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Gus Williams, an eyeblink-quick guard known for his volume scoring and electric on-court style who in 1979 helped the Seattle SuperSonics win their only National Basketball Association championship, died on Wednesday. He was 71.His death was announced in a statement by the University of Southern California, his alma mater. The university did not cite a cause or say where he died but noted that Williams had a stroke five years ago.Known for his springy, improvisational play and relentless drive, Williams, a two-time All-Star, was a standout, if an underrated one, during an 11-season career. That career included stints with the…
When Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty steps onto the court on Friday night, she will not have a thunderous crowd of 19,000 fans behind her, as she often does when she tips off at Barclays Center.Instead, she will be playing in front of just 850 fans on a soundstage near Miami.But organizers of Unrivaled, a new 3-on-3 women’s basketball league, are banking that thousands more will tune in from home, drawn by a condensed format, some of the best players in the world and a made-for-TV approach that aims to bring viewers close to the action.“The content piece…
Bill Belichick grew up around college football. As a child, he tagged along as his father, Steve, went about his duties as an assistant coach at the United States Naval Academy.But his own five-decade coaching career never took him back to the college game until recently. And in that time, and especially in the past few years, the sport has changed tremendously.There are now name, image and likeness, or N.I.L., rules that allow players to be paid directly, sometimes to the tune of millions of dollars. Players can use the transfer portal an unlimited number of times, which has led…
Bill McCartney, a football coach who in the 1980s took the University of Colorado from perennial losers to national champions, but who later left behind his $350,000 annual salary to refashion his locker-room message about prayer and sacrifice into a sprawling men’s evangelical movement, died on Friday in Boulder, Colo. He was 84.The cause was complications of dementia, his family announced in a statement released by the university.As the founder of the Promise Keepers, a men-only Christian group based in Denver, Mr. McCartney reached his greatest influence in 1997, when an event he staged in Washington drew an estimated half-million…
Coming off a 2024 season of major breakthroughs — from 27-year-old Taylor Fritz cracking the top five to 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva breaking into the top 20 — the big question for 2025 is whether these rising stars can reach the most prestigious winners’ circles.The catch, of course, is that Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have won the last 10 men’s Grand Slams, the last three ATP Finals and half of the Masters 1000 titles in the last two years, while Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff have captured eight of the last 11 women’s Slams, the last…
John Newcombe never planned to play the 1975 Australian Open.At 30 years old, Newcombe was nearing retirement. He had played his home country’s major tournament almost every year since 1960, winning the championship in 1973 and reaching three other semifinals. He had also won Wimbledon three times and the U.S. Championships twice, as well as 16 Grand Slam doubles titles (he would add one more in 1976).This year’s Australian Open, which begins on Sunday in Melbourne, marks the 50th anniversary of one of the most important matches of Newcombe’s career.Newcombe was at home in Sydney when, in mid-December 1974, less…
For all the milestone moments Alex de Minaur has had over his nearly 10-year pro tennis career, including nine ATP singles titles, there is one victory that stands out.It was the opening round of the 2017 Australian Open in de Minaur’s first main draw at his first major championship in his home country, when the then-17-year-old saved a match point in the fourth set before beating Gerald Melzer in five sets and almost four hours.“I remember everything about that match,” said de Minaur during a phone interview shortly after he arrived in Sydney, Australia, his hometown, late last month to…
A Senate committee discussed the potential for federal regulation of sports gambling during a nearly two-hour hearing on Tuesday that focused on how the industry’s widespread legalization across the United States was affecting athletes, the general public and the integrity of amateur and professional sports.Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois and chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said sports betting had become a public health issue since a Supreme Court decision in 2018 overturned a federal law that had effectively banned the practice outside Nevada. Sports betting is now legal in 38 states and the District of Columbia, with…
Dick Van Arsdale, a three-time All-Star who, with his brother, Tom, was half of the first set of identical twins to play in the N.B.A. after starring and confusing opponents and teammates alike in high school and at Indiana University, died on Monday at his home in Phoenix. He was 81.Tom Van Arsdale said the cause was heart and kidney failure.While the Van Arsdales had remarkably similar statistical careers, Dick was considered the slightly better player, if only by the measure of superior pro teams. He played for the New York Knicks and the Phoenix Suns during 12 N.B.A. seasons,…
Winning streaks — illustrious and quirky — defined professional golf for the best male and female players in 2024. They came amid pressure on the business models of both the men’s and women’s professional tours.The PGA Tour continues to struggle with how it’s going to make its tournaments more attractive to sponsors (who are asked to pay more in prize money) and fans who have been tuning out the weekly tournaments. It’s been over two years since its first star players joined LIV Golf and a year since the PGA Tour and its commissioner, Jay Monahan, announced a tentative agreement…