Category: Basketball

Charles Barkley agrees with disenchanted NBA fans.

The Basketball Hall of Famer appeared on long-running ESPN show “Pardon the Interruption” on Friday to discuss current matters in the NBA, particularly ranting about how hard it is to simply find games.

The league’s new media rights deal sprinkles games throughout ESPN/ABC, NBC/Peacock and Amazon’s Prime Video.

Barkley isn’t a fan of the whole setup.

“It is so difficult for fans to find the games now,” Barkley told Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser. “I think we’ve done a disservice to the fans and to the game. We’ve got to find a way to let the fans know. Because the fans are the backbone, and we want to support these networks.”

Barkley went on to say that people “don’t know” when games are on, and where.

“We’ve got to be very careful because we’ve got an 11-year deal, and it’s a team deal. The players are gonna be successful, but we want the networks to be successful also,” Barkley continued.

"I think we've done a disservice to the fans and to the game."

Charles Barkley says the NBA's new media deal has made it harder for fans to watch pic.twitter.com/xMy95U941j

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 27, 2026

The new media rights deal, signed in July 2024, was inked for 11 years and $77 billion, and it kicked in this year.

Controversially, the deal didn’t include TNT, which didn’t appear to be keen on keeping the NBA product.

“Inside The NBA,” a long-running staple of TNT’s coverage, has since been moved to ESPN and will air more often now that football season is over.

Previously, TNT and ESPN shared the bulk of the nationally televised contests, not including the in-house NBA TV.

Barkley, who continues to co-host alongside Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal, has been a vocal proponent of the league becoming more “fan-friendly” as it relates to this media deal.

Olympians Hilary Knight, Kendall Coyne Schofield and Erin Ambrose have all been placed on long-term injured reserve by their PWHL clubs after sustaining injuries during the Milan Cortina Games.

Knight, a five-time Olympian and captain of the United States team that won gold, will be out of the Seattle Torrent's lineup indefinitely after sustaining a lower-body injury in Italy, the team announced Friday.

Knight had three goals and three assists for the U.S. at Milan Cortina including a goal in the 2-1 overtime win over Canada in the final. She has three goals and seven assists during the current PWHL season.

“While we’re eager to be at full strength and recognize the anticipation of Hilary’s return, we’re focused on putting her and our team in the best position for a playoff push," Torrent general manager Meghan Turner said in a statement.

Minnesota Frost captain Coyne Schofield was placed on long-term injured reserve on Friday retroactive to Feb. 19 with an upper-body injury. Coyne Schofield scored three goals for the United States during the Olympics.

“I am incredibly proud of all our Frost Olympians who demonstrated true excellence on the world stage,” general manager Melissa Caruso said in a statement. “We are fully committed to supporting Kendall throughout her recovery, and our medical team will be working diligently to help her prepare for her return to the ice."

The moves by the Torrent and Frost came a day after the Montreal Victoire announced that Ambrose has been placed on long-term injured reserve retroactive to Feb. 19 for a lower‑body injury suffered while representing Canada in the gold medal game. Ambrose had a pair of assists at the Olympics.

The Victoire's Marie-Philip Poulin, Canada's captain in Italy, was listed as day-to-day with an Olympics-related injury.

Victoire general manager Daniele Sauvageau said of the team's Olympians "we are confident that they will be back in the lineup in the near future.”

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AP women’s hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey

HANOVER, N.H. (AP) — Fadima Tall, Madison St. Rose and Emily Eadie each scored 13 points to help No. 25 Princeton rout Dartmouth 97-47 on Friday night.

Princeton (22-3, 10-2 Ivy League) has won 19 of its last 21 games — with both losses coming against Columbia. The Tigers improved to 31-1 against the Big Green since the 2009-10 season.

Princeton pulled away by outscoring Dartmouth 32-12 in the third quarter. Toby Nweke and Grace O’Sullivan made back-to-back 3-pointers, and Skye Belker scored on two straight possessions to cap Princeton’s 25-4 third-quarter run for a 65-30 lead.

Princeton added a 13-2 run to begin the fourth for an 85-40 lead.

Belker and Nweke each scored 12 points and Taylor Charles had 10 points and 10 rebounds for Princeton, which did not have a double-digit scorer until the fourth quarter. Nweke made five of Princeton's 20 steals. The Tigers shot 57% from the field and outrebounded the Big Green 40-23.

