6:00 AM ET Nobody could have known at the time, but the foreshadowing of the NBA’s coronavirus pandemic plan was sitting in a scrapbook in Florida. In one of the roughly 20 scrapbooks in Reggie Williams’ den, there’s a picture from 1997 of Williams and former NBA commissioner David Stern standing on the midcourt logo
4:34 PM ET Associated Press PALERMO, Sicily — More than 400 coronavirus tests were carried out on tennis players and staff members ahead of the Palermo Ladies Open and all of them came back negative. The WTA tournament, with qualifying beginning Saturday, marks the return of tour-level tennis following a five-month break for the coronavirus
5:56 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN The way the New Orleans Pelicans handled the minutes of rookie forward Zion Williamson was seemingly the talk of the NBA on Thursday night as the league returned to play in Orlando, Florida. On Friday afternoon, Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin spoke to reporters to try
4:55 PM ET MEMPHIS, Tenn. — With the PGA Championship, the first major of the season only a week away, some of the golf’s biggest names, including a handful who have struggled with their games and others who have made big changes, are finally starting to find their form. Heading into Saturday’s third round of
12:49 PM ET Associated Press Indiana’s football team has resumed voluntary workouts after a two-week pause following six positive COVID-19 tests. The school’s medical advisory group approved the resumption of enhanced voluntary summer training. Players are now permitted to spend up to eight hours per week on strength training, six hours per week on meetings
6:33 AM ET Serena Williams will be leading the drive to reboot pro tennis in North America after nearly five months without any official tournament play due to the coronavirus pandemic. It seems appropriate, even uplifting, during a time of great anxiety and uncertainty that the player many view as the greatest of all Grand
12:59 PM ET A crucial middleweight headliner is now official. Derek Brunson and Edmen Shahbazyan both weighed in successfully Friday morning in Las Vegas for the main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday at the UFC Apex. Brunson weighed 186 pounds and Shahbazyan weighed 185.5. This is the UFC’s first event back in the
4:36 AM ET Liverpool made one of the easiest title runs in the history of the Premier League, clinching the title with seven of 38 matches remaining. They finished the season with 99 points in league play, second-most ever after Manchester City, who finished 18 points behind the Reds in second place this year. Does
11:47 AM ET Associated Press As coronavirus cases spike in other parts of the country a month before the U.S. Open is supposed to start in New York, the U.S. Tennis Association said Friday it “continues its plans” to hold its marquee event and another tournament beforehand. The U.S. Open — usually the year’s last
7:00 AM ET NHL insiders The NHL restarts its season with a first-of-its-kind, 24-team postseason tournament Saturday. The field has expanded to 12 teams per conference, and the schedule includes games starting as early as noon ET most days, running through the 10:30 p.m. ET window. Yes, it’s hockey all day, and we’re just as
Ireland’s Sam Bennett avoided a mass pile-up on the final sprint to win the fourth stage of the Vuelta a Burgos. Italian Jacopo Guarnieri fell on the last corner and Deceuninck-Quickstep rider Bennett sprinted up the final slope to take victory in the 163km stage. French sprinter Arnaud Demare finished second, with Italy’s Giacomo Nizzolo
Alexander Albon suffered a heavy crash in his Red Bull as Lance Stroll’s Racing Point set the pace in second practice at the British Grand Prix. Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton were only third and fifth, struggling with the windy conditions and balance on the ‘soft’ tyres. Albon was second fastest, 0.090 seconds behind
10:10 AM ET The St. Louis Cardinals have had multiple members test positive for the coronavirus, resulting in Major League Baseball postponing Friday afternoon’s game at the Milwaukee Brewers, a source told ESPN’s Jeff Passan. MLB’s quick decision to postpone Friday’s game, which was scheduled for 2:10 p.m. ET, comes after the outbreak within the
7:01 AM ET The NHL returns on Saturday, with a five-game slate beginning at noon ET with the New York Rangers against the Carolina Hurricanes, and lasting through the Winnipeg Jets–Calgary Flames tilt that begins at 10:30 p.m. ET. As a service to fans who have a general interest in NHL hockey but have no
9:00 AM ET As it draws closer to actual football practices, the NFL is still working to answer a central question of its coronavirus mitigation policy: Is there a practical and effective way to mimic a mask for players on the field? The league’s first response, in conjunction with the NFL Players Association, was to
7:04 AM ET The Milwaukee Bucks are big favorites to come out of the Eastern Conference. According to Caesars Sportsbook, they enter the bubble at minus-230 to reach the NBA Finals in October. Still, respect from Vegas is one thing, but execution in Orlando is another. While the Bucks hold the league’s best record, the
9:42 AM ET Steve KimESPN As the calendar turns to August, boxing gets back into full swing as Matchroom Sports and Premier Boxing Champions restart their promotions. Each has plenty of action lined up, and this weekend kicks off a busy stretch of fights to end the summer. There will be cards around the world
8:00 AM ET Twenty years ago, 10 years ago, 10 months ago, Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick would have met the idea of the Fighting Irish ever playing college football in any conference with a stifled yawn, a subtle eye roll, a we’ve-been-over-that response. And yet here we are. It took a pandemic, but