Players scrapping with fans in the stands, continental championships up for grabs on both sides of “the pond,” and US Men's Soccer is once again searching for a new manager. There’s a ton going on in the international soccer world, so today Luis Miguel Echegaray helps us break it all down, and lets us know who he thinks will capture the crown in Europe and the Americas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jul 12, 2024•26 min
After 22 years, Wyc Grousbeck and his family announced they’ll be selling their controlling stake in the Boston Celtics. The announcement marks a seismic moment not just for the Celtics, but for the NBA. Our own Tim Bontemps is here to talk about how the sale of one of the most iconic franchises in the world connects to greater trends in sports team ownership worldwide, and to explain who or what entity could be Jayson Tatum and Jalen Brown’s new boss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit pod...
Jul 11, 2024•28 min
Gamers of a certain age have fond memories of building dynasties with their favorite schools in the NCAA College Football video game series. But - because of a lawsuit filed by former UCLA Bruin Ed O’Bannon over name, image, and likeness violations - it’s been more than a decade since EA Sports released the game. That wait is almost over, as the game returns next week. Today, ESPN staff writer, Michael Rothstein, who broke the news of the game’s return in 2021, and has been covering the journey ...
Jul 10, 2024•30 min
After 13 seasons as a splash brother with the Warriors, Klay Thompson is trading in the boats in the Bay for cowboy boots in Dallas, Texas. And it feels like the end of the most recent dynasty in the NBA. But how exactly did it all come to an end? Today, ESPN senior NBA writer Ramona Shelburne explains what forced Klay’s hand, and details how he ended up choosing to moor his boat to the Mavericks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jul 09, 2024•29 min
The NBA has been busy since the Celtics locked down their 18th championship. In Los Angeles, JJ Redick has traded in his microphone for a clipboard, becoming the new coach of the Lakers. And one of the first moves on his watch? Drafting Bronny James, fulfilling a father and son moment that the world has been waiting on. Meanwhile, Paul George says goodbye to the Clippers and heads over to Philly, while DeMar DeRozan pulled back up to the west coast, heading from Chicago to Sacramento. So today w...
Jul 08, 2024•31 min
Last month, we learned that the rivalry between legendary competitive eaters, Japan’s Takeru Kobayashi and America’s Joey Chestnut, would be renewed this Labor Day. It will be their first head-to-head, hot-dog-eating-showdown in 14 years. A dispute with the organizers of Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating contest, a July 4th tradition, had forced Kobayashi out of the competition in 2010. A similar dispute this year for Chestnut set the stage for a long awaited rematch between two men who had account...
Jul 03, 2024•32 min
Now that we are heading to the midpoint of the 2024 MLB season, it’s time to take the temperature of the league. Can the surprising Cleveland Guardians stay hot and catch pennant fever? Will the Orioles’s arms stay healthy enough to take down the Yankees? Are the Phillies and Dodgers simply inevitable in the National League? Or will Grimace continue to hold court in Queens and somehow bring the Mets to the table? To get the answers to all this and more we once again turn to our friend ESPN MLB i...
Jul 02, 2024•29 min
There are two absolutely gigantic continental soccer tournaments happening side by side across the globe. In the western hemisphere Copa America features the United States, the Caribbean, and the best of South America on the pitch. Giving Uruguay a spotlight to shine. While across the pond the UEFA European Championship, better known as the Euros, are giving us all of the traditional national rivalries we’re used to seeing. Of course, it wouldn’t be soccer on a global stage, if the USMNT didn’t ...
Jul 01, 2024•32 min
It’s a big week for the UFC. Out in Vegas, the premier combat sports company is celebrating International Fight Week, and on Thursday night, inducted its latest class to the Hall of Fame. Saturday night, the festivities culminate in UFC 303. But the sport’s biggest star, Conor McGregor, won’t be there, after pulling out of the main event due to injury, and forcing UFC to scramble and find other fighters to carry the card. So today, our Andreas Hale explains why McGregor’s three year absence has ...
Jun 28, 2024•30 min
Three years ago, a positive marijuana test forced Sha’Carri Richardson off of team USA, robbing her and her country of a chance at an all-time Olympic moment. But in the years since, with a style reminiscent of the great Florence Griffith Joyner, Richardson has more than made her mark on the sport. So with 100-meter qualifications complete and the 200-meter on the horizon this weekend, our Coley Harvey explains how Richardson bounced back and why the Summer Games could make her one of the bigges...
