The Pacers won't go away, and neither will Lionel Messi
The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic's daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox.
Good morning! Throw a knuckleball today.
In sports, we honor perseverance. Defying the odds. Heroic upsets. They form the bedrock of our fandoms, and they follow a familiar rhythm. We know all those stories. This Indiana Pacers team, despite hitting all those benchmarks, feels markedly different.
What else is there to say about these Pacers? We have readied ourselves for them to peter out in the last three rounds. We gave them respectful applause after losing Game 5 in Oklahoma City to go down 3-2 in these finals, with superstar guard Tyrese Haliburton ailing. It was a great run, fellas.
Then last night happened:
Pacers 108, Thunder 91. The lead reached 30 by the fourth quarter, too, and starters were pulled. This was a flat-out blowout. Just … how?
Two images that will stick with me before Game 7:
Pascal Siakam locked in for Game 6 👀 pic.twitter.com/C32bk4p0h9
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 20, 2025
Was Pascal Siakam summoning a higher power? A mystic force? Whatever came through the Ouija board worked, because what else can you call this:
OH MY GOODNESS THIS PACERS SEQUENCE 🤯
HALIBURTON STEAL.HALIBURTON NO-LOOK DIME. SIAKAM SLAM WITH FORCE.
Indy seeking a Game 7 on ABC 🏆 pic.twitter.com/hr7RKcCUbq
— NBA (@NBA) June 20, 2025
Game 7 is Sunday in Oklahoma City. I'm done thinking the Pacers are done, and you should be too. Oh, and the last time the NBA Finals went to Game 7, the road team won.
Sure, we waxed plenty yesterday about the Club World Cup and its necessity. It remains a valid worry, which made this kick from Lionel Messi yesterday all the more important:
That is magic from Lionel Messi.
The Argentinian puts Inter Miami in front against Porto with a trademark free kick.
That's the 69th from outside the penalty box of his career.#FIFACWC
🎥 @DAZNFootballpic.twitter.com/hu2XPvV0kM
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) June 19, 2025
The cracking free kick from Messi delivered Inter Miami a 2-1 win over Porto, an incredible feat for the MLS side against a European opponent. It also came in front of 30,000 fans in an atmosphere tournament organizers envisioned while creating this competition.
Even more interesting: There's plenty of rancor over whether Messi's outfit should be in this tournament at all. Felipe Cardenas has more on that in his full story from the game.
Two other soccer notables:
Let's keep moving:
Dodgers say they denied ICE
The Dodgers barred federal immigration officials from accessing grounds outside Dodger Stadium yesterday, the team said in a statement. The authorities' request came mere hours after news broke that the Dodgers plan to assist immigrant groups affected by the recent ICE raids in Los Angeles. We have more from the scene here.
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Juventus' 'weird' White House visit
Players for Italian side Juventus were surprised yesterday with a trip to the White House, just hours before the team played Al-Ain FC at the Club World Cup in Washington, D.C. Two USMNT players, Weston McKennie and Tim Weah, took part in an Oval Office photo op that Weah called 'a bit weird.' The team stood behind President Donald Trump as he talked about topics like Iran and transgender athletes. See our full report.
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📺 MLB: Mets at Phillies
7:15 p.m. ET on Apple TV+
These are the top two teams in the NL East, which is enough to give it a watch, but also tune in for Phillies starter Zack Wheeler, arguably the league's best pitcher and a singular character.
📺 CWC: Flamengo vs. Chelsea
2 p.m. ET on TNT/DAZN
This is your best Club World Cup choice today, as it should be a tight match. Chelsea also has tremendous support in the States and remains one of the Premier League's most interesting teams right now. Plus, Chelsea's Andrey Santos — who signed with the EPL blueblood from Flamengo rival Vasco de Gama — expects a harsh reception.
Get tickets to games like these here.
The true knuckleballer is dead, as Cody Stavenhagen wrote yesterday. One Tigers prospect with an incredible backstory is trying to revive the tradition. Make time for this today.
How does Cooper Flagg compare to the top prospects in each of the last 20 years? Sam Vecenie has answers only he could find. The NBA Draft is next week.
Basketball is seeing a boost in Britain — because of court design. Eduardo Tansley tells us how.
It's easy to think the guy who just signed a huge contract feels pretty good about himself. But Sam Darnold thinks he needs to prove himself all over again.
Want a preview of Mark Walter's tenure as Lakers majority owner? Andy McCullough and Fabian Ardaya see dollar signs everywhere.
