Category: Sport

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🚨 Headlines

🎿 Vonn speaks: In her first public statement since Sunday’s devastating crash, Lindsey Vonn said she has “no regrets” about racing on her torn ACL, which “had nothing to do with my crash.” Regardless, her father hopes she never races again.

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🏀 Perfect no more: No. 9 Kansas handed top-ranked Arizona its first loss of the season, rallying in the second half for an 82-78 victory at home that marked the Jayhawks’ first win over a No. 1 team since 2003. With that, No. 23 Miami (Ohio) is now the last undefeated men’s team in the nation.

🏈 Pearce arrested: Falcons rookie James Pearce Jr. was arrested Saturday on domestic violence-related charges following a dispute with WNBA player Rickea Jackson. Pearce fled the scene before crashing his car at the end of a police chase.

🏀 Benches clear in Charlotte: Four players and Charlotte’s head coach were ejected in the second half of the Pistons’ win over the Hornets after a heated exchange following a shooting foul led to an all-out brawl.

⚾️ MLB moves: DH Marcell Ozuna is heading to the Pirates on a one-year, $12 million deal; the Red Sox acquired 3B Caleb Durbin in a trade with the Brewers; the Marlins signed veteran RHP Chris Paddack to a one-year, $4 million deal.

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🇮🇹 Winter Games: The vibes are back

Interest in the Winter Olympics has declined precipitously after three straight editions in locales cursed by authoritarian regimes, COVID, a lack of real snow, and more.

Flipping the script: Milan Cortina 2026 offers a return to normalcy; a much-needed respite from the cynicism. And if the response to Paris 2024 was any indication, we could be in for the most enjoyable Winter Games in quite some time.

From Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wolken:

On one hand, the Olympics are compelling no matter where you put them. For the athletes, who are mostly globetrotting anyway for big competitions, a gold medal won in Milan is no different than a gold medal won in Beijing. And for most of the world it’s all just a TV show anyway. Who cares where you put the hockey rink?

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But if you rewind to the summer of 2024, Paris was different. From the racy, bizarre and very French take on the Opening Ceremony to iconic Paris landmarks being used as the backdrop for competition venues, something clicked in the zeitgeist.

After several cycles of audience decline for its Olympic broadcasts, NBC rebounded with a whopping 30.6 million viewers per day across its platforms — an 80 percent increase over Tokyo three years earlier.

It felt like the Olympics as a big, galvanizing cultural force were truly back. Can Italy deliver the same irresistible experience?

Don’t discount the possibility, albeit with one big caveat: The Winter Games are not the Summer Games. There are fewer sports, fewer athletes, fewer countries involved and most importantly fewer mainstream superstars.

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But relative to the last three Winter Games held in Sochi, PyeongChang and Beijing, these Olympics are going to visually present like a storybook Alpine adventure in a way that you simply could not pull off at a Russian Black Sea resort or on the Korean peninsula or in a smog-filled megalopolis where it almost never snows.

Another difference: NHL players are back for the first time since 2014. With all due respect to the minor-leaguers who stepped in and put on a good show in PyeongChang and Beijing, the Winter Olympics were significantly diminished by not having the elite of the elite competing in one of its marquee events.

Milan is also going to be different because of what we don’t have to talk about. We are not in a host country rife with human rights abuses like China. We are not in a host country getting ready to invade a neighbor. And, perhaps of utmost relevance from an audience perspective, we are not in the middle of an Olympics defined by COVID infections and empty stands.

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Of course, these Games are not taking place at a perfect moment for the world either. Russia will not be recognized as the war in Ukraine rages on. Tensions in the Middle East are simmering. And if the recent Australian Open is any indication, American athletes should expect to be asked about ICE raids and Venezuela and other actions by the Trump Administration generating international headlines.

There will never be an Olympics without political tension. But all in all, it has been since Vancouver 16 years ago that a Winter Games was hosted by a Western country, in a true winter wonderland, without being served on a platter of cynicism.

Instead, this one comes on a big plate of pasta. Eat up.

💯 Big numbers

🏈 1 of 9

Drake Maye is one of nine QBs to start in a Super Bowl as an NFL sophomore, joining Dan Marino, Kurt Warner, Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, Russell Wilson, Joe Burrow, Brock Purdy and Colin Kaepernick.

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The long road back: “That group is an interesting mashup, showcasing that while some QBs are destined for more Super Bowl opportunities (Brady, Warner, Roethlisberger and Wilson), others either never again stepped on the biggest stage (Marino and Kaepernick) or are still trying to find their way back (Burrow and Purdy),” writes Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson.

🏀 183 triple-doubles

Nikola Jokić (183) has moved past Oscar Robertson (181) for second on the NBA’s all-time triple-doubles list. He now trails only former teammate Russell Westbrook (207), who has added four to his tally so far this season with the Kings.

Rounding out the top 10: Magic Johnson is fourth on the list (138), followed by LeBron James (122), Jason Kidd (107), Luke Donćić (88), James Harden (82), Wilt Chamberlain (78) and Domantas Sabonis (68).

