Browsing: Austin

Pro golf is returning to Austin, Texas — and it’s bringing the YouTube generation along with it.

On Monday morning, the PGA Tour announced its return to Austin for the Good Good Championship, a PGA Tour fall season event that will debut in 2026 and be title-sponsored by the popular YouTube golf brand. Like most other PGA Tour fall season events, the Good Good Championship will be aired on Golf Channel and ESPN+, will feature a field of 120 players and will award 500 FedEx Cup points to the winner, in line with regular-season Tour events.

The announcement marks pro golf’s return to a market in which it has long flourished, and to a city from which many were sad to see the sport depart when the WGC Match Play was discontinued in 2023. Events that overlap with the NFL season (the inaugural Good Good Championship will be played from Nov. 12-15) might not generate as many headlines or as much revenue as regular-season events, but they still help the Tour reap a chunk of its $700 million per year in TV rights agreements, and many millions more in title-sponsorship deals like Good Good’s.

For the title-sponsors of thisevent, the news is a strong indicator of the growth of YouTube golf into a golf-industry bonafide. The Tour title sponsorship marks the latest expansion for Good Good across the golf space following a $45 million fundraising round in the spring. While the biggest focus for the Good Good brand from that fundraising round appeared to be the expansion of its prolific YouTube and e-commerce businesses, the Tour sponsorship represents a swing of a different kind. From a brand awareness standpoint, it might be Good Good’s biggest move to date, fully bridging the gap between YouTube golf and its establishment friends at the Tour.

While the cost of the Good Good sponsorship was not disclosed, title sponsorships for full-field PGA Tour events reportedly run between $12-15 million per event — though fall events, which typically draw weaker fields than those in the regular season, may cost less. According to the release, the deal is a “multi-year partnership.”

The Tour’s continued reimagining of its competitive calendar has led to questions about the sustainability of events outside of the Tour’s main sprint from January through late-August. Today, the fall season is the preferred spot for Tour lifers and youngsters fighting for status, though the low-wattage nature of those tournaments relative to the rest of the season has made it easy to envision changes. The Tour’s new “Future Competition Committee” was created in large part to find long-term solutions for pieces of the Tour business like the fall season, even if that chunk of the schedule remains entrenched for the time being. (Golf Channel will handle linear TV coverage of the Good Good Championship, per the Tour’s release.)

The new Tour event also will welcome a new tournament host: the Omni Barton Creek, which will take over hosting duties from Austin Country Club, the longtime host site of the WGC Match Play.

One of golf’s top influencer brands is sponsoring the PGA Tour’s return to Austin, Texas.

Good Good Golf, which boasts nearly 2 million subscribers on YouTube, will serve as the title sponsor for the Good Good Championship, which will take place Nov. 12-15 at Omni Barton Creek Resort and Spa’s Fazio Canyons Course.

“The PGA Tour is proud to return to the great City of Austin for the first time since 2023 for the Good Good Championship, an exciting new event as part of the FedExCup Fall,†said Tyler Dennis, the PGA Tour’s chief competitions officer. “We are pleased to partner with Good Good Golf and Omni Hotels & Resorts on this unique event as the PGA Tour further connects and engages with our game’s younger fans.â€

Added Matt Kendrick, founder and CEO of Good Good. “This tournament is designed to amalgamate our social and live communities together, across all demographics that are passionate about golf. We couldn’t ask for better partners in the PGA Tour and Omni Hotels & Resorts, who not only appreciate our ethos but embrace it.â€

The tournament is expected to be one of two additions to the 2026 fall schedule along with the Mexico Open, which would move from its usual spring slot, per the Sports Business Journal.

The PGA Tour held the Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club from 2016 to 2023.

• Tim Bontemps

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  Tim Bontemps

  ESPN Senior Writer

  Tim Bontemps is a senior NBA writer for ESPN.com who covers the league and what’s impacting it on and off the court, including trade deadline intel, expansion and his MVP Straw Polls. You can find Tim alongside Brian Windhorst and Tim MacMahon on The Hoop Collective podcast.