Jun 27, 2024•29 min
From his time in Negro Leagues as a teenager to his epic run of success with the Giants, Willie Mays was always student and ambassador of America’s Pasttime Mays’ performance on the field has him in the conversation as one of the best players ever. 24 All Star Games, 12 Gold Gloves, two MVP awards, and 660 homers leave him in the most rare of air. In short, putting his legacy into words is almost impossible, so we let his actions tell his story. And the stories you will hear about Willie are tha...
Jun 26, 2024•31 min
With all of the air in the WNBA room being sucked up by loud takes on Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and what their rivalry means to America, it’s easy to forget that we’re about a month and a half into the season. So today ESPN women’s basketball writer Michael Voepel takes us around the league to fill us in on what we’ve been missing. Tonight’s Commissioner Cup final between the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx is one of the stories that has gotten lost in the shuffle. Ironically, we haven’t b...
Jun 25, 2024•29 min
By the end of tonight, the world will know if the Edmonton Oilers will be the first Canadian team to hoist the Stanley Cup in more than three decades. Despite an initial 3-0 lead by the Florida Panthers, the Oilers have pushed forward and forced a Game 7. Our own Emily Kaplan is here to tell us how both these teams got to the finals, why key players like Connor McDavid and Stuart Skinner have been crucial to the Oilers’ comeback, and what tonight’s outcome could mean for all of hockey. Learn mor...
Jun 24, 2024•25 min
The 2024 Olympics are almost upon us. Trials are taking place around the world to determine who will represent their countries in Paris. And next week, all eyes will be on USA gymnastics trials in Minneapolis – as 16 women compete for one of five coveted spots on Team USA. Olympic superstar gymnast Simone Biles is looking to make it to her 3rd Olympics, but alongside her are 15 other women with just as much a shot to make the team as her. So today, our Olympics expert D’Arcy Maine joins us to br...
Jun 21, 2024•28 min
The Copa América is South America’s fiercely competitive international soccer tournament, historically dominated by Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. But this summer, the games are happening in the United States, and the Americans have been invited to compete along with other North and Central American teams. So, as this unprecedented tournament gets underway Thursday night, our soccer savant Luis Miguel Echegaray explains how it all landed in the states to begin with, why it will be a major measu...
Jun 20, 2024•28 min
The St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants will meet in a special ballgame at Birmingham, Alabama’s historic Rickwood Field tomorrow. That ballpark is 114 years old, the oldest professional field in America, and was the home to two teams named The Barons: one black and one white. And what happened on that field: a community gathering to cheer both squads, and the nation’s first integrated baseball game was a reflection of what happened in the city during the Civil Rights struggle. Today we...
Jun 19, 2024•37 min
The Indianapolis 500 is a sacred tradition in the racing community. But so is the Coca Cola 600, NASCAR’s longest race. And both of these events just happen to fall on the same day. So when a brave driver decides to tackle all 1100 of these miles — a challenge affectionately known as the Memorial Day Double – the eyes of the race world fall on them. This year, NASCAR champion and IndyCar rookie of the year Kyle Larson took his shot, battling: the logistics; the tracks; and, most of all, Mother N...
Jun 18, 2024•30 min
It’s difficult to identify a true contemporary to Jerry West. He’s the man who spent 14 consecutive years as an All Star for the Los Angeles Lakers. The guy who helped engineer and sustain not one, but two dynasties with the team. A figure whose silhouette literally loomed above the league as the NBA’s logo. So when the news broke last week of his death, at the age of 86, it marked the passing of a giant. Today, Jeremy Schaap memorializes the great Laker. He explains West’s West Virginia origins...
Jun 17, 2024•32 min
Yankees vs. Red Sox. It’s one of the fiercest rivalries in all of sports and includes names like: Derek Jeter, Pedro Martinez, David Ortiz, Bucky Dent, and of course Babe Ruth. But these days Major League Baseball has become so obsessed with data, that it feels like the human element can fall by the wayside. So, ahead of their three game weekend series, culminating with a matchup on Sunday Night Baseball, Jeff Passan joins the show to explain just what this rivalry is like in 2024. And to tell u...
Jun 14, 2024•30 min
The first month of the WNBA season has been full of compelling on-court storylines. The Connecticut Sun look ready to contend for a title. The defending champion Las Vegas Aces have struggled to find their footing with veteran Chelsea Gray injured. But all of that is getting crowded out by one big distraction –– a debate over whether or not the league is being fair to its megastar rookie, Cailtin Clark. Chennedy Carter’s hard foul on Clark last week is the match that lit the flame, but the fires...
