For the first time ever, LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant — three of the greatest basketball players of the 21st century — took the court as teammates at the Paris Olympics. The sight of the three legends playing together gave fans a rare treat they'll likely never forget, much like when Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird linked up as part of the 1992 Dream Team in Barcelona.
Fans can now luck into a piece of memorabilia to keep those memories alive. To commemorate their time in Paris, James, Curry and Durant are set to autograph of a 1-of-1 rare Topps trading card featuring the gold-medal-winning trio in their Team USA uniforms. The autographed card will be sent to "a customer at random" who purchases the trio's base card from Topps for the retail price of $11.99.
"This card pays tribute to the incredible moment that we saw during the Olympics where three of the greatest active basketball players combined to take home the gold medal," Clay Luraschi, senior VP at Topps, told ESPN. "This particular card is special because you have your regular version and then you have an autograph version. There's been many different autograph cards throughout basketball trading card history, but this is the first time these three players have signed the same card. So, it makes it very unique."
The autographed card could eventually be worth "easily six figures" at an auction, reckons Ken Goldin, founder and CEO of Goldin Auctions. In recent years, cards featuring the likes of Jordan and Kobe Bryant have sold at auctions for more than seven figures. Last December, a Topps Bryant rookie card sold for two million dollars, less than two years after another card fetched $1.75 million.
During the Paris Games, James, Curry and Durant spoke extensively about the honor they felt representing their country as teammates. They even embraced the tag of being the modern-day version of Jordan, Johnson and Bird, recreating an iconic photo of the Dream Team trio during their time in Paris.
The chemistry between the three was critical to Team USA overcoming challenges from Serbia and France in the semifinals and gold medal game. Now, a lucky fan will get to memorialize the experience.
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Craig Kimbrel is hoping to make an impact with an MLB team down the stretch, and a World Series contender is giving the former All-Star reliever a shot. Kimbrel agreed to a big-league contract with the Houston Astros on Thursday, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan. Kimbrel began the 2025 season with the Atlanta Braves after signing a minor-league contract with them in March. The right-hander started out with the Double-A Columbus Clingstones and did not give up a hit in three appearances. Kimbrel was then promoted to the Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers, where he went 1-1 with a 2.00 ERA and 23 strikeouts over 18 innings. The Braves added Kimbrel to their active roster on June 6. He pitched a scoreless seventh inning in Atlanta's 5-4 win over the San Francisco Giants that day. Kimbrel allowed a walk and a hit in the inning. The following day, Atlanta made the puzzling decision to designate Kimbrel for assignment. Kimbrel opted for free agency rather than accepting his minor league assignment. He then signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers but never made it to their MLB roster. Kimbrel was granted his release on Thursday and signed with Houston. Kimbrel, 37, is a nine-time All-Star who has pitched for eight different teams during his MLB career. He led the National League in saves four times and was one of the best relief pitchers in the league during his prime. Kimbrel also helped the Boston Red Sox win a World Series in 2018. The Astros were 69-58 entering Thursday and had a 1.5-game lead over the Seattle Mariners in the AL West. If Kimbrel is healthy, he could provide Houston with some valuable bullpen depth over the final stretch of the season.
Scottie Scheffler is the most dominant golfer we've seen since Tiger Woods in his prime, but he wasn't always at this level. It took Scheffler 73 starts before he finally won his first PGA Tour event at the 2022 WM Phoenix Open. Since then, he's rattled off 21 worldwide wins, and he has Woods to thank. Ahead of the 2025 Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club, Scheffler explained how playing with Woods in the final round of the 2020 Masters taught him a valuable lesson about what it takes to succeed on the PGA Tour. "The biggest change I felt like I made my first couple years on Tour to 2022 was the question always was, hey, how come you haven't won? The reason I felt like I hadn't won yet is I hadn't put myself in position enough times. I'd only played in a couple final groups. I always found myself just a little bit on the outside looking in, and that's one of the things I learned from playing with Tiger," Scheffler told reporters on Wednesday. "It was like, we're in 20th place or whatever going into Sunday at the Masters. Tiger has won five Masters; he's got no chance of winning the tournament. Then we showed up on the first hole and I was watching him read his putt, and I was like, 'Oh, my gosh, this guy is in it right now.'" Scheffler recalled how locked in Woods was in the final round despite being out of contention. He also mentioned how impressed he was when Woods birdied five of his last six holes after making a 10 on the par-3 12th. "I just admired the intensity that he brought to each round, and that's something that I try to emulate," Scheffler added. "It's not an easy thing to play a golf tournament. If I'm going to take a week off, I might as well just stay home. I'm not going to come out here to take a week off. If I'm playing in a tournament, I'm going to give it my all. That's really all it boils down to. "That was something that I just thought about for a long time. I felt like a change I needed to make was bringing that same intensity to each round and each shot … I think it's just the amount of consistency and the intensity that I bring to each round of golf is not taking shots off, not taking rounds off, not taking tournaments off." What used to be a weakness for Scheffler quickly became a superpower. The World No. 1 approaches every PGA Tour round like it's the final round of a major championship, and it shows in his consistency. Scheffler has played 72 competitive rounds this season. He's shot over par only seven times, and two of them came at the brutally tough U.S. Open in which only one player finished the tournament under par. Dating back to the Travelers Championship, he's shot in the 60s in 19 of his last 20 rounds. That level of consistency is nearly impossible to beat. The rest of the PGA Tour can't be happy that Woods gave Scheffler the secret sauce to dominating professional golf a few years ago.
