Cantwell said she will introduce the Student Athlete Fairness and Enforcement Act to give lawmakers an alternative to a bill on the House side that has yet to come up for a floor vote.
Mets Notes: Lack of leadership not the problem; how to proceed with Kodai Senga; surgery for Francisco Alvarez
The Mets' season ended on Sunday afternoon in disappointing fashion, losing to the Miami Marlins and failing to reach the postseason which capped off a disastrous final three-and-a-half months for New York.
In the wake of the perplexing elimination, president of baseball operations David Stearns spoke to the media about the unacceptable performance by him and the team that resulted in a 83-79 record despite sporting the second-largest payroll in MLB at $341 million.
Stearns also spoke on how to deal with a few players moving forward, as well as some housekeeping on the injury front.
Leadership material
With such a talented roster that was unable to put it all together consistently down the stretch, a common critique thrown out there by fans who are obviously not in the clubhouse or around the team on a daily-basis was that New York lacked leaders and/or leadership to be able to pick the rest of the team up when it was down.
It's a fair assumption given the way the Mets played for more than half the season, at times sleepwalking on the field and making mental/physical mistakes routinely. Plus, with the departures of veterans like J.D. Martinez and Jose Iglesias, who were instrumental in keeping New York focused yet loose last season, a void at the top was seemingly felt.
However, Stearns dismissed the notion that the Mets lacked leadership, pointing to what he personally saw out of the team in his interactions with the players.
"I think we have leaders in our clubhouse. I think we have leadership in our clubhouse,” Stearns said. “I do not think that was a problem."
He later added:
"I can tell you my experience in the clubhouse throughout this year is we had guys who cared about each other, who cared about winning, who worked hard."
It's true, New York had veterans on the roster such as Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo, Starling Marte, Edwin Diaz and more who are certainly capable of leading a team. But the spiraling nature of the team's free fall certainly would suggest that it was unable to cling on to something or someone when things got tough.
What was also telling, and quite frankly shocking, about this year's Mets team was their failure to win a single game after entering the ninth inning with a deficit. New York went 0-70 in those situations and was the only team in MLB to not record a comeback win in the ninth inning or later.
"It’s very difficult for me to explain how we were 0-70 trailing going into the ninth. That’s an inexplicable stat, and I’m not going to sit here and make up an answer for it," Stearns said.
So Senga?
In his news conference, Stearns made no bones about the pitching, or run-prevention as he put it (which includes defense), being the biggest culprit in the team's slow collapse. And while almost every pitcher fell short of their expectations whether from injury or just poor performance, perhaps the most notable was Kodai Senga who finished the season as a non-contributor to the team as he was sent to the minor leagues.
Senga's overall numbers actually don't look too bad as the right-hander went 7-6 with a 3.02 ERA in 22 starts over 113.1 innings pitched. But the numbers don't tell the full story.
After injuring his hamstring in a start on June 12, Senga, who had been pitching brilliantly following a lost season, missed a month before returning to the mound. Needing the help in what was a beleaguered starting rotation at the time, the Mets chose to bring back Senga earlier than anticipated and allowed him to work up his pitch count at the big-league level.
Perhaps rushing back the fastidious Senga was a detriment because after his first outing in his return to New York, the right-hander struggled mightily. In his final seven starts, Senga had a 6.06 ERA (1.65 WHIP).
His struggles left the Mets with no choice but to send him down to the minors where they hoped he would be able to figure out his mechanics and get his confidence back up to help the team for the final push. Instead, Senga made two starts for Triple-A and pitched to a 4.66 ERA before his fastball velocity dipped during a bullpen session that gave the team cause for concern. Enough so that he didn't make another start for the Mets despite the team and its pitching flailing.
That leaves New York and the right-hander in a precarious situation going forward, one with little faith that Senga can be counted on as he once was.
"Kodai has had two very inconsistent, challenging years in a row," Stearns said. "We know it’s in there. We know there’s potential. We’re gonna do everything we can to help get it out of him. But no, could we put him in ink as making 30 starts next year? I think that would be foolish."
