Sports
NBA Europe closes in on 2027 launch despite EuroLeague uncertainty
Mark Tatum, Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer of the NBA, speaks during a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday, June 12, 2025, at the Wheeler-Dowe Boys & Girls Club of Indianapolis. The club was renovated to include a new repurpose room that includes games and new technology as part of the NBA Cares Finals Legacy Projects. NBA Europe is eyeing a 16-team league that will tip off in October 2027, regardless of whether the EuroLeague is involved in the venture, NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum said Tuesday.
“We remain in active discussions with the EuroLeague,” Tatum said. “We believe all parties must be aligned, and we are also realistic. We are ready to proceed with FIBA and our partners if needed. There will be a meeting with the EuroLeague in the next couple of weeks.”
The EuroLeague encompasses most of the continent’s basketball powers, including Olympiacos, Real Madrid, Fenerbahce and Barcelona.
According to Sports Business Journal, EuroLeague clubs would need to pay between $500 million and $1 billion for permanent NBA Europe franchises, but those commitments have yet to come.
“We’ve expressed to the EuroLeague, and we’ve talked to them about (how) the only way to guarantee a permanent spot in our league is through a successful bid for permanent franchise,” Tatum said. “But … we’re also ready to proceed with our partners and investors if we can’t come to some sort of an agreement.
“It would not be ideal, obviously, but … we continue to pursue a constructive, collaborative and aligned outcome across the entire European ecosystem. We’ve been consistent in that, in believing that all parties should align here for the best interest of basketball.”
Tatum added, “At the end of the month, the bids will be finalized, and after that, we will go through our process. There’s no specific timeline for announcements. We have to finalize our negotiations with the clubs for a tipoff in October 2027.”
Tatum acknowledged the recent news that Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic is investing in an NBA Europe team that will play in Rome.
“It’s amazing to have someone like Luka, who played in the EuroLeague, to return this way to European basketball,” Tatum said. “He is very excited about our project. Luka played in the EuroLeague, and he understands the need for a construct and a system that will benefit the sport.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Reds rally late, walk off with 10-inning win over Royals
inning of the MLB Interleague game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Kansas City Royals at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. The Reds won 4-3 on a walkoff hit by Blake Dunn, scoring Spencer Steer from second base in the 10th inning. Blake Dunn’s RBI single in the 10th inning completed a comeback and gave the host Cincinnati Reds a 4-3 walk-off win over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night.
Spencer Steer hit two home runs and scored the winning run as the automatic runner for the Reds, who won for the second time in the last six games.
Will Benson’s pinch-hit home run to right field off Royals closer Lucas Erceg leading off the bottom of the ninth tied the game at 3-all.
Dunn’s game-winning hit, off John Schreiber (0-3), was the only Reds’ hit that was not a home run.
Brock Burke (2-2) earned the win with a scoreless 10th.
The loss spoiled a gem by Royals starter Noah Cameron, who retired 20 of the 21 batters he faced. Kansas City has lost seven of its last eight.
Cameron only allowed Steer’s first homer, did not walk a batter and struck out eight.
Steer’s second home run of the game, a drive to right-center leading off the eighth, pulled Cincinnati to within 3-2. His ninth homer was an opposite field drive into the stands in right-center.
Reds starter Andrew Abbott gave up three runs on five hits in six innings with four walks and five strikeouts.
Steer’s first home run of the game, a shot to left-center, came with one out in the fifth after Cameron had retired the first 13 Cincinnati batters.
The Royals took a 3-0 lead in the fourth on a fielder’s choice groundout with the bases loaded by Jac Caglianone and a bases-loaded, two-run, two-out single by Michael Massey.
Cameron made an outstanding defensive play for the first out of the third on Dunn’s attempt for a bunt single. Dunn bunted the ball between the mound and first, and Cameron, in one motion, picked up the ball with a backhand swipe and flipped it out of his glove first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino.
Reds center fielder Dane Myers made a leaping catch at the wall on Starling Marte’s long drive for the second out of the fifth.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Twins prevail over White Sox; halt Davis Martin's 6-game win streak
Jun 2, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins third baseman Brooks Lee (22) hits a single during the first inning against the Chicago White Sox at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Johnson-Imagn Images Tristan Gray went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs, and the Minnesota Twins held on for a 6-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night in Minneapolis.
