A host of NBA talent – past and present – is set to headline the action when FIBA EuroBasket 2025 gets underway from 27 August to 14 September.
With the United States’ top basketball league not due to tip off until the end of October, some of its brightest European stars have decided to spend their offseason in national colours, adding an extra layer of intrigue around the continental showpiece.
Among those sure to attract the world’s gaze are former NBA champions and MVP award winners Nikola Jokić and Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the Los Angeles Lakers’ blockbuster recruit Luka Dončić.
But the list doesn’t stop there. A total of 18 out of the 24 teams competing will have at least one active NBA player on their roster.
Find out more about which NBA stars have made the final 12-player squads for the event below.
Sweden prevailed over Egypt on all scoring counts – 14-2 in kill blocks, 75-56 in spike kills and 3-1 in aces. They did, however, also commit abundant unforced errors – 23 against only nine from Egypt. Isabelle’s older sister, outside hitter and captain Anna Haak, put away 17 points, including two blocks and an ace. Her cross-court teammate Maya Tabron spiked another 15 points at a 58% success rate in attack.
“This win was really important. It was a tough tournament for us, but it’s been really fun. We got a lot of experience. It’s the first time in history, our first ever victory at the World Championships, so we wrote history in the end. Of course, we would have loved to play a better game two days ago, but I think we should be really proud of what we did,” Isabelle Haak told VBTV. “Now with volleyball growing in Sweden, we have a lot of young players and I think future generations will be better and better…”
As many as four Egyptian players reached the double digits in this game, led by outside hitter Nada Ahmed Houssameldein with a team-high 18 points. 20-year-old opposite Toqaallah Eassa, outside Mariam Metwally Mohamed Morsy (Meeto) and middle blocker Dalia Morshedy Ashraf added 14, 13 and 11 points, respectively.
With six months to go until the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, Charlotte Bankes is doing all she can in a race to be fit for the women’s snowboard cross event starting 13 February.
“Unfortunately, I had to have a second surgery on the collarbone,” Bankes told Olympics.com in an exclusive interview on Saturday (23 August) at Soft Life Ski, an initiative that aims to increase diversity in winter sport, which has partnered with GB Snowsport.
The Briton suffered the initial injury, a broken collarbone, in training in April just as a third snowboard cross World Cup title in four years was within reach.
“The operation went well, and I’ve started rehab again so I’m back in Bisham at our intensive rehab centre there working hard with the guys and it’s going well,” said Bankes of the treatment she’s receiving at the UK Sports Institute at Bisham Abbey.
“We just need to let the bone heal and we’re going to put the work in physically so that when I’m ready to get back on snow, and the bone is ready to get back up on snow, I’ll be ready to have fun out there.”
Enjoying her sport is the main reason for her longevity.
The 30-year-old has competed in three Winter Olympics to date, two representing France, a country she moved to with her family at four years old, and the most recent, at Beijing 2022, representing her birth nation of Great Britain.
None has yielded an Olympic medal as yet, with a best-place finish of sixth in the mixed team snowboard cross event in People’s Republic of China alongside Huw Nightingale.
However, the pair are the 2023 world champions in the discipline, which made its Olympic debut last time out, and with an individual world title from 2021, Milano Cortina 2026 is very much the aim.
“Oh totally, that’s the goal,” said Bankes, “and that’s also why I had surgery, to be sure to be at Milan because I didn’t want to take the risk of it failing in the lead-up.”
Despite the disappointment of her all-important Olympic season not panning out as planned, Bankes is making good use of her time in between rehab sessions, attending an event that encourages diversity and inclusion in winter sport.
Antony’s turbulent spell at Manchester United looks to be drawing to a close, with it reported that Real Betis have reached an agreement in principle to bring the winger back to Spain. The Brazilian has been frozen out under United boss Ruben Amorim, who wasted no time in signalling that the 25-year-old had no role in his long-term project at Old Trafford.
Early bird tickets are now on sale for our upcoming Barclays Women’s Super League game at home to Chelsea.