• Brian Windhorst

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  Brian Windhorst

  ESPN Senior Writer

  • ESPN.com NBA writer since 2010
  • Covered Cleveland Cavs for seven years
  • Author of two books

Oct 17, 2025, 07:00 AM ET

This is peak extension season in the NBA.

Or, as one agent told ESPN this week: “The torture chamber.”

The deadline for extensions for most eligible players is Monday at 6 p.m. ET. At this point, it’s commonplace for there to be pessimism about deals getting done. But compromises — and deals, along with them — do happen regularly.

That said, even by normal standards, there is a lot of pessimism right now.

Here’s why: There’s the continued adaptation to the apron system, which has caused teams to be even more careful about long-term spending. And then there’s also a star-studded free agent class in the summer of 2027, when Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Donovan Mitchell, Anthony Davis and others could all be available to sign with any team.

The deals that do — and don’t — happen over the next few days set the stage for future negotiations, and they’ll signal what free agency could look like next summer.

So here’s a look at several of those situations, including an extension that, surprisingly, still isn’t done involving a future inner-circle Hall of Famer who changed teams this summer.

Will Kevin Durant extension talks have liftoff in Houston?

Tim Bontemps: The Rockets, under general manager Rafael Stone, have done an excellent job of managing their salary structure — and that will no doubt play a role in how Durant’s contract situation plays out, but also rookie scale extension candidate Tari Eason’s.

With Fred VanVleet now likely to opt into his $25 million deal for next season after tearing his ACL last month, the Rockets have roughly $70 million to get both Durant and Eason signed and remain under the dreaded second luxury tax apron — which will allow Houston to continue adding to a roster it hopes is good enough to compete with the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference.

If these negotiations were as simple as, “Give Kevin all the possible money” — like the Jimmy Butler III extension with the Golden State Warriors was after his acquisition via trade in February — the deal probably would have been done already. As a result, the expectation from rival teams is that Houston is trying to get deals done with both players and stay below the second apron next summer.

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Brian Windhorst: First off, the Butler extension with Golden State happened before the trade. It wasn’t until the Warriors raised their monetary offer that Butler acquiesced on his position that he didn’t want to go to the Warriors. An improved offer at the 11th hour, though it came without a player option, got the trade done.

As for Durant, who himself blocked a trade to the Warriors last winter, he and business partner/agent Rich Kleiman have been optimistic there will be a deal done eventually with the Rockets. As Tim implied, it is clear the Rockets are not offering Durant the two-year, $120 million max he is eligible for, otherwise the deal would be done. Durant has said on the record he sees himself staying in Houston.

There is clearly some haggling going on beneath the max, and the number could very well be predicated on what happens with Eason as the Rockets manage the apron. There probably isn’t drama here, but it is worth pointing out Durant probably doesn’t fear unrestricted free agency either.

The present and future balancing act for the Miami Heat

Windhorst: Tyler Herro is coming off an All-Star season and is definitely interested in extending with the Heat, but there haven’t been substantive talks to his point and a deal is doubtful, sources say.

In a vacuum, Herro is the player the Heat probably should be most interested in extending, and Herro saw former All-Star Bam Adebayo get a large extension last year. But it doesn’t appear to be in the offing.

As for two other extension candidates, recently acquired Norman Powell and Andrew Wiggins, long-term deals are also unlikely. Powell, whom the LA Clippers traded to Miami in part because they were dodging their own extension issue with him, could get a short deal, if anything. Wiggins, for his part, has a player option for $30 million in 2026-27, and while it’s possible the Heat might hope to negotiate a different number, they also might not.