Thumbs up
One player who should be celebrated this year is Francisco Alvarez who had a rollercoaster season. After a midseason demotion to the minor leagues following a brutal stretch, Alvarez worked hard to come back stronger than ever -- which he did.
With his season seemingly back on track, the young catcher was dealt a massive blow, spraining his UCL in his right thumb. The injury put him on the IL, but soon after he was back on a minor league rehab assignment, determined to return to New York and help his team.
In his first rehab game following the injury, Alvarez was hit on the hand and broke his left pinky. With just eight healthy fingers, Alvarez made his way back to the big leagues and not only caught behind the dish, produced at the plate too.
In his last 30 games, the 23-year-old had seven home runs with a .920 OPS to completely turn his season around. He finished with a triple slash line of .256/.339/.447 in 76 games.
The key and next step for Alvarez will be to stay healthy for a full season to fully tap into his potential. Stearns said he's on his way to doing that as he will require surgery on his ligament which he'll get in the coming days.
Pair Of Blues Clear Waivers; Heading To AHL Springfield Thunderbirds
The St. Louis Blues have assigned winger Matt Luff and defenseman Corey Schueneman to their AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds, after they cleared waivers.
Luff, 28, is entering his second season with the Thunderbirds after pouring in 18 goals and 45 points in 50 games last year.
The 6-foot-3, right-handed shooter started his professional career with the Los Angeles Kings franchise, before playing with the Nashville Predators, Detroit Red Wings and the Florida Panthers AHL affiliate.
Luff has played 276 games in the AHL, scoring 87 goals and 212 points. In the NHL, Luff has scored 15 goals and 27 points in 106 games. Luff hasn't played any games in the NHL with the Blues.
Schueneman, 30, is a left-handed defenseman also playing in his second season with the Thunderbirds. In 63 games, Schueneman scored four goals and 20 points. In his AHL career, Schueneman has recorded 25 goals and 110 points in 307 games.
Schueneman skated in four games with the Blues last year, but did not record any points. In his career, Schueneman has played in 35 games, scoring two goals and seven points.
News And Notes From Day 12 Of St. Louis Blues Training Camp
MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- Milan
Lucic was back on the ice for the St. Louis Blues on Monday, nearly a
week after leaving practice early with a groin strain. Defiant Kawhi Leonard on allegations: 'None of us did no wrongdoing… We invite the investigation'
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Hours after the latest allegations dropped in the Kawhi Leonard “no-show” endorsement scandal that has become the talk of the NBA, Leonard himself was defiant during Clippers media day.
"I mean, the NBA is going to do their job. None of us did no wrongdoing. And, yeah, I mean, that's it. We invite the investigation...
"I understand that full contract and the services that I had to do. Like I said, I don't deal with the conspiracies or the clickbait analysts or journalism that's going on."
Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank echoed Leonard's comments, saying during his remarks that, "we feel very, very confident we're on the right side of this."
The core of the allegations, first reported by the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast, are that in 2021 Clippers owner Ballmer invested $50 million in the "green bank" company Aspiration. Within 18 months, the Clippers purchased $100 million in those green credits as part of Ballmer's effort to make the Clippers' new home, the Intuit Dome, carbon neutral. Aspiration became a $300 million sponsor of the Clippers team in 2021.
About that time, Leonard signed a four-year, $28 million endorsement deal with Aspiration (he also eventually was given another $20 million in company stock, which is now worthless). The salary cap circumvention case centers on the idea that Leonard did nothing for Aspiration as an endorser that can be seen publicly, leading to accusations that this was a "no-show" endorsement. The argument is that it was a way to funnel extra money to Leonard through a dying company. Aspiration is now bankrupt, and its CEO, Sanberg, has pled guilty to $248 million in fraud. Ballmer has maintained his innocence, saying he was “duped” like other investors, and that the Clippers ended their team sponsor relationship with Aspiration after it defaulted on its obligations.
Leonard pushed back on the allegation that he did nothing for Aspiration, that this was essentially a "no-show" contract.