Dartmouth (10-15, 1-11) was led by Zeynep Ozel and Jacalyn Myrthil with nine points apiece. The Big Green turned it over 26 times and attempted 29 less field goals than Princeton.

Up next

Princeton: Stays on the road to play Harvard on Saturday.

Dartmouth: Hosts Pennsylvania on Saturday.

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Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP mobile app). AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball

The Knicks (37*-22) visit the Bucks (26-31) tonight at Fiserv Forum with a chance to take the season series after splitting the first two meetings. Milwaukee has won eight of its last 10 and did so without Giannis Antetokounmpo (calf). Things that make you go hmmm! Meanwhile, New York, with two days of rest, will want to take care of business tonight and get home to prepare for an early Sunday game versus San Antonio.

Tip-off is 8 pm EST on MSG. This is your game thread. This is Brew Hoop. Please don’t post large photos, GIFs, or links to illegal streams in the thread. Mind your manners. And go Knicks!

* Should be one more, but the Cup Final was a trick of the eye.

The Dallas Mavericks (21-37) host the Memphis Grizzlies (21-36) on Friday night. Dallas is coming off a rather shocking loss to the lowly Sacramento Kings. Memphis is locked in to their tank, losing three in a row recently, with losses to Miami, Sacramento, and Golden State. This is a match up between two teams racing towards the lottery.

Here’s the main things you need to know:

• WHO: Dallas Mavericks vs Memphis Grizzlies
• WHAT: The second night of a home back-to-back
• WHERE: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
• WHEN: 7:30 pm CST
• HOW: KFAA Channel 29, MavsTV streaming, NBA League Pass

It’s another brutal injury report for the Mavericks. They will be without so many players today. Starting with the obvious: Kyrie Irving and Dereck Lively are still out. Cooper Flagg is missing another game due to his foot and Marvin Bagley is out after straining his neck in a fall against the Kings. Next there are four players listed as doubtful, which means they are out as well: Moussa Cisse, Ryan Nembhard, Klay Thompson, and PJ Washington. Caleb Martin is questionable with a back injury.

The Grizzlies also have a ton of guys out. Let’s list them off! Ja Morant, Zach Edey, Cederic Coward, Brandon Clark, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Anderson, and Sani Aldama. Ty Jerome is doubtful. Before the game tips SIXTEEN players between both teams aren’t going to play. Ridiculous.

Dallas is tired. Naji Marshall is playing 100000 minutes. Memphis has at least had a day off, whereas the Mavericks played one last night. This might be an ugly game but I bet Dallas hangs around.

Be sure to chime in with your predictions in the comments!

Consider joining Josh and me on Pod Maverick live after the game on YouTube, we should start LATE. Thanks so much for spending time with us here at Mavs Moneyball. Let’s go Mavs!

DETROIT (AP) — James Harden sat out the Cleveland Cavaliers' game against the Detroit Pistons on Friday night as he recovers from a fractured right thumb.

Harden was injured Tuesday against New York. He's averaging 18.9 points in seven games for the Cavaliers following a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Cleveland also was without Donovan Mitchell. He strained his groin against the Knicks.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

DETROIT — The Cleveland Cavaliers will be shorthanded for Friday’s showdown against the Detroit Pistons. Their star-studed backcourt of Donovan Mitchell and James Harden will both be missing the game.

Harden broke his thumb in Tuesday’s win over the New York Knicks. Initial X-rays revealed a non-displaced fracture of the distal phalanx. He will not be undergoing surgery at this time and is expected to play through the injury.

However, that won’t be happening on Friday as he’s still struggling to dribble according to head coach Kenny Atkinson.

“I know this morning he was struggling a little just dribbling,” Atkinson said when asked about Harden’s thumb injury before Friday’s game in Detroit. “If you have a hard time dribbling and catching [it’s tough to play]. Jarrett Allen went through it earlier in the season. We tried to bring him back. He wanted to rush, and then we had to go back and give him some time.

“I know James is different…we got to get the feedback from James. … Theres no tougher guy in the league. No one more available. No one wants to play more.”

The plan was to have Harden go through pregame warmups and see how it goes. However, he didn’t come out for pregame warmups like usual.

Even though he won’t be playing Friday, Atkinson says that he is making progress.

“It was improved from when he first did it,” Atkinson said. “It wasn’t like, man it feels the same. It’s better than it was two days ago, so that’s a positive.

Harden has played seven games with the Cavs this season and is averaging 18.9 points and 8 assists on .494/.488/.867 shooting splits. On the season, he’s averaged 24.5 points and 8.1 assists in 51 games.