And Tim about to tell you why …

Bontemps:The answer to what will happen with Miami’s top extension candidates can be found in the extension that Miami did sign at the start of training camp with forward Nikola Jovic, the No. 27 pick in the 2022 NBA draft. That four-year pact worth a little over $60 million starts out at $16.2 million in 2026-27, before dipping to $14.9 million in 2027-28 and then going back up again.

And why did Miami do that? Because, sources say, the Heat — like many other teams around the league — are planning for that aforementioned 2027 free agent class.

Will Jokic, Antetokounmpo, Jokic, Mitchell and Davis all hit unrestricted free agency that summer? It’s unlikely. Whether they do or not, several other star names could join them, including Stephen Curry, Karl-Anthony Towns, Kawhi Leonard, Trae Young, Zach LaVine, James Harden and Kyrie Irving.

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The fact that Paul George is the only All-Star to change teams via free agency in recent years is a sign this path is far less fruitful than it has been in the past (and look at how things have gone for Philadelphia since landing George last summer). And with the new extension rules that have made it more lucrative to re-sign with current teams, plenty of those players could be off the board by the time free agency arrives that summer.

But Miami will always be a destination for players. And, by maintaining flexibility for the 2027 offseason, the Heat are giving themselves the ability to retool their roster around Adebayo, and attempt to return to title contention. So while that doesn’t necessarily preclude a deal getting done with Herro or Powell, it’s hard to see Miami passing on its cap space until it knows it has a good reason to.

When a team signing a good contract makes it hard to get an extension done …

Windhorst: There is a 0.0% chance Austin Reaves signs a contract extension — and a 99.9% chance he opts out of his $14.8 million player option for next season. We could say “sources say” here because we did check on it, but it’s also a no-brainer.

Reaves has one of the best value contracts in the NBA because of contract extension rules. Players can get only 140% of their current salary in an extension, which means Reaves is up for a deal worth roughly $89 million over four years, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks. His market will be much higher. The Lakers have his full rights and are favorites to re-sign him, but everyone understands why he’s not signing now.

While we’re here, let’s also address Bulls’ guard Coby White, who will not be extending now either. White will earn $12.8 million this season and has outperformed his deal. Like Reaves, he is limited to how much he can sign for now. His extension number is capped at around $18 million if he were to re-sign in Chicago now. His market is also certain to be higher.

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Bontemps: There obviously has been an inordinate amount of attention paid to the upcoming free agency of LeBron James. But it might be even more interesting to see what happens with Reaves when he hits free agency next summer. If Reaves waits, he could get an annual salary starting at more than $40 million next season, after making less than that much combined over the first three seasons of his current deal.

The 6-foot-5 guard has been a huge success story since joining the Lakers as an undrafted free agent in 2021. He has steadily improved, averaging career-bests of 20.2 points and 5.8 assists last season while shooting 37.7% from 3-point range on more than seven attempts per game.

There were 10 players who qualified for the scoring title who averaged at least 20, 5 and shot 37% from the field: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Brunson, Darius Garland, Damian Lillard, Jamal Murray, Jokic, Curry, James and Herro.

Not bad company for a guy who will be an unrestricted free agent at 28, and therefore will have plenty of suitors.

Ditto for White, for all the reasons Brian said. Even after the Bulls got Josh Giddey’s four-year, $100 million deal done earlier this summer, they still have roughly $75 million in cap space available next summer, per Bobby Marks, to both keep White and retool the roster around him, Giddey and the team’s past two lottery picks, forwards Matas Buzelis and Noa Essengue.

A busy offseason could lead to a busy in-season in Atlanta

Windhorst:There is mutual interest between the Hawks and Kristaps Porzingis in extending his deal, sources said. But with Porzingis’ injury history and a radical change in circumstance following the offseason trade that brought him from Boston — and after Porzingis spent much of the summer in Europe playing for the Latvian national team — and both sides are comfortable seeing how the season progresses.

Unlike some others, Porzingis isn’t facing a Monday deadline to extend. With one season at $30.7 million left on his deal, he can extend any time between now and June 30.

