Wordle players searching for Sunday’s answer can find it here: the solution to puzzle #1849, released July 12, 2026, is CLACK, according to multiple outlets tracking the daily New York Times word game.

The five-letter word refers to a sharp, abrupt, rhythmic sound produced when two hard objects strike against each other rapidly, such as the noise of an old mechanical keyboard, colliding pool balls, or train wheels rolling over track joints. Puzzle trackers described Sunday’s word as a moderate challenge for solvers, noting that some players gravitated quickly toward the correct meaning while others were initially thrown off by words evoking similar sounds or unrelated concepts, including air travel, geometry and carpentry, before ultimately landing on the correct answer.

For those working through the puzzle before checking the solution, several structural clues were available to help narrow down the possibilities. The word contains a single vowel alongside four consonants, along with one repeated letter, and begins with the letter C. Puzzle guides also offered a wordplay-style hint describing the answer as “the signature noise produced by typing on an old-fashioned mechanical keyboard,” alongside its resemblance to words such as “snack,” “track” and “back,” given that it rhymes with each.

Wordle challenges players to guess a hidden five-letter word within six attempts, using color-coded tile feedback to indicate whether each guessed letter is correct and correctly placed, correct but misplaced, or absent from the word entirely. The game, created by software engineer Josh Wardle in 2021, was acquired by The New York Times the following year after surging in popularity, and has since become a fixture of the paper’s daily games lineup alongside titles such as Connections, Strands and the Mini Crossword.

Puzzle trackers offered a familiar set of strategic reminders for players working through Sunday’s word or preparing for future puzzles. Common advice includes opening with a word containing frequently used letters such as R, S, T, N and L to quickly surface useful information, testing different vowel placements early in the guessing process, and treating even an incorrect guess as useful data by paying close attention to which letters turn green, yellow or gray. Guides also cautioned against ruling out repeated letters too quickly, noting that Wordle answers occasionally reuse the same letter twice, as in past answers like SHEEP or BLOOM, a pattern Sunday’s answer, CLACK, also followed with its doubled C.

Players down to their final guesses were advised to avoid speculative attempts once the field of possibilities had narrowed significantly, instead favoring answers that satisfy every constraint established by prior feedback rather than guessing based on instinct alone. Analysts of the game’s daily difficulty patterns have generally noted that maintaining composure in the final one or two guesses, rather than rushing, tends to produce better outcomes than reactive guessing under pressure.

Saturday’s puzzle, #1848, carried the answer AVIAN, according to solution trackers, continuing a recent stretch of varied five-letter words spanning different categories and levels of difficulty. The Times maintains a full archive of past Wordle puzzles, allowing players who want extra practice, or who missed a previous day’s word, to revisit earlier solutions at their own pace.

Beyond the standard daily puzzle, Wordle’s broader ecosystem has continued to expand in recent years, inspiring a range of spinoff and companion games that build on its core mechanics. Among the more prominent examples is Worldle, a geography-based riff on the format in which players attempt to identify a country based on its outline shape, receiving distance-based feedback in kilometers after each guess, within the same six-attempt structure as the original game. Recent Worldle answers have included countries such as Ethiopia, Italy, Mali and Taiwan over the preceding week, according to puzzle trackers following that spinoff separately. Other Wordle-inspired games mentioned alongside Sunday’s puzzle updates included Octordle and Quordle, both of which challenge players to solve multiple hidden words simultaneously rather than just one.

The puzzle’s continued popularity nearly five years after its original release has been attributed in large part to its simplicity and shareability. Each day brings exactly one new word, with no ads interrupting the format, and players can share their results on social media through a grid of colored squares that reveals their guessing pattern without spoiling the actual answer for others who haven’t yet played. That shareable format helped fuel Wordle’s rapid rise in the early 2020s and has continued to sustain a large, dedicated daily audience in the years since.

The Times’ companion analysis tool, Wordle Bot, continues to offer players detailed statistical breakdowns of their performance on each day’s puzzle, including how efficiently a given guess eliminated remaining possibilities and how a player’s overall approach compares with the broader base of daily solvers. Data cited by puzzle trackers covering Sunday’s word did not include finalized average-guess figures at the time of publication, though the Times’ internal Wordlebot statistics for the previous day’s puzzle, AVIAN, showed a range of solving outcomes across the player base.

