Sports
Azzi Fudd becomes first rookie to win WNBA 3-point contest
Jul 24, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; Dallas Wings guard Azzi Fudd (35) shoots during the 2026 State Farm WNBA 3-Point Contest at Wintrust Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images Simply making the WNBA 3-point contest wasn’t enough for Dallas Wings star Azzi Fudd. She made some history, too.
Fudd became the first rookie to win the 3-point event, catching fire in the championship round to defeat the Portland Fire’s Bridget Carleton 30-19 on Friday in Chicago.
The No. 1 pick in this year’s draft was the fourth rookie in history to compete in the contest. She made 20 of her 26 shots in the final round, with all but two of her final 10 shots going in.
“You say ‘only’ six shots, but I feel like that was a lot,” Fudd said after being told of her low number of misses. “But honestly, I was really nervous. I was excited.”
Fudd added, “It’s fun to do because — and I don’t want to sound cocky — but it’s easy to me, just the set shot. Take the ball from the rack. It really is muscle memory. It’s what I’ve been doing since I was young.”
She took home $60,000 for her win, getting $20,000 from the league and an extra $40,000 from Aflac and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association.
She advanced to the final with 24 points in the first round, second to Carleton’s 29.
While most of Fudd’s shots fell, Sabrina Ionescu’s final-round record of 37 points held up. Fudd is prepared to make a run at the mark in the future.
“If they’ll have me,” Fudd said. “I’d be honored to be here again. … That’s not up to me.”
But Fudd saved her best shooting for last, firing a shot across the bow of the greatest shooter of all time.
“Steph, if you’re listening, I’ve been asking for a rematch since high school,” Fudd said in challenging Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry to a shooting contest. “Maybe it’s our time to figure out a time and a place.”
The two of them faced off in a 3-point contest at Curry’s SC30 Select Camp in 2018 when Fudd was a high schooler. After beating all campers — boys and girls — Fudd got a shot at Curry but lost by four.
In the first contest Friday night, Team Washington downed Team Seattle 31-24 to win the Shooting Stars contest.
The four-team event featured three players on each squad — a WNBA legend, a current player in the league, and a high school player selected through the Nike EYBL youth basketball circuit.
The Washington squad of Hall of Famer Elena Delle Donne, current Mystics center Shakira Austin and high school player Jezelle “GG” Banks defeated the Seattle team of Hall of Famer Lauren Jackson, current Storm rookie Flau’Jae Johnson and high schooler Tatianna Griffin 31-24.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Anthony Seigler (4 hits) helps Red Sox keep rolling vs. Blue Jays
Jul 24, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox second baseman Anthony Seigler (48) and fans react as Boston Red Sox left fielder Jarren Duran (16) dives across home plate to score a run against the Toronto Blue Jays during the eighth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images Romy Gonzalez’s pinch-hit RBI double sparked a two-run eighth inning, leading the Boston Red Sox to a 6-4 win over the visiting Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night.
The shot into the left-field corner brought Jarren Duran home from first base with the go-ahead run before Anthony Seigler capped his 4-for-5 day with a wall-ball double to plate another off Toronto reliever CJ Van Eyk (0-1).
Seigler, who batted leadoff, scored two runs, drove in two more, hit a leadoff homer, and added two doubles while falling just a triple short of a cycle.
The Red Sox have won 16 of their last 17 games.
Garrett Whitlock (6-1) earned the victory in relief, and Aroldis Chapman recorded his 391st career save to take sole possession of ninth on the all-time list.
The Blue Jays clawed back from 4-0 down to tie the game. Starter Trey Yesavage struck out nine across four innings of three-run ball.
Kazuma Okamoto, who entered the night 0-for-22 since the All-Star break, went 2-for-5 with a three-run homer in the seventh. It was his 23rd, which moved him past Shohei Ohtani for the most by a Japanese rookie in a single MLB season.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Daulton Varsho also had multi-hit games for Toronto.
After Patrick Sandoval danced out of a bases-loaded jam in the first, Seigler immediately staked the Red Sox to a 1-0 lead by depositing Yesavage’s fourth pitch into the right-field stands.
The Toronto righty’s frustrating outing continued two innings later, as he fanned the side in the second before allowing another home run in the third. Seigler knocked an opposite-field single before crossing the plate on Ceddanne Rafaela’s two-run shot just over the top of the Green Monster.
