Luka Doncic‘s impressive start to the season continued Monday against the Miami Heat, where he finished with 42 points in a 138-117 win.

This was Doncic’s fifth 40-plus-point game in his past five appearances, raising his league-leading scoring average to 38.8 points per game.

Miami star Giannis Antetokounmpo praised his performance, and he ranks fourth in points per game with 28.4.

“Obviously, he’s one of the best scorers to play this game, if not the best,” Antetokounmpo said after the game.

A reporter interrupted Antetokounmpo’s answer, hoping for additional context.

“Right now?”

“Not right now. Of all time. I feel like some people are scared to say that, but he’s got to be up there,” Antetokounmpo replied.

The numbers support Doncic’s case; his career scoring average of 29.32 is behind legends like Michael Jordan, who averaged 30.12 points per game, and Wilt Chamberlain, who averaged 30.07 points per game.

Doncic’s fifth straight game with 20-plus points in the first half made him the first Lakers player since Kobe Bryant in 2007 to do so.

Doncic has proven he belongs in the conversation of the greatest scorers to play the game; he is on pace to win his second straight scoring title and his third career title. In the playoffs, he doesn’t disappear, averaging 30.9 points per game in the postseason.

“It just feels almost anything he shoots, whether it’s a circus shot or regular step-back 3, or it’s a tough floater, it just seems like everything he’s shooting is going to go in,” Doncic’s teammate Quentin Grimes said. “… I don’t think I’ve ever been on the court when everything somebody shoots, you think it’s going in. So, kind of crazy little heater he’s on for sure.”

In Doncic’s past five games, he has averaged 43.4 points while shooting 53.2% overall, 44.7% from 3 and 89.1% from the free-throw line.

Doncic finished with 13 assists; he handled Miami’s double teams easily and was blitzed on seven possessions when using on-ball screens. The Lakers scored on six of those.

“It’s a really good offense that we’re playing right now,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said, pointing out the Lakers’ 39 assists were the most they’ve had since he took over as their coach in 2024-25. “And a lot of that, of course, is Doncic and what he’s able to do and bend the defense. And his shotmaking creates a lot of problems, and then he can make every pass.” 

 Doncic didn’t say much about his personal play, instead focusing on the Lakers’ standing in the Western Conference.

“Obviously when we win, it feels way better,” Doncic said. “But obviously, it feels good.” 

William Contreras has had a year he will never forget, from winning his home country Venezuela’s first-ever World Baseball Classic to winning the Milwaukee Brewers their first World Series championship.

Contreras became the eighth catcher voted the World Series MVP; he joined Gene Tenace, Johnny Bench, Steve Yeager, Darrell Porter, Rick Dempsey, Pat Borders and Salvador Perez as catchers to win the award.

“I don’t want to offend any of the other catchers in the league. The last thing I want to do is offend any of them,” he said through an interpreter. “But sitting up here today, champion of the world, I feel like I’m the best catcher in the league. Again, that’s no disrespect to any of them. That’s the last thing I want to do. But today I feel like I’m the best catcher in the world.” 

“He’s our pit bull. You don’t just walk up and pet him. There’s a chance you get nipped,” manager Pat Murphy said.  

After being awarded the MVP trophy, Contreras embraced his 34-year-old brother, Boston Red Sox first baseman Wilson Contreras, who won the World Series in 2016 with the Chicago Cubs.

“My brother is my role model. I don’t have a lot of friends. He’s my friend,” William Contreras said. “If I have something to ask somebody, I ask Willson.” 

Contreras teared up when talking about his home country, Venezuela. Contreras and teammates Jackson Chourio and Antonio Senzatela joined Alex Bregman and Luke Gregerson of the 2017 Houston Astros in winning the WBC and World Series that year.

“It means everything because that’s the first time Venezuela guys win the WBC and the World Series,” William Contreras said. “It’s history, history for my country. I love Venezuela. It’s my country.” 

This season, Contreras hit .270 with 18 homers and a career-best 94 RBIs as the Brewers won their fourth straight NL Central title.

“Think about what he’s achieved, and he’s disappointed his numbers aren’t better,” Murphy said. “He’s disappointed that he isn’t Gold Glove.” 

Contreras was the best when it came to ABS; he led Major League Baseball with 185 challenges and 105 overturns during the regular season. During the postseason, he won 22-of-33.

“It’s not magic,” Contreras said. “I think it’s the experience of playing every day throughout the season.” 

Contreras showed up in big moments for the Brewers this postseason. He batted .444 with a pair of solo homers in the NLDS against the San Diego Padres, hitting a tie-breaking, seventh-inning drive in the opener and another homer in Game 3. In the NLCS, he batted .357 with one homer and three RBIs to complete the sweep over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“I told him before the game: You will be the MVP of the World Series,” Murphy said of Contreras. “People recognized what that kid did for us. There was no doubt in my mind. Yeah, he’s special.”

Trophyless seasons and empty stats – those were the words always connected with Harry Kane. Finally, in 2026, those narratives no longer follow Kane; now, when you think of the English striker, you remember him as a Ballon d’Or winner.

