Slowly but surely, the stars of Houston’s 2017 World Series-winning team have scattered about in the years since.
George Springer is in Toronto now, Alex Bregman in Boston and Carlos Correa in Minnesota. Justin Verlander pitches for San Francisco. Jose Altuve and Lance McCullers Jr. are still with the Astros, but it feels like it’s only a matter of time before Houston’s dominance of the AL West comes to an end.
The question is whether anyone else in the division has what it takes to force a changing of the guard.
If it weren’t for Oakland’s division title in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Houston would have a streak of seven straight AL West championships. Only the Braves, Dodgers and Yankees have had runs that long since divisional play began. But last year, the Astros won just 88 games, their fewest in a full season since 2016. Only the mediocrity of the rest of the division kept them on top.
This year, Houston is 32-27, which puts the Astros on pace to win 88 games again. Nonetheless, they trail first-place Seattle by just a half-game.
The challengers all have their problems. The Athletics had an encouraging start but have lost 17 of their last 18. The Los Angeles Angels look headed to a 10th straight losing season. Texas won it all as a wild card two years ago but has been one of the worst offensive teams in baseball in 2025.
That leaves Seattle. The Mariners have the major league home run leader in Cal Raleigh — yes, he’s ahead of both Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge with 23. Seattle also has Luis Castillo leading the pitching staff, but its team ERA is pretty middling at 3.86. Logan Gilbert missed all of May with an elbow issue.
The Mariners haven’t won a division title since 2001. It’s there for the taking right now, but are they up to the task?
Trivia time
There are six current major league franchises that have never won back-to-back division titles. Who are they?
Agony of defeat
Boston was swept three straight at Milwaukee, with the last two losses coming in walk-off fashion. Christian Yelich hit a 10th-inning grand slam to beat the Red Sox on Tuesday night, and the following day Caleb Durbin ended it with a sacrifice fly.
Boston has lost a major league-high seven games in walk-off fashion — and those games account for over a fifth of their 32 defeats.
Line of the week
Junior Caminero went 4 for 5 with two homers, two doubles, five RBIs and four runs in Tampa Bay’s 16-3 rout of Houston on Saturday. Even after a loss Sunday, the Rays have won nine of their last 12 and are just a half-game behind Minnesota for the American League’s final wild card.
Comeback of the week
Minnesota trailed Seattle 6-3 with two outs in the top of the ninth Friday night when Willi Castro hit a two-run homer off closer Andrés Muñoz. Then Byron Buxton singled, stole second and scored on a single by Trevor Larnach.
In the top of the 10th, the Twins scored six runs on their way to a 12-6 victory. Seattle had a win probability of 98.9% in the ninth, according to Baseball Savant.
Muñoz had not allowed an earned run all season. He blew another save against Minnesota on Sunday but ultimately got the win.
Trivia answer
The Miami Marlins and Colorado Rockies have never won ANY division titles. The other four teams that have never gone back-to-back are:
— San Francisco Giants (NL West titles in 1971, 1987, 1989, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2010, 2012 and 2021)
— New York Mets (NL East titles in 1969, 1973, 1986, 1988, 2006 and 2015)
— Chicago White Sox (AL West titles in 1983 and 1993, AL Central titles in 2000, 2005, 2008 and 2021)
— Seattle Mariners (AL West titles in 1995, 1997 and 2001)
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Pacers have finally ended the franchise’s 25-year NBA Finals drought, achieving the unthinkable after starting 10-15 and looking like anything but a title contender.
Now Indiana will try to exorcise the demons of its decades-long, snake-bitten history and actually win the title when the Pacers take on the Oklahoma City in the NBA Finals.
“It is really a special thing that happened 25 years ago, I wasn’t even six months old,” Tyrese Haliburton said after Indiana’s series-ending victory over New York. “There’s a lot of fans who have never seen success from this organization, especially people around my age. They weren’t alive for it.
“So it’s really special what we’re doing, and we’re just trying to keep making this a special place, a place where people want to come.”
The Pacers play in a state where basketball is treated like religion, championship teams become royals and players and coaches emerge as revered figures when they achieve the unexpected like these Pacers.