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You know what seems bad? Every vibe in the Rangers building, especially after reading Peter Baugh's deep dive into this season, which left everyone unhappy.
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Our update on Shedeur Sanders' driving citation.
Most-read on the website yesterday: The Dodgers/ICE story.
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Forbes
19 minutes ago
- Forbes
UFC 317 Main Card Gets Updated After Latest Fight Cancellation
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UFC 317 Pay-Per-View Fight Card (Updated) Ilia Topuria vs. Charles Oliveira - For vacant UFC lightweight title Alexandre Pantoja vs. Kai Kara-France - For Pantoja's UFC flyweight title Brandon Royval vs. Joshua Van - Flyweight Beneil Dariush vs. Renato Moicano - Lightweight Payton Talbott vs. Felipe Lima - Bantamweight UFC 317 Main Card Updates NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - JUNE 07: Joshua Van of Myanmar enters the octagon before the flyweight bout ... More against Bruno Silva of Brazil during UFC 316 at the Prudential Center on June 07, 2025 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo) The first change to the UFC 317 pay-per-view card came in early June when Manel Kape was forced from his fight opposite Brandon Royval due to injury. The surging Joshua Van quickly agreed to step in to replace Kape. The most recent change came this week, when Costa fell ill and withdrew from his matchup with Kopylov. Reports are that the Costa vs. Kopylov contest will move to UFC 318 in July. Replacing the Costa vs. Kopylov fight is a short-notice matchup between Payton Talbott and Felipe Lima. The rest of the UFC 317 fight card is up in the air at this time. According to the UFC's 317 page, there are two official fights for the prelims and one official matchup for the early prelims. Another fight that has been scrapped from the UFC 317 card is the heavyweight matchup between Jhonata Diniz vs. Justin Tafa. Tafa pulled out of that fight. Diniz now faces Alvin Hines on the early prelims. UFC 317 Fight Card Main Event: Ilia Topuria Vs. Charles Oliveira ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - OCTOBER 26:Ilia Topuria of Spain prepares to face Max Holloway in ... More the UFC featherweight championship fight during the UFC 308 event at Etihad Arena on October 26, 2024 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC) Ilia Topuria (16-0) is a former Cage Warriors champion. He joined the UFC in 2020 with a 9-0 record. It did not take him long to make a name for himself. He was ranked No. 14 in the featherweight division after three UFC bouts at 145 pounds and one contest in the 155-pound division. Three of those scraps ended with Topuria winning via knockout. In his first fight as a ranked featherweight, Topuria dispatched Bryce Mitchell via submission in the second round, earned his first 'Performance of the Night' bonus and moved to No. 9 in the rankings. A matchup with No. 5 ranked Josh Emmett followed the Mitchell win. Topuria picked up a decision in a 'Fight of the Night' scrap. Topuria's next fight, saw him face Alexander Volkanovski for the UFC featherweight title at UFC 298. Topuria entered that bout as the No. 3 ranked featherweight. He left as the champion after knocking out Volkanovski in the second stanza. In his first defense of the UFC featherweight crown, Topuria made history, becoming the first fighter to finish former 145-pound champion Max Holloway via strikes, knocking out the ex-champion in the third round of their UFC 308 meeting in October 2024. When Topuria decided to move to lightweight and give up his featherweight title, he vowed to sit until he got a 155-pound title shot. That fight takes place at UFC 317. Topuria has a 16-0 record with eight of those wins coming under the UFC banner. NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 16: Charles Oliveira of Brazil prepares to face Michael Chandler ... More during the UFC 309 event at Madison Square Garden on November 16, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC) Charles Oliveira (35-10-0-1) has been fighting with the UFC since 2010. He won the vacant lightweight title with his win over Chandler and defended the title once, beating Dustin Poirier. He was booked to face Justin Gaethje in his second title defense, but Oliveira missed weight for that fight, which he won by submission, losing the title on the scale. Oliveira had a chance to regain the belt in October 2022, but Islam Makhachev submitted him and claimed the vacant belt. Since that loss, Oliveira is 1-1, beating Beneil Dariush by TKO in June 2023 and losing to Arman Tsarukyan via split decision in April of this year. Oliveira is coming off a November 2024 decision win over Michael Chandler. Oliveira is the No. 2 fighter in the official UFC lightweight rankings. UFC 317 Fight Card Co-Main Event: Alexandre Pantoja Vs. Kai Kara-France LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - DECEMBER 07: UFC CEO Dana White places a title belt on Alexandre Pantoja of ... More Brazil after Pantoja's win by technical submission in the second round against Kai Asakura of Japanduring UFC 310 at T-Mobile Arena on December 07, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. 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Forbes
21 minutes ago
- Forbes
The Savannah Bananas Business Is Booming
