Only 23 players in NBA history (~0.5%) have ever played a 19th season. LeBron James is one of them — and he's leading the league in scoring.

Driving the news: James had a 38-point triple-double (38-12-11) on Monday night in the Lakers' 131-120 win over the Cavaliers, as he improved to 17-1 against his former team.

• He's now leading the NBA in scoring (30.0 ppg) at age 37, his highest output since he led the league with the same average in 2007-08 while playing in Cleveland.
• That's so long ago that his competitors for this season's scoring title either hadn't started playing basketball yet (Joel Embiid) or had only just begun (Giannis Antetokounmpo), notes The Ringer's Zach Kram.

By the numbers: James passed Karl Malone for second on the all-time scoring list on Saturday. He now trails only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, another member of the 19-season club (he played 20).

• James has the highest Year 19 scoring average (30.0) and Abdul-Jabbar has the second-highest (14.6).
• The gap between them is bigger than the gap between Kareem and zero. In other words: LeBron has lapped the field.

The big picture: There's a certain irony to "Winning Time" airing on HBO while the Lakers struggle so mightily ("Losing Time," if you will). But L.A.'s nightmare season shouldn't overshadow what James is doing.

• We're living in a golden era of ageless wonders, with athletes like James and Tom Brady defying Father Time and changing our definition of "old." There's something uniquely spectacular about James, though.
• Perhaps it's the sport he plays: A high-flying, fast-paced circus of athleticism that he's somehow still dominating while former teammates take on smaller roles, decline and retire.
• With all due respect to Brady, watching him sling footballs from the pocket just isn't as jaw-dropping as watching James soar through the air and dunk on Kevin Love, one of those former teammates.

P.S. ... Hot take: James should already be the scoring king, because we should count playoff points by default (instead of "most points, including playoffs" being secondary to regular-season only).

Taylor Fritz beat Rafael Nadal on Sunday to win the BNP Paribas Open in his native California, catapulting him to No. 13 in the world.

The big picture: American men's tennis is on the rise again after struggling for years. There are currently seven Americans in the ATP top 40 (most of any country) and 12 in the top 100 (most of any country).

• Top 40: Fritz (No. 13), Reilly Opelka (No. 18), John Isner (No. 22), Frances Tiafoe (No. 31), Tommy Paul (No. 37), Sebastian Korda (No. 38), Jenson Brooksby (No. 39).
• Top 100: Marcos Giron (No. 52), Mackenzie McDonald (No. 54), Maxime Cressy (No. 72), Brandon Nakashima (No. 80), Denis Kudla (No. 84).

Flashback: Last May, there were no American men in the top 30 for the first time in the nearly half-century history of computerized tennis rankings.

What they're saying: While Europeans still dominate the top 10, ESPN analyst and former pro Patrick McEnroe is "very optimistic" about Americans challenging for major championships.

"I could see Brooksby, Korda and Opelka definitely hitting the top five at some point and definitely getting to the final of a major. That's what it's going to take to get the average fan ... more interested."

The women's Sweet 16 is set, and will begin on Friday. Powers like South Carolina and UConn headline the field, while unlikely threats like Creighton and South Dakota lurk, Axios' Jeff Tracy writes.

• Greensboro, North Carolina: No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 5 UNC; No. 3 Iowa State vs. No. 10 Creighton
• Spokane, Washington: No. 1 Stanford vs. No. 4 Maryland; No. 2 Texas vs. No. 6 Ohio State
• Wichita, Kansas: No. 1 Louisville vs. No. 4 Tennessee; No. 3 Michigan vs. No. 10 South Dakota
• Bridgeport, Connecticut: No. 1 NC State vs. No. 5 Notre Dame; No. 2 UConn vs. No. 3 Indiana

Notes:

• Lady Vols return: Tennessee — the winningest program in women's D-I history — is back in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2016. The Vols made 34 of the first 35 (1982–2008, 2010–16) before the drought.
• Historic blowout: No. 5 Notre Dame obliterated No. 4 Oklahoma, 108-64, becoming the first team in NCAA tournament history (men or women) to beat a higher seed by 40+ points.
• Family still dancing: Speaking of the Irish, Notre Dame's head coach is Niele Ivey, mother of Purdue star Jaden Ivey, whose Boilermakers are also still alive in the men's tournament.
• Power programs: Iowa State, Michigan and UNC have teams in both the men's and women's final 16. Reminder: UConn is the only school to win both titles in the same year (2004, 2014).

Go deeper: Reseeding the women's Sweet 16 (ESPN)

⛳️ No Masters for Mickelson: Three-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson will not be in next month's field as his career implosion continues. He's played there every year since 1994.

