When Your Hometown Team Gets a New Identity
Black fans of the Washington Football Team are adapting to a new future for their beloved franchise—and reckoning with its past disregard of Native Americans.
New Orleans’s Football Stadium Reflects the State of the City
When I was young, the Superdome was full of joyful chaos. Then Katrina hit, and filled it with despair. Now the stands at Saints games are hauntingly empty.
It Had to Be the Lakers
Love them or hate them, the NBA’s most storied franchise was the right team for this moment.
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This Woman Surfed the Biggest Wave of the Year
Here’s why you probably haven’t heard about it.
The Coronavirus Is Revealing Football’s Human Cost
Amid a global pandemic, the NFL’s non-guaranteed contracts force players into a familiar choice: stay safe, or stay on the field.
The NBA Had It Coming
The Milwaukee Bucks’ going on strike and disrupting their season at one of its most crucial inflection points proves that the players’ activism is no longer a fringe movement.
The NBA’s Uneasy Return Follows an Age-Old Script
The league’s insulated relaunch in Florida amid the pandemic has a surprising antecedent.
My Soccer Fandom Is Out of Shape
A lifelong fan took in yesterday’s Manchester City–Arsenal game, and struggled to connect with his onetime obsession.
Athletes During the Pandemic Are Learning What Fans Have Always Known
As players return to empty arenas, they are discovering a basic truth: Live sports is an act of social imagination.
Baseball’s Strange and Poignant Return to TV
The first live sports games to air in the U.S. since the start of the pandemic provide a hopeful, yet harrowing, look at the future.
The Mythos of Michael Jordan Continues
With its deep archival footage of the Bulls legend, The Last Dance was always going to be epic. Now it needs to fill the void of sports writ large.
Why the Super Bowl Was a Game Changer for the NFL
Sunday’s showing offered a blueprint for a potentially dynamic chapter in professional football.
The NFL’s Most Valued Cause Is Itself
A social-justice-focused ad that aired during last night’s Super Bowl affirmed a disturbing and all too familiar truth about the league.
The Astros’ Cheating Scandal Rewrites a Decade of Baseball History
Houston’s dominance once looked like the sport’s biggest success story. Now their whole legacy is in doubt.
The Case Against Stripping the Astros of Their World Series Title
The MLB has handed harsh penalties to Houston for sign stealing, but revoking the team’s ill-gained 2017 championship is implausible.
What the Patriots’ Wild-Card Loss Really Means
Even before Saturday’s game, New England was showing signs of having been passed by.
The Two Players Who Are Breaking the ‘No-Fun League’
As the 2019 season enters its final stretch, an entertaining MVP race showcases a less restrictive brand of football.
Carmelo Anthony’s Melancholy NBA Return
After a season away, the future Hall of Famer comes back to a league that no longer has much use for him.
Unpredictability Returns to the NBA
For the first time in years, nobody really knows what to expect.
The Washington Nationals’ Persistence Paid Off
Breaking a pattern of first-round heartbreak, the decade’s most downtrodden playoff team finds itself in the World Series.
Joe Maddon Was Doomed by His Own Success
The Chicago Cubs say goodbye to the manager who led them to their first World Series victory in 108 years.
The Year of the Home Run Reaches October
After a record-setting regular season, the MLB playoffs figure to host offensive fireworks and long-ball fatigue.
Lamar Jackson and the NFL’s Quarterback Double Standard
As the league looks to the future, the way many analysts talk about black players such as the Baltimore Ravens passer still belongs to an ugly past.
Rafael Nadal Takes Another Step Toward Tennis History
After a grueling and dramatic final against tournament antihero Daniil Medvedev, the Spaniard inched closer to the men’s grand-slam record.
Bianca Andreescu’s Remarkable U.S. Open Win
The 19-year-old Canadian’s victory over Serena Williams marks one of the most meteoric rises by a young tennis player in recent years.
Grigor Dimitrov Takes His Shot
Long heralded as a future No. 1, the world No. 78 is within striking distance of his first Grand Slam final.
How the Cleveland Browns Are Bucking NFL Convention
In trying to reverse a generation’s worth of losing, the team is loading up on stars and embracing the hype.
The Thrilling Unpredictability of Women’s Tennis
This year’s U.S. Open has no shortage of female players who could win the title, which has made for an exciting tournament—with one caveat.
Why Is Trevor Lawrence Playing College Football?
The Clemson quarterback and Heisman favorite, seen by many as NFL-ready, is all but forced by the mechanisms of amateur sports to play for free.
What Andrew Luck’s Retirement Says About the NFL
The Colts quarterback is leaving the game at age 29—a move that reaffirms the danger of the sport and the willingness of some players to walk away from it.
A Tale of Two Tennis G.O.A.T.s
Considered the greatest of all time by many, Serena Williams and Roger Federer will seek to solidify their legacies with another grand-slam title.
What the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team Needs More Than Equal Pay
The argument that the female champions can draw big crowds only during World Cup years doesn’t consider the lacking investment from their governing body.