Players who did not solve Sunday’s puzzle were reminded by tracking outlets that a new Wordle puzzle becomes available every day at midnight in each player’s local time zone, meaning a missed word carries no bearing on future attempts and streak-conscious players can simply pick back up with the next day’s release. The Times has continued to expand its broader portfolio of daily puzzle offerings in recent years, part of a wider strategy aimed at keeping readers returning to its games platform on a consistent basis, with Wordle remaining the most widely recognized entry point into that ecosystem.

Monday’s Wordle puzzle is set to reset at midnight local time, continuing the game’s unbroken daily cadence. Players looking for an early head start on hints can typically expect a new round of guides and clues to appear across puzzle-tracking sites shortly after the transition, following the same structural format used for Sunday’s reveal.

Puzzle fans working through Sunday’s New York Times Connections game have their solution: puzzle #1127, released July 12, 2026, sorted 16 words into four groups spanning fruit terminology, candy brands, a college-life motto and geographic wordplay tied to U.S. state capitals, according to multiple outlets tracking the daily puzzle.

Connections challenges players to organize 16 seemingly unrelated words into four hidden groups of four, with each group linked by a shared theme, color-coded by difficulty from yellow, the easiest, through green, blue and finally purple, traditionally the most difficult and often built around wordplay rather than straightforward meaning. Players select four words at a time and submit a guess, with the game indicating correct groupings by color and offering a “one away” warning when a guess is close but not quite right. Four incorrect guesses end the puzzle.

Sunday’s yellow category centered on the reproductive part of a fruit, grouping the words pip, pit, seed and stone, all terms describing the small structure inside various fruits from which a new plant could theoretically grow. The green group asked players to identify a bit of fruit-flavored candy, linking dot, nerd, runt and spree, each a reference to a well-known candy brand or product name associated with fruity flavors.

The blue category, one level up in conceptual difficulty, gathered verbs found in a familiar college-life slogan, connecting party, repeat, sleep and study, a set puzzle guides described as evoking the well-known “eat, sleep, study, repeat” or similar rhythm associated with the college experience. The puzzle’s purple group, traditionally its trickiest, required players to recognize the starts of U.S. state capitals, linking den, mad, pho and sac, corresponding to the beginnings of Denver, Madison, Phoenix and Sacramento.

One puzzle guide covering Sunday’s grid described the overall difficulty as balancing straightforward action words against trickier conceptual links, noting the board “balances straightforward action words with trickier conceptual links, making it satisfying once everything clicks.” The same source offered a general strategy tip for approaching similarly structured puzzles going forward, suggesting players lock in the more obvious verb-based groupings early before turning their attention to shorter word fragments that may require broader geographic or cultural knowledge to fully parse.

Connections was developed internally by the Times and rolled out widely in 2023 following a beta testing period, building on the momentum generated by Wordle, which the paper had acquired the previous year. Since its full launch, Connections has become one of the more popular entries in the Times’ expanding games section, which also includes Wordle, Strands, the Mini Crossword, Sudoku and Pips, part of a broader strategy by the paper to build a suite of daily puzzles that keeps readers returning to its games platform consistently.

The category names themselves remain hidden from players at the outset of each puzzle, requiring solvers to infer each group’s connecting theme purely from the 16 scrambled words presented on the board. That design choice has made the game notably prone to misdirection, since certain words are often deliberately chosen because they could plausibly fit into more than one category before a puzzle’s true structure becomes clear. Sunday’s board illustrated that tendency well, given that fruit-related terms and short word fragments both appeared in multiple categories, requiring players to look past surface-level associations to land on the puzzle’s intended groupings.

Beyond the standard Connections puzzle, the Times has also continued expanding into sports-specific content through its ownership of The Athletic. Connections: Sports Edition, a spinoff format that resets daily at midnight Eastern time alongside the main puzzle, asks players to group 16 sports-related terms into four themed categories. Sunday’s sports edition, puzzle #657, covered plays commonly seen on a baseball field, terms associated with coming in first place, players connected to a particular Boston sports franchise, and vocabulary tied to breaks in play, according to puzzle guides tracking that edition separately from the main game.

