CNN – Sports

By Ben Morse and Issy Ronald, CNN Yes, you read the headline correctly. NBA superstar LeBron James is once again expanding his sports portfolio — this time into the US’ new favorite pastime. James is part of a consortium which is buying an expansion franchise in Major League Pickleball (MLP) as the competition grows from

By Homero De la Fuente, CNN Former Everton and Russian national team soccer player Diniyar Bilyaletdinov received a summons from Russia’s military registration and enlistment office, his father, Rinat Bilyaletdinov, told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. “Diniyar really received a summons. It’s hard to talk about emotions, because he didn’t serve, although he did

By Jacob Lev, CNN Qatar World Cup organizers disputed Denmark kit manufacturer Hummel’s claims of human rights violations in the host country following the unveiling of the Danish kits the country will wear at this year’s tournament. On Wednesday, Hummel revealed “toned down” kits that Denmark will wear during the men’s World Cup. Hummel says

By Ben Morse, Wayne Sterling and David Close, CNN The Tampa Bay Buccaneers practiced for the first time in Miami on Wednesday having relocated to south Florida as Hurricane Ian made landfall. The team moved their football operations to Miami this week because of the impact Ian could have. It made landfall along the southwestern

By Don Riddell and George Ramsay, CNN It was a moment in time — as brief as half a second — that captured the intensity of the relationship and rivalry between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Poised on the side of the court with her camera at the ready, photographer Ella Ling expected Federer’s farewell

By Amir Vera and Jacob Lev, CNN New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge hit his 61st home run Wednesday, tying Roger Maris’ single-season American League home run record set in 1961. Judge crushed the record-tying home run in the seventh inning off Toronto Blue Jays’ Tim Mayza, sending it over the wall at Rogers Centre.

By John Sinnott and Alex Stambaugh, CNN The body of Hilaree Nelson was found Wednesday and taken to a forensic laboratory in Kathmandu for an autopsy after the renowned US ski mountaineer died during an expedition in Nepal, according to Sachindra Kumar Yadav, an official with the tourism department. The 49-year-old American, who has enjoyed

By Alasdair Howorth, CNN Brazil’s impressive end to its World Cup preparation was overshadowed by racist abuse as forward Richarlison had a banana thrown at him by a fan during the 5-1 victory over Tunisia in Paris on Tuesday. The Tottenham Hotspur star scored Brazil’s second goal but as he celebrated a banana was thrown

By Ben Morse, CNN It’s the story that has rocked chess and shown no sign of abating. The cheating scandal which has engulfed the sport, involving five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen, is all anyone is talking about. On Monday, Carlsen explicitly accused fellow grandmaster and rival Hans Niemann of cheating for the first time in

By George Ramsay, CNN Two basketball players from Mali have apologized for fighting in the mixed zone following the team’s 81-68 defeat against Serbia at the Women’s World Cup. The incident between Salimatou Kourouma and Kamite Elisabeth Dabou took place on Monday after Mali’s fourth-straight defeat at the tournament in Sydney, Australia, and footage of

By Ben Church, CNN Dutch cyclist Mathieu van der Poel will appeal a court conviction for assaulting two teenage girls in a Sydney hotel on Saturday, according to his lawyer. Van der Poel pleaded guilty on Monday to two counts of common assault, and was convicted and fined $AUS 1,500 ($967), according to his lawyer.

By Alasdair Howorth, CNN Italy joined The Netherlands and Croatia in the Nations League final four with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Hungary, while England and Germany shared the spoils at Wembley in a 3-3 draw that will leave both sides frustrated with their performances ahead of the World Cup. Italy needed to win in

By Matias Grez, CNN The players and coaching staff of the Phoenix Suns have been responding to the independent investigation into embattled owner Robert Sarver at the NBA’s media day, with the findings being described as “disturbing.” The NBA suspended Sarver for a year and fined him $10 million as a result of the investigation,

By George Ramsay, CNN In preparation for the potential impact of Hurricane Ian, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are relocating their football operations to Miami-Dade County, Florida. Early Tuesday morning, Hurricane Ian became a Category 3 storm as it neared landfall in western Cuba on its way toward Florida. It quickly strengthened on Monday and will