Canada and Finland fell short in Sunday’s world junior hockey championship semifinals, but there’s still a medal up for grabs on Monday, Jan 5.

The two countries will play for a bronze medal, starting at 4:30 p.m. ET (3:30 p.m. local time) at Grand Casino Arena in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Canada lost 6-4 to Czechia on Sunday and Finland lost to Sweden 4-3 in a shootout. Sweden and Czechia will play for the gold medal at 8:30 p.m. ET on Monday.

Canada and Finland faced each other in the final game of the preliminary round with the Canadians skating off with a 7-4 victory.

USA TODAY Sports is providing live updates on the bronze medal game between Canada and Finland. :

Finland pulls goalie

It’s 6-on-5.

Two minutes left

Carter George gets a big save on Arttu Valila.

Gavin McKenna scores for Canada

Finland’s Petteri Rimpinen loses his stick as Canada pressures. Gavin McKenna has a wide-open net to shoot at. He has four points in the game. So does MIchael Hage, who draws an assist. Canada 6, Finland 3

Finland power play

After killing off a penalty, Finland gets a power play when Ethan MacKenzie is called for holding. Finland is 1-for-2 in the game. Canada’s Jett Luchanko gets a shorthanded breakaway, but Finnish goalie Petteri Rimpinen makes a glove save.

Michael Hage injury update

Hage was on the power play so he’s back in action.

Canada power play

Finland called for too many men on the ice. The Finns kill it off.

Third period underway

Finland has a carryover power play. And that’s killed off.

End of second: Canada 5, Finland 3

Canada gets another power play goal to pad its lead, but Finland kills off the last Canadian man advantage and Heikki Ruohonen scores to make it closer.

Finland power play

Michael Misa is called for holding. There will be a carryover of 33 seconds into the third period.

Michael Hage injury update

The Canadian forward is not on the bench after taking a hard fall earlier in the game, TSN reports.

Finland gets one goal back

Heikki Ruohonen shows nice speed getting to the right faceoff circle and fires over a sliding defenseman and past Carter George to get Finland closer. Canada 5, Finland 3.

Canada power play

Emil Hemming is called for slashing. Canada is 2-for-2 so far. Finland kills that one off as Canada hits a post.

Sam O’Reilly scores again

Canada’s vaunted power play strikes again. Sam O’Reilly gets his second goal of the game on a deflection. Canada 5, Finland 2

Canada power play

Heikki Ruohonen slashes Michael Misa. Canada has a power play goal in this game.

Porter Martone scores for Canada

Martone takes the tournament lead with his sixth goal. Zayne Parekh adds an assist to give him 13 career points, a Canadian record for a defenseman. Canada 4, Finland 2

Second period underway

3-2 Canada.

End of first: Canada 3, Finland 2

These teams’ first meeting ended at 7-4 Canada. This one is equally high scoring. Zayne Parekh has the go-ahead goal and ties the record for most points by a Canadian defenseman at the world junior championships.

Zayne Parekh puts Canada ahead

It’s his fifth goal of the tournament. It would have been his sixth, but his semifinal goal was awarded to Cole Reschy earlier Monday. Parekh ties Alex Pietrangelo and Bryan McCabe for most points (12) by a Canadian defenseman. Canada 3, Finland 2

Canada power play

Lasse Boelius cross-checks Cole Beaudoin to prevent a scoring change.

Finland ties game

Finland work the puck around well on the power play, but Carter George makes some good saves. After a failed Canada clearing attempt, the Finns work it to Julius Miettinen, who beats George from the right faceoff circle. Canada 2, Finland 2

Finland power play

Zayne Parekh gets called for holding as he tackles a Finland player.

Canada retakes lead

Braeden Cootes gives Canada the lead again. That’s three goals in less than five minutes in this game. Canada 2, Finland 1

Finland ties game

Arttu Valila scores on the first Finland shot. He had scored the overtime winner against the USA in the quarterfinals. Canada 1, Finland 1

Canada scores first

Sam O’Reilly scores 70 seconds into the game. Michael Hage and Gavin McKenna pick up the assists. Canada 1, Finland 0

Game underway

Goalie matchup is Canada’s Carter George vs. Finland’s Petteri Rimpinen.

What channel is Canada vs Finland world juniors hockey bronze-medal game today?

