BASKETBALL

At only 33 years old, Golden State Warriors Stephen Curry is now the best shooter to ever play in the NBA. On Tuesday night against the Knicks, Curry secured his place in history with his 2,974th 3-pointer, leaping over Ray Allen’s previous record. Allen was in attendance at the Garden to cheer on Curry and see his record eclipsed.

GYMNASTICS

USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee agreed to a $380 million settlement for failing to protect athletes from sexual predators such as those abused by Larry Nassar, the gymnast’s former team doctor. The settlement is one of the largest sex abuse settlements in history.

OLYMPICS

Many countries (including the U.S.) have announced diplomatic boycotts of the Beijing Winter Olympics, but South Korea has refused to join the other countries claiming they don’t want to jeopardize “their strategic ties to China.”

SOCCER

Nike signed UCLA women’s soccer star Reilyn Turner to its first-ever endorsement contract. The deal comes after NCAA recently changed the rules to allow student-athletes to profit from their names and likeness.

OLYMPICS

The U.S. won’t be sending any officials to the Olympic Games in China as a protest of human rights abuses. U.S. athletes will be able to compete, however.

HORSE RACING

Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit died from a heart attack after a workout at the Santa Anita racetrack. Medina Spirit, trained by Bob Buffett, tested positive for an anti-inflammatory drug after the Derby. The investigation has been ongoing, and the Derby winner was never disqualified.

FOOTBALL

The New England Patriots threw only three passes (due to 60 mph wind gusts) in their win over the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football. Patriots 14, Bills 10

The four finalists for the Heisman Trophy have been announced, with Alabama quarterback Bryce Young as the standout favorite to win. The other finalists are Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett, Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud, and Michigan defensive lineman Aidan Hutchinson. The winner will be announced Saturday evening at 8:00 pm. ET.

OLYMPICS

The Tokyo Paralympics begins on Tuesday and will last until September 5th. 4,537 athletes representing 163 nations will compete in 540 events, including badminton and taekwondo for the first time ever.

Ludwig Guttman, a Jewish neurologist who escaped Nazi Germany and settled in England in 1939, envisioned a competition for athletes who could benefit from sports as a way of rehabilitation. While working at Stoke Mandeville spinal injury center for soldiers, he hosted the first annual Stoke Mandeville Games in 1948. In 1960, the event was officially recognized as the first Paralympic Summer Games.

OLYMPICS WRAP UP

Thanks to the women, Team USA finished the Olympics with the most medals (113) and the most number of gold medals (39) barely edging out China (88 overall and 38 gold). A few highlights: Allyson Felix became the most decorated US track and field athlete in Olympic history (11 medals over 5 Olympics surpassing Carl Lewis), women’s basketball grabbed its 7th gold medal in a row, and men’s basketball won their 4th consecutive gold with Kevin Durant taking home his third gold medal.

The overall cost of the Olympics came in at $15.4 billion, making it the most expensive games in history.

FOOTBALL

Eight members of the 2021 Pro Football Hall of Fame class were inducted on Sunday. Quarterback Peyton Manning, enshrined in his first year of eligibility, gave a riveting speech about his father, the beauty of football, and joked about his rival turned friend Tom Brady (who was sitting in Manning’s personal section).

BASKETBALL

The Dallas Mavericks star Luka Dončić signed a five-year $207 million supermax rookie extension.

SOCCER

Lionel Messi, one of the best players in soccer history, will not be returning to his team Barcelona this year due to La Liga salary cap issues. The Club announced on its website,  “Despite FC Barcelona and Lionel Messi having reached an agreement and the clear intention of both parties to sign a new contract today, this cannot happen because of Spanish La Liga regulations on player registration.” Messi will now be a free agent.

OLYMPICS

Americans Alix Klineman and April Ross clinched a gold medal in women’s beach volleyball. The “A Team”, as they are known, defeated Australia in straight sets becoming the first American women to win gold since the 2012 duo of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings.

In women’s basketball, the U.S. will play for the gold against either Japan or France, and in men’s basketball the U.S. will play France for the gold.

BASKETBALL

After signing Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso to their roster, the Bulls again signaled they are gearing up for a big season by agreeing to sign DeMar DeRozan (from the San Antonio Spurs) to a 3-yr $85 million.

FOOTBALL

The former quarterback for the San Diego Chargers (16 years) and Indianapolis Colts (1 year) Philip Rivers (who is now a head coach at St. Michael Catholic High School in Alabama) is considering a comeback. At 39 years old, Rivers said, “I’m not quite there. I’m getting back there. I wouldn’t have made weight if I had to report last week, that’s for sure. But I am getting back into the lifting and running, and shoot, I occasionally throw a ball around out here in this heat. It’s not too hard to get a good lather going.”

In other NFL news, the first pre-season game is tonight featuring the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. the Dallas Cowboys.

