Random World Thoughts

Chris Bosh 's  NBA  career has likely come to an end after a medical review confirmed the 11-time All-Star has a career-ending illness. Ira Winderman  of the  South Florida Sun Sentinel  reported a medical review from the NBA and NBPA "agreed with the  Miami Heat 's position that [Bosh] has suffered a career-ending illness." As Winderman noted, the Heat will now be able to place Bosh on waivers to clear his salary from their cap. He's due to make  $25.3 million next season  and $26.8 million in 2018-19 as part of the five-year deal he signed in 2014. The move will give the Heat approximately $37 million in cap space to try signing free agents this summer.  Bosh was  diagnosed  with a blood clot in his lungs during the 2015 All-Star break and missed the rest of the season. He appeared in 53 games during the 2015-16 season before being  shut down  again with a blood clot in his calf.  His last appearance in an NBA ...

O f all the injustices that the 1980s inflicted, perhaps the worst was reserved for Andrew Ridgeley. He was in one of the world’s most successful bands but, beneath the shoulder pads and hairspray, the Wham star faced an inescapable reality: no matter how bouffant his hair or how skilfully he slapped the guitar strung around his waist, the plaudits were always going to go to another man. As Andrea Barzagli takes to the pitch at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday night, he will know Ridgeley felt. The Juventus defender has made a habit of eluding the plaudits throughout his startlingly consistent career and the  Champions League  final will be no different. He will be in the shadows as Giorgio Chiellini, Leanardo Bonucci and Gianluigi Buffon reap praise from the adoring crowds. Gonzalo Higuaín out to show Juventus why £75m was money well spent   Read more Barzagli turned 36 last month and, even though he says he will “play for as long as I feel good”, this may be his last ...

Jesse D. Garrabrant/Getty Images OAKLAND, Calif. — Do you know what would make this a fairer fight? Russell Westbrook  joins the  Cleveland Cavaliers  for Game 2. Everyone got a refresher slap in the face about how ridiculous it was for a 73-9  Golden State Warriors  team to add one of the best players in the world during the  Kevin Durant -driven 113-91 Game 1 rout Thursday. Not only is Westbrook available—according to his  social-media sharing , he spent Thursday watching Whoopi Goldberg's 1993 movie  Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit —but his one-man-show style would fit a Cleveland team largely out of step with the way most of the  NBA  has gone, toward the zip-passing, floor-spacing, ball-sharing Warriors. "Playing iso ball has helped us get to this point, and it gave us success in the last three years,"  LeBron James  said after Game 1. "So we don't want to have a high, steady diet of it, because the defense becomes stagnan...

BR-UK STAFF JUNE 2, 2017 Andrew Medichini/Associated Press Real Madrid face Juventus in the UEFA Champions League final on Saturday knowing victory will make them the first side to defend the trophy since the tournament was rebranded in the 1990s. Will Zinedine Zidane's men get the job done, or will Max Allegri's side thwart them? Our experts have been poring over the form book, and their views are below.  Karl Matchett's View on Juventus vs. Real Madrid 1 OF 4 Antonio Calanni/Associated Press This should be one of the most intriguing Champions League finals in years, without the derby factor when Atletico have met Real Madrid, but still with a side with the same defensive solidity and star quality in attack in Juventus. Real won't change a thing from how they usually play; they'll look to be on the front foot without necessarily dominating possession or pressing high upfield, with most of their best work against quality opposition coming in midfield transitions and...

Harry How/Getty Images Who ordered the  NBA  free-agency reality check, with extra salt? Countless hours are spent trying to figure out how every team can win the offseason extravaganza. Even the most responsible fans talk themselves into their favorite squads keeping important flight risks, re-signing players they cannot afford to lose and poaching big names from rivals. Arguments to the contrary don't matter this time of year. Rational minds don't need to prevail. Everyone is an idealist and hopeless romantic. Screw that. This free-agency primer is drowning in cold, hard, dream-breaking truths. We want to know why the best-laid approaches are flawed and destined to fail. This isn't to say they will flop. But preparing for the worst—which is often the most likely scenario—is a crucial part of sports fandom. Top targets were not determined by how unlikely they are to sign with your team. They were selected via the rumor mill and current roster makeup, with  salary-cap out...