Latest news with #All-StarWeekend
NBC Sports
6 days ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Rumor: LeBron James likely to opt into $52.6 million with Lakers, play at least one more season
The Lakers still need LeBron James if they plan to contend next season. The path to a Luka Doncic-centric future can be seen, but this current roster isn't a threat to be playing in late May and June next season without LeBron, who is coming off an All-NBA season in which he averaged 24.4 points, 8.2 assists, and 7.8 rebounds per game. All that in his 22nd NBA season at age 40. While he and his agent say no decision has been made about next season, the league-wide expectation is that LeBron will be back with the Lakers. Shams Charania of ESPN went a step further on the 'The Pat McAfee Show' saying he expects LeBron to opt into his $52.6 million contract for next season. 'I'm told he's likely to opt in. He's got a player option of about $54 million, a massive player option. That's likely. That's the plan. But again, his option date is June 29. So he still has about a month to figure it out. He still has to have some hard conversations that are gonna happen between him and the Lakers to see what this team looks like. Because listen, LeBron James, whether he plays one more season or a few more seasons, he wants to be in a competitive environment. And I said it when I came on when their season ended, he's probably gonna opt in because the option is so big and then that gives you flexibility to figure out, do you extend off that number, or this is the final year if this is the last hurrah essentially. Year 23 for No. 23, they have All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles. So to me, it's very storybook if that's the way it goes. But, that's a decision that he's gotta make.' The most likely scenario is that LeBron opts in and receives a one- or two-year extension off that deal, all of which are player options. The Lakers will give him whatever he wants. When it comes to stepping away from the game, LeBron is not going to pull a Tim Duncan and retire in a July press release. LeBron is going to make sure his fans know and get a chance to see him one last time. It will be a celebration during his final season. As Charania noted, there is a symmetry to him retiring after next season — 23 seasons, the All-Star Game in Los Angeles — but he's still playing at a top-10 level in the league, so there is no pressure on him to step away. Whatever LeBron decides, we will find out by the end of June, and then Rob Pelinka and the Lakers front office can go about finding a defensive-minded, vertical-spacing center and some wing depth to give this team a chance.
USA Today
7 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Shams: LeBron James likely to opt in to player option for next season
Shams: LeBron James likely to opt in to player option for next season LeBron James has a big decision to make over the next month or so. He has a player option for next season that he can either play on or turn down in order to sign a new contract. Just about everyone expects him to be back this fall for his 23rd NBA season. But whether James opts in or opts out of that player option will have ramifications for the Los Angeles Lakers, mostly when it comes to their salary cap situation. ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania went on "The Pat McAfee Show" and said he's been told the superstar is likely to opt in to that player option. 'I'm told he's likely to opt in. He's got a player option of about $54 million, a massive player option. That's likely. That's the plan. But again, his option date is June 29. So he still has about a month to figure it out. He still has to have some hard conversations that are gonna happen between him and the Lakers to see what this team looks like. Because listen, LeBron James, whether he plays one more season or a few more seasons, he wants to be in a competitive environment. And I said it when I came on when their season ended, he's probably gonna opt in because the option is so big and then that gives you flexibility to figure out, do you extend off that number, or this is the final year if this is the last hurrah essentially. Year 23 for No. 23, they have All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles. So to me, it's very storybook if that's the way it goes. But, that's a decision that he's gotta make.' After the Lakers were knocked out of the NBA playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves, James was asked how much longer he will play, and he said he couldn't give an answer. One has to figure that no matter how much longer he wants to remain in the league, he will let it be known beforehand when his final season will be, as one has to expect that he will want some sort of farewell tour.
