Former LSU gymnast Olivia ‘Livvy’ Dunne stunned spectators at the recent Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Runway Show, taking a very unique turn when she stepped on the runway: she broke into the splits.

This wasn’t Dunne’s first run with Sports Illustrated. She was one of four cover girls for the magazine’s recent swimsuit issue. She’s been working with Sports Illustrated since 2023. She even did her photoshoot with the company this year while nursing a patella fracture that kept her from participating on the floor during LSU’s senior night festivities.

Dunne said on social media that she had been dared to do the splits on the stage. However, that might not be the full truth.

Livvy Dunne splits at SI show: Was it a dare?

Following her viral moment, Dunne posted that she was dared to do the splits.

During an interview with USA TODAY’s Meghan Hall, though, Dunne admitted she had not been dared.

‘It was just a joke,’ Dunne said.

She added that it was a ‘spur-of-the-moment decision.’ She consulted with her sister on the matter beforehand, but it was not something she did during the walkthrough, and it was not something that the rest of the models or event organizers expected.

How did Livvy Dunne like doing the show?

Dunne said it was ‘the most fun runway show ever.’

Of course, Dunne is maybe a bit biased — this was the only one she’d ever been to.

‘I had a blast,’ Dunne said. ‘They had me open the show, which I have never even walked on a runway. So, it was pretty surreal to open the Sports Illustrated runway show.’

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It’s time for American sports fans – even American tennis fans – to stop taking Coco Gauff for granted. 

On some level, that’s a crazy sentence to write. For two straight years, she has been the highest-paid women’s athlete in the world, earning $21 million in endorsements alone in 2024, according to Sportico, even though she’s never been ranked No. 1 in the world. Nor has she ever been viewed like Caitlin Clark as a singular breakthrough figure taking her sport to new heights.

You could even argue Gauff has been a bit overvalued relative to her lone Grand Slam title at the 2023 US Open. If the theory behind Gauff’s marketability and potential to transcend her sport in American culture was that she could succeed the throne of Serena Williams, it’s a bet that has not – and may never – come close to paying off. 

And yet, shouldn’t it be a bigger deal that she’s going to play in yet another Grand Slam final on Saturday, trying to win the French Open at just 21 years old? 

The problem with being The Chosen One in sports is that there’s rarely much of a payoff that exceeds the intoxication of possibility. LeBron James and Tiger Woods may be the only two American athletes in history who have ever truly conquered the bar that was set for them as teenage prodigies.

When Gauff burst into the public eye in 2019, beating Venus Williams at Wimbledon as a 15-year-old, she was forced to carry that burden – even if she wasn’t really old enough at the time to fully understand what it would mean, and the rest of us didn’t fully appreciate how hard it would be to fulfill even a fraction of it. 

The truth is, someone like Serena Williams is a once-in-a-lifetime figure. Gauff is just a great but flawed athlete who happens to be a really cool person. 

Collectively, we all need to do a better job making sure that’s enough.

And that goes for Gauff’s hardcore fans, too.

If you ever dare to peruse the tennis-loving corner of social media during any of Gauff’s matches, the general vibe among her supporters is often one of disgust that she isn’t routinely dominating players who aren’t perceived to be as talented as her. She’s not this, she’s not that, she’s gotta fix that forehand, what’s wrong with her serve, it’s time for a new coach, how does her mother deal with the stress, etc., etc., etc. 

Maybe that’s just social media doing its thing, but I know it’s real because I’ve felt that way too. I’ve written columns about it. Outside of that incredible run in the summer of 2023 when she truly reached the peak of her powers, watching her navigate match after match has often felt more difficult than you think it should be. 

And yet, when you look up, here’s the résumé pending Saturday’s final at Roland Garros against No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka: 

1 Grand Slam title

3 Grand Slam finals and two more semifinals 

1 WTA year-end championship

2 WTA 1000-level titles and 9 WTA titles overall  

A solid grip on the No. 2 ranking

Finals this year in Paris, Rome and Madrid, the three biggest tournaments of the year on clay. 

