CNN
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The Los Angeles Lakers are left with more questions than answers after their shocking first round exit at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Despite reports that the Lakers “expect” superstar forward LeBron James back next season, questions still remain about the team going forward.

After Wednesday’s 103-96 Game 5 loss in front of their home fans at the Crypto.com Arena, the 40-year-old James was uncertain about his future when asked post-game how many more years he plans to play.

“I don’t know. I don’t have the answer to that,” James told reporters. “Something I’ll sit down with my family, my wife and my support group and kind of just talk through it and see what happens and just have a conversation with myself on how long I want to continue to play. I don’t know the answer to that right now, to be honest, so we’ll see.”

Lakers president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka, who executed the Luka Doncic trade back in February, understands that NBA all-time leading scorer James will be keeping an eye on how the roster improves in the offseason.

“I think LeBron’s going to have high expectations for the roster,” Pelinka told reporters on Thursday. “And we’re going to do everything we can to meet those. But I also know that whatever it is, he’s still going to give his 110% every night, whether that’s scoring, assisting, defending, rebounding, leading. We know that’s always going to be 100%, and that never wavers.”

The four-time NBA champion has a player option to return next season and Pelinka still has an “all-time high” confidence in the core of James, Doncic and Austin Reaves moving forward.

“I think those three guys have incredible promise playing together,” Pelinka added. “And we will collectively do a better job to make sure they’re surrounded with the right pieces to have ultimate success.”

James still remained one of the better players in the league in his 22nd season, averaging 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists.

JJ Redick, coming off his first year as the head coach of the Lakers, pointed to improving the conditioning of players for next season.

“I’ll start with the offseason and the work that’s required in an offseason to be in championship shape,” Redick said. “And we have a ways to go as a roster. And certainly, there are individuals that were in phenomenal shape. There’s certainly other ones that could have been in better shape. That’s where my mind goes immediately is we have to get in championship shape.”

With Minnesota set to play the winner of the Golden State Warriors-Houston Rockets series in the second round, Redick “admitted” the Lakers were not the better team.

“Maybe this is hard sometimes for a coach or a player to admit this: We lost to a better team,” Redick said. “That’s just the reality. We did.”

As James looks on, Pelinka proclaimed one of the ways to enhance the team’s championship desires will be find an Anthony Davis replacement to add size to the front court. Davis was shipped to Dallas in return for Doncic.

James did not comment on the Lakers’ struggles at center following the trade but provided a gut check to the front office.

“My guy A.D. said what he wanted, and he was gone the following week,” James quipped.

Should James return to play another season, he’d surpass Vince Carter for the most seasons played in NBA history.

CNN
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Harry Maguire has experienced the highs and lows of being a Manchester United star in recent seasons but don’t ever doubt his unshakeable self-belief.

It’s certainly been a roller-coaster of emotions of late for the Red Devils center-back who became the most expensive defender in the world when he joined United from Leicester City in 2019.

Last month, Maguire – playing as a makeshift striker – scored a sensational winner in the final seconds of extra-time as his team completed one of the great European comebacks to beat Olympique Lyon 7-6 on aggregate to reach the semifinals of the Europa League where they next face Athletic Bilbao.

“Well, I think it’s the craziest game I’ve ever played in, to be honest, and in terms of goal, yeah, it’s probably my favorite and best goal in club football,” Maguire told CNN Sports.

“I’ve obviously scored a few in a World Cup quarterfinal and a Euros quarterfinal as well. So they all come close, but it’s one that I’ll never ever forget. And the emotion of the game, I think that’s what makes the goal so big. The way that we came back in extra-time was something that I’m sure I’ll remember forever, but many, many others will remember as well.”

Despite the home side’s euphoria on that epic night in the Theater of Dreams, it’s been another season of substantial underachievement for the English giant in the Premier League, a competition they’ve won a record 13 times. So much so that the team’s only hope of playing in next season’s Champions League is to win the Europa League this campaign – though the two-legged tie with the La Liga side will be challenging to say the least.

“Of course, this club wants to win trophies, and it demands winning trophies. So, to win the Europa League would be really big for us as players, staff, everybody here. I’m sure it would give us a great boost, but listen, we’re only in the semifinal,” Maguire told CNN.

“We beat Lyon in the quarterfinal, we now go and play Bilbao, who probably people are saying are the favorites for the tournament. So, it’s going be a tough, tough game but one that we’re looking forward to and one that we’ll play and do everything we can to progress to the final.”