TV channel: NHL Network

Livestream: Fubo, which offers a free trial to new subscribers, or Sling TV.

Watch world junior championships on Fubo

What time is Canada vs Finland world juniors hockey bronze-medal game today?

Date: Monday, Jan. 5

Time: 4:30 p.m. ET (3:30 local time)

The Canada vs. Finland game is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. ET at the Grand Casino Arena in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the home of the Minnesota Wild.

World juniors hockey bronze-medal game: How to watch, stream

Time: 4:30 p.m. ET on Monday, Jan. 5

Location: Grand Casino Arena (Saint Paul, Minnesota)

TV: NHL Network

Streaming: Fubo and certain levels of Sling TV carry NHL Network.

World junior championships medal games today

Monday, Jan. 5

All times p.m. ET

Finland lineup vs. Canada

Canada lineup vs. Finland

No Brady Martin, who was injured in the semifinal. Liam Greentree is dressing. Carter George will be the starting goalie, Jack Ivankovic, who played in the semifinal, isn’t dressed.

Canada players to watch

Penn State forward Gavin McKenna could go No. 1 overall in the 2026 NHL Draft. He has 10 points in six games at the tournament. Canada defenseman Zayne Parekh, a Flames prospect, is tied for the scoring lead with 11 points. Parekh and captain Porter Martone, a Flyers draft pick, are among the co-leaders with five goals.

Finland players to watch

Draft eligible Jasper Kuhta and Flyers prospect Heikki Ruohonen lead Finland with seven points each. Roope Vesterinen and Joona Saarelainen (Lightning) have four goals each.

Hockey Canada mourns death of David Branch

The organization put out a statement on the death of David Branch, the former Ontario Hockey League commissioner and Canadian Hockey League president who died Sunday at 77. Branch ran the OHL, one of Canada’s three major junior hockey leagues, from 1979 until his retirement in 2024. He was CHL president from 1996 to 2019. ‘David’s impact on junior hockey in Canada is incalculable,’ the statement said. ‘He played a significant role in helping establish Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence, and was recognized for his achievements by being invested into the Order of Hockey in Canada in 2016. Our thoughts are with his family and friends, and we know his legacy will continue to impact the game moving forward.”

Canada beat Finland earlier in tournament

Canada won 7-4 in their matchup on Dec. 31. Brad Martin had two goals in that game, but he left the semifinal game with an injury after a collision. Cole Beaudoin also had two goals, plus an assist, for Canada. Roope Vesterinen had a goal and an assist to lead Finland.

The NBA season is nearing its midway point, meaning we’ve got a pretty good understanding of who’s real, who’s fake, and who’s trying to make a name. In the Eastern Conference, one thing is for certain: both the Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks are serious contenders.

The Pistons currently sit atop the Eastern Conference Standings with a 26-9 record, three games better than the second-place Knicks (23-12). But cracks have started to show in the Motor City. Detroit has lost three of its last five games, including a loss to the struggling Utah Jazz (12-22). Furthermore, the Pistons are playing the second game of a back-to-back Monday night, making this matchup against an experienced Knicks squad that much tougher.

The Knicks, however, have suffered a similar drought, losing each of their last three games to the San Antonio Spurs, Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers. New York might only boast a .500 record on the road this year, but catching Detroit in a slump after the Pistons’ grueling contest against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Jan. 4 might be the Knicks’ best chance to break out of this three-game skid.

Here’s how to watch this intriguing Eastern Conference matchup between the New York Knicks and Detroit Pistons on Monday, Jan. 5:

Stream Knicks vs. Pistons with Peacock

How to watch New York Knicks vs. Detroit Pistons

Tonight’s matchup between the New York Knicks and Detroit Pistons will stream exclusively on Peacock.

Date: Monday, Jan. 5, 2026
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Where: Little Caesars Arena in Detroit
TV: N/A
Stream: Peacock

Knicks vs. Pistons betting odds

Here are the latest odds for the Knicks vs. Pistons game, according to BetMGM as of Monday afternoon:

Spread: Pistons +1.5
Money: Knicks -120; Pistons +100
Over/under: 232.5

Injury report for Knicks-Pistons

New York Knicks:

Josh Hart – out (right ankle)
Landry Shamet – out (right shoulder)

Detroit Pistons:

Cade Cunningham – probable (right hip)
Jalen Duren – out (right ankle)
Tobias Harris – out (left hip)
Caris LeVert – doubtful (left knee)
Duncan Robinson – probable (left calf)

New York Knicks starting lineup

*Lineups listed per NBA.com

PG: Jalen Brunson
SG: Mikal Bridges
SF: OG Anunoby
PF: Karl-Anthony Towns
C: Mitchell Robinson

Detroit Pistons starting lineup

*Lineups listed per NBA.com

PG: Cade Cunningham
SG: Duncan Robinson
SF: Ausar Thompson
PF: Paul Reed
C: Isaiah Stewart

The NFL is rigged!

