Sports

DALLAS — Coach Jason Kidd is ready to have home-court advantage back at the American Airlines Center.On Wednesday, one day after the Dallas Mavericks fired general manager Nico Harrison, Kidd said the Mavericks’ fans’ “Fire Nico” chants during games “disrespected” the team’s players, who had no say in trading superstar Luka Dončić last season.“These guys, they can hear those things,” Kidd said. “And they feel really disrespected. It’s hard to keep guys here when they start to think the home team is not home, and it becomes a visiting place. Hopefully, that changes tonight.”With 1.2 seconds remaining in Monday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks, fans chanted “Fire Nico” while P.J. Washington was at the free-throw line trying to tie the game. Washington missed his second free throw, nixing a...

Within seconds of meeting Tom Holland at Wimbledon last weekend, all he wanted to talk about was my tie. “Where did you get that?” the 29-year-old actor asked me, nodding toward my neckwear, before we’d even finished shaking hands.The reason for his curiosity? I was sporting a vintage ’80s specimen bearing the Tottenham Hotspur crest—the Premier League club we both happen to support. And so, despite our conversation taking place at a Chase Travel party where Holland was promoting his nonalcoholic beer company BERO, we spent the next several minutes shooting the shit about Spurs. (I may or may not have knotted up the tie that morning with the express hope this might unfold.)Here’s a snippet of our conversation, where Holland talks how he watched Tottenham snap its 17-year trophy drought; hi...

Getty Head coach JJ Redick and LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers speak. Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick offered the most detailed update yet on LeBron James’ recovery, confirming Wednesday that the 40-year-old superstar participated in his first full-contact session of the season during a practice stint with the South Bay Lakers, the franchise’s G League affiliate.The progress, Redick said, is an encouraging sign that the NBA’s all-time leading scorer is tracking toward a return later this month.Redick: LeBron Completed 12–15 Live Possessions in G League PracticeSpeaking before the Lakers continued their five-game road trip in Oklahoma City on Wednesday, Redick outlined a structured progression James completed dur...

Lukasz Skorupski saved an Ollie Watkins penalty and Santiago Castro hit the bar, but Bologna still capitulated 1-0 to Aston Villa in the Europa League.These teams met here last season in the Champions League, with the hosts winning 2-0. Both were stuttering this term, as the Rossoblu had two home wins and two away defeats in Serie A, with Ciro Immobile, Tommaso Pobega, Nicolò Casale and Ibrahim Sulemana injured, Benjamin Dominguez and Lorenzo De Silvestri off the UEFA list. Villa were still without a victory this term, managing three draws and two losses in the Premier League, plus Carabao Cup elimination on penalties to Brentford. Emiliano Martinez, Ross Barkley, Youri Tielemans, Boubacar Kamara and Amadou Onana were out of action.AdvertisementSee how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.BIRMI...

Bradley Beal’s season is over.The Los Angeles Clippers guard has a fracture in his hip and will now undergo season-ending surgery, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. Beal played in just six games with the Clippers this season, his first with the franchise after landing there in the offseason.AdvertisementBeal was listed as questionable for Monday’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks due to left hip soreness, but specifics of the injury weren’t yet known. He had already missed time due to a left knee injury and lower back soreness, but it’s unclear when the hip injury occurred.While specifics of the fracture aren’t known, Beal’s team opted for surgery."We met with numerous doctors and specialists around the country in collaboration with the entire Clippers medical staff over the last few days, and ...

Santiago Castro and Federico Bernardeschi start for Bologna in their Europa League opener away to Donyell Malen’s Aston Villa.It kicks off at Villa Park at 20.00 UK time (19.00 GMT).You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens on the Liveblog.BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 22: Morgan Rogers of Aston Villa takes a shot during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD3 match between Aston Villa FC and Bologna FC 1909 at Villa Park on October 22, 2024 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)AdvertisementThese teams met here last season in the Champions League, with Aston Villa emerging 2-0 winners.A lot has changed for both sides since then, and they are still trying to get to grips with their new figures.Bologna started the campaign with a pair of 1-0 ...

Has guard Austin Reaves gotten too expensive for his Los Angeles Lakers?The 6-foot-5 Oklahoma product, 27, is in the midst of a breakout run to kick off the 2025-26 season for the 8-3 Lakers. Through eight healthy contests with Los Angeles so far, Reaves averaged 30.3 points on .480/.324/.880 shooting splits, 9.0 assists, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.5 steals a night. He suddenly is playing at the level of Kyrie Irving and Jalen Brunson, the All-Star secondary ball handlers alongside whom five-time All-NBA Lakers guard Luka Doncic enjoyed his most success while with the Dallas Mavericks.More news: Lakers Guard Bronny James Takes Shot At His Own Rookie SeasonOver the summer, the Lakers did hop on a videoconference call with Reaves and his reps at AMR Agency, Aaron Reilly and Reggie Berry, to tender ...

Crystal Palace's hopes of playing in next season's Europa League are in doubt after Lyon were successful in their appeal against their relegation from Ligue 1.The seven-time French champions were hit with a provisional relegation back in November after racking up massive debts, and although they have since sold a number of first-team players, French football watchdog the National Directorate of Management Control (DNCG) upheld the relegation last month. Lyon had also reached a settlement with UEFA agreeing to be excluded from European competitions next season if their relegation was confirmed on appeal, a move which would almost certainly have meant Palace could play in the Europa League.However, Lyon have now kept their Ligue 1 status following an appeal hearing and with their higher leag...

Imagen Images Western Conference powers meet in a spotlight matchup as the Oklahoma City Thunder host the Los Angles Lakers on Wednesday. The defending champions have stormed out to an 11-1 start this season, while L.A. is 8-3. The Lakers, however, have the better spread record at 8-3, with OKC at 7-5 ATS. LeBron James (sciatica) remains out for Los Angeles. OKC hasn't released its injury report as it is on the second night of a back-to-back. Aaron Wiggins (adductor) and Jalen Williams (wrist) are among the six players the Thunder have ruled out. Tipoff is set for 9:30 p.m. ET at the Paycom Center. OKC is an 8-point home favorite in the latest Lakers vs. Thunder odds, while the over/under is 229.5. Bef...

This afternoon, the decision of the First Chamber of the UEFA Club Financial Control Body regarding Crystal Palace’s exclusion from the 2025/26 Europa League was announced.Nottingham Forest will replace the winners of the last FA Cup, and Crystal Palace will therefore play in the Conference League.AdvertisementThe situation is different for Lyon: following their readmission to Ligue 1, confirmation has also arrived that the French team will play in the Europa League.Here is the UEFA statement: “The First Chamber of the CFCB initiated proceedings against Crystal Palace and Olympique Lyonnais due to a potential conflict with the timeshare rules set out in Article 5 of the UEFA Club Competition Regulations.On 9 July 2025, the appeal body of the French financial control authority (DNCG) decide...