Kane’s journey hasn’t been easy, having been released from Arsenal’s academy at a young age. Kane later joined the Tottenham Hotspur academy, where he eventually got called up to the senior team. 

However, his rise to the top would not be quick; he had several loan spells at Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich City and Leicester City. It took until the 2013-14 Premier League season for him to break into Spurs’ first team. A year later, he was named PFA Young Player of the Year at 21.

Kane spent nine seasons at Spurs, where he became the club’s top goalscorer. Kane scored 280 goals in 435 appearances for Spurs while breaking Wayne Rooney’s all-time goal-scoring record for England. He is on pace to break Peter Shilton’s appearance record of 125 caps.

Year after year, he led the club into the top 4 of the Premier League and competed for the league, domestic cups, and the UEFA Champions League. Despite all of that, in nine years, not a single trophy was won.

During the 2023 summer transfer window, Kane joined German club Bayern Munich for €120 million ($134 million). In 156 matches played for the club, Kane has scored 158 goals.

This past season, Kane scored 73 goals in 65 matches, won the German Bundesliga, the DFB-Pokal, the German Supercup and led England to their best FIFA World Cup finish in 60 years with third place, scoring six times at the tournament. 

Before his move to Bayern Munich, Kane understood he was not regarded as one of the top stars in world football. 

Former Spurs manager Jose Mourinho alluded to this in a conversation with Kane in the “All or Nothing” series by Amazon that covered the 2019-20 campaign for Spurs.

“The world looks to English football with an incredible respect, but they still think that the movie stars of football belong to other places — and I think we have to build also your status in that direction,” he said.

Kane replied: “That’s my aim. When you are at a club like Tottenham, of course we’ve done well, personally I’ve done well, but I want to be Ronaldo, Messi …”

All of this leading up to the Ballon d’Or ceremony in London, Kane, along with Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal, were the top three choices to win the award. The award’s official website posted three separate articles before the ceremony, congratulating all three players on winning the award. This would lead to the awards being pushed back an hour.

The Ballon d’Or is voted by one journalist per country from FIFA’s top 100 ranked nations. Kane has never finished higher than 10th in the Ballon d’Or vote (2024). The criteria for the award are: individual performances, decisive and impressive character; collective performances and titles won; class and fair play.

Despite the Premier League being the best league in the world, English players have won it only five times (Sir Stanley Matthews, Sir Bobby Charlton and Kevin Keegan twice), and the last winner was Michael Owen in 2001.

LaLiga has dominated the award over the past two decades, mainly through Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. A few players have won the award once during this stretch, like Luka Modric and Karim Benzema, both of whom won the award while playing for Real Madrid. Players from Real Madrid and Barcelona have won it 12 times each. Mbappe and Yamal, who Kane was competing against for the award, both play for Madrid and Barcelona. Manchester United are the most successful English club in Ballon d’Or history with four. The last United player to win the award was Ronaldo in 2008.

Kane left England to win trophies; losing cup finals and the highest league finish of second would only build frustration at Spurs. Now at Bayern, Kane has won five trophies since the 2024-25 season. Now he can add the Ballon d’Or to that list.

“I am almost speechless,” he said. “Being here in London has made it extra special. It made it a good omen for me tonight.” Now standing on the stage, all the eyes are on him.

Look away, Arsenal fans.

The Gunners, who are at the peak of their powers under manager Mikel Arteta, have just suffered their worst loss in possibly the entirety of the team’s 140-year history, and certainly their worst in England.

Fleetwood Town pulled off one of the most incredible upsets you will ever see in sports, taking down the champions of England and Champions League finalists on penalties in the fourth round of the EFL Cup, a tournament between the English soccer pyramid’s top four tiers.

They aren’t even four tiers apart. Arsenal sit atop the Premier League while Fleetwood Town sit 18th in the fourth tier, League Two, where relegation threatens their place in fully professional football. 84 spots lower in the pyramid, Fleetwood had won just three games this season.

Fleetwood Town were 28/1 to win in regulation, which, looking back, certainly could have happened. They were 12/1 to advance to the next round.

It may have been written in the stars for the home team, who were on their back heels for the first few minutes before a stoppage occurred for a blinking light in the sky. An unidentified drone caused the seven-minute delay, forcing the players off the pitch for safety reasons until it was sorted out.

A stretch, maybe, but this delay might have given Fleetwood Town time to settle against the champions. They went on to look very competitive with Arsenal for the next twenty minutes and capitalized with a goal from Aaron Loupalo-Bi, who sent just over 5,000 fans at Highbury into chaos.

If you asked the fans whether they would leave the game happy after that moment, no matter the score, they’d say yes.

Arsenal dominated the rest of the first half, looking more like their usual selves. They didn’t have their starters playing, but their depth is some of the best in the world, and their mix of second and third strings should have had plenty of quality to blow out Fleetwood Town.

They couldn’t capitalize in the first half thanks to strong defending from Fleetwood Town, but they removed the threat of a second goal.

Arteta had had enough at half-time, subbing in a few starters to try and take over the game. He didn’t want to do that, needing rest for the weekend’s match against Liverpool in the Premier League.

