The crowd inside Xfinity Mobile Arena for Philly is Unrivaled already was high-energy. Then Marina Mabrey brought the house down with an Unrivaled-record 47 points in the second game of the doubleheader.
The Belmar, N.J., native plays in Connecticut and has no real connection to Philadelphia, but the crowd went crazy for every three-pointer like she was one of their own.
“I brought my Jersey to Philly, and I hope that you guys enjoyed it,” Mabrey said. “Thank you for welcoming me with open arms.”
Friday’s Unrivaled doubleheader at Xfinity Mobile Arena was the first time the three-on-three league had left its Miami-area home. Unlike the WNBA or NBA, the teams are not tied to a specific city or region. That makes the league a fascinating “social experiment,” TV analyst Renee Montgomery said.
Unrivaled is driven by fans’ love for players and for the game, Rose BC’s Lexie Hull said. A number of the 21,490 fans in the building came in repping their favorite players across the women’s basketball world, with plenty of love for superstar Paige Bueckers and Philly locals Natasha Cloud and Kahleah Copper, or in T-shirts declaring that “Everyone Watches Women’s Sports” or that “Philly is a Women’s Sports Town.”
“Philly is a basketball city,” Montgomery said. “… I think there’s certain cities that lean in and they don’t just halfway do anything, and I feel like Philly is that type of city. They see that Unrivaled chose this place to be the first one, and Philly’s like, ‘Bet, let’s show out.’ That’s what it felt like to me.”
The neutral crowds make Unrivaled a different environment in the pro sports landscape, but neutral didn’t mean there was any less passion.
“One thing I know about Philly is, it’s really passionate about its sports, good and bad, through and through, the City of Brotherly Love,” Bueckers said. “You feel that, and we felt that tonight, just how passionate they were and are about women’s basketball.”
Philadelphia has never been home to a WNBA franchise, and was home to an American Basketball League franchise for just two years before the team folded in 1998. But with an expansion franchise set to come to Philadelphia in 2030, Unrivaled’s sold-out crowd at Xfinity Mobile Arena was just a taste of Philly’s appetite for women’s professional basketball.
Hull said she hoped to see Unrivaled continue to thrive in that niche, serving markets like Philadelphia that don’t have WNBA franchises yet. Unrivaled’s Philly tour stop set the record for most fans at a regular-season professional women’s basketball game, and a building record for Xfinity Mobile Arena.
“With the growth of the sport, there’s just so many people that want to see it live and don’t have the opportunity to fly to a [WNBA] city and watch a game during the season,” Hull said. “This gives them the opportunity to get to watch and grow the game, so it’s awesome.”
Sixers Kyle Lowry, Andre Drummond, Trendon Watford, and Dominick Barlow, and New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu were among the basketball stars in the building.
But of course, one of the most excited fans in the building was South Carolina head coach and local basketball legend Dawn Staley. For Phantom BC’s Aliyah Boston, who played for Staley in college, it was an amazing surprise to see Staley courtside again.
“I was shocked, when I came out, one of our assistants was like, ‘See Coach Staley?’” And I was like, ‘What? What?’ Saw her right over there, gave her a hug.”
Boston said that the two still have a “special relationship,” and she had to go up to Staley at halftime to ask for feedback on her game.
After playing for Staley, Boston said she had an idea of what to expect of playing in Philly, and the intensity and toughness needed for the tight game matched her expectations.
“The biggest thing for her was just that mindset,” Boston said. “She talked about her upbringing and that grind in Philly, and that’s the approach that she wants us to take on the court. Just have that dog mentality. Being able to hear that for four years just continued to shape me into who I am as a player today.”
Friday’s event was a huge head start in showing the players just how good of a women’s basketball market Philly can be. With the record-setting, energetic crowd, the conversation now turns to how to keep the momentum going until the WNBA franchise establishes itself in 2030.
Unrivaled players were excited about the prospect of adding new tour stops and continuing to travel in the seasons to come, and Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell confirmed Friday that the league plans to do more road trips next year.