If any other American athlete had accomplished this much at 21, every tournament they played would be an event. But Gauff does not get that privilege now and may never have it, even as well-liked and respected as she is, mostly because she is not going to be the best women’s tennis player of all time. 

And that’s too bad because it’s not only remarkable what she’s done at such a young age, the way she’s doing it is perhaps even more inspiring than most people understand. 

The mistake we made with Gauff at the very beginning was the assumption that she possessed this generational ability to win Grand Slams because she was beating grown women when she was 15. 

Now that Gauff has been around for so long, we need to accept a totally different construct for her career. Of course she’s a very talented tennis player, but not in the same way as other prodigies like the Williams sisters, Jennifer Capriati and Martina Hingis, who did the technical things at a level far beyond their years.

Gauff is more of a great athlete than a dominant hitter of tennis balls, and the skill that truly stands out is her ability to beat the person on the other side of the net no matter how many double faults she hits (still way too many) or how easily she loses confidence in her forehand (almost a daily occurrence). In so many matches, even this year during the French Open, you will watch her struggle and struggle trying to figure it all out, play what seems to be sub-standard tennis and look like she’s about to be dismissed from the tournament. But by the end, she somehow finds a way, most of the time, to play a little bit better than her opponent. 

That’s just who she is as a tennis player. It’s also an incredible element of athletic talent that not too many of her peers possess. The fact Gauff doesn’t make it look easy should not be a demerit. Instead, it should be the reason she sells out stadiums, causes TV ratings to spike when she plays and earns $20-plus million in endorsements.

Is that a harder bandwagon to sell a ticket for? Of course. American fans tend to reward dominance. It’s just how we’re wired. 

It would be a mistake, however, to undervalue what Gauff has already done and how she’s done it. She may not be a once-in-a-lifetime tennis player, but she is rare. And even if Gauff is not yet collecting big titles at the rate people might have once envisioned, the way she keeps putting herself in the mix despite very much being a work-in-progress is something we need to celebrate more than we have. 

The big domino has finally fallen in Pittsburgh, Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers agreeing to a one-year contract Thursday that will become official once he passes a physical. But make no bones about it, there’s a lot of work yet to be done in the Steel City if the home team wants to make serious inroads toward winning a record seventh Super Bowl rather than just maintaining its recent standing as a playoff-caliber team that strikes almost no fear into its postseason competition.

Here are four steps the Steelers ought to strongly consider taking very soon on what they finally hope is their long awaited “Stairway to Seven.”

1. Lock Rodgers and Arthur Smith into a room

Maybe it’s already happened – to one degree or another – in some virtual sense or otherwise. But it’s of paramount importance that the four-time league MVP and his new offensive coordinator quickly get on the same page. (Obviously.)

Yet it’s worth underscoring the point. This isn’t New York, where Rodgers was intimately familiar with OC Nathaniel Hackett and the playbook that awaited when the Jets traded for him two years ago. Rodgers also won’t find several former Packers teammates already on hand as a welcoming committee.

Smith will surely want Rodgers to be comfortable in his new environs. But his philosophy also emphasizes establishing the ground game and a heavy reliance on play-action. Smith also fancies having two and even three tight ends on the field, meaning Rodgers, who’s operated a robust passing attack (with the run game often an afterthought) for most of his sterling career, could routinely be executing plays with one wideout deployed downfield.

Rodgers is 41. Smith is 43. They oughta get a six-pack – Smith was known to have a beer with his players after a victory when he was the Atlanta Falcons’ head coach – and/or maybe some of the fine bourbon Rodgers tends to favor and start hashing out a plan that can work for both of them and the Steelers at large. (Obviously.) Maybe they even bunk together when the team relocates to Latrobe, Pa., this summer for training camp. But after a disastrous 2024 campaign − the worst full season of his 20-year career − Rodgers can hardly afford to be a square peg in a round offensive hole. Conversely, Smith can’t allow himself to be drawn into another dysfunctional relationship – which he had with Russell Wilson last season, according to reports – with his new QB1. And, frankly, running the ball shortens games, keeps the defense fresh and should lighten the burden on Rodgers − which should be a welcome byproduct given his age and all the physical abuse he absorbed last year for a Jets team that threw the ball way too often … and that imbalance was predictive of their 5-12 record.