But Indiana hasn’t always been that dream destination for NBA players, instead being tabbed as snake-bitten franchise for most of its 48 seasons in the league.
— After winning three ABA titles, it took a telethon to save the financially floundering NBA newbie in July 1977.
— The Pacers made just one playoff appearance during their first decade in the NBA, losing both games to Philadelphia.
— Fans booed resoundingly when the Pacers used a first-round draft pick on Reggie Miller in 1987 instead of home-state favorite Steve Alford.
— And their pathway to championships in the 1990s seemed hopelessly blocked by Michael Jordan’s Bulls or Patrick Ewing’s the Knicks until the breakthrough run in 2000 only to lose to Shaquille O’Neal, the late Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.
And though Miller was still playing at a high level, it has taken another quarter-century to make it back.
The journey hasn’t been an easy one.
This Pacers team rallied to eliminate some other snake-bitten opponents. They knocked out the 2021 NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks, the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers and the rival Knicks. The second final chapter begins Thursday in Oklahoma City.
The expectations were different 25 years ago.
Donnie Walsh revamped Indiana’s roster by surrounding Miller with younger players following the 1999-2000 season, and four seasons later the Pacers posted the league’s best record in 2003-04. They wound up losing the conference final in six games to Detroit.
Then came the franchise-changing Malice in the Palace brawl in November 2004.
Several lengthy suspensions gutted the team, derailing Miller’s last title run while sending the franchise into a downward spiral. Larry Bird fired coach Rick Carlisle, his friend and ex-teammate, two years later and his departure was followed by a rash of devastating injuries.
Danny Granger’s budding career was cut short by knee tendinitis. Paul George suffered a compound fracture in his right leg in 2014 and he was traded to Oklahoma City in 2017. Two years later, All-Star guard Victor Oladipo ruptured his right quadriceps tendon and was subsequently traded, too.
Myles Turner experienced most of the ups and downs of that decade from the Pacers locker room, and it only made his opportunity to hug Miller and Nancy Leonard, the widow of former Pacers longtime coach and broadcaster Bobby “Slick” Leonard, so much sweeter after winning the conference crown.
“It was just pure excitement, pure validation,” Turner said. “Just all the years, all the hate, all the love, everything in between. So, man, in that moment, it was just pure exuberance.”
Turner was a pivotal piece — not the central one — when president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard embarked on another rebuild midway through the 2021-22 season to form the core of this year’s squad.
He started by dealing All-Star forward Domantas Sabonis to Sacramento for Haliburton. Five months later, Indiana acquired forward Aason Nesmith from Boston for Malcolm Brogdon. And when Pritchard sent Bruce Brown to Toronto for Pascal Siakam in January 2024, Pritchard figured the Pacers finally had their big three.
Fans were skeptical, but the Pacers ushered in a new era of basketball, one that combined Indiana’s favorite sport with its longtime auto racing tradition, creating a track-like pace brand of basketball.
In some ways, these Pacers are a throwback to their ABA roots — fast, high scoring, flurries of 3-pointers and made-for-television entertainment right down to the dance team.
“The pace, it just fits who I am as a person, like the way I play the game,” said Siakam, who won a championship ring with Toronto. “We have a lot of people who look down on us as an underdog and that’s my style. I like that because that’s been me my whole life.”
The Pacers will open as the underdog against the Thunder, the team George landed with all those years ago. Two former ABA powers, San Antonio and Denver, have won NBA titles. But if the Pacers can capture the Larry O’Brien trophy, they would be the league’s only team to be crowned ABA and NBA champions.
“This is not the time to be popping champagne,” said Carlisle, who led the Dallas Mavericks to the 2010-11 title. “Getting to the NBA Finals is an accomplishment. But if you start looking at it that way, you’ll go into it with the wrong mindset. When you get to this point of the season, its two teams, it’s one goal so it becomes an all or nothing thing.”
The NBA Finals are set: It’s the Oklahoma City Thunder vs. the Indiana Pacers.
The Pacers clinched their trip with a win over the New York Knicks on Saturday night in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Thunder swept the two head-to-head meetings between the clubs this season. Game 1 of the finals is Thursday night in Oklahoma City.
