University of Colorado football coach Deion Sanders has not attended the summer football camps due to an unspecified health issue.
His son, Deion Sanders Jr., said in a YouTube livestream on Sunday that his dad was resting at their home in Canyon, Texas, and “feeling well,” USA Today reported.
“He’ll tell y’all soon enough what he going through, what he went through,” he said in the video.
He suggested that it’s unclear when they plan on traveling to Boulder, where the football camps kicked off June 3.
“I’m waiting until my dad leaves,” he said. “When he leaves, then I’ll go. Until then, I’m gonna sit here with him.”
The university declined to comment on Tuesday.
The former NFL great also canceled a speaking engagement Sunday for the Foundation for Sickle Cell Research. The organizers said that “due to an unavoidable last-minute scheduling change,” Sanders could no longer attend and would not be the keynote speaker. Earvin “Magic” Johnson was announced as the new keynote speaker, the foundation said in a post on X.
Samuel concluded the interview by saying, “I hope you’re feeling better.”
Sanders responded by saying, “What I’m dealing with right now is at a whole other level. You know what, honestly, I’ve done no media, I’ve done nothing … I’ve lost, like, 14 pounds.”
Sanders, 57, has been open in the past about his health challenges. He had two toes amputated stemming from complications from a routine surgery, and in 2023, he underwent a nine-hour surgery on his foot.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump warned Tuesday that anyone who protests at the U.S. military parade here on Saturday will be met with “very heavy force.”
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that they’re going to be “celebrating big on Saturday,” referring to the parade that will wind its way through downtown Washington, D.C.
“If there’s any protester that wants to come out, they will be met with very big force,” Trump said. “I haven’t even heard about a protest, but you know, this is people that hate our country, but they will be met with very heavy force.”
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The military parade Saturday will mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army and is expected to feature tanks and hundreds of other military vehicles and aircraft. It’s estimated to cost about $45 million, including as much as $16 million to repair D.C. streets afterward, U.S. military officials said last month.
Saturday is also Trump’s 79th birthday.
“We’re going to have a fantastic June 14 parade, Flag Day. It’s going to be an amazing day. We have tanks, we have planes, we have all sorts of things. And I think it’s going to be great. We’re going to celebrate our country for a change,” Trump said Tuesday.
Trump said that other countries celebrate the end of World War II and that the U.S. was the only country that did not.
“And we’re the one that won the war,” said Trump, who added that if it weren’t for the U.S., Americans would be speaking German or Japanese.
“We won the war, and we’re the only country that didn’t celebrate it, and we’re going to be celebrating big on Saturday,” he said.
Officials are expecting hundreds of thousands of attendees, Matt McCool, the U.S. Secret Service agent in charge of the Washington field office, said Monday. McCool said they plan to deploy “thousands of agents, officers and specialists from across the country.” People attending the parade or a related festival will be required to go through checkpoints with magnetometers.
Asked about any changes to security planning in light of the L.A. protests, McCool said, “We plan for those things ahead of time”
“We were paying attention, obviously, to what is happening there, and we’ll be ready for that if it were to occur here,” he said, though he added, “We have no intelligence of that happening here, but if it does, we have the resources to handle it.”
U.S. Park Police had several protest permits pending on Monday, but officials “don’t have any significant concerns,” said McCool, who added that they’re tracking “about nine First Amendment activity demonstrations.”
The anti-Trump group No Kings is expecting more than 1,800 rallies nationwide Saturday that organizers said were planned as “a peaceful stand against authoritarian overreach and the gross abuse of power this Administration has shown.”
With Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard and U.S. Marines to respond to the L.A. demonstrations, the group said in a statement: “This military escalation only confirms what we’ve known: this government wants to rule by force, not serve the people. From major cities to small towns, we’ll rise together and say: we reject political violence. We reject fear as governance. We reject the myth that only some deserve freedom.”
No Kings did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday in reaction to Trump’s comments.
FIFA and Global Citizen announced on June 9 that J Balvin, Doja Cat and Temswill headline the inaugural halftime show of the FIFA Club World Cup final.
The championship match will take place on July 13 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
The concert, which is curated by Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, will be available to watch for free on DAZN.com.