The Cleveland Browns seemed to say plenty regarding their feelings about rookie quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders when they repeatedly listed Gabriel above Sanders on unofficial depth charts throughout August. Sanders played well in Cleveland's preseason opener at the Carolina Panthers on Aug. 8 when Gabriel was recovering from a hamstring injury. Gabriel then received his opportunity to shine in the Aug. 16 preseason matchup at the Philadelphia Eagles when Sanders was dealing with an oblique issue. For a piece published on Thursday, Jason Lloyd of The Athletic suggested that the stats from those contests show "the Browns trust Gabriel more than they do Sanders" heading into their Week 1 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 7. "The Browns used pre-snap motion 45 percent of the time with Gabriel against the Philadelphia Eagles," Lloyd wrote. "They used it 31 percent of the time in Sanders’ game against the Carolina Panthers, according to TruMedia data. On third downs, that increased to 63 percent for Gabriel and plummeted to 18 percent for Sanders." The Browns selected Gabriel in the third round of this year's draft before they made a trade to take a flier on Sanders at overall pick No. 144. Against the Panthers, Sanders completed 14-of-23 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns. To compare, Gabriel connected on 13-of-18 passes for 143 yards with a pick-six against the Eagles. He was also credited with a lost fumble. "Gabriel was three of four on [tight-window throws] against the Eagles, according to NextGen Stats, and two of those turned third downs into first downs," Lloyd added. "Sanders was zero for four on tight-window throws against the Panthers." It's worth noting that none of this matters as of publication. Veteran Joe Flacco will serve as Cleveland's Week 1 starter, and the Browns seem serious about having Flacco, Gabriel, Sanders and backup Kenny Pickett on the active roster through at least a portion of the upcoming season. The trade deadline will arrive on Nov. 4. Lloyd mentioned that "a fear that Sanders may develop elsewhere" is a reason the Browns are holding onto the former Colorado star when they prefer Gabriel. As of now, Sanders is on track to continue his development while working in the Browns film room as an unused quarterback throughout the fall.
Greg McElroy may have a slight bias towards the Alabama Crimson Tide. He did play there, after all, and he helped the Tide with the 2010 BCS title game. So yes, the former Alabama quarterback turned ESPN commentator might be partial to the Crimson Tide, but he did make some good points recently when giving a prediction for the 2025 SEC Championship game on the "Always College Football" Podcast. McElroy predicts that in head coach Kalen DeBoer's second season, the Tide will make the SEC Championship game. He sees them facing off with Steve Sarkisian and the Texas Longhorns, though he does see Texas winning that game. “I just think with some of the youth that Texas has, particularly at quarterback, particular at wide receiver and some of the guys that will be rolling in on defense, they’re a little bit deeper and have a slightly higher ceiling than Alabama at this point," McElroy said (h/t On3). Losing the SEC Championship game would be disappointing in Tuscaloosa, but it is a step up from last season when DeBoer went 9-4 with an embarrassing 19-13 loss to Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl. Alabama being in the SEC title game would certainly mean that the Tide would be in the College Football Playoff conversation, and that's really the minimum standard in Tuscaloosa after Nick Saban brought six national championships home. For what it's worth, McElroy does think DeBoer has the pieces to be a contender this season, though, and it starts with newly named starting quarterback Ty Simpson. "I think Ty Simpson, their new starting quarterback, is a great fit for what Kalen DeBoer wants them to to be," McElroy explained. "He’s going to be a distributor, he’s going to get the ball out of his hands quickly, he’s going to make great decisions, he’s not going to put the defense in harm’s way by turning it over. I think Alabama is poised to make a run this year in a lot of different areas" A run to the SEC title game and CFP would be a huge step up for DeBoer in Year 2. Alabama fans will certainly be hoping that McElroy's bold prediction will come true.
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