The same timeline goes for franchise player Trae Young, whose situation is more intriguing. Unlike Porzingis, whose contract is up after the season, Young has a $49 million player option for next season that he’d prefer not to pick up and instead replace with a lucrative new deal.

In a different era, a multitime All-Star coming off his first max contract could expect to have his contract extended again at the max. But in the apron era and with the Hawks having to invest in younger players, Young is a bit of a tweener.

He’s a star but he’s not a superstar, and a new max contract at 30% of the salary cap would be superstar money. We probably will see this situation more often over the next few years with this class of sub-superstar players looking for their second max deal.

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Bontemps: The Hawks are also negotiating with reigning Most Improved Player Dyson Daniels, who does face the Monday extension deadline to extend his rookie contract.

Last fall, the Hawks got such a deal done at the buzzer with Jalen Johnson, a five-year, $150 million deal that, moving forward, looks like a very good piece of business for Atlanta.

For the much discussed, failed “two timelines” approach in Golden State, a similar situation is developing in Atlanta. The Hawks are excited about their young core of Johnson, Daniels, last year’s No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher, rookie Asa Newell and potentially a very high pick coming in next year’s draft via the New Orleans Pelicans.

But Young and Porzingis are the two best players on the current roster, and fit extremely well with the young players the Hawks have around them. Because of how the Hawks have managed their books over the past year, there’s a world in which the Hawks could get a Daniels deal done, figure out deals for Young and Porzingis next summer, and stay below the aprons.

That could give the Hawks the opportunity to do the thing every team in the league is trying to do and what few teams other than the Oklahoma City Thunder have successfully done under the new CBA: develop, and keep, depth on the roster.

An update on the expensive balancing act in New York

Windhorst: The Knicks have had some discussions about extending center Mitchell Robinson, sources say, but there hasn’t yet been traction toward a deal. Robinson is in the last year of a contract that pays him $13 million this season.

Towns has three years left on his deal, including this season, though 2027-28 is a $61 million player option. He has expressed a desire to stay in New York long term, but there’s no urgency from either side to get a new deal done.

Bontemps: One of a few reasons why the Knicks would be unlikely to do an extension with either Towns or Robinson is because they’re already playing a complicated game of limbo with the second apron.

Does that mean some sort of blockbuster trade is inevitable? Not at all. But the Knicks have repeatedly shown under team president Leon Rose that they are going to maintain as much roster flexibility as possible. Even the extension they did sign this summer, with Mikal Bridges, allows him to be traded before the trade deadline on Feb. 5, if the Knicks choose to.

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Charles Barkley: If the 76ers are healthy, they can win the East

Charles Barkley joins “The Rich Eisen Show” and explains why the 76ers can win the Eastern Conference this season.

And then there’s the guy who extended last year …

Bontemps: Yes, Joel Embiid participated in Sunday’s open-to-the-public scrimmage and could make his preseason debut in the Philadelphia 76ers’ final exhibition game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. But we learned long ago it is foolish to plan much in 76ers’ land beyond the next 24 hours.

That being said, Embiid playing in the scrimmage Sunday was a pleasant surprise, and falls in line with the general contours of how this preseason has played out for him and the 76ers: with Embiid regularly participating in practice, and seemingly building toward playing in next week’s season opener in Boston.

That’s a far cry from how his season began last fall, when Embiid signed a four-year, $240 million extension with Philadelphia only to then go through a disastrous campaign that ended with knee surgery in February.

Windhorst: The 76ers operate in a different world than much of the rest of the league. They’re so scarred from injury setbacks and so cognizant of the venom from fans that, as a defense mechanism, they’ve learned to make no promises and lower expectations.

That being said, Embiid is doing far more now than he was a year ago at this time. And while he hasn’t begun to practice fully yet, George’s participation level has also taken meaningful steps forward since training camp began.

More immediately, though, they are over-the-moon excited about the potential of rookie VJ Edgecombe.