Time of India
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Time of India
'Must see basketball' — Giannis Antetokounmpo pushes for 2026 NBA All-Star Game to feature Team USA vs World in epic new format
Giannis Antetokounmpo. Image via: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images Giannis Antetokounmpo may have missed the 2025 All-Star Weekend due to injury, but he has been vocal about the future of the NBA's midseason show. The Milwaukee Bucks star lit up social media with a bold vision for reviving the struggling All-Star Game, and it was highly anticipated: Team USA vs. Team World. And with the league desperately seeking ways to inject life into its marquee exhibition, this might be the spark it needs. Giannis Antetokounmpo backs USA vs. World NBA All-Star format Giannis Antetokounmpo is looking to get in the NBA All-Star games for 2026, but with the twist that many NBA fans are rooting for. Certainly, Team USA vs. Team World has been the talk of the town for a long time. Responding to a fan on X, Antetokounmpo shared that the 2026 All-Star should have Team USA competing against Team World. 'This should be next year All Star Game format!! Must see basketball,' Giannis posted on X. He replied to a fan who attached a graphic that showed two superstar lineups — an elite American five squaring off against a dominant international squad. For years, fans and league officials alike have lamented the All-Star Game's steady decline. Flashy but lifeless, the event has lacked urgency, effort, and authenticity. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Trade Bitcoin & Ethereum – No Wallet Needed! IC Markets Start Now Undo Now, Giannis is offering something more than just another format tweak — he's offering stakes. The hypothetical matchup he shared was electric and will potentially be an instand fan favorite. LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, and Jayson Tatum are suiting up for Team USA against a world-class international five of Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Victor Wembanyama— the game will be what fans have been asking for all along. Also Read: Sydel Curry-Lee revealed Seth Curry's hilarious Instagram story with her husband Damion Lee This isn't a new idea. The NBA experimented with a USA vs. World theme in past Rising Stars games, and the NHL saw huge success with its 2025 4 Nations Face-Off. That tournament, featuring national squads from the U.S., Canada, Sweden, and Finland, reignited fan interest and drew emotional buy-in from players, even if it came with heightened injury risk. Canada's overtime win against Team USA was as thrilling as it was symbolic of what All-Star events could be when players genuinely care. Get IPL 2025 match schedules , squads , points table , and live scores for CSK , MI , RCB , KKR , SRH , LSG , DC , GT , PBKS , and RR . Check the latest IPL Orange Cap and Purple Cap standings.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Kyle Larson's peak is highest in today's NASCAR; how does it stack up all-time?
In the week leading up to the 2025 All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro, it was fitting that NASCAR's star of stars delivered a performance worthy of the title. Not only did Kyle Larson win his third race of the season at Sunday's AdventHealth 400 in Kansas City, but he also barely gave the field a chance — starting on pole, sweeping both stages, and leading 221 of a possible 267 laps (82.8 percent). His reward: a 149.7 Driver Rating, just a fraction shy of the perfect 150.0 mark outlined in the official rating formula. Advertisement (In football terms, Larson came up just short of a perfect 158.3 passer rating — a feat we see only once or twice per NFL season, if that often.) RELATED: All-Star Weekend schedule | Paint Scheme Preview: North Wilkesboro For Larson, it was his second near-perfect performance in the span of just four races, joining the 149.6 he posted at Bristol. And that was on the heels of a 149.7 at Bristol last fall and a literal 150.0 at the Charlotte Roval in the 2024 playoffs. At this point, it's clear: Larson is the one active driver who can roll into any track on any weekend and utterly destroy the field through the sheer force of perfection (or at least near-perfection). So just how much more likely is Larson to unleash one of these super-dominant performances than a typical driver? Let's compare the frequency at which Larson has posted a Driver Rating within various ranges over his career to the overall Cup Series average since the stat became available in 2005: As we can see, Larson posts an above-average Driver Rating far more often than the typical driver. (He's also much less likely to have a bad day than the average driver.) And while most of his competition hovers near the middle of the distribution — the 'Cup average' sweet spot is around a 70.0 rating — Larson's distribution skews heavily toward the extreme right tail of the chart. Advertisement He's logged a rating of 140 or higher in 5.6 percent of his career races, making him 6.8 times more likely than the average driver to turn in that kind of dominant day. Narrow it further to ratings of 145 or higher, and Larson does that in 2.9 percent of his races — 6.9 times the Cup average. KYLE LARSON: Driver page That's still not exactly a routine occurrence, as it can sometimes seem when Larson is on one of these red-hot streaks. But it is as close to a common sight as this kind of thing can get — at least among current-era drivers. If we go back to 2005, the earliest season when we have data on