For players who prefer working through Connections gradually rather than seeing the full solution at once, most puzzle-tracking outlets offer graduated hint systems that follow the game’s own difficulty ladder, presenting clues from the yellow category through purple in ascending order of difficulty. That structure allows players to request a partial nudge, such as a thematic hint for the purple category alone, without necessarily spoiling the remaining groups if they would still like to solve those independently.

Access to the daily Connections puzzle, along with Wordle and the Mini Crossword, remains free through the Times’ games app and website, while the publication’s full puzzle archive, including older Connections boards, requires a Times Games subscription to access. The paper has continued to build out tools surrounding its puzzle offerings in recent years, including performance-tracking features that let players monitor their solving statistics over time, similar in spirit to the Wordle Bot analysis tool available for that game.

Sunday’s puzzle followed Saturday’s edition, puzzle #1126, which puzzle guides also flagged as relatively approachable, continuing a stretch of moderately difficult boards heading into the new week. The Times typically varies puzzle difficulty across a rolling weekly cycle, with Mondays generally considered the easiest entry point and puzzles growing progressively more challenging as the week progresses, though that general pattern is not always consistent from week to week.

Connections has built a dedicated fan base since its official debut, with players frequently sharing their results, without revealing the actual answers, on social media in a format similar to Wordle’s now-familiar shareable grid. That format lets players display how many mistakes they made and the order in which they solved each category, without spoiling the puzzle for others who haven’t yet played that day’s grid. The game’s popularity has also spurred a wave of independent puzzle guides and hint sites, many of which publish same-day breakdowns within hours of each puzzle’s midnight release, catering both to players who want quick verification of their answers and those who prefer a more structured, hint-driven path toward solving the board themselves.

Monday’s Connections puzzle is scheduled to reset at midnight Eastern time, continuing the game’s daily rotation. Players looking for hints ahead of the next release can typically expect updated guides to appear across puzzle-tracking sites within hours of each new puzzle going live, following the same category-by-category format used to break down Sunday’s grid.

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Costco is warning customers who recently purchased a certain variety of plant that they may have unknowingly brought home an invasive insect capable of spreading a disease that can damage or even kill some other plants and trees.

The warehouse giant issued a notice last week that desert willow plants sold between June 24 and July 3, 2026, may have been infested with the glassy-winged sharpshooter.

“This invasive insect pest can spread harmful plant diseases, including Pierce’s disease, which can kill grapevines,” the notice said. “The pest can also damage citrus trees, landscape plants and other crops. Early detection and rapid response are critical to preventing the pest from spreading further.”

COSTCO HIT WITH LAWSUIT ALLEGING PROTEIN POWDER SOLD IN STORES CONTAINS ‘ DANGEROUS’ LEVELS OF LEAD, ARSENIC

Costco has issued a warning about desert willows, like the one pictured above, that were recently sold at its warehouses. (iStock)

Pierce’s disease is a bacterial infection that has long threatened California vineyards.

According to a 2025 report prepared for the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the disease costs the state’s grape and wine industry about $110 million annually, and officials estimate those losses could climb by another $56 million per year if the invasive pest becomes established statewide.

A glassy-winged sharpshooter rests on a leaf at Buena Biosystems in Santa Paula on June 13, 2002. (Stephen Osman/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Researchers say the glassy-winged sharpshooter is particularly difficult to contain because it can fly a quarter mile or more without stopping, allowing it to spread the disease between host plants.

Rather than returning the plants to a Costco warehouse, customers are being instructed to keep them in their original containers, isolate them from other plants and contact their local county agricultural commissioner’s office.

WEALTHY AMERICANS CHOOSE ONE GROCERY STORE CHAIN OVER RIVALS, SURVEY FINDS

Agricultural inspectors may examine the plant and nearby vegetation, and if the pest is found, officials will remove and dispose of the plant.

A customer browses vegetable plants at a Costco Wholesale Corp. store in Naperville, Illinois, on May 23, 2016. (Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Costco also advised customers not to plant the desert willow if they have not already done so, not to transport or relocate it, and not to throw it away or place it in a compost bin. If possible, the company recommends sealing the plant inside two trash bags until inspectors can evaluate it.