The halftime show will support the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, which aims to raise $100 million to provide access to quality education and soccer to children around the world. A dollar from every ticket sold for all of this year’s World Cup matches this summer will go to the fund.
“From Medellín to MetLife — I’m honored to headline the first-ever halftime show of the FIFA Club World Cup final,” Balvin said in a statement. “It’s a historic moment — for me, for Latin culture, and for every kid who dreams big.”
“We’re going to bring the world together for a beautiful moment — to celebrate football, feel the unity that music brings, and improve the lives of millions of children through the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund. I can’t wait — see you at the Club World Cup final!” Tems said.
The FIFA Club World Cup will feature 32 teams from around the globe. It will be played in 12 stadiums in 11 cities around the United States. The tournament kicks off June 14.
WASHINGTON — Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced a bill with Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., on Tuesday to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, making him a rare congressional Republican to endorse the historically liberal cause.
The Higher Wages for American Workers Act would set the nationwide minimum wage to $15 on Jan. 1 of the first year after it is enacted, and raise it annually on the basis of inflation.
“This is a populist position,” Hawley told NBC News in the Capitol on Tuesday. “If we’re going to be a working people’s party, we have to do something for working people. And working people haven’t gotten a raise in years. So they need a raise.”
The federal minimum wage is currently $7.25, and hasn’t been raised since 2009. Democratic presidents and lawmakers have since attempted to lift it, but each time failed to clear the 60-vote threshold to break a filibuster in the Senate.
“We’re in the midst of a severe affordability crisis, with families in red and blue states alike struggling to afford necessities like housing and groceries. A stagnant federal minimum wage only adds fuel to the fire. Every hardworking American deserves a living wage that helps put a roof over their head and food on the table–$7.25 an hour doesn’t even come close,” Welch said in a statement. “Times have changed, and working families deserve a wage that reflects today’s financial reality.”
Hawley said the current level is “really, really, really, really low.”
“The truth is — people can’t afford to have a family. Families can’t support themselves. I mean, if you’re pro family, as I am, if you are a populist, if you’re pro-worker, you’ve got to do something for working people,” he said, while noting that various states, including Missouri, have since stepped in to lift it.
It represents the latest attempt by Hawley to stake out economic populist ground that has long been associated with liberals. Other recent moves include teaming up with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on a bill to cap credit card interest rates at 10%, and voting with Democrats this year on a budget amendment to prohibit tax cuts for the wealthy if Medicaid funding is cut.
Still, Hawley admitted he’s an outlier in his party, and it’s far from clear the wage legislation will reach the Senate floor, let alone find the 60 votes needed to advance in the chamber, where the GOP controls 53 seats.
“I’d love to get a vote on it. I think it’s hard to vote against,” he said. “I say that, but probably most of my Republican colleagues vote against it happily.”
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said he opposes Hawley’s measure, expressing the longstanding GOP stance that minimum wage hikes distort markets and make it harder for employers to hire.
“I wouldn’t support it,” Johnson said. “Because the real minimum wage is $0 when you don’t have a job. The minimum wage impacts just a small sliver of people — most people that want entry-level jobs. And so you raise the cost of an entry-level job and you don’t have them.”
Hawley has another obstacle: President Donald Trump, who has not endorsed any increase in the federal minimum wage. Trump dodged questions about the issue during his 2024 campaign.
“I think he understands the needs of working people really well,” Hawley said. “I would hope he would support this.”
“China has already approved a certain number of compliant applications and will continue to strengthen the approval process for compliant applications,” it said in a statement.
Despite Beijing’s offer of dialogue, experts say China is unlikely to completely remove the restrictions and is “flexing its muscles.”
That was clear to members of the foreign business community in China who have attended briefings on the subject with Commerce Ministry officials.
“While we clearly conveyed that we are at an immediate risk of supply chain disruption, we didn’t have the impression from the Chinese side that they want to resolve this with as much urgency,” an automotive industry official involved in the discussions told NBC News last week.
The European Union’s Chamber of Commerce in Beijing said Friday that while there has been “some improvement in the situation,” the reprieve has not been enough to “prevent severe supply chain disruptions.”
A handful of European companies have received some approvals, said Jens Eskelund, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China. But “it is not sufficient to solve those problems completely or avoid disruption in the supply chain,” he said in emailed comments.