"I don't think that's accurate, but it's old," Leonard said. "This is all new to you guys. The company went bankrupt a while ago, so we already knew this was going to happen." Leonard, however, did not detail what he did for Aspiration.
Clippers president Frank opened his remarks with a statement that continued the Clippers' claim that it is innocent in all this and that they would ultimately be proven innocent.
"We are glad there's an investigation, and we welcome it," Frank said. "We appreciate that there'll be a clear-eyed look at these allegations, and we're eager for the truth to come out. The assumptions and conclusions that have been made are disappointing and upsetting, and we expect the investigation will show that these allegations are wrong.
"I'm hurt for Steve [Ballmer]. He's one of the best people and most honorable people I've ever met. He does things the right way for the right reasons, and he constantly reminds us to stay on the right side of the rules. I'm also hurt for our players, our staff, and fans…
"The accusations made against us are serious, and they don't line up with my experience, my reality. We will cooperate with this investigation and let this process play out. But we are eager for the whole truth, the whole picture, to be revealed. We're very confident in what it will show."
Frank dodged a question about whether Leonard's uncle and business manager, Dennis Robertson (commonly referred to as "Uncle Dennis") had asked him for improper gifts when he signed with the team in 2019. Representatives of the Raptors and Lakers have said he did with them, even asking for a piece of the team. "Dennis knows the rules. Kawhi knows the rules," was Frank's pat response.
Frank and Leonard agreed on something else — that this would not be a distraction for the Clippers.
"I don't read headlines. I don't do conspiracies, theories or anything like that," Leonard said. "It's about the season and what we got ahead of us right now. And, yeah, tomorrow we'll start camp and see what we got…
"I mean, the NBA is going to do their job. None of us did no wrongdoing. And, yeah, I mean, that's it. We invite the investigations. It's not going to be a distraction for me or the rest of the team."
"I think one is you acknowledge it…" Frank said of the allegations. "They know that we're, we're very confident that we're on the right side of things. And then you just focus on what you can control. I mean, if you're looking for a distraction, you can find one, right? I think what makes athletes so special is their ability just to focus on things they can control."
A veteran team like the Clippers might be able to put the distraction aside and focus on the game, but the allegations and the league's investigation are not going away.
Neither are the questions.
"No Doubt About It": Todd McLellan Recaps Sebastian Cossa's Performance Vs. Sabres
The Detroit Red Wings are understandably hoping for big things in the career of goaltender Sebastian Cossa, whom they selected in 2021 (15th overall).
As is the case with many goaltenders, Cossa's development has included both ups and downs so far in his tenures with the Toledo Walleye and the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Cossa faltered down the stretch last season for the Griffins, and didn't perform much better in the Calder Cup Playoffs when he was pulled during what was a three-game series loss.
He's already made two starts in pre-season play, making 15 saves on 17 shots in a 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sept. 23, but his start against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday wasn't as successful.
Cossa surrendered four goals on the 16 shots he faced as part of a 5-2 loss, which included a tally from Tage Thompson in the final frame in which he was scrambling to get back into position, albeit too late.
Tommer strikes again on the power play! 🎯#LetsGoBuffalopic.twitter.com/zD4L0IarpF
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) September 27, 2025
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As far as what head coach Todd McLellan believes about Cossa's performance against the Sabres, there were both positives and negatives, but his overall outlook of eventual starting goaltender material remains unchanged.
"I think that Sebastian has an opportunity to blossom into an outstanding goaltender, and he'll keep working towards that," McLellan said following Monday's practice. "Some of the goals that went in on him were - I don't know if a lot of guys would stop them."
"So Iconic": Cam Talbot Touts Red Wings History In New Mask Design For Centennial Season A steady, veteran leader is what the Detroit Red Wings gained when GM Steve Yzerman inked goaltender Cam Talbot to a two-year contract during the 2024 offseason.
