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ATLANTA (AP) — Lionel Messi delivered for his teammates.

With one more win, he’ll be delivering another World Cup trophy to Argentina.

Messi didn’t add to his tournament-leading goal total, but the 39-year-old assisted on two late strikes that carried La Albiceleste to another stunning comeback and a 2-1 victory over England in the semifinals Wednesday.

“Leo is still performing at the highest level,” England captain Harry Kane said. “I felt like for large parts of the game, we dealt with him really well. But as always with the most dangerous players in the world, when they have the ball in the final third, they can be place-setters. And he did that again today. He’s obviously one of the best players ever for a reason.”

Eight days after an improbable rally against Egypt in the round of 16, Messi returned to Atlanta to produce another stellar moment in a career that might already be the best of anyone to play the sport.

England was surely envisioning going for its first World Cup title since its only one six decades ago after a 55th-minute goal from Anthony Gordon.

But Messi and his blue-clad teammates, as they have shown over and over again, are never done. Now it’s on to face Spain in the final on Sunday with a chance at becoming the first repeat champion since Brazil in 1958 and 1962.

In the 85th minute, with England hanging on for dear life, Messi pushed out a short corner, immediately got the return pass and spotted Enzo Fernández lurking in the middle of the field, 25 yards from the goal. Fernández ripped a curling shot past goalkeeper Jordan Pickford to even the score.

At that point, it seemed inevitable that Argentina would pull out the victory.

And that’s just what happened, with Messi again the orchestrator. Two minutes into stoppage time, he suddenly turned on the speed as he raced toward the end line, gaining enough space to send a pinpoint cross into the area at the back post. The ball cleared six English players, setting up Lautaro Martínez to effortlessly head home the winning goal after slipping between two defenders.

It was a poignant moment for Martínez, all of it made possible by his captain.

“This is really powerful,” he said in Spanish, fighting back tears. “The first time my old man bought me a pair of soccer boots, I always dreamed of scoring this goal.”

From there, it was just a matter of protecting the lead, which Argentina did easily.

When the final whistle blew, Messi dropped to his knees in the middle of the field, pumping his fists.

American sports stars were in awe of what they had just witnessed.

“WOWWWWWWW,” the NFL’s J.J. Watt posted on X.

“Argentina is unreal,” added NBA champion Jalen Brunson, also on X.

Messi played for years in the shadow of the late Diego Maradona, the pride of Argentina who led the country to a World Cup title in 1986 that included two memorable scores — the “Hand of God” and the “Goal of the Century” — in a quarterfinal win over England.

Now, it’s Messi who has stamped his legacy with a triumph over one of Argentina’s most bitter rivals.

“Seeing Messi playing football like this, at his age, it just leaves me speechless,” said Matías Adorno, who turned out in Messi’s No. 10 jersey to celebrate with thousands or revelers in central Buenos Aires. “As Argentines, we’ve always put so much pressure on him. But he’s achieved everything I could imagine.”

Messi remains even with Kylian Mbappé of France in the goals race for the Golden Boot, with both stars having scored eight times. But with two assists, he moved ahead of Mbappé in that category, which is the first tiebreaker for the award. Mbappé has a chance to retake the lead in Saturday’s third-place match against England.

Messi is also the World Cup career scoring leader with 21 goals.

But what he really wants is another title.

He’s one win away.

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Associated Press writer Isabel Debre in Buenos Aires contributed to this report.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

ATLANTA (AP) — No “Hand of God” this time. Argentina didn’t need it.

Instead it was the hallowed feet of Lionel Messi and the unbreakable spirit of a team that has repeatedly fought back at this year’s World Cup that is now one step away from back-to-back titles.

Trailing 1-0 going into the 85th minute, Argentina rallied for a 2-1 victory over England on Wednesday with goals from Enzo Fernandez and substitute Lautaro Martinez.

“I dreamed it, I swear. I told Alexis (Mac Allister) that I was going to score. I told him that I was going to come on and I was going to win it,” Martinez said. “I can tell you this team keeps showing what it’s made of.”

At the final whistle, Messi fell to his knees in celebration while England players collapsed in disbelief — again.

Add 2026 to 1986 and 1998 on the list of games when Argentina has extinguished English hopes at the World Cup.

“I’m gutted for the team, the staff, the fans,” England captain Harry Kane said. “We worked so hard to be here. The lads have given every bit of blood, sweat and tears. To fall short like we did is just gutting.”