At the core is a Chinese licensing system that requires export applications for the designated materials to undergo a vetting process that manufacturers say is painstakingly slow and results in only a fraction of approvals.
“The fix we are working on is to make the approval process smoother,” said the automotive industry official, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to comment on the sensitive discussions.
Why China dominates rare earths
Rare earths are a group of 17 elements in the middle of the periodic table, including neodymium, cerium and scandium.
What makes them special is the magnetic quality provided by their atomic structure, which makes them more powerful than standard iron magnets and ideal for use in the motors, sensors and actuators found in car seats, MRI machines and disk drives.
Contrary to what their name suggests, rare earths are present in abundant quantities in the earth’s crust. But their structure also means that wherever they naturally occur, they are usually mixed with other elements, often radioactive ones, and extracting them is a toxic, environmentally harmful and expensive process. It’s also a process that comes with thin profit margins and massive upfront investment.
Until the 1980s, the global rare earths industry was dominated by the United States. But that changed as China ramped up its rare earth operations, supported by government subsidies.
“As far back as the late 1980s, Chinese leaders understood how valuable rare earths could be,” said Patrik Andersson, an analyst at the Swedish National China Centre at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs.
The U.S. and Europe were gradually pushed out as China’s lower labor costs, weaker environmental standards and robust government backing helped its companies become the dominant force in rare earths.
Taylor Swift filed a restraining order against a 45-year-old man she says has been showing up to her Los Angeles homes for almost a year and claiming to be in a relationship with her.
The megastar filed the request for protection on Friday, claiming that Brian Jason Wagner, of Henderson, Colorado, has been harassing and stalking her, causing her to suffer emotional distress.
According to Swift’s declaration, Wagner first started showing up to her home in July 2024, and made at least three visits to the property in that month alone. He was confronted by her security team each time, and during one of those visits, Wagner “was carrying a glass bottle that could have been used as a weapon,” the singer said.
“During each of these visits, I am informed that Mr. Wagner made various statements about living at my property (not true), being in a relationship with me (not true), believing I am the mother of his son (not true), and needing to see me in person, all of which are untrue and disconnected from reality,” Swift wrote in her declaration.
Wagner allegedly returned to her Los Angeles home twice last month, asking to see her and saying that “he was there checking on a friend,” according to Swift. That’s when Swift’s team ran a criminal history report and learned that Wagner was allegedly incarcerated in 2023 when he began sending her “lengthy communications” in which he wrote about his infatuation with her, claimed to be in a relationship with her and made other claims about being involved in her personal life.
A member of Swift’s security team who also filed a declaration said that Wagner had made hundreds of communication attempts to Swift while he was incarcerated, prompting them to create a “security alert” acknowledging him as a threat.
“Mr. Wagner has also sent my staff hundreds of emails with similarly concerning and threatening language, tried to divert mail from my residence to his attention, and even lied to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to somehow change the address on his driver’s license to my Los Angeles home,” the singer said.
A driver’s license for Wagner listing Swift’s Los Angeles home address as his residence was shipped to the property, which is how her security team learned of it, a member of the team said in the filing.
Swift stresses in her filing that she does not known Wagner, and has never met him, spoken to him, or shared her Los Angeles home address with him. Communications to her staff have also increased recently, with Wagner sending them over 26 emails in past weeks, the security team member alleged.
“Therefore, the fact that Mr. Wagner has determined where I reside and visited the property several times, refusing to leave and claiming to need access, makes me fear for my safety and the safety of my family,” she said in her declaration. “The fact that both of these recent visits and Mr. Wagner’s inappropriate and threatening communications to my staff about me have escalated in recent weeks creates a fear of imminent harm.”
A hearing date is scheduled for June 30, according to court records. Swift has been granted a temporary restraining order for herself, her home, her car and her workplace, against Wagner until then.
If a judge grants Swift the restraining order, Wagner could be arrested if he violates it.
An attorney for Swift and Wagner did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
This certainly isn’t the first time a man has made news for allegedly stalking or harassing the megastar.
Two years prior, a Virginia man was accused of drunkenly crashing his car into the same New York apartment before attempting to force his way into the building.