"But that's okay - it's some of the other clean up stuff around the crease," he continued. "Being alert, he took a penalty when he went out and misplayed the puck below the goal line, those are are need to get cleaned up. And that's just being really sharp and alert all game. Even when the puck is away from you, you got to be thinking about what could happen."
Cossa spoke plainly during Training Camp about the necessity of having a strong season in 2025-26, which also happens to be a contract year for him. He's eligible for restricted free agency next offseason.
In the meantime, McLellan believes that if Cossa makes adjustments to certain aspects of his game, he could eventually be Detroit's go-to man in the crease.
"I think those are areas that he can clean up, but no doubt about it, I think he can be a really good goaltender," McLellan said.
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Minnesota Wild Make Cuts, Training Camp Roster Down To 31 Players
ST. PAUL, Minn - The Minnesota Wild announced on Monday some cuts to its training camp roster. The roster is now down to 31 players.
The Wild sent forwards Caedan Bankier and Rasmus Kumpulainen, defensemen Carson Lambos and David Spacek and goaltenders Samuel Hlavaj and Riley Mercer to the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League (AHL).
Iowa's training camp has begun.
Minnesota also placed forwards Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Ben Jones and defensemen Ben Gleason and Matt Kiersted on waivers for the purpose of assignment to Iowa.
The Wild also released defenseman Wyatt Newpower from his professional tryout. He will report to Iowa training camp.
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Plaschke: Is LeBron James planning to retire? Maybe, and that could be a Laker mess
Of all the reams of words publicly spilled at Lakers media day Monday, only one really mattered.
When LeBron James was wrapping up his interview with the folks at Spectrum Sportsnet, host Chris McGee asked, “By the way, see you at next year’s media day?”
James’ laughing answer set the template for a season.
“Maybe.”
So the Lakers should treat the next eight months emptying their assets and foregoing their future and playing with the desperation of a team trying to earn one last piece of jewelry for arguably the greatest player ever?
Maybe.
So should the fans here and around the league show up in droves and line up around the block for their last live look at a living legend?
Maybe.
Or, if everything goes wrong and things get ugly, should the Lakers and James willingly part ways through a midseason buyout?
Maybe.
No matter what happens, the fact that James didn’t reveal his intentions in his first public appearance since last spring means that this Laker season has the chance to be a murky maybe mess.
Everybody knows where the Lakers stand, as Rob Pelinka said last week. He wants James to finish his career here.
“We would love if LeBron’s story would be he retire a Laker,” Pelinka said. “That would be a positive story.”
But still nobody knows where James stands, and it’s not obvious, because, while he’s 40 and entering his NBA-record 23rd season, he looks young, and acts energetic, and Monday at the Lakers facility he was at his charming best.
“Just excited about the journey and whatever this year has in store for me,” he said.
He’s probably not saying because he truly does not know. Next spring is a lifetime away. He doesn’t know how he’s going to feel. He doesn’t know how his basketball future could look.
But because he’s not saying, this season could seemingly go one of three ways.
It could go the Kershaw Way. James could once again be one of the top players in the league but get worn down by the strain on his body and in the last weeks of the season he could call it quits. The Crypto.com crowd gets a chance to say goodbye and his Lakers teammates can use his retirement as inspiration for a deep postseason run.
Or, it could go the Kobe Way. James could decide in the middle of the season that he’s had enough and embark on a league-wide farewell tour, the sort that once brought the tough Kobe Bryant to tears.
Or, given the organization’s recent sketchy history, it is entirely possible it could go the Typical Lakers Implosion Way.
James could spend the year making the Lakers dangle on that “maybe,” subtly fighting against the loss of his team leadership to Luka Doncic, passively aggressively chiding Pelinka to improve the roster at the trade deadline, even occasionally threatening to quit on the spot.
Because it's too tough to trade him and the Lakers don’t want to spend the bucks to buy him out, they spend the rest of the season dodging his barbs, then, simply let James’ contract expire and watch him flee to home Cleveland for his swan song.
Three scenarios, but only two happy endings, and to make matters even more complicated, much depends not on James, but on the roster around him.
Are the Lakers going to be any good? Are you ready for it?
