At a press conference last week, it was announced that Nick Nurse had landed himself a position as the new head coach for the Philadelphia 76ers. Nurse replaced Doc Rivers, who was fired soon after losing game seven to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Things took an awkward turn when Nurse was asked straight out for his hope for the James Harden situation. Harden, a star in the NBA, has been a part of two playoff runs for the 76ers and has an option for $35.6 million. Without a definite decision in place, Harden may stay in Philadelphia. However, there are rumors of a Houston return as well.

Nurse’s impact helped lead his team to a regular season record of 227-163, after five seasons, and secured two top-spot finishes within the Atlantic Division. One of these, of course, was the precursor to the NBA Finals victory over the Golden State Warriors in his first season back in 2019.

His vision is not in the past but is pointed toward the future of the 76er teams, which Nurse indicated that it includes plans for the young guard Tyrese Maxey.

“He’s got a tremendous chance to improve and take a step forward, and from all indications, he’s really hungry to do so. Good worker, good person who really wants to get better,” said Nurse.

76er general manager Daryl Morey is confident in this new hire that comes with a championship pedigree and the extra bonus of a familiar face.

“Obviously, we have a lot of work to do from here, but having the chance to add Coach Nurse to the 76ers is, personally, really cool because we’ve had a long-term relationship,” said Morey. “He’s been a championship coach at so many levels. At least five championships at all different spots. He’s done the grind and continues to improve. Including one [championship] that’s really familiar with Sixers fans obviously, beating us in that one series. He’s someone who’s a lifelong learner, always trying to find that next edge. We’re excited to be a partner with him as we work on the roster and into next season.”

Nurse now joins Philadelphia and has the chance to coach 2023 MVP Joel Embiid. Next season is shaping up to be more interesting for the 76ers, and the offseason has not even started.

Top international prospect Ethan Salas passed by Rookie-level Complex League and had an exciting debut for Lake Elsinore Storm, on Tuesday. Back in January, the San Diego Padres signed the currently third-ranked Salas as a catcher to their Single-A affiliate team Lake Elsinore Storm.

The Padres gave him the largest bonus of the international signing class at $5.6 million.

With an investment like that, Salas’s first at-bat was surely one the organization was paying attention to. The bottom of the first inning versus the Arizona Diamondbacks Single-A affiliate Visalia Rawhide would be the first look for the Padres.

The 16-year-old Venezuelan lefty patiently worked his first at-bat into a full count, and then after eight pitches, Salas swatted a pitch that led to a helmet-losing double.

Salas worked the rest of his plate appearances into a single, strike, and turned a 0-2 count into a very important walk. The last at-bat for Salas would turn into the go-ahead run after first baseman Griffin Doersching punished the ball for a two-run homer for a tone-setting debut victory.

While the successful first outing is a plus, the Padres want to focus more on how the young Salas handles a full professional season.

“You want to make sure he’s ready to go out from an ability standpoint…but more so is he able to transition being outside of complex baseball,” said Padres farm director Ryley Westman. “Is he going to take care of his lifts? Is he going to be eating right? Is he going to take care of business away from the field? Is he an individual at 16 years old, basically a high school kid, that you’re comfortable sending out?

The newbie was modest when commenting about his debut. “I just go out there and play my game as hard as I can and don’t really pay attention to anything else. I mean, this is my life. This is what I do 24/7, and every time I’m out there I just play like it’s my last. I’m just here to play, have fun and win a ballgame,” said Salas.

To top it all off, Salas turned 17 on June 1. Happy birthday indeed!

A back-left wheel was flung away from the track of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. No one was seriously hurt by the flying debris.

The final laps of the race proved to be dangerous after driver Felix Rosenqvist struck a wall and began to spin out of control over the entire track. Matters grew worse, on turn two, as Kyle Kirkwood was unable to avoid the vehicle and caught just enough to tear off the entire wheel. Thankfully, despite smacking the wall and flipping Andretti Autosport‘s Honda on its top, Kirkwood has since been cleared and released.

The wheel was “sailing” when it cleared the catch fence before slamming into a white Chevrolet Cruze owned by a fan Robin Matthews. Understandably, she said that the 107th Indianapolis 500 will not be one she will ever forget.