That’s what the conspiracy theorists say anyway. They believe that the NFL is rigging games in order to achieve predetermined outcomes through means of calling penalties, or omission of penalties, and that the referees are in on it. It’s a difficult concept to wrap your head around, but maybe those theorists aren’t so conspiratorial after all.

If the NFL is in fact rigged, it would stand to reason that they’d know who will play in the Super Bowl each year. Well, one theory suggests exactly that, and it’s found within the colors of the Super Bowl logo. So, let’s play along.

What is the NFL’s Super Bowl logo conspiracy?

The conspiracy centers around the idea that the NFL predetermines which teams will be playing in the Super Bowl every year. The conspiracy points out that in recent years, whenever the league releases that season’s Super Bowl logo, the colors often match up to the teams that wind up playing in the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl LVI featured an orange and yellow logo. The contenders that year turned out to be the Los Angeles Rams (yellow) and Cincinnati Bengals (orange).

Super Bowl LVII was green and red. Lo and behold, the game featured the Kansas City Chiefs (red) and the Philadelphia Eagles (green).

Super Bowl LIX was green and red, and wouldn’t you know it, it featured the Eagles and Chiefs again.

What about Super Bowl LVIII?

Yes, Super Bowl LVIII featured a purple and red logo, which did not come to fruition. The Chiefs and 49ers played in the Super Bowl that year, and neither team has purple anywhere in their logo. However, conspiracy theorists will note that the NFL had to shift course that year due to the romance between Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce and pop megastar Taylor Swift. The 49ers still reached the Super Bowl, but the Ravens (the only purple team on the AFC side of the bracket) were eliminated in the AFC Championship Game in order to make way for Kelce and the Chiefs to draw in more fans.

What is the logo for Super Bowl LX?

The Super Bowl LX logo was revealed in February 2025.

It features a myriad of colors, making predicting the Super Bowl teams impossible, right? Well, not entirely.

Which teams does the logo say will play in Super Bowl LX?

The logo heavily features pink, but since no teams in the NFL have pink in their logo, that can be eliminated entirely. Let’s focus on the other four colors: red, blue, yellow, and green.

Here is a list of the teams in the playoffs with each of those colors:

Red:

New England Patriots
Houston Texans
Buffalo Bills
San Francisco 49ers

Blue:

Denver Broncos
New England Patriots
Houston Texans
Buffalo Bills
Los Angeles Chargers
Seattle Seahawks
Chicago Bears
Carolina Panthers
Los Angeles Rams

Green:

Jacksonville Jaguars
Seattle Seahawks
Philadelphia Eagles
Green Bay Packers

Yellow:

Jacksonville Jaguars
Pittsburgh Steelers
Los Angeles Chargers
Los Angeles Rams
San Francisco 49ers (it’s a stretch)
Green Bay Packers

Now, based on the theory, the logo wouldn’t just throw colors around willy-nilly. Each color has a purpose, so every color should be represented in the matchup. Given there are only four teams with red in their logos this season, let’s start there.

We can eliminate the 49ers. Since they qualify for both red and yellow, that would only leave blue and green for the AFC. Since no teams in the AFC feature both colors, the red category must be occupied by an AFC team.

Given all three AFC teams in the red category also fit into the blue category, it stands to reason that the NFC team will feature green and yellow. Who fits that category? The Green Bay Packers! That’s right, it looks like the NFC’s No. 7 seed will be heading to Santa Clara for a shot at a Lombardi Trophy.

But who will they play against? It comes down to the Houston Texans, Buffalo Bills, and New England Patriots.

Of these three teams, the blue from the logo most closely resembles that of the Buffalo Bills. Though the Bills’ blue is a bit darker, the Patriots’ and Texans’ blue hues are much darker, making the Bills the choice for the AFC.