The defending champions will take on European champion Spain in the final on Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The best that South America has to offer against the best of Europe.

The loss for England will hurt a new generation of fans in a similar way to Diego Maradona’s infamous handball goal in the 1986 World Cup quarterfinals and the penalty shootout loss in 1998 when David Beckham was sent off for kicking Diego Simeone.

The difference is there can be no sense of injustice this time, even if England had victory in its sights after Anthony Gordon scored the opening goal in the 55th minute.

The English were hanging on as the game wore on. England goalkeeper Jordon Pickford made vital saves while Mac Allister sent a header off the post as wave after wave of Argentina attacks came.

Messi had largely been kept quiet. But when he’s on the field, anything seems possible.

He fed the ball to Fernandez to sweep in the equalizer from outside the box in the 85th minute. And two minutes into stoppage time, Messi sent in a cross for Martinez to head in the winner.

It almost felt inevitable. Especially given the amount of times Argentina has simply refused to give in at this year’s World Cup. From Cape Verde to Egypt, Messi and Co. always seem to find a way.

“It is a show of the collectiveness, the brotherhood that we are in, the fight to the very end that we’ve got,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. “We were ready to go home, sad, knowing that we had left everything on the pitch, but after they scored we really proved ourselves.”

England, in contrast, came up short in the World Cup semifinals for the third time after losses to Germany in 1990 and Croatia in 2018. And it’s another occasion in recent years when England’s players have squandered a winning position in the later stages of a major tournament.

They led 1-0 against Croatia in the semifinals eight years ago and lost 2-1. They were up 1-0 against Italy in the European Championship final in 2021 and lost on penalties.

On Wednesday, England coach Thomas Tuchel’s substitutions seemed to be more intent on holding on, rather than killing the game off with another goal.

“Argentina played with more risk, played with more rhythm, played with the feeling maybe that they have nothing to lose anymore, which freed them up and held us back because we played suddenly with a feeling that we have a lot to lose,” Tuchel said.

Argentina is now one step away from history. Messi, now 39 and likely playing at his last World Cup, is one win away from further strengthening his case to be considered the greatest soccer player of all time.

“We’re going to try to win, we’re going to leave everything out there,” Scaloni said. “It’s very difficult to get people to understand what these players are showing. It’s incredible. We are unique, truly, and it’s not arrogance, it’s from the heart. We are unique.”

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James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Four-time MVP A’ja Wilson was selected first in the WNBA All-Star draft for the exhibition game that will be played on July 25 in Chicago.

Acting as honorary general managers, WNBA greats Cynthia Cooper and Teresa Weatherspoon each drafted All-Star teams Wednesday from players that previously were either voted as starters by fans, media and fellow players or chosen as reserves by the league’s coaches.

Previously, the top two fan vote-getters would serve as captains and draft their own teams. This year that would have been Dallas’ Paige Bueckers and Indiana’s Caitlin Clark. Instead, they were each assigned to a team, with Bueckers headlining Cooper’s team and Clark atop Weatherspoon’s squad.

Joining Bueckers in the starting lineup were New York’s Breanna Stewart, Indiana’s Kelsey Mitchell, Minnesota’s Natasha Howard and Golden State’s Gabby Williams. Weatherspoon picked Las Vegas’ Wilson, Minnesota’s Olivia Miles, Indiana’s Aliyah Boston and Dallas’ Jessica Shepard.

Cooper had the first pick of the reserves and chose Atlanta’s Angel Reese. She’ll play against her two Dream teammates Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray, who were chosen by Weatherspoon.

Cooper also drafted Toronto’s Marina Mabrey, Seattle’s Dominique Malonga, Los Angeles’ Kelsey Plum, Las Vegas’ Jackie Young and Washington’s Sonia Citron as reserves. Weatherspoon also took New York’s Jonquel Jones, Minnesota’s Courtney Williams, Washington’s Kiki Iriafen and Los Angeles’ Nneka Ogwumike. Ogwumike, an 11-time All-Star, was chosen with the final pick of the draft.

Las Vegas’ Becky Hammon will coach Cooper’s team and Minnesota’s Cheryl Reeve will be in charge of Weatherspoon’s squad. Las Vegas and Minnesota had identical records through July 10, but the Aces had a tiebreaker with their victory over the Lynx. That put Hammon in charge of Bueckers’ squad because she was the leading vote-getter.