OLYMPICS

The U.S. men’s basketball team defeated the Australians to gain a berth in the finals and a shot at the gold (facing either France or Slovenia).

U.S. Women’s soccer overcame a disappointing loss to Canada in the semifinal and beat Australia to claim a bronze medal.

NBA free agency is underway and some big deals have been announced. Kyle Lowry signed with the Miami Heat for three years ($90 million), Lonzo Ball signed a four year ($85 million) with the Chicago Bulls, while Evan Fournier signed a four year ($78 million) deal with the Knicks. Rounding out the night, a few stars signed big contract extensions to stay with their teams: Chris Paul (4 yrs $120M Phoenix), Jarrett Allen (5 yrs $100M Cleveland), Mike Conley (3 yrs $73M Utah), Stephen Curry (4 yrs $215M Golden State), Jimmy Butler (4 yrs $182M Miami), and Trae Young (5 yrs $207M Atlanta)

FOOTBALL

Seventy-year-old Coach Nick Saban will stay in Alabama through 2028 after signing a massive contract extension worth an average of $10.6 million per year.

BASKETBALL

The NBA Draft is over, and the top five players chosen were not a surprise. The Detroit Pistons took Cade Cunningham with the #1 pick, then the Rockets took Jalen Green, the Cavaliers grabbed Evan Mobley, the Raptors chose Scottie Barnes, and rounding out the top five, the Magic took Jalen Suggs.

In other NBA news, the Washington Wizards traded Russell Westbrook to the La Lakers along with second-round picks in 2024 and 2028. In return, the Wizards got Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell, and the #22 overall pick.

BASEBALL

There was a flurry of activity last week in baseball with major stars switching teams. Click here for a ranking of all the best and worst trades.  In one of the biggest moves, the LA Dodgers grabbed Max Scherzer and Trea Turner from the Washington Nationals.

OLYMPICS

For all the Olympic news, including Simone Biles deciding to compete in the balance beam finals, click here. Currently, China leads in gold medals with 28, while the US has 21. The US slightly edges out China in total medals however with 61 to 58.

In one of the most heart-warming Olympic moments, friends Mataz Barshim from Qatar and Gianmarco Tamberi from Italy decided to share the gold medal in the high jump instead of competing in a jump-off. When the Olympic official mentioned the jump-off, Barshim asked, “Can we have two golds?” When the official nodded, they both went wild celebrating.

OLYMPICS

According to reports, the Tokyo Olympics will cost approximately $28 billion, and with no spectators, revenues will take an automatic $1 billion hit from lost ticket sales.  To put the financials in perspective and to showcase what a financial loss Tokyo will likely endure, the 2008 Beijing Olympics cost $45 billion with revenues of only $3.6 billion.

HOCKEY

The Seattle Kraken is the NHL’s newest franchise. They held an expansion draft this week and tonight will have the second pick in the amateur draft.

BASKETBALL

LeBron James made history again by becoming the first NBA player to earn $1 billion in his career.

FOOTBALL

Fred Warner is now the highest-paid inside linebacker in NFL history after signing a five-year $95 million extension with the San Francisco 49ers.

In other NFL news, the League is coming down hard on unvaccinated individuals stating that “If a game can’t be played due to an outbreak among unvaccinated players/staff this upcoming season — and the NFL can’t find a suitable date to reschedule — the team responsible will forfeit and both teams will lose their game checks.”

OLYMPICS

The Games officially begin tomorrow, but the PR out of Tokyo continues to be a disaster. Just a day before the opening ceremony, the Director of the ceremony was recently fired after a video surfaced with him joking about the Holocaust.

And, in a lighter but also embarrassing mess, the Norwegian women’s beach handball team got fined $1,700 for wearing shorts instead of bikini bottoms with officials claiming they wore “improper clothing.” The Norwegian government called the requirement “sexist” and “ridiculous”.

In other Olympic news, the U.S. women’s gymnastics team (who will be the most-watched athletes at the Games) opted to stay in a hotel instead of the Olympic Village due to safety concerns for the coaches and athletes.

BASKETBALL

Fans went crazy seeing Giannis Antetokounmpo ordering 50 nuggets at Chick-fil-A on Wednesday morning, the same number as the number of points he scored in Game 6 of the NBA finals.

FOOTBALL

Tom Brady entertained the crowd and President Biden during his team’s Super Bowl celebratory appearance at the White House. In Brady’s speech, he joked that “Not a lot of people think that we could have won. In fact, I think about 40 percent of people still don’t think we won. Do you understand that Mr. President?” He then continued, “We had a game in Chicago where I forgot what down it was. I lost track of one down in 21 years of playing and they started calling me ‘Sleepy Tom.’ Why would they do that to me?”  Brady then got serious about wanting to win another Super Bowl with the team.