Bontemps: To Brian’s point, it’s remarkable how different expectations are surrounding Embiid, George and the 76ers now compared to just a year ago. Then, the talk was about it being a “championship-or-bust” season, and how it was finally going to be the breakthrough season Embiid, the 76ers and Philadelphia had been waiting over a decade to witness.

But after the calamitous way last season played out, there are virtually no expectations this season. The league’s GMs, by a wide margin, voted Philadelphia as the league’s hardest team to project. Embiid being relatively healthy, and the 76ers returning to the playoffs, would be seen as at least somewhat of a success in the wake of how poorly the past 12 months have gone.

All of that is why rival scouts and executives are eager for Embiid in live action, to see whether he looks anything like the player he was before last season, or the one who struggled through those 19 games a year ago.

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“Stone Cold†Steve Austin has hinted at the return of his podcast.

Itâ€s been almost four years since the Texas Rattlesnake dropped a new episode of the Broken Skull Sessions. The last episode of the famed series aired in August 2022 and featured Charlotte Flair in conversation with the two-time WWE Hall of Famer. Prior to that, he also hosted an audio series, The Steve Austin Show, but he hasnâ€t released a new episode of that show since 2018.

That said, Austin recently shared a promising update about the podcastâ€s future. He posted a couple of throwback photos on Instagram, prompting a fan to ask about a potential return of his podcast.

“When are we getting a new podcast episode Steve?!?â€

“Gimme a couple weeks,†Austin replied.

The Broken Skull Sessions was one of the most-watched wrestling podcasts on the WWE Network and Peacock. However, for undisclosed reasons, it wasnâ€t included in Netflixâ€s lineup when the streaming giant acquired WWEâ€s international broadcast rights. Still, the official WWE Vault channel has been consistently uploading episodes from the series.

The current lineup of WWE podcasts in partnership with Fanatics includes Whatâ€s Your Story with Stephanie McMahon, What Do You Wanna Talk About? with Cody Rhodes, The RAW Recap Show hosted by Megan Morant and Sam Roberts, Six Feet Under with The Undertaker and Michelle McCool, and Logan Paulâ€s IMPAULSIVE.

Also read: The Rock Highlights How Much Steve Austin Helped Him In WWE

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Cleveland Guardians re-sign veteran catcher Austin Hedges