Portland, Chicago, Connecticut and Phoenix have no All-Stars.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Jaxon Smith-Njigba won the AP Offensive Player of the Year award and the Super Bowl last season before the Seattle Seahawks gave him the biggest contract for a wide receiver in NFL history.

No surprise he was voted the NFL’s top wideout by The Associated Press in a preseason survey.

Smith-Njigba received four first-place votes, three thirds and a fourth from a panel of eight AP pro football writers, who ranked the top five receivers entering the 2026 season. First-place votes were worth 10 points. Second- through fifth-place votes were worth 5, 3, 2 and 1 points.

Ja’Marr Chase got two firsts and Justin Jefferson and Puka Nacua each received one.

1. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle Seahawks

The 24-year-old set a team record for yards receiving (1,793) and receptions (119) last season. He received a four-year, $168.6 million extension that averages $42.15 million annually and includes over $120 million in guaranteed money.

Smith-Njigba, a unanimous All-Pro selection, had nine 100-yard receiving games during the regular season and was a key to Seattle winning its second Super Bowl in franchise history.

2. Ja’Marr Chase, Cincinnati Bengals

Chase, a unanimous All-Pro selection in 2024, tied Justin Jefferson for first place in voting last year in this survey.

He had 125 receptions, 1,412 yards receiving and eight touchdowns last season after earning the receiving triple crown in 2024.

Chase got two first-place votes, three seconds, two thirds and was left off one ballot.

3. Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams

Nacua was a unanimous All-Pro selection after leading the NFL with 129 catches for 1,715 yards and 10 TDs.

Nacua has averaged 104 catches, 1,397 yards receiving and six TDs over his three seasons in the NFL, giving Matthew Stafford a top target and the Rams an elite passing attack.

He got one first-place vote, three seconds and appeared on seven ballots.

4. Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings

In a down season, Jefferson had 84 catches for 1,048 yards and two TDs while catching passes from three different Vikings quarterbacks.

The two-time All-Pro has averaged 97 catches, 1,413 yards and seven TDs over his six seasons in the NFL.

Jefferson still received one first-place vote, two seconds and appeared on seven ballots.

5. Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit Lions

St. Brown was a second-team All-Pro after earning first-team honors the previous two seasons.

He had 117 receptions, 1,401 yards receiving and 11 TDs last season for the Lions. St. Brown has four straight seasons of more than 100 receptions and more than 1,100 yards receiving.

He appeared on seven of the eight ballots.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

SOUTHPORT, England (AP) — How far the golf ball goes has been debated for the last 20 years and distance is likely to be a big concern this week at Royal Birkdale for the British Open, with one twist.

It’s not how far shots are going in the air. It’s what happens when they get on the ground. And with links golf, that’s not always easy to control, especially this week.

“You can’t judge every single bounce perfectly,” Justin Rose said. “But you have to accept the nature of a links golf course. There’s going to be some good bounces, bad bounces. Just keep playing with a big of freedom and creativity, especially this week.

“You’re going to get a few funny bounces here or there,” he said. “That’s all part of it.”

The 154th Open begins Thursday with a mixture of excitement and curiosity. For those who love links golf, there’s no greater colors than brown and yellow that indicate crispy conditions in which the fairways can run faster than some of the greens.

Rarely has the forecast been filled with warm sunshine — slightly cooler on the weekend — with a cloudless sky that will be a challenge for the R&A to keep the turf from getting too fast.

Rory McIlroy came to Royal Birkdale a few weeks ago and saw what seemed to be a different course. It was greener. The rough was more lush. It’s no longer like that. Yes, it’s harder to control shots running along the fairway But the rough, while still having some thick patches in which players are up to their knees in grass, is more burned and wispy.

“I think it’s a double-edged sword,” McIlroy said. “I think all this dry weather and sun and a little bit of wind is obviously great for the course in one way, but when I was here a couple weeks ago, the rough was a lot more penal than it’s going to be this week. It’s definitely burnt out a lot.

“The big thing, especially off the tee here, is the fairway bunkers and avoiding those,” he said. “You might see some guys being more aggressive off the tee, taking driver, trying to take the fairway bunkers out of play. OK, it might be in the rough, but it’s not that penal, so you get a wedge in your hand and you can figure it out from there.”

Every hole seems to have options.