Driver Rating, Larson has the best frequency of 140+ rated races (5.6 percent), and only Jimmie Johnson (at 3.4 percent) was more likely to have a 145+ rating in any given race than Larson at 2.9 percent. Only Kevin Harvick — at 4.7 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively — was all that close to Larson and Johnson in those categories of dominance: So if Johnson is Larson's only current-era peer, what about previous eras? Advertisement We don't have Driver Ratings for seasons before 2005, but we do know what goes into the Driver Rating formula. Given that, we can use what data we do have for each pre-2005 race, plus a technique called Logistic Regression, to estimate the odds that a driver posted a rating of 140 or higher in any historical race since the modern era began in 1972. (Specifically, we'll use data points like whether or not a driver won the race, their share of laps led, their starting grid position and where they finished the race — all of which are strong predictors of Driver Rating for the years where we do have data.) Suppose we apply this to all Cup Series races from 1972-2004. In that case, we find that only six drivers are estimated to have a higher share of races with a rating of 140+ than Larson's career 5.6 percent rate: Mark Donohue (16.6 percent), Cale Yarborough (14.5), David Pearson (12.2), Jeff Gordon (7.6), Bobby Allison (7.0) and Dale Earnhardt Sr. (6.4): Donohue is a unique case, an early road-course ringer who only ran six modern-era Cup races. He won one of them — the 1973 season opener at Riverside — leading 72 percent of the laps and dominating the field. The logistic model gives him a 99.6 percent chance of posting a 140+ Driver Rating in that lone victory, which came just two years before Donohue tragically died following a crash in Formula 1. Advertisement Beyond Donohue, the remaining five drivers on the list are a who's-who of NASCAR royalty — led by Cale Yarborough, with a staggering 14.5 percent estimated frequency of 140+ rated performances. (That's more than 2.5 times Larson's rate in modern cars.) Known for his utter dominance during the 1970s, Yarborough even had a couple of wins where he led every lap, so it's not implausible that he might have rattled off a near-perfect Driver Rating that often as well. It was a different sport back then — one where Yarborough once averaged a record-low finish of 4.5 over a full season, providing another verifiable benchmark of domination from the Hall of Fame legend. With that in mind, it's a bit surprising to see Richard Petty fall below Larson on this list. The King's name is synonymous with dominating the NASCAR record book, but the model estimates a lower share of 140+ rated races than Larson. In part, that's because he led fewer laps per win on average (43.3 percent) than peers like Yarborough (54.8 percent), and in part it's because Petty's unusually long career — which stretched until age 54 in 1992 — likely diluted his peak stats as well. Anyway, all of this helps add even more context to just how dominant Larson has been, particularly in recent seasons. He may not win the title every year, but when he's on, nobody buries the field quite like the driver of the No. 5 car. As we saw at Kansas, Larson can make a 267-lap race feel like a breezy Sunday drive. And while a few all-time legends may have reached similar heights more often in their primes, nobody in this current era has a higher ceiling — or hits it more often — than Larson does.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Chase Elliott Message to Fans Sparks Unexpected Backlash
Chase Elliott has won the NASCAR Cup Series Most Popular Driver Award for seven consecutive years. Naturally, he is regularly used to promote the sport. On Sunday before the All-Star Race, the Hendrick Motorsports driver, who drove his Prime-sponsored No. 9 car last week at Kansas Speedway and will do so again for this weekend's race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, took to social media to promote the upcoming switch to Prime for the next five races. Advertisement 'Hey, what's up guys,' Elliott began. 'It's All-Star Weekend this weekend, but just wanted to give you a quick reminder, next week NASCAR is coming to Prime on May 25, the Coca-Cola 600. I'm super excited. One of NASCAR's biggest races of the season. A great way to kick off NASCAR on Prime and can't wait to see ya there. We'll see y'all soon.' Chase Elliott looks on at North Wilkesboro many fans weren't pleased with the message and let the driver know about it. 'Nope don't pay for it, good luck but I'll wait till you all are back on 'free,' one fan said, including a thumbs down emoji. 'I don't think nascar realizes how many people would watch if they could but can't,' said another. Advertisement 'I don't have @amazon prime and won't be watching the @NASCAR races,' another fan wrote. 'It's a shame @NASCAR has decided to intentionally keep many of their fans away. Good luck @chaseelliott !!! 'Not paying for @amazon just to watch @NASCAR,' another fan responded. 'Hope you run well and win, but I won't be watching.' 'Sorry will be boycotting the race do to it being streamed. SCREW NASCAR !!!' a frustrated fan replied. Before next week's race at Charlotte Motor Speedway and the move to Prime, the 29-year-old will compete in the All-Star Race. Coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET on FS1. Related: Chase Elliott Explodes After Driver's Unexpected Move at Martinsville Related: Chase Elliott Admits He and Other Drivers Looked Like a Bunch of Clowns at Talladega