\n\n”,”providerName”:”Twitter”,”providerUrl”:” was one of three Guardians players who was set to become a free agent this offseason, along with outfielder Lane Thomas and reliever Jakob Junis. Instead, the 33-year-old backstop will return for a sixth season in Cleveland.\n\nWhile Bo Naylor has emerged as the Guardians†starting catcher, Hedges has remained a key cog to the teamâ€s success behind the plate and inside a clubhouse full of many up-and-coming players.\n\nThe Guardians once were 15 1/2 games out of first place in the AL Central this summer. They went on to make a historic comeback to clinch their second consecutive division title, and folks around the team continually pointed to Hedges as a stabilizing presence in the room.\n\n“He’s always talking in the dugout. He’s talking with the starters who aren’t pitching,†manager Stephen Vogt said of Hedges last month. “He’s talking with the other hitters. He’s actively engaged in chatter and keeping our guys focused. He’s a great leader, great teammate. He pushes everyone around him to get better.”,”type”:”text”},{“__typename”:”OEmbed”,”html”:””,”providerName”:”MLB”,”providerUrl”:null,”thumbnail_url”:”https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/ar_121:168,c_fill,g_face/w_121/v1/people/595978/action/vertical/current”,”type”:”oembed”,”width”:425,”contentType”:”rich”},{“__typename”:”Markdown”,”content”:”“\\[What\\] Austin brings on the field, obviously, is a huge amount of value. But what he brings in the clubhouse, in the dugout with his teammates is equal to that. We wouldn’t be where we are without Hedgey, not only on the field, but in the clubhouse as well.â€\n\nThose intangibles led the Guardians to bring back Hedges on a one-year deal each of the past two offseasons. They initially acquired him from the Padres at the 2020 Trade Deadline, but he departed for the Pirates as a free agent following the â€22 season and went on to win the â€23 World Series with the Rangers.\n\nThis past season, while Hedges recorded a .527 OPS at the plate in 68 games, he once more was one of the best defensive catchers in the Majors. He was tied with the Yankees†Austin Wells for third among qualified backstops in catcher framing runs (11).\n\nHedges was tied with the Mets†Luis Torrens for first among qualified catchers in caught stealing percentage (43 percent). All the while, Guardians pitchers recorded a 3.72 ERA in his 479 2/3 innings when Hedges was behind the plate.\n\nWith Hedges rejoining the fold, the Guardians once more could feature three catchers next season. Along with Naylor, David Fry is set to return to catching after he was limited to DH duties in 2025, following the Tommy John surgery he underwent last November.\n\nFry is versatile and also played left and right field and first and third base in 2024.”,”type”:”text”},{“__typename”:”Video”,”contentDate”:”2025-10-02T23:27:20.858Z”,”preferredPlaybackScenarioURL({\”preferredPlaybacks\”:\”mp4AvcPlayback\”})”:” Hedges reacts to the Guardians being eliminated from the 2025 postseason and young players experiencing their first playoff action”,”displayAsVideoGif”:false,”duration”:”00:01:13″,”slug”:”austin-hedges-reflects-on-guardians-playoff-run”,”tags”:[{“__typename”:”GameTag”},{“__typename”:”TeamTag”,”slug”:”teamid-114″,”title”:”Cleveland Guardians”,”team”:{“__ref”:”Team:114″},”type”:”team”},{“__typename”:”PersonTag”,”slug”:”playerid-595978″,”title”:”Austin Hedges”,”person”:{“__ref”:”Person:595978″},”type”:”player”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”vod”,”title”:”vod”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”alwc”,”title”:”AL Wild Card”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”series-a”,”title”:”Series A”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”postseason”,”title”:”postseason”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”imagen-feed”,”title”:”Imagen feed”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”interview”,”title”:”interview”,”type”:”taxonomy”}],”thumbnail”:{“__typename”:”Thumbnail”,”templateUrl”:” Hedges reflects on Guardians’ playoff run”,”relativeSiteUrl”:”/video/austin-hedges-reflects-on-guardians-playoff-run”},{“__typename”:”Markdown”,”content”:”Though the Guardians were eliminated in three games in the AL Wild Card Series against the Tigers, they showed the baseball world you canâ€t count them out, and the group knows it can lean on what it experienced next season and beyond.\n\n“We’ve proved a lot to ourselves,†Hedges said after Cleveland was eliminated from the postseason. “Itâ€s just more evidence of why we just keep believing in ourselves until the last out of the game on a daily basis over and over and over again. It’s exhausting. We’re all exhausted right now mentally, but that’s how you should be — even more so than physically at the end of the season because you care so much, because you’re so locked in for 27 outs, especially in the postseason.\n\n“… But the beauty of experiencing that is you do have that roadmap. So now we have a couple more road signs on that map that tell us where to go next year because we’ve been there already. I’m looking forward to seeing what this group can do with that.\””,”type”:”text”}],”relativeSiteUrl”:”/news/cleveland-guardians-resign-veteran-catcher-austin-hedges”,”contentType”:”news”,”subHeadline”:null,”summary”:”CLEVELAND — Beloved Guardians catcher and team leader Austin Hedges is sticking around.\nThe Guardians have reached a one-year contract with Hedges, according to MLB Network insider Jon Heyman, who reported the deal is worth $4 million plus $500,000 in incentives. 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Today’s WWE roster is filled with an abundance of talent, but there are still only a select few who have cultivated a strong emotional connection with the audience. Asked on “Busted Open Radio” to comment on an apparent lack of such an attachment for Seth Rollins, Bully Ray explained why wrestlers like CM Punk have had more success.

