New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu called for top WNBA players to get a longer midseason break, after a blowout loss in Saturday night’s All-Star Game.

Team Collier beat Team Clark 151–131 in front of 16,988 fans at a sold-out Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, despite Caitlin Clark not competing due to an injury.

“I think it probably would have been a little bit more competitive if teams didn’t play in such a short amount of days,” Ionescu, who scored 12 points for Team Clark, said after the game. 

ESPN and ABC had coverage of WNBA All-Star Weekend, but TV ratings for Friday and Saturday night’s broadcasts have not yet been released. Last year, a record 3.44 million viewers tuned in to a special Team USA vs. Team WNBA All-Star showcase ahead of the Paris Olympics. 

Ionescu won her second 3-point contest Friday night, and said she was going to give half of her $62,575 prize money to Mystics rookie Sonia Citron, who was eliminated in the first round, and donate the other half.

Calendar Close-Up

Ten of the WNBA’s 13 teams played games on Wednesday, and there were no games Thursday. The All-Star Weekend included the skills and 3-point competitions Friday, and the game on Saturday. There are no games Sunday or Monday, and 10 teams return to action Tuesday.

“All-Stars don’t really have a break,” Ionescu, an All-Star each of the past four seasons, said. “We finished (the last regular-season game), we get on a flight the next day, we’re here, jam-packed weekend, wanting to pour into the fans, show up to events, do the 3-point contest, skills contest, and then playing the game, and fly right back to practice and play in three days.”

Ionescu said players “want to be able to come out here during this time, put on a great show for the fans, but also take care of our bodies because we don’t have time—we enter our grueling second half of the season.”

Ionescu indicated getting a longer All-Star break would be a priority for her as talks continue about a new collective bargaining agreement.

U.S. President Donald Trump has called on the NFL’s Commanders and MLB’s Guardians to revive their former nicknames.

“The Washington “Whatever’s” should IMMEDIATELY change their name back to the Washington Redskins Football Team,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social account Sunday. “There is a big clamoring for this. Likewise, the Cleveland Indians, one of the six original baseball teams, with a storied past. Our great Indian people, in massive numbers, want this to happen. Their heritage and prestige is systematically being taken away from them. Times are different now than they were three or four years ago. We are a Country of passion and common sense. OWNERS, GET IT DONE!!!”

Washington and Cleveland have both used their respective nicknames since 2022. From 2020–21, the NFL franchise was known as the Washington Football Team.

Trump has previously spoken publicly about his preference for both the Commanders and Guardians to use their former names.

D.C. Stadium Deal in Trouble?

Roughly five hours after Trump’s first post Sunday, he weighed back in on Truth Social to insinuate that the Commanders’ deal to build a $3.8 billion domed stadium in Washington, D.C., could hinge on a name change.

“My statement on the Washington Redskins has totally blown up, but only in a very positive way,” Trump wrote. “I may put a restriction on them that if they don’t change the name back to the original ‘Washington Redskins,’ and get rid of the ridiculous moniker, ‘Washington Commanders,’ I won’t make a deal for them to build a Stadium in Washington. The Team would be much more valuable, and the Deal would be more exciting for everyone.”

There have already been some political tensions over the Commanders’ plans to build on the grounds of their former home, RFK Stadium. The franchise is seeking more than $1 billion in public funding from the D.C. Council. 

Commanders owner Josh Harris had previously thanked Trump for his support in the Commanders striking a deal to build a new $3.8 billion stadium in D.C. In May, Trump hosted the Commanders and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell at the White House to announce that the 2027 NFL Draft would be held in Washington, D.C.

Harris has previously said a change back to Washington’s former name wasn’t on the table. However, the franchise is leaning into its past, particularly around the reveal of new retro uniforms that will be used this season, which harken back to the team’s glory days of the 1980s and early 1990s. Washington used the Redskins nickname from 1937 to 2019, and they won Super Bowls in 1982, 1987, and 1991. 

Guardians in Trump’s Crosshairs

Trump also added more thoughts about the Guardians in his second post Sunday.

“Cleveland should do the same with the Cleveland Indians,” he wrote. “The Owner of the Cleveland Baseball Team, Matt Dolan, who is very political, has lost three Elections in a row because of that ridiculous name change. What he doesn’t understand is that if he changed the name back to the Cleveland Indians, he might actually win an Election. Indians are being treated very unfairly. MAKE INDIANS GREAT AGAIN (MIGA)!”

Matt Dolan is the brother of Guardians chairman and CEO Paul J. Dolan, who has been the franchise’s controlling owner since January 2013. Larry Dolan, Matt and Paul’s father, died in February. Matt Dolan was a Republican member of the Ohio Senate from 2017 to 2024; he made unsuccessful bids for the U.S. Senate in 2022 and 2024.

Guardians president Chris Antonetti released a statement after Trump’s comments. “I understand there are very different perspectives on the decision we made a few years ago,” he said. “But it’s a decision we’ve made and we’ve gotten the opportunity to build the brand as the Guardians over the last four years and we’re excited about the future that’s in front of us.”

Scottie Scheffler is starting to mimic Tiger Woods’s domination on the golf course.

Now, the biggest question for the business of golf is: Can Scheffler mimic Woods’s off-course impact on the sport, too?

Scheffler won The Open Championship at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland by four strokes Sunday, his second major of the year, following his victory at the PGA Championship in May. 

He takes home a $3.1 million winner’s check from The Open’s $17 million purse, which boosts his career earnings to $90.99 million, which remains fourth all-time, behind Woods, Rory McIlroy, and Phil Mickelson.

Scheffler, 29, has now won four major championships, including two Masters, and three legs of the career Grand Slam, which he’ll have the opportunity to complete at the 2026 U.S. Open.

“It really wasn’t that long ago when critics and people like us were sitting up here and wondering how golf was going to survive or carry on in a post-Tiger Woods era,” Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee said on Live From the Open after Scheffler’s win.

Rory McIlroy, the No. 2-ranked golfer in the world who completed the career Grand Slam at the Masters in April, said Scheffler “is the bar we’ve all been trying to get to.”

“I can’t help but think that we are on an inevitable march towards one of the greatest careers in the history of golf,” Chamblee said.

Eye of the Tiger?

While Scheffler is playing the most dominant stretch of golf from a single player since Woods’s prime, it remains to be seen whether he can bring in new fans—and money—into the sport like Tiger Mania did.

So far, Scheffler hasn’t proven to be a TV ratings draw during his major championship victories. The final round of May’s PGA Championship averaged 4.76 million viewers on CBS, which was down 4% from last year. For the 2024 Masters, Scheffler’s most recent major win before this year, CBS drew 9.589 million viewers during the final round, which was down 20% compared to 2023.

Viewership figures for NBC’s final round coverage of the Open Championship will be released later this week. NBC Sports announced that Round 2 coverage Friday—as Scheffler shot up the leaderboard with a seven-under 64—averaged 1.2 million viewers, which is up 37% compared to last year.

Scheffler in the Spotlight

Next month, Scheffler will be the favorite to win another Tour Championship and FedEx Cup, as the top player heading into the PGA Tour’s revamped playoffs that include a new payout structure.

In September, Scheffler will be the top golfer on the U.S. Ryder Cup team, as the Americans look to avenge their 2023 loss in Rome, this time on home soil at Bethpage Black Golf Course in New York.