Jun 13, 2024•31 min
Two games into the NBA Finals, and it looks like nothing can keep the Boston Celtics away from lifting an 18th championship banner to the rafters. They’ve been able to limit the Dallas attack to just Luka Doncic, and everything seems to be going their way. ESPN NBA reporter Tim Bontemps has been at both games of the series, and he joins the show to explain just how Boston is keeping the Dallas attack in check. And explore if a shift in venue to the Lone Star state will be enough to give the Mavs...
Jun 12, 2024•30 min
For Americans who’ve never watched a cricket match before, now may be the best time to start. Because for the first time ever, Team USA has drawn global attention, after shocking the world in an upset over Pakistan last Thursday. And that feat looks all the more improbable when you learn who exactly is on this roster. So today, ESPN’s own Aishwarya Kumar explains how they pulled it off, and why this Men’s T20 World Cup tournament looks like a watershed moment for American cricket. You can stream...
Jun 11, 2024•29 min
With all of the energy surrounding women’s basketball these days, it can be easy to lose sight of the fact that the interest in women’s sports is growing beyond just the hardwood. We’ve seen a professional women’s hockey league return to the ice this season, stars continue to shine on the tennis courts and the track. And interest in the Women’s College World Series has steadily increased year over year leading to an average of two million fans tuning in to the most watched title series ever. So ...
Jun 10, 2024•24 min
The teams meeting in the Stanley Cup Final this season, the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers, are both trying to get over the hump. For the Panthers, this is year three in their recent turnaround. Having the best record in the NHL two seasons ago didn’t get it done, and last year they fell a step short of lifting Lord Stanley’s trophy into the air for the first time as a franchise. Up in Edmonton, the Oilers haven’t won it all since 1990, when a guy named Wayne Gretzky was still lacing them ...
Jun 07, 2024•29 min
Unless you’ve been living under a rock the WNBA continues to be a hot topic, showing fans and the world that excitement around women's basketball is expanding beyond a “moment.” With all the chatter about aggression towards rookies, vet players, crazy record stats, and even team mascots dominating the floor, there is one thing that has been looming top of mind for many over the last few weeks: money. The two-time reigning WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces are again at the forefront, as all twelve of ...
Jun 06, 2024•29 min
This year’s NBA finals feature one team everyone saw coming and, according to Brian Windhorst, another we probably should have seen coming. The Boston Celtics have been on a hot streak all season long –– easily claiming the league’s best record –– while the Dallas Mavericks have been pushing their way towards the mountaintop week by week. Game 1 of the NBA Finals tips off Thursday night and there’s so much to think about, including how Dallas might actually have the two best players on the court...
Jun 05, 2024•29 min
For years, names like Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell, and Satchel Paige were well known as legends in the Negro Leagues, but unrecognized in the record books alongside their white contemporaries. Last week that changed, as a nearly quarter-century long endeavor to collect and verify decades of statistics was unveiled for the first time. The news seems to have been met with every emotion under the sun: confusion, anger, disdain, but not joy. And part of that is because many are confused as to what’s...
Jun 04, 2024•30 min
Major League Baseball teams have developed a habit of manipulating contract rules so as to prevent a player from realizing his true financial value. Many contend it’s all part of a player exploitation system perpetrated by the league under the guise of “maximizing efficiency.” But five years ago, while pitching for the Brewers, reliever Josh Hader and his agent employed an unprecedented strategy to fight back. Today, Buster Olney joins us as we explore Hader’s story, the greater context of how M...
Jun 03, 2024•30 min
Birmingham Southern College sits on a lovely campus three miles from downtown Birmingham, Alabama. But today, that college is officially ceasing operations. Nonetheless, the school’s baseball team will play on, as they take the field this afternoon in the Division III college world series. So our Kyle Bonagura is here to explain how the school’s looming closure actually inspired the Panthers to turn their season around. And how the team’s final run may turn out to be its best ever. Learn more ab...
May 31, 2024•27 min
Bronny James has been in the public spotlight his whole life. Being the son of all-time great LeBron James has set expectations that would be too high for most NBA Draft prospects, let alone one with a less-than-guaranteed shot in the NBA. Bronny James won’t be a lottery pick, and probably won’t be picked in the first round either. What makes this more complicated than your average draft prospect analysis is LeBron has the opportunity to opt out of his contract and become a free agent this summe...
May 30, 2024•25 min
