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  • Michael Jordan’s Daytona 500 ring: Tyler Reddick’s 1-lap lead delivers NASCAR’s biggest win

    Michael Jordan’s Daytona 500 ring: Tyler Reddick’s 1-lap lead delivers NASCAR’s biggest win

    DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Michael Jordan, six-time NBA champion, is now a Daytona 500 winner, too.

    Tyler Reddick won “The Great American Race” on Sunday with a last-lap pass at Daytona International Speedway that sent Jordan into a frantic celebration. The NBA Hall of Famer bear-hugged Reddick in victory lane and then jointly hoisted the Harley J. Earl trophy with the 23XI Racing driver.

    Jordan, who turns 63 on Tuesday, will get a Daytona 500 ring for his birthday and made it known in victory lane he wears a size 13.

    “It feels like I won a championship, but until I get my ring, I won’t even know,” Jordan said.

    23XI Racing owner Michael Jordan speaks with CEO and Chairman of NASCAR, Jim Frantz after Tyler Reddick won the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Nigel Cook)

    The moment captured the message team co-owner Denny Hamlin — who finished 31st in Sunday’s bid to become the third driver in history to win four Daytona 500s — delivered to 23XI employees in a team meeting ahead of NASCAR’s season opener.

    “He loves his race team,” Hamlin said, adding he reminded the team of the fulfillment they saw in Jordan when Reddick won at Talladega in 2024. “I was like ‘You know, you guys understand the responsibilities you have, that you have the power to bring joy to Michael Jordan. You have that power and nobody else can do it.’

    “There’s nothing else that can bring him the joy that seeing what his team can do and they took it to heart.”

    Reddick, in a Toyota, led only one lap Sunday: the one to the checkered flag. He was the 25th different driver to lead a lap for a new Daytona 500 record.

    Tyler Reddick, (45) and his son Beau celebrate with the team after winning the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Nigel Cook)

    “Just incredible how it all played out. Just true Daytona madness,” Reddick said. “I’ve already lost my voice from screaming. Never thought I’d be Daytona 500 champion.”

    Reddick, a 30-year-old from Corning, California, won for the ninth time in the Cup Series and first time since late in the 2024 season. Winless last year, Reddick was primarily focused on his infant son, who was found to have a tumor in his chest that affected his heart. Reddick opened last year with a runner-up finish in the Daytona 500.

    He snapped the 38-race losing streak by finishing one place higher Sunday and winning to start a celebration that included multiple stars of NASCAR. It included Jordan, a global icon, and Hamlin, at 45 the oldest full-time driver in the Cup Series.

    Reddick is teammates with Bubba Wallace, who went to victory lane in tears after leading a race-high 40 laps before finishing 10th. Jordan wrapped his arms around Wallace from behind and spoke closely into Wallace’s ear in a brief speech of encouragement.

    “I don’t want my emotions to take away from the monumental day they just accomplished. Happy birthday, MJ. That’s a massive birthday present,” Wallace said. “I thought this was our week, the best 500 I’ve ever had, and come up short, sucks.

    “Led a lot of laps, lap leader, I believe. It was a good day for us, but damn. Try again next year.”

    Hamlin, who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, was involved in the final caution when he and teammate Christopher Bell collided with nine laps remaining. It set up the final push to the finish over the final four laps.

    Elliott grabbed the lead at the start of the final lap when Carson Hocevar was spun off the track. Reddick made a huge surge with an assist from teammate Riley Herbst, made contact with Elliott that caused Elliott to crash, then sailed past to give Jordan a victory in NASCAR’s biggest event of the year.

    “It’s stuff you dream of as a kid,” said Reddick. “Now, I definitely didn’t look into the future and know that I would drive for Michael Jordan. But to be able to have someone like Michael Jordan believe in me enough, someone like Denny Hamlin.

    “I’m just trying to do my best to live on the promises that I made to them and vice versa.”

    Jordan was the face of the December federal antitrust lawsuit that NASCAR settled on the ninth day of trial. The settlement changed the revenue-sharing model in the United States’ top motorsports series.

    Jordan watched the win from a suite overlooking the superspeedway built by the France family — NASCAR founders and private owners — that he just beat in federal court. NASCAR chairman Jim France, who was personally a defendant in the suit, went to victory lane to congratulate the winners.

    “I can’t even believe it. It was so gratifying,” Jordan said of the victory. “You never know how these races are going to end. You just try to survive. We hung in there all day. Great strategy by the team, and we gave ourselves a chance at the end. Look, I’m ecstatic.”

    The victory marked a Daytona sweep for three team owners heavily involved in the trial. Bob Jenkins, who joined 23XI in suing NASCAR, opened the weekend with a victory when Chandler Smith won the Truck Series opener on Friday night for Front Row Motorsports.

    Richard Childress, who testified on behalf of 23XI and Front Row and was the subject of disparaging text messages by since-departed NASCAR chairman Steve Phelps, was the winning team owner Saturday when Austin Hill won.

    Then it was time for Jordan and Hamlin, the two front-facing litigants, as they got their first Daytona 500 victory together.

    “All we do is win,” shrugged Hamlin, who called the trio of weekend winners “coincidence.”

    Former race winners Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Joey Logano finished second and third as Toyota, Chevrolet and Ford each placed a driver on the podium. Elliott wound up fourth and sat dejected and in disbelief on the outside wall of the track after climbing from his car.

    “We ended up kind of getting gifted the lead … and then at that point in time, you’re just on defense. Man, that’s a really, really tough place to be, truthfully,” Elliott said. “Obviously looking back, you can run it through your mind 1,000 times, do you do something different?”

  • Turnovers, missed free throws cost Temple in 65-62 loss to North Texas

    Turnovers, missed free throws cost Temple in 65-62 loss to North Texas

    Coach Adam Fisher’s anger was palpable when he stormed into the Al Shrier Media Room on Sunday afternoon. The reason was simple: Temple had blown a 12-point lead, resulting in a 65-62 loss to North Texas at the Liacouras Center.

    The Owls (15-10, 7-5 American) had just come off a loss to Tulane on Wednesday, prompting Fisher and the team to go back to the drawing board. They prepped for a Mean Green (15-11, 6-7) defense that allowed a conference-best 66.3 points per game.

