TAMPA — Ryan McMahon is entering his 10th season in the majors. He spent five-plus years in the minors.

In that time, he’s played a total of 9,451 innings at third base, nearly 2,182 innings at second base and 1,845 innings at first base.

And only a few more than you at shortstop.

With Aaron Boone eyeing his third baseman for the backup shortstop role to start the season, McMahon got much-needed reps at the position during the Yankees’ 11-1 exhibition win over Panama, but displayed the need for more while flubbing a relatively straightforward grounder.

With José Caballero set to start the season at shortstop — and Anthony Volpe still recovering from shoulder surgery — McMahon could provide the Yankees with roster flexibility as the backup. But before Tuesday, McMahon had only played three innings at shortstop as a pro, coming in 2020.

“It feels, it looks so much different for me,” said McMahon, who was pulled after five innings. “There’s a lot more space. I think I gained a little bit more respect for what these shortstops have to deal with on a daily basis. But it was fun getting out there. I botched one, but I feel like if I see that one a couple more times that would be no problem.

“I feel pretty comfortable out there. I think of myself as a baseball player. I think if I just take some more reps I’ll be able to handle it. I think I’ll get better at it.”

McMahon, who has received five consecutive Gold Glove nominations at third base, turned an inning-ending double play in the first, but fumbled a chance to end the fourth when he bobbled a grounder toward the middle. He then recovered to handle another opportunity in the fifth.

“It’s just getting reads off the bat,” said McMahon, who went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run. “The angles are different. You get so used to seeing it from the spot you’ve been at. You just step into a different area and I think that’s something reps can definitely fix. 

“It’s baseball … Just getting it to where it’s second nature. At third base I don’t think about it, I just do it.”

Boone plans to have McMahon, 31, work exclusively at shortstop Wednesday, then put him back there for Thursday’s spring training game against the Twins.

“It was good to get him out there,” Boone said. “The error kind of took a bad hop on him, although it’s one he’s probably gotta attack if you read it perfectly or you can give a little more ground, especially with his arm, and put yourself in a better position to handle that hop. But watching him in pregame on the back field, he looks really good there. I definitely think he can handle it. Obviously the arm really plays. He’s just so natural picking up a ground ball.”

TORONTO – When Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady bought a minority stake in the Buffalo Bills, they insisted they’d do more than just contribute to the NFL team financially.

That was evident as they hosted Bills Night on Tuesday as the Toronto Raptors hosted the New York Knicks. Carter, whose jersey was retired by the Raptors in an emotional ceremony last season, said that the collaboration was all about fun.

“The appreciation for both sports, coming together, learning what American football is about,” said Carter in the media centre at Scotiabank Arena, noting there were a couple of Bills players attending the game. “They’ve never had the opportunity to experience what Raptors basketball looks like nowadays and that’s what we want.

“We want the appreciation to both sides, and that’s why we were excited about joining the Bills, having the opportunity to bring this collaboration together.”

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Carter and McGrady, cousins who both started their careers with the Raptors in the late 1990s, said they hoped the passionate fanbases of the NBA and NFL teams would rub off on each other.

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“Seeing what Jurassic Park looks like, particularly when they’re on the road during the playoffs and those things,” said Carter, who was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024. “Seeing what Bills Mafia, if you’ve never had that opportunity, I recommend it, if you’re not a part of it, just to watch it.

“It’s just something special and (we want) both sides to kind of collab and do it together.”

Carter, McGrady and former Toronto FC forward Jozy Altidore are part of a group of private equity investors that bought a 20 per cent stake in the Bills in December 2024.

Bills players DeWayne Carter, Landon Jackson, and Michael Hoecht of Oakville, Ont., were introduced to the sold-out crowd at Scotiabank Arena during a stoppage of play in the first quarter, throwing signed footballs to fans. Combo Raptors-Bills T-shirts were also given away to all spectators in attendance.

McGrady and Carter both grew up in Florida and said that football was formative to them as kids. McGrady said that one particular memory stuck with him.

“My mom worked at Disney World, and I remember the day I was, like nine years old, she came home and she brought me a Randall Cunningham autograph,” said McGrady, who was inducted into basketball’s Hall of Fame in 2017. “They used to have the Pro Bowl in Orlando, right? So she came home, I was super excited.

“I was a fan of all sports, that was my life, even as a kid, but it was definitely embedded in me.”

That love of all sports remains in McGrady who said that he even intends to go through the Bills Mafia tradition of jumping through a folding table, probably.

“I’ve already told him, I’m going to do it,” said McGrady, gesturing to Carter.

“Right now, I can’t do it,” added McGrady, rubbing his knee. “We’re going to build to it.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 3, 2026.

&copy 2026 The Canadian Press

Kyler Murray’s Arizona exit came with a surprise admission.

The Cardinals intend to release the quarterback on the first day of the league year next Wednesday, barring a trade, NFL insider Adam Schefter reported Tuesday.

Following the report, Murray shared a message he thought was warranted — an apology for having “failed” the fan base.

“To everyone that supported me and showed kindness to my family and I during my time in AZ, from the bottom of my heart, thank you,” he wrote on X. I wanted nothing more than to be the one to end the 77 year drought for this organization, I am sorry I failed us. I wish this community and my brothers nothing but the best. I am no stranger to adversity, I am prepared for whatever’s next. I trust in God and my work ethic. I truly believe my best ball is in front of me and I look forward to proving it. Godspeed.”

The two-time Pro Bowler spent seven seasons in Arizona after he was selected as the No.1 overall pick in 2019 following a Heisman Trophy campaign at Oklahoma.

All that promise led to some highlight-worthy moments, including being one of three players to throw for more than 20,000 yards and rush for more than 3,000 yards in his career, joining Josh Allen and Cam Newton.

However, he led the Cardinals to just one playoff appearance — a wild-card round loss to the Rams in 2021 — and finished 38-48-1 record, as he was plagued by injuries in the last five seasons.

The decision comes after months of speculation about Murray’s future with the team, and it has resulted in what a source told ESPN was the 28-year-old’s preferred outcome.

Arizona owes Murray $36.8 million guaranteed in 2026. An additional $19.5 million would have gone through on March 15 for 2027 if he were still on the roster on the fifth day of the 2026 league year, which is March 16.

Those in charge in Arizona are no longer the faces that drafted Kyler Murray — new head coach Mike LaFleur and general manager Monti Ossenfort. They will now be tasked to find a signal-caller to start a new Cardinals era.

It was an L.A. story when the Big Ten Conference announced its women’s basketball awards.

UCLA and USC swept the major honors.

Bruins center Lauren Betts was named Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year – becoming the first player in conference history to win both awards in the same season – while Cori Close was named Coach of the Year and graduate forward Angela Dugalic Sixth Player of the Year. Trojans guard Jazzy Davidson was selected the Freshman of the Year.

UCLA’s Kiki Rice made the 10-player First Team as selected by conference coaches alongside Betts, Davidson, Illinois’ Berry Wallace, Iowa’s Ava Heiden, Maryland’s Oluchi Okananwa, Michigan’s Olivia Olson and Syla Swords, Ohio State’s Jaloni Cambridge and Washington’s Sayvia Sellers.

UCLA’s Gabriela Jaquez and USC’s Kara Dunn made the Second Team and UCLA’s Gianna Kneepkens was an Honorable Mention selection.

Rice joined Betts on the All-Defensive Team alongside Davidson, and Trojans teammate Kennedy Smith. UCLA’s Sienna Betts joined Davidson on the All-Freshman Team.

It was the second time in as many years that Betts was named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year. She leads UCLA in points (16.3), rebounds (8.8) and blocks (2.0) per game while also averaging 3.2 assists.

Close’s award comes after she guided the second-ranked Bruins to becoming only the fourth unbeaten team in Big Ten play, joining Maryland (2015), Purdue (1999) and Ohio State (1985). She had swept the national coach of the year awards last season, winning those given by Associated Press, Naismith, the U.S. Basketball Writers Assn. and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Assn.

Davidson becomes the first USC player to be named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year during a season in which she’s the only Division I player leading her team in points (17.9), rebounds (5.9), assists (4.3), blocks (2.0) and steals (2.0).

Dugalic is the only non-starter in the country averaging nine or more points, five or more rebounds and one or more steals while shooting 50 percent from the field and 35 percent from long distance while starting fewer than 10 games.

Rice has now been an all-conference selection in each of her four seasons after being named to the Pac-12’s All-Freshman Team and the All-Pac-12 Team as a sophomore before being picked for the All-Big Ten First Team in each of the last two seasons.

Top-seeded UCLA (28-1) opens the Big Ten Tournament on Friday in a quarterfinal at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis against either ninth-seeded USC (17-12) or eighth-seeded Washington (20-9). The Trojans and Huskies will face one another at 9 a.m. PST on Thursday.

Fitness influencer Sara Saffari is adamant she’s not dating Puka Nacua, despite how things between the two have recently looked.

Shortly after a video of Nacua appearing to hold hands with Saffari surfaced, the social media star went to Instagram to shoot down speculation that the two are an item.

“We’re siblings,” she wrote in the comment section of a post that reported she and the NFL superstar were dating,”chill.”

Saffari and Nacua first sparked romance rumors when they attended an event at a Los Angeles-area Topgolf last month.

They competed in some games to try to beat other influencers, and they seemed very flirty while doing it. At one point, one of their famous friends, Nick Nayersina, claimed they looked like “a power duo.”

Jack Hughes’ whirlwind Olympics victory lap included a brief wedding detour.

The star Devils forward and Winter Games hero found himself at the center of wild romance rumors last week when a report suggested he would soon wed the daughter of billionaire Indian-American business exec Nikesh Arora.

“Indian-American tech mogul Nikesh Arora’s daughter, Ayesha Arora, is set to marry Jack Hughes in a traditional Hindu ceremony in Jodhpur. The high-profile guest list included Gautam Adani, the Ambani family, US officials and others,” a report published by local media in India read.

Naturally, the claims made the rounds online and landed in front of Hughes’ agent, Pat Brisson, who addressed the speculation surrounding his client Friday by telling Forbes, “The mix-up was a case of mistaken identity.”

Forbes noted in its report Friday how bride Arora “is several days into wedding celebrations for her upcoming nuptials to a different man with the same name,” with outlets misidentifying him as the Olympic gold medalist.

Hughes, who has been romantically linked to pop singer Tate McRae since late 2025, is just days removed from his gold medal triumph at the Milano Cortina Games, where he scored the overtime goal against Canada for Team USA in the men’s hockey final.

The 2-1 victory in extra minutes kicked off a lively stream of celebrations and controversy for the men’s squad.

While taking a celebratory phone call from President Donald Trump last week, the commander in chief joked about having to invite the gold medal-winning women’s hockey team to the White House or else, “I do believe I probably would be impeached.”

The remarks elicited laughter from the locker room, with members of the team, including Hughes, 24, and older brother Quinn, 26, speaking out in support of their female compatriots.

Over the weekend, the Hughes siblings appeared on “Saturday Night Live” with Team USA captain Hilary Knight and her teammate, Megan Keller, who scored the game-winner versus Canada in the women’s hockey final in Italy.

The golden tour continued Monday when Hughes, Quinn and Knight visited “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”

TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs put a positive spin on their fourth straight loss since the Olympics.

The Maple Leafs gained a point in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday, but they will enter their final 21 regular-season games seven points out of a playoff position.

But the Boston Bruins, the team that holds down the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, have played two fewer games than the Maple Leafs.

“We’re just trying to stay positive,” Toronto forward Dakota Joshua said. “It’s a tough time for our group.”

Last season, the Montreal Canadiens snatched the eighth and final playoff spot in the East with 91 points. That means the Maple Leafs need a minimum of 27 points in their final 21 games to have hope of securing a post-season berth.

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Joshua revealed that different Toronto players have stepped up with words of wisdom in the hopes of shaking the Maple Leafs out of a funk that has seen them lose 10 of their last 13 outings.

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“It’s about sticking together,” Joshua said. “It’s about finding a way.”

Joshua scored the Maple Leafs’ first goal before 18,255 at Scotiabank Arena in his third game back after missing two months with a lacerated kidney. The 29-year-old left-winger from Dearborn, Mich., admitted that it has been difficult to get his wind back.

“I’m feeling better every game,” he said.

The goal was Joshua’s first since he scored the game-winner at home against the Chicago Blackhawks on Dec. 16.

Toronto head coach Craig Berube shuffled his lines in an attempt to get his team a much-needed win. Nicolas Roy, between Joshua and Matias Maccelli, was an effective trio, providing the home team with some physicality.

“Since (Joshua has) come back, he’s been pretty good,” Berube said. “I thought he did a lot of good things again tonight. Other than the goal, even though it was a great shot, good play. For me, he’s being that heavy, physical player that we need a good job for us.”

Berube also put his two best offensive players, captain Auston Matthews and William Nylander, together on a line with Bobby McMann. While Nylander scored the tying goal with 2:30 remaining in regulation on the power play, Matthews extended his season-high goalless streak to eight games.

“I thought they were good,” Berube said. “Auston had eight shots. Willie had (four). They created. They just didn’t finish.”

The Maple Leafs’ busy post-Olympic schedule continues on Wednesday and Thursday for their fifth and sixth outings in nine days against the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers, respectively.

“That’s kind of like our blueprint,” Berube said in his analysis of the shootout loss to the Flyers. “We did a lot of good things tonight. We’ve got to go out to Jersey and do the same thing.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 3, 2026.

&copy 2026 The Canadian Press

SAN FRANCISCO — Plagued by slow starts, this time, the Warriors couldn’t finish.

After coach Steve Kerr called out the Warriors’ effort while falling behind early in their last game against the Lakers, they responded by jumping out to a 17-point first half lead against the Clippers.

It all fell apart after halftime in a 114-101 loss.

Kris Dunn drained a corner 3 on the first possession of the fourth quarter to give the Clippers their first lead since early in the first period and scored nine of his 16 points after halftime. 

Matched up almost exclusively against Draymond Green, Kawhi Leonard’s 37-game streak of scoring 20 or more looked to be in serious jeopardy — until he exploded for 15 in the second half to finish with 23. Benedict Mathurin added 15 after halftime to finish with 17, and Darius Garland contributed 12 in his Clippers debut.

Golden State was locked in from the get-go on defense, turning six turnovers into nine points and holding the Clippers to 7-of-24 from the field while jumping out to a 31-19 lead after one.

Brandin Podziemski poured in 20 points in the first half but added only two points to that total after halftime. Al Horford finished with 17 — a team-best 11 in the second half — but Golden State couldn’t pick up the slack.

The Warriors committed 10 turnovers that led to 17 points and shot 15-of-45 (33.3%) from the field as they watched a 56-42 halftime lead turn into a double-digit defeat.

What it means

There are now just 1.5 games separating the Warriors and the Clippers in the Western Conference playoff picture. LA is currently in ninth place and if Ty Lue’s squad can overtake Golden State, it would send the Warriors to the No. 9-10 play-in matchup.

The teams meet once more, on the final day of the regular season.

Turning point

When Leonard stepped back and drained his first bucket of the second half.

The Warriors still held a 58-44 lead at the time, not quite a minute into the third quarter. By the time the fourth quarter began, Golden State’s advantage had been cut to 79-77.

The Warriors never reclaimed a lead after Dunn sank the 3 to start the fourth.

MVP: Nate Williams

Who? The newcomer to the Warriors — signed to a two-way contract on Feb. 17 — scored 15 points in 17 minutes in only his second game with Golden State.

The 6-foot-5 shooting guard who attended nearby Prolific Prep (Napa) also occasionally switched onto Leonard, even forcing a steal and a loose-ball foul that sent him to the foul line.

It wasn’t quite a career-high for the 27-year-old but was his best NBA scoring game since he was a rookie with the Rockets in 2022-23.

Stat of the game: -18

Kerr strategically staggered Green’s minutes to match up with the Clippers’ top option, and it mostly worked — for the first half. Green faceguarded Leonard all game, and Golden State was a plus-seven in his minutes before halftime — minus-2 for Leonard.

Just like the scoreboard, that flipped in the second half.

Green finished the game minus-18, while Leonard was plus-16.

Up next

The Warriors hit the road for three games, beginning Thursday at the Rockets. It will be difficult to win without Curry at Houston, or against the Thunder on Saturday, but they end the trip with a gettable game against the Jazz in Utah.

In addition to Curry, whose earliest return is March 13, it hasn’t been determined whether Kristaps Porzingis will make the trip after missing his fifth straight game with an illness Kerr described as “a little mysterious.”

Rick Pitino is calling on the fan base to make St. John’s senior night a memorable evening. 

Multiple times since Saturday’s rout of Villanova, the Hall of Fame coach has said the seniors deserve a full house, but the projected crowd currently leaves something to be desired. 

“People have to come out for Zuby, what he’s given to the university; people have to come out,” Pitino said Monday ahead of Tuesday’s meeting with Georgetown. “If you’re a real fan, come out, honor the seniors.”

Currently, just over 13,000 tickets are out. 

St. John’s (23-6, 16-2) has drawn well at the Garden, but weekday games have been difficult.

The win over Villanova was a sellout, and the previous home game against Creighton also drew 19,328. Those were both Saturdays.

The highest-attended weekday game was Feb. 9, against Xavier, when attendance was 14,512. 

“No excuses,” Pitino said. 

Asked what would make him happy, Pitino said 19,500. 

“It’s senior night,” he said. “I think it’s a special thing.” 

Along with Ejiofor, seniors Oziyah Sellers, Bryce Hopkins, Dillon Mitchell and Handje Tamba will be honored.

It figures to be a memorable night, especially for Ejiofor. 

“If you ask all the guys in the locker room, they’re all saying that I will cry. So now, I’m definitely not crying,” Ejiofor said. “I know it’s going to be emotional. My family is going to be there. It’s a special moment. Just seeing my teammates out there as well, one final go-around at this for the regular season. “It will be a lot more special coming out with the victory and going to Seton Hall [on Friday] and coming out with the win as well.” 

Mitchell didn’t practice Monday due to an illness.

Pitino said he is probable to play.

St. John’s dropped three spots in the Associated Press poll, from No. 15 to No. 18, after the lopsided loss to No. 4 UConn and ensuing blowout win over Villanova.