“It’s very concerning,” said IndyCar owner Roger Penske.

Penske went on to say that IndyCar would investigate the matter to determine the cause of the unfortunate incident. He also mentioned that they had not, “seen a wheel come off in a long time.”

IndyCar has released a statement on the matter that the wheel tether, which prevents wheel-to-car separation, did not fail during the crash.

“This is an isolated incident and the series is reviewing to make sure it does not happen again,” added IndyCar.

There have been at least two reported fatal incidents of wheel remnants harming fans. The most recent was in 1987. Tony Bettenhausen‘s wheel hit Lyle Kurtenbach who died of head injuries after it was sent into the air. This led to the catch fence being raised from 15 feet to 19 feet, eight inches.

It may need to be raised once again, for the safety of those who love their Indy 500 series and their families.

Brandon Marshall said that he’s ready to come out of retirement in a recent episode of the I Am Athlete podcast. Asked about the possibility of Aaron Rodgers calling him up to play for the New York Jets, Marshall didn’t hesitate.

“I’m already ready,” said Marshall.

When the camera frame switched back, the former six-time Pro-Bowler was sporting 15 New York Jets jersey. However, at 39 years old, Marshall coming back may be a tall order by his own admission. The proposed position of the tight end might also be another factor – the Jets already have solid selections in current starter Tyler Conklin and C.J. Uzomah.

Of course, being a former Jets wide receiver and holding the NFL record for most catches in a game (21 against the Indianapolis Colts) are not facts that should be ignored.

Marshall himself has talked about Rodgers in the past. In 2020, on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, he opined about the decisions made by Rodgers’s old team the Green Bay Packers.

“It’s too late,” he said. “Come on man, they should’ve won two Super Bowls in the last five years. To me, Aaron Rodgers is my favorite quarterback in the NFL, but you wasted this guy’s career. You got one Super Bowl out of Aaron Rodgers? Are you kidding me? It’s too late! It’s too late.”

The Oakland Athletics have signed on the dotted line.

The ball club will be financially obligated for 49 acres of land on one of the most well-known streets in the world. The current planned site is occupied by the reportedly closing Tropicana Hotel on Las Vegas Strip, and team president Dave Kaval wants to replace it with a moderately retractable roof and at least 30,000 seats. Hopefully, they will be filled with fans in the 2027 Major League Baseball season, once the third-oldest resort on the Sin City Strip is demolished.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred expressed support for the team’s plans to move.

“The A’s have done their part to stay through an enormous investment in Oakland, their many playoff berths, outstanding baseball operations leadership and an abundance of patience,” he said. “Under John Fisher, the A’s ownership has invested unprecedented time and resources to try to build a new ballpark in Oakland.”

Once the land-only deal and relocation process is complete, it would mark the second major professional sports team to have left Oakland for Las Vegas in the last three years. And the third team that has packed up and left in recent years. From the NFL, the Oakland Raiders relocated in 2020 and now play in Allegiant Stadium. The NBA’s Golden State Warriors moved a year prior in 2019 to shoot hoops at Chase Center just across the Bay in San Francisco. Given the short driving distance, a sea of Las Vegas sports jerseys is sure to become an even more familiar sight in a few years.

“That brings a lot of tax dollars that helps the community pay for social services and benefits and really creates a positive return on yield for the whole project,” said Kaval.

Interestingly enough, the Oakland A’s lease at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum expires following the 2024 season. The length of time left in the gap calls for finding a temporary home for the A’s to continue competing. The Salt Lake Tribune reports that is a possibility that the team could play in Las Vegas, on the field of their Triple-A affiliate the Las Vegas Aviators, before the stadium is finished.

The time and scenery are potentially changing for the currently struggling Athletics.

The Suns have unexpectedly joined the search for a new coach, along with the Detroit Pistons, Philadelphia 76ers, Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors, after they let go of Monty Williams last week.

This came not too long after falling short, four games to two, in the Western Conference Semifinals against the Denver Nuggets. The 51-year-old Williams took responsibility for the elimination loss, despite two of the team’s starters Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton being out of the lineup with injuries.