WINNERS AND LOSERS: Sooo many questions as Rodgers finally heads to Pittsburgh

2. Import another weapon

The Steelers knew what they were doing when they jettisoned WR George Pickens last month – and hard to see a scenario where he would have jelled well with Rodgers. ‘That would have been a disaster,’ former New York Giants personnel executive Marc Ross told USA TODAY Sports recently.

Still, it certainly seems like Pittsburgh could use one more bona fide weapon aside from WR DK Metcalf, who was acquired earlier this offseason, but is typically a player who works well down the boundary and often relies on his physical prowess to overpower or blow past defensive backs. Yet, last year anyway, Rodgers had become a player who wants to distribute the ball quickly and seemed more comfortable working the hashes – which could mean more judicious targeting of Metcalf, whom he’s tried to become acclimated with this spring.

Though neither can realistically be classified as a game breaker, TE Pat Freiermuth and slot WR Calvin Austin III could find themselves frequently in Rodgers’ crosshairs, assuming both conform to Rodgers’ exact route standards. WR Roman Wilson might be that game breaker – based on his work at the University of Michigan – but after playing only five snaps in an injury-aborted rookie year, he remains an X-factor.

It’s a long way of saying that if the Steelers are going to cast their lot with Rodgers in 2025, then they should continue casting a wider net. Maybe that means brining in an experienced, reliable receiver like Keenan Allen or Amari Cooper, both currently free agents. Maybe it means ramping up talks with the Miami Dolphins to bring over TE Jonnu Smith, a favorite of Smith’s in Tennessee and Atlanta, as he enters the final year of his contract. Or perhaps GM Omar Khan calls the Jets and inquiries about WR Allen Lazard, who’s also got a year remaining on his deal, and considers acquiring a veteran capable of splash plays and offers the benefit of having already earned Rodgers’ hard-to-gain trust.

But standing pat in this circumstance just doesn’t cut it.

3. Get Kaleb Johnson ready

A third-round pick this year out of Iowa, Johnson led the Big Ten with 1,537 rushing yards and 23 total touchdowns in 2024. But the presumed replacement of Najee Harris as Pittsburgh’s lead back wasn’t much of a receiver in college. Maybe that won’t be a major hindrance in the NFL given the presence of third-down specialist Jaylen Warren, who’s averaged about 45 catches during his three NFL seasons in Pittsburgh. But if Johnson wants to be on the field in high-leverage situations, he needs to be ready to catch the ball and, far more importantly, must be prepared to protect Rodgers. Otherwise, he’s going to find himself standing next to Arthur Smith and head coach Mike Tomlin quite often when the stakes are highest.

4. Pay T.J. Watt already

Rodgers is Pittsburgh’s newest player. Watt remains the Steelers’ best player. He’s also in need of an extension with one year to go on his existing deal, one that now ranks seventh (in terms of average annual salary) among edge rushers − though fat chance you’re going to find six sack masters better than four-time All-Pro and single-season sack record holder. Aside from being cryptic on social media, Watt hasn’t said much this offseason – and his situation has largely been overshadowed with the spotlight trained on the Steelers’ pursuit of Rodgers. But it’s time for Pittsburgh to give Watt the raise he deserves given he’s averaging $28 million annually while division rival Myles Garrett’s new four-year mega-pact comes in at $160 million.

Good, bad or indifferent, Rodgers is going to bring a certain level of distraction to this team. The Steelers shouldn’t invite any further ones, especially as it pertains to rewarding one of the best and most loyal soldiers in franchise history at a time when all the attention is going to a hired gun.

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Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark is sidelined with an injury for the first time in her pro career, but the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year expects to be back on the court sooner than later.

“I’ll miss this weekend’s game, but after that, it’s day-by-day,’ Clark said on Thursday, June 5, noting that there’s a ‘possibility’ she’ll suit up on Tuesday, June 10.

