “Everyone says,

7:51 AM ET Mark KriegelESPN Athletes are often asked — indeed, they ask themselves — “How bad do you want it?” It’s as if desire could be quantified. Truth is, that’s an empty question that elicits mostly vacant responses. The athlete usually understands his or her role in this exchange: To make it pass as

12:50 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — The US Open singles champions will receive $2.6 million this year, with total player compensation for the Grand Slam tournament surpassing $60 million for the first time. A larger portion of that total is being allocated to the earlier rounds, the U.S. Tennis Association said Thursday, following

2:25 PM ET The NHL free agency signing period for 2022 is underway. For each key deal, ESPN NHL reporters Greg Wyshynski and Kristen Shilton will assess the player’s fit with his new team, weigh whether the terms of the deal make sense and hand out an overall grade for the team. We’ll continue to

Aug 18, 2022 Associated Press ALBANY, N.Y. — A prominent New York-based horse trainer whose Early Voting won this year’s Preakness Stakes is facing a domestic violence charge for allegedly pushing a woman down a flight of stairs and trying to choke her, authorities said Thursday. Chad Brown, 43, was arraigned Thursday morning in Saratoga

2:58 PM ET Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has agreed to a two-year, $97.1 million contract extension that includes a player option for the 2024-25 season, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul told ESPN on Wednesday. The extension, which includes a 15% trade kicker, makes James the highest-earning player in NBA history with $532 million

4:03 PM ET GREEN BAY, Wis. — Rip them one day, meet with them the next. Those were the last two days in the life of Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers‘ quest to get a young group of receivers ready for the fast-approaching start of the regular season. A day after Rodgers expressed his

7:30 AM ET ESPN staff After an offseason spent constantly ranking and reranking college football players on NIL deals and transfer portal moves, the impending kickoff of actual football games means that the time has come to rank players on their actual football abilities. Not by unit, conference or where they might or might not

Aug 17, 2022 Corey Norman’s rugby league career could be over with the former Queensland State of Origin player being given a lengthy Super League ban for “inappropriate contact”. Norman has been hit with an eight-game ban after being found guilty of intentionally placing a hand between the buttocks of Warrington’s Oliver Holmes during a

6:06 PM ET The Los Angeles Dodgers‘ faint hopes of having Walker Buehler in their postseason rotation ended Monday, when it was announced that their ace pitcher would require season-ending elbow surgery. The Dodgers were vague in their description of Buehler’s injury because an initial MRI did not provide enough clarity, a source with knowledge

9:15 AM ET Training camps begin to open in four weeks. After an entertaining start to free agency in July, the marketplace has cooled. Teams settled in on rosters, and everyone adjourned to their summer homes. Only those execs left some unanswered questions behind. We’re here to pick up the slack. While this next month

Aug 16, 2022 There are only two events left in the PGA Tour regular season, with $15 million up for grabs at this week’s BMW Championship in Wilmington, Delaware, and another $18 million for the winner of the season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta on Aug. 25-28. There’s also plenty of hardware at stake, besides the