🏀 61 straight home wins

Kansas loves Mondays. With their victory over top-ranked Arizona, the Jayhawks have now won 61 consecutive home games played on Mondays over a 25-year span.

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Their last home loss on a Monday? That came all the way back on Feb. 5, 2001, when the Drew Gooden-led Jayhawks fell 79-77 to Jamaal Tinsley and Iowa State.

📺 $65 per month

YouTube TV is introducing lower-priced bundles to allow subscribers to better tailor their plans to their interests. The Sports Plan will begin rolling out this week at $65 per month, which is $18 cheaper than the main YouTube TV plan.

What you get: The Sports Plan includes “all the major broadcast networks,” including ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC, as well as TBS, TNT, FS1, USA, NBCSN, CBSSN, NBA TV, NFL Network, all of the ESPN networks. Premium channels like NFL RedZone will continue to be sold as add-ons.

🏒 10 years

Boston College are Beanpot champions for the first time in a decade after dominating Boston University, 6-2, in Monday’s championship game, which was also the 300th meeting between the rival programs.

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The Battle of Comm Ave: BU still leads the all-time series, but it’s incredibly close. 141 wins for the Terriers, 138 wins for the Eagles, 21 games ended in a tie.

✈️ 13 hours

Roughly 13 hours after departing California where he called Super Bowl LX, Mike Tirico stepped into Studio A at the International Broadcast Center in Milan, Italy, on Monday night to host “Primetime in Milan.”

The man behind the mic: “For an only child, raised by a single mom in Queens, growing up dreaming of being the next Marv Albert, Tirico is a sportscaster’s sportscaster, with a rare dual ability to lead a studio and call play-by-play at the highest level. Headlining a portfolio of sports’ biggest events now puts him on the path to be considered among the all-time greats in sports TV.” (Andrew Marchand, The Athletic)

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🇺🇸 Spotlight: Ilia Malinin

After helping Team USA defend its championship in the team event over the weekend, young figure skating sensation Ilia Malinin begins his quest today to win individual Olympic gold as the men’s singles program gets underway in Milan.

• Hometown: Fairfax, Virginia

• Fun fact: His parents were also Olympic figure skaters, competing for Uzbekistan in the 1998 and 2002 Games.

• College: George Mason University

The Quad God: The two-time defending world champion, undefeated in his last 15 competitions, dominates figure skating to an astonishing degree thanks to his singular ability to pull off the hardest move in the sport: a quadruple axel.

• In 2022, at age 17, the teenager who’d already nicknamed himself the “Quad God” became the first skater ever to land a quad axel in competition. And while he’s repeated the move more than a dozen times since, he remains the only skater who’s ever landed one.

• Similar to Simone Biles, Malinin is difficult to beat not only due to his immense skill but because the base values of his routines are so high. A few minor errors won’t sink him like they would someone else.

What they’re saying: “It’s not a shoo-in. Ilia still has to skate well to win. His competitors are good,” 1988 Olympic champion Brian Boitano told AP. “But yeah, as far as the advantage of being the favorite, it’s him and — well, you know, he’s far ahead.”

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Good read: The impossible jump, for all but one (New York Times)

More athletes in action:

• 🛷 Ashley Farquharson: The Utah native sits in fifth entering today’s final two luge runs. If she can make up the 0.113-second deficit separating her from the podium, she’ll become just the second American woman ever to medal in the event (Erin Hamlin, 2014).

We’ll be spotlighting America’s best athletes throughout the Games. Follow Team USA’s progress on their homepage, and for in-depth Olympics coverage, go to ours.

🥇 Medal table: Day 4

20 of 116 events completed. Full table.

📺 Watchlist: Tuesday, Feb. 10

🏒 Women’s Hockey, Canada vs. USA

The world’s top two teams square off in their group stage finale (2:10pm ET, USA) before likely meeting again in next week’s gold-medal game.

Head-to-head: Canada leads the all-time series, 106-86-2, and has a 5-2 edge in Olympic golds. But the Americans are riding a six-game winning streak against them that includes last year’s World Championship final and a sweep in their annual Rivalry Series.

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🎿 Alpine Skiing, Women’s Team Combined

Childhood friends and USA teammates Mikaela Shiffrin and Breezy Johnson go for gold in the Olympic debut of this event that, ahem, combines two disciplines. Downhill began while you were sleeping, and slalom gets underway soon (8am, USA).

Heavy favorites: Johnson already won downhill gold on Sunday, Shiffrin is the most decorated slalom skier of all-time (by a mile) and the duo took the title last year in the event’s World Championship debut.

🥌 Curling, Mixed Doubles Finals

Team USA upset Italy to reach the championship (12pm, USA), where Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin will face Sweden as they seek America’s third curling medal ever — and first since 2018.

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Third-place matchup: Italy and Great Britain will meet in the bronze-medal match earlier in the day (8am, Peacock).

⛸️ Figure Skating, Men’s Short Program

American sensation Ilia Malinin headlines the men’s singles, which kicks off today with the short program (12:15pm, USA). The top 24 skaters will advance to Friday’s free skate, and the combined scores will determine the medalists.