Clark will not play in the Fever’s matchup against the Chicago Sky on Saturday, June 7, marking the fourth consecutive game she’ll miss as she recovers from a left quad injury suffered during the Fever’s 90-88 loss to the New York Liberty on May 24. The Fever initially announced that Clark would be sidelined for at least two weeks, meaning the earliest she could return to the lineup is Tuesday for the Fever’s matchup against the Atlanta Dream.

Clark, however, said she’s ‘not going to rush back’ if she’s not feeling 100%.

‘I feel like I’ve made a lot of progress, and I feel good,’ Clark said. ‘I’m not going to rush back if it’s not worth it. But after this weekend I’ll be reevaluated and we’ll have a better idea of when I’m returning.’

Clark said she can’t pinpoint the specific play that led to her injury on May 24 against the Liberty, although she noted that she thinks it happened earlier in the loss.

“Obviously, adrenaline covers up a lot of stuff when you’re in the heat of battle,” Clark said. “And after the game, I had some pain, and then we got an MRI, and that kind of gave me the result that I didn’t want to see. But, you know, those types of things don’t lie.”

Clark’s extended absence marks the first time she has missed games over an injury in either her college or professional career. She played 139 games while at Iowa and 46 games during her first season with the Fever. Clark said the injury has not only challenged her physically, but mentally as she’s ‘not a very patient person.’

‘It’s an opportunity to grow. I just try to approach it in the best way that I can. It’s certainly weird. I think at times the hardest part is just not being able to be involved in practice,’ Clark said. ‘I love practice. I love getting better. I think that’s just kind of been the time for me to, like, really find some patience. And I’ve never been a patient person my entire life, so this is definitely testing me a little bit, but I think it’s gonna be really good for me. I just tried to approach it in the best way I possibly can. I can’t change it, but yeah, I think my patience has definitely grown a lot.”

The Fever have gone 1-2 in Clark’s absence and the team sits at 3-4 on the season.

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OKLAHOMA CITY — With the Finals starting in Oklahoma City (where the Seattle SuperSonics relocated to in 2008), NBA expansion is noteworthy topic, especially with Seattle, Las Vegas and other markets trying to land an NBA team if and when expansion becomes a reality.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver addressed the topic before Game 1.

“The current sense is we should be exploring it,” Silver said. “I don’t think it’s automatic because it depends on your perspective on the future of the league. As I’ve said before, expansion in a way is selling equity in the league. If you believe in the league, you don’t necessarily want to add partners. On the other hand, we recognize there are underserved markets in the United States and elsewhere, I think markets that deserve to have NBA teams. Probably even if we were to expand, more than we can serve.

“We have an owners’ meeting in July in Las Vegas. It will be on the agenda to take the temperature of the room. We have committees that are already talking about it. But my sense is at that meeting, they’re going to give direction to me and my colleagues at the league office that we should continue to explore it.”

The projected price of an expansion team continues to rise — nearing about $5 billion per team.  The Boston Celtics will sell for at least $6.1 billion.

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For the third year in a row, the Pittsburgh Steelers will have a new starting quarterback. Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers have agreed to a one-year contract, with the quarterback informing the team that he plans to sign ahead of mandatory minicamp as the presumed starter for 2025.

There have been multiple starting quarterbacks in Pittsburgh since Ben Roethlisberger retired after the 2021 NFL season. The Steelers’ all-time passing leader had been the team’s starter since his rookie year in 2004.

Following his retirement, the Steelers immediately turned to the draft and selected Kenny Pickett in Round 1 of the 2022 NFL Draft. Pickett lasted two seasons in Pittsburgh before the getting traded him to the Philadelphia Eagles in a pick swap.

To fill his shoes, the Steelers signed both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields to one-year contracts ahead of the 2024 NFL season. Both started games in 2024 as the Steelers went 10-7 and lost in the wild-card round of the playoffs.

None of those players are on the team as Rodgers arrives in town to lead the Steelers’ offense featuring offseason acquisition DK Metcalf at wide receiver.

So where are Wilson, Fields and Pickett playing in 2025? Here’s what to know:

Who is Russell Wilson playing for?

In 2025, Wilson will be playing for the New York Giants. He’s the most experienced veteran option at the position in a quarterback room with fellow free-agent signee Jameis Winston, 2025 first-round pick Jaxson Dart and Tommy DeVito.