Viktor Gyökeres finally broke through for Arsenal in the 50th minute, scoring his first goal of the season.

The match seemed to be in Arsenal’s hands until chaos broke out late, as 16-year-old Max Dowman went down and retaliated, earning an iffy, yet still immature, red card. Arsenal had to play the last 5 minutes and change without their star prodigy, and Fleetwood Town held them off to get to a penalty shootout to decide who would advance.

Fleetwood Town had already won, drawing the Premier League Champions as a fourth-tier side. But the Cinderella story didn’t end there.

The first seven penalties were taken and scored before Bruno Guimarães stepped up for Arsenal, only for Fleetwood’s Jay Lynch to save his stutter step kick. The crowd was on cloud nine. It was not Arsenal’s night. Conor Haughey smoked it into the top left corner, and the fans rushed the field as Arsenal were officially knocked out of the tournament.

A story of how amazing sports can be: Fleetwood Town’s roster earned just $2.8 million, compared with Arsenal’s $1.4 billion. Around 500 times the amount. Theoretically, Fleetwood Town could be relegated to the National League at the end of this year and never return to fully professional soccer, less than a year after beating the country’s top team. That’s the beauty of the English soccer system.

A night that neither team will forget. One of the darkest nights in Arsenal’s storied history is the greatest night Fleetwood Town may ever see.

Kylian Mbappé has apologized after a remark about a meme portraying him as Mao Zedong prompted several Chinese companies to cut ties with the Real Madrid star.

The 27-year-old France captain, who brushed off an ankle scare during France’s World Cup quarterfinal win over Morocco this summer and has accused former club Paris Saint-Germain of moral harassment, lost deals with beverage maker Dongpeng, dairy giant Mengniu and cheese producer Milkground on Tuesday.

The controversy began with a clip circulating on X that appeared to show Mbappé being interviewed ahead of an appearance on the French online talk show The Bridge. Asked about his favorite meme of himself, he described it as a video of “a guy, I think he was a Chinese dictator.” The clip then cut to an edited image placing Mbappé’s face on Mao’s blue-suited body.

Mao, who founded the People’s Republic of China in 1949 and ruled until his death in 1976, remains revered by many in the country, and jokes about him are widely considered taboo.

In nearly identical statements, the three brands said they oppose any words or actions that “hurt national sentiment.” None directly cited the Mao comment, but the timing left little doubt. Mbappé’s image has been plastered across China, from subway stations to elevators, in campaigns ranging from Dongpeng’s Bushuaila electrolyte drink to a Mengniu ad alongside Lionel Messi.

The fallout went beyond sponsors. China Media Group said it was suspending broadcasts of La Liga matches and other games involving Mbappé, pulling ads featuring him and demanding apologies from both the player and Real Madrid. Social media platform RedNote said it would remove promotional material tied to a content partnership with Mbappé that ended in December 2024, and his account on the app was blocked from gaining new followers.

China’s Foreign Ministry also weighed in, with a spokesperson warning that remarks that hurt Chinese people’s feelings would face opposition from across Chinese society.

On Weibo, hashtags about brands ending their partnerships with Mbappé topped the trending list, alongside calls for soccer fans to boycott the forward.

Mbappé responded quickly, posting an apology on X in French, Chinese and English.

“My comment was ill-judged,” he wrote, adding that he now understands it hurt many people in China and in Chinese communities around the world. He said upsetting anyone “was absolutely not my intention” and that he has “deep respect for the Chinese people and their history.”

La Liga moved swiftly to protect its lucrative television business in China. League president Javier Tebas apologized on X, and the league said the comments were made in a personal capacity and did not reflect La Liga’s views. It also pledged to create a “communication protocol” for players and clubs and to work with partners in China to prevent similar incidents.

Soccer fans have long jokingly called Mbappé a “dictator” because of his outsized influence over his teams, and memes depicting him as Mao and other authoritarian leaders have circulated widely online for years.

The firestorm capped a rough week for the French superstar, who watched Harry Kane win the Ballon d’Or on Monday.

It has been almost a week since the new NBA season began, when the Miami Heat started the Giannis Antetokounmpo era with a blowout loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves by a score of 131-106.

“We got to trust each other. When things don’t go our way, we got to dig in,” said the forward after that loss. Looking back on that quote now, nothing has shown that the team is doing it. He also said that the effort “starts with me” and that he “sets the tone” after the loss to Minnesota. That hasn’t happened either.

After losing to the Detroit Pistons in their second game of the season, fans began to conclude that Antetokounmpo was giving up on the team based on his emotions. He did his job putting up 36 points, but it wasn’t enough to win. People began to realize that Antetokounmpo couldn’t win by himself in Miami any more than he couldn’t in Milwaukee.

The bad got worse in their last game, where Antetokounmpo posted a -20 in a loss to the Charlotte Hornets, with only 14 points and a foul-out.

Now the Heat sit at 0-3 with one of the most exciting starting lineups entering the season. The NBA has shown that a star-studded starting lineup doesn’t always translate into wins. Plenty of super-teams have struggled to find results due to chemistry.