🥇 Medal events

• 🎿 Cross-Country Skiing: Sprint Classic Finals (6:10am, USA)

• 🎿 Freeskiing: Men’s Slopestyle Final (6:30am, USA)

• 🎯 Biathlon: Men’s 20km Individual (7:30am, Peacock)

• ⛸️ Short Track Speed Skating: Mixed Team Relay Finals (11:30am, USA)

• ⛷️ Ski Jumping: Mixed Team Normal Hill (11:30am, Peacock)

• 🛷 Luge: Women’s Singles Final (12:30pm, Peacock)

Daily schedule.

More to watch:

• 🏀 NBA: Clippers at Rockets (8pm, NBA); Spurs at Lakers (10:30pm, NBA) … San Antonio (36-16) has won four straight to climb within four games of the league-leading Thunder.

• 🏀 NCAAM: No. 13 Purdue at No. 7 Nebraska (7pm, FS1) … Boilermakers All-American Braden Smith ranks second nationally with 8.7 assists per game.

• ⚽️ Premier League: West Ham vs. Manchester United (3:15pm, Peacock) … The Red Devils are 4-0-0 under interim manager Michael Carrick.

Got plans tonight? Gametime is the best place to score last-minute tickets to the events happening in your city. Get tickets now!

🌎 Olympics trivia

The United States has the largest delegation (232 athletes) at the Milan Cortina Games.

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Question: Which country has the second-largest delegation (211 athletes)?

Hint: Host nation Italy is third (195) and Germany is fourth (189), so you can rule them both out.

Answer at the bottom.

📸 Photo finish

Biathlon (cross-country skiing + rifle shooting) is one of those sports that sounds fake until you watch it for five minutes and go, “Oh wow, this rules.”

_________________________________________________________________________________

Trivia answer: Canada

We hope you enjoyed this edition of Yahoo Sports AM, our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things sports. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.

The High Score 100 — the top-100 players in Yahoo’s newest fantasy basketball format — is a running reflection of year-to-date performance and trending production. Each weekly update captures who’s actually delivering value and who’s fading.

Here’s a breakdown of the biggest risers and fallers through the 16th week of fantasy basketball, right before the All-Star break — with the complete High Score 100 at the bottom of the article. I’ll be updating my rankings every Tuesday throughout the fantasy basketball season.

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📈 Risers — Pre-All-Star surges

Donovan Clingan — FC, Portland Trail Blazers: 90th overall (⬆️ 10)

Clingan’s having a moment. The second-year big man is ranked 48th over the last 14 days and smashed in Week 16, averaging 41.5 fantasy points per game while rattling off three straight double-doubles through Feb. 7. Over a stretch of seven games, his numbers rose to 12 points, 15 boards, 2 assists and 2 blocks per game. That’s exactly the kind of production that moves you up in High Score rankings.

Clingan’s been a force on the glass all season, but with rebounds devalued in High Score, fantasy managers needed to see more from him as a scoring threat and shot blocker — and that’s where he’s been steadily improving as the All-Star break approaches. While I don’t expect his minutes to clear 30 a night, if he keeps this up, he’ll comfortably remain inside the top 100.

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Dillon Brooks – FC, Phoenix Suns: 85th overall (⬆️8)

With Stephen Curry out through the All-Star break, Brooks could earn his first All-Star Game selection in 2026. He’s in the midst of a career year, being one of the primary drivers of the Suns’ success thus far.

Over the past seven games, though, his numbers have spiked to an average of 37.8 fantasy points per game, good for 50th overall in High Score. On Jan. 29, he scored a season-best 62 fantasy points by way of his first 40-point game against one of the best defenses in the league (Detroit Pistons).

Brooks continues to shine as a scorer without being penalized for his inefficiency or poor assist-to-turnover ratio, making him a strong player for this format.

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[It’s not too late to create or join a High Score league, a new way to play Fantasy Basketball on Yahoo with simple rosters and scoring]

Brandon Ingram — G/FC, Toronto Raptors: 41st overall (⬆️ 5)

BI’s averaging 42 fantasy points per game over the last 14 days, ranking inside the top 35 in High Score during that stretch. For the year, he sits 47th, but the trend is clearly upward — exactly what you want to see heading into the second half.

Over his last six games, he’s putting up around 25 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and over 1.5 stocks per game. The five-spot climb is modest, but it reflects his consistent performance as a top-50 player this season.

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📉 Fallers — The tank is on

Trae Young — G, Washington Wizards: 100th overall (⬇️ 25)

Trae’s on the verge of falling off the rankings entirely. He’ll be re-evaluated after the All-Star break, but with Anthony Davis done for the season, it’s increasingly unlikely we’ll see Young again this year. The Wizards are tanking hard for a top pick, leaving little incentive to rush him back.

I’m keeping him at 100 for now — barely hanging on — but if we don’t get anything concrete post-break, he’s gone. Fantasy managers holding should be preparing to move on.