Could Philly be on that list a second time?
Breeze BC’s Kate Martin, who played for the Golden State Valkyries in their inaugural season last year, shared the advice she’d give to anyone playing for a Philly expansion franchise, after the Valkyries quickly became the most-attended team in the WNBA in their first year.
“When you start to build that sense of community, that people feel more like they have a relationship with you, they want to come, they want to support,” Martin said. “Making the atmosphere fun, making people feel welcome, making people feel excited about basketball.”
Kate Martin, who plays for the Breeze and the WNBA’s Golden State Valkyries, knows a thing or two about building a fan base.
Here are five things to know about the man who will be calling plays for the Birds next year:
He was a quarterback at Oregon State
Mannion played for the Beavers from 2011 to 2014, and still holds 18 Oregon State records, including most passing yards, passing touchdowns, and most completions in school history. He held the record for career passing yards in the Pac-12 with 13,600, until Washington State quarterback Luke Falk passed him in 2017.
After graduating, Mannion was drafted by the Rams in the third round of the 2015 NFL draft.
Sean Mannion played against the Packers before he was a member of their staff.
He’s played in the NFL
Mannion spent nine seasons with three NFL organizations: the Rams, Vikings and Seahawks.
He was a career backup, appearing in 14 NFL games, starting three of them, and throwing for 573 yards with one career touchdown pass (to K.J. Osborn) and three interceptions.
.@KJ_Osborn made sure Sean Mannion got his first TD ball 💜
Following the 2023 season, Mannion retired from playing and secured an interview to join the Bears’ coaching staff. He reached out to Matt LaFleur, who had coached him while he was a player, to ask him for advice on his interview.
“I jumped on a Zoom call with him in the second half and he showed me what he was going to present, and I told him, ‘Wow, that’s pretty good. I think you should come up to Green Bay right when you’re done with that interview,’” LaFleur told ESPN. “And I’m surprised that they let him out of the building. They tried to get him, but I guess we had more to offer. But we’re lucky to have him. I really do think this guy’s going to have a bright future for us and certainly in the coaching profession.”
Mannion was promoted to quarterbacks coach in 2025. Now, in 2026, he’ll be a first-time play-caller at age 33.
Sean Mannion was part of a staff that made consecutive playoff appearances in Green Bay.
His dad also coaches
Mannion’s father, John Mannion, is a longtime high school football coach. He has coached at Mountainside High School in Beaverton, Ore., since 2017, and in 2023 he was honored by the American Football Coaches Association with the Power of Influence Award.
John told ESPN that a 7-year-old Sean came along on a scouting trip to another school, and spent the entire game taking his own notes on a yellow notepad. When he was hired by the Packers, John, who’d kept the notepad ever since, gave it back to him as a gift.
He’s following Andy Reid’s path
The last time the Eagles hired the quarterbacks coach from Green Bay, that man was Andy Reid, who was head coach of the Eagles from 1999-2012. If it worked once…
There were the usual favorites on both sides of the ball — as well as a few new faces — and a grizzled veteran that fans can’t seem to agree on.
Eagles fans want pending free agent linebacker Jaelan Phillips back next season, but they're split over veteran Brandon Graham, who came out of retirement last year.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
The Eagles have long-since been eliminated from Super Bowl contention, after their wild-card round loss to the San Francisco 49ers. But the conversations around what went wrong with the Birds last year are ongoing, as the team continues to search for a new offensive coordinator and prepares for what’s sure to be a busy offseason.
We asked you, our readers, which Eagles you want to see stay or leave the team for next season. Here’s what we found — and how some of those results compared to what beat writer Jeff McLane expects the team to do …
The Eagles’ All-Pro cornerback duo, Quinyon Mitchell (96.4%) and Cooper DeJean (96.1%), graded out the best of any Birds players. But they weren’t alone. Jordan Davis (96.1%) tied DeJean after a breakout year.