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Although customers are being told not to bring the plants back to Costco, the retailer said it will provide a full refund to affected shoppers who present the notification letter at their local warehouse.

The company apologized for the inconvenience, saying customers’ cooperation is critical to helping protect California agriculture from the spread of the invasive pest.

Jude Bellingham scored twice, including a decisive extra-time winner, to send England past Norway 2-1 in a fiercely contested World Cup quarterfinal in Miami on Saturday, pushing Thomas Tuchel’s side within one win of its first men’s World Cup final since 1966.

Norway took the lead in the 36th minute when Andreas Schjelderup’s dipping effort beat England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, with Martin Ødegaard credited with the assist. England responded almost immediately, equalizing in first-half stoppage time when Bellingham, the Real Madrid star, took a pass from Anthony Gordon in stride and beat Norway goalkeeper Orjan Nyland to make it 1-1 heading into halftime. The match remained level through 90 minutes, forcing extra time.

Bellingham struck again just three minutes into the extra period, capitalizing after Nyland could only parry a shot from substitute Morgan Rogers, giving England the lead for good and completing his two-goal performance. The result pushes England into the semifinals to face Argentina, a match set to be broadcast live on the BBC, after Argentina defeated Switzerland in the tournament’s other quarterfinal.

BBC chief football writer Phil McNulty described England’s path through the match as one shaped almost entirely by Bellingham’s individual brilliance. “England stand one win from their first men’s World Cup final since 1966 as Jude Bellingham’s brilliant two-goal display inspired them to come from behind to beat Norway after extra time in Miami,” McNulty wrote, adding that Tuchel’s side “rode their luck in a quarter-final played in fierce heat and humidity, but Bellingham was once again the talisman to send England into the last four.”

McNulty noted that Bellingham’s reaction after his first-half equalizer reflected the composed manner in which he has carried England through the tournament. Rather than an elaborate celebration, Bellingham simply turned and jogged back to the center circle in what McNulty described as “businesslike fashion,” pausing only to rally the crowd of England supporters inside Miami Stadium. Saturday’s extra-time winner brought Bellingham’s tally to six goals across the tournament, continuing what McNulty characterized as “almost looks like a personal mission to bring glory to England.”

Tuchel was forced into changes at halftime, withdrawing Declan Rice, who had been managing illness and injury, along with winger Noni Madueke, and introducing Eberechi Eze and Bukayo Saka in their place. The substitutions came as England searched for a spark against a resilient Norwegian side that had already produced the deepest World Cup run in the country’s modern history by reaching the quarterfinals.

Norway continued to threaten after the break despite trailing on the scoresheet for much of the second half. A goal from Torbjorn Heggem was ruled out following a VAR review after Erling Haaland was judged to have fouled England’s Elliot Anderson with a shove in the buildup, a decision that denied Norway what would have been a restored lead. Norway also struck the crossbar through a header from David Moller Wolfe later in the match, underscoring how closely contested the game remained even as England ultimately advanced.

Haaland, who entered Saturday’s match having scored seven goals across the tournament and emerged as one of its most talked-about individual stars both on and off the pitch, was unable to make a decisive attacking impact against England. McNulty wrote that Haaland “threatened fleetingly, almost cashing in on a loss of concentration by John Stones in the first half,” and grew visibly frustrated when teammate Alexander Sorloth opted to attempt a solo effort rather than pass to an unmarked Haaland with a clear run on goal. Haaland was ultimately substituted at the start of the second half of extra time. McNulty noted that Haaland “knew what was coming after the video assistant referee intervened” on the disallowed Heggem goal, adding that he “barely” celebrated in the match’s aftermath.

Despite the disappointing result, McNulty wrote that Haaland’s broader tournament had brought “great pride to Haaland and Norway,” reflecting the significance of Norway’s run to the quarterfinal stage for a country making just its second major tournament appearance in more than two decades after missing the World Cup since 1998.

Bellingham was named player of the match, finishing with an average rating of 8.88 according to post-match statistics, well ahead of Norway’s top performer, Ødegaard, who registered a 6.48 rating. Schjelderup, the Norway goal scorer, finished with a 6.14 rating, while Haaland’s rating of 5.32 reflected his relatively quiet afternoon by the standards of his tournament to that point.