Ja Morant — G, Memphis Grizzlies: 75th overall (⬇️ 20)

Ja’s situation is looking just as murky as Trae’s. He’ll also be re-evaluated after the break, but Grizzlies GM Zach Kleiman said it’ll take a medical determination for Morant to return. Don’t count on that coming.

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Memphis traded Jaren Jackson Jr., lost nine of its last 11 games and clearly doesn’t care about winning. The Grizz put Ja on the trade block, but received minimal interest. There’s no reason to bring him back now that Ty Jerome and Scotty Pippen Jr. are back, plus Cam Spencer is still in the rotation.

The 20-spot drop reflects reality — Morant’s probably done. And without more clarity, he could find himself off the list by Week 18.

Lauri Markkanen — FC, Utah Jazz: 53rd overall (⬇️ 19)

Tank season is here, and Lauri’s getting benched in third quarters. He’s played under 30 minutes in four of his last five games, and the Jazz are clearly managing his workload with an eye toward the lottery. It’s ridiculous.

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I’m getting ahead of this now because post-All-Star break, expect more rest days and “load management” games. Utah has no incentive to play Lauri heavy minutes, which directly hurts his fantasy value. The 19-spot slide is just the beginning if this continues.

Complete High Score 100 rankings

The High Score 100 is a running reflection of year-to-date performance and trending production.

MILAN — Halfway through Tuesday’s women’s team combined event, the American power duo of Breezy Johnson and Mikaela Shiffrin could not have been in a stronger position.

Johnson posted the fastest time in the downhill portion of the competition, providing the greatest slalom skier of all time a cushion of six-hundredths of a second.

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What happened next was another all-too-familiar Shiffrin collapse on an Olympic stage, one that will surely evoke memories of her nightmarish Winter Games in Beijing four years ago. It wasn’t just that the 30-year-old American failed to hold the lead. She wasn’t even able to keep herself and Johnson on the podium.

Shiffrin’s time in the slalom was just the 15th fastest among the 18 women who were able to complete the course. As a result, she and Johnson plummeted to fourth place, more than three-tenths of a second behind gold medalists Ariane Raedler and Katharina Huber of Austria. Emma Aicher and Kira Weidle-Winkelmann of Germany took silver, while Americans Jackie Wiles and Paula Moltzan secured bronze.

The disappointing performance from Shiffrin denied Johnson what would have been her second medal of these Olympics. Only two days after she won Olympic gold in the women’s downhill, Johnson once again was in the form of her life on Tuesday, identifying the most direct line down the mountain and attacking it fearlessly.

Between the downhill and slalom portion of the competitions, Johnson tried to ease the mental burden on Shiffrin by reminding her lifelong friend that she already would be returning home with some hardware.

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“Listen, there’s no pressure on my side,” Johnson told Shiffrin. “I already have my Olympic gold.”

Judging by the way Shiffrin skied, it looked like the pressure affected her. Shiffrin appeared uncharacteristically hesitant on the course, taking turns rounder than she normally does and quickly losing the cushion she had over Raedler and Huber.

After lunging across the finish line, Shiffrin stared at her time in disbelief when she realized it was not enough to keep her and Johnson on the medal stand. TV cameras captured Shiffrin embracing Johnson and apologizing at the finish line.

“Didn’t quite nail it,” she said after her run. “I didn’t quite find a comfort level that allowed me to produce full speed.

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“So, I’m going to have to learn what to do, what to adjust in the short time we have before the other tech races.”

For Shiffrin, Tuesday’s race is a rocky start to what she hopes will be a redemptive Winter Games for her. Shiffrin was the favorite to win gold in a minimum of three of the six events she entered in Beijing four years ago, but the most accomplished World Cup skier of all time unfathomably came home with three DNFs and without a single medal.

Mere seconds into her defense of her 2018 Olympic gold medal in the giant slalom, Shiffrin lost her edge making a turn, skidded across the snow and missed the fifth gate. She made a similar error at the top of the slalom course in Beijing. It was the skiing equivalent of watching LeBron James go scoreless in an NBA Finals or Tom Brady throw six interceptions in a Super Bowl.

Shiffrin endured more hard times in November 2024 when a horrific crash in Killington, Vermont, sent her somersaulting over her skis and left her with a puncture wound in the abdomen. She expected to power through her recovery in time to return to competition in a couple months, but the post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from the crash was far more debilitating than she expected.

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In a first-person account of the ordeal in The Players Tribune last May, Shiffrin described involuntarily stopping in the middle of training runs and not being able to get her body to move like it needed to.

“It was almost as though I was no longer in control of my body,” she wrote.

Shiffrin eventually fought her way back from those setbacks and returned to her previous level. On Feb. 23, 2025, she became the first skier to win 100 career World Cup races. She has continued to stack up victories this season ahead of the Olympics.

Anywhere else, Shiffrin is the greatest slalom skier of all-time, a master of technique who excels at making the tightest possible turns to save precious nanoseconds.

On the Olympic stage, she’s still struggling to recapture that form.