The best defense
It’s not just those two. Overall, 19 Eagles earned over 90% stay votes in this year’s poll, despite the early playoff exit — 12 of those players were on defense or special teams, including Zack Baun (95.8%), Jalyx Hunt (95.3%), and more.
On the offensive
There were fewer on offense — seven in total — who received at least 90% stay, including four offensive linemen: Lane Johnson (91.8%), Jordan Mailata (95.9%), Landon Dickerson (93.6%), and Cam Jurgens (91.2%).
Hurts remains popular
Quarterback Jalen Hurts (85.7%), however, was not one of them. That doesn’t mean he’s unpopular — he finished just a few percentage points shy of his Super Bowl MVP season (89.5%), and is not going anywhere.
Brown takes a hit
That’s nothing compared to the dip A.J. Brown (62.3%) saw. The wide receiver came in at 88.8% stay following last year’s Super Bowl run. But after a season wrought with controversy, where Brown looked like he may have taken a step back, fans have soured a bit on Brown.
Tight ends on the move?
Backup tight end Grant Calcaterra (36.8%) fell over 55 points from last season — down from 92.3% stay after 2024 — but fans still love Dallas Goedert (79.4%). However, Jeff McLane thinks both pending free agents will be wearing different colors next year.
Love ’em or hate ’em
Overall, the results on the offensive side paint an interesting picture, with no one player landing in the middle 20%, between 40-60% stay. Fans know what they want.
Special requests
That includes the team’s specialists. An overwhelming majority want punter Braden Mann (94.2%) back next season. The same can’t be said for veteran kicker Jake Elliott (23.2%), who saw the biggest year-over-year drop. McLane thinks the team will agree.
A difference of opinion
Franchise legend Brandon Graham (40.6%) un-retired midway through the 2025 season, and he said after the season that he felt he still had more in the tank. He was one of the most polarizing players in the poll, with a slight majority voting for him to go.
The kids are all right
Howie Roseman also had a good year, according to fans. The Eagles’ rookie class, headlined by Jihaad Campbell (95.6%) and Drew Mukuba (90.3%), graded out well after its first NFL season.
The new guys
The Birds traded for Jaelan Phillips (81.4%) at the trade deadline. While the move didn’t ultimately lead the Eagles to the Super Bowl, the pending free agent quickly became a fan favorite. Running back Tank Bigsby (94.7%) graded even better — and higher than Barkley.
Check out the full results
We’re done breaking it down for you. Let’s put the numbers directly at your fingertips — simply hover over or click on a player on the chart to see not only what percentage of stay votes they received, but also what McLane thinks will happen.
So what does the future hold for these players? The NFL’s new league year begins on March 11 — that’s when teams are permitted to execute trades and begin signing new players. Stay tuned.
Allen Iverson is being criticized for an allegedly disrespectful visit with a children’s cancer charity in Australia, after a viral Reddit post called out the former Sixer for “absolutely disgusting” conduct at the hospital.
Challenge, a Melbourne-based charity supporting children with cancer, has hosted NBA players such as Shaquille O’Neal, Cameron Johnson, Josh Giddey, Seth Curry, and Carmelo Anthony for visits in the past.
Challenge chief executive officer David Rogers told The Inquirer in a statement on Tuesday that Iverson spent almost two hours engaging with media, executives, and high-profile sports figures, but “in stark contrast,” described the Hall of Famer’s conduct with the children and families as “unacceptable.”
Iverson was set to do a 45-minute meet-and-greet with children and families supported by Challenge. Iverson was more than 90 minutes late, and according to the Reddit post, decided not to sign anything or speak to anyone, adding that his security said he was “having a bad day.”
“My little brother who is 12 years old and is currently receiving chemotherapy for ALCL lymphoma, was so excited to meet one of his idols,” the Reddit post reads. “He came out to be extremely disgusted and disappointed in Allen Iversons[’] [behavior], and so were the other [families].”