Recapping the OKC-Indiana series
— Dec. 26: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scores 45 points and the Thunder erase an early double-digit deficit, pulling away in the second half to beat the Pacers 120-114. Andrew Nembhard scores 23 for Indiana, while Tyrese Haliburton is held to four points.
— March 29: Gilgeous-Alexander scores 33 and the Thunder win 132-111. Haliburton leads the Pacers with 18, and both teams have six players finish in double figures.
SGA is the MVP
A recap of Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s winning of the NBA MVP award.
The story: Gilgeous-Alexander tops Jokic for MVP award
The reaction: SGA tears up when talking about his wife
Steve Nash speaks: Canada’s 1st MVP thrilled to see SGA follow him
Oklahoma City (-700) is a big favorite to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. Indiana’s odds are set at +500.
The Thunder are an early 9.5-point favorite over Indiana for Game 1.
NBA Finals schedule
All games of the NBA Finals will be aired on ABC.
June 5 — Game 1, Indiana at Oklahoma City, 8:30 p.m. EDT
June 8 — Game 2, Indiana at Oklahoma City, 8 p.m. EDT
June 11 — Game 3, Oklahoma City at Indiana, 8:30 p.m. EDT
June 13 — Game 4, Oklahoma City at Indiana, 8:30 p.m. EDT
June 16 — Game 5, Indiana at Oklahoma City, if necessary, 8:30 p.m. EDT
June 19 — Game 6, Oklahoma City at Indiana, if necessary, 8:30 p.m. EDT
June 22 — Game 7, Indiana at Oklahoma City, if necessary, 8 p.m. EDT
(And good news: No NBA Finals games conflict with Stanley Cup Final dates!)
Key upcoming events
June 25 — NBA draft, first round.
June 26 — NBA draft, second round.
Stats of the day
— Indiana is the only team yet to face elimination in these playoffs.
— This is the second time a No. 1 seed (Oklahoma City) has met a No. 4 seed (Indiana) in the NBA Finals. Both previous times were Lakers-Celtics matchups, one in 2010 and the other in 1969. Both went seven games, both saw the Lakers as the No. 1 seed out of the Western Conference (or division, as they were called in 1969), the Celtics won in 1969 (Bill Russell’s final game as a player and 11th championship) and the Lakers won in 2010 (Kobe Bryant’s fifth and final title).
Quote of the day
“We’ve got our work cut out for us.” — Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Laura Mealer’s RBI single in the ninth inning gave Tennessee a 5-4 win over UCLA on Sunday that lifted the Volunteers into the Women’s College World Series semifinals and eliminated the Bruins.
The game nearly had a controversial finish.
UCLA’s Megan Grant hit a two-run blast with two outs in the top of the seventh inning that appeared to tie the score at 4-all. There was an umpire review to determine whether Grant touched home plate.
Tennessee coach Karen Weekly said Tennessee noticed that Grant’s teammates touched her and helped her back to home plate. Weekly believed that was illegal, which she thought would have turned Grant’s homer into the third out, so the Volunteers notified the umpires. Had Grant been called out, the game would have ended with Tennessee winning 4-2.
“I think everybody but four people (the umpires) saw the play at the plate,” Weekly said. “We saw in the dugout that she missed the plate, and then we saw that her teammates had kind of pushed her back. And by rule, that (home run) should have been nullified.”
After a nearly 15-minute delay, the home run ruling was upheld. The NCAA pool report after the game said assisting a runner is not reviewable. The report also said had it been reviewable, a warning would have been issued on a first offense, which would not have affected the score.
Grant said she didn’t remember much after the 251-foot blast.
“It was just kind of a blackout moment.” she said. “I know going into that bat I just wanted to keep my mind right, stay aggressive. And honestly, after the swing, I did blackout indeed. After the fact, I just kind of trusted God with everything. The tensions were high and everything, and that’s just where I just laid my pressure on.”
Even after giving up the homer, Tennessee’s Karlyn Pickens recovered and went the distance for the win. The first-team National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-American gave up four earned runs on 11 hits and struck out seven.
“Well, during that lengthy review/not review, we talked about if it comes back and it goes against us and we’re tied up, then we keep playing,” Weekly said. “So we just kept putting them in that mindset — I think prepare for the worst. And then if the best happens, great.”
