The Portland Trail Blazers own the No. 3 pick in the NBA Draft but Damian Lillard is giving them plenty of reason not to make that pick.With the NBA Draft only two weeks, the rumor mill is heating up. Will Damian Lillard get traded by the Trail Blazers this offseason? What can Portland do to mak...

The NBA rookie wage scale for the 2023 NBA Draft.

Inter Miami head coach Gerardo 'Tata' Martino was full of praised for Benjamin Cremaschi after his heroics in the Herons' 4-4 (5-4) victory over FC Dallas.

I think to contextualize just how wonderfully rich this Michigan sign-stealing soap opera has become, it's best to point out that I've long stopped enjoying it

Female workers who produce Fifa merchandise for events such as the Women’s World Cup have endured pay below minimum wage, verbal abuse, unpaid overtime and threats of job loss if they fall pregnant, according to a new report by human rights researcher Equidem. Equidem has criticised Fifa for not taking action on a situation that seems to go against the advances the tournament has been responsible for, and president Gianni Infantino has been urged to extend “that progress to addressing the harms its women workers experience”. Equidem has put its report into the context of the litany of migrant labour abuses that occurred due to the men’s World Cup in Qatar and asked why there has been no update from a human rights subcommittee that was supposed to be set up to assess the legacy of that event, raising questions about Fifa’s expressed commitment to improving working conditions. The report features interviews with women workers in factories in Bangladesh that make official merchandise for Fifa events, and involves distressing testimonies including verbal abuse and the illegal denial of worksite childcare and maternity leave. Equidem heard several stories of women denied freedom of association. “We have a daily target to reach,” one worker said. “The supervisor fixes our daily target. I make 60-80 pieces per hour. I can only go to the restroom after finishing my hourly target. When a lot of work piles up, they don’t let us go anywhere. They verbally abuse us. I work for 10-12 hours a day at my sewing machine. Today, my supervisor told me to give 80 pieces per hour, but it was quite difficult to make 80 pieces. I made 60 pieces per hour. He shouted at me several times. “I can’t keep my son with me. I work between eight and 12 hours every day. Who will look after him? I searched for someone to leave my son with when I went to work, but I did not get anyone. We don’t have a childcare room in our factory. My son lives in Dhaka with my mother-in law and father-in-law.” Workers described a common practice of being told they would lose their jobs if they became pregnant during the first two years of employment. One woman employed as a sewing machine operator explained: “When I started working here, the factory doctor told me not to have babies for the first two years. I was told that after completing two years, I can have children. If I get pregnant before that, I will have to resign. They will not give me any leave.” Some workers spoken to by Equidem reported that they did not get paid any maternity leave at all, even though they are supposed to be legally entitled to four months, making it a clear violation of Bangladeshi law. Equidem’s CEO Mustafa Qadri states: “After the Men’s World Cup this past year in Qatar, FIFA pledged to set up a human rights subcommittee that would assess the legacy of the 2022 tournament, although there has been no further update as to the status of that assessment, nor its learnings. Equidem urges FIFA to extend its expressed commitment to improving working conditions to women workers in their apparel supply chains. "Yet, the world has seen significant advances in pay parity for women players, including making the Women’s World Cup more professional, ensuring equal regulations and conditions, and fair distribution of prize money to players. The United States team, after years of negotiations, public battles, and court filing won an equal pay deal that makes them one of the best-paid national teams in the world. "The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 brings with it many positive improvements for its players, and it is crucial that FIFA extends that progress to addressing the harms its women workers experience. FIFA has the power, money, and resource to address this at the systemic level, and we will keep monitoring their global supply chains until it does. “This movement toward gender parity within FIFA, signals a heightened commitment within the organisation to fair conditions for women players—on par with their male counterparts. This should extend to all women, not just those under the stadium lights.” A Fifa spokesperson said: “FIFA has stringent labour rights requirements for companies producing FIFA-licensed goods and takes any allegation of labour rights abuse in its supply chain very seriously. FIFA is in contact with both Equidem and the respective companies to further investigate the matter.” Read More Fifa urged to make human rights key consideration for World Cup 2030 host ‘Matter of when not whether’ UK hosts Women’s World Cup – sports minister Kevin De Bruyne says new approach to added time ‘doesn’t make any sense’ How much added time? Football’s new guidelines and the impact they will have Raphael Varane says players’ opinions ignored over ‘damaging’ new guidelines

Cavaliers star guard Donovan Mitchell is questionable with hamstring soreness for Tuesday night’s game against the New York Knicks — Cleveland’s first shot at revenge against the team that knocked it out of last year’s playoffs

Lionel Messi spoke publicly Thursday for the first time since announcing on June 7 that he’d join Inter Miami

Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr, joined Vladimir Sr. to become the first father-son duo to win the All-Star Home Run Derby, beating Tampa Bay’s Randy Arozarena 25-23 in the final round