Saturday’s match drew an announced attendance of 64,478 at Miami Stadium, played under conditions McNulty described as fierce heat and humidity, factors that appeared to affect both sides as the match wore into extra time. England’s win came just days after a demanding round-of-16 victory over Mexico at Estadio Azteca, and McNulty suggested England looked “understandably” jaded for portions of Saturday’s contest given the accumulated toll of the tournament’s Miami leg layered on top of that earlier match.

With the win, England advance to their third World Cup semifinal since lifting the Jules Rimet Trophy 60 years ago in 1966, a stretch that has included previous semifinal losses to West Germany in 1990 and Croatia in 2018. Tuchel’s side will now turn its attention to Argentina, with Lionel Messi’s side awaiting in the semifinal after eliminating Switzerland in the tournament’s other quarterfinal matchup.

For Norway, meanwhile, Saturday’s exit brings an end to a historic tournament run that captured the imagination of the football world, driven in large part by Haaland’s seven-goal haul and the underdog spirit surrounding a national team appearing on the World Cup’s biggest stage for the first time in nearly three decades. Despite the loss, Norway’s performance throughout the tournament, culminating in Saturday’s tightly fought extra-time defeat to the eventual finalists, is likely to be remembered as one of the standout stories of the 2026 World Cup.

James Murdoch, the estranged son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, appears poised to walk away with a fortune from an early investment in Elon Musk’s SpaceX that could dwarf what he ever earned from his family’s media empire, according to new calculations shared with Fortune.

James, 53, invested an estimated $120 million in SpaceX before the rocket and satellite company went public earlier this year in the largest initial public offering in history. That stake could now be worth as much as $7.5 billion, according to calculations by Franco Granda, senior research analyst for private company coverage at Pitchbook. The valuation had not previously been publicly disclosed.

The financial details emerged from public records tied to a 2023 court case brought by a Tesla shareholder challenging Musk’s disputed $56 billion compensation package. That litigation revealed that James Murdoch had purchased three separate tranches of SpaceX stock. Two of those tranches, worth $50 million each, were acquired in 2019 and 2020 through a private investment vehicle believed to be Lupa Systems, the firm Murdoch founded in 2019 where he serves as the primary beneficiary alongside staff and partners. He separately made a personal investment of $20 million in 2019. Combined, those holdings are now estimated to be worth between $6.573 billion and $7.44 billion, according to Pitchbook’s analysis.

While SpaceX’s public offering documents do not mention James Murdoch by name, the filing details stock awards granted to Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen with an expiration date of 2030, valuing the underlying stock at $4.40 per share, figures that offer clues to the value shareholders held before the IPO. Several caveats complicate any precise estimate of Murdoch’s current windfall. He could have sold shares along the way, and the stock has undergone multiple dilutions, including a five-for-one stock split SpaceX shareholders approved in May. The exact dates of his stock acquisitions are not fully public, though media industry executives have reportedly been circulating rumors about the scale of his potential gains.

Fortune reached out to Blair Effron, a partner at Centerview Partners, which has advised the Murdoch family on investment matters. “As a friend of James, I’ll pass on speaking,” Effron said. A representative for James Murdoch did not provide comment before publication.

Any windfall from the SpaceX stake would carry particular significance given the fractured relationship between James and his father. The younger Murdoch’s split from Rupert became final after the elder Murdoch chose his other son, Lachlan Murdoch, to succeed him atop News Corp. The private family dispute later spilled into public view through reporting by The New York Times and The Atlantic detailing the extent of the animosity between father and son. In an interview with The Atlantic, James said he believed his father had fed questions to a lawyer during the family’s internal legal fight, including one that asked, “Have you ever done anything successful on your own?”

Last year, a Nevada probate court examined an effort by Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch to alter the longstanding Murdoch Family Trust, a change that would have stripped voting rights from James and his sisters, Liz and Prue. A probate commissioner ruled against the proposed change, and following an appeal, the parties reached an agreement under which each of the three siblings received a $1.1 billion payout in exchange for surrendering their stock in News Corp and Fox.