So, there you have it, Super Bowl LX will feature the Buffalo Bills taking on the Green Bay Packers. It’s not really a showdown that anyone is predicting currently, but if the colors are to be believed, then we have our matchup.

And for anyone wondering, BetMGM lists Bills vs. Packers at +6600 odds. The Bills have +500 odds to win the AFC (third-best in conference), while the Packers have +1100 odds to win the NFC (fifth-best in conference).

Rose BC’s title defense starts now.

The inaugural Unrivaled champions open the season on Monday with a matchup against the Lunar Owls BC, one of eight teams that make up the 3-on-3 league created by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart. Rose BC returns all but two players from its championship roster, including Chelsea Gray, Kahleah Copper, Lexie Hull and Azurá Stevens, and are in prime position to make another title run.

They’ll have to go through the Lunar Owls, who are looking for revenge. The team finished ahead of the standings and earned the No. 1 overall seed heading into the playoffs last season, but were upset in the semifinals by the Vinyl BC. The Lunar Owls will be without 2025 league MVP Napheesa Collier who has to have surgery on both ankles.

‘We didn’t win it, so we want to win. I’m not going to lie,’ Lunar Owls’ Skylar Diggins told USA TODAY Sports. The Lunar Owls are rounded out by Aaliyah Edwards, Rachel Banham, Rebecca Allen, Temi Fagbenle and Marina Mabrey, a fellow Notre Dame alumna Diggins joked she’s ‘happy I don’t have to play against.’

Here’s everything you need to know about Monday’s matchup between Rose BC and Lunar Owls BC:

What time is Rose BC vs. Lunar Owls?

Rose BC opens the season against the Lunar Owls BC at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Jan. 5 at Sephora Arena in Miami.

Rose BC vs. Lunar Owls: TV, streaming

Date: Monday, Jan. 5
Time: 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT)
Location: Sephora Arena (Miami)
TV: TNT, Tru TV
Stream: Fubo, HBO Max

Lunar Owls roster

Head coach: DJ Sackmann

Skylar Diggins
Marina Mabrey
Temi Fagbenle
Rachel Banham
Rebecca Allen
Aaliyah Edwards

(Temi Fagbenle replaces Napheesa Collier, who will miss the 2026 season following ankle surgery)

Rose BC roster

Head coach: Nola Henry

Chelsea Gray
Kahleah Copper
Sug Sutton
Azurá Stevens
Lexie Hull
Shakira Austin

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.

After back-to-back SEC losses following a 14-0 start, the questions about LSU Tigers Kim Mulkey and the LSU Tigers are just beginning.

‘We’re not tough enough,’ Mulkey said after the Tigers’ 65-61 loss on Sunday to the No. 12 Vanderbilt Commodores.

‘Toughness is either you have it, or you don’t, and we’re not tough enough. And that’s all the players in the locker room tonight. You’re not tough enough to make a play when you need it. You’re not tough enough to get that rebound when we need it. It’s not just one or two. It’s the whole locker room at different times.’

Before the start of SEC play, LSU was undefeated. As the top-scoring offense in women’s college basketball, averaging 106 points a game, the Tigers churned out 100 points or more points 11 times during their winning streak. LSU was winning by an average of 55 points. What’s more, their hot start allowed seven players to average double figures, including starters Flau’jae Johnson and Mikayla Williams.

Then, SEC play began.

LSU opened against No. 12 Kentucky on its home floor. The Wildcats were led by guard Tonie Morgan and forward Teonni Key. Morgan had a 24-point night, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to hand LSU its first loss of the season, 80-78. Key added 17 points and 16 rebounds. The Tigers were beaten on the glass (45-29 rebounds) and had 12 assists to the Wildcats’ 19.

With a chance at redemption, LSU played No. 11 Vanderbilt on Jan. 4. The Commodores (14-0) have been led by sophomore Mikalya Blakes, the fourth-best scorer in the country, who is averaging 24.7 points per game. Mulkey attempted to help her struggling team against Blakes and the Commodores by inserting South Carolina transfer MiLaysia Fulwiley into the starting lineup. Fulwiley, who usually averages a team-leading 14.2 points, scored 13 points. Johnson, another surefire source of production, didn’t register a single point in the 65-61 loss to Vanderbilt. Making matters worse, in a game where they led nearly 60% of the time, LSU had 22 turnovers and allowed the Commodores to rack up 14 steals.