PORTLAND, Ore. — Twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia on Monday filed a lawsuit in bankruptcy court seeking to block the sale of personal genetic data by 23andMe without customer consent. The lawsuit comes as a biotechnology company seeks the court’s approval to buy the struggling firm.
Biological samples, DNA data, health-related traits and medical records are too sensitive to be sold without each person’s express, informed consent, Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said in a news release about the lawsuit. Customers should have the right to control such deeply personal information and it cannot be sold like ordinary property, it said.
23andMe customers use saliva-based DNA testing kits to learn about their ancestry and find long-lost relatives. Founded in 2006, the company also conducted health research and drug development. But it struggled to find a profitable business model since going public in 2021. In March it laid off 40% of its staff and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Eastern District of Missouri, raising concerns about the safety of customer data.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals said last month it aimed to buy the company for $256 million. Regeneron said it would comply with 23andMe’s privacy policies and applicable law. It said it would process all customer personal data in accordance with the consents, privacy policies and statements, terms of service, and notices currently in effect and have security controls in place designed to protect such data.
A court-appointed, independent consumer privacy ombudsman was due to examine the proposed sale and how it might affect consumer privacy and report to the court by Tuesday.
Dozens of protests and rallies opposing ICE raids and government immigration policies were held across the country on Monday, with more planned for the rest of the week, after a weekend of protests and unrest in Los Angeles.
Since Sunday, the anti-ICE movement has spread across California and beyond, with events held from New York to Texas. Activists plan more events on Tuesday, with events due in New York, Chicago, Dallas, and Atlanta. A series of so-called “No Kings” nationwide demonstrations are planned for Saturday.
Some 56 people were arrested in L.A. over the weekend as some 700 marines and more than 2,000 National Guard troops were deployed by President Donald Trump in response to protests that began on Friday, sparking an extraordinary showdown with California Gov. Gavin Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, who strongly criticized the move as executive overreach.
NBC News counted at least 25 rallies and demonstrations coast to coast. Some of them only involved a few dozen participants, while others attracted thousands to make a stand against the detention and removal of suspected undocumented migrants.
Many protesters across the country were trade unionists calling for the release of SEIU California President David Huerta, who was arrested on Friday.
California and the West Coast
Thousands reportedly marched throughSan Francisco on Monday, marking the second day of anti-ICE protests there, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The San Francisco Police Department stated on X that the demonstration was “overwhelmingly peaceful,” but added that two small groups “broke off and committed vandalism and other acts” at the end of the night. The department said it made an unspecified number of arrests.
At least 60 people were arrested at a march in San Francisco on Sunday for failing to respond to a dispersal order, NBC Bay Area reported.
“It’s important for us to show up everywhere, because what happened in L.A., what’s happening all over our country,” said Xan Joi of Berkeley, who attended Sunday’s protest with a sign that read “CA National Guard & Newsom: Protect our 1st Amendment rights.”
Jesse McKinnon, of Pleasant Hill, carried a sign that read “Softball dad against tyranny.”
NBC L.A. reported that at least 1,000 people joined a protest at a federal building in Santa Ana, Orange County. The number of arrests is unknown, but they came after police declared the gathering unlawful.
“This policy hits close to home, our family is a family of immigrants,” Vanessa Garcia-Morales of San Jose told NBC Bay Area.
Referring to one of her two sons, who was at the rally, she said, “His life is at risk, truthfully, with the policy that’s happening, he can very much be targeted by just the way he looks.”
At least nine people were taken into custody in New York after a tense standoff between protestors and police at a rally on Monday, according to NBC New York.
NYPD confirmed there were “multiple arrests when people refused to comply” outside Trump Tower in Midtown around 1 p.m., before a “disorderly group” was arrested at 6:50 p.m. for blocking traffic and refusing to comply.
The event targeted ICE raids and the travel ban imposed on 12 countries worldwide this week, with restrictions on people from 7 more countries.
At least one person was arrested on Monday in Dallas, police said, with charges pending, as protesters and law enforcement met in a standoff that shut down a busy intersection.
The Daily Texan reported that some 500 gathered at the Texas Capitol on Monday, while hundreds gathered in San Antonio, according to Spectrum News 1.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, referring to the deployment of National Guard troops to L.A., said on X that “an organized assault has been waged against federal law enforcement officials.”
Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem signaled on Tuesday that she would continue the agency’s program of raids and deportations despite the widespread protests.
“ICE will continue to enforce the law,” Noem said.
SUNRISE, Fla. — Taking advantage of the Edmonton Oilers’ worst performance in several weeks, the defending Florida Panthers pounced on mistakes to win Game 3 in a 6-1 rout Monday night and take a 2-1 series lead.
Brad Marchand became the oldest player to score in each of the first three games of a final, while Sam Bennett added his NHL playoff-leading 14th goal after making a big hit on Edmonton’s Vasily Podkolzin that contributed to the turnover to spring him on a breakaway. Marchand and Bennett have combined to score eight goals for Florida, which was dominant in just about every way.
“We ended up playing what Florida kind of wanted,” said Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner, who got pulled after allowing five goals on 23 shots. “They were great tonight.”
And it was not just Bennett and Marchand. Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart each got his first goal of the series, Aaron Ekblad scored to chase Skinner and Evan Rodrigues added the exclamation point in the waning minutes.
“We’re a very deep team,” Marchand said. “That’s one of our strengths is the depth of the group from the front end to the back end to the goaltending.”
At the other end of the ice, Sergei Bobrovsky earned the “Bobby! Bobby!” chants from a fired up South Florida crowd. The two-time Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender known as “Bob” was on his game for the very few quality chances the discombobulated Oilers mustered, making 32 saves.
“Nothing’s going to be perfect in the way we play,” Reinhart said. “This time of year, you need some world-class goaltending and that’s what we get consistently.”
Perry — at 40 the oldest player in the series — beat Bobrovsky with some silky hands for a power-play goal, keeping up this final being a showcase of cagey veterans along with Marchand.
Connor McDavid could not get his team on track, and Edmonton took 15 minors — led by Evander Kane’s three plus a misconduct to add up to 85 penalty minutes — including a brawl that ensued with less than 10 minutes left. Trent Frederic and Darnell Nurse, who fought Jonah Gadjovich, got misconducts that knocked them out of a game with an outcome determined long before.
“Emotions in all these games are extremely high,’ Marchand said. “This is the time of year you want to be playing, and you’re enjoying every minute.”
After the final looked as evenly matched as can be with Games 1 and 2 each needing extra time, overtime and then double OT, Game 3 was a lopsided mismatch. The Oilers came unglued to the point Jake Walman resorted to squirting water on Panthers players on their bench from his spot on the visiting side.
The teams have some extra time off before Game 4 on Thursday night, when the Panthers have the chance to take a 3-1 lead and move to the verge of going back to back.
“Game 4 is a really big game,” McDavid said. “It’s a big swing game.”
Trump administration officials say the immigration fight with California is a political win. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took his most aggressive action yet to overhaul the nation’s vaccine policy. And a look at what makes this season’s Indiana Pacers team so remarkable.
Here’s what to know today.
Trump administration leans into the California protests
An immigration protest in downtown Los Angeles persisted yesterday and overnight as police used tear gas and flash-bangs in an attempt to disperse demonstrators. Here’s where things stand:
▪️ About 1,700 National Guard troops are on site in the greater Los Angeles area, and 700 Marines were activated to join them in their mission in Los Angeles, the military said in a statement.
▪️ California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued the Trump administration for deploying National Guard members over the weekend. The suit argues that Trump’s actions, without a request from California Gov. Gavin Newsom, was “unlawful” and should be rescinded.
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The fight between the White House and California — in other words, Trump battling a blue state over his signature issue — is a political win, administration officials said. It’s a nationally watched saga of the sort that has long defined his career: a made-for-TV moment. “We’re happy to have this fight,” a White House official said.
Trump allies argue that what’s happening in L.A. is simply Trump carrying out the hard-line immigration agenda that was the centerpiece of his campaign, and advisers pointed to the fact that the president’s immigration policies continue to get high marks in most public polling.
Democrats and immigration activists have said the L.A. operation is illegal and inhumane and insisted that it’s all about politics — and not about sound public policy.