Maybe.
The Lakers only played 23 games with both James and the recently acquired Doncic last season, and they were 15-8 and grabbed a third seed and were acting like the best team in the NBA at one point before they disintegrated against Minnesota in the playoffs.
They added Deandre Ayton for length, Jake LaRavia for defense, Marcus Smart for toughness, and a new body for Doncic, a formerly pudgy and breathless kid who has acknowledged his very adult transformation.
“I’m in a better place for sure,” he said Monday.
Is that good enough to lead a team to a better place in the competitive West? Who knows?
Read more:Lakers set to open training camp: Five storylines to follow
Will it be good enough to convince James to ask for a new contract and stick around for yet another year? That doesn’t seem likely but then again, The Oldest Living Baller currently exists in the unlikely.
The only certainty is that James is going to make this decision on his own time, in his own voice, through his own podcast or social media or heck, maybe another 30-minute TV special called, “The Last Decision?”
How ever this plays out, he’s not saying anything now, which was obvious when he answered the first question at his media day news conference with dodgy utterances.
“I mean, I don't know,” he said. “I mean, I'm excited about today, I'm excited about an opportunity to be able to play a game that I love for another season. And whatever the journey, however the journey lays out this year, I'm just super invested, because … I don't know when the end is, but I know it's a lot sooner than later.”
He provided his most telling hint that he’s leaning into retirement when he talked about appreciating his final tours around the league.
“Knowing that the end is soon, not taking for granted, you know, a Tuesday night in a city that maybe I don't want to be in that night ... let's lock in because you don't know how many times you get the opportunity to play the game or to be able to compete,” he said. “So there's times where you wake up and you just feel like you just don't have it. So those will be the days where I know I can lock back in real fast, like, OK, well, you won't have many days like this, so let's lock in and enjoy the moment, enjoy the rest of the ride.”
He was asked if, now that he’s played with son Bronny, would he stick around to play with his Arizona-freshman son Bryce? His answer was LeBron at his fatherly best.
“No, I'm not waiting on Bryce,’ he said. “No. I don't know what his timeline is. He's his own young man now, like he's down in Tucson. We'll see what happens this year, next year, you know, but he has his own timeline. I got my timeline, and I don't know if they quite match up.”
He was asked if his decision would be influenced by a chance to play with Doncic. His answer was LeBron at his jabbing best.
“Ah, nah. As far as how long I go in my career? Nah. Zero,” he said. “The motivation to be able to play alongside him every night, that's super motivating. That's what I'm going to train my body for. Every night I go out there and try to be the best player I can for him, and we're going to bounce that off one another. But as far as me weighing in on him and some other teammates of how far I go in my career, nah.”
It may be Luka Doncic’s team, but it’s still LeBron James’ world, and he’s going to control his narrative down to the last syllables of the last sentences of his final goodbye.
And that don’t mean maybe.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Detroit Red Wings' Playoff Hopes Will Depend On New Goalie's Play
Every NHL team needs a goaltender to come through and help propel them into the Stanley Cup playoffs. However, some teams are more needy than others.
No goalie and team need it more than the Detroit Red Wings and starter John Gibson.
Without a doubt, the Wings need a big year out of Gibson. They acquired him from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Detroit’s 2027 second-round pick, 2028 fourth-rounder, and goalie Petr Mrazek.
The Red Wings are now committed to Gibson for this coming season and 2026-27 at an annual salary of $6.4 million. Detroit GM Steve Yzerman has firmly tied his playoff hopes to Gibson, and if it doesn’t work out for the netminder, things could get ugly in Motown.
At 32, Gibson has put up fairly decent individual numbers in his 12 years in the NHL, appearing in 506 regular-season games and posting a .910 save percentage. Last season, Gibson appeared in only 29 games for Anaheim, putting up a .912 SP and 2.77 goals-against average. He had some health concerns to deal with, but it’s presumed Gibson is fully ready to go. Regardless, it’s safe to say the Red Wings will be looking to Gibson to play many more games than he played last year.
