Sports

7:06 PM ET SAN ANTONIO — LeBron James will not play in the Los Angeles Lakers‘ game against the Spurs on Tuesday because of a sore right ankle, the team announced. Lakers coach Frank Vogel, when asked about James’ injury, said the team is taking “a marathon approach” with him. Malik Monk will start in

7:00 AM ET NFL NationESPN Just like most of the populace, the NFL Power Rankings don’t like to admit when we’re wrong. So this week’s topic was a bit tough to bring up, as we asked our NFL Nation writers to pick the one thought they had about their team this preseason that hasn’t played

8:10 AM ET Throughout a down period in his career that is now approaching three years, Rickie Fowler managed to maintain an air of positivity, sprinkled with some self-deprecation, while seemingly never allowing for any sort of dark moments to consume him. He approached his slump with hard work, didn’t get impatient by moving on

2:14 PM ET Texas Tech football coach Matt Wells has been fired after two-plus seasons in charge. The school announced Monday that it is relieving Wells of his duties effective immediately, and as a replacement named Sonny Cumbie, who played quarterback at Texas Tech for Mike Leach between 2000 and 2004, as the interim head

7:00 AM ET Here we go, the Houston Astros versus the Atlanta Braves for World Series glory. While this matchup would have been a reasonable prediction back in spring training, it was an unlikely scenario at the trade deadline on July 30, when the Braves had a 2% chance to represent the National League and

6:43 AM ET The only certain thing about the first month of the NHL season is uncertainty. It’s a time when the Buffalo Sabres have a better record than the Tampa Bay Lightning and Vegas Golden Knights. It’s a time when Alexander Kerfoot is outscoring Mitchell Marner. It’s a time when the undefeated San Jose

When it comes to world soccer, there’s arguably no game or rivalry bigger than Barcelona vs. Real Madrid. The sides renew acquaintances on Sunday (10:15 a.m. ET; stream LIVE on ESPN+) in the 247th official edition of El Clasico (excluding friendlies), and it might even be one of the biggest clashes in all of sports,

8:59 PM ET Associated Press LOS ANGELES — UCLA coach Mick Cronin is a winner even before the college basketball season starts next month. A 3-year-old filly co-owned by Cronin won the $63,000 feature at Santa Anita by three-quarters of a length on Friday. Sent off at 6-1 odds, So Very Smart paid $14.40, $6.40

8:00 AM ET UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya released a YouTube video last weekend in which he broke down Saturday’s main event fight between his “children” Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori. On its face, Costa vs. Vettori is an outstanding main event featuring two of the UFC’s top middleweights. Costa and Vettori are ranked Nos.

7:41 AM ET The current generation of young boxers has made a tremendous impact on the sport over the past few years. Look no further than the now two-time No. 1 fighter in ESPN’s top 25 boxers under 25, Teofimo Lopez. His victory over Vasiliy Lomachenko in October 2020 turned the lightweight division upside down.

8:00 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN KEMBA WALKER‘S FIRST basket in a New York Knicks uniform was a simple one. A couple minutes into New York’s preseason opener at Madison Square Garden against the Indiana Pacers, Walker had the ball at the top of the key. He then executed a give-and-go with Julius Randle, darted around

11:29 AM ET BEREA, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns do not believe quarterback Baker Mayfield‘s left shoulder injury will end his season or require immediate surgery at this point, a league source told ESPN. Mayfield, however, is still waiting on a second opinion from his own doctor. That doctor is expected to review his MRI

12:38 AM BST Liam Napier Bankruptcy, COVID and a World Cup qualifying loss to Uruguay does not conspire to cultivate a healthy launchpad for one of the toughest challenges in world rugby. The All Blacks’ arrival in Washington D.C. this week, ahead of their money-spinning Test at FedEx Field, home of the Washington Football Team

10:00 AM ET Washington State football coach Nick Rolovich and four assistant coaches were fired Monday for refusing to comply with a mandate that required all state employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. It marked the end of a monthslong process during which Rolovich did not explain why he was unwilling to get the vaccine

6:51 PM ET Associated Press FORT WORTH, Texas — Kyle Larson claimed the first of four championship-contending spots in NASCAR’s season finale with a dominating victory at Texas on Sunday to start the round of eight in the playoffs. Larson led 256 of 334 laps at the 1 1/2-mile track and got his eighth win

7:00 AM ET On the last day of August, before the bottom of the second inning in a road game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora called his All-Star shortstop off the field. “Alex never took me out,” Xander Bogaerts told ESPN in an interview last week. Bogaerts knew something

8:54 AM ET We are nearly a week into the 2021-22 NHL regular season, which is just enough time to start freaking out about teams and players defying or failing to meet expectations. Here’s a look a 10 first impressions made since the season started back on Tuesday, and whether they’re delusional or harbingers of

8:03 PM ET Associated Press INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Paula Badosa edged Victoria Azarenka 7-6 (5), 2-6, 7-6 (2) on Sunday to win the BNP Paribas Open in her debut in the Southern California desert, where the tournament returned after a 2 1/2-year absence because of the coronavirus. She joined Bianca Andreescu in 2019 and

8:25 PM ET Associated Press LAS VEGAS — Rory McIlroy capped a big weekend in Las Vegas on Sunday by surging past Rickie Fowler and holding off Collin Morikawa to win the CJ Cup at Summit for his 20th PGA Tour title. McIlroy seized control with a 35-foot eagle putt from just off the green

2:00 PM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent LEICESTER, England — It was a day to remember for Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford at the King Power Stadium, and one to forget for Harry Maguire and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. It sums up where Manchester United are at the moment: bits of good and lots of bad culminated in