Sources - Batum opts out; interest in return to Clippers - ESPN
LA Clippers forward Nicolas Batum is declining his $4.9 million player option for the 2025-26 season to become a free agent, sources told ESPN on Saturday.
Ohtani uncorks career-best 101.7 mph fastball in third start - ESPN
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Shohei Ohtani threw the fastest pitch of his career at 101.7 mph and worked two efficient innings in his third mound start for the Los Angeles Dodgers, allowing one hit and one walk against the Kansas City Royals on Saturday.
Harrington, NBC's Maltbie caught in tiff at U.S. Senior Open - ESPN
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A video of Padraig Harrington arguing with NBC on-course reporter Roger Maltbie for not helping him look for a lost ball during his opening round is generating buzz at the U.S. Senior Open.
'Sky's the limit' for new-look Spurs, Dylan Harper says - ESPN
SAN ANTONIO — As fans gathered outside the Victory Capital Performance Center in the sweltering heat Saturday for the «Spurs Family Cookout,» No. 2 pick Dylan Harper delivered a message for the team's faithful longing for San Antonio to end its six-year playoff drought.
Simon Wang becomes highest-drafted NHL player born in China - ESPN
LOS ANGELES — Simon Wang was proud to become the highest-drafted player born in China when the San Jose Sharks selected him Saturday with the first pick of the second round of the NHL draft. The big defenseman is also confident he won't hold that distinction for long.
Dave Parker, 2-time World Series champ, 7-time All-Star, dies - ESPN
PITTSBURGH — Dave Parker, a hard-hitting outfielder who was set to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame next month, has died, the Pittsburgh Pirates announced Saturday. He was 74.
Pirates great and World Series champion Dave Parker dies, team announces
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Nigerian Dambe boxing goes global — amulets and charms included
ABUJA: The first strikes in Dambe are thrown before the boxers even leave their house. Fighters don charms and amulets, dye their fist or even score their arm with a razor, inserting traditional medicine before it scars over — all guaranteed to protect them in the ring or deliver a knock-out punch. Combined with prayers from “mallams,” or spiritual guides, they are unstoppable — not just in Nigeria, but increasingly around the world. The Dambe World Series kicked off in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, on Saturday in the latest evolution of a sport that traces its roots back centuries among west Africa’s Hausa speakers. “Instead of trying to Westernize it, or instead of trying to make it something else, for us the goal is to professionalize it,” said Maxwell Kalu, founder of the West African Fighting Championship, the group organizing the tournament. At the same time, a key goal is also “opening the door in terms of inviting people to compete in Nigeria.” Held on the ground of the national stadium and broadcast by DAZN, a British sports streaming service, the tournament is a far cry from the social tradition said to have been organized by 10th-century Hausa butchers. “This one is big, I’m very happy,” said Abdullahi “Coronavirus” Ali, a 20-year-old who has been fighting since he was a child. “The audience is growing every day.” As Coronavirus — nicknamed for his ferocious punches — spoke to AFP, two amateur fighters worked the ring behind him, in a pre-tournament exhibition match in Dei Dei, a working-class Abuja exurb. Chickens pecked under the rickety wooden stands while cigarette smoke wafted above the crowd. In Dambe, in lieu of a glove, the fighters each have one fist tightly bound in rope — their striking arm.