Novak Djokovic Is the Greatest Player of the ‘Big Three’
The 32-year-old Serb overwhelmed Roger Federer in a marathon men’s singles final at Wimbledon and proved himself the best of his generation.
Simona Halep’s Dazzling Wimbledon Victory
The 27-year-old Romanian underdog handily defeated the formidable Serena Williams in a final that echoed a classic 2008 match.
The U.S. Women’s Soccer Team’s Biggest Battle Is Yet to Be Won
Some 1 billion people tuned in to the games this year, making the USWNT’s victory even more crucial in their upcoming legal fight for equal pay.
One Question Hanging Over the World Cup Final
As the United States and the Netherlands prepare to face off, teams and fans wonder whether VAR—or instant-replay reviews—will decide the champion.
The U.S. Women’s Soccer Team Is in the Finals. Here’s Why It Matters.
It’s not just about the game—these athletes are playing with something more to prove.
What the Men Can Learn From the Women at Wimbledon
The young male players trying to unseat the “big three” of tennis should look to upstarts such as Ashleigh Barty and Naomi Osaka for a lesson on how to translate talent into titles.
Why the Anthony Davis and LeBron James Pairing Will Be Different
Two of the NBA’s best players have teamed up in the league’s glitziest and most history-rich locale, each with a legacy to burnish and an unhappy narrative to reverse.
A Historic NBA Championship for the Raptors
The Golden State Warriors were hampered by injuries, but the league’s newest victors were built to seize on the opportunity.
Kevin Durant’s Disastrous Comeback
After Golden State’s star forward injured his Achilles tendon in the NBA Finals, the team’s decision to let him play is facing scrutiny.
The Turbulent Journey of Metta World Peace
A new documentary about the athlete formerly known as Ron Artest moves beyond his—and the NBA’s—most notorious moment: 2004’s “Malice at the Palace” brawl.
Kevin Durant’s Inessential Greatness
The Golden State Warriors forward is an unstoppable scorer and matchup nightmare—and without him, the team is on the doorstep of another championship.
The Change That Could Make the NBA Playoffs Watchable
The postseason is lagging in action and viewership. A skunk rule could be the solution.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Is Thinking Like the MVP
The Milwaukee Bucks’ do-everything prodigy has simplified his approach and become the NBA’s best player.
Why Tiger Woods’s Masters Win Was Different This Time
The most appealing aspect of the golf pro’s 15th major championship is that it doesn’t quite signal a return to dominance.
Why Female Surfers Are Finally Getting Paid Like Their Male Peers
For the first time in its history, the World Surf League requires that cash prizes be uniform for men and women. But gender inequality isn’t completely eradicated from the sport.
MLB’s Bold Efforts to Remake Baseball
Opening Day 2019 finds the league tinkering with the sport to draw younger audiences—and weighing which aspects of the game are essential.
Baseball’s Best Player Deserves More Than $430 Million
Mike Trout just signed a record-breaking contract extension with the Los Angeles Angels. What he really needs is a team that can win championships.
The U.S. National Women’s Soccer Team Makes a Really Good Case for Equal Pay
In a new lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation, the athletes say they earn just a fraction of what their less successful male counterparts make.
Why Zion Williamson Is Poised to Change the Course of NCAA History
It’s clear that the Duke freshman doesn’t need the league as much as it needs him. This makes the phenom uniquely positioned to revolutionize the game.
Two Superstars Gamble on Record-Breaking Deals
Bryce Harper’s and Manny Machado’s contracts are similarly lucrative, but they represent two different approaches to the same bet.
The Patriots’ Super Bowl Victory Was Boring—Yet Inimitable
In a tedious championship game against the Los Angeles Rams, New England confirmed that the ingredients of its success can’t be replicated by the rest of the NFL.
Rob Gronkowski and the Cost of Greatness
As the ageless Tom Brady and Bill Belichick lead the Patriots to another Super Bowl, the star tight end shows signs of wear and tear.
Naomi Osaka’s Australian Open Victory Shatters the Status Quo
How the 21-year-old Japanese phenom cemented her position as a bona fide superstar—plus a look at what lies ahead for the men’s final
How the Showtime Saints Became Championship Favorites
With shrewd drafting and a style adjustment, New Orleans built a team capable of helping out its star quarterback—and winning a Super Bowl.
A Book That Honors an Underrated Sport
The Circuit, Rowan Ricardo Phillips’s latest book, deftly chronicles tennis’s 2017 season with a joyful reverence.
The End of the NBA’s G.O.A.T. Era
LeBron James has just started his next act with the Lakers. But when he retires, what will become of the endless debate over which player is the Greatest of All Time?
In the New College Football, Alabama Is Still Out Front
As the sport gets faster and scores climb higher, a formerly traditionalist program and its star quarterback embrace the future.
LeBron Returns to Cleveland, This Time as a Laker
With a match against the Cavaliers looming, James could be on the brink of taking a big step forward with his new team.