3:48 PM ET HOUSTON — The Houston Texans have fined multiple players who attended the grand opening of quarterback Deshaun Watson‘s new restaurant franchise, sources told ESPN. Watson, a minority owner of the cheesesteak franchise Lefty’s, hosted the grand opening on Dec. 15. Despite the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols prohibiting more than three players from gathering,
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3:15 PM ET Paul Pierce, Doug Collins, Michael Cooper and Lauren Jackson headline the group of first-time nominees for the 2021 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class, announced Tuesday on ESPN’s The Jump. Also joining the first-time group is Howard Garfinkel, Lou Henson, Val Ackerman and Yolanda Griffith, to go with popular returning candidates
3:23 PM ET LOS ANGELES — When ABC announcer Mike Breen called the closing seconds of the Los Angeles Lakers‘ NBA Finals-clinching victory in October, he proclaimed, “Banner No. 17 will soon hang in the rafters.” He was right about the hanging part. What Breen didn’t know was that when the Lakers open up the
2:38 PM ET South Carolina will not play in the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl on Saturday against UAB because of COVID-19 issues, the school announced Tuesday. There has yet to be a decision on the status of the game. “Between members of the coaching staff and student-athletes, COVID and contact tracing has taken a
2:35 PM ET The Philadelphia Phillies are expected to name Sam Fuld as their general manager, ESPN has confirmed. The promotion would be the latest in a front-office overhaul for the Phillies, who reassigned former GM Matt Klentak in October and named Dave Dombrowski their new president of baseball operations earlier this month. Fuld, 39,
3:43 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons said he isn’t worried about his name coming up in trade rumors involving Houston Rockets star James Harden. “No,” Simmons said after Tuesday’s practice. “I come in every day, take it a day at a time, ready to work. I’m with my teammates. … Every
12:20 PM ET Associated Press ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Next year’s football game between service-academy rivals Air Force and Navy has been moved to Sept. 11 in recognition of the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the academies announced Tuesday. The game was originally scheduled for Oct. 2. “We will use this nationally televised opportunity
1:28 PM ET PITTSBURGH — After another opponent cited JuJu Smith-Schuster‘s pregame dances on their logos as motivation, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said he would have a conversation with his wide receiver. “I am aware of it,” Tomlin said Tuesday. “And I do plan to talk to JuJu. But we’re professionals. I doubt any of
1:50 PM ET LSU offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger is expected to retire, a source told ESPN on Tuesday. The news comes amid an overhaul of the coaching staff under head coach Ed Orgeron. Passing game coordinator Scott Linehan is not expected to return next season, according to a source. On Monday, LSU announced that defensive
2:25 PM ET The New York Mets have avoided salary arbitration with Noah Syndergaard, agreeing to a one-year deal worth $9.7 million, sources confirm to ESPN. The deal was first reported Tuesday by USA Today Sports. Syndergaard, 28 missed the coronavirus-shortened 2020 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery on his pitching elbow last March. The
1:57 PM ET TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady got some good news Tuesday — he’ll have starting left tackle Donovan Smith back this week against the Detroit Lions. Smith was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list last week, not due to a positive test, but because he was notified that a family
1:09 PM ET Ten days after collapsing during a game, Florida star Keyontae Johnson is being released from the hospital. “Today is a great day! Keyontae is being released from the hospital. We continue to be amazed at the pace of his recovery and look forward to spending Christmas together as a family,” Johnson’s family
1:18 PM ET The Washington Football Team settled a sexual misconduct allegation regarding owner Dan Snyder with a former employee in 2009, according to multiple reports. The New York Times reported this weekend that there was a settlement; the Washington Post received a copy of the agreement and said it was for $1.6 million. The
1:11 PM ET Florida has been placed on one-year probation and coach Dan Mullen has been given a one-year show-cause order after the NCAA determined that the program violated recruiting contact rules on two occasions in 2019. Mullen was found to have failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance and will be banned from all
Team Ineos rider Luke Rowe has revealed on social media that he has tested positive for Covid-19. The 30-year-old Welshman took to Twitter to announce the positive test for coronavirus. He stated: “Covid got me! See ya in 2021 ladies and gents.” Rowe has been a Tour de France stalwart for Ineos in recent years,
11:53 AM ET The Washington Football Team said it was aware of pictures on social media showing quarterback Dwayne Haskins at a strip club Sunday night while not wearing a mask, but will handle the issue internally. Haskins tweeted an apology for his actions and said he spoke with coach Ron Rivera Monday and “took
12:45 PM GMT Concussions accounted for 20% of injuries suffered by rugby players in the English Premiership’s 2018-19 season and were the most common injury in matches for an eighth straight season, a Rugby Football Union (RFU) study has said. While the 2002-03 season had 42 concussions recorded in total, that number has since gone
9:22 AM ET The Los Angeles Lakers will tip off their season as the consensus favorites to win a second straight NBA championship. And the betting public is on board. More money has been bet on the Lakers to win the title than has been bet on every other team combined at William Hill sportsbooks.