The Minnesota Lynx signed center Teaira McCowan to a contract on Thursday.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed by the Lynx.

McCowan, 29, came off the bench in 17 games last season with the Dallas Wings, averaging 5.6 points and 4.6 rebounds. She was waived by Dallas last August shortly after the Lynx acquired DiJonai Carrington from the Wings.

Listed at 6-foot-7, McCowan has averaged 10.7 points and 8.1 boards in 207 career games (131 starts) with the Indiana Fever (2019-21) and Wings. She was selected by the Fever with the third overall pick of the 2019 WNBA Draft.

–Field Level Media

Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart addressed teammates to clear the air over his appearance at a Republican-backed event in New York that featured President Donald Trump, according to multiple reports.

Dart introduced Trump last week at festivities supporting the campaign of Rep. Mike Lawler, who represents New York’s Hudson Valley in Congress and is running for a third term.

Dart’s presence and on-the-mic role at the rally sparked a reaction from Giants pass rusher Abdul Carter, the third overall draft pick in 2025 — the same year in which the Giants selected Dart with the 25th pick.

“Thought this (s—) was AI,” Carter wrote in a since-deleted post on X that showed the video featuring Dart’s introduction of the president. “What we doing, man?”

ESPN reported veteran quarterback Jameis Winston and edge rusher Brian Burns addressed the team in the same meeting with a goal of shifting the focus to keeping concerns and differences of opinion in house.

Earlier this week, Carter attempted to downplay perception the draft-class peers were at odds over a political divide with another post to social media.

“Me & JD6 are good!” he wrote on X about Dart but since deleted the post. “We spoke earlier as Men. Yall can keep yall narratives.”

The Giants were 4-13 in the first season with Dart and Carter. They hired a new head coach — John Harbaugh — and he was put in an awkward position during the draft.

Harbaugh was called to defend the selections of linebacker Arvell Reese (No. 5 pick) and offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa (No. 10) instead of Ohio State safety Caleb Downs, the player wide receiver Malik Nabers openly lobbied for. Downs wound up being selected by the rival Dallas Cowboys in the No. 11 slot.

Nabers backtracked on the criticism after he said Harbaugh explained how the Giants’ defense would unleash Reese in a creative, matchup-based role.

Harbaugh and his younger brother, Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh, were Trump’s guests at the White House in 2025. At the time, John Harbaugh coached the Baltimore Ravens.

John Harbaugh panned media members in Baltimore pressing about his decision to visit the White House at the time, and Harbaugh flipped the question, asking why the query didn’t focus on “a chance to go visit the president.”

“It was amazing. It was awesome. And I promise you I root for our president,” Harbaugh said in July 2025. “I want our president to be successful just like I want my quarterback to be successful and I want my team to be successful, and it was an amazing experience.”

–Field Level Media

NASCAR star Kyle Busch was potentially ill for “weeks” leading up to his untimely passing, his death certificate revealed Thursday.

The cause of death was confirmed to be triggered by sepsis, which developed from a bout of bacterial pneumonia, as family revealed following Busch’s death on May 21. Sepsis triggered clotting within blood vessels that cut off flow to vital organs.

Busch, a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion who is considered one of the best drivers of all time, was 41.

Busch experienced shortness of breath and was coughing up blood the day before his death, according to a 911 call obtained by USA Today.

He is survived by his wife Samantha, 11-year-old son Brexton and 4-year-old daughter Lennix. He was the younger brother of NASCAR Hall of Fame member Kurt Busch, 47.

The Busch family was on hand for Saturday’s Cup Series race at Charlotte, N.C., as NASCAR conducted a weekend of tributes to the late champion.

Those tributes will be ongoing, with rival driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. revealing he will compete in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Nashville this weekend with the same NOS Energy Drink paint scheme Busch used until 2017. Busch delivered 22 of his record 102 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victories with the paint scheme.

Busch accrued a record 234 wins across NASCAR’s top three series: 63 in the Cup Series, 102 in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and 69 in the Craftsman Truck Series. He won a trucks race at Dover, Del., just six days before his death.

The Las Vegas native was the NASCAR Cup Series champion in 2015 and 2019. He never won the Daytona 500 but claimed the pole for the first time this year before finishing 15th. His biggest wins included the 2008 Southern 500, the 2015 and 2016 Brickyard 400 and 2019 Coca-Cola 600.

–Field Level Media