Category: Deportes

The NBA’s all-time leading scorer has been very public about expanding his horizons to the fairways, links and greens (and also upset some folks in Memphis while on a golf course earlier this season). Now the 41-year-old is making things YouTube official.

“Follow along as LeBron brings his friends and fans along for the journey as golf takes him to some of the world’s greatest courses,” the description on the page’s first video reads. “Come for the game, stay for the great local food, wine, and a whole lot of laughs along the way.”

The first video features 96 minutes of footage of the reunion of the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers and their summer golf trip to Scotland. Featuring J.R. Smith, Kevin Love, Richard Jefferson and others, the trip celebrated the 10th anniversary of Cleveland’s only NBA title, when the Cavs rallied from a 3-1 series deficit to defeat the defending champion Golden State Warriors.

That Scotland trip also came as the basketball world waited on James’ free-agency decision after he announced in late June he would be departing the Los Angeles Lakers. The Cavaliers were considered a front-runner for much of July, but James eventually agreed to join the Philadelphia 76ers on a two-year, $8 million deal.

James began talking publicly about getting into golf in August 2025 and played a round at GreatHorse, a private club in Hampden, Mass., hours before the 2008 Team USA Olympic team was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

“My goal is to open doors for kids that look like me growing up in the inner city, to be able to go to country clubs at 7, 8, 9 years old and be able to go out and caddy or be able to go out and rent clubs and be able to be coached and play the game of golf,” James told NBA agent and Boardroom co-founder Rich Kleiman in July.

The YouTube page, simply titled “LeBron James,” is his latest media venture. He has been a recurring star on the talk show “The Shop” since its inception, started the podcast “Mind the Game” alongside JJ Redick and starred in the movie “Space Jam: A New Legacy.”

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As Yaxel Lendeborg boarded the bus to play in his first-ever NBA Summer League game in Las Vegas last month, even he couldn’t quite believe all the steps leading him to that moment. He hadn’t even watched the league’s summer showcase until last season, when he tuned in to watch Dallas Mavericks rookie sensation Cooper Flagg.

A year later, Lendeborg was preparing to take the floor, an “emotional” moment for a young man still trying to comprehend how his life led him to this point.

“When we were going to the game in Vegas, I was about to cry on the bus,” Lendeborg told The Athletic last month. “Like, this is crazy. I’m about to play in the summer league in Vegas in front of a bunch of people … Three or four tears kind of like dripped from the eye, but I was on a bus with a bunch of guys. They don’t even know me. They barely know me, so I can’t just be crying for no reason.”

“This is my first year actually going through having a full year of confidence, I guess you could say,” Lendeborg said. “I’ve never been a confident kid. So, actually having this time to believe in myself —  it means a lot to me, and I’m trying my best to not lose that no matter what goes on.”

Lendeborg subscribes to the idea that “pressure isn’t real,” a mindset inspired by a LeBron James’ quote that has helped him navigate an increasingly bright spotlight. The intensity will be picking up soon as Lendeborg enters his first NBA training camp with the Warriors counting on him to pay immediate returns on their draft investment. But in order to understand Lendeborg’s story and where he came from, it’s important to understand the years-long journey it took for him to find himself.

“It’s happened every year,” he said. “Every single year. Like, more than once every year. [At] UAB I literally had moments where I’m crying in the locker room like, “I quit. I can’t do this no more. I’ve used up all my luck.”

Lendeborg stayed the course, though. Looking back, he says there are three reasons he never quit: his mother, his grandfather and the people who invested in him along the way.

“It’s so much to play for and so much to give up if I actually quit,” he said. “Just having that in the back of my mind definitely kind of helped me out and just the people — just those guys — they really, really helped me out. I really love having people in my circle that are actually willing to spend an extra hour or two talking to me and making sure my mental headspace is right.”

Lendeborg believes the confidence he was searching for finally started to blossom once he reached Michigan. When he started practicing with his new teammates, he was reminded just how talented he was and that he could still stand out while playing alongside five-star recruits.

“I started feeling like, ‘Yeah, maybe I am good enough to play here,’” he said. “That kind of clicked a little bit for me, and then, once it started getting to like I’m getting down on myself because I’m not doing as good as I want. Those guys are like, Man, come on. You’re the No. 1 player in the country … And it’s like, damn, if you guys think that, then why don’t I think that? After that, it just kind of flipped and just became, ‘I am that good. I just got to act like it.’”

Lendeborg said the next breakthrough happened last November when the Wolverines were in the Players Era Tournament in Las Vegas and he put together a strong three-game stretch.

“I’m like, ‘Man, I just did it at the highest level,’” he said. “That’s really where it was like, ‘this is me, I can do this.’ And I started talking a little differently, acting a little differently, confidence was at an all-time high. From that moment on, everything just kept increasing for me.”

Lendeborg’s profile will only increase as his game continues growing. His on-court success and off-court comfort have already made him one of the Warriors’ most intriguing players, and that popularity will only increase if he helps Golden State win.