James Murdoch stepped down as chief executive of 21st Century Fox after the company sold the majority of its assets to Disney in a $71.3 billion deal completed in 2019, a transaction that netted him roughly $2.2 billion. He went on to establish Lupa Systems that same year, the period during which SpaceX began launching the broadband satellites that would become Starlink, a business Murdoch understood well given his prior experience running satellite pay-TV ventures Sky in the United Kingdom and Star in Asia.

Murdoch’s relationship with Musk dates back decades. According to court filings from the Tesla compensation dispute, the two men first met in the late 1990s, when Musk was building Zip2, an early online city guide for newspapers, while Murdoch ran digital operations at what was then simply known as News Corp. The two reconnected in the mid-2000s after Murdoch ordered an electric Tesla Roadster, and the relationship deepened through family vacations to Israel, Mexico and the Bahamas. Musk later added James Murdoch to Tesla’s board, where he remains listed as an independent director who joined in July 2017.

Murdoch has separately profited from his Tesla holdings. Share sales tied to his JRM Rev Trust have generated roughly $107 million since spring of last year, according to SEC filings. Tesla itself owns roughly 19 million shares of SpaceX, a stake that could indirectly benefit Murdoch further given his continued position on Tesla’s board, amid ongoing market speculation about a potential merger between the two Musk-controlled companies.

Since leaving Fox, Murdoch has built a diversified investment portfolio spanning media, technology and the arts. He recently completed a $300 million deal to acquire a significant stake in Vox Media, owner of New York magazine and a range of niche websites and podcasts. His other holdings include comic book publisher and studio AWA, the Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal-backed Tribeca Enterprises, and MCH Group, the holding company behind the Art Basel exhibition. He also holds an interest in an Indian streaming media joint venture through Bodhi Tree Systems, backed in part by Comcast and the Qatar Investment Authority.

Jon Miller, chief executive of TPG-backed Integrated Media and a former AOL chief executive who previously served as chief digital officer at News Corp, said Murdoch’s apparent SpaceX success reflects a consistent pattern in his investing career. “To me this is no surprise, James has been a savvy global technology investor for decades,” Miller said.

Veteran media analyst Brian Wieser of advisory firm Madison and Wall cautioned that the precise scale of Murdoch’s potential windfall remains difficult to verify but said any gain is likely substantial given the trajectory of SpaceX’s valuation. “Given that James Murdoch has been in the SpaceX orbit for a while, since Tesla, it’s unsurprising that he’s benefited financially,” Wieser said. “And if so, it’s very plausible that someone like James Murdoch could end up making a lot more from the holdings of SpaceX than they ever would from holding traditional media companies. Though that presumes they can get liquid, holding the shares doesn’t mean anything if you can’t sell them.”

LeBron James remains without a team nearly two weeks into free agency, with league sources describing a growing sense that the four-time NBA MVP is leaning toward a return to the Cleveland Cavaliers, even as several other franchises insist they still have a genuine shot at landing him.

James, 41, informed the Los Angeles Lakers on June 30 through his agent, Rich Paul, that he would not return to the franchise after eight seasons. Since then, James has taken a notably patient and deliberate approach to what is widely expected to be his final free-agent decision of a career now entering its 24th season. As of Thursday, sources told ESPN there remained “no timetable” for James to make a final call.

According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, a “vibe” has emerged around the league pointing toward Cleveland, the franchise where James began his career and later returned for a celebrated second stint. That sense has been fueled in part by James’ recent activity away from the court, including a nostalgic gathering with members of his 2016 championship Cavaliers roster and additional time spent in his hometown of Akron, Ohio, this summer. The Cavaliers enter the conversation coming off their best season without James in more than 30 years and recently signed guard Donovan Mitchell to a four-year maximum contract extension, positioning the roster as a potentially strong fit around a returning James.

Still, Windhorst reported that several other teams believe they have a legitimate case to land James despite the Cleveland speculation. The Golden State Warriors, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves and Philadelphia 76ers each believe they have a compelling pitch, according to sources cited in Windhorst’s reporting, even as recruiting communications with James’ camp have reportedly remained largely one-directional, with teams pitching but receiving little direct feedback in return.

