The Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken — the National Hockey League's two newest franchises by far — have been among the league's most impressive teams in this year's playoffs. Turns out, their rapid success is by design.
The backdrop: Before the Golden Knights' inaugural 2017-18 season, the NHL changed its expansion draft rules to increase the pool of players available for selection. The league wanted expansion teams to be able to compete right away, and their plan worked — immediately.
Vinícius Júnior, Real Madrid's 22-year-old Brazilian soccer superstar, was subjected to racist abuse during Sunday's loss at Valencia. Sadly, that's nothing new.
Driving the news: Valencia fans called Vinícius "mono" (Spanish for monkey) when he arrived at the stadium and throughout the game, which was briefly halted during the second half when he pointed out one of his abusers in the stands to referees.
The National Basketball Association's two winningest franchises are technically still alive in the playoffs. But if history is any indication, they're already dead.
State of play: The Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 119-108, on Saturday to take a 3-0 lead in the West finals. The Miami Heat embarrassed the Boston Celtics, 128-102, on Sunday to go up 3-0 in the East finals.
Sports are defined by stories. Sometimes, those stories are ongoing narratives that play out over time. Other times, they're self-contained moments of brilliance — the kind of unscripted magic that only sports can produce.
Driving the news: We got both types of stories at this weekend's PGA Championship, where Brooks Koepka won a major championship and Michael Block won our hearts.