‘Discipline. Fatigue. Focus. I’m very complimentary of the opponent when they make spectacular plays ― 22 turnovers. I’m telling you majority of them were done from upperclassmen who just, for whatever reason turned it over,’ Mulkey said, frustrated. ‘We outrebounded them by 20-something, but here’s the difference: they got 19 offensive boards, and many of those were late in the game.

‘We’re not talented enough to beat people like we have been, so possessions matter. If you’re a baller, you got to have it in you internally: ‘I’m going to do my job, if my teammate will do her job’. That snowballs. We’re just not there yet.’

Ultimately, it’s hard to win any game with double-digit turnovers. However, it wasn’t just the turnovers from the Tigers; they also let Blakes score 32 points (12 in the fourth quarter) and gave up 10 shots from beyond the arc, including the go-ahead basket from guard Aubrey Galvan with just over two minutes remaining. Late-game execution, lack of focus and inconsistent perimeter defense have gotten LSU into trouble. Those areas of weakness also flashed during a Dec. 4 game against the Duke Blue Devils, but the Tigers were able to pull away in the fourth quarter.

LSU needs a lot more effort if they want to make it through SEC conference play, which includes six more ranked matchups, with a winning record and to the Final Four in Phoenix in April. Truly, LSU’s lighter strength of schedule before January did them no favors in preparing them for what’s to come. Mulkey seemingly knew the team had been skating by, and she wasn’t afraid to say the quiet part out loud.

‘If we hadn’t played that schedule, we might would be sitting here with a lot of losses.’

Jonathan Gannon’s time as the Arizona Cardinals’ coach has come to an end after three seasons.

The Cardinals fired Gannon on Jan. 5 after the team finished a 3-14 season, according to multiple reports.

Gannon’s firing comes after the Cardinals failed to build upon the 8-9 record the team generated in 2024. Arizona started the 2025 season with a 2-0 record but dropped 14 of its last 15 games and finished the year on a nine-game losing streak, culminating in a 3-14 campaign.

Gannon’s defense struggled to perform consistently throughout the season, allowing 28.7 points per game – good for the fourth-most in the NFL – while ranking 27th in defensive EPA allowed per play, per the NFL’s Next Gen Stats. It also ranked 25th in pressure rate despite spending significant offseason resources to add Josh Sweat, Calais Campbell and Walter Nolen in the hopes of improving the team’s pass rush.

Gannon acknowledged his team’s shortcomings ahead of its Week 16 game against the Atlanta Falcons. He referenced needing to make changes to the team’s health and player development systems to help it earn better results moving forward.

‘I believe in myself and I believe in our team,’ Gannon told reporters, per the team’s official website. ‘We are at a dip right now. We’re going through some adversity, but I do believe in us and we will get out of the dip.’

At the same time, Gannon also admitted he knew changes could be afoot if the team’s poor results continued.

‘If we keep doing the same thing and getting the same result that’s not good for anybody in my seat,’ Gannon said.

Those changes ultimately came, and Gannon will finish his three-year stint with the Cardinals owning a 15-36 record. Now, Arizona will head into the offseason looking for a new coach to lead it.

The Cardinals will face similar organizational uncertainty at quarterback, as they will need to make a critical decision about how to handle the three remaining seasons of Kyler Murray’s five-year, $230.5 million contract. Murray missed all but five games because of a foot injury in 2025 and was outperformed by 33-year-old journeyman Jacoby Brissett.

Pete Carroll is the NFL’s latest one-and-done coach.

The Las Vegas Raiders on Monday fired Carroll after posting a 3-14 record that tied for the league’s worst in his lone season at the helm, marking the latest reset for a franchise that now will be in search of its fourth full-time hire for the role since 2022.

‘The Las Vegas Raiders have relieved Pete Carroll of his duties as head coach. We appreciate and wish him and his family all the best,’ the team said in a statement. ‘Moving forward, General Manager John Spytek will lead all football operations in close collaboration with Tom Brady, including the search for the club’s next coach. Together, they will guide football decisions with a shared focus on leadership, culture, and alignment with the organization’s long-term vision and goals.’

After a season-ending win against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, Carroll said he hoped to remain with the team and was not contemplating retirement, as some reports had suggested.