Some of the Tennessee players were dancing near the circle during the review.
“No matter what the call was going to be, we’re flushing it and worrying about the next pitch,” Pickens said.
Taylor Pannell’s two-run homer put Tennessee up 4-2 in the fifth to help set up the dramatic ending. She had three hits.
UCLA’s Alexis Ramirez and Sofia Mujica hit solo homers and Jordan Woolery had four hits. The Bruins (55-13) were trying to become the first semifinalist from the Big Ten since Michigan in 2015.
Tennessee (47-16) will play Texas on Monday in the semifinals and will have the beat the Longhorns twice to advance to the best-of-three championship series. Texas will need to win just once to reach the championship series for the third time in four years.
Pickens threw 148 pitches, but Weekly said her ace will be ready to go against the Longhorns.
“This is an absolute stud in volleyball and basketball and softball and could be playing D1 in any sport. So I think that works in her favor. Tonight’s going to be all about recovery and hydration. There’s no tomorrow. So Karlyn’s going to be ready to come out tomorrow and fight for her team.”
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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Drew Dickerson hit a go-ahead home run in a five-run sixth inning and Oklahoma went on to defeat No. 5 national seed North Carolina 9-5 on Sunday night, forcing a winner-take-all game in the Chapel Hill Regional.
The two teams will face off Monday with a berth in the super regionals at stake.
North Carolina’s Gavin Gallaher drove in three runs with a leadoff home run in the fourth inning and a two-run double in the sixth, giving the Tar Heels a 3-2 lead.
In the bottom of the sixth, Dickerson’s two-run home run put Oklahoma ahead 4-3. Jaxon Willits added a double that scored two unearned runs for a 6-3 lead.
After an RBI groundout by Luke Stevenson, Gallaher doubled to score another run to make it 7-5 in the seventh. Gallaher finished with three hits and four RBIs for the Tar Heels (44-13).
Trailing 8-5 in the top of the eighth, North Carolina loaded the bases on a walk, single and another walk with nobody out. Reliever Dylan Crooks got a strikeout and two flyouts to get out of the jam.
Dasan Harris added a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth to cap the scoring.
James Hitt (3-0) got the win although he allowed four runs in two innings. Crooks picked up his 15th save for Oklahoma (38-21).
Olin Johnson (2-1), who gave up Dickerson’s home run in the sixth, took the loss.
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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Cydney Sanders hit two home runs and four-time defending national champion Oklahoma beat Oregon 4-1 on Sunday night to reach the Women’s College World Series semifinals and eliminate the Ducks.
Sanders’ two-run homer in the third put the Sooners up 3-1, and her solo shot in the fifth made it 4-1. Isabela Emerling hit a solo home run and Ella Parker and Kasidi Pickering each had two hits for the Sooners (52-8).
Dezianna Patmon’s homer provided the only run for Oregon (54-10), which won the Big Ten regular-season championship in its first year in the league.
Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso got the win against Oregon coach Melyssa Lombardi, a longtime assistant for her with the Sooners. Oregon assistants Sam Marder and Sydney Romero also went through the Oklahoma program.
“Huge one for the Sooners,” Gasso said. “Personally, kind of bittersweet because those are my people on the other side, and it’s hard to play on such a big platform that means so much and is going to end somebody’s season. It was hard, but super proud of that staff and all that they’ve done.”
Oklahoma will play Texas Tech in the semifinals Monday for the right to play in the best-of-three championship series. The Sooners will need to beat the Red Raiders and star pitcher NiJaree Canady twice to advance in the double-elimination format, while the Red Raiders will need just one win to play for the national title for the first time.
Canady has been the National Fastpitch Coaches Association’s Pitcher of the Year the past two seasons. She was the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year last season at Stanford. This season, she led Tech to the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles and their first World Series trip.
“We’re going to have to make a few adjustments for sure, but, I mean, we’re fighting,” Gasso said. “We’re fighting for our lives now, and that is what it’s going to look like. It’s going to be a fight on our side to say we will not surrender for anyone or anything. So that’s how we’re going to approach it.”