The redesigned fifth plays 321 yards and enough shrubs have been removed that it’s no longer a blind shot from the tee. What players see now is a pond — an unusual hazard for links golf, but it’s always been there — and a row of pot bunkers leading to the green.

Marcus Plunkett, the U.S. Army veteran playing in his first British Open, arrived Thursday and smashed driver to the edge of the green. Even with that shot, he’s planning on a 7-iron off the tee.

The wind is out of a different direction than usual, making the 393-yard 16th hole play downwind and running fast. Most players were hitting no more than 5-iron off the tee to avoid the bunkers. The other option is a driver than can get close to the green.

It’s like that all over, and it could lead to brilliance and blunders.

“From what I’ve learned in the past, if you start pulling out drivers in an Open Championship, you can do a good job,” Jon Rahm said. “You can maybe get away with it one round. Over four rounds, you’re going to start finding spots you don’t want to be in, and you’re going to pay the price.”

Scottie Scheffler is the defending champion, trying to become the first repeat winner of golf’s oldest championship since Padraig Harrington won at Carnoustie and Royal Birkdale in 2007 and 2008. The world’s No. 1 player has played only five times in the Open, but he probably spoke for many when he said, “This is the first forecast I remember seeing it had no rain in it for the week.”

“If it holds, it should continue to firm up, and we’ve got some warm weather as well,” he said.

It’s a different Royal Birkdale from when Jordan Spieth won in 2017, particularly the new look on the fifth and the par-3 seventh, and a brand-new par 3 at the 15th (the old par-3 14th was removed). Scheffler offered a not-so-subtle jab at the chances, even though he hadn’t seen the course before.

“The one thing I found interesting is it’s so obvious as to which holes had been redone,” he said. “They look like they’re not even on the same golf course.”

Scheffler had to return the claret jug on Tuesday. Someone else takes possession Sunday night when he is introduced as the “Champion Golfer of the Year.” And then it’s eight-plus months until the next major at the Masters in April.

The four majors are over quickly.

But it’s only fitting the British Open with its unique brand of golf is the last major of the year. It’s unlike anything players see all year, especially in dry and firm and fiery conditions like this.

“The ball is just going to run forever,” Scheffler said.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Kylian Mbappé had France poised for another run to the World Cup final with a team that seemingly had the offensive firepower to solve Spain’s stout defense.

Instead, Les Bleus had no answers in a 2-0 semifinal loss at the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys on Tuesday in what is presumably coach Didier Deschamps’ final appearance on soccer’s biggest stage.

Deschamps, who has said this would be his last World Cup, won a title as a player in 1998 and again as a coach eight years ago in Russia before leading France to the final in 2022 in Qatar. Argentina won that championship in a penalty shootout.

“I’ve been lucky as a player to enjoy happy moments,” Deschamps said through a translator, while also saying it wasn’t yet time to discuss his future. “Today is not such a moment. But I think we must accept it without forgetting everything that we’ve experienced so far. But today’s feeling is that I am not happy.”

The disappointment reverberated from Texas across the Atlantic Ocean. A number of clashes reportedly broke out in Paris, with incidents between law enforcement and young people also reported in Lyon.

French media lamented that their team had been unable to reproduce the exhilarating performances it had delivered while never trailing in its first six World Cup matches.

L’Équipe, France’s leading sports newspaper, noted that Deschamps’ players had been outplayed in every aspect of the game, “unable to live up to their dreams and to the hope they had inspired.”

Those players didn’t disagree, although Mbappé was quick to defend his coach, and said he would play hard for Deschamps in the third-place match against the Argentina-England loser on Saturday in Miami Gardens, Florida.

“Nothing changed about what Didier means to us as a French people. As a manager, as a player, he wrote an amazing story,” said the France captain, who got a quick hug from his coach on the sideline after the final whistle. “There’s one game left for him, so we’re going to try to play the best game for him because he deserves it, and also the fans deserve to have a win and finish third in this World Cup.”

The dangerous playmaking of Mbappé, Ousmane Dembele and Michael Olise never showed up in what ended up being Spain’s sixth clean sheet in seven World Cup appearances this year.

Mbappé’s best chance came in the 67th minute when his shot deflected off Spain defender Marc Cucurella and went just wide. La Roja already had a two-goal lead at that point.

The 27-year-old Mbappé, who entered the day level with Argentina superstar Lionel Messi for the tournament lead in goals with eight, showed some frustration with a yellow card in the 86th minute. He rushed toward Unai Simón just as the Spain goalkeeper was bending over to pick up the ball. The two collided, sending Simón to the grass.

