With about five minutes remaining in the first quarter of Game 3 of the NBA Finals, Spurs star Victor Wembanyama’s shoved Knicks standout Jalen Brunson hard to the ground in a play that resulted in no foul call on the floor. However, NBA Senior Vice President and Head of Development and Training for Referee Operations Monty McCutchen admitted Tuesday that the play should have been whistled as a foul.

“Well, most certainly I think we can all agree that a foul was missed on that play,” McCutchen said on ESPN’s NBA Today. “A big part of our job is on-ball, off-ball exchanges between referees. We did a poor job of that here, where we’ve got two people on ball and we don’t see the screening action. Lots of fighting over screens throughout the game. And if we break down in our fundamentals in even the smallest amounts, we have the opportunity to miss a clear foul as we missed here.”

Despite McCutchen’s comments, the league said Tuesday night that Wembanyama’s shove on Brunson will not be upgraded to a flagrant foul. 

The play itself came with a bit less than five minutes remaining in the first quarter. Josh Hart took the ball up the court, and Brunson was fighting for position with Wembanyama just above the free-throw line. After about a second of physical contact between the two, Wembanyama can be seen shoving Brunson by the head into the ground.

If it had been upgraded to a flagrant foul, it could have had significant ramifications on the rest of the series. When a player accumulates four flagrant foul points in a single postseason, he is automatically suspended for one game. Wembanyama currently has two flagrant foul points, both accumulated on a single play. In the second round against the Timberwolves, he received a flagrant-2 foul and was ejected for elbowing Naz Reid in the neck.

If the play with Brunson was upgraded to a flagrant-1, Wembanyama would have been just one flagrant foul away from an automatic suspension. It would have undoubtedly affected the physicality he could play with for the rest of the Finals. Instead, he remains at two flagrant foul points heading into Wednesday night’s Game 4. 

While suspensions resulting from players hitting the four-flagrant foul point threshold in the postseason are rare, they do happen. Most notably, Draymond Green was suspended for Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals after accumulating four flagrant foul points throughout that postseason, culminating in his absence in a key loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers that eventually led to the first-ever 3-1 Finals comeback at Golden State’s expense.

Wembanyama’s propensity for hard fouls has come under increased scrutiny this postseason, particularly since that elbow to Reid’s neck. In Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, he appeared to pull Lu Dort’s hair while running up the court.

In Game 2 of the NBA Finals, Wembanyama can be seen tossing Knicks backup point guard Jose Alvarado by the neck while fighting for rebounding position following a Dylan Harper layup attempt.

Simply put, the Spurs need Wembanyama on the court. Though the Spurs went 12-6 in the regular season without Wembanyama and they won Game 3 of their first-round series against the Portland Trail Blazers without him, things have only gotten harder as the competition has improved deeper into the postseason.

When Wembanyama was ejected against Minnesota, the Spurs lost Game 4 to the Timberwolves. He has not missed a game in the last two rounds, but the minutes that he rests have become very precarious. In the Western Conference Finals, the Spurs were outscored by 38 points with backup center Luke Kornet on the floor. Thus far in the NBA Finals, the Knicks have won Kornet’s minutes by 17 points.

Beyond even backup center, the Spurs only seem to fully trust six players in this series: Wembanyama, Stephon Castle, De’Aaron Fox, Harper, Devin Vassell and Julian Champagnie. Removing Wembanyama from the equation would force San Antonio to lean even more heavily into bench players who have lost prominence as the postseason has progressed. But Tuesday night’s decision by the NBA eases any concerns that Wembanyama won’t be on the court due to disciplinary reasons. 

Though he was focused more on the free-throw disparity, Knicks coach Mike Brown shared his frustrations with the officials following New York’s Game 3 loss. “I never thought I would be in the NBA Finals and see a team get 24 free-throw attempts in the second half to another team’s eight,” Brown said Monday night.

When asked about the shove from Wembanyama, Brunson refused to add fuel to the fire. “Whatever you saw is what you saw,” he said.