    Instead, Temple played into its opponent’s strengths. It turned the ball over a season-high 16 times and missed eight free throws.

    “Not the response we wanted,” Fisher said. “I thought, last game on the road, we had a heart-to-heart. Long couple practices. We didn’t play Temple basketball at Tulane the right way, and we got back to some basics. Our mental approach wasn’t there for whatever reason at Tulane.

    “Today I thought we responded by playing hard, but we had a few lapses in the second half … We’ve got to be better at home. I appreciate the crowd coming out. I’m [ticked] that we have this many people and we play like this.”

    Temple head coach Adam Fisher talks with his players during a timeout in the second half against North Texas Mean Green.

    Temple opened up the game slowly, before its offense eventually got going against a pesky Mean Green defense. North Texas forced two early turnovers but guard Derrian Ford, who finished with 20 points, drilled a three-pointer.

    The Owls used ball movement to get the best of the visitors zone defense and got open looks. It took awhile to find a rhythm but eventually guard Masiah Gilyard hit back-to-back threes, which ended a near eight-minute drought without a triple.

    That effort became all for naught, as the Owls’ 40-28 lead six minutes into the second half eventually evaporated.

    Temple guard Jordan Mason looks to the official for a call against North Texas.

    “It’s what we expected. It’s what we spent time on pulleys versus their pressure,” Fisher said. “They’ve heard that since the second we got off the plane at Tulane.”

    With six games left in the season before the American Conference tournament, the past week looks like a missed opportunity to gain traction in terms of seeding. The Owls entered the matchup tied with Charlotte for second place in the American.

    The 49ers dropped their game against Texas-San Antonio on Sunday, paving a way for Temple to get sole possession of the second seed of the conference tournament. South Florida, which leads the American, nearly lost its game against Florida Atlantic, which could have put the Owls within striking distance of the top spot.

    Now, the Owls are in a fight with Charlotte and Memphis in a tie for fourth place. Tiebreakers have Temple in the fourth spot, which gives it a bye to the quarterfinals, but two wins this week thrust it to a tie with USF and they wouldn’t play until the semifinals under the new format.

    But Fisher and the rest of the Owls aren’t worried about those results, opting to keep their focus inward.

    Temple guard Aiden Tobiason (left) battles for the ball against North Texas Mean Green forward Buddy Hammer Jr.

    “We focus on us,” Fisher said. “I think when you start watching standings, look, we want to play meaningful games in February and into March. And right now we are and that’s got to be our focus.”

    “We’ve got to learn and keep getting better,” Fisher later said. “Got another great opportunity at home against a really good team and we got to make sure we bring the same fight, but do it for 40 minutes.”

    Up next

    Temple will host Alabama-Birmingham (16-10, 7-6) on Wednesday (ESPNU, 7 p.m.)

  • New Padre Nick Castellanos says he’s glad to play for a manager who has ‘done it’ on the field

    New Padre Nick Castellanos says he’s glad to play for a manager who has ‘done it’ on the field

    CLEARWATER, Fla. — A clean-shaven Nick Castellanos, dressed in a brown Padres hoodie, made his first public comments Sunday after signing a one-year deal with San Diego.

    The former Phillies outfielder, who was released by the organization on Thursday, met with the media at the Padres’ spring training complex in Peoria, Ariz. He also spent time taking reps at first base. He is expected to see time there as the Padres already have an All-Star rightfielder in Fernando Tatis Jr.

    Castellanos told reporters Sunday he “had a good idea” he would not be back with the Phillies following their exit in the National League Division Series. This winter, the Phillies repeatedly expressed interest in finding a change of scenery for Castellanos after he developed friction with manager Rob Thomson.

    Castellanos expressed his excitement about playing for rookie Padres manager Craig Stammen, mentioning Stammen’s 13-year MLB career as a pitcher. Thomson never played in the major leagues.

    “He’s a player. He’s done it,” Castellanos said of Stammen. “He’s put on spikes. He’s grinded. He’s felt the feeling of success, and he’s also felt the feeling of when the game doesn’t go your way. There’s a lot of respect in that. I’m excited to do whatever he needs me to do.”

    On the Padres, Castellanos is reuniting with childhood friend Manny Machado, a former teammate on the U.S. 18-and-under team.

    After his release, Castellanos posted a letter on Instagram thanking members of the organization and explaining the “Miami Incident.” During the eighth inning of a June 16 game in Miami, Castellanos said he brought a beer into the dugout after Thomson replaced him for defensive purposes. He was benched for the following game as punishment.

    In his letter, Castellanos wrote that he “will learn from” the incident.

    Bryce Harper says Dave Dombrowski’s ‘not elite’ comment is ‘kind of wild to me still’

    “I think [what] I said I will learn from this is I guess just letting my emotions get the best of me in a moment,” he said Sunday. “Possibly if I see things that frustrate me or I don’t believe are conducive to winning, to speak up instead of letting things just pile up over time and pile up over time and finally when I address it, it’s less emotional.”

    Castellanos, who will turn 34 on March 4, batted .250 with 17 homers and 72 RBIs last season. He grades out poorly according to defensive metrics. He posted -12 outs above average and -11 defensive runs saved in 2025, both ranking as the worst among major league right fielders.

    A.J. Preller, the Padres’ president of baseball operations, said Sunday that San Diego had done a lot of homework on Castellanos. He is signed to a league minimum contract ($780,000), with the Phillies responsible for the remainder of his $20 million deal.

    Nick Castellanos batted .250 with 17 homers and 72 RBIs for the Phillies last season.

    “He was just super-forthright about the last year in Philly, the incident that was written about,” Preller said. “We talk about it all the time, I make many mistakes in this job. But ultimately, when people own up to those mistakes — and he did that in our call. It’s about giving guys another opportunity. He gets a fresh start here and a fresh opportunity.”

    When Castellanos was asked if he wished anything would have ended differently in Philadelphia, he said he wished the Phillies would have won a World Series.

