As the WNBA has reached wildly successful highs this season in viewership and attendance, players say the boom long coveted throughout women’s basketball has come with unfortunate consequences. During these playoffs, athletes who would normally be focused on winning have instead shared a swell of complaints of being targeted with racist, misogynistic, homophobic and threatening…

Sunday night’s dramatic derby with city rivals Real Madrid put Atletico Madrid’s relationship with the radical block of fans that gather inside their ground under a new global spotlight. After Real Madrid took the lead, Atletico captain Koke and manager Diego Simeone pleaded for calm with balaclava-wearing supporters, who had thrown objects onto the pitch…

In baseball, the most difficult defeats to explain are the ones you don’t see coming. “That’s a good question,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said last autumn when asked why his historically prolific offense, the driving force behind a 104-victory team, failed to deliver in the National League Division Series against the Phillies. “Shock factor —…

Let’s start with some good news: I can only improve from here … right? Last year I did this exercise of picking five teams that would exceed expectations and, well, let’s just say my picks did not exceed expectations. The Memphis Grizzlies, Charlotte Hornets, Toronto Raptors and Brooklyn Nets had four of the NBA’s seven…

I know exactly where Pete Rose’s Hall of Fame plaque should have been hanging — for the past three decades. You’d have found it in the middle of a powerhouse cluster in the plaque gallery — nestled in between the plaques of Tom Seaver and Reggie Jackson. Among others. Thousands of baseball fans would have…

The postseason begins with no clear favorite, as MLB finished the regular season with no 100-game winner for the first time since 2014. Every team seemingly has a path to a title, and every team also appears to have a flaw as big as the Death Star. So who will take home the trophy at…

In honor of Jayden Daniels’ historic start to his NFL career, the Power Rankings are checking in on rookies this week. Daniels, the No. 2 pick in April’s draft, has overshadowed top pick Caleb Williams and given Washington Commanders fans hope that they’ve finally found their savior. The news is not quite so good in…

Travis Hunter struck the Heisman pose. Jalen Milroe and Ryan Williams connected on what will be one of 2024’s best plays. Ashton Jeanty created one of those on his own. Cam Ward made an improbable escape. And that’s the entirety of the representation in The Athletic’s first weekly Heisman straw poll of the 2024 season.…

DETROIT — Dan Campbell bashfully stared down at the lectern in front of him, looking like a toddler who knows he’s guilty. He nervously stacked a couple of sheets of paper in his hands, as he was asked about his quarterback’s performance. He then took a deep breath, preparing to own up to his mistake,…

At the heart of the doping case against Jannik Sinner, the top-ranked men’s tennis player in the world, is an existential debate about the policing of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in sport. Are the primary goals to catch cheats and prevent athletes from gaining unfair advantages over their peers? What happens when the enforcers of the…