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🚨 Headlines

🏀 NCAA to pay women’s tourney teams: Starting this year, the NCAA women’s basketball tournament will feature financial rewards for participating teams (similar to the “performance units” earned in men’s hoops). NCAA D1 members voted unanimously in favor of the measure.

🏈 Class of 2025: Nick Saban, Urban Meyer and Michael Vick headline the College Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025, which includes 18 players and four coaches.

⚾️ A’s land Japanese phenom: The Athletics have signed 18-year-old two-way phenom Shotaro Morii. He’s the first Japanese player to sign with an MLB team directly out of high school, and his path to the majors could shake up the posting system as we know it.

🏈 Ewers entering draft: Texas QB Quinn Ewers has declared for the NFL draft, clearing the path for Arch Manning to take over as the Longhorns starter. He’ll be a redshirt sophomore next season and can turn pro as early as 2026.

⛳️ LIV’s new leader: Scott O’Neil is taking over as CEO of LIV Golf, ending Greg Norman’s three-year run at the helm. O’Neil was previously CEO of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which owns the 76ers and Devils.

🏀 Should Steph move on from the Warriors?

The Warriors are middling and boring, and Steph Curry is practically waving the white flag on this season. Should the four-time champion and two-time MVP move on from the only franchise he’s ever known?

From Yahoo Sports’ Kevin O’Connor:

The state of the franchise is dark. The team’s effort is uninspiring. The arena feels lifeless. This isn’t the joyful, chaotic Warriors team that revolutionized basketball. That energy is gone, replaced by a snooze of a team playing a style that the league figured out.

It feels like Tom Brady’s last season in New England all over again. Back in 2020, the Patriots were headed for cap hell, the roster was aging, and it was clear the franchise was gearing up for a retooling phase. Brady saw the writing on the wall, left for Tampa Bay and won his seventh ring.

Now, Steph is facing a similar crossroads: Does he ride it out in Golden State no matter how bleak it gets? Or does he pull a Brady and chase rings elsewhere? Unlike Brady, Curry can’t walk in free agency: He’s signed through 2026-27 for $122.21 million after inking an extension last offseason. So if Steph wanted out, he’d have to request a trade.

Curry is eligible to be traded this season, though he’d have more clarity about Golden State’s situation this summer. By June he’ll know where the Warriors land in the draft and whether there’s a superstar trade worth pursuing. But actions speak louder than words, and everything Golden State has done so far screams that they’re not serious about contending right now.

What he’s saying: Earlier this month, Curry criticized the Warriors’ two-timeline plan (i.e. win now with veterans, while also developing young talent through high draft picks), saying the postmortem on it would be “not great.” He changed his tune this week, emphasizing the importance of “keeping the franchise in a good spot” and not sacrificing the future to save the present. Draymond Green and Steve Kerr made similar comments.

It sure is strange for three of the NBA’s greatest competitors to just be giving up on this season. The messaging reads like some sort of coordinated PR campaign about mindful trading. Maybe the team is preparing to tank with Steph dealing with lingering knee pain, and Green with a back issue. Or maybe it’s just the cold reality: the run is over.

If Curry hits the trade market, the possibilities are endless. Imagine pairing him with Nikola Jokić in Denver, flanking Victor Wembanyama in San Antonio, or supercharging the Magic, Rockets or Timberwolves. Any of these would provide him a greater shot to win a fifth or sixth ring than the Warriors realistically could.

Leaving could also be for Golden State’s best. After all, as Steph himself said: There is a responsibility of keeping the franchise in a good spot once he’s done. So what’s better: Hover around .500 for the foreseeable future or trade Steph for a haul before he declines and then rebuild? It’s quite clearly the latter.

Bottom line: Maybe the Warriors luck into a top pick in the next two drafts. Maybe a star that fits becomes available. Maybe Steph sticks around long enough for the team to reload for more runs. But right now, the championship window is shut, so Curry has six months to ponder which door he walks through: the one that keeps him where it all began, or one that dares him to chase something even bigger.

🏒 Could all 7 Canadian teams make the playoffs?

It’s been nearly 40 years since we last saw all seven Canadian teams reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Could this be the year it finally happens again?

Where it stands: The Winnipeg Jets (63 points), Edmonton Oilers (59), Toronto Maple Leafs (56) and Calgary Flames (49) are currently in playoff position, while the Vancouver Canucks (48), Ottawa Senators (47) and Montreal Canadiens (46) are all within 1-2 points of a wild-card spot and firmly in the mix. There are no stragglers.

Wind the clocks back: The last time seven Canadian teams made the playoffs was in 1985-86, back when they made up a third of the 21-team NHL. Heck, we haven’t even seen six make the field since 1992-93. Coincidentally, the Canadiens won the title in both of those seasons, and Montreal’s 1993 triumph is the last time a team from Canada won the Stanley Cup.

That’s right, folks… It’s been 31 long years since Canada hoisted Lord Stanley’s Cup, a trophy donated in 1892 by the sixth governor-general of Canada, to be presented to “the championship hockey club of the Dominion of Canada.” It’s a drought so long you almost have to call it a “curse.” Fortunately, I’m pretty sure we just discovered the formula for breaking it:

Looking ahead: All seven teams north of the border will be in action on Saturday for the 25th edition of Hockey Day in Canada. And if everything goes right over the next couple days, all seven will be in playoff position when the celebrations begin.

