3:47 PM ET PARIS — All eyes have been on New Orleans Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson this week, including those of six-time NBA champion and Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan. Speaking at a news conference ahead of the Hornets’ game against the Milwaukee Bucks in France on Friday, Jordan said he believes Williamson’s dazzling inaugural
3:53 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN PHILADELPHIA — All-Star center Joel Embiid, who practiced Friday for the first time since undergoing surgery on his finger, said he hopes to return to the court for the Philadelphia 76ers next week. “Just trying to get back into it and make the progress that’s necessary,” Embiid said after a
3:01 PM ET ORLANDO, Fla. — Detroit Lions cornerback Darius Slay barely got to know Marlo Jones — the infant son of Lions teammate Marvin Jones who died in December — but he believes that had Marlo gotten the chance to grow up with his siblings, he would be just as vivacious and would be
3:35 PM ET Todd Orlando has been hired as USC‘s new defensive coordinator, the school announced Friday. Orlando replaces Clancy Pendergast, who was let go by the Trojans following the 2019 season. Orlando, 48, had been fired after three seasons at Texas on Dec. 1 as part of a shake-up of the coaching staff. He
2:34 PM ET At one U.S. sportsbook, San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan is a long shot to blow another 28-3 lead in the Super Bowl. Bookmakers in Indiana and New Jersey are busy stirring up odds on which color of Gatorade will be dumped on the winning coach, and the coin flip is already
1:41 PM ET What would have been the last fight on Paige VanZant‘s UFC contract has been pushed back. VanZant confirmed Friday on Instagram that she is out of her scheduled women’s strawweight bout against Amanda Ribas at UFC Brasilia on March 14 in Brazil. Randa Markos will fill in for VanZant and fight Ribas
1:34 PM ET In a surprise, promoter Sampson Lewkowicz of Sampson Boxing on Friday won the purse bid for the fight between unified junior welterweight world titlist Josh Taylor and mandatory challenger Apinun Khongsong. Lewkowicz, Khongsong’s co-promoter, bid $1.32 million to gain promotional rights to the bout, beating the only other bidder, new Taylor promoter
1:37 PM ET Associated Press EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Eli Manning retired from the NFL just the way he wanted, as a hardworking, career-long New York Giant who did it his way in leading the franchise to two Super Bowl victories. Saying he had no regrets, Manning officially ended his 16-year career Friday at a
12:54 PM ET Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Alex Gordon agreed to consent to a trade by the Royals starting June 16, an unusual provision in his new one-year, $4 million contract. Gordon has spent his entire career with the Royals and has the right to block trades under baseball’s collective bargaining agreement because
1:00 PM ET Friday’s slate at the Australian Open was all sorts of funky. On the women’s side, seven-time champ Serena Williams lost against Qiang Wang, No. 3 seed and defending champion Naomi Osaka got pushed around by 15-year-old Coco Gauff and No. 10 Madison Keys got swept out by Maria Sakkari. On the men’s