Curling, which first became an organized sport in Scotland, traces its roots to the 1500s. Historians say paintings from the time depict people sliding rocks across frozen ponds. It took a few centuries for the world to appreciate all that feverish sweeping, though: Curling made its Olympic debut in 1924 — but didn’t return as an official competitive event until the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan.

Nearly three decades, the United States is guaranteed of winning its first medal ever in mixed doubles curling as Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin takes on Sweden for the gold medal on Tuesday.

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Chances are if you didn’t grow up in Canada (where curling is most popular), you may think of the sport as people in funny pants — we’re lookin’ at you, Norwegians — pushing an oversized puck across a skating rink. Au contraire. Curling requires finesse, strategy and serious athleticism — the sweeping can burn up to 500 calories per hour. And because players use their brains as much as their bodies, people call it “chess on ice.”

Rules

For starters, players aim to guide heavy, granite stones across a sheet of textured ice toward a target area called the house that is split into four rings. (Consider curling a distant cousin of shuffleboard.) Two teams, each with four players, take turns sliding the stones — also called “rocks” — toward the target. Each team has eight stones per end (five in mixed doubles), which is curling’s version of, say, a baseball inning. There are 10 ends in a tournament-style game (eight in mixed doubles).

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This video shows the skill involved, from the movement the thrower uses to deliver the stone, to the sweepers trying to guide it where it needs to go in the target, aka the house.

The stone weighs 38 to 44 pounds. Players use brooms to smooth the ice and ease the stone’s path toward the house. If a player breaks a rule — like nudging the stone with their shoe — they should be “the first to divulge the breach,” according to the WCF. This sportsmanship expectation is part of what players call “the spirit of curling.”

Scoring

The objective is simple: The team that lands the most stones closest to the bulls-eye wins.
Players win a point for every stone that 1) lands in the house and 2) is closer to the “button” — or center of the house — than the closest opponent stone. (For example, if Team A has the closest stone and Team B has the second closest stone, Team A can only earn one point, even if the rest of Team B’s stones somehow ended up outside of the curling arena.) Teams can knock an opponent’s stone away from the house — and, through some vigorous sweeping, strategically place some stones as makeshift shields (guards) to protect others.

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It is impossible, however, for both teams to score in an end, which last the amount of time it takes to throw all of the stones. Points are awarded only to the team that did better in each end. (Should a team tie, there are tie-breaker rounds.) The best possible score in an end is 8-0, which happens when one team gets all eight stones closer to the button than its opponent. This is called a “snowman” — curling slang for a perfect game.

Fun fact: Curling may be the nicest sport of all

Objectively. After each game, the winners traditionally buy the other team a round of drinks. From the WCF website: “Curlers play to win, but never to humble their opponents. A true curler never attempts to distract opponents, nor to prevent them from playing their best, and would prefer to lose rather than to win unfairly.”

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Quick terminology

Bonspiel: A curling tournament.
Circles: The round scoring area, 12 feet in diameter, with concentric circles 1, 4 and 8 feet in diameter.
Curl: The rotating movement of a stone caused by turning the handle.
Delivery: The act of throwing a rock.
End: Similar to an inning in baseball; in an end, each team throws eight rocks, two per player in alternating fashion. Tournament-style games run for 10 ends.
Front End: The lead and second player on a curling team.
Heavy: A stone that is delivered with more than the desired amount of weight or force.
House: The round scoring area, 12 feet in diameter, with concentric circles 1, 4, and 8 feet in diameter.
Light: A stone that is delivered with less than the desired weight or force.
Rink: A curling team that consists of four players: the skip, third (vice-skip), second, and lead. Also refers to the place where curling is played.
Rock: Stone.
Sheet: The 146-foot-long area of the ice on which the game is played.
Skip: The player who calls the ice and determines the strategy. Almost always plays the last two rocks for his team (but may throw in a different order in some games.)
Sweeping: Using a brush to polish the ice in an effort to alter the action of the rock.

Since starting the season 15-4, in part thanks to a seven-game win streak down the stretch of November, the Los Angeles Lakers have yet to stack more than three wins in a row. They had another chance to accomplish that feat for the first time in the New Year on Monday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

With injuries sidelining reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and 2025-26 NBA scoring leader Luka Dončić, Crypto.com Arena featured a physical contest that included a combined 52 free throws.

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A scrappy Thunder bunch, which leads the league in defensive rating for the second straight season, outlasted the Lakers 119-110, pulling away in the final minute.

Although Oklahoma City (41-13) had dropped its previous two games in the absence of Gilgeous-Alexander, who will be out through at least the All-Star break, and has looked increasingly vulnerable this season, the Thunder are still the defending NBA champions and the Western Conference’s top team.

Plus, they’re 2-0 against the Lakers (32-20), currently the fifth-place team in the West. More than just eight games separate the Thunder and the Lakers in the conference standings, according to LeBron James.

“That’s a championship team right there,” James told reporters postgame. “We’re not.”

The 41-year-old James was then asked what’s keeping the Lakers from joining the Thunder in that echelon.