For his part, the young forward is trying to take his growing fame in stride. He still doesn’t see himself the way the rest of the world does because he’s still coming to grips with the fact that he has become the player he could only dream about when he was younger.

“As far as the expectations and everything that’s going around me, it’s like I’m new to this,” he said. “So, I haven’t been living this role my entire life, this just now became who I am. So, I’m just happy-go lucky about everything. I’m just smiling through it all. Obviously, I have people that don’t like me or don’t like whatever I say, how I play, all of that stuff, so it’s like whatever. Everyone’s going to have their opinion. And for me, it’s just like, pressure isn’t real.”

Every rookie goes through struggles, but Lendeborg’s journey seems to suggest he’s ready for whatever comes next. The little kid who wondered if he would ever reach this level has turned into one of the most promising rookies in the 2026 class.

“Man, I don’t think he’ll believe me if I tell him anything like this,” Lendeborg said of the message he would have for his younger self. “I know he’ll think I’m very cool. Like, very, very cool. We’ll be using yourself in a video game. Looking up to me as a role model, looking up to me as somebody that he doesn’t think can fathom, he won’t even be able to fathom how much we went through and how much we like sacrifice and the fact that it all worked out. I feel like he’ll probably think it will be like a movie script or something like that, you know? But it’s all real.”

Diana Taurasi was feted for her alltime great career and inducted into the Phoenix Mercury Ring of Honor on Sunday

PHOENIX (AP) — There’s certainly a good case to be made that Diana Taurasi is the best player in WNBA history.

For Phoenix Mercury fans, that case is already closed: She’s undeniably the G.O.A.T.

Taurasi was inducted into the Mercury Ring of Honor on Sunday at halftime of a game between the Mercury and Portland Fire, with the franchise retiring her No. 3 jersey and celebrating a superstar who has become synonymous with basketball in Arizona for more than two decades.

“This place has made me who I am,” Taurasi said just before her banner was unveiled in the arena’s rafters. “You guys let me grow, you let me fall, you let me get back up and gave me the space to become who I am today. Through the championships, all the good times and all the bad times, the loyalty you have given me is something I will take with me forever.”

“I got to this city in 2004, and I instantly knew this was the place for me.”@DianaTaurasi reflects on her illustrious 20-year career with the @PhoenixMercury 🤩pic.twitter.com/aImykImy4p https://t.co/Fe9jqFrdxb

— NBA (@NBA) August 17, 2026

Two decades of excellence in Arizona

Taurasi, 44, played for the Mercury from 2004 to 2024 and won just about every championship and award that is possible for a player.

She’s the WNBA’s career scoring leader (by more than 2,000 points), an 11-time All-Star, a six-time Olympic gold medalist, a five-time scoring champion, a three-time WNBA champion, a two-time WNBA Finals MVP, the 2009 regular-season MVP and the 2004 Rookie of the Year.

She said Sunday’s honor ranks up there with her biggest accomplishments.

“Today’s a big one,” Taurasi said before the game. “Today feels different. When your number goes up there, you can’t use it anymore, it’s done. So if there was any little competitiveness still in me, I think today it goes up in the rafters with the number and it feels really good.”

More than the sheer numbers, she’s remembered for her fierce personality that resonated in Arizona, helping turn the Mercury into one of the WNBA’s premier franchises. Taurasi was surrounded on Sunday by friends and family, including her wife Penny Taylor and their two children.

She said she’s lucky to have 20 years of friendships to celebrate — including her long relationship with the “X-Factor,” which is the nickname for the team’s loyal fan base.

“When I walk into (the arena), I don’t see strangers, I don’t see employees,” Taurasi said. “I see friends, I see people I go to dinner with, I see people I text regularly with. This isn’t just something where I showed up and said, ‘Well, let’s see what we can do here and then leave.’”

“I treated this like my extended family. I think that’s why walking in today — I’m really emotional.”

20 flowers for 20 illustrious years 💐

Congrats, @DianaTaurasi! https://t.co/82apcRCdS0

— NBA (@NBA) August 17, 2026

Thousands of fans celebrate

Hundreds of fans had gathered in downtown Phoenix more than two hours before the game — many wearing the No. 3 jersey Taurasi donned for two decades — even on an August afternoon with temperatures topping 105 degrees. Some took pictures in front of a mural featuring Taurasi on the side of the arena.

The announced attendance was 16,513, a sellout and a testament to how much the WNBA has grown since she debuted with the Mercury in 2004 after a stellar college career at UConn.

A string of tributes flowed throughout the evening, including from Suns star Devin Booker, former teammate Brittney Griner and recent football Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Larry Fitzgerald. Three-time WNBA MVP Sheryl Swoopes and 23-time gold medalist swimmer Michael Phelps were also in attendance.

Taurasi’s name was in lights several feet off one of the baselines, with some real, live goats grazing on hay. There was also a “Goat Plush Toss” where game staff threw toy goats into the stands.

There’s no doubt who fans in Arizona believe is the greatest WNBA player of all time.

“When you’re in the Valley, there’s a reason you call her the G.O.A.T,” said Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts. “We all believe that, the impact that she’s made on this organization.”