Jesse Cole has built the Savannah Bananas into a world-class organization that is printing more and ... More more money. (Photo by Luke Johnson/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) This the third in a series of articles on the Savannah Bananas. The first two can be found here and here. In 2023, the Savannah Bananas embarked upon their first real 'world tour,' playing 71 games across 21 states. When all was said and done, they played in front of 500,000 fans. The next year, they actually played in fewer states (20), but they went big time: In March, they played their first game in a major league stadium (Minute Maid Park, now known as Daikin Park, in Houston). In June, a dream came true for Bananas owner and Boston native Jesse Cole, as his team played a game at Fenway Park. Later that summer they played at Progressive Field in Cleveland. In September, they went to Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. And then in October, they took over LoanDepot Park in Miami. In between, they played at all sorts of minor league stadiums, entertaining fans each and every night. The final tally for 2024 was just more than one million happy customers. This year they set their sights even higher. Forty cities are on the schedule, across 28 states (plus the District of Columbia). They will play in 17 different MLB stadiums, including landmarks like Fenway Park (again), Yankee Stadium, and Camden Yards. But it is at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, where history was made. Over two nights earlier this month, the Savannah Bananas played in front of a total of 150,000 fans (75,000 each night). The Carolina Panthers normally play in that stadium on Sundays, but the city of Charlotte paid to convert into it a baseball field for marquee events over a weekend. When the 2025 campaign is done, the Bananas will have danced, twerked, back-flipped, breakdanced, and delighted more than two million fans. Any product specialist would love this level of growth. Jesse and his wife Emily, the co-founders and owners of the Bananas, are no different. But, when you ask Jesse about the ever-growing number of people their teams play in front of every night, he will tell you about the ever-growing level of stress to entertain. Standing on the infield two hours before the Bananas second game in Anaheim a couple of weeks ago, Jesse said to me: 'You see 45,000 fans. I see 45,000 people with whom we have to make a connection. 45,000 people who need to have the time of the lives. I feel that obligation, and am committed to making it happen.' That night in Anaheim set a two-day record for the team – playing in front of 90,000 fans. Fortunately for the Coles, that record was short-lived, as, referenced above, they broke it in Charlotte just one week later. The Bananas will play 48 games this summer, with 39 of them on the road, in states all over the country. They will play only nine games in their home ballpark, Grayson Stadium, which sits right in the heart of Savannah, Georgia. Fans cheer as the Savannah Bananas play their home opener against the Party Animals at Grayson ... More Stadium. (Photo by) And while the Bananas don't need any homefield advantage, they do enjoy the control they have at home. Jesse and Emily are quite meticulous about concessions, which are all-you-can-eat and included in the price of admission in Savannah (burgers, hot dogs, chips, cookies, soda, water, popcorn). Unfortunately, when they play on the road (roughly 80% of the time), they must cede control of concessions to the owner of stadium. Thus, they are subject to what the local teams offer and charge. And their efficiency. The Coles are so cognizant of wait times for snacks that Emily has been known to jump behind the counter and help expedite matters to get fans back to their seats as quickly as possible. In Savannah, tickets runs between $35-$40 – an incredible value considering all that it comes with. And if you want to become a VIB (a 'Very Important Banana,' of course), you can pay $125, which allows you to gain early entry to the park, and have pregame field access to meet and greet the players. Even at this low price, according to Tim Naddy, the Bananas' vice president of finance, the 'entire company can run off ticket revenues.' Unfortunately, demand for tickets blows away supply. As of this summer, there is a three million person waiting list (that is not a typo), so getting an email stating you have 'won' the lottery and providing you access to tickets to an upcoming game can feel like Christmas in July. Nearly everyone who gets an invitation purchases tickets; but they often resell them on the secondary market. While the Coles frown on this practice, there is not much they can do about it. StubHub is currently listing tickets for upcoming games from as low as $86 to well-over $400. Even the cheapest ticket on one of these sites is multiple times what the team charges, and the owners never want their entertainment offerings to become cost prohibitive. For the true Banana fan (Fanana?), one who wants to avoid paying exorbitant prices, you can join the K Club. Once a member of this illustrious organization – which will cost you just $59 this year – you can purchase up to six tickets to games before the lottery opens, giving you access to games, tickets, events, meet and greets, and premium experiences that never even reach the general public. There are K Club Ambassadors who serve you and provide members with the perfect experience. And, of course, K Club members get a first look at