We face the Blues at Emirates Stadium in what promises to be a huge fixture on Saturday, November 8 at 12.30pm.
Please note, fixture date and kick-off time are subject to change.
Get your tickets and cheer us on!
It’s set to be one of the most important matches of the season, as we look to challenge Chelsea for the league title.
Copyright 2025 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
Carlos Alcaraz thought the biggest challenge he would face in the early stages of this year’s US Open was the 145mph serves of his 6ft 11in first round opponent, Reilly Opelka. Instead it turned out to be his own brother.
Alcaraz wanted a haircut before the tournament and, in the absence of his usual barber, Victor Martínez, asked one of his brothers to give him a trim. It did not go well.
“I felt like my hair was really long already, and before the tournament I just really wanted to get a haircut,” the world No 2 told reporters after dismissing Opelka 6-4, 7-5 6-4 on Monday night. “Suddenly just my brother just – he misunderstood with the machine. He just cut it. Then, the only way to fix it was just to shave it off. To be honest, it’s not that bad, I guess.”
Alcaraz has flown Martínez to other tournaments, such as this year’s French Open, when he needs a haircut but felt the flight from Spain to New York was too far. So far, the verdict on his brother’s barber skills are mixed.
“Some people like it, some people don’t like it,” he said. “To be honest, I’m just laughing about the reaction of the people. It is what it is. I can’t do anything else right now, so I’m just laughing about everything they are saying about my haircut.”
One person who is not a fan is Frances Tiafoe. The pair could meet in the semi-finals after they won their first-round matches. Tiafoe described Alcaraz’s new cut as “horrendous” when asked about it.
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“I don’t know who told him to do that, but it’s terrible. From a guy who gets haircuts week in, week out, who prides himself on good haircuts, it’s horrendous,” Tiafoe said. “But at the end of the day, it’s Carlos, and that’s my guy. But yeah, he needs to get with me. He needs to get with me for sure.”
Alcaraz had his own thoughts. “Frances is lying. Frances is lying,” laughed Alcaraz. “No, come on? He showed up here saying that it is terrible? I know he’s lying. I know he likes the haircut. He likes it. He told me.”
There were fans of the Spaniard’s new look though. Masters champion Rory McIlroy met Alcaraz at Flushing Meadows on Monday and gave his verdict. “I like it,” he said. “It’s good. It’s a good look.”
Alcaraz, whose five grand slam titles include the 2022 US Open, next plays on Thursday, against world No 65 Mattia Bellucci. He said his hair grows so fast it may not be a talking point by then.
“Every time that I get a haircut, in two or three days it’s gone,” he said. “In three days you’re going to see another hair[style].”
Missing the action and the friendship? The matches and the emotions? The conferences and the medal ceremonies? Then it’s time to look back to the best moments of the FISU Summer Games in Germany.
We are currently in the process of changing our OTT provider, which means access to FISU.tv is temporarily not available.
In the meantime, most of our content is on FISU’s YouTube channel. This is where you will find the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games aftermovie, so the highlights of the action in Germany as well as much more content from the 2025 FISU Games Summer and Winter, and extensive footage about university sports.
So don’t hesitate to browse and we thank you for your patience and understanding during this transition period between streaming platforms.
Sixteen-year-old American track star Cooper Lutkenhaus has turned pro.
“I’m just super excited and blessed for the opportunity,” Lutkenhaus said in an interview with Citius Mag. “To be able to run professionally at such a young age is not very common, so to be represented by the best brand is very exciting.
“I’ve been able to run fast at a young age but in this sport, nothing is ever guaranteed. I’m obviously going to take full advantage of what I’ve been able to do. Once I graduate from high school, I will still go to college.”
Lutkenhaus will become the United States’s youngest-ever athlete to compete at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo next month.
The high schooler qualified for what will now be his professional debut by setting an under-18 world record in the 800m with a 1:42.27 at the US Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Lutkenhaus will be a junior this fall at Northwest High School in Texas. His 800m time is the fourth fastest in US history.