While the verdict on the Wembanyama-Brunson play did not change, other calls in this series have been adjusted. Mitchell Robinson’s Game 2 technical foul, received for a bit of shoving with Wembanyama, was rescinded on Saturday. A change here would have been far more consequential. 

Marco Silva has agreed to become Benfica’s new head coach as the Portuguese club formalised Jose Mourinho’s departure for Real Madrid.

Silva, 48, ended his five-year stint as Fulham boss a week ago when his contract at Craven Cottage expired.

Benfica said they had “reached an agreement” with Silva who is set to sign a contract until the end of the 2027-28 season which can be extended to 2028-29.

Fulham were Silva’s fourth English club after spells in charge of Hull City, Watford and Everton.

Mourinho’s exit from Estadio da Luz was also announced, with Benfica saying Real Madrid will pay them £13m (15m euros) in compensation to bring the 63-year-old back to the Bernabeu.

“The coach [Mourinho] has given his agreement to this hiring,” added a Benfica statement.

“Thus ended Jose Mourinho’s second spell as manager of Benfica’s professional football team.”

Mourinho took charge of Benfica in September and led them to third place in the Primeira Liga this season as they went through the league campaign unbeaten.

In his previous spell in charge of Real Madrid between 2010 and 2013, the Portuguese won La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup.

NEW DELHI: A heartwarming moment involving India captain Shubman Gill has gone viral following India’s dominant victory over Afghanistan in the one-off Test at the New PCA Stadium in Mullanpur. In a video that has been widely shared on social media, a young ball boy stationed near the boundary ropes was seen touching Gill’s feet as the India skipper walked back to the pavilion after scoring a superb century.Gill, who led from the front with a brilliant 126, acknowledged the youngster’s gesture before continuing towards the dressing room. The touching interaction quickly became one of the standout moments of the match.Manav Suthar steals the show on debutWhile Gill’s century and the viral video grabbed attention, the match ultimately belonged to debutant left-arm spinner Manav Suthar, who enjoyed a dream start to his Test career.The Rajasthan spinner claimed seven wickets in the match, including a sensational 6/33 in Afghanistan’s first innings, as India completed their biggest-ever victory in Test cricket by an innings and 300 runs.After electing to bat, India posted a massive 564/8 declared. Alongside Gill’s 126, KL Rahul scored 100, while Sai Sudharsan and Rishabh Pant contributed 81 each. Washington Sundar added the finishing touches with an unbeaten 52.Afghanistan unable to recoverAfghanistan resumed Day 3 on 113/5 and were eventually bowled out for 152 despite a fighting 60 from Rahmat Shah. Suthar ripped through the lower order to register the second-best bowling figures by an Indian on Test debut.Asked to follow on, Afghanistan showed some resistance through Abdul Malik and Sediqullah Atal, who added 42 runs for the opening wicket. Atal looked comfortable during his knock of 42, but India’s bowlers gradually tightened their grip on the contest.Mohammed Siraj provided the breakthrough before Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav joined the wicket-taking spree. Afghanistan slipped from 74/1 to 98/5 as Sundar removed Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi and Atal.India complete historic winThe visitors never recovered from the collapse. Suthar added another wicket, Sundar finished with four wickets in the innings, and Kuldeep cleaned up the tail as Afghanistan were bowled out for 112.The emphatic victory gave India their largest-ever win in Test cricket in terms of innings and runs.While the hosts dominated with both bat and ball, it was a simple gesture from a young ball boy towards Gill that captured fans’ imagination and became one of the most talked-about moments from an unforgettable Test match.

It might not be Kylian Mbappé or Ballon d’Or holder Ousmane Dembélé lighting up France’s attack at the World Cup.

Instead, it could be the discreet and unassuming Michael Olise, with his golden first touch and devastating changes of direction.

Starting when two-time champions France takes on Senegal on June 16 in New Jersey.

Read moreWorld Cup 2026: All the fixtures

The Bayern Munich winger enters the tournament in fine form after netting a superb hat-trick against Northern Ireland on Monday, taking his total to seven in 17 games for Les Bleus.