    Dodgers are much more than free spenders, Bryce Harper says: ‘They draft, they develop, they do it the right way’

    “Winning solves everything,” he said. “The one thing that I wish would’ve ended up different is that we would’ve won.”

    Extra bases

    The Phillies’ first full-squad workout is scheduled for Monday. … A nonroster invitee, shortstop José Rodriguez, is starting spring a bit behind after suffering a shoulder injury in winter ball. Thomson said that Rodriguez is still able to hit.

  • E&S hopes ‘unfair’ ruling is reversed after skirmish led to elimination from Public League hoops playoffs

    E&S hopes ‘unfair’ ruling is reversed after skirmish led to elimination from Public League hoops playoffs

    Miya Brown was in the crowd Thursday afternoon when a rush of fans stormed the court, surrounded the teenage basketball players, and put a stop to a Public League boys’ basketball playoff game.

    She watched her son — a senior captain at Carver Engineering & Science — leave the court and protect his sister, one of the team’s student managers.

    “It was terrifying,” Brown said.

    The incident started with a Constitution player going nose-to-nose with an E&S player during a stoppage with 1 minute, 11 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Host E&S was ahead, 61-49, and closing in on a trip to the league’s semifinals.

    The E&S player raised his hands and walked backward, attempting to de-escalate the situation. The Constitution player followed him before shoving him. By then, two players from Constitution had left the bench and walked onto the court. Fans soon ran onto the floor, and the E&S players left the bench to join their teammates.

    No punches were thrown by players from either side, and the situation eventually settled down. The game ended with 71 seconds left. So did the season for E&S.

    The Public League disqualified E&S from Tuesday’s semifinal since its entire bench went on the court, which league president James Lynch said is a violation of the league’s unsportsmanlike conduct policy.

    Constitution won the game on a forfeit and will play in the semis against Imhotep Charter. Representatives from E&S met Sunday night with Public League officials, who said they would not change the ruling.

    “A fair decision should have been made,” Brown said. “If you can’t determine that we were not at fault and we won’t proceed, then no one should proceed. This teaches teams that if you can’t compete, you cheat. That’s not the way to teach these student athletes.”

    The league’s rules say that a team will be suspended for the following game if its “entire team leaves their bench area and steps onto the field of play during an incident.” A player will be suspended, but not the team, if he leaves the bench.

    Lynch said “several” Constitution players will be suspended for Tuesday’s game. But E&S is challenging the ruling as it said the situation was no longer “a basketball game” once fans ran onto the court and caused an unruly scene.

    Public League boys’ basketball team disqualified from playoffs after skirmish

    “The kids didn’t come off the bench when it was just the kids going back and forth,” said Dave McField, a father of an E&S player. “When they saw the mob of fans coming at their teammates, that’s when they came onto the court out of fear to get their teammates to safety. None of the kids were in a fighting stance or throwing punches. They’re very good kids. We’ve never been in this type of situation.”

    The game was tense before the incident as players from both teams were issued technical fouls in the first quarter.

    “As far as officiating goes, that was the only attempt to get control of the game,” said Nande Hardy, a relative of E&S coach Dustin Hardy-Moore.

    The Carver Engineering and Science boys’ basketball team has a 20-5 record this season.

    Brown said the referees failed to “keep the temperature of the game at bay.” The final stoppage was a whistle for a foul on Constitution, and the referees did not step between the two players jostling on the court. The situation soon unraveled.

    “To look around and see the faces of the parents because they are worried about their kids on the court and the kids in the stands are worried about their safety,” Hardy said. “You have kids running on the court with hands in their jackets and grown adults running onto the court. We had no idea where this thing was going to go.”

    The teams met earlier this season, with E&S winning by five points. The players played together in the summer on the AAU circuit, and this was a game with big stakes: a chance to go to the Public League Final Four at La Salle University.

    “They worked so hard in the spring and the winter and then for it to end like this is a tragedy,” McField said. “It’s unfair, very unfair. At the least, if we don’t get to go, they shouldn’t get to go. All of the kids are kind of let down. They’re in a shock like, ‘Well, how do they get to go?’ I could see if the game was close. There were 71 seconds left in the game with a 12-point lead and we had the ball. How do they get to go?”

    The parents said they emailed Lynch about the ruling and hope it can be reversed before Tuesday. E&S, once a league power, has never won a Public League title, and this season was a return to relevance as the forfeit dropped its record to 20-5. E&S was eyeing a rematch with Imhotep, the perennial power that edged the Engineers last month in overtime.

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    “It was tough,” Brown said of the loss to Imhotep. “But we lined up, shook hands, said it was a damn good game, came back to the school, and worked on what we needed to do to continue to grow. That’s what we promote at Carver. No violence. We grow. We’ve lost plenty of games in the last four years, we’ve never tried to incite a fight or a riot or any unsportsmanlike behavior.”

    McField said an assistant coach from Constitution said his team didn’t want to play Tuesday as it felt the spot belonged to E&S. Now, E&S hopes the league feels the same.

    “We did absolutely nothing wrong,” Brown said. “And I say we as in students, coaches, and community. Our students stayed in the stands and our coaches instructed our kids to stay on the bench. But if you were in that audience and you saw the crowd of people swarm those kids, there’s no way that the decision that was made took into consideration that those student athletes feared for their safety.”

  • Dodgers are much more than free spenders, Bryce Harper says: ‘They draft, they develop, they do it the right way’

    Dodgers are much more than free spenders, Bryce Harper says: ‘They draft, they develop, they do it the right way’

    CLEARWATER, Fla. — Bryce Harper doesn’t want to hear anything about the Dodgers’ nearly $400 million dollar roster being “bad for baseball.”

    Following two straight World Series titles — eliminating the Phillies en route to their latest — and with their record-setting payroll, the Dodgers are viewed by some as baseball’s villains, propelling the sport toward a work stoppage in the 2027 labor negotiations.

    Harper has a different opinion.

    “It bothers me when everybody talks about the Dodgers spending money,” Harper said Sunday. “No, they draft, they develop, they do it the right way. … Each team in baseball has an opportunity to do the same thing. Maybe not at the upper echelon of money, but they can draft, they can develop, they can trade.