merchandise drops. And merchandise is where it is at. Go to a Bananas game and there will be more merchandise tents than you can shake a banana peel at. They have them for the Bananas as well as their opponents. Most fans don't leave the park without something – a hat, t-shirt, jacket, or even a special Banana Wilson glove. There are jerseys, stress balls, stuffed animals, and even underwear. Everywhere you look at a Bananas game you will see people clad head to toe in gear. The team keeps total merchandise sales and best-sellers close to the vest, and because they keep an incredible inventory, it is impossible to know which items go fastest and/or offer the best profit margin. But even without spreadsheets and P&Ls, it is clear that merchandise is a profit center for the club. Naddy, the finance vice president, keeps merchandise sales separate from other revenue streams to ensure that 'merchandising isn't supplementing operations.' An additional revenue source for the team is television broadcasting. They produce their own telecasts, and license various games to Disney+ and ESPN+. They have added TruTV, which is owned by TNT Sports, as an additional licensee. And that does not include their own YouTube channel. The team is looking to expand its television offerings, but they maintain that the in-person viewing is still the best way to experience the show. The Savannah Bananas are owned and operated by Fans First Entertainment, a privately held company. According to the Huddle Up Substack, it possible that the team is worth as much as $1 billion. But without auditing their books, or until Jesse and Emily take their company public or at least seek investors based on a valuation, it is impossible to know for sure. What is known for sure is that the business is booming and growing each and every season. They have already taken a cruise to The Bahamas and will be heading to Cozumel, Mexico next February. One doesn't need to squint very hard to see their self-named 'World Tour' expanding to Europe and beyond in the coming years. And yet, despite all of their accomplishments to date, the owners aren't resting on their laurels. They are using their success to continue to build their product, add teams, enhance the experience, and entertain even more fans.
New York Times
23 minutes ago
- New York Times
Yankees' Luke Weaver returns: What it means for Devin Williams and the closer role
NEW YORK — The New York Yankees' closer is back. Or is he? The Yankees activated right-handed reliever Luke Weaver (left hamstring strain) from the injured list before the first game of the series against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium on Friday afternoon. The team cleared room on the roster for Weaver by demoting lefty Jayvien Sandridge late Thursday. Advertisement Weaver threw a simulated game at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday afternoon. Weaver's activation likely means a return to the closer's role for the 31-year-old, though manager Aaron Boone was noncommittal about the possibility Thursday. Devin Williams has pitched well in the role since Weaver went on the IL on June 3, posting a 1.59 ERA in six appearances with four saves. But Weaver had taken over the job when Williams was struggling at the start of the season, and not only would it likely be an unpopular decision if Boone were to supplant Weaver, it would be removing a player who was successful when the team needed him. While Williams endured early-season struggles, Weaver was dominant, posting a 1.05 ERA in 24 games with eight saves. Regardless of where he slots in the late innings, adding Weaver will be big for the Yankees' bullpen as a whole. Righty Fernando Cruz hasn't been as effective since returning from the injured list on June 4, posting a 6.35 ERA in seven appearances. Jonathan Loáisiga has also struggled some, though the Yankees believe he'll be a major piece of their late-game formula this year. Mark Leiter Jr. has had the most appearances for the Yankees with a 3.60 ERA in 35 games. 'I mean, it's Luke Weaver,' Boone said Thursday. 'But just then the trickle-down effect that that has, obviously, on giving you more hammers at the back end of the game, especially, and slotting guys into better slots. Anytime you add someone like Luke, it just makes the entire thing better, on top of what he brings.' Weaver transformed into a big-time reliever for the Yankees last season, pitching to a 2.89 ERA in 62 games after spending the first nine years of his MLB career as a starter. He also had a 1.76 ERA with four saves in 12 games in the playoffs last year. Despite the return of Weaver, the Yankees likely will be looking to add to their relief unit at the trade deadline next month. Yankees relievers have just the 10th-best ERA in the majors this season at 3.49. Their strikeout rate is strong at 9.56 per nine innings — the fifth-best in baseball. But they have issued lots of walks (3.87 per nine innings, the 24th-best mark in the game). Advertisement Adding Luis Gil (lat strain) from the injured list at some point around the All-Star break will likely bolster the Yankees' bullpen in addition to their rotation. It would likely mean bumping lefty Ryan Yarbrough from the starting rotation, though he's been good as a starter with a 3.83 ERA in eight starts. Yarbrough has lots of relief experience (136 appearances vs. 76 starts), and the Yankees added him just before Opening Day with the thought he would remain in their bullpen.