“I take that personally, not having our team ready to play in the biggest game of the year,” Williams said.

“Monty has been foundational to our success over the past four seasons,” James Jones, the Suns’ president of basketball operations and general manager, said of Williams.

Former NBA Champion Stephen Jackson expressed disapproval of the Williams situation on the podcast I Am Athlete.

“I didn’t think they was gonna get rid of the coach. I think he was the right coach for the job. But you know how they do,” Jackson said.

Williams coached the Suns for four seasons, winning about 63% of those contests, after being hired in May 2019. In that span of time, the Suns made the playoffs three out of those four years and even made an NBA Finals appearance in the 2020-2012 season. The very next year Williams was awarded the NBA Coach of the Year and coached Team LeBron to a three-point win in the All-Star Game.

With reports of a couple of different teams, including the Bucks, Pistons and Raptors, being curious about his future availability, it seems rather unlikely that Williams will end up too far from courtside. After being a large part of the Suns clawing out of the bottom half of the Western Conference, the former NBA small forward and Olympic gold medalist will now seek an opportunity somewhere else.

Tragedy has struck yet again in Churchill Downs, as another injured horse has been lost.

According to Darren Rogers, Churchill Downs spokesperson, Rio Moon broke his leg on Sunday. Sometime after the day’s sixth race, the three-year-old colt reached the finish line when the injury was discovered.

An Equibase chart reported, “suffered a catastrophic injury to his left foreleg a few strides after the wire” which resulted in the horse, trained by Dale Romans, of Louisville, being euthanized.

The nearly 150-year-old home of the Kentucky Derby has reportedly lost eight horses since April 29, with seven of the deaths happening over ten days during the Spring Meet at Churchill Downs.

“Churchill Downs is unwavering in our commitment to the health and well-being of equine safety,” the facility wrote in a statement. “The equine fatalities leading to this year’s Kentucky Derby are a sobering reminder of the urgent need to mobilize our industry in order to explore every avenue possible and effectively minimize any avoidable risk in the sport. Despite our determination to continually improve upon the highest industry standards, there is more to be done and we will rigorously work to understand what caused these incidents and build upon our existing data, programs, and practices to better understand what has been incredibly difficult for us to witness and accept this week.”

Since then, several more horses have lost their lives during the running of the 149th year of the famed horseracing event. Seven of these deaths happened before the Kentucky Derby even began.

With an NBC-reported 14.8 million viewers for the 2023 Kentucky Derby, a dip from last year’s 16 million

CBS Sports has hired an offensive veteran of 15 seasons for their roster. Four-time Pro Bowler Matt Ryan will step into a different kind of uniform – NFL analyst.

The former Falcons and Colts quarterback had this to say about the development of the sports network via an Instagram post:

“Excited to join the @nfloncbs family! Looking forward to breaking down the game this season. P.S. – this is not a retirement post…”

According to a press release from CBS Sports, “Ryan will serve as an analyst for select NFL ON CBS games and also provide analysis for THE NFL TODAY, THAT OTHER PREGAME SHOW (TOPS), NFL MONDAY QB as well as CBS Sports HQ.”

“I have been blessed to have incredible teammates throughout my career and I am fortunate that will continue here working with and learning from the very best in the industry,” said Ryan in a statement.

“As one of the NFL’s marquee quarterbacks for the past 15 years, we’re thrilled to add Matt to our talented roster of NFL analysts,” said CBS EVP Harold Bryant.

This comes after the nearly 38-year-old Ryan was cut from the Indianapolis Colts back in the middle of March. While the roster move does help the AFC South team avoid a potential $17 million-sized price tag, there is a $12 million stipulation potentially looming.

“Ryan technically has an obligation to seek NFL employment, and to not refuse reasonable opportunities to play. If he announces “I’m out,” the Colts could — in theory — try to not pay him,” ProFootballTalk reported.

Ryan forged a professional path in the NFL that includes an Offensive Rookie of the Year award, a Super Bowl appearance, a top 10 spot in touchdown passes and a top 5 position in passing completions. Now, the next time Ryan steps onto an NFL field, he will bring his experience to a whole new team.