0-3 is hardly an insurmountable setback this early in the season, but the alarm bells are ringing. Antetokounmpo said himself that he sets the tone, but the team is full of experience and leaders on the floor. It is still too early to tell whether the blockbuster move that sent Antetokounmpo to Miami is going to end up being the right decision.

Anthony Davis and Trae Young shared the court for the first time for the Washington Wizards after both were acquired last season. They showed the Wizards crowd why there is something to be excited about.

Both recorded double-doubles: Davis finished with 34 points and 12 rebounds, and Young with 20 points and 13 assists. Washington defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 128-116 in the season opener.

In the fourth quarter, the Wizards took over, outscoring the Bucks 38-23 in the final 12 minutes.

The supporting cast around the duo shined; eight players scored at least eight points, six of those in double figures. Kyshawn George had 18 points, Bilal Coulibaly and Deandre Ayton each scored 11, and Bub Carrington scored 10.

“I was really pleased because it really was a team win,” said Wizards coach Brian Keefe. “There were so many guys who stepped up in different moments, and that’s what we’re going to need.”

Last season, the Wizards traded for Davis from the Dallas Mavericks. Davis did not play for the Wizards for the rest of the season after the team acquired him in a trade, due to injuries.

In his Wizards debut, Davis gave the crowd a reason to believe in the team, scoring 10 points and grabbing six rebounds in the first quarter before scoring 18 points in the third quarter.

“It felt great,” Davis said. “It’s been nine months since I played a real game, so it felt really good to be out on the floor and compete again with these guys – even better when you can get the win. I had so much fun tonight and a lot of emotion and a lot of energy.” 

He also had four assists, two steals and one block and was 11-for-14 from the free-throw line. 

When Davis went to the free-throw line for and-1, the crowd chanted “M-V-P, M-V-P.” It happened again later in the game.

“I just knew he was going to be ready, and I wasn’t surprised by what he did tonight,” Young said. “I don’t want to put too much pressure on him, but for me, having a guy like that, I want to help him get to MVP. Nights like tonight, and we continue to win games, he’s going to be in the conversation.” 

For Young, this wasn’t his first game in a Wizards debut; like Davis, he was also traded from the Atlanta Hawks. Young appeared in five games before injuries ended his season.

“It has felt like forever playing a regular-season game,” Young said. “Five games in a season isn’t normal for me, especially just for one team.”  

Young shot 4-for-13 from the field and missed all six three-point attempts. His 12 made free throws helped Washington build a 32-19 lead at the line. Young committed only one turnover, and in the fourth quarter he scored five points and had six assists.

“He draws a crowd,” Davis said. “They were putting two on the ball with him, and he was making the right passes. DA benefited a lot from it, me, Alex [Sarr], with some lobs. Anytime you’re putting two on the ball with a guy who can pass like that and who has a very high IQ, Trae Young, he’s going to pick you apart. And it’s our job to get in the right places to get him outlets, and then we just play from there.”  

While the Wizards looked great with their new duo, the most anticipated player to debut is Number one draft pick AJ Dybantsa. Dybantsa missed the opener with a sprained left ankle he sustained in the team’s final preseason game against New Orleans.

The Memphis Grizzlies hosted the Utah Jazz for their season opener in a game with many storylines, including Darryn Peterson and Cameron Boozer making their debuts and Jaren Jackson Jr. playing in Memphis; one player stole the show.

Ty Jerome stole the night with his performance that led the Grizzlies to a 123-103 victory over the Jazz.

Jerome torched the Utah defense, scoring a career-high 45 points in under 32 minutes; he also added six assists and seven rebounds. 

All night, Jerome attacked the Jazz defense with the pick-and-roll, scoring at all three levels to finish 17-for-25 from the field, 5-for-10 from the three, and 6-for-7 at the free-throw line. The guard showed no fear in the paint, scoring on floaters and runners around the free-throw line. Beyond the arc, he let the ball fly, hitting a 33-foot shot from the edge of the half-court logo in the fourth quarter.

Jerome has only scored over 30 points once in 253 career NBA games before his show-stealing performance against the Jazz. He set a Grizzlies franchise record for the highest-scoring season opener, overtaking the 44 that Ja Morant scored in the 2020-21 season opener. Only Morant and Desmond Bane have ever scored more points in a Grizzlies jersey than Jerome did.

This performance could be the spark Jerome needs after spending most of last season sidelined with injuries. Jerome has been a journeyman guard, playing for five teams after he was drafted 24th overall in the 2019 NBA Draft. Last season, his first in Memphis, Jerome played 15 games with only 339 minutes due to a right calf strain.

Jerome cemented himself in the league in the 2024-25 season with the Cleveland Cavaliers, who won 64 games. Playing in 70 games and logging nearly 1,400 minutes, Jerome was a key bench player.

The breakout season earned Jerome third in Sixth Man of the Year voting, and a three-year, $28 million contract with the Grizzlies. After returning from injury, Jerome showed he wasn’t done, averaging 19.7 points, 5.7 assists, and 2.8 rebounds in 22.7 minutes per game. 