Oklahoma’s Sam Landry earned the win Sunday with 4 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. She allowed two hits, struck out six and walked one after stepping in for starter Kierston Deal.
“I think for the whole team it was the change of speeds,” Oregon’s Paige Sinicki said. “She was mixing really well … we really had to pick one or the other. That’s why we were getting beat by the end of the day.”
Landry transferred from Louisiana to Oklahoma before this season. Texas Tech coach Gerry Glasco is in his first year with the Red Raiders after leaving Louisiana. Several of Landry’s old teammates followed Glasco to Tech.
“I think I’m a completely different pitcher, person, player than I was when I was at Louisiana,” Landry said. “We’re still going to work it like any other game, get the scout on them, find some holes and go through it. Just keep it like any other game and not make it too big.”
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Norris McClure went 3 for 5 with a two-run homer in the first inning and UTSA added five runs in the third to help eliminate No. 2 national seed Texas 7-4 on Sunday night for the Austin Regional championship.
UTSA (47-13) advances to the program’s first super regionals. The Roadrunners were 0-6 in their first three NCAA Tournament appearances before winning three straight this season, including a 9-7 victory over the Longhorns on Saturday.
McClure’s sixth home run of the season went over the right-field wall for a 2-0 lead.
The UTSA defense came up big on multiple occasions, beginning in the third. James Taussig made a catch at the warning track in left field and quickly got it to the cut-off man for a rocket to third to end the inning on a double play.
Ty Hodge lined a shot to center that went off the center fielder’s glove to clear the bases for a 6-0 lead. Mason Lytle added a two-out single for a seven-run lead.
Lytle, the American Athletic Conference defensive player of the year, made a diving catch on the warning track in center to save a run in the fourth.
Gunnar Brown (4-2) allowed only one earned run and six hits in a five-inning start for UTSA. Robert Orloski struck out four in three innings to earn his ninth save.
Hudson Hamilton went only one inning in his start for Texas (44-14).
The Longhorns were hosting a regional for the 38th time in program history.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Angel Cano hit a two-run home run in the second inning and a bases-clearing double in the third to help No. 4 seed Little Rock beat host and top-seeded LSU 10-4 on Saturday night to win avoid elimination at the Baton Rouge Regional on Sunday night.
The Trojans (27-33), making their second NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2014, can clinch a berth in the super regionals with a win Monday over No. 6 national seed LSU.
LSU beat Little Rock 7-0 on Friday and followed Saturday with a 12-0 win over Dallas Baptist to advance to the championship round. The Trojans, who lost 13 of 14 to close the regular season before winning five straight to win the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament, exploded for 22 runs Saturday in a win over Rhode Island and beat Dallas Baptist 8-6 in an elimination game earlier Sunday.
Steven Milam hit a two-RBI single to cap LSU’s three run first inning but Angel Cano hit a two-run home run in the second for the Trojans. Ryan Geck grounded out to lead off the third before Ty Rhoades, Cade Martin and Cooper Chaplain drew consecutive walks to load the bases. Cano fouled off three consecutive two-strike pitches before he hit a bases-clearing double off Chase Shores (5-3), who was immediately replaced by Cooper Williams after allowing four runs in an inning of relief.
Starter Noah Burkey gave up three runs on six hits in 1 2/3 innings before he was replaced by Brenden Katz (1-0), who pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Malcolm Brown threw 5 1/3 innings and gave up a run on three hits to earn his first save of the season.
Pride Month in the nation's capital this year is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of participants across three weeks of programming consisting of over 300 events for World Pride 2025, an annual international festival that celebrates the LGBTQ+ community.
Organizers for the global celebration this year told ABC News they are emphasizing messages of resistance, resilience and, above all, hope at a time when LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly the transgender community, are being targeted on various fronts by the Trump administration.
World Pride 2025 makes its way back to the U.S. for the first time since 2019, when organizers chose New York City to host the festival the same year as the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising.
World Pride 2025 events began May 17 and will culminate the weekend of June 7 and 8 with the annual parade and street festival. Included in the programming are events and partnerships with minority groups, including DC Latinx Pride, API Pride, Trans Pride, DC Black Pride, Youth Pride and DC Silver Pride for senior members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Ryan Bos is the executive director of the Capital Pride Alliance, which organizes Pride Month programming in D.C. each year. He has been spearheading the planning of World Pride since last year and says that the celebration this year is "more important than ever."
