TALKING POINTS
LeBron James shows up to watch son Bronny play at NBA draft combine
CHICAGO — Bronny James’ famous father was on hand Wednesday to watch him play at the NBA draft combine.
LeBron James showed up wearing a black hoodie and sat in the second row for Bronny’s second and final scrimmage of the combine.
The NBA’s career scoring leader, his wife and daughter were frequent spectators for Bronny’s games at Southern California last season. LeBron James has said repeatedly he would like to team with his son. The four-time MVP and four-time NBA champion just completed his 21st season and could become a free agent if he opts out of his contract with the Los Angeles Lakers. But he also said following a season-ending loss to Denver that he hasn’t “given much thought lately” to playing alongside his son.
Bronny James is deciding whether to turn pro after one college season.
He declared for the draft and entered the transfer portal on April 5.
Bronny James was one of the nation’s top prospects when he decided to stay near home and committed to USC last May out of Sierra Canyon School in nearby Chatsworth. But things took an unexpected turn last summer.
James went into cardiac arrestbecause of a congenital heart defect during a basketball workout at USC in late July and needed surgery. He missed the first month of the season.
He averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 25 games for the Trojans.
Caitlin Clark’s WNBA debut helps ESPN set viewership record for league game on network
NEW YORK — ESPN’s broadcast of the Connecticut Sun’s game against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever had the highest viewership for a WNBA game on the network.
The Sun’s 92-71 win over the Fever in Clark’s WNBA debut on the league’s opening night on Tuesday drew an average of 2.1 million viewers on ESPN2, ESPN+ and Disney+, including a high of 2.3 million viewers between 7:45 p.m. and 7:59 p.m. That topped ESPN’s previous mark of nearly 1.5 million viewers for a Phoenix Mercury-Connecticut Sun game on May 22, 2004, in Diana Taurasi’s rookie season.
The second game between Phoenix and the two-time defending
champion Las Vegas Aces averaged 464,000 viewers, with the two games averaging 1.28 million — a 192% increase over the league’s average last year for broadcasts on ESPN.
Clark set the NCAA all-time scoring record at Iowa last season and she was a big reason why a record 18.9 million viewers tuned in to the national championship game, which her Hawkeyes lost to unbeaten South Carolina. Clark’s arrival to the WNBA has already been a big boost for the league. The WNBA draft had record viewership, and three teams have already moved their games to bigger arenas to keep up with the demand for tickets to watch her play.
The US Open men’s final is shifting to ABC this year. The women’s final will stay on ESPN
NEW YORK — The U.S. Open men’s final will shift to ABC from ESPN this year — but the women’s title match will remain on the cable outlet a year after Coco Gauff won the Grand Slam tennis tournament.
This will be the first time ABC airs the men’s final, ESPN said Wednesday. The match is on Sept. 8. The women’s final in Flushing Meadows is the day before.
ESPN has shown the tournament played in New York since 2009 and has held exclusive rights for a decade.
Gauff won her first major championship at the U.S. Open last year. Novak Djokovic won his 24th.
Astros starter Blanco suspended 10 games after being ejected when foreign substance found in glove
HOUSTON — Astros starter Ronel Blanco received a 10-game suspension Wednesday for violating MLB’s prohibitions on foreign substances after being ejected from the game against the Oakland Athletics.
The suspension was announced by Michael Hill, MLB’s senior vice president of on-field operations. The suspension will begin Wednesday night unless Blanco appeals the penalty, which also includes an undisclosed fine.
Blanco was ejected at the start of the fourth inning of the 2-1 win over Oakland on Tuesday after umpires found a foreign substance that first base umpire Erich Bacchus said was “the stickiest stuff I’ve felt on a glove.”
MLS suspends multiple players for melee that followed New York City FC’s match against Toronto FC
NEW YORK — Major League Soccer has suspended multiple players for their involvement in an incident following New York City FC’s 3-2 win over Toronto FC last weekend, the league announced Wednesday.
Toronto head coach John Herdman, defender Richie Laryea and goalkeeper Sean Johnson were suspended for their team’s home match against Nashville.
Toronto forward Prince Owusu and New York City defender Strahinja Tanasijevic each received red cards for their involvement. Owusu also was suspended for the Nashville match and Tanasijevic for his team’s home match against Philadelphia.
The league’s disciplinary committee also fined Orlando SC and coach Óscar Pareja for violating the league’s mass confrontation policy in the 86th minute of a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Union.
A team faces disciplinary action if three or more players or coaches disrupt a match by confronting a referee or opponent. Orlando violated the policy for the second time this season after a Philadelphia defender went down in front of the net.