🏀 Dunk of the night*

Ja Morant threw down what could very well be the best dunk of the season on Wednesday night in San Antonio, posterizing 7-foot-3 Victor Wembanyama.

The only problem? It didn’t count. Morant had drawn a foul seconds earlier, but he didn’t hear the whistle and kept charging right to the rim, where he met Wemby in mid-air and hammered home an epic one-handed dunk.

Morant on Wemby: “I dunked on plenty of people bro, he don’t get no pass. If you’re at the rim, I’m gonna try you if it’s that situation.”

🚨 Athletes’ homes keep getting burglarized

Evgeni Malkin’s home was broken into on Saturday, and the Penguins star says his three Stanley Cup rings are missing. It’s the latest in a rash of burglaries at the homes of professional athletes while they were playing games or traveling.

Recent burglaries:

• NBA: Thieves stole jewelry from Mike Conley Jr. and more than $100,000 worth of property from Karl-Anthony Towns when their Minnesota homes were broken into on consecutive days in September. In October, Bobby Portis was robbed of “most of my prized possessions,” and Luka Dončić had $30,000 worth of jewelry stolen last month.

• NFL: Patrick Mahomes (jewelry, trophies, jerseys) and Travis Kelce (a watch, $20,000 in cash) were robbed on consecutive days in October, and Joe Burrow’s Ohio home was broken into last month while he was playing in Dallas.

• NHL: Stars center Tyler Seguin reported that $500,000 worth of watches were stolen while he was playing a home game in late November.

Organized crime: The FBI issued a warning in December that “organized theft groups” from South America were behind these robberies. These groups are sophisticated, often conducting advanced recon by making “attempted home deliveries” or “posing as joggers.” They have the ability to bypass alarm systems and security cameras, and the break-ins are designed to take place when athletes aren’t home, which is fairly easy to know thanks to team schedules.

Is the Malkin heist related? It’s unclear whether these criminal gangs were responsible, but certain details about the break-in (the Penguins were playing the Senators at the time, and Malkin’s alarm system and cameras weren’t functional) suggest there may be a link.

✍️ Extra points

🏀 Michigan’s dynamic duo: Conventional wisdom says you can’t play two 7-footers together. Nobody told the Wolverines, who are dominating opponents when starters Danny Wolf (7-foot) and Vlad Goldin (7-foot-1) share the floor.

🏈 Third time’s the charm: What do Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian, Dan Devine and Lou Holtz have in common? They all won the national championship in their third year as Notre Dame’s head coach. You’ll never guess what year Marcus Freeman is in. (h/t Yahoo Sports AM reader Richard Rothschild)

🏀 Historic streak snapped: The Iowa State women’s basketball team went nearly 30 years making at least one 3-pointer in every game. That 945-game streak (NCAA record) ended Wednesday when they went 0-of-7 from deep in a win over Texas Tech.

🏈 A tricky problem to solve: How do you stop football players from faking injuries? College coaches discussed that issue at a conference this week, and emerged with a proposal: Any injured player would be sidelined the rest of the drive unless a team used a timeout to reinstate the player. A head coach fine was also discussed.

📺 Watchlist: The rematch

The NBA’s two best teams meet again tonight (7:30pm ET, TNT), as the Thunder and Cavs square off in Oklahoma City just eight days after Cleveland won Round 1 at home.

No close second: The Cavs (34-5) and Thunder (33-6) hold comfortable leads atop their respective conferences, with Cleveland leading Boston (28-12) by 6.5 games and OKC leading Houston (27-12) by 6 games.

More to watch:

• 🎾 Australian Open: Third round (7pm, ESPN+; 9pm, ESPN2)

• 🏒 NHL: Red Wings at Panthers (7pm, ESPN); Oilers at Avalanche (9:30pm, ESPN)

• 🏀 NCAAM: No. 18 Memphis at Temple (7pm, ESPN2); No. 20 Michigan at Minnesota (7pm, FS1); No. 16 Gonzaga at Oregon State (11pm, CBSSN)

• 🏀 NCAAW: No. 17 Georgia Tech at No. 3 Notre Dame (6pm, ACC); No. 2 South Carolina at No. 19 Alabama (7pm, SEC+); No. 18 Cal at No. 16 Duke (8pm, ACC)

• ⚽️ Premier League: Manchester United vs. Southampton* (3pm, USA)

• ⛳️ PGA Tour: The American Express (11:30am, ESPN+; 4pm, Golf) … At PGA West in La Quinta, California.

*Bottoming out: Man United (6-5-9, 14th place) are on pace for their worst Premier League finish ever, and Southampton (1-3-16, last place) are off to the worst 20-game start in league history.

🏟️ Stadium trivia

Question: What’s the only venue ever to host a World Series, a Super Bowl, a Final Four (men’s basketball) and an MLB All-Star Game?

Hint: It no longer exists.

Answer at the bottom.

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Trivia answer: The Metrodome in Minneapolis (1982-2014). It hosted two World Series (1987, 1991), one Super Bowl (XXVI in 1992), two NCAA Final Fours (1992, 2001) and one MLB All-Star Game (1985).

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