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Good morning! Avoid a sweep today. Coming up:
While You Were Sleeping: Headline
Luke Hales / Getty Images
The Oklahoma City Thunder completed a sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers last night in their second-round series, a 115-110 matchup that was actually a great watch. The ending felt heavy, though, because there’s a distinct possibility it was the last time we’ll see LeBron James play an NBA game.
We have no concrete reporting on that just yet, and James said he will, per usual, take his time in the offseason to decide his future. But man. What if that really was it?
James is 41 years old and has played in a total of 1,924 games. Even a superhuman player would’ve been done years prior. Not James, who already has the greatest career we’ve ever seen.
We’ll devote plenty of space to James when the time comes, whether that’s tomorrow or two years from now.
Until then, the present: The Thunder are back in the Western Conference finals and look as scary as ever. And for the Lakers? The plan is to build around Luka Dončić and possibly trade for a star. We have a big deep dive on the entire scenario this morning.
Elsewhere in playoff action last night, sorted by series status:
- 3-1: In the NHL, Colorado rebounded from its first loss of the playoffs with a 5-2 win in Minnesota, which was a nail-biter until the Avs’ final two empty-net goals. They’re one win away from the Western Conference final.
- 2-2: Back in the NBA, the Cavaliers are now square with the top-seeded Pistons thanks to a 112-103 win in Cleveland. The Cavs used a 22-0 run in the third quarter, and Donovan Mitchell finished with 43. This is a battle, which means the Knicks will get plenty of rest.
Let’s keep going:
Drought-enders: Arsenal’s (possible) titular 180
For an entire generation of soccer fans, both stateside and abroad, Arsenal has been the butt of a running joke. The big-moneyed Premier League club, forever talented, that could not resist a choke. The simple math is staggering:
- Arsenal has not won a Premier League title since the 2003-04 season. Multiple players born after that date have taken the pitch for the Gunners. Max Dowman, Arsenal’s young star, was born a full five years after that title.
- Since then, the club has finished second in the standings five times. Four of those years saw third-place finishes.
So, pain. This year presents an incredible opportunity to reverse the narrative twofold, though: Arsenal leads both the Premier League table — five points up on Manchester City with two matchweeks left — and will play for the Champions League title May 30 against Paris Saint-Germain, the defending champion.
I went to Phil Hay for some insight:
Can you explain in two sentences to, let’s say, an uninitiated audience what the last 20-plus years of Arsenal football have been like?
💬 In short, a struggle to work out where they were going after the peak of the Arsene Wenger era, circa 2004. His football was so classy at its best, but he clung on to the job too long, and it’s only now — after five and a half years in the role — that manager Mikel Arteta looks like he’s cracked it (although in fairness, Arsenal went very close to the title in 2023 and 2024).
Wenger coached at Arsenal for nearly 22 years, a lifetime for any Premier League manager if you’ve paid any attention to the whims of EPL bosses. He won three Prem titles and seven FA Cups. He left in 2018 in what was a mutually terse separation.
Arteta, by comparison, has been a fresh breath of higher standards. He’s just 44 and has led the Gunners to three straight second-place finishes in the last three seasons. He is, as we wrote earlier this month, Arsenal’s man, trophies or not.
Jacques Feeney / Offside via Getty Images
And he’s doing it in an era of European soccer where big-name clubs push their players to the limits of how many matches they can play, between club games, international responsibilities and the exhibition tour that screams cash grab.
Back to Phil:
To bring us to the sobering present: How impressive is it if Arsenal wins both the Premier League and Champions League titles in this era of overloaded schedules?
💬 Only two clubs have won both in the same year: Manchester United in 1999 and 2008, and Manchester City in 2023. It’s extraordinarily difficult, and it would be quite something if, after being criticised for his lack of trophies for so long, Arteta nails the two biggest in the space of a week.
We’ll know the Premier League fate in at most two weeks’ time. There’s no way Arsenal can choke, right?
News to Know
Bailey Hillesheim/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
PWHL playoff game postponed
Last night’s winner-takes-all Game 5 between the Montreal Victoire and the Minnesota Frost was postponed to tonight due to an illness, the league announced just hours before puck drop. The illness, which the league specified is not consistent with hantavirus, is contained within the Victoire roster, and sick players have been separated from the team. See more here.
Hardy shot at concert
Missouri star running back Ahmad Hardy is in stable condition after suffering a gunshot wound to the leg at a concert in Mississippi over the weekend, the team said in a statement. There is no timetable for the reigning SEC rushing leader’s return. Read our full story.
More news:
- USMNT midfielder Johnny Cardoso will likely miss the World Cup after undergoing surgery on his ankle. A brutal blow for the Americans.
- Free-agent tight end David Njoku signed with the Chargers. Could be fun.
- The Mets still need a lot of help, so star prospect A.J. Ewing is on the way.
- An arbitrator ruled against 18 Nebraska football players who fought an NIL decision. It’s a big deal.
- The Cowboys and Giants will play the first “Sunday Night Football” game of the 2026 NFL season. Read more.
Watch Guide
📺 NHL: Second round
7 p.m. ET on ESPN
An incredible lineup tonight if we base that on the previous matchups. Sabres-Canadiens leads off at 7 p.m., with the Habs able to go up 3-1 with a home win. I think I now need to attend a playoff game in Montreal after watching Game 3. Golden Knights-Ducks follows at 9:30 p.m., and every game of that 2-2 series has been fantastic. Perfect night of hockey ahead.
📺 NBA: Timberwolves at Spurs
8 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock
Our only NBA game tonight is a doozy. This series is tied 2-2 with some bad blood lingering after Victor Wembanyama’s ejection Sunday. Minnesota has been here before. Can this young San Antonio team survive its first must-win playoff scenario?
📺 MLB: Cubs at Braves
7:15 p.m. ET on TBS
If you need a break from hockey and hoops, watch this matchup of the best two teams in the NL and two of the top five teams in our latest MLB Power Rankings. Fun.
Get tickets to games like these here.
Pulse Picks
In 2026, when algorithms rule most of our sports media consumption, a woman in Brooklyn had a wild idea: to make a women’s sports magazine that would not exist on the internet. “Snatch” was born — and business is booming.
Miles McBride may seem like a quiet, unassuming guy. But the Knicks’ 3-point sharpshooter is petty enough to get a tattoo on his leg to spite his brother. I loved this.
Michael Jordan was supposed to be a big part of NBC’s basketball revival this year. The reality, as Andrew Marchand writes, fizzled.
Daniel Dubois’ bloody win over Fabio Wardley on Saturday has been hailed as one of the best fights of the decade. It made our Sarah Shephard sick to her stomach.
The 76ers’ playoff collapse leaves everyone in Philly really, really testy.
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: The latest NBA mock draft.
Most-read on the website yesterday: The NHL mock draft we linked yesterday.
📫 That’s all for now! Say hello at thepulse@theathletic.com, check out our other newsletters and connect with me on Instagram for more.