Iverson took one group photo and then ended the visit. The poster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Challenge was deeply disappointed with the meet and greet involving Allen Iverson,” Rogers said in the statement. “There was nothing further we could have done as an organization to improve the experience and, despite working diligently on the day to manage a challenging and at times disrespectful approach from his management team, we believe Allen Iverson ultimately let down the children and families who came to meet him.”
Iverson and his management team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The incident was one of a number of reportedly bad events on Iverson’s recent tour of Australia. Former NBL player Chris Anstey posted on Instagram that Iverson skipped a scheduled free guest-speaking experience with CreativeCubes.Co in Melbourne, canceling two hours after the event was set to begin.
Another former NBL player, Jason Cadee, said on a podcast that Iverson was invited to HoopsFest in Perth, and he spoke for just a few minutes on stage before skipping his scheduled meet-and-greet.
“Iverson comes across and he speaks,” Cadee said. “He walks in the room and he speaks, he spoke pretty well for about seven minutes or eight minutes, gives the mic up and just leaves, that’s it. Apparently there was supposed to be photos, supposed to be some time to mingle, [but he was] out. That was it.”
After the Flyers’ successful road trip out west, the team returned to Philly, only to be kept off the ice for the next two days, thanks in part to the weekend’s snowstorm.
The team didn’t practice Saturday and canceled practice Sunday, so Monday’s morning skate marked the first time the team had been on the ice since Friday’s 7-3 win over Colorado.
The Flyers this season are 9-10-4 following a win, which coach Rick Tocchet described as “not that great.” The challenge of coming back after a win is mental, not physical, he said, and doubly so with the time off.
“If you’re off for two days, first of all, what are you doing on the days off?” Tocchet said. “First of all, you’re resting your legs, which is great. Are you doing something? I’m sure some guys did something to move around, not lay on a couch, but there’s a mental game. You should use these two days as actually a rest. You should have a lot of legs instead of the opposite, rusty.”
Although some of the guys may have spent their Sundays shoveling snow in their driveways, which Tocchet approved.
“You get the squats in there, I mean, why not?” Tocchet joked. “I don’t want them doing it for four hours or something, but yeah, why not? I think a lot of people were out there shoveling yesterday.”
Tocchet said Monday’s divisional matchup with the New York Islanders (7 p.m., NBCSP), who are currently third in the Metro, is a “maturity game” for the group.
After earning five of a possible six points on the road trip, the Flyers hope they can maintain that level of play during the upcoming stretch, when they play three teams in the Islanders, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Boston Bruins that they could be competing with for a playoff spot come April.
“I think we just needed a reset,” Travis Konecny said. He pointed to Colorado, the league’s top team, losing six of its last nine before Sunday’s win over Toronto. “Every team goes through a little streak, and we just had a little reset and got back to it.”
Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar is getting close to returning from his lower-body injury. He has not played since Jan. 14.
The schedule has not been friendly to the Flyers so far this year in terms of getting in more practice time, Tocchet said, and there won’t be many opportunities before the Olympic break (Feb. 6-24) to get back on the ice for practice, with the upcoming back-to-back on Wednesday and Thursday, and the Flyers’ charity carnival on Sunday.
The young Flyers roster is improving in the mental aspect of the game, but the weeks to come will be a test of how much progress the group has made.
“Every team’s got to go through it, and you’ve got to be ready for it, and that’s mental reps, when you don’t go on the ice, being ready,” Tocchet said.
Dan Vladař was on the ice for morning skate. The goalie hasn’t played since Jan. 14 against Buffalo, and is on injured reserve with a lower-body injury. Tocchet said he is likely to make a start this week. … Rasmus Ristolainen was also on the ice for skate and is expected to return to the lineup against the Islanders after missing six games with an upper-body injury.
After ripping off two wins to start the year over the New York Knicks, the Sixers lost their first game against them on Saturday, 112-109.