“In so many ways, France was missing everything today,” Rayan Cherki said through a translator. “We’ll be back in four years, and we won’t make the same mistakes.”

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Associated Press writer Samuel Petrequin in Paris contributed to this report.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Atlantic Coast Conference is revamping the tiebreaker format for its football championship game following a controversial finish last season that allowed a five-loss Duke team to get in over then-No. 10-ranked Miami — a situation that put the Hurricanes at risk of missing the expanded College Football Playoff.

Miami, which had been the ACC’s most dominant team during the regular season, wound up being selected for the playoff and went on to reach the national title game, where it fell short to No. 1 Indiana 27-21.

Duke beat No. 20 Virginia in the ACC championship game last year for its first outright ACC title since 1962 but was not selected for the CFP, much to the dismay of Blue Devils coach Manny Diaz.

The new football championship tiebreaker policy will take effect beginning with the 2026 season, reflecting the league’s transition to a nine-game conference schedule and ensuring a fair and equitable process for determining participants in the ACC championship game, the league said.

The updated tiebreaking procedure is built on three guiding principles:

— Head-to-head results always will matter most.

— No team will be overly rewarded or penalized based on the number of conference games it played.

— When head-to-head competition cannot separate tied teams, the team with the strongest overall body of work will earn the opportunity to compete for the ACC championship and the conference’s automatic qualifier to the College Football Playoff.

“Our game will feature the two most deserving teams,” ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips said at ACC Kickoff on Wednesday in Charlotte.

Phillips said the third tier of that tiebreaker will be based on a SportSource Analytics metric used by the CFP.

The updated policy was developed to reward head-to-head results and account for the league’s teams playing an alternate number of conference games while also identifying the two most deserving teams to compete for the ACC championship and the conference’s automatic berth into the CFP.

The conference said the evaluation included more than 10,000 simulated season outcomes to ensure the model fairly addressed a wide range of championship scenarios.

The revised policy was approved following a comprehensive review by the ACC’s athletics directors.

In December, the ACC announced that 12 of its 17 football-playing members would be playing a nine-game football schedule beginning in 2026 while five teams would play eight games. That made the head-to-head tiebreakers even more complicated than in the past.

The policy will operate as a bridge to accommodate conference games already on the books, with the plan to have 16 of 17 teams playing nine football games regularly by 2027.

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

DETROIT (AP) — Steve Yzerman abruptly stepped down as general manager of the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday, a stunning midsummer change of a franchise great leaving the job after seven seasons and zero playoff appearances.

Yzerman’s resignation to transition to an advisory role to CEO Chris Ilitch comes several weeks after captain and No. 1 center Dylan Larkin’s trade request came to light. The Red Wings’ decade-long playoff drought is the longest active drought in the NHL and in the organization’s storied history.

The team says its search for a new head of hockey operations is already underway and that Yzerman will continue to be in charge on a day-to-day basis until his successor is determined.

“Clearly, we are not where we and our fans expect to be as an organization,” Ilitch said in a statement. “Steve’s lifetime of contributions to the Red Wings has meant more to this franchise than words can truly express, and I have the highest level of respect for his continued commitment to our organization.”

Yzerman spent his entire 22-year Hall of Fame NHL playing career with Detroit, captaining them to the Stanley Cup three times. He was an accomplished GM with Tampa Bay, building the core that eventually won back-to-back championships, before taking over in Detroit in 2019, where success on the ice has not materialized.

“This organization has given me incredible opportunities, from my time as a player to the privilege of returning as general manager,” Yzerman said. “My commitment to the Red Wings and this community will never waver, and I look forward to supporting the organization in whatever role is needed to achieve our collective goals.”

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Dylan Cease started a parade of pitchers that shut down a slew of baseball’s best batters in a display of the pitching dominance that rules the sport.

“I thought before the game about starting with a changeup and I thought it would be funny,” he said.

He didn’t. And the hitters were not laughing.

Cease struck out the side in the first inning, combining with 10 relievers on a three-hitter that led the American League over the National League 4-0 in Tuesday night’s All-Star Game.

