Sports

Jon Rahm arrived at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, on Tuesday with a second major championship victory and a new green jacket. The new Masters champion admits it’s going to be difficult to refocus after a marathon week at Augusta National Golf Club. That’s life in the new era of designated events on the PGA

12:45 PM ET Two of the biggest personalities in combat sports will clash this summer. YouTuber-turned-prizefighter Jake Paul and ex-UFC bad boy Nate Diaz will compete in a boxing match Aug. 5 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, officials told ESPN on Wednesday. The bout will be contested at 185 pounds and is contracted for

1:18 PM ET Associated Press MONACO — Top-ranked Novak Djokovic looked rusty as he started his clay-court season with a 7-6 (5), 6-2 win against qualifier Ivan Gakhov at the Monte Carlo Masters on Tuesday. The two-time Monte Carlo champion had not played since losing to Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals of the Dubai Championships

7:00 AM ET NBA insiders The regular season has come to an end, but there are still key seedings being fought for ahead of the 2023 NBA playoffs. The play-in tournament is in its third year and will feature perhaps the most high-stakes matchups in its existence. Editor’s Picks 2 Related In the Eastern Conference,

6:15 AM ET Simultaneously, Bijan Robinson is both one of the least controversial and most controversial prospects in the 2023 NFL draft. After a sterling career at Texas, just about everybody agrees Robinson is an excellent running back and one of the best players, independent of position, in this class. He ranks No. 9 overall

6:15 AM ET EVERY SO OFTEN, North Dakota State offensive tackle Cody Mauch will hear from Kendrick Lenzen, his childhood friend and former grade school teammate, via FaceTime. “He’ll be like, ‘Hey, give me a smile,'” Mauch said. “It’s like he’s admiring his work.” Lenzen is responsible for what might become the most recognizable gap-tooth

10:15 AM ET Mark Schlabach Close Mark Schlabach ESPN Senior Writer Senior college football writer Author of seven books on college football Graduate of the University of Georgia Paolo Uggetti AUGUSTA, Ga. — The 87th edition of the Masters delivered all of the storylines we wanted to see at Augusta National Golf Club this past

9:15 PM ET ESPN staff The Boston Bruins set an NHL record for wins with their 63rd victory of the season Sunday against the Philadelphia Flyers. With two games remaining, the Bruins need just one more point to tie the record for most points in a season (132 by the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens) and two

6:41 PM ET Associated Press ARCADIA, Calif. — Practical Move held off Japan’s Mandarin Hero by a nose to win the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on Saturday, solidifying his status as a top contender in next month’s Kentucky Derby. Ridden by Ramon Vazquez, Practical Move ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.69. Sent off as the

1:52 PM ET Cody Ware will not compete in Sunday night’s NASCAR Cup Series dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway because of a personal matter, his team announced. Matt Crafton will replace Ware behind the wheel of the No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford Mustang for the Food City Dirt Race. Ware, 27, is currently

9:03 AM ET ESPN’s lead Bundesliga commentator Derek Rae says there are significant question marks hovering over both Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in the title race after ignominious DFB-Pokal exits in midweek. The Pokal in Germany is not, as with cup competitions in many other countries, a trifling inconvenience. Invariably the latter stages feature

8:36 AM ET Have you heard? Baseball is having a bit of a moment. Top stories of the week from Get exclusive access to thousands of premium articles a year from top writers.• The LeBron-Danny Ainge connection »• NHL Awards Watch: Who’s leading? »• Top draft needs for all 32 NFL teams » More ESPN+

9:24 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim There is no such thing as being down to your last chance in mixed martial arts. Just about everyone in the sport loses at some point, and even a multifight skid doesn’t necessarily deposit you at the end of the road. Unlike in boxing, where the zero in the “L”

9:50 PM BST Liam Napier It used to be an area with an embarrassment of riches for New Zealand, with powerful, dashing wings, dominant throughout Super Rugby. But with less than six months until Rugby World Cup and with the news of Sevu Reece’s year ending injury, Ian Foster’s cupboard is looking, if not exactly

AUGUSTA, Ga. — AS RORY MCILROY started his pre-Masters news conference on Tuesday, he glanced to the side at a video board, which featured a photo of him triumphantly raising his arms after he chipped in from a bunker on the 72nd hole of the 2022 tournament. It was the final shot of McIlroy’s latest

7:53 AM ET Nick Parkinson Close •Reports on boxing for ESPN.co.uk, as well as several national newspapers•Has been reporting on British boxing for over 15 years•Appears on BoxNation’s Boxing Matters show Anthony Joshua is unlikely to regain the aura and dominance of his first reign as heavyweight world champion, but don’t rule him out of

1:06 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN PHILADELPHIA — After watching Joel Embiid dismantle the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night, Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers was certain of only one thing. “We did so many things wrong,” Rivers said, “but what we did right was Joel Embiid. “The MVP race is over.” There are still five days

6:34 AM ET Rafael Nadal will miss next week’s Monte Carlo Masters tournament having failed to recover in time from an injury that has sidelined him for months, he said Tuesday, shortly before top-10 players Carlos Alcaraz and Felix Auger-Aliassime also pulled out of the tournament.. Nadal was forced to skip the Masters 1000 event

11:25 AM ET Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter is declining visits with any teams selecting outside the top 10 in this month’s NFL draft, agent Drew Rosenhaus told ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Carter is scheduled to visit the Chicago Bears, who will pick ninth, on Monday. It will be his second visit after previously visiting the

7:00 AM ET The final memory seared into our brains from last season was No. 1 Georgia’s resounding, relentless, insert-your-ugly-adjective 65-7 beatdown of No. 3 TCU in the national championship game. It was the largest win by a team in any bowl game in major college football history. The Bulldogs finished 15-0 in 2022. They