Despite the close score, the Sixers ultimately let the game slip away in the third quarter, going from up four at halftime to down 13 by the end of the quarter. It was the Sixers’ lowest scoring quarter since a 12-point fourth quarter against the Bulls on Jan. 2, 2024.
“I thought our physicality defensively was there,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “We started getting it up into the basketball and made it a little bit harder for them to try to make plays and/or move freely.”
Key to that defensive transformation in the third was backup center Mitchell Robinson, whom Brown anointed as the defensive player of the game. With Karl-Anthony Towns already in foul trouble, Robinson entered the game early in the third and immediately started making an impact.
Robinson was +14 in his 27 minutes, grabbing six offensive rebounds. The Knicks secured 19 offensive rebounds compared to just six for the Sixers, and turned them into 26 points.
He played a key role in keeping Joel Embiid, who’d dominated the first half with 28 points, off the scoresheet in the third.
Mitchell Robinson (left) proved to be a thorn in Joel Embiid and the Sixers’ side for most of the game on Saturday.
“I know he got it going early on, and you know he’s an All-Star player,” Robinson said postgame. “What you do with a guy like that is, he‘s going to come out there and fight, you make some adjustments in the [offensive] zone, show your hands. He draws a lot of fouls, so you know you have to be careful.”
Brown also praised guard OG Anunoby’s defense on Embiid down the stretch. Embiid scored just 10 points in the second half, going 3-for-9 from the field.
Anunoby said the key to grappling with Embiid was his lower-body strength, to maintain leverage going for the ball.
“Try to steal the ball, we always try to steal the ball,” Anunoby said. “We try to make it as difficult as possible. He’s a great player, so just trying to make him as uncomfortable as possible.”
“Just fight him, and then if he turns and someone flashes to the middle, know that they’re trying to go over the top,” Anunoby continued. “Just communication on the backside.”
These two teams met one another in a first-round playoff series just two years ago, and with both teams back in the top 8 of the Eastern Conference standings, they could be on track to meet one another again in the playoffs later this year.
Knicks forward OG Anunoby passes the basketball from the floor past Sixers forward Dominick Barlow (right) and guard VJ Edgecombe during the second quarter on Saturday.
So far, the season series is 2-1 in Philadelphia’s favor. But Saturday’s matchup was the first this year with both teams mostly healthy. Embiid and Deuce McBride missed the first matchup, and Josh Hart missed the second.
Despite their successful halftime adjustments, the Knicks know that both teams will need to execute better down the stretch to win a playoff series.
“I mean, we played well, but our execution last couple minutes, I don’t know if we deserved to win the game,” Hart said. “I don’t know if they deserved to win the game either. We could have just tied, honestly, at that point, all the miscues that we did.”
Laila Edwards, the first Black player to make the U.S. women’s Olympic hockey team, could become one of the breakout stars of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina, Italy.
She’s also from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, the hometown of Jason and Travis Kelce. The brothers experimented with hockey growing up before committing to football, and they remain fans of the game.
In November 2023, when Edwards first made the women’s national team, they gave her a shout-out on New Heights.
“I thought, ‘I’ll just message them thanking them, they’ll never see it,’” Edwards told People. “And then Travis and I had a full conversation over DM, and that was super cool. He was a really down-to-earth, humble guy who was super supportive and had really good things to say. They shouted me out again recently for making the Olympic team.”
Their support didn’t end there. Edwards told People that Travis made a large donation to her family’s GoFundMe page, which has raised over $50,000 to help her family fly to Milan to support her and the U.S. women’s national team.
Kylie Kelce will be on-site in Milan, after NBC named her as part of its Creator Collective. Jason and Kylie attended the Paris Olympics, and supported field hockey, volleyball, and women’s rugby. This time, Edwards hopes to see them at some of her games.
“Travis was saying that Jason and Kylie are big fans of mine, and I’m hoping to meet them all in Italy,” Edwards said.