    “I think a lot of teams can do that in baseball, and they should.”

    Harper believes that the Phillies’ roster still stacks up with other top teams, including the Dodgers. In his first media scrum of the 2026 season on Sunday, he said that the expectation for the Phillies this year — and every year — is to win the National League East and make a deep postseason run afterward.

    The Phillies have won the division the last two seasons, and also increased their regular-season win total from 95 in 2024 to 96 last season. But the playoff results have not followed, with two straight exits in the NL Divisional Series.

    Bryce Harper says he is impressed by 21-year-old infielder Aidan Miller, running during a Phillies workout on Friday.

    “The Mets got better, getting Freddy Peralta and a couple other guys on their club,” Harper said. “I mean, the Braves are going to be really good again this year, getting a lot of their guys back, they’re going to be healthy. And so obviously, I feel like the East is a juggernaut. So just got to go and play our game. Understand we’re a really good team and go from there.”

    Bryce Harper says Dave Dombrowski’s ‘not elite’ comment is ‘kind of wild to me still’

    A neon green sign in the shape of the Phanatic hangs from the top of Harper’s locker in the BayCare Ballpark clubhouse. It was illuminated Sunday, indicating that the first baseman — and the rest of the remaining position players — had reported to the complex. The team’s first full-squad workout is scheduled for Monday.

    Harper’s locker is next to the one belonging to 21-year-old shortstop prospect Aidan Miller.

    “He’s a great kid,” Harper said of Miller. “He understands what he has to do. Obviously, everybody in this organization is super-excited about it. I talked to him last year a lot. I talked with him this year a little bit already. He has a bright future in this organization. I think it just kind of gets it going a little bit more.”

    Harper is also looking forward to seeing other younger players, especially outfielder Justin Crawford and pitcher Andrew Painter, get an opportunity with the major league club this season. The Phillies have not had a rookie start on opening day since 2022, when Bryson Stott first broke camp with the team.

    “New blood, man,” Harper said. “It’s good.”

    Phillies pitcher Andrew Painter warming up Sunday ahead of the team’s workout.

    He also acknowledged that to reach that goal of winning the NL East, and the quest for a World Series run beyond that, those rookies will need to step up. Crawford is expected to be the Phillies’ everyday center fielder. There is also an opening for Painter in the starting rotation, after Ranger Suárez’s free agency departure and with Zack Wheeler doubtful for opening day as he continues to rehab from thoracic outlet decompression surgery.

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    Painter, the Phillies’ top pitching prospect, posted a 5.49 ERA last season in the minors, his first back from Tommy John surgery.

    “I’m hoping he bounces back this year, and we need him to,” Harper said. “We have no idea what Wheels is going to look like. We all hope that obviously, Wheels comes back and is Zack Wheeler, because there’s nobody better in baseball when he’s going good. But we have no idea.

    “When you lose a guy like Ranger, that’s a really tough thing. So you’re expected to fill the shoes of two guys that are really, really good. So I hope he can do it, and we definitely need him to do it.”

  • Bryce Harper says Dave Dombrowski’s ‘not elite’ comment is ‘kind of wild to me still’

    Bryce Harper says Dave Dombrowski’s ‘not elite’ comment is ‘kind of wild to me still’

    CLEARWATER, Fla. — Bryce Harper touched down in Phillies camp, pulled on a black T-shirt — no, not the black T-shirt that went viral over the holidays — and summarized one of the weirdest weeks in an offseason of his career.

    “For Dave [Dombrowski] to come out and say those things,“ Harper said, ”it’s kind of wild to me still.”

    Key word: Still. Because this was Sunday, 122 days after the Phillies’ highest-ranking baseball official gave a 90-second answer 34 minutes into a 54-minute news conference about whether Harper’s good-but-not-great 2025 season was a one-off or the start of a downward trend.

    ‘Not elite’ Bryce Harper could use better lineup protection. Here are the Phillies’ options.

    Pardon the rehashed sound bite, but well, here goes: “Of course he’s still a quality player,” Dombrowski said, “still an All-Star-caliber player. He didn’t have an elite season like he has had in the past. And I guess we only find out if he becomes elite [again], or if he continues to be good.”

    Bryce Harper missed 22 games for the Phillies last season because of an inflamed right wrist.

    Cue the hysteria, fomented by sports-talk radio and social media. And a candid answer to a good question exploded into unfounded speculation that the Phillies would consider trading Harper. (For what it’s worth, John Middleton is clear about wanting Harper to go into the Hall of Fame with a “P” on his plaque.)

    Harper is self-aware. He wasn’t satisfied with last season. There were factors, including an inflamed right wrist that caused him to miss 22 games. But he also swung at a career-high rate of pitches out of the zone, a problem given that Harper saw fewer strikes than any hitter in baseball. He also delivered fewer hits in the clutch than ever before.

    “Obviously,” he said after digesting it for four months, “not the best year of my career.”

    But the substance of Dombrowski’s comments didn’t bother Harper as much as the forum.

    “The big thing for me was, when we first met with this organization [in 2019] it was, ‘Hey, we’re always going to keep things in-house, and we expect you to do the same thing,’” Harper said. “So, when that didn’t happen, it kind of took me for a run a little bit. I don’t know.

    “It’s kind of a wild situation, that even happening.”

    Dombrowski reached out to Harper about 10 days later. The whole affair seemed to be over. Then, in December, a video posted to Harper’s TikTok account showing him working out while wearing a T-shirt with two words across the chest: “NOT ELITE.”

    How can Bryce Harper have an ‘elite’ season in 2026? It starts with examining his atypical 2025.

    Is Harper using Dombrowski’s critique as motivation?

    “I don’t need to be motivated to be great in my career or anything else,“ Harper said. ”That’s just not a motivating factor for me.”

    So, why the T-shirt?

    “They made the shirts for me and I wore them,” he said. “If they’re going to make them, I’m going to wear them.”

    OK then. Just don’t be surprised if Harper channels all of this into an MVP-worthy season. Because elite athletes have a way of turning more innocuous slights into fuel. Michael Jordan was notorious for it. Tom Brady, too.

