The Thunder's anonymous dominance, plus a NASCAR controversy

New York Times

2 days ago

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Good morning! Gather some assets today.
For years, the NBA had an inside joke of sorts about Sam Presti. The Thunder general manager was always building, always hoarding assets, always making the smart move — but what was it all for? Kevin Durant, Paul George, Russell Westbrook. Superstars all out the door with no rings to show.
Now, a ring sits four wins away after Oklahoma City thundered past the Timberwolves in a decisive 124-94 Game 5 win at home last night. Consider this arc:
Not so suddenly, the Thunder are both the NBA's best team and the clear favorite entering next week's finals. They are terrifying to play against. BetMGM has them -750 to win it all.
OKC isn't flashy, either, and I'd wager this might be our most anonymous elite team/MVP pairing in recent memory.
More eyes than ever will be on the Thunder next Thursday when they face the winner of Indiana-New York in Game 1 of the finals. I can't wait.
We have two more clinch possibilities tonight. Onward:
Vrabel addresses Diggs video
If you have logged on to any slice of sports social media in the last 24 hours, you've seen the video of new Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs on a boat partying, handing women a bag of an unknown pink substance. New England coach Mike Vrabel acknowledged yesterday he had seen the video and emphasized he wants players to 'make great decisions on and off the field.' Diggs was not present at OTAs yesterday. More on this developing story here.
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France scraps NASCAR plan after backlash
Jim France, NASCAR's co-owner and CEO, was close to a deal that would've funded a car in an upcoming Cup Series race before intense backlash led him to step away. According to an exclusive report from The Athletic, France scrapped the deal after our reporters started asking around about the arrangement, which would present pretty obvious ethical hurdles. Owning a series and a team/car is not wholly unheard of — see the Penske dynasty/debacle in IndyCar — but France's proposed involvement here still made people quite angry. Read the full report here.
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In the sports world, there will always be phenoms. Young, shooting stars that take our breath away before making us say, 'Wait, how old?' LeBron James posed on the cover of Sports Illustrated at 16. Tiger Woods won the U.S. Amateur at 15.
Lamine Yamal is different.
Pol Ballús, our excellent Barca reporter, has the inside story of how the club signed Yamal to such a remarkable deal. It's worth a read this morning.
And try to catch this kid on TV soon if you can.
📺 NBA: Pacers at Knicks
8 p.m. ET on TNT/Max
Do-or-die for the best Knicks season in 25 years. Indiana can book its first finals trip of this century. The atmosphere should be buzzy. This is why we watch sports.
📺 NHL: Oilers at Stars
8 p.m. ET on ESPN
Copy and paste from above. The road team can clinch a trip to the Stanley Cup Final. The home team plays for its season in front of a home crowd. Fun night.
Get tickets to games like these here.
Mike Sando picked his favorite offseason moves for each NFL team. Hooray for a QB retiring.
Also, Dane Brugler revisited his 2025 NFL Draft top 50 rankings. See the hits and misses here.
🎥 The 'No Dunks' guys ranked Tyrese Haliburton's flawless Game 4 among the best playoff performances so far. Watch it here.
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The Pirates don't want to trade Paul Skenes but … they'd have to consider these five packages.
Women's golf has a new star in 16-year-old Asterisk Talley, as Brody Miller writes. The sport is wrestling with how to protect her.
Great guest spot: Matt Antonelli was a first-round MLB bust. He gave us five lessons he learned.
Sam Blum bought a ticket to attend a Sacramento A's home game as a fan, and it doesn't sound like anyone is happy there.
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Antonio Morales' ranking of every five-star QB in the recruiting era.
Most-read on the website yesterday: Our latest 2025 NHL Mock Draft.
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