Sports

By Shams Charania, Mike Vorkunov and Tim CatoDallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is selling a majority stake of the franchise to Miriam Adelson and her family for a valuation in the range of $3.5 billion, league sources said. Cuban, however, will retain shares in the team and full control of basketball operations.Las Vegas Sands Corp. announced Tuesday in a SEC filing that Adelson was selling $2 billion worth of stock in the company to put towards buying a majority stake in a sports franchise, along with her own cash. This is approximately 10 percent of her stake.“We have been advised by the Selling Stockholders that they currently intend to use the net proceeds from this offering, along with additional cash on hand, to fund the purchase of a majority interest in a professional sports franch...

Alejandro Garnacho’s stunning overhead kick helped Manchester United maintain their status as the Premier League’s form team with victory over Everton at a feisty Goodison Park.Everton supporters staged protests against the club’s 10-point deduction before and during the game, holding up posters saying “corrupt” before kick off and in the 10th minute.After being stunned by Garnacho’s acrobatic opener, Everton carried the greater attacking threat but went 2-0 down when Ashley Young fouled Anthony Martial in the box (VAR Chris Kavanagh prompted referee John Brooks to review his decision to book the United striker for a dive) and Marcus Rashford (not Bruno Fernandes) converted the penalty.Martial scored his ninth goal against Everton for United’s third in the game to ensure a first Premier Le...

DURHAM, N.C. — Jai Lucas needed to make one final call.It was April 2022, and the Kentucky assistant coach was debating whether to leave one blue-blood basketball program for another. He’d been offered a job at Duke, under first-time head coach Jon Scheyer.As he called his inner circle — including head coaches such as Marquette’s Shaka Smart, Texas’ Rodney Terry and SMU’s Rob Lanier — he gradually realized the stakes. Duke rarely hires an assistant coach who didn’t play there; that hadn’t happened in over two decades. Plus, in the wake of Mike Krzyzewski’s retirement, Lucas knew he’d be getting in at the onset of a new era and the kind of career springboard that could be. But was he really going to leave Hall of Famer John Calipari to work for a rookie head coach?Torn, he called the person...

The 2023 season comes down to conference championship weekend. We could have the simplest and most impressive College Football Playoff field in the 10-year history of the event, we could have complete chaos or we could have something in between, with a little bit of last-minute drama.Michigan’s win against Ohio State moves the Wolverines up to No. 2 in this week’s rankings and leaves four undefeated Power 5 teams entering the weekend. If Georgia, Michigan, Washington and Florida State win, it’s an easy selection. But the SEC, Pac-12 and ACC games could be very competitive and see undefeated teams lose, giving the committee its hardest decisions since 2014.Oregon still likely has the strongest case among one-loss teams. The Ducks were the top-ranked one-loss team by the committee last week,...

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Bill Belichick was done. He had been asked 22 questions over four minutes and muttered his way through them with brief answers about how everyone on his struggling team had been told to be ready to play. He didn’t want any more. So he softly put his right hand down like a gavel, abruptly ending his postgame news conference. Bill Belichick Live Postgame Press Conference: — New England Patriots (@Patriots) November 26, 2023The 71-year-old coach exited down a tunnel and took a right turn past the football field at MetLife Stadium, where his New England Patriots had just lost 10-7 to a backup, undrafted rookie quarterback and a New York Giants team that had been among the NFL’s worst.GO DEEPERPatriots bench Jones for Zappe, lose to GiantsThree months into a dysfunction...

Every Saturday night, Ari Wasserman and David Ubben react to the weekend’s slate of games on “Until Saturday.” On Mondays, they revisit the biggest takeaway from Saturday night’s instant reaction. This week: Ari wonders why Ryan Day changes his coaching style when Ohio State plays Michigan. Kalen DeBoer sent the punt team out, but he wasn’t punting. This is a man who never doubts himself or his team.The Apple Cup was tied with 1:15 remaining. Washington faced a fourth-and-1 from its own 29 yard-line. DeBoer called on the punt team to try to draw Washington State offside. When it didn’t work, he called a timeout — not to give up on gaining a first down, but to organize the perfect play.Washington ran a triple-option concept. Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. had the option to hand the ball off ...

The Carolina Panthers have fired Frank Reich after 11 games, owner David Tepper announced Monday morning. Special teams coordinator Chris Tabor will serve as interim coach.Later in the day, the Panthers also fired quarterbacks coach Josh McCown and running backs coach Duce Staley, a league source said. pic.twitter.com/ewX2UsICZM — Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) November 27, 2023Reich’s firing comes two weeks after he took over play-calling duties from offensive coordinator Thomas Brown — three games after delegating the responsibility to Brown in Week 8. Carolina fell to 1-10 on Sunday in a 17-10 loss to the Tennessee Titans.Brown will resume calling offensive plays with senior assistant Jim Caldwell serving as a special adviser, Tepper said.GO DEEPERA stadium takeover, a 3-TD loss for Pant...

The British gymnast Nile Wilson steps on stage and introduces himself.In a broad Leeds accent, the 27-year-old describes himself as an Olympic medallist, the owner of several successful businesses, and the face of a YouTube channel with more than 1.5million subscribers.Then he pauses — and, as if he’s slipped off the pommel horse, he begins again.“I’m self-destructive,” he says. “Competing at the highest level of sport, I spent four to five nights a week at the casino alone. Once I drink alcohol, I struggle to stop for days or even weeks at a time.“I believe both introductions are true for the same reason. What can be our strength quickly turns into our weaknesses.”This is the dichotomy of sporting excellence.By starting young, athletes are malleable.Like gymnastics, football asks its part...

Ahead of Wednesday’s autumn statement – one of the UK government’s two annual ‘fiscal events’ where budgets are decided – Liverpool’s council leader, Liam Robinson, and his deputy, finance chief Ruth Bennett, told the nation’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt that without immediate help, the city’s local authority would have to slash more services.Since 2010, the Conservatives have cut funding to Liverpool by £314million ($393m), a fall of 56 per cent based on what it used to get under Labour’s government, which ended in 2010. Robinson and Bennett reminded the chancellor that during the same period, prosperous areas of the country have had their funding reduced by just three per cent.Their letter also suggested this policy was “unsustainable”, warning that a number of councils – not...

The weeks leading up to the NBA’s February trade deadline were anxious times for Mike Conley and his wife, Mary. They had spent the past three-and-a-half years in Utah, making a home in Salt Lake City for their three children while Mike pursued a championship with the talent-laden Jazz.They had found the perfect neighborhood, filled with similarly aged children for their kids to play with, made friends in the organization and the community, and with Mike at 35, could envision what life would look like in Utah even after his playing days were over.But one by one, they had watched the core of the Jazz depart. Donovan Mitchell traded to Cleveland. Rudy Gobert shipped to Minnesota. Bojan Bogdanović sent to Detroit. Suddenly, Conley was one of the last vets standing in Utah’s rebuilding plan. E...