    The last time anyone publicly poked Harper, he stared a hole through then-Braves shortstop Orlando Arcia after homering twice in Game 3 of the 2023 divisional playoffs.

    “I just know his mindset is he wants to perform,“ manager Rob Thomson said. “He loves playing the game. He wants to perform for himself, for his teammates, for the organization, for the city of Philadelphia. With the way he’s come into camp, the shape that he’s in, we’ve got to keep him healthy and I think he’s going to have a huge year.”

    Harper does appear to have bulked up since last season. Other than hiring a new trainer, he said he didn’t change much about his offseason program at home in Nashville.

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    The wrist, which hitting coach Kevin Long said bothered Harper before he went on the injured list last season, is fully healed. Harper said he hasn’t felt pain since June.

    “Really happy about that,” he said. “My offseason was pretty similar to what I do each offseason. Just trying to make sure my body is where it needs to be. Just pretty much all the same stuff, getting in and making sure I’m ready to go.”

    One notable difference: Harper will play for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. He wanted to play three years ago but was recovering from Tommy John elbow surgery. He hasn’t represented the country since he was a teenager.

    Maybe the stakes of the WBC will be invigorating for Harper, never a fan of the tedium of spring training.

    “I feel like I’m pretty excited to play,” Harper said. “My face might not look it a lot of times. But I’m excited to be out there. I love being part of the culture and the group and Philly baseball. I don’t want that to ever not be the notion. I don’t smile all the time or I don’t laugh all the time, but I enjoy playing this game.”

    With baseball returning to the Olympics in 2028 in Los Angeles, MLB is considering allowing players to compete, a scenario for which Harper has long lobbied.

    In that case, the WBC would be a precursor. And Team USA is loaded. For years, many of the sport’s top starting pitchers resisted the WBC. But Tarik Skubal and Paul Skenes are at the top of the U.S. team’s rotation.

    “Being able to take a step back and act like you are 16, 17, 18 years old again playing with your buddies,” Harper said, “really looking forward to it.

    “And having Aaron Judge hitting behind me is going to be a lot of fun as well.”

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    Which brings up another question that looms over Harper this spring: How will the Phillies protect him in the lineup?

    Thomson has considered putting Kyle Schwarber behind Harper. It was the other way around for most of last season. But then who will protect Schwarber? Alec Bohm and new right fielder Adolis García are the leading cleanup-hitter candidates.

    “The four spot has a huge impact,” Harper said. “I think the numbers in the four spot weren’t very good last year for our whole team. Whoever’s in that four spot is going to have a big job to do.”

    As far as his relationship with Dombrowski?

    “We keep things in-house, that’s just how it’s always been, and in that moment, it just didn’t happen,” Harper said. “I think my locker is always open for them to come and talk to me, and vice versa. It is what it is right now.”

  • Tonight’s NBA All-Star game has Tyrese Maxey, a new format, and a new TV channel

    Tonight’s NBA All-Star game has Tyrese Maxey, a new format, and a new TV channel

    Give the NBA credit. At least they’re trying.

    For the fourth-straight season, the NBA All-Star Game will have a new format when players take the court Sunday night. This year it’s U.S. players versus the world, a debut perfectly timed with the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.

    Like the Olympics, tonight’s All-Star Game will air on NBC, with tipoff at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles expected around 5 p.m. Philly time. The early start time will give NBC plenty to time to air its prime-time Olympics coverage at 8 p.m.

    It’s the first time NBC has aired the All-Star game since 2002, moving over from TNT as part of the league’s 11-year, $76 billion media rights deal that began this season.

    Sixers’ star Tyrese Maxey, fresh off being the first Sixers player to compete in the 3-Point Contest since Kyle Korver in 2005, will make his first-ever All-Star Game start Sunday. He’s the first Sixers guard selected to start an All-Star Game since Hall of Famer Allen Iverson in 2010, and it took an unlikely series of events for Maxey to land in Philly in 2020.

    One notable omission tonight is seven-time All-Star Joel Embiid. Despite a turnaround season, the 2023 MVP didn’t make the cut for this year’s All-Star roster. But at least he’ll have extra time to rest his sore right knee, which forced him out of two consecutive games heading into All-Star weekend.

    “He might not be going to the All-Star Game this weekend, but he’s playing at an All-Star level,” wrote columnist Marcus Hayes.

    Sixers rookie phenom VJ Edgecombe also isn’t playing tonight, but put on a show during the league’s Rising Stars competition Friday night. Edgecombe. who was named the evening’s MVP, won both tournament games for Vince Carter’s team, at one point racking up 10 straight points and sinking a game winner in the two-game mini tournament.

    “I just wanted to go out there and show everyone that I can hoop — regardless of stage,” Edgecombe said.

    Here’s everything you need to know to watch or stream this year’s NBA All-Star game:

    What time does the NBA All-Star Game start?

    The Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif., the home of the 2026 NBA All-Star Game.

    The 2026 NBA All-Star Game is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, and will air live on NBC from the Intuit Dome, home of the Los Angeles Clippers.

    The All-Star Game will stream live on Peacock, NBC’s subscription streaming platform. It can also be streamed on all the digital services offering NBC, including Hulu With Live TV, DirecTV Stream, Sling TV, or YouTube TV.

    In and around Philadelphia, you can also stream NBC10 for free with a digital antenna, though signal strength will vary by your location.

    Calling his first-ever All-Star Game is 29-year-old Noah Eagle, already one of NBC’s top announcers and the son of veteran play-by-play announcer Ian Eagle. He’ll be joined on the broadcast by former NBA stars turned broadcasters Carmelo Anthony and Reggie Miller.

    Zora Stephenson and Ashley ShahAhmadi will report courtside.

    The new NBA All-Star Game format, explained

    This year’s All-Star Game would more accurately be described as an All-Star tournament.

    Three different squads — USA Stars, USA Stripes, and World — will face off in a round robin series. Each team will play at least two 12-minute games, and the best two will face off in a finale at 7:10 p.m.

    “One of the things that didn’t happen last year, there was not enough basketball in the All-Star Weekend because of the format,” Sam Flood, NBC’s Sports’ president of production, said in a conference call earlier this week. “This game and this All-Star Sunday will have a full 48 minutes. If we’re lucky, we might get some overtime as well, so fun times await.”

