Sports

7:54 AM ET Shawn Porter is in a story-telling mood. And at first, this one has nothing to do with boxing. When Shawn Porter was around 10 years old, he was playing running back in a football game as his father, Kenny, coached on the sideline. On one play, a defender leveled Shawn, knocking him

6:43 PM ET Associated Press GUADALAJARA, Mexico — Garbine Muguruza dominated Paula Badosa in a 6-3, 6-3 victory on Tuesday and will play against Anett Kontaveit for the WTA Finals title. Eighth-seeded Kontaveit beat Maria Sakkari 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 to advance, ensuring two first-time finalists at the women’s season-ending championship Kontaveit lost to Muguruza in

12:04 PM ET There’s growing optimism that Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James — who has been out two weeks with an abdominal strain — could make his return against the Boston Celtics on Friday, sources told ESPN. James has been making good progress, and Friday’s meeting with the Celtics (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) looms

7:40 AM ET In addition to being a fine golfer who is expected to contend for more major titles as well as challenge for the No. 1 ranking, Justin Thomas has provided an excellent public service by giving some optimistic yet cautious updates on the status of Tiger Woods, his friend and neighbor. The latest

1:15 PM ET ASHBURN, Va. — The Washington Football Team received the news it feared: defensive end Chase Young will miss the rest of the season. Washington coach Ron Rivera made the announcement during his Monday video conference call, confirming what had been reported by multiple outlets Sunday. Rivera said Sunday night that it was

7:00 AM ET ESPN staff We are now 11 weeks into the college football season, and only three undefeated teams remain: Georgia, Cincinnati and UTSA. Just as we all predicted at the beginning of the year. Saturday saw Michigan rally past Penn State, Oklahoma have its bid for perfection end at the hands of Baylor,

9:22 PM ET ESPN staff The 2022 World Cup qualifying match between the United States and Mexico was not short on storylines heading in Friday’s duel. The United States entered the match on an 18-game unbeaten streak (16-0-2 W-L-D) on home soil, with its last such loss coming against Mexico on Sept. 6, 2019. That

7:00 AM ET Max Scherzer. Clayton Kershaw. Kevin Gausman. There’s no shortage of pitching talent available in 2021-22 MLB free agency, and championships will be made or broken based on what moves are taken. Buster Olney, Jesse Rogers, Bradford Doolittle and Alden Gonzalez are here to break down what’s at stake in the starting pitching

11:32 AM GMT England have made three changes ahead of Australia on Saturday with Owen Farrell returning to the side, Marcus Smith starting at fly-half and Manu Tuilagi shifting to the wing. Farrell captains the side from inside centre, while Tuilagi replaces Adam Radwan on the wing and Smith comes in for George Furbank at

2:55 PM ET The UFC has added a welterweight matchup between Stephen Thompson and Belal Muhammad to its event on Dec. 18 in Las Vegas, both fighters confirmed on Thursday. The 170-pound contest will take place on the final UFC Fight Night event of 2021. Thompson confirmed the news to ESPN and Muhammad confirmed it

2:00 PM ET Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. — All samples collected from horses competing in the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar have tested clear. The Kenneth L. Maddy Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory at UC Davis announced the results Thursday. All horses competing in the world championships last weekend were tested for total carbon dioxide levels

9:48 AM ET Associated Press The nascent Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority on Thursday released a draft of proposed anti-doping and medication control rules designed to bring uniformity to a sport that has operated for years under patchwork regulations in 38 racing states. Since July, HISA has been working with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to

9:00 AM ET When the Buffalo Sabres finally traded Jack Eichel to the Vegas Golden Knights last week, it didn’t just mark the end of the NHL’s most contentious standoff — it marked the end of an era. The Sabres literally ruined themselves for the chance to draft Jack Eichel in 2015. (Or Connor McDavid

7:50 AM ET Katie Taylor, Claressa Shields and Amanda Serrano continue to lead the way in the ESPN women’s pound-for-pound rankings. But Mikaela Mayer gained some ground and solidified her spot in the top 5 with a dominant unanimous decision victory over Maiva Hamadouche to unify the WBO and IBF junior lightweight world titles. In

6:15 AM ET World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev has indicated he will play at the Australian Open in January as speculation continues to swirl around the availability of champion Novak Djokovic. Medvedev, beaten by Djokovic for the title in February, tweeted a photo of himself holding the runner-up trophy at Melbourne Park with the caption:

9:59 PM ET Denver Nuggets star and reigning MVP Nikola Jokic has been suspended for one game without pay for forcefully pushing Miami Heat forward Markieff Morris in the back on Monday night. The Nuggets will not have their franchise center against Indiana on Wednesday Markieff Morris was also fined $50,000 for his flagrant two

2:27 AM ET PITTSBURGH — Bears linebacker Cassius Marsh accused official Tony Corrente of “hip-checking” him moments before Corrente flagged Marsh for taunting in the fourth quarter of Chicago’s 29-27 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night. “On my way to the sideline, I got hip-checked by the ref. It’s pretty clear,” Marsh said

7:21 AM ET Justin Thomas pointed to the positives after his third-place finish at World Wide Technologies Championship, a tournament where he was in contention through three rounds but could not close the gap on Sunday and finished 5 shots behind winner Viktor Hovland. That has — save for the Players Championship — been the

7:05 PM ET LINCOLN, Neb. — Scott Frost has not won enough games at Nebraska. He knows that. Athletic director Trev Alberts knows that. Everybody in Nebraska knows that. While a 15-27 record in four years would be enough to get a coach fired at nearly any big-time program in America, Nebraska prides itself on

10:18 PM ET NHL games can be incredibly entertaining, but let’s be honest: They do require an investment of time. If your wager requires you to wait around until the final score, you can push three hours of investment if the thing goes to a shootout. That’s why wagers made on the first period of