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Defector

Ray Ratto

LeBron James speaks with Stephen Curry following a basketball game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors

It’s Time To Daydream About LeBron On The Warriors

Alex Sujong Laughlin

A box of colorful friendship bracelets outside a Taylor Swift concert, the Try Hard podcast show art sits ontop of the image.

Podcasts

There Is No Simple Trick To Making Friends As An Adult

Patrick Redford

BEAUFORT, FRANCE - JUNE 14: (L-R) Paul Seixas of France and Team Decathlon CMA CGM and Isaac Del Toro of Mexico and UAE Team Emirates - XRG prior to the 78th Tour Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes 2026, Stage 8 a 120.1km stage from Beaufort to Plateau de Solaison - Brison 1497m / #UCIWT / on June 14, 2026 in Beaufort, France. (Photo by Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)

Cycling

The Tour de France Is For The Children

Lauren Theisen

SAN JOSE, CA - APRIL 02: San Jose Sharks mascot "S.J. Sharkie" celebrates in a Pride jersey after a win in a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on April 2, 2026 at SAP Center at San Jose in San Jose, CA. (Photo by Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The Sharks Just Got A Lot Better, And Larger

Staff Writer
Find me on Signal @DefectorChris.19

Chris Thompson

Malik Beasley Charged With Bribery, Money Laundering, And Wire Fraud In Alleged Prop-Bet Scheme

Barry Petchesky

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - JUNE 28: Jarren Duran #16 of the Boston Red Sox is mobbed by teammates after hitting a walk-off single during the tenth inning of a game against the New York Yankees on June 28, 2026 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

The Yankees Had A Wretched Weekend In Boston

Maitreyi Anantharaman

American musician violist Richard O’Neill performs onstage as member of Takacs Quartet during Musica Insieme at Manzoni Theater on March 16, 2026 in Bologna, Italy.

Crosswords

The Crossword, June 29: Cooler Heads (Themeless)

Billy Haisley

Yoane Wissa of Congo DR celebrates with teammates after scoring the team's third goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group K match between Congo DR and Uzbekistan.

Soccer

DR Congo Welcomes You To Africa’s World Cup

Tom Ley

We’ve Got A Whole Jaylen Brown Situation On Our Hands

Dave McKenna

Peadar Ó Cofaigh Byrne of Dublin goes highest to win possession during the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship quarter-final match between Dublin and Galway.

Gaelic Football

Dublin Pulls Off Comeback To Beat Galway In All-Ireland Quarterfinal

Xander Zayas throws a punch at Jaron 'Boots' Ennis during their WBO and WBA World Super-Welterweight title bout.

The Fights

Boots Ennis KOs Zayas In Brooklyn Thriller

Caitlin Clark #22 of the Indiana Fever passes the ball during the game against the Phoenix Mercury at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on June 24, 2026 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

WNBA

Don’t Let Bored Football Fans Tell The Story Of Caitlin Clark’s Season

Diana Moskovitz is Defector&#8217;s investigations editor. You can contact her at diana@defector.com or dfmoskovitz@protonmail.com. She&#8217;s also on Signal @dmoskovitz.99

Diana Moskovitz

Oakland Raiders running back Doug Martin (28) warms up before the game against the Oakland Raiders and the Cincinnati Bengals on December 16th 2018, at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, OH.

Lawsuit: Death Of Doug Martin Caused By Negligence From Police, Paramedics

Israel Daramola

Music

How Jay-Z Changed Rap With ‘Reasonable Doubt’

Ernie Clement #22 of the Toronto Blue Jays smiles ahead of playing against the Philadelphia Phillies in their MLB game at the Rogers Centre on June 9, 2026 in Toronto, Canada.

The People Have Spoken: Ernie Clement Is The Best Player In The American League Now

Sarah Borus

New York State Governor Kathy Hochul on the field before a game between the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets

What Does It Mean To “Stand Up For Buffalo”?

Corley Miller

Arts And Culture

Left In The Dungeon

Tom Dundon at a Blazers press conference.

Tom Dundon Cares Not One Bit About The Portland Trail Blazers

Marina Mabrey smiles during her game against the LA Sparks

Marina Mabrey Got 53 The Fun Way

A founding member of the Billings, Montana-to-Brooklyn sportswriting pipeline, Patrick Sauer has written for many large digital publications you’ve heard of and even more smaller ones that no longer exist. Check out his work at <a href="http://patricksauer.contently.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://patricksauer.contently.com&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1782568830003000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2lJRPIa8YxoLI3taZ9zsro">patricksauer.contently.com</a> or follow him on Bluesky <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/pjsauer.bsky.social" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://bsky.app/profile/pjsauer.bsky.social&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1782568830003000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1pDFKunGJ4lkfhBy4EMrEt">@pjsauer.bsky.social</a>.

Patrick Sauer

Horse Racing

A Final Day At Aqueduct, New York’s Forlorn And Forgotten Racetrack

charismatic megafauna (they/them)

Sabrina Imbler

a photo of a brown edible robot shaped like a rectangle with arms and two black eyespots

Science

Would You Eat This Guy? What If He Were God, Or A Baby?

David Roth

Melanie and Corey "explore a new connection" in the 6/23/26 episode of Love Island. It's two hot people sitting on a couch.

Folkways Of The Contemporary Sex Idiot, With Kelsey McKinney And Alex Sujong Laughlin

The Athletics Are An Abomination

Defector Staff

two hot people kiss while a dozen hot men sit on bean bags in the background and clap

What Do We Think About This Season Of ‘Love Island USA’?

Mark Vientos of the New York Mets reacts after a ninth inning error against the Chicago Cubs at Citi Field on June 24, 2026 in New York City.