United – who is now led by Portuguese head coach Ruben Amorim – is on course for its worst finish in the Premier League era and to further rub salt into the wound, fierce rival Liverpool has just drawn level with United on a record 20 top-flight league titles.

CNN
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Spanish tennis legend Rafael Nadal exclusively told CNN Sports he completely trusts that world No. 1 Jannik Sinner is innocent, as the Italian prepares to return from a doping suspension.

Sinner is approaching the end of a three-month ban having twice tested positive for banned substance Clostebol, an anabolic steroid, in March last year.

The three-time grand slam champion previously escaped a ban when the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) ruled that he wasn’t at fault for the positive tests, accepting that the contamination was caused by a physio applying an over-the-counter spray.

However, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) subsequently lodged an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), leading to Sinner accepting a suspension from February 9 to May 4.

In a February statement, Sinner said that he has “always accepted that I am responsible for my team” but has always denied knowingly taking a banned substance.

“I don’t have a clear opinion, first of all, because I don’t have the whole information,” Nadal told CNN after being honored with the Sporting Icon Award at this year’s Laureus World Sports Awards.

“First of all, I 100% believe that Jannik is innocent. I don’t think at all that Jannik wanted to do something that is not allowed, so I 100% believe in Jannik.”

The saga around Sinner has shone the spotlight on the current anti-doping protocols in tennis, with several players raising concerns about possible preferential treatment for the top stars.

Sinner, for example, won’t miss any grand slam events during his ban.

Recently, Serena Williams said she would have been banned for “20 years” and “gotten grand slams taken away” if the same thing had happened to her. She did, though, describe Sinner as a “fantastic personality” and “great for the sport.”

Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic said that the whole case was “not a good image for our sport.”

But Nadal, who retired from tennis last year following a historic career, said he has full trust in the current anti-doping system.

“From my point of view, I really don’t believe that Jannik, because he’s the No. 1 in the world, received different treatment than another person, from my perspective and from my understanding,” the 22-time grand slam singles champion said.

“I really believe in the process, I have been there going through all the tests for 20 years, how the things are strict on every single movement … and I believe in the process.

“I can’t say another thing and I can’t think another way because, if not, I will think that we are not in a fair world, and I really believe that we are in a fair world in this matter.”

Despite his ban, Sinner will be one of the favorites to win his first French Open title when the tournament starts at the end of May.

Nadal, who won a record 14 Coupes des Mousquetaires at Roland Garros, said he hopes a potential Sinner win won’t be tarnished by questions around his eligibility to play.

However, for Sinner to claim the title, he will first have to find a way past the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, who many have compared to Nadal.

Not only are both from Spain, but both are formidable on clay with Alcaraz winning his first French Open title last year.

Nadal, who retired with 22 grand slam singles trophies, said the comparisons are only natural and holds high hopes that the 21-year-old can reach the very top of the sport.

“All of us received the pressure from the media and from the hope that people have about you, but I think at the end, we are humans and we know how to handle that,” Nadal told CNN.

“I don’t think for Carlos it’s a big deal holding that pressure. He’s a great player and has a great family behind (him).

“I think he’s doing great and he’s having an amazing career and he’s going to win much more if he stays out of injury – that’s the most important thing. I wish and I really believe that he’s going to have one of the best careers of all time.”

Nadal said he occasionally messages Alcaraz but would always be on hand to provide some advice – not that he thinks the youngster needs it.

It’s an invitation that the 38-year-old extends to all players on the tour who might want to casually learn from his own experiences.

However, Nadal has so far resisted following the likes of Andy Murray, who has gone into coaching after retiring from a playing career.

“I mean in this life you can never say never,” he said, adding he was enjoying spending more time with family without all the travel that comes with being on tour.

“It’s difficult to imagine myself now doing this kind of thing … it’s not my moment, at all. I am in a different moment of my life and I don’t see myself traveling now with a player.”

Instead, Nadal is happy to continue developing his tennis academy which is starting to breed success across the game, adding to the Spaniard’s already impressive tennis legacy.

And, even in retirement, Nadal has not stopped picking up trophies. In addition to being given the aforementioned Laureus Sporting Icon Award, the Spaniard will also be honored in a ceremony at this year’s French Open.

“The results are the results, you know. I won what I won, I lost what I lost, that’s the results and nobody can change that,” Nadal said when asked what he wants to be remembered for now that his playing days are behind him.

“Of course, I will be remembered as a good tennis player, but for me, it’s important to be remembered as a good person, a player who fights as hard as possible but with positive values, being always fair and correct with everyone on court.

“Trying to respect every single moment, for me that’s the most important thing.”