Coach Didier Deschamps fielded his first-choice side and it was Olise who stood out most in a glittering attack featuring Mbappé, Dembélé and rising star Désiré Doué.

“He’s been shining brightly this season at Bayern and he’s done great things for us. He’s brimming with confidence, he’s so decisive,” Deschamps said of Olise. “On top of that, as an attacking player he also has a remarkable capacity for hard work.”

After two finishes inside the penalty area, Olise curled a brilliant shot into the top left corner after breaking inside from the right flank with one of his sudden switches of play.

It’s become his signature move, helping the 24-year-old score 22 goals for Bayern this season.

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Deschamps said Olise impressed him at the 2024 Paris Olympics. There, he was coached by Thierry Henry — the France and Arsenal great — and Olise’s two goals and five assists helped Les Bleus reach the final.

Olise called the Paris Games “the best football experience of my life” because they “allowed people to get to know me”. He praised Henry for sharing his vision of the game.

But when Olise stepped up to the senior side, Deschamps said it took him “four or five” games to show his true potential because he was shy.

“He’s not a very expressive character. He’s rather introverted, but he’s very endearing,” Deschamps said.

Olise’s first international goal came on his sixth appearance, and it showcased his ability as he bent a free kick into the top corner against Croatia in the 2025 Nations League.

London-raised

Born in London, Olise began his professional career with Reading after being released by Chelsea and Manchester City.

While playing for Reading in the second-tier Championship he was named the English Football League’s young player of the season.

He joined Premier League side Crystal Palace in 2021, and three seasons with Palace were enough to convince Bayern to sign him in a deal worth €60 million ($65 million).

Olise added goal-scoring to his superb range of passing and in two seasons at the German giant he’s netted 42 goals in 107 games, albeit in an extremely attack-minded team.

Olise’s goals took the spotlight off another mediocre performance from Mbappé, who also failed to score in a 2-1 home loss to Ivory Coast last Thursday. 

Read moreFrance stunned by Ivory Coast in World Cup warm-up defeat

“It’s true that he had several chances and wasn’t efficient,” Deschamps said.

Mbappé has 56 international goals and needs two more to beat Olivier Giroud‘s France record.

“He told me he’s holding back for the United States,” Deschamps said with a smile. “So that suits me.”

(FRANCE 24 with AP)

AJ Lee has been absent from WWE programming for over seven weeks. A recent report sheds light on her immediate future in the Stamford-based promotion.

The Geek Goddess’ last appearance on WWE programming was on Night One of WrestleMania 42, where she lost the Women’s Intercontinental Championship to Becky Lynch. While wrestling fans have been waiting for her to be back in action, a recent report from WrestleVotes via Fightful Select claims that the 39-year-old is not making a return anytime soon.

AJ Lee returned to the global juggernaut after more than a decade last year in September. Although she did not make regular appearances, the former three-time WWE Divas Champion was involved in several memorable moments.

She wrestled five matches since her return and secured the win in all of them except her last match. While one of her four wins was against Bayley, she made Becky Lynch tap out in the remaining three.

AJ Lee made a massive revelation about her current WWE contract

AJ Lee has been vocal about her lifelong struggles with mental health. She has openly admitted to having retired from professional wrestling in 2015 to focus on getting her mental health under control.

Speaking on iHeart Women’s Sports, the WWE Superstar highlighted how times have changed and she could now speak openly about mental health. The legendary star further revealed that she had a clause regarding it in her current contract with the company.

“When the first thing I wanted to make sure was going to work was, is my mental health protected? Do I feel safe here? Are you guys aware of what that means, to need mental health time off or sort of just like, is that something that is a priority for that to be a priority? The conversation was really cool in a way that, like, I couldn’t even reveal my diagnosis 10 years ago, but now it’s like, you know, a part of my contract. So like that is a really cool, beautiful thing,” Lee said.

AJ Lee is one of the beloved stars in professional wrestling. It will be interesting to see if and when she makes her return to WWE programming.