    Here’s the full schedule. If all three teams end up tied 1-1, the tiebreaker will be decided by point differential:

    • Game 1: Stars vs. World, 5 p.m.
    • Game 2: Stripes vs. Game 1 winner, 5:55 p.m.
    • Game 3: Stripes vs. Game 1 loser, 6:25 p.m.
    • Game 4: Championship, 7:10 p.m.

    How many people actually watch the NBA All-Star Game?

    Despite lackluster effort and nonexistent defense, million of fans tune in each year to watch the NBA’s top stars face off. But the audience has steadily declined in recent years, much like everything else on TV.

    Last year’s All-Star game, which aired on TNT, averaged 4.72 million viewers. That’s down from 7.614 million viewers from a decade ago, mirroring a trend across all television as more people turn to streaming services.

    Expect a bump in the ratings this year, thanks to the return to broadcast television. Over 13 million viewers tuned in the last time the All-Star game air on NBC, way back in 2002 in Philadelphia. Doubtful we’ll hit that mark this time around, but anything north of 6 million viewers would be welcome news for the league.

    The decline also isn’t exclusive to the NBA. All-Star games across different leagues have lost their allure as well-paid players don’t have much incentive to play hard and cross-conference play is the norm.

    Even the all-powerful NFL has struggled to bring fans back to the Pro Bowl, which a decade ago regularly averaged over 10 million viewers. 2026’s version of the reimagined flag football contest drew just 2 million fans on ESPN, second-lowest in the game’s history behind 2021’s tape-delayed COVID game (1.9 million).

    NBA All-Star game rosters

    USA Stars

    • Scottie Barnes, frontcourt, Toronto Raptors
    • Devin Booker, guard, Phoenix Suns
    • Cade Cunningham, guard, Detroit Pistons
    • Jalen Duren, frontcourt, Detroit Pistons
    • Anthony Edwards, guard, Minnesota Timberwolves
    • Chet Holmgren, frontcourt, Oklahoma City Thunder
    • Jalen Hohnson, frontcourt, Atlanta Hawks
    • Tyrese Maxey, guard, Philadelphia 76ers

    USA Stripes

    • Jaylen Brown, guard, Boston Celtics
    • Jalen Brunson, guard, New York Knicks
    • Kevin Durant, frontcourt, Houston Rockets
    • De’Aaron Fox, guard, San Antonio Spurs (injury replacement for Giannis Antetokounmpo)
    • Brandon Ingram, frontcourt, Toronto Raptors (injury replacement for Steph Curry)
    • LeBron James, frontcourt, Los Angeles Lakers
    • Kawhi Leonard, frontcourt, Los Angeles Clippers
    • Donovan Mitchell, guard, Cleveland Cavaliers
    World
    • Deni Avdija, frontcourt, Portland Trail Blazers
    • Luka Dončić, frontcourt, Los Angeles Lakers
    • Nikola Jokić, frontcourt, Denver Nuggets
    • Jamal Murray, guard, Denver Nuggets
    • Norman Powell, guard, Miami Heat
    • Alperen Senguin, frontcourt, Houston Rockets (injury replacement for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander)
    • Pascal Siakam, frontcourt, Indiana Pacers
    • Karl-Anthony Towns, frontcourt, New York Knicks
    • Victor Wembanyama, frontcourt, San Antonio Spurs

    Sixers NBA standings

    Despite two consecutive losses against the Portland Trail Blazers and New York Knicks, the Sixers entered the All-Star break in sixth-place in the Eastern Conference and solidly in a playoff spot one season removed from missing the postseason entirely.

    Now the key is holding onto that spot with 28 games remaining, Embiid still dealing with a sore knee, and the front office appearing to punt on improving the team at the trade deadline.

    Eastern Conference standings

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    Upcoming Sixers TV schedule

    • Hawks at Sixers: Thursday, Feb. 19, 7 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia, 97.5 The Fanatic)
    • Sixers at Pelicans: Saturday, Feb. 21, 7 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia, 97.5 The Fanatic)
    • Sixers at Timberwolves: Sunday, Feb. 22, 7 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia, 97.5 The Fanatic)
    • Sixers at Pacers: Tuesday, Feb. 24, 7 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia, 97.5 The Fanatic)
    • Heat at Sixers: Thursday, Feb. 26, 7 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia, 97.5 The Fanatic)
    • Sixers at Celtics: Sunday, March 1, 6 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia, 97.5 The Fanatic)
    • Spurs at Sixers: Tuesday, March 3, 8 p.m. (NBC, 97.5 The Fanatic)
  • Penn’s good fortune continues with victory over Ivy foe Cornell, extending winning streak to four

    Penn’s good fortune continues with victory over Ivy foe Cornell, extending winning streak to four

    Fran McCaffery’s Penn team has not lost this month.

    Behind a second-half surge, the Quakers extended their winning streak to four with an 82-76 victory over Cornell at the Palestra on Saturday evening.

    The Quakers win is a boon to the team’s hopes of qualifying for the four-team Ivy League tournament. Penn (13-10, 6-4 Ivy) now holds sole possession of third place and the head-to-head tiebreaker over Cornell (12-11, 5-5).

    TJ Power and Jay Jones led the Quakers with 17 points each. Five Quakers scored in double figures.

    Jake Fiegen led Cornell with 17 points, while Philadelphia native Jacob Beccles added 10 points. The Constitution High alum is the first Public League player to play for an Ivy League school since 1980.

    Career nights for newcomers

    Jones and Lucas Lueth both set new career highs in scoring to help seal the win. Jones, a freshman guard, reached double-figure scoring for the first time in his Penn career. He was instrumental in the game’s closing minutes as Cornell extended the game with fouls. Jones shot 9-of-11 from the line, with seven of those makes coming in the final two minutes.

    “The coaching staff has done a great job, and they give me a bunch of confidence,” Jones said. “[If] you look, you’ll see me look at the coaching staff after I shoot my first [free throw] all the time. I’ve got a lot of trust in them.”