Gibson has 26 games of playoff experience, but he hasn’t made it that far since 2018, when he lost four straight and posted a 3.60 GAA and .889 SP against the San Jose Sharks. So while he’s going to have a better-than average backup in Cam Talbot – who posted a .901 SP and 2.93 GAA in 42 appearances last season – Gibson is still going to be relied on the most in Detroit.
The Ducks allowed the most shots against and the second-most expected goals against last season, according to naturalstattrick.com. That made Gibson's play even more impressive last season, logging 15.3 goals saved above expected, which were the 13th-most among NHL goalies, per moneypuck.com. Talbot, meanwhile, had 12.8 goals saved above expected on the Red Wings, while Mrazek was a minus-14 between Detroit and Chicago.
Having Gibson steal some likely goals will lead to more chances for Detroit to develop some consistency and get enough points here and there to make the playoffs. Keep in mind that Detroit finished just five points out of a playoff spot, and they were 16-8-8 in one-goal games. The Wings' goaltending wasn't necessarily among the worst last season, but they'll take any potential upgrade to turn some of those one-goal losses into more wins or even overtime losses.
Red Wings Need Flawless Season To Avoid Decade-Long Playoff DroughtAfter nine years without Stanley Cup playoff hockey, most fans of the Detroit Red Wings have become realists. That's because, heading into the 2025-26 regular season, it's apparent to many of them that the Red Wings have little chance of securing a playoff berth.
That said, the Red Wings’ defense corps might be as challenging as the one Gibson's leaving in Anaheim. While the Wings were 15th in the league in fewest shots against and 20th in expected goals against, their defense corps doesn't inspire confidence beyond Moritz Seider and Simon Edvinsson.
With the NHL’s goaltender carousel spinning, a starting job anywhere is the best opportunity you’re going to get when you’re looking for a change of scenery as a goalie nearing his mid-thirties.
Gibson will be squarely in the spotlight, night in and night out, to demonstrate Yzerman was right to invest in him and bank on him being a difference-maker. You can’t say for sure how he will respond, but you can say Gibson will get every chance to re-establish himself as a top-tier netminder. The rest is up to him and the team around him.
Let’s not kid ourselves – the Red Wings and Yzerman could part ways if they don’t perform well this season, so the stakes couldn’t really be higher for the team and their new starting goalie.
The way Gibson responds will affect not only the Red Wings’ chances of ending their nine-year playoff drought but their path forward for the long term.
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Monday Night Football: WR Tyler Johnson a healthy scratch for Jets
Jets wide receiver Tyler Johnson is a healthy scratch for Monday Night Football.
Jiří Patera And The 2024–25 Waiver Wire Journey Back To The Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks have one of the best problems in the NHL — amass surplus in goaltending talent. It was ultimately for this reason that the team parted ways with Calder Cup MVP Artūrs Šilovs, who wouldn’t have been able to get the NHL playing minutes he wanted when lodged behind Thatcher Demko and Kevin Lankinen. The goaltending puzzle in Abbotsford appears to be set already as well, with Nikita Tolopilo and Ty Young taking up the roles as starter and backup or 1A and 1B.
Vancouver’s stocked cabinets aren’t limited to just those players, however, as there’s another goaltender who was just put on waivers today. Jiří Patera, who looks to fit in somewhere between the Abbotsford Canucks and the Kalamazoo Wings of the ECHL, is in his second season with the Canucks. Unfortunately, this is also his second season ending up on the waiver wire for Vancouver before the start of the regular season. While no one knows how things could go from here, the hope is that Patera’s second pre-season waivers stint isn’t as tumultuous as his first.
Last year, the Canucks sent Patera down to Abbotsford during the pre-season, needing to place him on waivers in order to do so. The Boston Bruins, who’d been having difficulties trying to navigate their goaltending situation as they were negotiating the terms of a new deal with starting goaltender Jeremy Swayman, claimed Patera from the Canucks to remedy any potential issues.