“Punk is the consummate rebel,” Bully said. “Punk is as close to ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin today as we can get.”

Similarly, Bully stated that Cody Rhodes won the respect of the audience through his perseverance, ironically on display throughout his feud with Rollins. As for Roman Reigns, he has the benefit of being viewed as a God-like figure by WWE fans, with their emotional attachment growing after Reigns announced he was battling cancer in 2018. Rollins has been at or near the top of the WWE card for just as long as his former Shield partner, but Reigns has tended to be booked as the stronger of the two.

Bully described Rollins as a “nine but not a 10,” stating that he’s missing some unknown factor that would forever endear him to the wrestling audience. As a result, the WWE Hall of Famer feels that Rollins is just a step below some of his current peers at the top of the company’s card.

The Punk and Austin comparison isn’t a brand new idea, and many fans have clamored for a match between the two for well over a decade. It seemed like an impossibility for a long time, but with Punk back in WWE and Austin reportedly open to wrestling another match, it’s no longer such a far-fetched idea.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Busted Open Radio” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

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Austin Reaves is ready for the regular season.

The Los Angeles Lakers guard was excellent during Sunday’s 126-116 win over the Golden State Warriors in preseason action, scoring 21 points to go along with three rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block.

The only concern was Reaves leaving in the third quarter with some sort of lower-body injury, though it remains to be seen how serious it is.

Center Deandre Ayton added 14 points, eight rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block for the Lakers, while Brandin Podziemski topped the Warriors with 23 points and eight assists.

It was a more efficient outing from Bronny James, albeit mostly in the fourth quarter, as he finished with seven points while shooting 5-of-5 on free throws. He only attempted two shots from the field in 15 minutes.

But Reaves was the story, with fans enjoying his efficient (7-of-10 from the field in 23 minutes) performance:

The Lakers are going to need this version of Reaves early on, with LeBron James set to miss the start of the regular season due to sciatica.

That means players like Reaves, Ayton and Rui Hachimura will need to play a more prominent role around superstar Luka DonÄić.

As for the younger James, fans generally view the preseason as rather meaningless, and on the macro level that’s generally true. It’s the chance for teammates to get more experience playing together after roster changes in the offseason, coaches to install new schemes and plays, etc., but it isn’t a great gauge for how the upcoming season will go.

But on the individual level, it’s a chance for players at the end of the bench to prove that they perhaps they deserve a bigger role. Bronny was given 24 minutes in the team’s first preseason game and 23 minutes in the second, turning those two appearances into 13 points on just 3-of-18 shooting from the field alongside eight rebounds, five assists, a steal and a block.

He played a smaller role on Sunday and was more efficient, mostly because he got to the charity stripe, but at this point it’s hard to imagine him having any sort of role for the Lakers outside of garbage-time minutes in blowouts.

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SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)…

SUMMARY of #882 cover-dated October 8, 2005: The cover story features Wade Keller’s analysis of the newsworthy WWE Homecoming edition of Raw… Pat McNeill looks at the growing trend of indy promotions offering their weekly shows in digital streaming online… Bruce Mitchell’s feature column looks at Vince McMahon, Ultimate Warrior, and the First Amendment… Wade Keller’s feature column examines in-depth the first edition of TNA Impact… Part three of the Torch Talk with Jeff Hardy features his explanation for why he’s not in TNA’s X Division at this point and if he will be in the future… Ringside Beat features a detailed report on ROH’s New York event featuring Samoa Joe vs. Kenta Kobashi… WWE Newswire details the behind the scenes craziness with the WWE-Spike TV controversy, the crazy Ultimate Warrior-WWE story, the latest financials for WWE Inc., and much more… Wade Keller’s End Notes talks about the 18th Anniversary of the Torch, the newsletter’s extreme makeover, and random thoughts on the week in wrestling… Also, TNA Newswire, Top Five Stories of the Week, The Raw Big Story, The Smackdown Big Story, The TNA Impact Big Story, and more…