There will be a reunion at the start of September. The pair who combined for the only Champions League-winning goal – penalty shootouts excluded – in Chelsea’s history will be together again. But not for a Chelsea game. When Kai Havertz, the 2021 scorer, and Mason Mount, his supplier, are due to share a pitch again, it is because Arsenal are hosting Manchester United. The pace of change at Stamford Bridge is so swift that, barely two years after Thomas Tuchel’s team triumphed in Porto, only three of the 14 men to take the field that day - Thiago Silva, Ben Chilwell and Reece James – are set to be at Chelsea next season. Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital can argue that the first of the departures, those of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen, in effect predated their arrival, but not the rest. Chelsea now seem to exist in a state of permanent revolution. If Mount’s exit ought to provide Chelsea with most grounds for regret – Havertz, in contrast, spent three seasons as an enigma – United’s new No. 7 reflects a third phenomenon at Stamford Bridge. If Barcelona spent the summer of 2022 pulling various levers to permit them to trade, Mount is part of Boehly’s third lever. The first two have the air of loopholes; or, at the least, unique circumstances. Part one was based on amortisation over extraordinarily long contracts, thus allowing them to spread the fees – in their accounts, anyway – over much of the next decade. It is a loophole Uefa are closing but Enzo Fernandez, Mykhailo Mudryk and Nicolas Jackson have deals until 2031, Benoit Badiashile, Malo Gusto, Noni Madueke and Andrey Santos contracts until 2030 and Wesley Fofana, David Datro Fofana and Christopher Nkunku are tied down until 2029. Ridiculously, Chelsea have 17 players whose deals last at least another five seasons. Part two of the masterplan involved selling to Saudi Arabia. Perhaps Boehly, the man who acted as though he was cleverer than everyone else for much of a year of rampant stupidity, deserves credit for recognising and capitalising on a new market when some of Chelsea’s rivals are struggling to dispose of unwanted players. Kalidou Koulibaly, Edouard Mendy and, albeit on a free transfer, N’Golo Kante have gone to a newly wealthy league; Hakim Ziyech and Romelu Lukaku could follow and, if Chelsea have their way, perhaps Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will, too. But the third phase of the Boehly blueprint has entailed selling off the family silver. Letting Ruben Loftus-Cheek join AC Milan was understandable; Chelsea can lament what might have been if a huge talent had stayed fit but, at 27, he had only made 155 appearances for them. But Mount was different: Chelsea’s player of the year in two of the last three campaigns – a lazy trope he has had two bad campaigns shows ignorance – and a footballer who, along with Fernandez, James and Chilwell, looked among the best suited of their squad to Mauricio Pochettino’s demands, he should have been a Stamford Bridge lifer; maybe a future captain, possibly ending up with 500 or 600 appearances to his name. And yet over the last year Chelsea contrived to hire three managers and 18 players – plus bidding for dozens of others – and give several of their existing squad new deals without managing to extend Mount’s contract. It should have been one of the top priorities for the new regime; it did not feel that way and, while Chelsea can claim they had to sell the midfielder to prevent him from leaving on a free transfer, it has the air of a situation they created themselves. His sale was an indictment of their powerbrokers. They may deem it a triumph of negotiating, though, after forcing United to pay more than they wanted to. At an initial £55m, Mount has brought in one of the five biggest fees Chelsea have ever received. But from an accounting perspective, the key element is that it counts as “pure profit” in the books; sales of the homegrown are especially useful in that respect, particularly for a club who may face issues in their attempts to pass Financial Fair Play. It may point to the departures of Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ethan Ampadu, who arguably need moves, but also to those who do not: perhaps Trevoh Chalobah or Conor Gallagher or Armando Broja. It may be telling that Chelsea tried to send Gallagher to Everton in January. Remove the word “pure” and the profit part is still rare. Chelsea sold Mendy at a loss, two years after he was named the best goalkeeper in the world. They sold Koulibaly for half the amount they paid last summer. The £65m they recouped for Havertz may be more than anticipated, but it was still less than his purchase price. Mateo Kovacic only had a year left on his deal and is 29 but he, too, went for a smaller sum than he arrived for. Lukaku, Ziyech and Christian Pulisic, if they go, will bring in under half of a combined cost of almost £200m. That is certainly not all the fault of Boehly and Clearlake: in several cases, their fortunes were declining before the takeover though the chaos of the last year has often compounded that. Being displaced by dozens of new signings can deplete value still further, while Koulibaly and Aubameyang can now be written off as bad buys. And Boehly and Chelsea are trying to fund their trading – or at least negotiate Financial Fair Play – by flogging anything and anyone they inherited. They have surpassed many an expectation by bringing in around £200m already this summer. There may well be another half a dozen players leaving, perhaps swelling the sum towards £300m. But Chelsea’s outlay already stands at the best part of £700m in little over a year. Whether it leaves them with a stronger squad than in 2021 is a moot point: after all, they have gone from being Champions League winners to out of Europe altogether. But by the end of this transfer window, Boehly’s third lever may have exhausted its use. Chelsea might be running out of players to sell. And at some point, they may have to call upon a fourth prong: a distinctly old-fashioned one called trading well. It may involve seeking value for money when buying, rather than repeatedly paying way over the odds, and selling some of their signings for a profit. It could entail keeping players for several years, rather than having a revolving door. It may sound crazy to Boehly and co but Chelsea might have to try it. Read More Mason Mount says it was clear ‘several months ago’ he was not in Chelsea’s plans Chelsea not willing to listen to offers for Levi Colwill amid continued interest Kalidou Koulibaly exits Chelsea to become latest star name joining Saudi Pro League Dybala or Vlahovic: Which Serie A striker should Chelsea sign? Chelsea target two Serie A players in quest for experienced strikers Mauricio Pochettino explains Chelsea ‘risk’ as club enters new era

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