Heading into his 17th season and first with the Boston Celtics, Paul George was excited in the preseason about how involved he would be with the team’s offense.

George has spent years with an offense built around him, but now, as the second scoring option behind Jayson Tatum, he is embracing the challenge of being efficient without the same focus.

“It’s been a beautiful challenge, as I tell [Joe Mazzulla], of exploring how to be,” George said Monday before heading to Detroit with the team for Tuesday’s season opener. “I’ve been so used to, in my career, having the ball in my hands and the offense running through me, knowing where my spots will be.” 

The Celtics offense is free-flowing, using multiple ball handlers and spacing the floor for three-point shooting. The offense is designed for players to move and read the defense while setting up actions that lead to easy baskets for teammates.

George and his teammates won’t sit in the corner for a jump shot or a primary isolation play. George understands this will be an adjustment, but it is the style of basketball he’s wanted to play.

 “The beautiful thing within Joe’s offense is I could be anywhere, and there is, so to speak, no set play,” George said. “It’s kind of reading the game, thinking the game, and with such a high-IQ team, it’s been a fun challenge of how can I be myself? How can I find rhythm? How can I play at my pace, my speed, while being in different spots and figuring it out and learning what the defense is giving us.”

“So it’s been fun. This is kind of how I always envisioned playing. So it’s just up to me to now try to figure it out.”

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla wants George to be himself on the court and not assimilate into the team’s offensive philosophy; instead, he wants the team to work as a collective to maximize their new squad.

“You want a guy to be at his best,” Mazzulla said. “He can score at all three levels. He’s a great catch-and-shoot guy. He can handle in pick-and-roll. Obviously, his defensive creativity and his defensive instincts are great.

“Coming here, it’s not him having to adjust to us. It’s us working together to build this system and get the most out of it. We have to stay open-minded, he’s got to stay open-minded, and we just all work together.”

In the season opener against the Pistons, George scored the most points by a Celtics player in their regular-season debut, with 38 points, including seven made three-point shots, five rebounds, and three assists. Prior to the game, Mazzulla spoke about George’s defensive capabilities; against the Pistons, George proved him right by stealing the ball five times.

“He’s such a special guy to coach, so I look forward to continuing to build that relationship and push him to get more out of him,” Mazzulla said. “I think the positive is that there’s another level that he can get to as a player, and we take pride in trying to get that out of guys, and he’s taking pride in getting there as well.” 

Minnesota Timberwolves star LaMelo Ball is facing criticism after revealing he leaves diaper duty for his 9-month-old son, LaOne, to his girlfriend, model Ana Montana.

Ball made the comments on Inside the NBA on Wednesday, Oct. 21, ahead of his regular-season debut with the Timberwolves. When asked whether he changes his son’s diapers, Ball answered, “Oh, nah.”

“My girl do all that. It’s love, for sure,” he said. “She do all that, you know what I’m saying? We got a good game plan going on.”

The 25-year-old point guard framed the arrangement as a division of labor between the couple.

“So I know what I gotta do to bring to the table. She knows what she gotta do to bring to the table,” he explained.

Host Ernie Johnson Jr. pushed back, telling Ball he didn’t know what he was missing. Ball insisted he had done it before but didn’t see it as his responsibility.

“I did it before, you feel me? I’ve definitely did it before, [but] it’s just not my job. You know what I’m saying? It’s not my job,” he said.

The remarks quickly drew backlash on social media, with many users arguing that hands-on parenting should be shared regardless of a father’s career or income. Some critics accused Ball of treating fatherhood as a role limited to providing financially, while others argued that changing diapers is a basic part of caring for a child.

Ball and Montana, whose real name is Analicia Chaves, welcomed LaOne in January but did not publicly confirm his birth until May. The couple first sparked dating rumors in late 2021 and went Instagram official in June 2023. The pair also launched I Am Fertility, a platform and nonprofit that supports women going through fertility treatments and IVF.

The diaper controversy overshadowed what was otherwise a strong start to Ball’s Minnesota tenure. Hours after the interview, he scored 21 points with six assists, two steals and five three-pointers as the Timberwolves routed the Miami Heat 131-106 in their season opener. Backcourt partner Anthony Edwards led the way with 45 points and 10 rebounds.

“The relationship is all the way up,” Ball said of Edwards after the game.

The Timberwolves acquired Ball from the Charlotte Hornets in a blockbuster offseason deal that sent Naz Reid and a package of draft picks to Charlotte. Ball spent his first six NBA seasons with the Hornets, where he won Rookie of the Year in 2021 and was named an All-Star the following season.

Minnesota is betting that pairing Ball with Edwards, the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, will push the franchise past its recent run of Western Conference Finals exits. Ball was taken third overall in the same draft.

LeBron James was welcomed to the Philadelphia uniform on Wednesday against the New York Knicks in true New York fashion. The 76ers stole the Knicks’ championship night with a 106-100 win.

The banner-raising ceremony pre-game still wasn’t enough to keep the fans in a loving spirit, as the confrontations between James and fans started early in the second quarter, when he was shouting at people sitting at the baseline of Madison Square Garden.