Yesavage retired six of the final seven batters he faced to keep it 3-0, but the offense could not take advantage of back-to-back innings with two aboard. In the fifth, Guerrero singled and Okamoto doubled to put two Blue Jays in scoring position with one out, but Tyron Guerrero relieved Sandoval and escaped the threat.
The Red Sox added to their lead when Masataka Yoshida scored on Andruw Monasterio’s sacrifice fly in the sixth. It could have been more, but Toronto left fielder Nathan Lukes gunned out Caleb Durbin trying to score from second on Connor Wong’s single to end the inning.
In the seventh, Okamoto brought Toronto right back into the game with one big swing, taking Greg Weissert deep to center field for a three-run shot. Ernie Clement (hit by pitch) and Guerrero (single) set the table.
After Jeff Hoffman’s bases-loaded escape in the seventh, the Blue Jays manufactured the tying run off Whitlock — the first he allowed in 13 appearances — in the eighth. Lukes hit a leadoff double to left and Varsho dunked a single into right, setting up pinch hitter Andres Gimenez’s sacrifice fly.
–Field Level Media
Sports
President Trump says of LeBron James: 'Maybe he's a racist'
U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 24, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein President Donald Trump, asked to weigh in on the basketball careers of Michael Jordan and LeBron James, said Friday that James might be a racist.
In a White House press conference, Fox News’ Peter Doocy mentioned the Friday news that James intends to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers, then asked the president whether Jordan or James is the “best ever.”
Trump replied, “Michael Jordan is a guy that’s a friend of mine. I play golf with him. He’s a really good guy. I think LeBron is — maybe he’s a racist, but maybe he doesn’t like Trump. I don’t know. I only like people that like me, so I would say Michael Jordan all the way.”
James endorsed the three candidates that ran against Trump in the past three presidential elections: Hillary Clinton in 2016, Joe Biden in 2020 and Kamala Harris in 2024.
James also criticized Trump following the president’s withdrawal of the Warriors’ invitation to the White House in 2017, after Golden State star Stephen Curry stated that he would have declined the visit.
Jordan, 63, won six NBA titles for the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s and was a five-time league MVP.
James, 41, owns four NBA championship rings and has been selected MVP four times during his career with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers. He is the NBA’s all-time leader in points and games played.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Eugenio Suarez's late homer lifts Reds over Cardinals
Jul 24, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Cincinnati Reds third baseman Eugenio Suarez (28) celebrates with first baseman Sal Stewart (27) after hitting a two run home run against the St. Louis Cardinals during the seventh inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images Eugenio Suarez delivered a two-run home run in the seventh inning to help the visiting Cincinnati Reds to a 4-2 win against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
Starting pitcher Rhett Lowder allowed two runs on one hit and two walks, striking out four in five innings for the Reds, who have won three straight and five of their last seven games.
Suarez gave Cincinnati a 3-2 lead in the seventh inning off reliever George Soriano (3-3). Sal Stewart knocked a single to left field, and Suarez mashed a slider 435 feet to left-center for his 14th homer of the season.
The visitors added another in the top of the ninth. Elly De La Cruz drew a lead-off walk, stole second with Sal Stewart at the plate, moved to third on a wild pitch from rookie reliever Luis Gastelum and scored on Stewart’s single to make it 4-2.
The Reds opened the scoring in the top of the fourth. JJ Bleday connected for a lead-off single and, with two out, Tyler Stephenson belted a ground-rule double to right-center that bounced into the St. Louis bullpen, allowing Bleday to come around for a 1-0 lead.
The Cardinals had trouble getting runners on base, going out in order during each of the first three innings. Their first baserunner didn’t come until JJ Wetherholt walked to start the fourth.
They finally made contact in the fifth. Lowder caught Ivan Herrera with a sinker on the arm. Herrera then stole second with Lars Nootbaar at the plate and advanced to third when Nootbaar flied out to deep left. After Nathan Church walked, Blaze Jordan notched St. Louis’ first hit of the game with a double to left-center field, driving in both Herrera and Church to put the Cardinals ahead 2-1.
Reds reliever Julian Garcia (1-2) recorded the final out of the sixth inning, the only batter he’d face, to earn the win. Emilio Pagan was perfect in the ninth for the save.
Cardinals starter Dustin May was solid through six frames, fanning eight and holding the Reds to one run on seven hits.
–Field Level Media
Anthony Seigler (4 hits) helps Red Sox keep rolling vs. Blue Jays
President Trump says of LeBron James: 'Maybe he's a racist'