    Lueth went on a 6-0 run by himself in the second half to build the Quakers’ lead from three points to nine with 9 minutes, 35 seconds remaining.

    The sophomore forward, who transferred to Penn from Kirkwood Community College in Iowa, finished with 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting.

    “They’re new to our program,” McCaffery said. “They’re new to our system. But they’re both really smart. They both prioritize winning. They do the things that are necessary for the team to win.”

    Penn’s bench outscored Cornell’s reserves, 30-16. Jones and Lueth combined for 19 points in the second half as the Quakers pulled away.

    “They earned the opportunity to play at crunch time tonight in a very meaningful game,” McCaffery said. ”So, as a coach, you’re proud of that character.”

    Defense clamps down

    Penn had a poor shooting night, hitting 42.6% of its shots from the field and shooting 3-of-20 from three-point range. But the Quakers were able to lean on their defense to contain Cornell. Penn held Cornell to its third-lowest point total of the season. The Big Red shot 47.6% from the field against Penn’s defense and were 6-of-23 from distance.

    Penn guard AJ Levine drives to the basket against Cornell guard Jake Fiegen (left) and guard Cooper Noard during the second half on Saturday.

    Cornell also struggled from the free throw line, making 10-of-21 shots. Penn converted 16 Cornell turnovers into 23 points while allowing nine giveaways of its own.

    “All throughout practice we were talking about heating them up,” Lueth said. “So that’s what we did.”

    Method to the Ivy madness

    After a 76-67 win over Columbia at the Palestra on Friday, the Quakers picked up two Ivy victories in as many days. Penn gained some distance on the rest of the pack in its bid for a league tournament berth. Dartmouth and Princeton, who are tied for fifth place in the Ivy standings, both lost on Saturday. Their losses give Penn a two-game cushion over the Ivy tournament cut line.

    The Quakers are one game behind Harvard for second and two games behind first-place Yale. Penn will travel to face the Bulldogs for its next game on Saturday (2 p.m., ESPN+).

    “We stay pretty consistent in our approach,” McCaffery said. “We don’t look at, ‘OK, we have to win two this weekend.’ We focus on the next game. We did some things well when we played Yale, some things we didn’t do well. So you work on that, you try to get better, and you prepare to win that game.”

    After Yale, Penn’s remaining schedule will include games against Dartmouth and Harvard at the Palestra and a season finale contest at Brown. The Ivy League tournament will begin March 14 at Cornell.

  • Mikaela Shiffrin and Erin Jackson headline Sunday’s Olympic TV schedule

    Mikaela Shiffrin and Erin Jackson headline Sunday’s Olympic TV schedule

    We like to think that big-time athletes are superhuman, and in a lot of ways they are.

    They’re still humans, though, capable of feeling emotions and pressure just like the rest of us.

    It happened to Ilia Malinin in figure skating on Friday. He said point-blank after his falls on the ice that “the pressure of the Olympics really gets you.” And it happened to another American, skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin, in the team event last Tuesday.

    “I didn’t find a comfort level that allows me to produce full speed,” she said after an unusually slow slalom run that left her team off the medal stand.

    But both of those moments were just single points in each athlete’s career — and in these Olympics, too. Malinin helped the U.S. win gold in the team event, and on Sunday Shiffrin gets a second shot in the giant slalom.

    Unfortunately for TV viewers here, the event is early in the morning Philadelphia time. (Alpine skiing events are always held during the day wherever they are.) The first run is at 4 a.m. on USA Network, and the second is at 7:30 a.m. on NBC.

    But as with all the events at these Olympics, you can catch a replay on Peacock whenever you want afterward. There will also be highlights on NBC’s prime time show.

    Elsewhere on Sunday, American speedskater Erin Jackson goes for her second straight gold medal in the women’s 500 meters. You might remember that the Florida native was the U.S. flag bearer in the opening ceremony.

    There might also be a moment of Olympic history on Sunday. Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo can break the record for the most Winter Games golds won by an individual, in cross-country skiing’s 4×7.5km relay. It’s live at 6 a.m. on USA, and the last bit will be simulcast on NBC when the network comes on air at 7.

    Erin Jackson was a flag bearer for the U.S. at the opening ceremony in Milan.

    NBC will have coverage from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., then it will head to the NBA All-Star Game. The prime time show will start after that.

    How to watch the Olympics on TV and stream online

    NBC’s TV coverage will have live events from noon to 5 p.m. Philadelphia time on weekdays and starting in the mornings on the weekends. There’s a six-hour time difference between Italy and here. The traditional prime-time coverage will have highlights of the day and storytelling features.

    As far as the TV channels, the Olympics are airing on NBC, USA, CNBC, and NBCSN. Spanish coverage can be found on Telemundo and Universo.

    NBCSN is carrying the Gold Zone whip-around show that was so popular during the Summer Olympics in 2024, with hosts including Scott Hanson of NFL RedZone. It used to be just on Peacock, NBC’s online streaming service, but now is on TV, too.

    Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo can set an Olympic record for the most gold medals won by an individual on Sunday.

    Every event is available to stream live on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app. You’ll have to log in with your pay-TV provider, whether cable, satellite, or streaming platforms including YouTube TV, FuboTV, and Sling TV.

    On Peacock, the events are on the platform’s premium subscription tier, which starts at $10.99 per month or $109.99 per year.

    Here is the full event schedule for the entire Olympics, and here are live scores and results.

    Sunday’s Olympic TV schedule

    NBC

    7 a.m.: Cross-country skiing – Men’s 4×7.5km relay

    7:30 a.m.: Alpine skiing – Women’s giant slalom final run (LIVE)

    8:30 a.m.: Snowboarding – Mixed team snowboard cross final

    8:45 a.m.: Biathlon – Women’s 10km pursuit

    9:30 a.m.: Bobsled – Women’s monobob first run (tape-delayed)

    10 a.m.: Speedskating – Men’s team pursuit qualifying

    10:30 a.m.: Bobsled – Women’s monobob second run (delayed)

    11 a.m.: Speedskating – Women’s 500m

    11:45 a.m.: Biathlon – Men’s 12.5km pursuit (delayed)

    12:30 p.m.: Freestyle skiing – Men’s dual moguls final (delayed)

    1:15 p.m.: Skeleton – Mixed team final

    1:40 p.m.: Freestyle skiing – Men’s big air qualifying

    3 p.m.: Figure skating – Pairs’ short program

    8 p.m.: Prime time highlights including speedskating, alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, and figure skating

    11:35 p.m: Late night highlights including snowboarding, skeleton, and freestyle skiing.