Eventually, a more personal confrontation seemingly began with a fan saying something about his West Coast history related to his time in Los Angeles with the Lakers. James responded with plenty of foul language.

“You don’t know what the f— you talkin’ about; I’m not from the West Coast. I’m from Ohio, baby. F— you talkin’ about,” seemed to be James’ response.

The back-and-forth with the fans went on for a good chunk of the game, and it happened multiple times.

Apparently, Knicks superfan and celebrity Spike Lee tried to calm the tensions between James and the fans.

Eventually, James would end up dapping up the player he got into the confrontation with to ease the situation.

James has only had good things about New York, their arena, and their fans over the years. He even thought about playing for the Knicks when he said that he once dreamed of “finishing (his) career in the Garden.”

James had 19 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists in his first game playing for the 76ers. He did not make one of his three attempts from beyond the arc.

The 76ers will only have to wait a little over a week to let their own fans have their pick at the defending champion Knicks. The two teams play in the NBA Cup Group Stage on October 30.

Jake Bauers won the NLCS MVP last night after the Milwaukee Brewers stormed back from a 4-0 deficit to sweep the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-4.

Bauers went 4-for-14 in the series with some of the biggest moments to his name. His six RBIs were great, but his at-bats were even better. He had a 12-pitch at-bat that ended with a walk in Game 2, which helped knock previous MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto out of the game. In Game 3, his 11-pitch at-bat ended with a go-ahead home run, extending the Brewers’ series lead to 3-0.

In Game 4, he helped the Brewers get back into it with a two-run double, then walked with the bases loaded to drive in the go-ahead run and what would become the winning run.

Bauers was exceptional, but it wasn’t a guarantee he would win it after the game. The other guy who could have gotten it was relief pitcher Aaron Ashby, who threw 6.2 scoreless innings in the series and, going back past just the Dodgers series, 9 scoreless innings.

Ashby’s nine-out save in Game 4 shut down the Dodgers’ comeback hopes and sealed the sweep for the Brewers. He escaped a few jams. 

The Brewers’ sweep and upset of the Dodgers comes after the Dodgers swept them last year. They are off to the World Series and will get the advantage of some rest. They’ll play the winner of the Cleveland Guardians-Tampa Bay Rays series, and the Guardians still lead 2-1. 

The Brewers last appeared in a World Series in 1982, and they have never won one.

Pre-game videos surfaced before Monday Night Football between the Los Angeles Rams and the Buffalo Bills this weekend of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman standing near each other but not speaking while on the field.

This supported reports that Buck and Aikman argued in the booth over contract negotiations.

Buck recently agreed to a $108 million, six-year extension with ESPN, and Aikman has not received any offers.

With Aikman’s contract ending at the end of this year, his future next to Buck in the booth is in question, according to the report.

Buck reportedly mentioned the situation first after an awkward moment in the room, which led to the dispute.

The two worked together at Fox when Aikman was offered a move to ESPN before Buck, who followed shortly after the end of his Fox contract. They’ve worked together for 25 years, which is the longest-tenured crew in NFL history.

Aikman was asked on the radio about it and said: “There’s probably a time and a place for that… this probably isn’t that time.” He later added that he will play out the rest of the season, then be a “free agent” and “see what happens.” His comments suggest he isn’t expecting much at this point if it hasn’t already come.

This story gets really interesting with Tony Romo‘s recent termination after a DWI incident. CBS needs a new number one color commentator next to Jim Nantz. Currently, J.J. Watt has filled the role and could still be the choice next year after good reviews since taking over. However, Aikman is much more experienced and could push Watt out if CBS chose a bigger name, as Fox did when it moved Greg Olsen down after signing Tom Brady.

If Aikman leaves his role with ESPN, he would likely find another job easily. The dispute between the two suggests Aikman would likely want to keep working with Buck and ESPN if a contract allowed it and to extend their 25-year partnership.

In a high-tempered Monday Night Football contest, plenty of scrums occurred during and after the game, including one with Los Angeles Rams DE Aaron Donald and Buffalo Bills OL O’Cyrus Torrence.

Fans are reacting to the second-quarter scrum, where Donald tried to rip off Torrence’s helmet by grabbing his facemask while shoving him. Some fans claim Donald should have just “stayed retired” and that he “isn’t that scary anymore.”

No personal fouls were issued for the incident, and nothing really came of it, as teammates on both sides tried to get in the middle.

The Rams have been disappointing this year after being one of the league’s best teams last year and bringing back a defensive legend with high hopes. This probably contributed to the fans’ reaction, as well as Donald’s performance.

The game’s ending also likely fueled the fans’ harsh reaction, with the Rams losing after missing the game-winning kick following a Buffalo block in overtime.

Other fights broke out after the game at midfield as tensions remained high. Alaric Jackson received a two-game suspension for punching Bradley Chubb after the game. Chubb said the arguments that prompted the incident weren’t just between the two of them and that tempers were flaring between the teams.

In three games, Donald, 35, only has two solo tackles and zero sacks. He came out of retirement after two years out of the league.

Head coach Sean McVay had hopes for Donald, saying he was impressed with the workout that led to signing the defensive end.

