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Getting James Harden to re-sign with the Clippers was the focus of the offseason. President of basketball operations Lawrence Frank called keeping the 11-time All-Star a “priority” for the team. The team didn’t have to wait long to find out if the superstar point guard intended to seek another team or stay put. Harden reportedly declined his $36.3 million player option on Sunday and is expected to sign a new two-year, $81.5 million deal, increasing his yearly salary and cementing his role on the veteran-laden team. According to ESPN, the second year of Harden’s deal has a player option and…
The Ducks are poised to enter Tuesday’s opening of free agency with the second most available cap dollars in the NHL, as well as plenty of impetus to put them to use. They haven’t made the playoffs in seven years and the crescendo of construction equipment leading up to the opening of O.C. Vibe next to the Honda Center is nearly at its peak. They’ve gone all-in on the coaching staff with the hire of Joel Queeneville (and soon Jay Woodcroft) while giving General Manager Pat Verbeek a mandate to push hard for the postseason. Much of Verbeek’s tenure has…
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – It was more of an acknowledgement than a promise. “I think that Hyeseong (Kim) has earned opportunities, and I don’t want to get him to lose his mojo and sit for four or five, six days and expect good at-bats,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said recently. “So I think that he’s earning the opportunity to get somewhat of a consistent look, and we’ll go from there.” Since that comment 12 days ago, Kim has just 11 at-bats and only one start in the past week. Opportunities haven’t been as plentiful as expected with Tommy Edman limited…
Earlier this month, former president Barack Obama took to X to express his disapproval of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement, highlighting that immigrants should be treated with “dignity and respect.” Predictably, many of the responses to the post focused on Obama’s record on deportations, which earned him the moniker of “Deporter in Chief,” and which far exceeded President Trump’s deportations during his first presidency. Many people often conclude that, given deportation numbers, Obama was worse or at least similar to Trump on immigration. But there’s a key difference that most people ignore: Obama didn’t gloat about his deportations and treatment…
D. Wayne Lukas, the Hall of Famer who became one of the most accomplished trainers in the history of horse racing and a face of the sport for decades, has died. He was 89. His family said Sunday that Lukas died Saturday night at his Louisville, Kentucky, home. Lukas had been hospitalized with a severe MRSA blood infection that caused significant damage to his heart and digestive system and worsened pre-existing chronic conditions. “Wayne devoted his life not only to horses but to the industry — developing generations of horsemen and horsewomen and growing the game by inviting unsuspecting fans…
LeBron James will opt into his $52.6 million player option with the Lakers for the 2025-26 season, bypassing the opportunity to become a free agent this week. James, the league’s all-time leading scorer who turns 41 in December and will enter an unprecedented 23rd NBA season – breaking a tie with Vince Carter for most NBA seasons played – had until 2 p.m. on Sunday to decide on the option in his contract as part of the two-year, $101.4 million contract he signed with the Lakers last summer. The decision, which was first reported by ESPN, came after James averaged…
Few political issues energize the public more than ones involving public safety for obvious reasons. We all want to feel safe. Unfortunately, the correlation between specific policies and crime remains as inexplicable as ever. Lawmakers respond to perceptions more than data, so we end up seesawing between tough-on-crime policies and criminal-justice reforms based heavily on anecdotes. The Legislative Analyst’s Office this month released a study that looks at a decade of state policy involving retail theft—and analyzes whether various laws contributed to the peaks and valleys of theft data. As it explained, reported retail theft increased by 11% between 2015…
As President Donald Trump and Congress fumble through his One Big Beautiful Bill on the budget for fiscal year 2025-26, they have been ignoring the mastodon in the room: Social Security and Medicare are heading into depletion. The funds are not in immediate danger. But according to the annual report of the funds’ Board of Trustees, the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, the key part of Social Security, can pay 100% of benefits only until 2033, the same estimate as last year. After that, “the fund’s reserves will become depleted” and be able to pay only 77% of scheduled…
The California Legislature has passed a $321 billion budget for the new fiscal year, with changes to Medi-Cal coverage for undocumented immigrants, funding to better prepare the state against future wildfires and additional investments to help revive the Hollywood industry. The legislature forwarded the spending plan to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who signed it on Friday evening, June 27. But the governor also made clear that adoption of the budget would be contingent on legislators sending him a plan that would make it easier to build housing in the state. The legislature has until Monday to send along the housing construction…
Anyone who watches USC football games is likely familiar with the cadre of towel guys on the sideline. It doesn’t matter if the Trojans just won on a Hail Mary or are down by 40 points and just made a routine tackle – there is no play where the guys aren’t right there ready to show their team spirit by enthusiastically whipping their towels. What would it look like if towel guys went into politics? Gov. Gavin Newsom’s social media team does a great impression. In recent months, Newsom’s spokespeople and their branded X account have recently become sassiest in…