Rich Paul offered a rare glimpse into the scope of James’ options during an appearance on his “Game Over” podcast last week, using a whiteboard to list potential landing spots including Philadelphia, Miami, Minnesota, Denver, Golden State and Cleveland. Paul also noted that James would have considered the New York Knicks had the franchise not just won an NBA title, effectively taking that team out of contention. According to Yahoo Sports, Paul separately name-checked the Knicks, 76ers and Boston Celtics during that same podcast appearance as among the fits worth discussing, underscoring how wide the field of speculation has grown even as certain teams appear more central to the process than others.

The recruiting process has taken an unusual form this offseason. According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, teams pursuing James have been sending voice memos to Paul, who then relays those messages to his client, with the identity of who records each message viewed by some in league circles as a signal of how seriously a given organization values landing James. Philadelphia may hold a notable edge in that regard after Bob Myers, president of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which owns the 76ers, appeared directly on Paul’s podcast. It remains unclear whether the Cavaliers or Miami Heat, two other frequently mentioned suitors, have submitted similar voice memos, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.

Golden State’s pursuit has drawn particular public attention given James’ friendship with Warriors star Stephen Curry, dating back to their partnership on the U.S. Olympic team in 2024. Speaking to reporters at the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament, Curry acknowledged what he called the “allure” of teaming up with James and the impact such a move would have on the league. “The pitch is: Do you want to play good basketball and be around people that know how to play the game?” Curry said. “Hopefully raise our floor and our competitiveness this year. There’s good golf in the Bay. We’re an organization that’s been there. He knows that.” Curry’s reference to golf was widely interpreted as a nod to Paul, who has previously said that access to both indoor and outdoor golf mattered to his client. Curry later told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Monte Poole that James deserves patience as he works through his decision, rather than facing pressure to announce a choice on any particular timeline.

James’ unusually drawn-out free agency stands in contrast to his prior decisions, each of which unfolded differently. His original “Decision” in 2010, announced during a primetime television special, saw him declare he was “taking his talents to South Beach” to join the Miami Heat. Four years later, he announced his return to Cleveland in far less dramatic fashion on July 11, 2014, after also letting that process stretch nearly two weeks. When he later left Cleveland for the Lakers in 2018, he avoided any drawn-out drama entirely, agreeing to a deal on the very first night of free agency.

Analysts have speculated that James may be deliberately timing his eventual announcement around the World Cup, which is nearing its final stages this month, in order to avoid having his news overshadowed by soccer’s biggest stars. The tournament’s semifinals are scheduled for July 14 and 15, and some in league circles believe James could wait until a lull in that coverage, or until after the tournament concludes entirely, before making his decision public.

Beyond James, the broader NBA offseason has continued to take shape around him. Golden State guard Deandre Ayton was traded to the Washington Wizards, Rui Hachimura signed with the Los Angeles Clippers, Luke Kennard joined the Phoenix Suns, and Marcus Smart signed with the Houston Rockets, moves that have collectively reshaped rosters across the league even as James’ free agency continues to dominate offseason attention. San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama also agreed to a five-year rookie max extension worth $252 million during the same stretch.

For now, James appears content to let the process play out at his own pace, a departure from a career defined in earlier years by his desire to control the news cycle surrounding his own decisions with tight-lipped negotiations conducted mostly outside public view. Whether that patience ultimately points toward a homecoming in Cleveland or a surprise move elsewhere remains, as of this week, an open question that league insiders expect to be resolved in the coming days.

Sophie Cunningham took an unexpected turn from the basketball court to the octagon apron Saturday night, surprising fans at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas by stepping in as a UFC 329 ring girl during a night that ultimately became defined by Conor McGregor’s stunning early exit from his long-awaited return fight.

Cunningham, the WNBA guard who has also modeled for Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue, grabbed a ring card and strutted around the octagon holding it above her head as fans erupted in shock at the sight of her filling in during the card. The moment came as fan favorite Paddy Pimblett walked out to “Lethal Industry” by Sunnery James and Ryan Marciano, with the 6-foot-1 Cunningham going barefoot around the octagon in a black tank top and shorts, smiling and laughing as she carried out the role alongside the event’s regular ring girls.