There has been some disagreement within the Trump administration, at least in public messaging, about how far to push in going after California Democrats. The clearest example may be Trump suggesting arresting Newsom if he continues to do what the administration considers to be interference “would be a great thing.” A senior White House official said such an action is “not being actively planned or considered.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took his most aggressive action yet to overhaul the nation’s vaccine policy, firing 17 members of an independent vaccine advisory committee at the CDC. Kennedy claimed in a Wall Street Journal editorial that the committee — which makes recommendations to the CDC about who should get certain vaccines, including the schedule for childhood vaccinations — has been “plagued with persistent conflicts of interest and has become little more than a rubber stamp for any vaccine.”
Members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, known more commonly as ACIP, undergo an extensive vetting process before being appointed and are required to disclose conflicts of interest and recuse themselves from voting on vaccines for which a conflict exists.
Former CDC officials and public health experts called Kennedy’s action concerning and said it would sow confusion. Richard Besser, the former acting director of the CDC, said in a statement that the firings “should erase any remaining doubt that he intends to impose his personal anti-vaccine agenda on the American people.” Read the full story here.
What to watch for in New Jersey’s primaries
Rachel Wisniewski / The New York Times via Redux file
Voters in New Jersey will head to the polls today in the first high-profile primaries since the 2024 election. The biggest race on the ticket: governor. New Jersey’s gubernatorial race is one of two nationwide this year, along with Virginia, and both contests will be closely watched as early indicators of how voters are responding to President Donald Trump’s second term.
Because Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy can’t run for re-election due to term limits, both the Republican and Democratic parties have contested races for the nomination. Here’s what the NBC News politics team will watch for tonight:
→ Trump’s influence: On the Republican side, Trump-endorsed former state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli is viewed as the frontrunner. The president’s endorsement could shed light on the size of the anti-Trump wing of the GOP wing in New Jersey, with longtime state senator (and standup comedian) Jon Bramnick, who has called for a return to civility and has sharply criticized Trump in the past, on the ballot. Rounding out the GOP primary ballot is Englewood Cliffs Mayor Mario Kranjac and contractor Justin Barbera.
→ Democrats’ path: In the Democratic primary, Rep. Mikie Sherrill has been viewed as the relative frontrunner and has emphasized her background as a Navy helicopter pilot and federal prosecutor in her pitch to effectively take on Trump. Meanwhile, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who got a jolt of national attention when he was arrested last month at a federal immigration detention facility, has been pitching himself as a true progressive. Rounding out a crowded ballot in the unpredictable race is Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop and teachers’ union president Sean Spiller, both of whom want to appeal to progressive voters; Rep. Josh Gottheimer, one of the more moderate members of Congress; and former state Senate President Steve Sweeney, who is stressing his blue-collar roots as a former ironworker.
Plus, NBC News and MSNBC data guru Steve Kornacki points out that court-imposed changes to the layout of the ballot could dramatically dilute the power of endorsements, which Sherrill has received a lot of.
Republican Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee said he will resign from Congress for a private-sector job after the House’s next vote on the bill for Trump’s agenda.
Bradley Bondi, the brother of Attorney General Pam Bondi, lost his bid for president of the D.C. Bar, receiving 3,490 votes compared to opponent Diane Seltzer’s 34,982.
Staff Pick: The Indiana Pacers are built different
Indiana Pacers’ power forward Pascal Siakam jumps to shoot past the New York Knicks’ Josh Hart during the Eastern Conference Finals on May 29.Charly Triballeau / AFP via Getty Images
The Indiana Pacers aren’t your typical NBA championship contender, and it’s not only because they’ve reached the NBA Finals by pulling off some of the most improbable comebacks in basketball history. It’s also because of how the team’s executives relied on a team-building strategy rarely used by championship teams.
Indiana isn’t an attractive enough market to entice elite free agents, and historically has not been bad enough to earn a high draft pick who might become a franchise cornerstone. That combination has forced the Pacers to lean heavily on the third way: trades. It is a high degree of difficulty and requires patience, something in short supply among team owners. Yet, by shrewdly identifying players other teams no longer wanted but they believed would work in Indiana, the Pacers have found a formula that has delivered three of their top-four scorers and the team’s first Finals appearance in a quarter-century. — Andrew Greif, sports reporter
NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified
If you’re dealing with acne, rosacea or dark spots, azelaic acid just might be the solution for all three. And with Father’s Day fast approaching, here’s a list of the best gifts to order from Amazon right now.
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