"It's surreal on days to think that the country that I was born into, the country that I have grown to have a lot of pride in -- a country that I have devoted my professional and personal time in regards to creating spaces for people to feel welcome, to feel included, to make sure people feel seen and are valued -- that in that country, we are now in a space where overtly, our federal government is saying certain people aren't as valued," Bos said. "And that hurts, and it's scary."
During his first weeks in office, Trump signed an executive order declaring that the U.S. government will only recognize a person's gender assigned at birth. More executive orders targeted the transgender community in the military and in athletic spaces.
Marissa Miller, founder of the National Trans Visibility March, said that with attention focused on her community, this year, "humanity is on the line."
"This is a revolutionary time," she said. "We've been somewhere near here before, but I think that it's been a while since we have been here."
As a Black transgender woman, Miller emphasized that some members of the community have always felt like they had target on their backs.
"These are dangerous times -- not unprecedented, dangerous times -- for trans people, even more dangerous than they have been because there has been a permission set that says we do not exist," Miller said.
In leading Pride Month planning this year, Bos said that security and safety have been at the forefront of many conversations. While D.C. is ready and welcoming, he said that it's important for attendees and participants to understand any potential risks their international friends may have in travel.
Organizers and groups from several countries have already opted out of coming to World Pride this year, including those from Canada and some countries in Africa, Miller told ABC News.
Ry Schissler, a swimmer and cyclist from Toronto who decided not to travel to the United States for World Pride this year, citing decisions by the Trump administration. Schissler, who identifies as transgender and nonbinary, holds Canadian-American dual citizenship. Schissler's team, the Toronto Purple Fins, a self-described "gender free" swimming group, had planned to come to D.C. in June for the IGLA+ Aquatic Championships and World Pride, but Schissler didn't want to lead the team to a country where the group didn't feel welcomed.
"There's so many benefits to participating in sports, particularly team sports, and ... trans people have been discouraged from that and actively banned from it," Schissler said. "In a lot of cases, it's so important to recognize how difficult it is for us to do that, much less travel internationally, to show up to an event where we're clearly not wanted by a lot of people."
Even though Schissler and the rest of the team planned to make the trip, they decided against it in the winter following Trump's executive orders.
"Wherever I go, I have to be on my toes. And when I'm outside my comfort zone -- the places that I go and know that there are people to support me -- it's hard," Schissler added.
With the Trump administration's executive orders targeting LGBTQ+ spaces and diversity equity and inclusion practices, Bos, the World Pride organizer, said that corporate partnerships this year have been more difficult to secure out of fear of losing federal funding.
Another one of Trump's January executive orders not only banned DEI practices in the federal government, but also called on those in the private sector to end what the order calls "illegal DEI discrimination and preferences."
According to Bos, some companies that had regularly sponsored Capital Pride in the past were "dragging their feet" to commit to World Pride 2025 as they waited for the outcome of the 2024 presidential election and some eventually backed out or lessened their support.
Booz Allen Hamilton, Deloitte, Comcast and Darcars are some of the companies that previously supported the Capital Pride Alliance that will not be sponsors for World Pride 2025, according to Bos. ABC News has not received a response after reaching out to the companies for comment.
But Bos says that he hopes the community persists, believing that "human decency and respect will ultimately win out."
"My hope is that we can show that through World Pride and letting, again, folks know that there are people standing in our corner, that there are people willing to stand up, to be visible, to be heard, and that they're not alone. And that they see hope in the future," he said.
Through the course of three weeks of testimony in the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs, one man has loomed large even as he remains locked up in a prison, more than 2,500 miles away. That man is Marion “Suge” Knight, the rap impresario who was viewed by many as Combs’ chief competitor at the peak of Combs’ prominence atop the hip-hop world.
During hours of conversation with ABC News this weekend, Knight offered his reactions to the trial that has grabbed headlines and offered an often-disturbing portrait of the private life of a pop-culture icon and fashion tastemaker who could end up being sentenced to serve the rest of his life in federal prison, if convicted. Combs has pleaded not guilty and denied all wrongdoing.