🏈 Ryan to Indy: The Falcons traded QB Matt Ryan to the Colts for a 2022 third-round pick on Monday, marking one of the final spins of the offseason QB carousel.

⚾️ 25-12: That was the final score of Monday's spring training game between the Rangers and Guardians. Guarding everything but home plate, I see.

🔠 Good read: Magic in the tiles (Stefan Fatsis, Slate)

"I was going to quit playing competitive Scrabble, then something utterly nuts happened."

A flurry of moves came in before Monday's NHL trade deadline, setting the stage for the stretch run. Here's the current playoff picture:

East: Teams will continue jockeying for position in the crowded East, but the field is all but set, with eighth-place Washington 13 points ahead of ninth-place Columbus.

1. Panthers (90 points)
2. Hurricanes (88)
3. Rangers (85)
4. Penguins (85)
5. Lightning (84)
6. Maple Leafs (83)
7. Bruins (83)
8. Capitals (80)

West: It's more crowded out West, where Dallas (71 points), Winnipeg (68) and Vancouver (68) are all within four points of eighth-place Vegas.

1. Avalanche (95 points)
2. Flames (84)
3. Wild (78)
4. Predators (78)
5. Blues (77)
6. Kings (76)
7. Oilers (75)
8. Golden Knights (72)

Go deeper: Trade deadline winners and losers (ESPN+)

An appeals court on Monday ruled that a letter sent from MLB to the Yankees in 2017 detailing the league's investigation into a possible sign-stealing scheme will become a public document, Jeff writes.

Why it matters: Just as MLB's ugly offseason was beginning to fade amid the excitement of spring training, an old scandal involving one of the league's proudest franchises threatens to break the harmony.

Catch up quick: In 2017, the Yankees and Red Sox were both fined for illegal, in-game use of technology. Boston used Apple Watches to relay opponents' signs, while New York improperly used their dugout phone.

• At the time, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred sent Yankees GM Brian Cashman the aforementioned letter and issued a release saying the team's only infraction was unsanctioned use of the phone, but that "the substance of the communications" didn't violate rules.
• In June 2020, as part of a $5 million class-action lawsuit brought against MLB by daily fantasy players asking for damages stemming from the Astros' scandal, a judge ruled Manfred's letter be unsealed after plaintiffs argued his public statements may have hid the truth.
• MLB and the Yankees appealed the decision, and Monday's ruling was a rejection of that appeal.

What to watch: The letter will likely be released sometime next month and will reveal any differences between what Manfred said in public and what was revealed in private.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Ohio State won its first women's Frozen Four championship, beating Minnesota-Duluth, 3-2, in Sunday's title game.

• 🎥 Watch: Highlights (YouTube)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Special moment: Astros manager Dusty Baker exchanged lineup cards with his son, Darren, a Nationals prospect who made a famous appearance in the 2002 World Series.

• What they're saying: "Baseball has a way of making the banal magical, of rewarding those who stick around long enough to watch the road wind its way back home," writes WashPost's Chelsea Janes.

MADRID — Barcelona beat Real Madrid, 4-0, in Sunday's El Clásico, ending Barça's six-game winless streak against its rivals and extending the club's remarkable run under new manager Xavi Hernandez.

• Go deeper: Barcelona have got their swagger back (The Athletic)

Take a break from March Madness with more college hoops! The NIT quarterfinals tip off tonight on the campuses of the higher-seeded teams.

• St. Bonaventure at Virginia (7pm ET, ESPN): The NIT seeds 16 of its 32 participants; the Bonnies and Cavs are the only unseeded teams left.
• No. 4 Vanderbilt at No. 2 Xavier (9pm, ESPN): You may recognize the name of Vandy's best player, who scored 32 points against No. 1 Dayton to get here: Scotty Pippen Jr.
• Looking ahead: The other quarterfinals are tomorrow: No. 2 Wake Forest at No. 1 Texas A&M; No. 4 Washington State at No. 2 BYU.

More to watch:

• 🏀 NBA: Hawks at Knicks (7:30pm, TNT); Clippers at Nuggets (10pm, TNT)
• 🏒 NHL: Lightning at Hurricanes (7pm, ESPN+); Predators at Kings (10:30pm, ESPN+)
• ⚽️ Women's Champions League: PSG at Bayern (1:45pm, DAZN); Barcelona at Real Madrid (4pm, DAZN) ... Free to watch on YouTube.

Jamal Crawford, who officially retired on Monday, is one of two players to win Sixth Man of the Year three times.

• Question: Who's the other?
• Hint: This century.

Answer at the bottom.

The amount that TV networks and streaming services are paying to carry live sports are set to go up dramatically over the next decade, Tim Baysinger writes for Axios Pro (subscribe).

What to watch: MLS is hoping to finalize a new media rights deal by the end of the month.