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“We can’t sustain energy and effort for 48 minutes, and they can,” he said bluntly. “That’s why they won a championship.”

James scored 14 of his 22 points in the second half of the loss. He also logged 10 assists and six rebounds. Austin Reaves, in his fourth game back from a calf injury, pitched in 16 points off the bench. Marcus Smart finished with 19 points and went 4 of 7 from deep.

But James, Reaves and Smart each missed a 3-point attempt in the final 40-some seconds, as the Thunder held on to win, bolstered by a clutch-time, midrange jumper by Jalen Williams that made it a 115-110 game with 51.9 seconds remaining. Williams had a game-high 23 points, most notably 10 in the final five minutes.

In James’ eyes, shotmaking and 50-50 balls made the difference.

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While the Lakers’ defense has been criticized during the JJ Redick era, including by Redick himself, and they rank 22nd in the NBA in defensive rating this season, James maintained that defense wasn’t the problem on Monday against the Thunder.

James conceded that the Lakers let Isaiah Joe get way too many 3-point looks in the first half and weren’t executing their switches to a high enough level. Joe hit four 3s and scored 19 points.

“But I mean, listen, for the majority of the second half, I thought we was really good defensively,” James said. “We didn’t have that many lapses.”

Redick was even pleased with his group’s effort overall.

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“I think when you play the best teams — and Oklahoma City is clearly — you know, you have to have a really high level of effort and you have to have a really high level of execution,” Redick said, per ESPN.

“It’s got to be both, and I thought for the most part our effort was fantastic. In key stretches of the game, our execution wasn’t great.”

Regardless if it’s execution, effort or energy, these Lakers are too often missing a key ingredient for championship-level success. James called them out after a setback against the defending champs.

LIVIGNO, Italy — Imagine, if you can, being one of the best freestyle skiers in the world. A former gold-medal winner, even.

And then imagine arriving in Italy to defend that gold medal — in your mother’s home country, no less — and finding a slopestyle course with obstacles so daunting that you were only able to complete the tricks you mapped out one out of 10 times in practice.

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That’s the mind space Alex Hall found himself in Monday night: A champion filled with doubts, but in a way that was oddly freeing him of the burden that came along with trying to repeat what he did four years ago in Beijing.

This was not the competition for Hall to try and strategize or manage his way to the podium. It was full send, from the drop-in to the bottom, leaving nothing in the tank.

“I went to bed just knowing, like, the odds of getting a medal are so slim,” he said. “Because everyone’s so good and the run I was going to try and do, the chances of landing that [were small].”

And if that’s the way things were going to turn out, Hall was fine with it. Because even amongst freeskiers, who are a different breed altogether, Hall is about as laid-back as it gets.

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He just loves to ski, man. The competition brings the medals, the opportunities and the money, but when he won the gold in Beijing with a high-risk, high-reward run that’s now the stuff of legend in this sport, he brought it home and put it in a sock drawer.

Winning and losing? It’s practically the same. In a sport this capricious — one run, judged by people who could never come close to doing what Hall does — you just keep trying stuff and maybe at exactly the right moment it’ll be good enough to win.

“The four years in between [Olympics], it didn’t ever feel like there was a day where I was like, ‘I’ve got to go train so I can get [another] medal’ or ‘I’ve got to go train so I can beat this person,’” he said. “I’m just gonna go ski, and I like skiing, so in a way it felt effortless because you’re just excited to go ski every day.”

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It’s a nice approach to life, isn’t it?

It also turned out to be an incredibly effective approach Tuesday, as Hall backed up his Beijing gold with Italian silver, coming up a mere .53 points shy of Norway’s Birk Ruud, who has been the best slopestyle skier in the world for the last couple years.

“Maybe, in a way, I’m almost more proud of it,” Hall said of the medal hanging around his neck as he made his way through a thicket of interviews. “I’m  really proud of myself for keeping up with how good everyone is nowadays. The tricks people are throwing in slopestyle runs now were big air tricks two or three years ago, so the fact that I’m able to stick with the young guns and put a run down that I’m really proud of is pretty cool. Walking away with any medal is a huge success.”

Of course it would have been storybook for Hall to win a second gold, particularly here. His mother is from Bologna, and he has an Italian passport. He spent much of childhood in Europe, learning to ski just across the border from here in Switzerland where his parents were college professors.

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Of all the athletes wearing the Team USA logo at these Games, no one has felt more at home in these surroundings.

“It feels like a place I know and a place I’ve been in,” he said. “It just feels like another day skiing, in some ways, which is so cool and allows you to, like, really sit back and just enjoy it.”

Which, at its heart, is what freeskiing is all about: Competitors rooting for each other to stomp their runs, land their tricks and let the judges sort out the microscopic, barely perceptible differences between a good performance and a great one.

“In our sport, every event is a different winner,” said American Mac Forehand, who finished 11th. “It’s not consistent at all. Just to get on the podium is huge no matter the event.”

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But it does say something about the 27-year-old Hall that he has come up with some of his best stuff twice now on the biggest stage in the sport.

And coming up half a point short against Ruud, an almost perfect technical skier who generally makes this stuff look way easier than it is?