Wilson spent the first decade of his career in Seattle (2012-2021) and made the Pro Bowl nine times in that span. Since then, he’s been in a few different places, first in Denver for two seasons then in Pittsburgh.

Wilson started the final 11 regular-season games for the Steelers in 2024 and went 6-5. He completed 63.7% of his passes for 2,482 yards, 16 touchdowns and five interceptions.

Where is Justin Fields playing in 2025?

Fields will be playing for the New York Jets — Rodgers’ former team — in 2025. He signed a two-year contract in free agency that includes $30 million in guaranteed money.

The Chicago Bears selected Fields at No. 11 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft. He spent three seasons there and went 10-28 as a starter. With the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Chicago selected Caleb Williams, deciding to move on from Fields and trading him to Pittsburgh for what became a sixth-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

In 2024, Fields started the first five games of the regular season for Pittsburgh with Wilson out with an injury. He went 4-2 in those starts and completed 65.8% of his passes for 1,106 yards, five touchdowns and one interception. He also had 62 carries for 289 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.

Who is Kenny Pickett playing for?

Pickett’s year in Philadelphia netted him a Super Bowl ring as a backup on the Eagles’ title-winning squad. His stay in the state of Pennsylvania has come to an end, though, as the Eagles traded him to the Cleveland Browns in March for quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson.

He has a chance to start for the Browns in a wide-open quarterback competition heading into 2025. He’s competing alongside veteran Joe Flacco, and rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.

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One day after gifting Texas Tech softball with varsity letter jackets and shoes for making it to the Women’s College World Series for the first time in program history, the former Texas Tech and NFL quarterback is at Game 2 of the WCWS championship series on June 5 at Devon Park in Oklahoma City.

The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback was shown by ESPN’s cameras in what appeared to be an extension of the press box at Devon Park ahead of the game with his wife, Brittany.

Texas Tech is looking to even the best-of-three series on June 5 after dropping Game 1 on June 4 to Texas by a score of 2-1. Game 2 between the Red Raiders and Longhorns was briefly delayed due to inclement weather in the Oklahoma City area.

Here’s what you need to know on Mahomes: 

Why is Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech-Texas WCWS game?

Though Mahomes has shown to be a fan and advocate of women’s sports in the past, as he is a co-owner of the NWSL’s Kansas City Current, he is at the WCWS on June 5 to simply root on his alma mater in one of the biggest games in program history.

Here’s another look at the Mahomes’ at the WCWS on June 5:

Ahead of Game 1 of the WCWS on June 4, Mahomes sent Texas Tech some merch in Oklahoma City. In a video posted by Texas Tech’s official X (formerly Twitter) account, Red Raiders coach Gerry Glasco called the Super Bowl champion quarterback the team’s ‘No. 1 fan.’

‘You got a gift from your No. 1 fan, Patrick Mahomes,’ Glasco said in a video clip shared on X. ‘(His) goal is to try and get here in person before this series is over. But he said to go ahead and give you this tonight, because he wants to be sure you get it.’

This isn’t the only time that Mahomes has shown his support for the Red Raiders during the NCAA softball tournament.

During Texas Tech’s first win in the Tallahassee Super Regional vs. Florida State, a video surfaced of Mahomes watching the Red Raiders’ game during a commercial shoot. He also tweeted about Texas Tech ace NiJaree Canady — who is signed to Mahomes’ Adidas NIL team ‘Team Mahomes’ — that day, writing ‘Big time!! Let’s go! Finish strong! @CanadyNijaree @TexasTechSB’ on X.

He is also reported to have played a part in Texas Tech’s recruitment of Canady during last offseason, as she transferred from Stanford and became the first softball player to sign an NIL deal worth over $1 million. Mahomes also gave a $5 million gift to Texas Tech in 2024 for its football stadium renovations.

Where did Patrick Mahomes play college football? 

Mahomes played college football at Texas Tech from 2014 through 2016, where he became one of the country’s most prolific passers in the country by his junior year.