Jason and Travis Kelce did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Jackie Endsley has been named director of the PGA Championship ahead of the tournament in May at Aronimink Golf Club, the PGA of America announced Wednesday.
Endsley has worked for the PGA for nine years and served as the championship director for six major PGA championships, including the 2020 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, which also was at Aronimink.
On Friday, Ryan Ogle announced on social media that he would step down as tournament director, a role he held for a year and a half.
“We are especially excited for Jackie to lead our talented on-site team and continue the fantastic momentum surrounding the 2026 PGA Championship,” said David Charles, senior director of championships for the PGA of America.
“This championship has received exceptional support from the club, as well as from local business and community leaders, putting our planning efforts in a great place for a successful week in May. Jackie’s extensive experience in leading major championships, along with her familiarity with Aronimink, strong organizational skills, and commitment to excellence, will be instrumental as we prepare to stage the 108th PGA Championship.”
The PGA Championship will be held from May 14-17 at Aronimink in Newtown Square, and is the first major men’s PGA Championship in the area since the U.S. Open was at Merion Golf Club in 2013. The Philadelphia Cricket Club hosted the Truist Championship, a sold-out signature event, in May.
“Returning to Aronimink and joining this outstanding team at such a pivotal moment is an incredible opportunity,” Endsley said. “The 2026 PGA Championship is poised to be truly special thanks to the dedication of our staff, the support of our partners, and the rich tradition of championship golf at this venue. As we ramp up preparations for championship week, our focus remains unchanged: delivering an unforgettable experience for players, spectators, and the entire community.”
Online speculation about whether Maxey and Edgecombe liked each other started after a defensive miscommunication in the first quarter of Friday’s loss to Cleveland led to an open Donovan Mitchell three. Maxey and Edgecombe were caught on the bench having what appeared to be a heated conversation after the play.
But on Monday, after Maxey was named an All-Star starter, Edgecombe was the first person to reach out to him — telling reporters he set a 2 p.m. alarm just to make sure he found out right away whether Maxey had been named a starter so he could congratulate him.
Edgecombe woke up Maxey from his pregame nap trying to call him.
“I’m like, why is he calling me?” Maxey said pregame. “And I answer, and he’s screaming and showing me the TV. And I’m like, ‘OK.’ We chopped it up a little bit.”
And postgame, the two Sixers guards were having fun after the 113-104 win over the Pacers.
If there’s anyone who understands the position Broncos fans are in right now, it’s the Eagles.
So, naturally, Nick Foles offered a few words of encouragement to Broncos fans on Sunday, after Denver learned it had lost starting quarterback Bo Nix for the rest of the season with a broken ankle he suffered in the closing moments of Saturday’s win over Buffalo.
“Note for the Broncos and their fans: I know it has been an emotional 24 hours. I feel for Bo and the team, and I’m sending prayers for a strong recovery,” Foles wrote on X. “A positive note going into the game vs. the Patriots is that they struggle against backup QBs in championship-type games.”
Note for the Broncos and their fans: I know it has been an emotional 24 hours. I feel for Bo and the team, and I'm sending prayers for a strong recovery.
A positive note going into the game versus the Patriots is that they struggle against backup QBs in championship-type games.
Foles, of course, famously took over for Carson Wentz in 2017, after Wentz suffered a torn ACL in a Week 14 win over the Rams. Foles led the Eagles all the way to Super Bowl LII against the Patriots, and threw for 373 yards and three touchdowns, plus his one receiving touchdown — the Philly Special. Foles was named Super Bowl MVP.
Nix finished the 33-30 win over Buffalo, but coach Sean Payton revealed after the game that he would miss the rest of the Broncos’ playoff run. Jarrett Stidham is expected to replace Nix for the AFC championship game against Drake Maye and the Patriots, which will be played in Denver.
Broncos fans can only hope that Stidham puts up anywhere near the caliber of performance Foles turned in. Stidham has been a backup for five seasons, including two in New England, appearing in 20 career games. The AFC championship game will be his fourth career start.