–DIRECT LINK: PWTorchNewsletter #882

–LIST OF ALL 2005 BACK ISSUES

–TUTORIAL ON DISPLAYING NEWSLETTER PDFS ON IPAD OR ANDROID TABLET

FULL NEWSLETTER TEXT AND PDF VERSIONS AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY TO VIP MEMBERS…

NOT VIP? NO PROBLEM… CLICK HERE FOR VIP SIGN UP INFO WITH DIGITAL PDF & TEXT NEWSLETTER ACCESS

OR SIGN UP FOR HOME POSTAL DELIVERY OF WEEKLY PAPER COPY: CLICK HERE

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MILWAUKEE — After missing the Reds’ last six games with back spasms, left fielder Austin Hays appeared nearly ready to return.

“Iâ€m feeling really good the last two days,” Hays said Sunday morning.

Ahead of Game 162 vs. the Brewers, Hays was hitting off a velocity machine and doing running and throwing. If he still felt good, he could be an option off the bench for manager Terry Francona.

“Yesterday I hit during the game,” Hays said. “I felt good to take an at-bat if I needed to. Iâ€ll do the same thing again today.â€

“Iâ€m feeling really confident because of the last two days,” Hays said. “Three days ago, I was a little skeptical because we had a little bit of a setback. Yesterday, running and throwing was really good, and then I was able to swing [and] do my full normal routine at a normal effort level.â€

Hays, 30, is batting .301/.323/.505 with five home runs and 15 RBIs in his last 25 games since Aug. 23. Overall, he entered the day batting .266/.316/.454 with 15 homers and 64 RBIs in 102 games. His season has included three stints on the injured list this season with three different injuries.

With this injury, Hays appreciated the Reds holding off on putting him back on the IL.

“It means a lot,” Hays said. “I know if they placed me on the IL, I would have been ineligible to play in that first playoff series. Just getting a chance these last five days to just do everything possible trying to get it turned around, to get me to be available in that first round of the playoffs.â€

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Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Calvin Austin III had to be taken to a Dublin-area hospital after suffering a shoulder injury during Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings.

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin told reporters after his team’s 24-21 win that Austin was being evaluated at a hospital.

Per ESPN’s Brooke Pryor, Austin was loaded into an ambulance with his arm in a sling after leaving the game in the fourth quarter.

The injury occurred when Austin was tackled by Vikings cornerback Byron Murphy after an eight-yard reception. He finished with two catches for 13 yards.

Austin’s injury left an already-thin Steelers receiving corps scrambling. DK Metcalf made up for the lack of depth with his best game of the season, finishing with 126 yards and a touchdown on five catches.

Pittsburgh’s depth chart behind Metcalf and Austin includes Roman Wilson, Scotty Miller and Ben Skowronek. The two leading receivers after Metcalf on Sunday were running back Kenneth Gainwell (35 yards) and tight end Darnell Washington (20 yards).

Entering Week 4, the Steelers’ leading receiver was running back Jaylen Warren with 142 yards. Metcalf and Austin were the only other pass-catchers on the team with at least 100 yards.

Austin is in his fourth NFL season after being selected in the fourth round of the 2022 draft. He missed his entire rookie campaign due to a foot injury and played limited snaps in 2023.

Last season saw Austin become more of a focal point in the offense. He racked up 548 yards and four touchdowns on 36 catches in 17 games (eight starts).

Austin was averaging a career-high 15.8 yards per reception through the first three weeks of this season.

If Austin’s injury requires him to miss any time, the Steelers would likely turn to Miller and Skowronek as a short-term option as their No. 2 receiver. They could also explore free agency or the trade market for depth.

The Steelers do have time to figure out their situation since they are on a bye in Week 5 before returning to play the Cleveland Browns on Oct. 12.

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