From another season with NBA King LeBron James to the return of gymnastics royalty, here's what's happening in entertainment.
The King's Return
The 2023 ESPY Awards went down in Los Angeles last night and, as expected, it was a star-studded affair that paid tribute to the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team, honored Damar Hamlin and the Buffalo Bills medical crew that saved his life, and included a major announcement from LeBron James.
After receiving the award for Best Record-Breaking Performance, honoring the NBA star's rise to all-time leading scorer, he confirmed that he will be returning to the floor for his 21st season.
"I love this game. I love the game of basketball," he said. "I don't care how many more points I score or what I can or cannot do on the floor. The real question for me is 'Can I play without cheating this game?' The day I can't give the game everything on the floor is the day I'll be done. Lucky for you guys, that day is not today."
James confirmed that he has "a lot left" in the tank so we should expect to see him playing for years to come.
Fresh off of her first U.S national title win in the 100 meter final last weekend, Sha'Carri Richardson questioned why she was not invited to this year's ESPY Awards.
"The ESPYS invited me when my life was in shambles as if I was a charity case. The disrespect that track & field receives in the USA alone is nasty. Half of the athletes there now could not do what we do on our WORST day," she said in a tweet.
Richardson was referring to her 2021 season, when she won the 100 meter final to advance to the Tokyo Olympics, but was later disqualified after testing positive for marijuana. In recent weeks, she has been campaigning for track and field sprinters to unionize to address low pay and called for a meeting of athletes ahead of the national competition. It is likely she sought to use the ESPYs platform to bring even more attention to her cause – particularly as she continues to dominate in the sport.
Olympic gold medal gymnast Gabby Douglas has announced she's ready to get back into competition.
Douglas' last competition was the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. After that, she announced she was stepping back to focus on her mental health. In 2017 the world learned about the abuse many top gymnasts, including Douglas, suffered while in the care of USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar.
Former teammates Simone Biles and Suni Lee have also indicated they want to compete in Paris, so a reunion of heavy-hitters could be on the horizon.
The social media network's live video platform will help grow its monthly active users, especially as consumers rapidly ditch cable for on-demand content, says Motley Fool analyst Jason Moser.
Frank Zaccanelli, a former owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, says the NFL's decision to adopt a new policy on the national anthem without consulting the NFL Players Association was, "one of the dumbest things I've ever heard."
Former ESPN anchor Bram Weinstein says that, while players may not strike because of the league's new policy, there will likely be some kind of response.
"Your Call Football" allows viewers at home to pick their favorite of three pre-selected plays while a real game takes place. The two-team league ends its first three-game season on Thursday night.
After the Supreme Court lifted the ban on sports gambling this week, the National Hockey League said it wasn't changing its rules against the practice. And teams won't act until the league decides to do something, says the L.A. Kings' chief operating officer, Kelly Cheeseman.
The Seattle City Council passed a new law that will require companies making more than $20 million a year to pay a 'head tax.' Amazon and other Seattle-based companies will pay a tax of 14 cents per employee per hour worked, which comes out to roughly $275 per employee each year. The tax will raise money for affordable housing since home prices have risen recently in Seattle. In response, Amazon's vice president said this move "forces us to question our growth here." A Starbucks exec criticized the city for spending "without reforming and fail[ing] without accountability."
A number of top Tesla executives have left the company in the past few months. Aaron Cole, managing editor at Motor Authority, joins us to discuss whether investors should be worried that this 'drain brain' will have negative consequences for the electric carmaker. The company is ramping up production to meet its ambitious Model 3 targets.
Cheddar's Brad Smith speaks with Joe Gibbs, Pro Football Hall of Famer and owner of Joe Gibbs Racing, at a special event outside the New York Stock Exchange celebrating Stanley Black & Decker's 175th anniversary. Gibbs talks about how NASCAR is focusing on expanding its digital outreach to reach a younger audience. He also weighs in on the Supreme Court's decision to reverse a ban on sports gambling.
The car racing organization's biggest focus now is trying to reach millennials by adjusting how the sport can be consumed, says Joe Gibbs, owner of a NASCAR racing team and a former NFL coach.
Increased interest in the Overwatch League could push franchise fees as high as $100 million in the future, says eSports expert Rod Breslau, better known as "Slasher." The League is currently wrapping up its first season and the Grand Finals are scheduled to kick off at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, on July 27.
The former WNBA player was the first woman to be an assistant coach in the NBA, and she interviewed this week to be the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks. She may not get this job, says James Yoder of Chat Sports, but "maybe one or two seasons, she will end up landing an NBA coaching job," he says.