UFC president and CEO Dana White confirmed after the card that the appearance came together on short notice. “I love Sophie Cunningham,” White told reporters. White said Cunningham approached him roughly eight minutes before she ultimately walked out onto the octagon apron to take part. “She was like, ‘I want to do that,’” White recounted. “I told her, ‘Then you will do it.’”

Cunningham appeared to embrace the moment fully, pointing and waving toward celebrity row as she circled the octagon before pausing to pose for cameras as Pimblett’s fight got underway. Pimblett made quick work of his opponent, finishing Benoit Saint-Denis via first-round submission after his opponent shot in for a takedown attempt and was caught in a guillotine choke, according to the official result.

Cunningham’s cameo, while a lighthearted highlight, was ultimately overshadowed by the night’s headline story: the abrupt and dramatic end to Conor McGregor’s much-anticipated return to the octagon after more than five years away from competition. McGregor, fighting for the first time since a broken leg suffered in his 2021 trilogy loss to Dustin Poirier, faced Max Holloway in a rematch of their 2013 bout, which McGregor had won by unanimous decision.

The rematch ended almost as soon as it began. McGregor opened the fight with a flying left roundhouse kick that landed awkwardly, appearing to injure his right knee in the process. After attempting two more strikes despite the injury, it became clear McGregor could not continue, and referee Mike Beltran stopped the contest at 1 minute, 9 seconds into the first round. White told reporters afterward that ringside doctors suspected McGregor had torn his ACL, though the full extent of the injury had not been confirmed as of Saturday night.

The finish left the sold-out crowd, which White said Thursday had broken the promotion’s record for the largest live gate, audibly unhappy, with fans booing as the fight was waved off. Holloway, who improved to 28-9, addressed the arena directly afterward despite the muted reaction. “Let’s give it up for Conor McGregor, guys,” Holloway said. “What an absolute animal. When we were in here, I was trying to call the fight off, and he kept asking to fight on. But you guys are lucky because there’s going to be a Holloway vs. McGregor 3 now. Let’s get this money, boys.” Holloway added, “What can I say, I had him weak in the knees, I guess.”

McGregor, who fell to 22-7 with the loss, left the octagon under his own power but was visibly limping and exited the arena without speaking to reporters. The injury struck the opposite leg from the one McGregor broke during his 2021 loss to Poirier, adding another significant setback to a stretch that has seen him go 1-4 across his last five fights after opening his UFC career 9-1 and becoming the promotion’s first simultaneous two-division champion.

McGregor had arrived at T-Mobile Arena earlier in the night sporting a freshly shaved mohawk-style haircut ahead of what was billed as one of the most significant fights of his career, and had expressed confidence in his preparation heading into the bout. The bookmaking market had reflected a competitive matchup entering fight night, with Holloway closing as a -300 favorite at BetMGM Sportsbook and McGregor listed as a +240 underdog.

Saturday’s card featured several other notable results beyond the headline bout. Brandon Royval defeated Lone’er Kavanagh via third-round submission using a rear-naked choke, Mario Bautista topped Cory Sandhagen by unanimous decision with identical 29-28 scorecards across all three judges, and King Green stopped Terrance McKinney via first-round TKO by way of punches, rounding out a night that mixed decisive finishes with the shocking early conclusion to the main event.

For Cunningham, Saturday’s cameo added to a growing public profile that has increasingly extended beyond her role on the basketball court. The WNBA guard has drawn national attention in recent seasons both for her play and for high-profile modeling and media appearances, and her impromptu turn as a UFC ring girl further cemented her status as one of the more recognizable crossover athletes currently active in women’s sports.

While it remains unclear whether Cunningham’s appearance was fully planned in advance or came together as spontaneously as White described, the moment quickly became a viral talking point among fans following the card, offering a rare lighthearted highlight on a night otherwise dominated by disappointment over McGregor’s premature exit from what had been billed as a major comeback moment for one of the sport’s most recognizable stars.

With Holloway now positioned as the favorite for a potential third meeting between the two fighters, and McGregor facing an uncertain recovery timeline pending further evaluation of his knee injury, UFC officials have not yet indicated when or whether a trilogy bout might be scheduled. For now, Saturday’s card will likely be remembered both for its abrupt ending and for the unexpected moment that briefly stole the spotlight before the main event even got underway.

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