“Nobody is talking to me about that,” he said. “I haven’t said a word about that.”

Carroll, who at 74 became the oldest coach in modern NFL history, arrived in Las Vegas last January as the replacement for Antonio Pierce, who also only lasted one season as the organization’s full-time headcoach. The former Seattle Seahawks coach, who spent a year away from coaching after his surprising ouster at the end of the 2023 season, was brought in alongside Spytek to revitalize an organization that stumbled to a four-win season the previous year.

Carroll vowed to ‘build this football team up around the quarterback position,’ and the organization quickly identified an answer behind center with a trade for Geno Smith, the former Seahawks signal-caller who earned Comeback Player of the Year during his tenure with the coach. Drafting running back Ashton Jeanty with the No. 6 overall pick heightened expectations that the Raiders’ new-look backfield would ignite a rapid turnaround.

Instead, Las Vegas was plagued by familiar problems. Smith led the NFL with 17 interceptions, and a rushing offense that ranked as by far the NFL’s worst in 2024 ended up with a lower per-game output on the ground this season.

The team fired Chip Kelly, whom the organization reportedly made the NFL’s highest-paid offensive coordinator, after 11 weeks.

Star defensive end Maxx Crosby was held out of the final two games due to a knee injury, which prompted the five-time Pro Bowler to leave the facility when informed of the team’s decision not to play him down the stretch.

Carroll, who had never won fewer than six games in his previous 18 seasons in the pros, acknowledged multiple times during the season he was taken aback by how difficult the task at hand was.

‘It blows me away that this is the situation that we’re in, because I have no space in my brain for this,’ Carroll said in late December. ‘But maybe it had to be this hard.’

The Raiders will enter the offseason not only with a new-look coaching staff but also considerable resources. With an estimated $100.8 million in cap space, according to Over The Cap, Las Vegas will trail only the Tennessee Titans and Los Angeles Chargers in their spending capacity. With the No. 1 overall pick, the team could target a potential replacement for Smith at quarterback or a key figure elsewhere to fast-track yet another rebuild.

Women’s soccer stars Kristie Mewis and Sam Kerr married in a New Year’s Eve ceremony near Kerr’s hometown of Perth, Australia.

The American Mewis, 34, and Kerr, 32, waited until Australia’s summer before tying the knot, which they did in a ceremony at the Villa Dionysus estate in the Swan Valley region.

The soccer power couple went public with their relationship in 2021 and announced their engagement in November 2023.

Kerr and Mewis welcomed their first child, a son named Jagger, in May, with the seven-month-old in attendance at his parents’ wedding.

Along with Jagger, a plethora of figures from the soccer world were in attendance, including many of Kerr’s Australia teammates. The striker is her country’s all-time leading scorer and returned to the pitch with Chelsea this season after recovering from a torn ACL.

Mewis hasn’t played since she left West Ham in July. The midfielder was limited to just four appearances during her 18 months with the Hammers due to injuries and maternity leave.

Mewis has earned 52 caps with the U.S. women’s national team, scoring seven goals. Her most recent USWNT appearance came at the 2023 World Cup, when she came off the bench in a round-of-16 defeat against Sweden.

Speaking to Vogue Australia, the couple said they wanted the wedding to be “simple and chic.’ They added: “We wanted it to feel warm and fun with lots of good food and comfort. Oh, and it’s New Year’s Eve, so we wanted it to be a great party.”

Mewis wore a wedding dress from designer Berta, while Kerr went with a black tuxedo from Hugo Boss.

“My dress was my dream dress,” Mewis said. “I saw it and knew I couldn’t move forward until I tried it on, and when I did, I knew that was my wedding dress without question.

‘Sam’s accessories were unstated and simple. She didn’t want anything flashy — just something classic and comfortable.” 

The couple said that the wedding turned out even better than they dreamed.

‘It was exactly what we imagined and more,’ they said. ‘Seeing each other for the first time down the aisle – it was the most special moment.”

Longtime Boston Celtics and USA Basketball athletic trainer Ed Lacerte has been diagnosed with acute monocytic leukemia.
Lacerte needs a blood stem cell transplant to beat the rare and aggressive form of blood cancer.
The NBA, Celtics, and USA Basketball have partnered with the NMDP registry to find a donor for Lacerte and others.

As Ed Lacerte started to fight for his life, the calls and messages flooded in.  

