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🚨 Headlines
🏀 NBA moves: The Celtics are trading Kristaps Porziņģis to the Hawks in a three-team deal with the Nets; the Pelicans are sending CJ McCollum to the Wizards; Kyrie Irving is signing a new three-year, $119 million deal to stay in Dallas.
⚽️ 8 teams left: Canada, Guatemala, Panama and Honduras clinched spots in the Gold Cup knockouts on the final day of the group stage, joining the U.S., Costa Rica, Mexico and Saudi Arabia in the quarterfinals.
🏒 Class of 2025: Seven-time All-Star Zdeno Chára, Russian trailblazer Alexander Mogilny and 2006 MVP Joe Thornton headline the Hockey Hall of Fame’s eight-member class of 2025.
🏀 WNBA valuations: Business is booming in the WNBA, where the average franchise is now worth $269 million — a 180% increase from last year, per Sportico. The Golden State Valkyries lead the way with a $500 million valuation.
🏈 Rodgers’ last dance? Aaron Rodgers suggested the upcoming season in Pittsburgh, his 21st in the NFL, will be his last. “I’m pretty sure this is it,” he said.
📆 The summer sports schedule
After eight months of nonstop action, the NBA and NHL seasons have come to a close. But fear not, dear sports fans: There’s a lot to look forward to this summer.
Stacked summer slate: Beginning with tonight’s NBA draft, there are more than two dozen major sporting events worthy of your attention between now and Labor Day.
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🏀 June 25-26: NBA Draft (Brooklyn)
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🏒 June 27-28: NHL Draft (Los Angeles)
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👊 June 28: UFC 317 (Las Vegas)
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🎾 June 30-July 13: The 138th Wimbledon Championships (London)
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⚽️ July 2-27: UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 (Final in Basel, Switzerland)
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🌭 July 4: Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest (Coney Island)
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🚴 July 5-27: The 112th Tour de France (Lille → Paris)
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⚽️ July 6: Gold Cup Final (Houston)
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⛳️ July 10-13: The Evian Championship (Évian-les-Bains, France)
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🏊 July 11-Aug. 3: World Aquatics Championships (Singapore)
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⚽️ July 13: Club World Cup Final (New Jersey)
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⚾️ July 13-14: MLB Draft (Atlanta)
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⚾️ July 15: MLB All-Star Game (Atlanta)
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⛳️ July 17-20: The 153rd Open Championship (Royal Portrush, Northern Ireland)
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🏀 July 19: WNBA All-Star Game (Indianapolis)
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👊 July 19: UFC 318 (New Orleans)
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⚽️ July 23: MLS All-Star Game (Austin)
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🏈 July 31: NFL Hall of Fame Game (Canton, OH)
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⛳️ July 31-Aug. 3: The Women’s Open (Royal Porthcawl, Wales)
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🎽 July 31-Aug. 3: USATF Outdoor Championships (Eugene, OR)
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👊 Aug. 16: UFC 319 (Chicago)
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⚾️ Aug. 17: MLB Little League Classic: Mets vs. Mariners (Williamsport, PA)
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⛳️ Aug. 21-24: PGA Tour Championship at East Lake (Atlanta)
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🏉 Aug. 22-Sept. 27: Women’s Rugby World Cup (England)
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🚴 Aug. 23-Sept. 14: The 80th Vuelta a España (Turin, Italy → Madrid, Spain)
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🎾 Aug. 24-Sept. 7: The 145th U.S. Open (New York)
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🏁 Aug. 31: NASCAR playoffs opener (Darlington, South Carolina)
Looking ahead: As soon as the end-of-summer blues begin kicking in, football makes its triumphant return. “Week 0” of the college football season actually begins on Aug. 23, and Week 1 kicks off on Labor Day Weekend (Aug. 29-Sept. 1). Then it’s the NFL’s turn, with the defending champion Eagles hosting the Cowboys on Sept. 4 in the season-opener.
⚽️ Santi Cazorla: Oviedo’s prodigal son
Real Oviedo is back in La Liga for the first time in 24 years thanks to the heroics of 40-year-old Santi Cazorla, easily the most important figure in the club’s 100-year history.
What they’re saying: “It’s been many years in the mud,” said Cazorla of his club’s long journey back to the top flight, which they never would have reached without his equalizer sparking their comeback in Saturday’s playoff final, or his goal earlier this month that kept their season alive.
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He belted Oviedo’s unofficial anthem during the postgame celebration, singing the bittersweet song of pain and yearning. “We can’t live like this, seeing our team suffer.”
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“Volveremos, volveremos, volveremos,” goes the song’s chorus. “We will return.” And now they have, just as he returned to the club he called home so long ago.