Cease fanned Kyle Schwarber, Juan Soto and CJ Abrams around a walk in the first inning, when he got six misses among 15 swings. He became just the seventh pitcher to strike out three in an All-Star opening inning after Carl Hubbell (1934), Warren Spahn (1949), Jim Palmer (1977), Dave Stieb (1983), Pedro Martinez (1999) and Brad Penny (2006) — four of them Hall of Famers.

After speaking with Justin Verlander, the senior AL All-Star, Cease gave up the idea of starting with a changeup and instead threw Schwarber a 96.9 mph four-seamer.

“Verlander talked me out of it,” Cease said. “So we started with the heater and then I was glad we did.”

Pitchers struck out 27, a record for a nine-inning All-Star Game, 15 of them by AL hurlers.

“That’s the game now. Guys’ stuff is unbelievable,” said AL manager John Schneider, also Cease’s skipper in Toronto. “I think the bullpen guys kind fed off of it. They were all excited coming off the mound. It speaks volumes to how good the pitching is, for sure.”

All-Star MVP Cody Bellinger hit a two-run single and Ben Rice followed with an RBI single in the first against Cristopher Sánchez of the host Philadelphia Phillies.

Miguel Vargas of the Chicago White Sox added an eighth-inning home run off the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Justin Wrobleski, who was pitching on his 26th birthday, for the game’s only extra-base hit. The AL won for the 18th time in 23 games and holds a 49-45-2 advantage overall.

“The pitching was just dominant today,” Bellinger said.

Singles by Soto in the fourth, Pete Crow-Armstrong in the eighth and Otto Lopez in the ninth were the only hits by the NL, which failed to advance a runner past first.

Parker Messick, Michael Wacha, Joe Ryan, Nick Martinez, Cade Smith, Drew Rasmussen, Jacob Latz, Louis Varland, Aroldis Chapman and Bryan Baker finished the 10th All-Star shutout and first since the AL’s 2-0 win in 2013 at New York’s Citi Field.

Some starting star power was missing, with Jacob Misoriowski, Paul Skenes and Shohei Ohtani all unavailable. Just six pitches reached 100 mph, the fewest in an All-Star Game since 2021.

Bellinger and Rice both singled on up sinkers from Sánchez, who struggled through a 34-pitch inning that included three hits and two walks.

“It just took me a little time to soak it all in and enjoy it,” Sánchez said through a translator.

Documenting the day

Managers and starters entered through replica Liberty Bells in front of each dugout, walked to home plate and used a feathered quill to sign an oversized lineup card, as if they were Founding Fathers affixing names to the Declaration of Independence. MLB donated the card to the Hall of Fame.

Dirt around the plate was surrounded by 13 stars, one for each of the Colonies.

After the fourth inning, a video was played of kids bicycling to a sandlot game with a narration by Oscar-winning actor J.K. Simmons. As footage was played of Ray Charles singing “America the Beautiful” at Game 2 of the 2001 World Series, the kids biked onto the field and started interacting with the All-Stars as fireworks went off above the ballpark.

“We were all one of those kids,” NL manager Dave Roberts of the Dodgers said. “Some of these kids might never get a chance to be on a major league field. So for them to have that opportunity to be — have a conversation with an All-Star is something that they might never get that chance again, right?

Bellinger thought back to his youth.

“We’re all little kids at heart playing this game even though it’s a challenging game,” he said. “We’re all still those little kids with big dreams.”

Early exit

Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero was hit on the outside of his left hand by a 97.6 mph sinker from St. Louis closer Riley O’Brien in the third inning and immediately left the game. The 23-year-old, fourth in the major leagues with 28 home runs, stayed down for a few moments before he popped up and ran straight into the clubhouse. X-rays were negative.

Been a while

Mike Trout, a 12-time All-Star who hadn’t played in the game since 2019 because of injuries, went 0 for 3 with a strikeout.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The NBA will be doing some international business alongside the FIFA World Cup final in the coming days, as it moves closer to the planned launch of a new league in Europe sometime in the fall of 2027.

Commissioner Adam Silver, speaking after the league’s Board of Governors meeting on Tuesday night, said he and Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum plan to talk to a number of groups interested in owning teams that will play in the new league.

And since many of those interested parties will be heading to the New York area for Sunday’s World Cup final, it made sense to take meetings, Silver said.

“We’ve had tremendous interest from multiple cities in Europe, including cities that we didn’t ask for bids from,” Silver said. “And we discussed with our board today that we’re in the process of finalizing those bids for an initial group of cities.”