Hall leaves with zero what-ifs.

“None at all because I knew the run I tried was so hard that I’m surprised I even landed it in three tries,” he said. “When you do one of these runs and it’s that hard, you just black out. You drop in and forget everything you did and end up at the bottom. You don’t really remember how it was. I knew there was a slight mistake in there, but I didn’t know how severe it was.”

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The judges did not penalize Hall much at all, and his score of 85.75 held up as second-best despite 10 other competitors getting a chance to displace him.

“We’re always rooting for each other and always want everyone to throw down their best runs,” Hall said. “The run I threw down, it wasn’t as crisp and perfect as the Beijing run, but in the months leading up to the Olympics I knew if I could get any medal I’d be so stoked. And there’s a lot to be said about just being stoked about how you ride.”

MILAN — Another day, another music licensing controversy in figure skating. But this one, it appears, will end with everyone happy.

Amber Glenn, part of the gold medal-winning American team, uses a section of the song “The Return” by CLANN in her free skate routine. CLANN — a.k.a. Seb McKinnon — noticed, and wondered how exactly this happened.

“So just found out an Olympic figure skater used one of my songs without permission for their routine,” McKinnon wrote. “It aired all over the world… what? Is that usual practice for the olympics?”

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The International Skating Union permitted skaters to use songs with lyrics starting in the mid-2010s, opening up a massive new category of potential songs, but also opening up a raft of rights issues. Performing, say, Bizet’s “Carmen” doesn’t require rights clearance because that work is in the public domain, but performing a Lady Gaga song requires the complex negotiation of rights for performance, broadcast, remixing, remixing with choreography, among other needs.

And sometimes, not every box gets checked. After the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, American pairs skaters Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier were served with a lawsuit for the alleged unsanctioned use of Heavy Young Heathens’ “House of the Rising Sun” in one of their routines. The suit, which also named NBC for broadcasting the performance, was settled later that year for an undisclosed amount.

Since then, U.S. Figure Skating has sought to work proactively with music licensors such as ASCAP and BMI. But the federation notes that the ultimate responsibility lies with the skater and their team to avoid legal entanglements.

In Glenn’s case, that meant a hasty negotiation with McKinnon, though specifics weren’t revealed. “The issue of music rights can be complex and confusing, and it seems like there was a hiccup somewhere in that process,” Glenn said in a statement. “I’m glad we were able to clear things up and I’m excited about the possibility of collaborating with Seb moving forward.”

Other skaters haven’t been quite so fortunate; Russia’s Petr Gumennik was forced to change his music just two days before his individual skate because of licensing concerns. Spanish skater Tomàs-Llorenç Guarino Sabaté managed to salvage his “Minions” music after a last-second rights issue made worldwide news.

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“It was a dream come true to perform at the Olympic Games, and to have Seb acknowledge my performance and congratulate me afterward made the moment even more special,” Glenn said in her statement. “It’s my sincere hope that I was able to help create new fans of both figure skating and Seb.”

Glenn will skate to McKinnon’s music in her individual program next Thursday.

Competing for your country in the Olympics is arguably the highest honor an athlete can achieve. While participating in professional sports leagues is important, athletes often speak of representing their countries as an elevated experience compared to their everyday jobs.

While winning a medal at an international event like the Olympics is one of the ultimate displays of lifting up and supporting your country, that’s not the only reward for athletes who reach the podium. A large number of countries pay athletes for winning medals at the Olympics, with some offering significant bonuses for the accomplishment.

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Which countries pay the most per medal at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics, and which countries don’t pay at all? Thanks to a handy list compiled by USA Today, we have that answer.

An unexpected country leads the way in that category. Singapore offers $788,907 to athletes who win a gold medal at the 2026 Games. The country will pay out $394,497 for silver-medal winners and $197,282 for bronze medalists, per USA Today. Those are the highest totals for all three medals. No country will shell out more for silver and bronze medals than Singapore.

Why is that unexpected? Well, the country has won a total of six Olympic medals over its history in the Games, which began in 1948. Notably, the country has never won a medal at the Winter Olympics. That stat is somewhat misleading, however, as Singapore didn’t start competing at the Winter Olympics until 2018. Prior to that, the country only appeared in the Summer Olympics.

The rest of the top five features — in order — Hong Kong ($767,747 for gold), Italy ($213,418 for gold), Poland ($211,268 for gold) and Slovenia ($162,672 for gold).

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Italy is already set to shell out some cash for gold medals, as the host country picked up two golds in the first couple days of the 2026 Olympics.

Of the 25 countries that responded to USA Today’s inquiry, Team USA ranks in the middle of the pack. The United States pays $37,500 to athletes who win a gold medal, $22,500 for silver medalists and $15,000 for bronze-medal winners. Those figures rank 15th out of the 25 country sample.

Some countries — like Belgium, Poland and Slovakia — take things even further by offering monetary rewards to athletes who finish between fourth and eighth place, per USA Today. Poland even goes an extra step when it comes to gold medalists. In addition to a $211,268 payout, gold medalists from Poland also receive “a Toyota Corolla, fully furnished two-room apartment, painting, holiday voucher and jewelry,” per USA Today.

