Sports

7:00 AM ET While the Yankees pull away from other American League powers, competition in the National League is starting to heat up 11 weeks into the season. The Braves are making a push for the Mets at the top of the NL East, while the Dodgers are barely holding onto the No. 1 spot

4:49 PM ET Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — O. Bruton Smith, who emerged from rural North Carolina and parlayed his love of motorsports into becoming a NASCAR Hall of Famer and one of its most eccentric and successful promoters, died Wednesday. He was 95. His death was announced by Speedway Motorsports LLC, the company formed

3:00 AM ET The transfer window for the English Premier League and French Ligue 1 is already open, but the rest of Europe is springing into life on July 1 when some of the big deals already agreed will go through officially. ESPN’s writers have everything you need to know about the top teams’ hopes

10:58 AM BST Leinster scrum-half Nick McCarthy has announced he is gay, and has thanked coaches Leo Cullen and Stuart Lancaster for their “unbelievable” support in what he said has been a difficult decision. McCarthy has 18 caps as an Ireland under-20 player and he captained the side in 2015 but said he contemplated quitting

10:27 AM ET Nick Parkinson Close •Reports on boxing for ESPN.co.uk, as well as several national newspapers•Has been reporting on British boxing for over 15 years•Appears on BoxNation’s Boxing Matters show Tyson Fury is coming back … or is he? The WBC heavyweight world champion insisted he would be retiring after his sixth-round stoppage win

10:22 AM ET Coming off a sellout UFC Fight Night in Texas this past weekend, the UFC’s summer schedule is heating up. As the promotion returns to the APEX this week, the main event features Arman Tsarukyan and Mateusz Gamrot. This was not the original No. 1 fight on the card, but I love that

7:29 AM ET Multiple Contributors One day, years from now, when the history of professional golf is analyzed in full, the two-week stretch of June 7 through June 19 of 2022 may go down as one of the most consequential and volatile periods in the history of the sport. There is a good chance this

3:39 PM ET Kenny Atkinson has decided he won’t become the Charlotte Hornets‘ head coach and instead will remain with the Golden State Warriors as the top assistant, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Atkinson was offered the job during the NBA Finals, but after further conversations Atkinson was led to believe it would be best

6:00 AM ET Brady HendersonESPN RENTON, Wash. — Drew Lock learned an important lesson last offseason while battling Teddy Bridgewater to be the Denver Broncos‘ starting quarterback. He fixated on who won each practice, and as he realized after losing the competition, that mindset did him no good. “I tried to compare the whole time:

8:00 AM ET ATLANTA — It has not yet been a full year since legislation first took effect allowing college athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness (NIL), and we’ve already seen a public spat between national title-winning coaches accusing each other of illicit payments to players, reports of a recruit landing an

7:05 AM ET There are different ways for teams to enter the NHL free-agent pool. There are big splashes for star players. Other teams methodically wade in, making sure their feet (and their finances) remain grounded. Some just dip their toes in. The Tampa Bay Lightning and Colorado Avalanche, currently playing in the Stanley Cup

9:59 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Mets right-hander Tylor Megill left his start Thursday night against the Milwaukee Brewers with shoulder discomfort, the latest setback in a promising season for the second-year pitcher. Megill came off the injured list last week after missing a month with right biceps inflammation. He will have an

8:28 AM ET Paul Pogba has completed his return to Juventus on a free transfer after leaving Manchester United, sources have told ESPN. The 29-year-old has signed a four-year deal at Juventus as he moves to the club for the second time in his career — he previously joined the Italian giants in 2012 from

7:00 AM ET Jiri Prochazka became a champion in just his third Octagon appearance, dethroning Glover Teixeira in a wild light heavyweight title bout in the UFC 275 headliner Saturday in Singapore. Along with the shiny belt that was wrapped around his waist, the entertainingly inventive Czech fighter also has earned a spot in the

7:51 AM ET Serena Williams strongly hinted at a return to tennis this month at Wimbledon in a social media post Tuesday. Williams, 40, hasn’t competed since injuring her right leg last year at Wimbledon and did not appear on the women’s singles entry list released last Friday by the grass-court Grand Slam. But Williams

3:28 PM ET BROOKLINE, Mass. — Here are the tee times for the first two rounds of the U.S. Open at The Country Club. All times ET (a) denotes amateur Thursday 1st tee 6:45 a.m. — Michael Thorbjornsen, Erik Barnes, Matt McCarty 6:56 a.m. — Matthew NeSmith, Patrick Rodgers, Travis Vick 7:07 a.m. — Troy

8:41 PM ET Associated Press VERONA, N.Y. — Reduced to tears at a banquet on the eve of his big day, Floyd Mayweather Jr. was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame on Sunday, just a tinge of emotion in his voice as he accepted the honor. “I done a lot in my career,

10:49 AM BST Castleford Tigers hooker Jacques O’Neill has been released from his contract in order to appear on ITV reality show Love Island. O’Neill made his debut for the Super League club in 2019 and has played 29 time since, despite being hampered by a persistent hamstring injury which caused him to miss the

7:58 PM ET Associated Press SONOMA, Calif. — Daniel Suarez became the first Mexican-born driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race Sunday, holding off Chris Buescher for a historic victory at Sonoma Raceway. Suarez, a 30-year-old from Monterrey, finally won in the 195th career start of a Cup Series career that began in 2017.

8:00 AM ET The NBA playoffs are full of moments that can swing a series: a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, a late and-1 bucket or an alley-oop dunk in front of the home crowd. Or in some cases, it might be the blow of the referee’s whistle, as a late-game block/charge call or an overturned bucket could