Sports

CABLE TV.COM - Odds are, if you’ve attended a sporting event in your life — from high school to pro — you’ve heard “The Star-Spangled Banner” played or sung before it starts. It’s a unique time when people show their patriotism.

NEW YORK – Baseball is the national pastime, and as such, it is intertwined with the country’s history and the idea of America itself.

ESPN - LeBron James will return for an unprecedented 24th season in the NBA -- but it won’t be with the Los Angeles Lakers.

STILLWATER – For the seventh year in a row and for the 12th time in the last 13 years, Oklahoma State placed among the top 30 nationally in the Learfield Directors’ Cup standings. OSU finished 28th in 2025-26, which was good for second in the Big 12.

ATLANTA -- There is considerable buzz here in the U.S. around the United States men’s national team.

SOONER WIRE - The Oklahoma Sooners are moving their home opener to Friday, Sept. 4, per a release from the University of Oklahoma athletic department, Roger Denny, and Brent Venables. The Sooners will face the UTEP Miners to open the season in 2026.

STILLWATER – Payton Kennedy, Extra Inning Softball’s No. 25 prospect in the class of 2025, has signed with Oklahoma State Softball. “We are very excited about the addition of Payton to our team,” head coach Kenny Gajewski said.

YAHOO SPORTS Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has declined his $27.7 million player option in order to assist the organization in freeing up salary- cap flexibility for a possible pursuit of free agent LeBron James.

SOONER WIRE - The Oklahoma Sooners have been hard at work, building an identity of tenacity, intensity and physicality under coach Brent Venables. There were plenty of growing pains as Venables instilled his culture, but the fruits of his labor began to show last year.

ESPN - The Oklahoma City Thunder are trading guard Isaiah Joe to the Detroit Pistons for two second- round picks, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania on Friday. The Thunder will receive second-round selections in 2030 (via the Timberwolves) and 2031, sources said.