The Cleveland Cavaliers will be shorthanded again. That isn’t ideal when going against the best team in the conference, the Detroit Pistons.

I’ll be in the comments throughout the game sharing my thoughts. Feel free to join in on the conversation and let your voice be heard in the comments below.

Go Cavs!

VITORIA-GASTEIZ, Spain (AP) — Carlos Espí scored twice in the dying minutes to give Levante a 2-0 win over Alaves on Friday and a vital three points in its fight to avoid relegation from La Liga.

Espí, who came through the youth ranks at the Valencia-based club, had scored only once all season but tripled his tally with a blistering late show against an Alaves side that played the last half hour with 10 men after Víctor Parada was sent off.

Espí's deflected shot in the 88th minute put Levante ahead and he then sparked jubilant scenes with almost the last kick of the game when his assured finish rounded off a counterattack.

"This has been one of my greatest nights," the 20-year old told broadcaster DAZN. "It's incredible."

The result snapped a four-game losing streak for the home side. It remained second from bottom of La Liga but has cut the gap with the fourth bottom club to four points.

Alaves was 14th but only three points clear of the relegation zone.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Greetings, Panthers fans. Welcome to the weekend.

Feel free to use this thread to chat about (almost) anything you want: video games, food, movies, non-football sports, you name it. As long as it’s allowed by the site’s ToS, it’s fair game here.

You know the drill.

This is now an open thread

PARMA, Italy (AP) — Gaetano Oristanio came on at halftime and scored a late equalizer for Parma against Cagliari in a hard-fought 1-1 home draw in Serie A on Friday.

Oristiano’s goal seven minutes from time earned Parma a point but its poor home form continued. It has won only two of its last 12 home games and has not won two in a row at Stadio Ennio Tardini since January 2020.

Still, it has taken 10 points from its last 12 and moves into 11th place, a point behind Lazio and a point ahead of Udinese.

Michael Folorunsho put Cagliari ahead 18 minutes into the second half with a stunning 30-meter strike.

The midfielder on loan from Napoli missed the last 10 games through injury and was introduced just after the hour mark. Two minutes later, he spied Parma goalkeeper Edoardo Corvi off his line and his dipping shot from near the right touchline flew over Corvi’s head and into the far corner of the net.

The goal was Cagliari’s first since January but leaves it without a win in four games. It sits in 13th spot, six points above the relegation zone.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

WOLVERHAMPTON, England (AP) — João Gomes scored his first Premier League goal of the season and Rodrigo Gomes added a second in stoppage time to give bottom club Wolverhampton a shock 2-0 win over high-flying Aston Villa on Friday.

It was only the second win in the league for a club that remains six points adrift at the bottom of the table and is almost certain to be relegated.

However, there was no hiding the joy felt by the home players and fans who were ecstatic at beating their Midlands rival.

“You have to be pretty good to get a result like that against them,” coach Rob Edwards said.

“I’m really proud. Nights like this is why I came here. To connect with the supporters like that. I know we are in a difficult position but I love football. I love it on nights like that."

The result was a bitter blow to Villa’s Champions League aspirations and a slap in the face for coach Unai Emery, who was bidding to record his 100th victory in charge of the Birmingham club.

“Now is the moment to be together and understand how the season is going," Emery said. "We need to understand the moment we are in. We were already recovering because we drew two and won one but today we didn’t get the result we needed. It is still in our hands to reach the ambitions in the top positions.”

Both sides struggled in a dour first half but Wolves seized the initiative 16 minutes into the second period when Gomes gave it a surprise lead.

Adam Armstrong deftly cushioned a long pass right into the path of the onrushing Gomes and his superbly struck shot gave Emiliano Martínez no chance.

Villa pushed forward as the game went on and it was caught out in stoppage time when Wolves doubled its lead on the break, Rodrigo Gomes doing the damage.

Villa has won only one of its last five league games. The result leaves it 10 points behind leader Arsenal and five behind second-placed Manchester City, having played a game more than both.

Its next two matches are against the clubs immediately below it in the table, Chelsea and Manchester United.

“We need to keep playing how we are," Villa midfielder Morgan Rogers said. "We are in third for a reason, we need to not forget that. The run lately hasn’t been the same, sometimes you have to come back down to earth as you are playing good teams which you could win or lose. That is the Premier League. We need to stay focused and get back to what we know.