The prodigal son: In another life, this might have happened years ago. Cazorla grew up playing for Oviedo’s youth academy, destined for the senior team. But he was forced to leave in 2003 due to the club’s financial troubles, beginning a successful sojourn across European football.
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While his career flourished — a decade with Villarreal, five years with Arsenal, back-to-back European championships with Spain — Oviedo floundered, relegated all the way to the fourth division while a financial crisis nearly spelled their demise.
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But he and the club’s thousands of other supporters never let it die. For years, fans came in droves and pitched in with manual labor to keep the lights on; and in 2012, he helped drive the fundraising campaign that stopped his beloved team from slipping into administration.
The latest chapter: In 2023 — over a decade after saving his boyhood club and a full 20 years after he’d last worn their uniform — Cazorla returned on a league minimum contract and with a stipulation that 10% of his jersey sales go to the youth academy. “I’d play for free, but the regulations must be respected.”
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It had been five years since he returned from a devastating Achilles injury that nearly led to the loss of his leg. He was 38. He’d accomplished almost everything you can on a soccer field. Almost.
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Oviedo narrowly missed promotion last year, Cazorla’s first season back with the club, losing in the playoff final. This year, they finished the job; he finished the job.
Santi forever: Oviedo and its supporters have long celebrated major victories in Plaza América, but after Saturday’s momentous occasion, the town’s mayor decided it was time for a change: From now on, it will be known as Plaza Santi Cazorla.
⚾️ MLB power rankings
With the All-Star Game just a few weeks away, Yahoo Sports’ Jordan Shusterman digs into which players from each team should be heading to Atlanta in his latest power rankings.
Top 5:
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Dodgers: Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith and Yoshinobu Yamamoto look like locks. Will Mookie Betts or Teoscar Hernández join them?
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Phillies: Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner are the most deserving hitters, while Zack Wheeler and Christopher Sanchez should make it on the mound.
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Tigers: Tarik Skubal is a good bet to be the AL’s starting pitcher, and could be joined by a trio of hitters in Gleyber Torres, Riley Greene and Javier Báez.
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Yankees: Aaron Judge might make it. Max Fried and Carlos Rodón should, too. Will Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger or any other Bombers join them?
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Mets: Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso, Kodai Senga and Edwin Díaz look like shoo-ins. As for $765 million man Juan Soto, his recent hot streak should get him in.
🇺🇸 America in photos
Oklahoma City — “Don’t ever forget this,” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander told Thunder fans during the team’s championship parade. “Moments in life like this, they don’t come very often. … We love you guys.”
Cincinnati — Former No. 2 overall pick Chase Burns struck out the first five batters he faced in his highly-anticipated MLB debut against the Yankees, the team he grew up rooting for.
Nashville — Auckland City FC, the amateur New Zealand club whose entire roster has separate day jobs and who lost their first two Club World Cup games by a combined 16-0, played Boca Juniors (Argentina) to a 1-1 draw in their group stage finale despite being outshot 41-3. You love to see it.
📺 Watchlist: Wednesday, June 25
🏀 NBA Draft | 8pm ET, ESPN/ABC
The first round of the 2025 NBA Draft is tonight at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, where the only certainty is that Cooper Flagg is heading to Dallas with the first pick. Here’s our final ranking of the top 70 prospects.
⚾️ Pirates at Brewers | 2:10pm, MLB.TV (Free Game)
Today’s game in Milwaukee is all about the starting pitchers. Cy Young frontrunner Paul Skenes (4-6, 1.85 ERA) takes on rookie fireballer Jacob Misiorowski (2-0, 1.65 ERA), who’s allowed just one hit through his first 11 MLB innings while making hitters look silly.
More to watch:
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⚽️ Club World Cup: Inter Milan vs. River Plate (9pm, TNT) … Six of the eight teams in Groups E and F are still alive entering their group stage finale.
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⚾️ MLB: Yankees at Reds (7:10pm, Prime) … Max Fried (9-2, 2.05 ERA) vs. Brady Singer (7-5, 4.13 ERA).
🏀 NBA Draft trivia
Duke has produced a record five No. 1 NBA draft picks, and that number is expected to increase to six tonight.
Question: Can you name all five?
Hint: 1963, 1999, 2011, 2019, 2022
Answer at the bottom.
🏀 What to expect from your pick
What should you expect from the player your favorite NBA team drafts tonight?
By the numbers: The chart above shows the percentage of players from each draft slot (1980-2020 classes) that went on to become stars, starters, bench players or worse in their first four NBA seasons.
Trivia answer: Art Heyman, Elton Brand, Kyrie Irving, Zion Williamson, Paolo Banchero
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