    USA Network

    4 a.m.: Alpine skiing – Women’s giant slalom first run

    4:40 a.m.: Freestyle skiing – Men’s dual moguls final

    6 a.m.: Cross-country skiing – Men’s 4×7.5km relay

    10:40 a.m.-1 p.m.: Ice hockey – Canada vs. France men

    1:45 p.m.: Figure skating – Pairs’ short program

    3:10 p.m.: Ice hockey – United States vs. Germany men

    CNBC

    6:10 a.m.: Ice hockey – Switzerland vs. Czechia men

    8:30 a.m.: Curling – United States vs. China women

    1:10 p.m.: Ice hockey – Denmark vs. Latvia

  • Union host top soccer academies from Europe and North America at their ‘world-class facility’ in inaugural tournament

    Union host top soccer academies from Europe and North America at their ‘world-class facility’ in inaugural tournament

    The Union had the opportunity to show off the club’s new WSFS Bank Sportsplex facility to teams from a wide range of nations last week, as it hosted the inaugural “Snow Bowl,” a tournament showcasing some of the world’s best youth academies.

    Clubs from across Europe and North America were represented in the tournament, which included divisions for under-15, under-16, and under-18 teams. The tournament drew 10 major soccer clubs, including England’s Manchester United and Newcastle United, and Germany’s Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Mönchengladbach.

    Jon Scheer, the Union’s director of academy and professional development, said the Union’s ability to draw in European clubs of this caliber speaks to the club’s global reputation. .

    “To get Manchester United, PSV, Dortmund, some of the best European clubs, to come, I think it says something about the brand of the Philadelphia Union now,” Scheer said. “Certainly our facility was a big reason why they agreed to come, but also because of the level of competition that we brought in.”

    The Union boasted two teams in the Feb. 14 final of the inaugural Snow Bowl tournament, showcasing some of the top youth academies from around the world at the WSFS Sportsplex.

    The Union also invited the Netherlands’ PSV Eindhoven, Mexico’s Monterrey, Denmark’s Lyngby, Portugal’s Benfica, and Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire academies.

    “We really wanted to target clubs that we felt would bring over academy-level talent that would really push ourselves,” Scheer said. “And they would, in turn, benefit from the opportunity for their players.”

    The Generation Adidas Cup, which started as MLS’s top academy tournament in 2007 and expanded to include clubs from outside MLS in 2014, served as a common meeting place for many of the academies that attended this year’s Snow Bowl in Chester.

    The Union’s U-17 team won the GA Cup in 2023 and 2024. PSV, Monterrey, and Manchester United have also competed in the tournament, hosted in the spring at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.

    “Through things like Aspire Conference and through our relationship with U.S. Soccer and success at the GA Cup level and success at the MLS level, I think that’s starting to make our reputation a bit stronger globally,” Scheer said.

    While the Union’s reputation convinced teams to come, the WSFS Bank Sportsplex made hosting the tournament a possibility. Teams competed on the indoor turf field at the facility, which the club opened last July.

    Scheer said the visiting clubs were surprised by the quality of the facility.

    “When they came over here, they said this is truly a world-class facility,” Scheer said. “There’s nothing like this in Europe, from what they’ve talked about.”

    Aloys Wijnker, the academy head at PSV Eindhoven, was particularly impressed with the Union’s campus. Wijnker, who worked for U.S. Soccer from 2016-18 before returning to his native Netherlands, remembered when the club’s first team, second team, and academy were spread apart. Now, the Union host all of their operations on the waterfront in Chester.

    The Union’s under-16 and under-18 academy teams advanced to the finals of the inaugural Snow Bowl tournament.

    “This is amazing,” Wijnker said. “We heard about the dome, but then you see, oh, what kind of dome is it? This is a real building with all the facilities inside, with the gym. I [haven’t seen] everything so far, but it’s impressive.”

    For the Union, hosting the Snow Bowl not only allows academy players to play against high-level talent from Europe and North America, but it also allows the Union’s academy staff to compare notes on development with their counterparts from around the world.

    “We have such a growth mindset and a passion for learning,” Scheer said. “We want to get better. We think we do a good job but we know we can get better. And if we can take one piece of information here or there, selfishly, by interacting with some of the best clubs in the world, we’re certainly going to be able to do that.”

    Wijnker, who served as director of the U.S. Soccer Boys’ Development Academy for three years, said he was impressed with the Union’s focus on developing first-team players from their academy.

    “I think they are on top in the U.S., top three with the academy,” Wijnker said. “They do a big investment with money, but also with resources, with the energy they put in. Also the whole philosophy in the club, not buying expensive players, they’ve really invested in the youth. If you ask me the question, I think that this is what every club should do.”

    Bradley Carnell sees progress from the Union’s newcomers as they settle in at the end of preseason

    The club hopes to make the Snow Bowl an annual tradition. This year’s tournament was sponsored by The SWAG, a no-cost youth soccer organization philanthropically funded by members of the Union’s ownership group, and YSC Academy, the club’s school.

    “We want to do a really good job this year, and hopefully have others, in addition to SWAG and YSC Academy, help sponsor the event,” Scheer said. “I do think it’ll be one of the best developmental opportunities our academy kids could have with the competition they’re facing.”

    The Union’s U-15, U-16 and U-18 teams were unbeaten in the group stage of the tournament, picking up wins over Newcastle’s U-15 squad, Borussia Mönchengladbach’s U-16 team and Benfica’s U-18 team.

    “We are probably further along, not only at the Union, but in our country, than we think we are sometimes, in terms of development and the game of football,” Scheer said. “[Other clubs] are not only commenting on our facility, but they’re commenting on some of the quality of our individual players, our success at the team level. Ultimately, that’s what it’s about.”

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