Donald isn’t making nearly the impact McVay hoped for with that signing, and the Rams are now third in the NFC West at 2-3.

Stephen A. Smith apologized after criticizing Philadelphia Eagles lineman Lane Johnson’s decision to retire. Smith suggested Johnson retired because of the team’s struggle this season rather than the “person and family priorities” and “mental health” reasons Johnson cited.

On First Take, after Johnson’s retirement, Smith said Johnson “called it quits” midseason.

“Now he calls it quits, not before the season. Not in the offseason… four games into the 2026 season, a dude that has been in the league forever, sits back and says I need to focus on my mental health,” Smith said. 

Smith said that people “misconstrued me making light of mental health; I would never do that.”

Smith apologized again on First Take, saying, “My intent was joking about the Eagles; it doesn’t matter how my intent was, it’s how it’s received.” 

“I was wrong to Lane Johnson; I was wrong to the Philadelphia Eagles. I messed up because I made light of the issue of mental health, and that was clearly not my intent,” Smith said.

Johnson said in his retirement post that he “deeply wanted to gut it out for one more year; to take the field with my brothers for one last season,” hence his decision not to retire before the season. However, he said that his priorities changed after a period of “reflection.”

In his first game back after the 2025 NBA Finals, Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton felt he was playing too fast in the Pacers’ preseason opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Iowa State.

Haliburton scored seven points on 3-of-8 shooting with six assists, one steal, and two blocks in 16 minutes. 

“It’s the first game, but it’s got to slow down,” Haliburton said. “There was just a lot of adrenaline. I was hyped to be out there, excited, but I just got to slow down a little bit.”

While being hard on himself, Haliburton noticed that although his body was moving fast, he felt like he could read the floor at his usual pace.

“It’ll happen with time,” he said. “The only way to really replicate that is game reps against other guys. And that’s what that was. So really excited about it.”

“There’s a ton of improvement that there is to be made on my end and our team’s end, but just excited to be back on the floor.”

Haliburton suited up for the Pacers over 400 days ago when he tore his right Achilles during Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals. Playing in his first game back, he struggled to sleep. He said it was mainly because of the anticipation of playing his first game back at Iowa State, where he played for two years from 2018 to 2020.

The Pacers planned to play this preseason game in 2025, but after Haliburton’s injury, they decided to push it back until the star was healthy.

To replicate a college atmosphere, Haliburton bought out the student section at both ends of the arena, so students could get seats on a first-come, first-served basis. As a result, lines wrapped around the arena for hours before tip-off.

“It’s the loudest preseason game I’ve ever been a part of,” Haliburton said. “But had a lot of fun, a lot of special memories I’ve made here, and that just adds to it.”

Chase Briscoe won Sunday’s Bank of America 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, beating Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell by 0.029 seconds in one of the closest finishes in the track’s history.

It was the second-closest finish ever at Charlotte and the closest NASCAR Cup Series finish of the 2026 season. The victory was Briscoe’s second in a row, following his win at Las Vegas the week before, and his third of the year.

Briscoe looked in control after his pit crew put him in the lead on the final stop of the afternoon, and he built a more than two-second advantage. But his car’s handling faded in lapped traffic, and Bell closed the gap over the final laps.

On the last lap, Bell dove to the inside of Briscoe through the final corner, and the two cars made contact coming out of Turn 4. Both slid sideways as the drivers fought to keep control, then drag-raced to the checkered flag. Bell got loose in the scramble, giving Briscoe just enough room to hold on.

Ryan Blaney finished third and Josh Berry fourth.

The race was the Cup Series’ first fall event on Charlotte’s 1.5-mile oval since 2017, after several years on the track’s road course layout. All three of Briscoe’s 2026 wins have come on 1.5-mile tracks.

Wallace, Bowman walk away from hard hit

The day’s most frightening moment came on lap 77, when Bubba Wallace, Alex Bowman and William Byron were involved in a violent crash.

Bowman tried to pass Wallace for fifth when his car snapped around. He overcorrected up the track and slammed into Wallace’s No. 23 Toyota.

All the drivers climbed out on their own, though it took Wallace a couple of minutes to exit his car. Officials evaluated and released Wallace and Bowman from the infield care center.

Bowman took the blame afterward. “I overcorrected,” he said, adding bluntly that he had done a poor job.

More trouble followed the checkered flag when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Michael McDowell got into a scuffle on track. The cause of the dispute was unclear at first.

Championship picture tightens

Points leader Kyle Larson finished sixth, his worst result of the 10-race Chase so far. He still extended his lead to 49 points over Denny Hamlin.

Bell sits third, 51 points back, while Briscoe’s back-to-back wins have moved him to within 65 points of Larson.

Larson has dominated the Chase, finishing no worse than sixth and winning twice.

Four races remain in the season, at Phoenix, Talladega, Martinsville and Homestead-Miami.

Sunday’s finish was a welcome burst of drama for a postseason that has produced few close finishes. According to OutKick, it was the tightest finish at Charlotte since Jimmie Johnson edged Bobby Labonte in the 2005 Coca-Cola 600.

