As the WNBA season starts today, there are a lot of changes to catch up on: The league now has a $7 million salary cap, supermax contracts and two new expansion teams — with three more on the way.
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But one thing remains constant: The Las Vegas Aces are atop the sport — though the New York Liberty, Indiana Fever and Atlanta Dream might have something to say about that by season’s end. Read our full WNBA season preview here. Below, we have an excerpt on the Aces.
Also, our World Cup countdown continues with one of the most recognizable names in soccer, Cristiano Ronaldo. For more WNBA and World Cup coverage, check out the NBC News website.
WNBA Preview
In the professional sports landscape, the WNBA is still a relatively young league. Today, it tips off its 30th season. Watching the WNBA grow, you get the sense that you’re watching history unfold in real time. Any dominant player could end up an all-time great. Any dominant team could be the WNBA’s version of the ‘90s Chicago Bulls.
Only a few WNBA teams have ever approached dynasty status. The Houston Comets won the first four league titles from 1997 through 2000, and the Minnesota Lynx won four titles in seven years from 2011 through 2017.
The 2020s Las Vegas Aces could surpass them both. The Aces have won three of the past four WNBA titles, including last year’s 4-0 sweep of the Phoenix Mercury. They have the sport’s best player in A’ja Wilson; arguably the sport’s best coach in Becky Hammon; and a supporting cast of all-star guards Jackie Young, Chelsea Gray and Jewell Loyd.
Wilson is still in her prime, only 29 years old, and already being discussed as the WNBA’s greatest player of all time. She’s a 6-foot-4 center who, in 2025, averaged 23.4 points, 10.2 rebounds and 42.4% on 3-pointers, on the occasions she took them. In eight seasons, she’s won four MVP trophies, three Defensive Player of the Year awards and two Finals MVPs.
“I’ve worked so hard to get to these situations and put myself in these spaces that I’m like, ‘OK, yeah, I’ve earned it, of course,’” Wilson recently told The Associated Press. “But when it comes to people and where they want me and they’re saying are you the next GOAT? I have no idea because in my mind I have a lot more winning to do.”
World Cup Countdown
Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal during the Republic of Ireland V Portugal, 2026 World Cup Qualifying – UEFA, Group Stage match at Aviva Stadium in Dublin in 2025.Tim Clayton / Getty Images file
Leading up to the 2026 World Cup, we’re counting down 26 players to watch. They could be household names or unsung heroes, crucial to their team’s success. The players you need to know before the games start. Today’s entry is Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo is among the most famous, most decorated and wealthiest players ever to step on a soccer pitch. What, then, is motivating the 41-year-old to don Portugal’s kit for his sixth and final World Cup this summer? The lack of a World Cup title is the one gap on his historic résumé. And it doesn’t help that the other player most mentioned alongside Ronaldo in soccer’s GOAT debate, Argentina’s Lionel Messi, claimed his long-sought World Cup trophy in 2022.
Ronaldo burst onto the international scene as part of a so-called golden generation of Portuguese players ready to make the country a legitimate contender, yet Portugal’s win at the 2016 Euros remains the country’s high-water mark on the world stages. Portugal finished fourth at the 2006 World Cup; it has advanced as far as the quarterfinals just once since.
Ronaldo hasn’t played against top-flight competition since leaving for Saudi Arabia’s domestic league in 2023, so how he will adjust to world-class competition remains to be seen. And he will be playing on a roster that isn’t quite what Portugal once envisioned. Diogo Jota, a spellbinding forward and national team mainstay, died in a car crash in 2025, a loss that gutted his teammates and is still being felt a year later as they attempt to compensate for his creativity.
It puts even more pressure on Ronaldo, the all-time leading men’s goal-scorer internationally, to return to top form.
Yesterday’s entry was Team USA’s Weston McKennie. Read about him here.
Premier League Preview
Bukayo Saka of Arsenal FC during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 Semi Final Second Leg match between Arsenal FC and Atletico de Madrid at Arsenal Stadium on May 5 in London.Visionhaus / Getty Images
There are a lot of big moments in a season, but Arsenal’s 5-mile trip to West Ham on Sunday feels like the defining one in their title race, now that they’ve been handed this glorious opportunity with three games to go. Manchester City’s surprise 3-3 draw at Everton on Monday handed the Gunners the advantage in the title race. If they win their final three games against West Ham, Burnley and Crystal Palace, they will be Premier League champions for the first time in 22 years. Simple, right? Even in the great position they’re in, Arsenal knows it won’t be easy.
To add extra spice to the occasion, West Ham dropped back into the relegation zone last weekend and are scrapping with everything they have to stay up. Nuno Espírito Santo’s side is tough to break down, rapid on the counter and really good from set pieces. In the past, those kinds of strengths tripped Arsenal up in title quests. West Ham have only lost three of their last six league games against Arsenal, with the 2-2 draw in April 2023 particularly crushing for the Gunners’ title hopes then. But this is a different Arsenal. They are more resilient, still confident, and have a deeper and more experienced squad.
Both North London teams are surging at the business end of the season, with Tottenham Hotspur winning back-to-back Premier League games for the first time since August to take them out of the relegation zone with three games to go. An escape from the most embarrassing relegation in Premier League history now seems possible.
Their third manager of the season, Roberto De Zerbi, has come in and cajoled this broken Spurs side a little, but their expensively assembled squad, which was supposed to challenge for the top four, has still underachieved epically. De Zerbi’s desire and clear message, plus injuries calming down, have led to two improved performances against Sunderland and Brighton. But only 1 point has arrived since De Zerbi stepped in, as Spurs let in a heartbreaking late equalizer at home to Brighton last weekend. That is the kind of thing that happens when you’re down at the bottom of the table, as Spurs are in the relegation zone and 2 points from safety heading into this weekend.
What We’re Reading
The WNBA is back today with more stars and superteams (and money) than ever before.
March Madness brackets for both the men’s and women’s sides will expand from 68 teams to 76, the NCAA announced yesterday.
As we get closer to the World Cup, let’s build the perfect player.
Will Aaron Rodgers return for the Steelers next season? It could come down to money.
NBA players, in an anonymous poll from The Athletic, said they see no integrity problem across the league despite gambling and tanking issues.
What We’re Watching
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama warms up before game two of the second round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Frost Bank Center. Daniel Dunn / Imagn Images
During the conference semifinals, the San Antonio-Minnesota series out West might be the best. The Timberwolves took Game 1 behind a heroic performance off the bench from Anthony Edwards, and then the Spurs came back and won Game 2 in a blowout, on a scoring barrage led by De’Aaron Fox, Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle.
Which stars will show up tonight for Game 3? We’ll be watching.
All times are Eastern:
7 p.m.: No. 3 New York Knicks vs. No. 7 Philadelphia 76ers, on Amazon Prime9:30 p.m.: No. 2 San Antonio Spurs vs. No. 6 Minnesota Timberwolves, on Amazon Prime
That’s it for now! We’ll be back Monday.