Magic Johnson reached out. So did Paul Pierce, Isaiah Thomas, Ray Allen and Kevin McHale.

Lacerte, the athletic trainer for USA Basketball who previously worked for the Boston Celtics from 1987-2017, has spent decades patrolling the sidelines and prioritizing the health and safety of basketball players.

So, when Lacerte was diagnosed this fall with acute monocytic leukemia, those athletes let him know they’d take care of him, too.

“Every video coming in is saying how much he’s helped them, and this is their opportunity to give it back and show their love and support for him,” said Arianna Lacerte, one of Ed’s five children. “How friendly and selfless he’s been to them has just been really humbling and remarkable to see.”

To beat cancer, Lacerte needs an act of selflessness: a blood stem cell transplant. The Celtics, the NBA, USA Basketball and the National Basketball Athletic Trainers Association (NBATA) are joining forces with the NMDP blood stem cell registry to encourage people to sign up as donors.

Registering as a donor involves swabbing the inside of your cheeks, a process that takes just 20 seconds – four seconds fewer than an NBA shot clock.

At a Dec. 15 game against the Pistons, the Celtics warmed up in shooting shirts with Lacerte’s name on the back. The front of the shirts read, “20 seconds could save a life.”

More NBA teams are planning to wear the shooting shirts later this season, and the NBATA distributed pins in Lacerte’s honor to athletic training staffs around the league.

The Celtics held registration drives during three home games at TD Garden in December in addition to more at the team office and practice facility. The Indiana Pacers will host a registration drive at their Jan. 31 home game. The NBA league office is hosting one at its corporate headquarters in New York.

Jamie Margolis, NMDP’s senior vice president of member, donor and product operations, said the nonprofit is seeking donors who are “young, diverse and committed.” They look for donors aged 18-35 and, because matches are based on genetics, registering people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds is important.

Lacerte is one of the 18,000 Americans every year who are diagnosed with life-threatening blood cancers or disorders, many of which can only be cured by a stem cell or bone marrow transplant. That’s why the NBA’s platform is vital to spread awareness.

“Ed’s story is a really unique opportunity because when we talk about adding members to the registry, it is that young, diverse, committed individual we want on the registry. That’s the NBA audience, right?” Margolis said. “The greater good here is massive.”

From the Dream Team to the Celtics: Ed Lacerte’s legacy

The first signs that something was wrong didn’t appear until November.

At the beginning of the month, Ed Lacerte was in New York City to watch his son Devin run the NYC Marathon. Lacerte was also in the middle of planning multiple international trips for his job with USA Basketball.

Shortly after that weekend, his health spiraled. On Nov. 21, Lacerte was officially diagnosed with acute monocytic leukemia, a rare and aggressive form of blood cancer.  

The diagnosis was serious enough that Arianna Lacerte, Ed’s daughter, moved up her wedding. Josh Corbeil, the Indiana Pacers head athletic trainer who is Ed’s close friend and mentee, flew into Boston that week to see him.

‘It was just stunning to kind of wrap our heads around it, and the first question was, ‘What can we do? How do we fix this?” Corbeil said.

Doctors told them that the only curative option for leukemia is a stem cell transplant, which removes a patient’s compromised immune system and replaces it with a healthy one from a donor.

In Ed’s hospital room, Arianna Lacerte and Corbeil brainstormed. That led to conversations with the NBATA, the Celtics and the NBA. Soon, Arianna was in touch with NMDP and the campaign was on to find a match for Ed.

“It’s been remarkable, honestly, to see the outpouring of support from not only former players that my dad has worked with over the 30 years that he was with the Celtics, but also the extended NBATA family,” said Devin Lacerte, Ed’s son.

In addition to his status as the longest-tenured athletic trainer in Celtics history, Ed Lacerte served as athletic trainer for the U.S. Olympic gold medal-winning basketball “Dream Team” at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. He also worked the 1984 Olympics, three U.S. Olympic Sports Festivals, the 1994 World Cup, two Olympic Gymnastic Trials, and three NBA All-Star Games.

Lacerte has worked for USA Basketball since 2018, working with the junior and senior national teams. He most recently served as the head athletic trainer for the February 2020 USA AmeriCup Qualifying Team.

