LEXINGTON, Ky. — When Alabama football visited Lexington to play Kentucky in 2013, a player both schools were then recruiting, John Hardin defensive lineman Matt Elam, was making an unofficial recruiting visit to UK.

As Elam stood near the Wildcats sideline with other Kentucky recruits during pregame warm-ups, I just happened to look down ...Read more

For all the swing votes regarding where the Miami Heat do or do not stand six weeks shy of training camp, there is one in particular that could both sway and shape 2022-23 for Erik Spoelstra’s team.

No, not Kyle Lowry. For all the concern of conditioning and age, Lowry, when he was on the court last season, was exactly the type of engine the ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — So much for the feud between John Calipari and Mark Stoops blowing over quickly.

Two days after Stoops took to Twitter to fire back at Calipari’s assertion that Kentucky is a basketball school and the athletics department should spend accordingly, Stoops made it clear he has no regrets about standing up for his program and ...Read more

SEATTLE — On the eve of an otherwise meaningless regular-season finale, Noelle Quinn is wrestling with the mind-bending conundrum that has baffled many playoff-bound coaches.

Should the Storm coach rest her starters, specifically the 41-year-old Sue Bird, or maintain the same lineup and rotations for the noon game Sunday against the WNBA-...Read more

We now know when the Warriors will begin their repeat campaign.

According to a report from Stadium’s Shams Charania, the Warriors will open the 2022-2023 season on Oct. 18 at Chase Center against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers.

The game will be broadcast on TNT and is expected to feature the Warriors’ ring and banner ceremonies.

...Read more

NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets have gone from being the NBA’s signature attraction on Christmas Day to a team known for endless speculation, controversy and dysfunction.

The latest plot twists are courtesy of Kevin Durant who wants to be traded unless owner Joe Tsai tells GM Sean Marks and coach Steve Nash to hit the bricks. While this story ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Sylvia Fowles' tears usually come at night.

That's when she's alone, the work of the day done, when she has time to think about the final days of her wonderful career.

Lately it's been especially intense. Fowles, the greatest classic, back-to-the-basket center the WNBA has seen, has always approached her job with a singular ...Read more

The Kentucky Wildcats’ opener in the Bahamas on Wednesday night was expected to be the toughest test of the week.

That was a good night for the Cats, but a bad one for the hope of competitive basketball on this trip. Halfway through this four-game Bahamas visit, UK is still looking for a test.

Kentucky defeated undersized Tec de Monterrey, ...Read more

EAST LANSING, Mich. — While Tom Izzo has been busy on the recruiting trail, he was also working on a new contract with Michigan State.

The university announced on Thursday it had agreed to a new five-year rollover contract that will pay the Hall of Fame coach $6.2 million annually, making him the second-highest paid coach in college ...Read more

John Calipari’s public crusade for basketball facility improvements turned into a public Twitter fight with Kentucky football coach Mark Stoops on Thursday.

Hours before his team’s second exhibition game in the Bahamas, Calipari went on the offensive again in a push to build a new practice facility for his program in an interview with The ...Read more

After two straight years yielded the worst Kentucky basketball season in modern times and the worst UK NCAA Tournament loss in any times, the Big Blue Nation deserves some feel-good Bahamian beat downs on UK’s four-game summer exhibition tour.

Backers of the Blue have every reason to be excited about the improvement of Daimion Collins; the ...Read more

The NBA has announced that, for the first time in league history, one player will have his number retired leaguewide.

Bill Russell, regarded as the league's greatest winner and the namesake of its Finals MVP award, will be honored by the NBA with his No. 6 uniform no longer available to players entering the league.

Current players who already ...Read more

The American arrived at Sheremetyevo airport outside Moscow and was arrested after a luggage search found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil that was prescribed by a U.S. doctor to treat chronic pain. There were various detention facilities, a guilty plea, a hearing in front of Russian judge and an implausibly long prison sentence.

We're ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — The Aces will enter Thursday’s showdown with the No. 1 seed Chicago Sky and probably the first round of the playoffs shorthanded.

All-Star forward Dearica Hamby suffered a right knee bone contusion during Tuesday’s 97-90 win against the Atlanta Dream, according to people close to the team.

The two-time sixth player of the ...Read more

There’s a part of me that believes that half of all NBA trade rumors are just general managers messing around with each other.

For instance, if you knew that one of your chief conference rivals was attempting to trade for a player who would make them an overwhelming NBA Finals favorite, and if you had some means at your disposal to make that ...Read more

NEW YORK — A new team has joined the Kevin Durant sweepstakes, and it’s the same team that pried away another Nets superstar.

After acquiring James Harden in a Ben Simmons swap last season, the Philadelphia 76ers have joined the pursuit of the 12-time All-Star and two-time NBA Finals MVP, according to SNY’s Ian Begley, who reported there ...Read more

CHICAGO — Lake County, Ill., native Kari Juszczyk remembers the first time she turned on ESPN to see Sue Bird playing basketball.

It was more than two decades ago, Bird slightly swimming in her jersey as she marshaled the University of Connecticut offense from the point. But it was an immediate connection for Juszczyk, who followed the point ...Read more

SEATTLE — While 41-year-old Sue Bird puts the final touches on a remarkable career, her former Storm teammate Lauren Jackson is making an improbable comeback and returning to international competition next month at the age of 41.

Make it make sense?

“I can’t,” Jackson said in an interview last week while in Seattle to visit Bird. “It...Read more