The NBA and FIBA, the sport’s global governing body, announced plans last year to pursue a new European league — ending years of speculation about when or if such a move would happen. The plan remains in place for the new league to launch just over a year.

“Things are where I hope they would be,” Silver said.

NBA hoping Leonard investigation to wrap this summer

The lengthy probe into whether the Los Angeles Clippers circumvented salary cap rules related to an endorsement contract between Kawhi Leonard and a now-bankrupt California-based digital bank that touted itself as environmentally friendly remains active, and Silver said he wants it completed sometime this summer.

It is now a thornier issue, given that a trade is in place to send Leonard from the Clippers to the Toronto Raptors. The teams put that trade on hold last week pending the outcome of the probe, and that could take weeks to decide.

The teams made that decision and the issues “were well-known to the teams,” Silver said.

“They chose not to live with that uncertainty,” Silver said.

The NBA enlisted outside counsel — Wachtell Lipton, a New York-based firm — to conduct the investigation and Silver said he gets regular updates from the league’s general counsel on certain elements of the probe.

“The investigation needs to run its course,” Silver said.

The probe, as detailed by the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, could lead to penalties that include a substantial fine, the loss of draft capital — and, potentially, even the voiding of a player contract — if the league finds there was a deliberate circumvention of cap rules.

Seattle, Las Vegas expansion update

The league’s process of deciding on whether to expand to Seattle, Las Vegas, either or both continued with multiple conversations this week. Silver reiterated something he’s said several times, that he’s hopeful a decision will be made by the end of 2026.

A handful of potential ownership groups have declared interest publicly.

“Some groups have been public,” Silver said. “The majority of groups have not been public.”

If the league expands, the likely target is for the 2028-29 season.

Silver defends CBA’s ‘second apron’

Silver said he believes the collective bargaining agreement is working as intended, and defended the “second apron” — one of the salary-related elements of the deal between the league and its players.

“Every collective bargaining agreement is a result of a series of compromises,” Silver said. “And that’s what this one is as well, but certainly from my standpoint, from a competitor’s standpoint, this is working very well.”

The current collective bargaining agreement includes aprons — payroll levels that, if exceeded, seriously limit a team’s options on player movement and acquisition. And they have come under fire in recent days, with newly installed National Basketball Players Association executive director David Kelly saying the union will fight it in the next collective bargaining agreement.

“We are not fans of the second apron,” Kelly said last week. “We did not propose the second apron. We should have done a better job of fighting back against the second apron, and in the future, we will have a much more unified union, and we will do a better of fighting it back against a second apron.”

Kelly was responding to a question surrounding something NBA veteran Kyle Kuzma wrote on social media earlier this month. Kuzma said “the first and second apron are starting to function like a hard cap on player value, team continuity, and player movement.”

The current CBA is scheduled to remain in place through at least the 2028-29 season. And for the record, not all players are up in arms about how the CBA is working.

“Thank God for second aprons and the first aprons,” Houston star Kevin Durant said during the regular season when asked about the league’s run of parity — with eight different franchises having won titles in the last eight seasons.

Miami’s Micky Arison to chair Board of Governors

Miami Heat managing general partner and Basketball Hall of Famer Micky Arison was unanimously elected as the board’s next chairman. Arison will take over the role at the league’s September board meeting.

Arison — who has the second-longest tenure of any current NBA team governor at 31 years and is the longtime chair of the board of directors of Carnival Corporation — is assuming the role that outgoing Toronto governor Larry Tanenbaum has held since September 2017.

“I am grateful for Larry’s nearly three decades of stewardship of the Raptors and his commitment to helping guide our league as NBA Board Chairman over the past nine years,” Silver said. “Micky’s long record of service on the Board, his strong relationships with his fellow team owners and his deep understanding of our game and business make him an exceptional choice to assume this important leadership role.”

Tanenbaum thanked the league’s owners for their support and said he wishes Arison success.

“I look forward to working closely in this new capacity with Adam, the league office and my fellow team governors to champion our teams and players, ensuring we continue to deliver exciting and unforgettable experiences for our fans,” Arison said.

All-Star Game future

Silver said he’s hoping to have a decision on the format of the All-Star Game by the start of the regular season.

The league tried a U.S. vs. World mini-tournament this past season, and it generally was well-received. Talks between the league and its players are ongoing on the format and if any potential tweaks are needed. “I think we’re off to a good start,” Silver said.

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