Sports

8:00 AM ET MIAMI — The Boston Celtics are a team of long-distance runners. For years, former Celtics president Danny Ainge employed a consultant that would identify draft picks and free agents’ “brain types” under the belief that certain personality traits made for better players. Ainge and that system are gone, but the Celtics —

7:00 AM ET NASCAR is hitting its annual All-Star break (yes, I realize there’s not an actual break, and there won’t be one for another month, but Sunday is the All-Star Race, so work with me here), and the Cup Series season now has 13 of the 26 regular-season events in the books. We’re halfway

3:02 PM ET New York Giants coach Brian Daboll doesn’t want Daniel Jones holding back. Instead, he’s promoting a more aggressive approach that encourages his new quarterback to get out on the field and sling the ball around without hesitation or fear of a mistake. Especially in practice. “Yeah, look, we want to make sure

7:00 AM ET Alex Scarborough Close ESPN Staff Writer Covers the SEC. Joined ESPN in 2012. Graduate of Auburn University. Dave Wilson Close ESPN Staff Writer Dave Wilson is an editor for ESPN.com since 2010. He previously worked at The Dallas Morning News, San Diego Union-Tribune and Las Vegas Sun. FORT WORTH, Texas — It’s

2:13 PM ET Associated Press CLEVELAND — Guardians manager Terry Francona has cleared Major League Baseball’s health and safety protocols and returned to the team after missing four games with COVID-19. Francona will be back for Wednesday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds, along with bench coach DeMarlo Hale. They both tested positive for COVID-19 last

7:00 AM ET Iconic sports rivalries are built to stand the test of time. No matter the players. No matter the coaches. No matter the standings. No matter who won the last game — or the last 10. It’s a seed planted between two teams that can’t be uprooted. The bad blood is merely transfused,

10:51 AM BST England coach Eddie Jones has included 10 uncapped players, including in-form London Irish duo Henry Arundell and Will Joseph, in a 36-man training squad to prepare for the summer tour of Australia. Joe Cokanasiga, Owen Farrell, Manu Tuilagi, Anthony Watson and Jack Willis return following injury, while prop Mako Vunipola has also

5:41 PM ET Associated Press BALTIMORE — Kentucky Derby runner-up Epicenter was set Monday as the 6-5 morning line favorite for the Preakness Stakes, which will be run without Rich Strike. The surprise Derby winner at 80-1 is not in the field of nine for Saturday’s $1.65 million race at Pimlico. Rich Strike’s owner felt

9:34 AM ET Where would Manchester United be without Cristiano Ronaldo? That question has been posed almost since the day the 37-year-old scored twice on his second Premier League debut for the club during a 4-1 win against Newcastle at Old Trafford last September. This followed his transfer from Juventus, for an initial €15 million,

8:06 AM BST South Africa flyhalf Elton Jantjies was arrested for “malicious damage to property” after an incident on an Emirates airlines flight from Dubai to Johannesburg on Sunday, police said. The 31-year-old, who won the Rugby World Cup with South Africa in 2019, was arrested at OR Tambo International airport after disembarking the flight,

7:05 PM ET Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Kurt Busch was slowly driving his Jordan Brand-styled ride toward victory lane at Kansas Speedway on Sunday when car owner Denny Hamlin stopped him in his tracks, ducked his head through the window and said: “We did it.” Did they ever. Busch survived a weary day

1:10 AM ET Jan Blachowicz‘s journey back to the UFC title got off to an odd start. But the former champ will certainly take it. Blachowicz defeated Aleksandar Rakic via TKO at 1:11 of the third round after Rakic suffered an injury to his right knee. Blachowicz landed a combination and Rakic took a step

8:00 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN CARSON, Calif. — After 22 rounds, Jermell Charlo appears to be finished with his rivalry with Brian Castano. Charlo made the proper adjustments after their first encounter and outboxed Castano down the stretch en route to the brutal 10th-round finish following two knockdowns on Saturday. The 31-year-old from Houston can

11:57 AM ET Associated Press ROME — Stefanos Tsitsipas reached his first Italian Open final by rallying past Alexander Zverev 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 on Saturday. Tsitsipas has been pushed to three sets in three of his four matches this week, having also overcome local favorite Jannik Sinner in straight sets in the quarterfinals. Tsitsipas has

12:44 AM ET Jamal CollierESPN MILWAUKEE — Three people were shot near Deer District outside Fiserv Forum near the conclusion of Friday night’s Game 6 between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics, sending fans there fleeing through the streets. The Milwaukee Fire Department said one man and one woman shot were transported to the

5:28 PM ET Reigning PGA Championship winner Phil Mickelson, who hasn’t played competitively in more than three months, won’t defend his title next week at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The PGA of America announced on Friday that Mickelson has withdrawn from the PGA Championship. “We have just been informed that Phil Mickelson

7:00 AM ET NFL experts We’re now over a week removed from the 2022 NFL draft, and rookie camps have just started to kick off. So it is a good time to ask our NFL expert panel to weigh in on some of the biggest lingering questions. That includes what our writers and analysts liked,

7:00 AM ET ORLANDO, Fla. — When we last saw UCF, the Knights whooped and hollered and celebrated a victory over Florida that was years in the making, one they will probably lord over the Gators forevermore. Case in point: The highlights from said game, a 29-17 win in the Gasparilla Bowl in December, were

8:00 AM ET Boston Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said something absolutely astonishing before Game 3 against the Carolina Hurricanes. He announced a goalie change from Linus Ullmark to Jeremy Swayman, which was to be expected when one is down in a series. But to justify his decision, Cassidy said the following: “If it ends up

4:38 PM ET The Milwaukee Brewers‘ Christian Yelich joined an exclusive club Wednesday, hitting for the third cycle of his career during a 14-11 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. Yelich’s three career cycles tie him with five other players for the MLB lead. Trea Turner was the most recent player to accomplish the feat, doing