Orlando goalkeeper Pedro Gallese, midfielders Nicolás Lodeiro and Iván Angulo, and forward Duncan McGuire also will be fined for inciting and/or escalating the mass confrontation. The league did not disclose the amount of the fines levied against the club, coach or players.
Ex-Colorado cornerback and top signee Cormani McClain transferring to Florida, agent says
Former Colorado cornerback Cormani McClain, who was Deion Sanders’ top high school signee last year, is heading to Florida.
McClain’s agent, Hector Rivas of Disruptive Sports, confirmed McClain’s decision Wednesday to The Associated Press and said the player intended to enroll as soon as possible. ESPN first reported the move.
McClain was a five-star recruit out of Lakeland, Florida, rated as the No. 2 overall prospect of 2023 in the 247Sports composite rankings.
He made 13 tackles and had two pass breakups as a freshman, starting four games and playing in nine. McClain flipped from Miami to Colorado in January 2023 after the Buffaloes hired Sanders.
“I want the best for him, man. I really do. I want that kid to soar,” Sanders said after McClain entered the transfer portal. “Sometimes you need to disconnect from something to reconnect to something else to restart you and re-energize you and stabilize you.”
McClain joins a Florida defense that struggled last season. Gators coach Billy Napier has added transfers to bolster the group, including former Alabama cornerback Jameer Grimsley, former Washington safety Asa Turner and former South Carolina linebacker Grayson Howard
Giants sign veteran catcher Curt Casali to 1-year deal
SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Giants signed veteran catcher Curt Casali to a one-year contract on Wednesday amid a growing number of injuries on their roster.
Starting catcher Patrick Bailey went back on the seven-day concussion injured list Tuesday after being activated three days earlier, and backup Tom Murphy was transferred to the 60-day IL on Wednesday with a sprained left knee.
Giants catcher Jakson Reetz was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento to make room for Casali on the active roster.
The 35-year-old Casali played for San Francisco from 2021-22 before getting traded to the Seattle Mariners.
“A lot of the things that you want from that position, he does very well,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “And I know our guys, especially the ones who have been around him before, are excited about him being here.”
Casali spent last season with the Cincinnati Reds, batting .175 in 40 games.
He signed a minor league deal with the Chicago Cubs in March and hit .362 with two home runs and 11 RBIs in 23 games with Triple-A Iowa.
In 10 major league seasons with the Rays, Reds, Giants and Mariners, Casali has a .220 batting average with 47 homers and 154 RBIs.
St. Thomas hockey to follow Arizona State into NCHC, as league expands to 10 teams
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The University of St. Thomas will join the National Collegiate Hockey Conference for the 2026-27 season as the 10th member, the men’s hockey league announced Wednesday.
The NCHC will formally add Arizona State this summer for the 2024-25 season, joining defending NCAA champion Denver, Colorado College, Omaha, North Dakota, Minnesota Duluth, St. Cloud State, Miami of Ohio and Western Michigan. The NCHC began play in the 2013-14 season amid a major shuffle of conference alignments in college sports and has accounted for six national titles in its 11 seasons.
St. Thomas, which is located in St. Paul, Minnesota, moved its entire athletic program from Division III to Division I in 2021 and has played its first three seasons in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. The Tommies will continue in the CCHA for two more years before moving to the NCHC. After going 3-32-1 in their Division I debut, they tied for second place in the CCHA in 2023-24 and went 15-202 overall.
St. Thomas is scheduled to open a new 4,000-seat arena on campus next year. The women’s team plays in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.
Brazilian soccer league suspended for 2 rounds amid floods in the country’s south
RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil’s soccer confederation has suspended the next two rounds of its national league because of massive floods in the country’s south.
The move Wednesday came after a request for a halt from 15 of the 20 clubs in the top-flight division.
The Rio Grande do Sul state remains under water. Porto Alegre-based rivals Gremio and Internacional, and countryside club Juventude are all in the Brazilian first division.
Authorities say at least 149 people have died because of the floods and another 108 are missing. More than 620,000 people have been displaced.
If conditions allow in Brazil’s south, the league will resume in the ninth round on June 1. The seventh and eighth rounds will be rescheduled.
“We cannot forget that sport and society walk hand in hand, and cannot separate in such a difficult moment for the Brazilian people,” the country’s soccer body said in a statement. It added the suspension of matches of the top-flight division until May 27 does not apply to other competitions.
Brazil sports minister André Fufuca requested the same move on Friday, extending it to all nationwide tournaments, for men, women and under-20s. The Brazilian soccer body had already agreed to suspend for 20 days all soccer activity in the southern state, which borders Uruguay and Argentina.
South American soccer body CONMEBOL also suspended two club matches in the region.