“We didn’t do anywhere near enough to create chances and score goals. “We controlled the game so it isn’t all doom and gloom. They took their chances and we didn’t create enough.”

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

STRASBOURG, France (AP) — Lens missed a chance to top Ligue 1 after it fought back from a goal down to draw at Strasbourg 1-1 on Friday.

Argentine striker Joaquin Panichelli scored for the third game in a row to put the home side ahead after 18 minutes at Stade de la Meinau.

Panichelli's 14th goal of the season tied him with Mason Greenwood at the top of the Ligue 1 goalscoring chart.

Lens fought back to equalize 17 minutes into the second half through Mamadou Sangare. A corner kick was cleared to Sangare’s feet and his first-time drive flew through a forest of legs and into the bottom corner.

It was only the second draw in the league for Lens, which was the better team in the second half but found Strasbourg goalkeeper Mike Penders in top form.

A win would have taken it a point clear of league leader and reigning champion Paris Saint-Germain but remained a point behind in second, having played a game more. PSG is at Le Havre on Saturday.

Strasbourg, meanwhile, climbed into seventh. It has lost only two of its last 14 matches in all competitions.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

The Phoenix Suns mildly shook things up at the February trade deadline by sending Nick Richards and Nigel Hayes-Davis away in exchange for Amir Coffey and Cole Anthony. On the surface, it was a deal that made sense. Phoenix needed to get off some money to get under the luxury tax line, and both Richards and NHD were the expendable assets to do so. Both players seemed to fit the Suns’ style: gritty, tough, disruptive.

Reports surfaced immediately that the team had no intention of keeping Anthony long-term, however.

Still sticking with this. I expect at some point the Suns waive Cole Anthony. He will not play for Phoenix. https://t.co/jkPQphwJNt

— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) February 9, 2026

The reasoning was simple. The Suns already had Jamaree Bouyea on a two-way contract, and the front office views him as the right fit for that specific role. Bouyea has taken advantage of the opportunity allotted to him, and while nothing is official as of yet, I would not be surprised if this were the next roster-related domino to fall.

While he played in 35 games for the Milwaukee Bucks, averaging 6.7 points on 42/30/62 splits, Anthony has consistently appeared on the injury report with a “not with team” designation.

That situation reached its conclusion today. The Suns are officially waiving Cole Anthony.

The Phoenix Suns have waived guard Cole Anthony, sources tell ESPN. Anthony averaged 6.7 points in 35 games for the Bucks before being moved at the NBA trade deadline.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 27, 2026

As Arizona Sports Suns insider John Gambadoro notes, the team was looking to see if a buyout was possible. A buyout would save the team some money if a deal could have been reached. Ultimately, that did not occur, so the organization opted to waive him.

Now that Cole Anthony has been waived (were just waiting to see if a buyout was possible) Suns will turn their attention to converting Jamaree Bouyea to a standard contract by March 4th then adding a player on a two-way contract.

— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) February 27, 2026

This move allows the organization to convert Bouyea to a guaranteed deal while also freeing up a two-way roster spot. It remains to be seen if the Suns will fill that final opening immediately, but their track record with player development suggests they likely will.

As for Anthony, he now enters the market looking for his next opportunity on either a standard or two-way contract.

AUGSBURG, Germany (AP) — Rodrigo Ribeiro scored for the second game in a row and Alexis Claude-Maurice added a second with the last kick of the game as Augsburg beat Cologne 2-0 in the Bundesliga on Friday.

Six days after he scored in a 3-2 win over Wolfsburg, Ribeiro's cute backheel from a cutback by U.S. defender Noahkai Banks broke the deadlock in the 55th minute.

Claude-Maurice made sure of the win deep in stoppage time when, with all of the Cologne players in the opposition box for a last-gasp corner, he charged forward and rolled the ball into the empty net.

Augsburg’s fifth win in six games left it in ninth place, tied on points with Eintracht Frankfurt, the team above it.

Cologne was missing four players with muscle injuries, a rash of absences that coach Lukas Kwasniok said was the worst he had ever faced.

The visitor was the more physical of the two sides in a hard-fought first half and was unfortunate not to go in a goal up at the break after Eric Martel’s header came back off the crossbar.

But Augsburg — wearing a one-off shirt designed to highlight the city’s history — took its chances in the second half as it roared to a club-record-equalling eight consecutive matches unbeaten at home in the Bundesliga.

Cologne has won only one of its last six league games and remained in 12th place.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer