📰🏟️ Dinger duel

Good afternoon. Welcome back to another week full of top sports stories. We’ll make A-Train jealous with how fast we get you up to speed. Just keep scrolling.

—Kyle

1) NBA play-in tourney tips off tonight

The 2026 NBA postseason tips off tonight with the Hornets (9) v. Heat (10) in the East and the Suns (7) v. Trail Blazers (8) in the West, marking night 1 of the Play-In Tournament.

• The winners of the #7 v. #8 matchups in each respective conference will be awarded the #7 seed.
• The losers of #7 v. #8 will face the winners of #9 v. #10, with the #8 seeds in the East and West on the line.
• The losers of #9 v. #10 are eliminated, as are the losers of the 3rd and final Play-In game for each conference.

Predicting the entire NBA Playoffs

2) Trout, Judge trade HRs in slugfest

Two future Hall-of-Famers put on a show last night, with the Yankees’ Aaron Judge and Angels’ Mike Trout each hitting 2 HRs in a back-and-forth 11-10 win for New York.

• It marks the 2nd time ever that a pair of 3x MVPs each homered twice in a game, per STATS Perform.
• The top-4 active home run leaders—Giancarlo Stanton, Trout, Judge, & Paul Goldschmidt—were all in the game, which featured a combined 7 HRs.
• Leaguewide, 9 different players had multi-homer games on Monday, tied for the 2nd-most on a single day in MLB history.

Trout and Judge’s epic dinger duel

3) WNBA Draft recap

UConn’s Azi Fudd was selected by Dallas Wings with #1 pick in last night’s 2026 WNBA Draft, reuniting with her former college teammate—and reigning Rookie of the Year—Paige Bueckers.

• UCLA stars Lauren Betts, Gabriela Jaquez, and Kiki Rice all went in the top 6 picks, just over a week after leading the school to their 1st-ever NCAA title.
• The Bruins set new WNBA records with 5 1st-round picks and 6 draft picks overall.
• The WNBA’s new CBA ratified last month gives massive pay raises to rookies, with Fudd set to earn $500K—or 7x what Bueckers made as last year’s top pick.

WNBA draft winners and losers

4) Dickie V diagnosed with melanoma again

The legendary college basketball broadcaster said he’s been diagnosed with melanoma and is immediately beginning immunotherapy.

• Dick Vitale, 86, has beaten cancer 4 times before, including a previous melanoma diagnosis. He’s also raised $105+ million for pediatric cancer research via the annual "Dick Vitale Gala."
• His career at ESPN dates back to the network’s first-ever college basketball game in 1979, where he called DePaul’s win over Wisconsin.
• Prior to that, Vitale was a head basketball coach who won two New Jersey state titles, led the University of Detroit, and coached the Detroit Pistons for a season.

Dickie V aims to go 5-for-5

5) NHL playoff field is set

The field of 16 playoff teams was officially finalized last night, with the Philadelphia Flyers, LA Kings, and Anaheim Ducks clinching the final 3 spots.

• The Colorado Avalanche are locked in as the Presidents' Trophy winners with the NHL’s  best record, and earned the #1 seed in the Central division.
• 2 of the other 3 top seeds have already been clinched: the Buffalo Sabres (Atlantic) and Carolina Hurricanes (Metropolitan).
• The Pacific Division is still up for grabs between Vegas, Edmonton, Anaheim, and LA, with only 1-2 games left for each team.

The full NHL playoff field

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