Manny Machado struck the ball in what everyone in attendance thought would be a game-tying run, but Christian Yelich didn’t watch it fly.

He looked at Machado, who barely moved after the ball left his bat, signaling that it would sail over the fence and tie Game 4.

“He’s hit about 400 homers in this league,” Yelich said. “He kind of knows what it feels like when he gets one.” 

Brewers center fielder Garrett Mitchell fenced off a couple of fans and made a catch that helped Milwaukee win 3-1 and return to the NLCS for a rematch against the back-to-back defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

“I was just trying to get back to the ball,” Mitchell said. “The ball was hit really well. I don’t know, it just happened. Instinctually just do what I do, make a good jump and see what happens.” 

Mitchell’s catch on a ball that traveled 406 feet and 106.7 mph helped snap the Brewers’ 12-game postseason road losing streak, tied for the longest in major league history. Home run robberies have been tracked since 2004. According to ESPN Insights, Machado’s home run marked the first time a player had been robbed of a potential game-tying or go-ahead homer in the eighth inning or later of a playoff game.

“I was really worried,” Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold said. “But like Garrett Mitchell just vanished into the crowd and pulled it out. It was awesome.” 

The Brewers won a major league best 103 regular-season games behind a dominant bullpen, an airtight defense, and an offense that excels at the little things. Still, the question remains whether this team is good enough to take down a Dodgers team that outscored them 15-4 in a four-game sweep in last year’s NLCS.

Mitchell, who drove in the game’s first run and scored the second, believes there’s a “different type of confidence and belief in ourselves” that will make the difference.

 “Coming into the postseason, you have a feeling that you’re gonna have to go through L.A.,” Yelich said. “They’re back-to-back champs, and they’re a great team. We have a lot of respect for those guys. But at the same time, we feel like we can play with everybody. And when we play our game and our brand of baseball, we’re a really hard team to beat.” 

“A lot of people have said we’re not built for the postseason because we’ve done so well in the regular season,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “We just have a dearth of players, no stars, not many stars, where I think we’re proving that, no, we still can win in the postseason because good baseball is good baseball.” 

The Los Angeles Lakers revealed their new defensive identity in their preseason opener against the Sacramento Kings.

From tip-off, the Lakers pressed, switched, and pressured the Kings, forcing a shot-clock violation on the first possession. Luka Doncic raised his fist toward the Lakers’ bench with a grin, showing that the team is all in on this new defensive approach.

The Lakers kept that momentum from the first possession to win 127-103, showcasing their deep wing rotation to compensate for a small bench.

Walker Kessler and Austin Reaves were out for the Lakers with injuries; without his two supporting teammates, Doncic led the Lakers with 21 points before sitting out the second half.

“We all had fun out there,” Doncic said, relishing the chance to play in his first competitive game in six months, one of the longest breaks of his career. “Especially with Matisse Thybulle and Ziaire Williams, just that beginning of the game, the start, that’s contagious for everybody, and how they start the game, it was inspirational.” 

Doncic didn’t have his best shooting night, going three-for-nine from three-point range; his teammates combined for nine of their first 13 three-pointers. Williams shot a perfect three-for-three beyond the arc with 13 points and one steal, acting as the team’s top on-ball defender. Thybulle, who was another key defensive offseason addition, recorded two steals and made two threes.

“You don’t wanna be the only guy out there that’s not being physical, not picking up full, not being a pest,” Williams said. “Coming in, I knew that I saw that the team could use that, someone who could pick up full and could guard the main ballhandler and really set the tone on that end. I try to just focus on that every possession.”

Coach JJ Redick, in his third season with the Lakers, said it was the first time in his tenure he felt the team had multiple players capable of handling that defensive responsibility. The Lakers call it their “line of confrontation.” Williams, Thybulle, second-year forward Adou Thiero and guard Quentin Grimes were among the players who guarded the ball full court. The Lakers forced four steals in the first quarter and 15 in total. They averaged 8.5 per game last season.

The Oklahoma City Thunder dropped their first preseason game to the New Orleans Pelicans, 116-110, and the result was encouraging for Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who wasn’t even suited up.

Of course, wins and losses don’t matter in the preseason, which makes this an overall win for the team, because one of the Thunder’s biggest problems is that Gilgeous-Alexander’s impact is limited, even with the stats he puts up, because he’s always double-teamed.

The fix is to add good catch-and-shoot shooters off the ball to complement his game, so when he drives through the paint, someone has to be covered around the perimeter. This aspect of the new Thunder team was very encouraging against the Pelicans.

The Thunder shot 48.5% from three in the loss. Bennett Stirtz went 3-for-6, Kendrich Williams went 3-for-4, and Jared McCain went 4-for-8. If these shooters keep this up for the Thunder, Gilgeous-Alexander will become even more lethal, and defenses will have to address the perimeter threat.

The San Antonio Spurs and Thunder are both co-favorites to win the NBA Championship, with a rematch in the Western Conference Finals to be expected.

The pieces around Gilgeous-Alexander this year, compared to last year, could be the difference in whether they win or lose that matchup, their toughest opponent yet again on the way to another title.