Over the course of his three seasons in Lubbock, Mahomes completed 63.5% of his passes for 11,252 yards and 93 touchdowns. He led the country in passing yards during his junior season, as he finished with 5,052 passing yards across 12 games that year in then-Kliff Kingsbury’s system.

He was drafted in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Chiefs with the No. 10 overall pick. 

Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, an hour-and-a-half before his team was set to face the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, opened his pre-game news conference by offering support for ESPN analyst Doris Burke.

A New York Times report from Wednesday, June 4 indicated that ESPN was evaluating the future of the network’s No. 1 NBA team — namely Burke and fellow analyst Richard Jefferson — after the Finals.

“She has changed the game for women in broadcasting,” Carlisle said Thursday, June 5, of Burke. “I have a daughter who just turned 21, who is in her second year at (the University of Virginia). She’s not in the basketball industry, but Doris is a great example of courage and putting herself out there.

“It was just so sad to see these reports leaked, really unnecessarily before such a celebrated event. Doris is a friend. I’ve asked her many times why she doesn’t get into coaching; she has such great knowledge.”

Carlisle added that Burke “paved the way” for women working in the basketball industry and cited a handful of working female broadcasters: Sarak Kustok (YES Network), Lisa Byington (FOX Sports), Kate Scott (NBC Sports Philadelphia), Monica McNutt (MSG Networks), Katy Winge (Altitude TV), Zora Stephenson (NBC Sports), Ann Meyers Drysdale (Phoenix Suns) and Marney Gellner (Bally Sports North).

“I don’t know what’s going to happen with all that stuff,” Carlisle added, alluding to Burke’s future with ESPN. “But I just want to say thank you to Doris for the example that she has put forth for young women like my daughter and all these people who are changing the game.

“She has changed the game. That’s the reason that she was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame a couple of years ago. I just want to say that in support of her.”

The International Olympic Committee and LA28 organizers have “every confidence” that President Donald Trump’s newly announced travel ban won’t disrupt the Summer Games or the preparations for them.

Speaking after a meeting with the IOC’s coordination commission, LA28 chair and president Casey Wasserman said Thursday that Trump’s travel ban was clear in carving out an exception for the Olympics. Trump wants to block foreign nationals from 12 countries from coming to the United States and partially restrict the entry of foreign nationals from seven others.

The ban, scheduled to go into effect Monday, is likely to be challenged in court.

“I actually want to thank the federal government for recognizing that it’s the Games writ large,” Wasserman said. “It’s the constituents of people — the IOC members here this week and, for the next three years, the cadence of people from federations and governing bodies and (National Olympic Committees) and broadcasters — that you know so well as they’ve come to the city pre-Games and during the Games. It’s very clear that the federal government understands that that’s an environment that they will be accommodating and provide for.

“And so we have great confidence that that will only continue,” Wasserman added. “It has been the case to date, and it will certainly be the case going forward and through the Games.”

Los Angeles and U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee officials signed a contract with the IOC in 2017 that promised, among other things, temporary entry to the United States “without limitation” for “representatives, employees or other persons acting on behalf of, or representing” the IOC, National Olympic Committees, international sport federations, rights-holding broadcasters, marketing partners, media and the Games’ official timekeeper.  

“We at the IOC have every confidence in the fact that the local authorities and the federal authorities understand that bringing the Games to your country is a big responsibility. It is 206 countries that are preparing to come to the Games,” Nicole Hoevertsz, an IOC vice president who chairs the LA28 coordination commission, said.

Those 206 countries include some that would be banned by Trump’s order. Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen are the countries banned while partial suspensions apply to Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

“The federal government has given us that guarantee … to make sure that these participants will be able to enter the country,” Hoevertsz added. “… We are very confident that this is going to be accomplished.”

While athletes and others affiliated with the Los Angeles Games might be exempt from the ban, it says nothing about fans who ordinarily travel for the Olympics and World Cup. In addition to the 2028 Olympics, the United States is co-hosting the men’s World Cup next summer with Canada and Mexico.

But Wasserman said he doesn’t anticipate the travel ban affecting ticket sales, answering with a flat “No” when he was asked about the possibility.