Notably, three countries that responded to USA Today do not offer monetary bonuses to athletes for winning medals at the Olympics. Those countries are Great Britain, Sweden and Norway. While those three don’t offer compensation for medals, they do provide financial assistance to athletes ahead of the Olympics.

As of Tuesday morning, Norway — the country with the most gold medals and overall medals in Winter Olympics history — has already won six gold medals at the 2026 Games.

The two worst words an MLB pitcher can hear in spring training are “elbow inflammation.” After a full offseason of rest, an early elbow injury can derail a player’s season before it even begins.

The Atlanta Braves were the unfortunate recipient of those words Tuesday, as promising young starter Spencer Schwellenbach will be placed on the 60-day injured list due to right elbow inflammation.

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The team is hoping the 25-year-old Schwellenbach is dealing with bone spurs and not a more serious issue.

Even if the team gets “good” news on Schwellenbach, he’ll still miss the first two months of the 2026 season. Players start accruing time on the 60-day IL once Opening Day happens, and that stint can be backdated by a maximum of three days, guaranteeing that Schwellenbach will miss significant time even in the best-case scenario.

Since making his major-league debut in 2024 with Atlanta, Schwellenbach has flashed future ace upside. As a rookie, he posted a 3.35 ERA over 123 2/3 innings. The advanced stats backed up that performance, making him a popular breakout candidate in 2025.

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He lived up to those expectations early last season, posting a 3.09 ERA over his first 17 starts. Then Schwellenbach sustained a fractured elbow in what the team called a “freak accident.” At the time of the injury, he had a 2.2 fWAR and was a candidate to receive Cy Young Award votes if he continued to pitch well down the stretch.

It was one of many injuries sustained by key Braves players last season. As a result of all those injuries, the team finished 76-86, its worst win total since 2017 — excluding the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season.

While the Braves initially believed Schwellenbach could return in September, that didn’t happen. He made his final major-league appearance in late June and entered the offseason hoping to be fully recovered by spring training.

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The injury puts a damper on both the Braves’ chances in 2026 and Schwellenbach’s development. When he’s been on the mound, Schwellenbach has looked like a future superstar who could carry a team’s rotation. But injuries in two straight seasons have raised questions about his ability to handle a full major-league workload. And given that this is the second significant injury to Schwellenbach’s throwing elbow, there’s no guarantee he’ll show the same upside once he’s ready to return.

Even with this injury, the Braves are expected to bounce back in a major way in 2026. The team is projected to win 91.5 games and the National League East, per FanGraphs.

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If the Braves can live up to that projection — and Schwellenbach’s injury proves to be relatively minor — there’s still a chance he can return in time to pitch meaningful games in 2026.

New England Patriots rookie offensive lineman Will Campbell raised eyebrows after he declined to take part in interviews following the team’s 29-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl 60. Campbell struggled in the contest, giving up 14 quarterback pressures in the loss. Because of that, his refusal to speak after the game drew attention.

Campbell, 22, apologized for that decision Tuesday, saying he was dealing with a lot of emotions after the game and wanted to get his head on straight.

The Patriots’ entire offensive line struggled against a ferocious Seahawks defense in the Super Bowl. The Patriots allowed six sacks in the loss. While Campbell was the most obvious part of the team’s offensive line’s struggles, he was far from the only player to allow pressure to reach Drake Maye.

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For Campbell, however, those struggles became a trend throughout the entire postseason. After turning in a solid regular season, Campbell — the No. 4 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft — performed like one of the worst tackles in the playoffs.

Turns out, there was a reason for that, as Campbell revealed Tuesday he tore a ligament in his knee at some point this season. Campbell said he didn’t want to use the injury as an excuse for his struggles.

It’s unclear exactly when Campbell sustained the injury, though it could explain why the rookie saw his performance take a dive in the playoffs. During the regular season, Campbell ranked as the 32nd-best left tackle in the NFL, per Pro Football Focus’ metrics. While that figure wasn’t elite, it wasn’t necessarily bad considering he was a rookie adjusting to the NFL.

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Campbell wasn’t the only key member of the Patriots who battled a notable injury during the Super Bowl. Maye had a shoulder injury he sustained during the AFC championship game against the Denver Broncos. Maye received pain-killing injections in his shoulder prior to taking the field in Super Bowl 60. The 23-year-old quarterback revealed Tuesday that he will not need offseason surgery to correct the issue.

In addition to talking about his injury, Maye also provided some thoughts on playing with Campbell. The quarterback had nothing but good things to say about Campbell’s ability and future in the NFL.

Head coach Mike Vrabel has confirmed that, despite the difficulties faced during the postseason, he is fully committed to Campbell as New England’s starting left tackle.

After a disappointing end to an otherwise promising season, Campbell and Maye will look to come back better than ever next season. Campbell, in particular, will have a lot to prove considering the way his season ended, even if the injury was to blame.