Luke Keaschall added a pair of hits and drove in two runs for Minnesota, which secured a series victory. Alex Jackson finished 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Miguel Vargas went 1-for-4 with two RBIs to lead Chicago at the plate. The White Sox have dropped back-to-back games after winning their previous five in a row.
Twins left-hander Connor Prielipp (2-3) allowed four runs on six hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out seven.
White Sox right-hander Davis Martin (8-2) endured his shortest outing of the season. Martin gave up six runs on 10 hits in 4 2/3 innings. The loss snapped a six-game winning streak and he suffered his first setback since April 10.
Twins right-hander Yoendrys Gomez got the final four outs to record his fourth save.
The White Sox opened the scoring with three runs in the top of the third.
Luisangel Acuna started the action when he drew a leadoff walk, stole second base and scored on a throwing error by Jackson. The White Sox had runners on second and third with one out later in the inning, and Vargas delivered with a two-run single to left to make it 3-0.
The hit gave Vargas six RBIs in the first two games of the series.
The Twins got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third. Brooks Lee hit a sacrifice fly to left, plating Gray.
Minnesota added four runs in the fourth to seize a 5-3 lead.
Keaschall started the scoring with an RBI single to left. Gray followed with a two-run single to left, and Jackson capped the outburst with an RBI single to right.
Gray, who hit a grand slam and drove in five runs in the series opener, has 11 RBIs in his past five games.
The Twins increased their lead to 6-3 on another RBI single by Keaschall in the fifth.
Chase Meidroth notched an RBI infield single in the seventh to cut Chicago’s deficit to 6-4. But he fanned to end the eighth with two runners on base.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Rookie Gage Jump, Athletics shut down slumping Cubs
Jun 2, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Athletics third baseman Zack Gelof (20) reacts after hitting an RBI-single against the Chicago Cubs during the fourth inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images Gage Jump pitched seven stellar innings in his second big league start and Zack Gelof had the decisive tiebreaking single to lift the Athletics to a 2-1 victory over the host Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night.
Jump (1-1) allowed one run and three hits and retired the final 14 batters he faced in an 85-pitch effort. Jump struck out five and walked one.
Nick Kurtz homered to help the Athletics win for just the third time in the past 10 games.
Justin Sterner pitched a perfect eighth inning and Hogan Harris replaced an ineffective Scott Barlow to record the final out for his fifth save.
Before Harris retired the final batter, Barlow encountered troubles in the ninth as Nico Horner led off with a walk and Pete Crow-Armstrong followed with a single, Chicago’s first hit since the second inning. Barlow then struck out Alex Bregman and retired Seiya Suzuki before being pulled.
The left-handed Harris came in, forcing the switch-hitting Happ to bat right-handed. Harris retired Happ on a fly to center to end it.
Bregman had the lone RBI for the slumping Cubs, who lost for the 13th time in their past 16 games.
Jameson Taillon (2-5) gave up two runs and six hits over 6 1/3 innings. He struck out six and walked one. Taillon has allowed nine homers over his past four outings.
The A’s took the 2-1 lead in the fourth when Brent Rooker and Henry Bolte hit consecutive one-out singles to put runners on first and second. One out later, Gelof lined a single up the middle over the leap of Chicago second baseman Hoerner and into center to score Rooker.
Jump didn’t start great by giving up singles to Hoerner and Crow-Armstrong in the bottom of the first. Crow-Armstrong proceeded to steal second.
Bregman’s infield grounder scored Hoerner. But the uprising was short-circuited when A’s catcher Shea Langeliers gunned out Crow-Armstrong trying to steal third. Jump then struck out Suzuki to end the inning.
In the second, Jump hit Happ with a pitch and allowed a one-out single to Michael Busch, the Cubs’ final hit off the 23-year-old Gage. The inning ended when Langeliers threw out Kevin Alcantara trying to steal second with runners at the corner.
The Athletics tied the game in the third when Kurtz came up with two outs and smacked an 0-1 sweeper from Taillon over the wall in left-center.
–Field Level Media