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Only a couple of days later, Boston resolved their issues by signing Swayman to an eight-year, $8.25M AAV contract. This gave them the freedom to send Patera down to their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins. But doing so would require putting Patera on waivers.
With Patera back on waivers, the Canucks made their claim, re-acquiring the goaltender they’d lost only a few days ago and retaining him as a part of their AHL core for that season. Now, Patera is back on waivers, and plenty of NHL teams are in a situation where they should search for more goaltending depth. Only time will tell where Patera ends up this year.
Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.
Warriors star Draymond Green shares main ‘motivation' entering 14th NBA season
Warriors star Draymond Green shares main ‘motivation' entering 14th NBA season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
The anchor of the Warriors’ defense has had one common thread for the past 13 seasons: Draymond Green.
The Michigan State alum has proven all there is to prove in his successful NBA career, but he’s never content. Green was asked Monday about possibly being selected to the NBA All-Defensive Team for a 10th time as the 2025-26 season begins.
“It would mean the world to me,” Green admitted to reporters at Warriors Media Day. “That’s my motivation, to go and try to make another All-Defensive Team and join that list. It’s an amazing list. All first-ballot Hall of Famers.”
Green’s defensive resume speaks for itself. His accolades include being the 2017 NBA Defensive Player of the Year, a nine-time NBA All-Defensive selection (five First Team, four Second Team) and a finalist for the 2025 DPOY award.
“To try to put myself, my name in the hat with those guys,” Green continued. “Like any time you can put your name next to guys like — you’re talking Kobe [Bryant], Tim [Duncan] … And I can put my little name next to that? That — I mean, that would be a dream come true.”
The four-time NBA champion has had some ups and downs in his career, but cementing himself as one of the greatest defensive players of all time clearly is on his radar.
“That is definitely a motivating factor for me this year, for sure,” Green said.
Along with the personal quest for a 10th All-Defensive selection, Green and Golden State are looking to hoist another Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy this upcoming season.
UCLA’s football roll call doesn’t show any immediate absences at redshirt threshold
UCLA players continue to report to football practice after hitting the mark by which they would need to redshirt to preserve a year of eligibility.
Devils Drop Both Split-Squad Games as Preseason Nears End
The New Jersey Devils played their fourth preseason game yesterday in a split-squad matchup. Half the team faced the Ottawa Senators on the road, while the other half hosted the Washington Capitals in New Jersey.
The New Jersey group started slowly but battled back to force overtime, ultimately falling 3–2 in a shootout. Despite the loss, there were several key takeaways.
Devils Lineup (vs. Washington)
Gritsyuk – Hughes – Bratt
Palat – Hischier – Meier
Lachance – Melovsky – Hameenaho
MacDermid – Glendening – Halonen
Casey – Pesce
Dillon – Nemec
Vilen – Osipov
Markstrom, Daws
This lineup was the closest to a regular-season look so far this preseason, with Jacob Markstrom starting in goal. The Devils managed two goals in regulation.
The first came 15:10 into the second period, when captain Nico Hischier scored off a wrist shot assisted by Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt, cutting the Capitals’ lead to 2–1.
Shane Lachance tied the game midway through the third, finishing a play set up by Hughes and Simon Nemec.
New Jersey was heavily outshot early, 10–2 in the first period, but narrowed the gap to 17–8 in the second and 19–18 in the third.
The game was decided in a shootout, which unfolded as follows:
- Jack Hughes scored
- Pierre-Luc Dubois scored
- Jesper Bratt missed
- Ryan Leonard scored
- Arseny Gritsyuk scored
- Jakob Chychrun missed
- Timo Meier missed
- Aliaksei Protas missed
- Nico Hischier missed
- Andrew Cristall scored, clinching the win for Washington
Meanwhile, the squad in Ottawa fared no better.
Devils Lineup (vs. Ottawa)
Dadonov – Mercer – Brown
Cotter – Glass – Legare
Bordeleau – Rooney – Squires
Crookshank – Lammikko – Parent
Cholowski – Addison
Edwards – Strand
White – Diotte
Romanov, Malek
The Devils were shut out 2–0 by the Senators, with Ottawa scoring twice in the third period. Stephen Halliday and Olle Lycksell provided the goals.
