Sports Illustrated

WHEN LOSING looked inevitable in the final minutes, many of the people who had made Coleman Coliseum a cauldron of noise during the biggest college basketball game in Alabama state history started filing out in bulk. And with 47.2 seconds left, here came the jarringly loud insult to injury: “It’s great! To be! An Auburn Tiger!” A surprising number of visiting fans had infiltrated enemy territory, paying steep prices on the secondary market to do so, and they were loud and proud at the end. This Auburn sass triggered one Crimson Tide backer sitting in the section behind one of the baskets seemingly more than the basketball itself. He raised his hands to his mouth and booed in response with a trembling fury. Moments later, after the 94–85 Tigers’ triumph in Tuscaloosa went…

JAYLEN BROWN had thought he established position. But, then, LeBron James came thundering down the lane. Brown left his spot ever so slightly to challenge the King. The Celtics’ guard and the Lakers’ forward made contact. James endured it and scored. Trying, perhaps, to sell a charging call that never came, Brown went hurtling beyond the basket, nearly ending up in the crowd. The prospect of a 6'6", 225-pound athlete landing in their laps caused the folks in my row to flinch, some even reflexively holding up a hand to stop any contact. Which was not necessary. We were seated 10 miles southwest of Crypto.com Arena, where the actual game was taking place. On a Thursday night earlier this year, I joined a thousand or so jersey-wearing, beer-drinking, ref-haranguing Lakers fans at Cosm.…

ATHLETES HAVE never been more protective of their images or more in control of them. So any time a player shows up on screen, one can’t help but think that whatever they’re saying is, if not scripted, then at least generally planned. That said, if Kevin Durant’s talking-head segment at the end of Episode 2 of Netflix’s new six-part series about the 2024 Olympic men’s basketball tournament, Court of Gold, isn’t genuine, then the big man is a pretty amazing actor. What begins as a simple explanation of why he’s interacting with random fans on social media ends with him being moved to tears as he explains that “The game has saved my life.” He continues: “I come from neighborhoods where people don’t even talk to each other. So much hate in…

JUST OVER a year out from the 2026 FIFA World Cup, AC Milan’s Christian Pulisic is playing the best soccer of his life. The midfielder is shining bright in Italy’s topflight league, Serie A, following up a career-best 12-goal season last year with six goals in his first 21 games this season. And no player has assisted more goals in Serie A since Pulisic’s transfer from Chelsea in July 2023. “I’m very free when I’m on the pitch now, and confident,” Pulisic says. “I think that’s one of the best things that you can have as an attacking player.” That’s even more important when one has undergone as much change in as short a period of time as Pulisic has. AC Milan is his third European club since 2019, when he left…

THE EAGLES won the Super Bowl because of a superior running game, along with one of the most improved defenses in the NFL. But according to some industry experts—like my mother-in-law, Theresa Cucciniello—the Eagles also dominated for one important reason: They are more Italian than any other team in the NFL. No offense to Tommy DeVito and the Giants, but recent (sauce-covered) breadcrumbs supporting the theory have been impossible to ignore. On an episode of Chris Long’s Green Light podcast in January, former Philadelphia defensive tackle Beau Allen related a story about how he once went to see center Jason Kelce in the staff locker room and was placated during his wait by a cannoli. Vic Fangio, already famously quoted for refusing to provide his significant other with his family meatball recipe, was asked…

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