“Growing up, I was a ball boy for the Celtics, I was a ball boy for some All-Star games,” Devin Lacerte said. “I got to do some really cool stuff because of what he did for a living, so I think I always knew in the back of my head that he was this awesome, legendary guy. But to us, it was like, I’m just going to work with dad and he happens to be working with some individuals who are really tall and really good at a particular sport, but they’re just people at the end of the day.”

Corbeil was a physical therapy graduate student at Boston University in the early 2000s when he first met Lacerte, who took him under his wing and hired Corbeil as an intern. Three years later, when Corbeil had been certified and was looking for NBA jobs, Lacerte handed him a sticky note with a phone number written beside the name ‘Larry.’

It was a number for Larry Bird, who at the time was president of basketball operations for the Pacers. Following Lacerte’s recommendation, Bird hired Corbeil to work in Indianapolis.

‘And 22 years later, here I am,’ Corbeil said. ‘So he just set the table for the rest of my life.’

Lacerte continues to mentor students and aspiring physical therapists whenever he can. He served as the NBATA’s treasurer for 29 years and was so indispensable that he remained part of the organization even after he left his job with the Celtics. The NBATA’s most prestigious award, voted on by members and given annually to a trainer who goes above and beyond in service, is named after Lacerte.

‘For years, he’s just been an ally to everybody in the profession and it’s like you’re part of the family,’ Corbeil said. ‘He just would always go out of his way to help everybody, and everybody feels it. So now everybody’s trying to step up for him.’

Lacerte’s ability to connect with people helped him transition from his role with the Celtics to USA Basketball, according to Dave Weiss, NBA executive vice president of Operations & Administration. Weiss, who oversees the league’s health programs and who first met Lacerte more than 10 years ago, said Lacerte is a natural leader who imbues his expertise with a dry sense of humor.

“The field of medicine and sport science and sport performance has evolved and he’s evolved with it, which has been great to see,” Weiss said. “The way he can walk in a room and immediately command the respect of players and their families and the coaching staff, I think that’s the thing that encapsulates him the most.”

Lacerte is that way with his family, too, albeit with a slightly softer side. He’s adored by his grandchildren, who call him “Grandpa Beach” for his love of the seaside. His kids know he will always go above and beyond to help them.

“Early days into dating my now husband, my dad was trying to do a Herculean effort of a favor for us,” Arianna Lacerte recalled. “We were like, ‘We can do that,” and he was like, ‘No, no, you can never do enough for family.’”

Finding a stem cell match and how to donate

The NMDP registry contains more than 9 million donors in the United States and more than 40 million globally. To match blood stem cell donors with patients, doctors look for similarities between unique cell proteins called human leukocyte antigens (HLA). Lacerte’s HLA typing is somewhat rare, which makes finding a match more difficult.

The donation process is typically non-invasive. In 90% of cases, blood stem cells are donated through a blood drawing process called apheresis. The other 10% of donors have bone marrow surgically harvested from their hip. When a match is identified, regardless of the patient’s location, NMDP pays for the donor’s travel to a contribution center (sometimes in their city, sometimes elsewhere) and then transports the donation to the patient.

“Ed’s cells could come from anywhere in the world,” Margolis said. “So anytime that we can get our name out there and have people understand what it is that we do, it’s a huge opportunity for every searching patient – for Ed and for 12,000 others every year who are looking for a match.”

Weiss said the impact is a testament to the power of sports and the relationships Lacerte fostered throughout his decades-long career.

“He’s someone who has built four families,” Weiss said. “He has his family, and then of course he’s part of the NBA family, part of the Celtics family and the USA Basketball family. I think that the threads from the time he was with the Celtics, just how long he was with them and what those teams meant to the league is obviously impactful. … That expertise, that leadership and the way he works with people, just a really high-character person that has been recognized over and over in all these different areas.”

A wall of Celtics memorabilia including a Larry Bird jersey and a Shaquille O’Neal sneaker provided the backdrop of a video call that Arianna and Devin Lacerte joined from inside their childhood home in Westford, Mass.

While his family gathered in his home to celebrate the holidays, Ed Lacerte spent Christmas at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he is receiving chemotherapy. Once treatment is finished, he will be eligible to receive a blood stem cell transplant whenever a match is found.  

“Ideally we find a match for my dad,” Arianna Lacerte said, “but I think a legacy that he’d be so proud of, in addition to his incredible career, is the ability to help save so many others’ lives.”