New Jersey took three penalties: Cholowski (holding, 1st period), and Strand and Brown (tripping, 3rd period). The standout for the Devils was goaltender Romanov, who stopped 61 shots for a .968 save percentage and 1.02 goals against average.
Both Devils squads came up short, and the organization has now begun roster cuts ahead of the 2025–26 regular season opener on October 9 against the Carolina Hurricanes.
New Jersey will close out the preseason with two more games: Thursday, October 2 against the New York Rangers, and Saturday, October 4 against the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Wraparound: What Role Will Zayne Parekh Play On The Flames?
The final full week of the NHL's pre-season is here, and it's time to discuss more rapid-fire topics on The Wraparound.
What Role Will Zayne Parekh Play On The Flames? by The WraparoundundefinedHere's what Emma Lingan, Michael Augello and Adam Kierszenblat discussed in this episode:
0:00: Breaking down Mason McTavish’s extension with the Anaheim Ducks
4:05: Reflecting on the career of Marc-Andre Fleury
9:55: Can Cam Fowler be a strong contributor for the entirety of his new extension with the St. Louis Blues?
13:45: Could Zayne Parekh play a big role for the Calgary Flames this season?
18:20: Will Anthony Stolarz be one of the NHL’s most valuable goaltenders relative to cap hit?
22:20: How will the Toronto Maple Leafs sort out their bottom six forwards?
26:10: Could Braeden Cootes crack the Vancouver Canucks’ opening day lineup?
29:35: Who needs to step up for the Seattle Kraken in the absence of Kaapo Kakko?
31:30: Could Radim Mrtka make an early appearance for the Buffalo Sabres?
See below for where to subscribe to the show for future episodes.
David Stearns 'open-minded' on shaking up Mets core and weighs in on Pete Alonso
Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns addressed the media on Monday afternoon, less than 24 hours after seeing his team lose to the Miami Marlins on the final day of the regular season, capping off a collapse that kept his club out of the postseason.
Stearns hit on a wide array of topics, including the possibility of shaking of the team's position player core, as well as Pete Alonso's looming free agency.
While the Mets’ starting rotation is very much in flux, many of the starting position players remain under contract heading into next season, outside of Alonso and role players like Starling Marte, Jesse Winker, and Cedric Mullins.
Still, Stearns said the Mets will need to be “open-minded” when it comes to the core group of position players in order to build a team that “fits together better.”
“I think we’re going to have to be open-minded on our position player grouping so that we can improve our run prevention,” Stearns said. “Does that mean there are robust changes? I don’t know. Does that mean people could be playing different positions? Maybe. Does it mean we ask people to play different roles? Maybe.
“A day after a season ends, I’m certainly not going to commit to what things look like in spring training or Opening Day, but I’ll say it again, our run prevention this year was not good enough, and that’s pitching and defense. They go hand-in-hand, and we need to improve in both.”
He later added: “I come at this like we need to create a better roster that fits together better. I think our players worked their tails off. I think they came to the park with the right attitude every single day, and it didn’t work, so I need to take a long, hard look at our roster.”
As for Alonso, who said on Sunday that he will indeed opt out of his contract and become a free agent at the end of the season, Stearns gave an answer that he also said many times around this point in the calendar last year.
“Pete is a great Met. He had a fantastic year,” Stearns said of Alonso, who became the club's all-time home run king this season after re-signing. “I said this last year and it worked out – I’d love to have Pete back and we’ll see where the offseason goes.”
Stearns also said that when it comes to Alonso, or any impending free agent, the player’s entire fit, on and off the field, are taken into account.
“Whenever we’re talking about departing free agents or players who were with us who are then free agents, it’s always the wholistic package of what that players brings to an organization,” Stearns said. “It’s what he means to the team on the field, it’s what that player means to the community, what that player means to the fanbase. That is always part of the decision-making process, and I imagine it will be again this offseason.”