Knight’s name has been mentioned in the Combs trial at least 50 times so far, with some of those references connected to the notorious Combs-Knight rivalry and others simply acknowledging that Knight once led Combs’ fierce competitor, Death Row Records. Their names are synonymous with the explosion of hip-hop, and the bad blood between the two moguls, and their record labels.
Speaking for himself in a series of phone interviews Saturday, Knight described what he saw as a toxic culture of abuse in some parts of the hip-hop industry that certainly did not start with Combs.
Knight is currently serving a 28-year sentence for voluntary manslaughter stemming from a 2015 fatal hit-and-run not connected to Combs’ case, to which he pleaded no contest in 2018. The famed founder of Death Row Records had an extensive criminal rap sheet that added time to his current sentence because it triggered California's three strikes law. According to law enforcement, Knight has longstanding ties to LA’s infamous Bloods street gang.
On the phone, Knight said that, if Combs is the only one held accountable for alleged violence and abuse inside the world of rap, it won’t break the cycle.
"If you’re going to make Puffy answer, make everyone answer," Knight said, referring to those who benefited from a system of trading sexual favors for advancement, or enabled the kind of behavior of which Combs is accused.
“Change the theme of the culture of the problems in hip-hop," Knight said, repeatedly referring to Combs by his earlier street names “Puff” and “Puffy.”
"I think it’d be a great thing to let Puffy tell his truth. Tell the real truth, and bring everybody accountable,” Knight said.
Long before federal authorities charged Combs for alleged sex-trafficking and racketeering in connection with a lifestyle of allegedly forced sex sessions called "freak-offs," Knight claimed there had long been rumors about Combs’ sex life back to the 1990s and 2000s.
"Everybody knew that,” Knight said, but that "Puffy didn’t just pop in the industry and say ‘hey, I want to have sex with everybody,’" Knight said. "I mean, we don't have enough time to name all the names."
Combs' alleged use of fear and force to get what he wanted has been a frequent theme in his criminal case, far beyond sexual favors. The prosecution of Combs hinges on the core accusation that Combs used coercion and force to get what he wanted. To make that point, prosecutors presented Combs’ former assistant, Capricorn Clark, who said she returned to work for Combs after leaving his employment because Combs allegedly made it impossible for her to work elsewhere in the music industry.
“He held all the power as it related to me,” Clark testified through sobs.
Clark told jurors she had worked for Knight before Combs – a connection that, she claimed, did not sit well with Combs.
“He told me he didn't know that I had anything to do with Suge Knight and, if anything happened, he would have to kill me,” Clark testified.
On cross-examination, Combs' defense attorney Marc Agnifilo attempted to undermine Clark's overall portrayal of Combs — and why she would want to continue working for a man who had allegedly threatened her.
“I wanted my life back, sir,” Clark explained.
“You want to work with him again,” Agnifilo said. “I wanted to work in the music industry,” Clark replied.
In his comments to ABC News, Knight lamented how Clark had allegedly been treated.
"I feel bad for Capricorn," Knight said, describing "a young woman who want to work hard and become successful in the world."
"She did great things for Puffy. Anything he needed, she got it. Anything he wanted, if she didn’t have it, she made it happen," Knight said. "A lot of people might say, well, Capricorn could have did anything else she wanted to do. She did try. If you go get a job at Universal and Puffy makes a phone call, you're not getting that job. If you go get a job at a counter agency or in the movie business and Puff make that call, your career is over."
Knight recalled Clark telling him she had been warned by another records executive not to “tell on Puffy,” and that she was allegedly paid for her silence, he said.
On the witness stand, Clark recalled one meeting where, she claimed, she was given such a warning.
"It wasn't about job opportunities. They were there to tell me to leave Puff alone and that this wasn't going to end well for me," Clark testified. "The outcome of that meeting was that -- well, no job, but it was a warning."
In response to that testimony, Knight said "They put that woman in a situation where she didn't have no choice but try to be cool with these people if she's gonna be in the industry."
Knight said Combs did not invent the hardball tactics he allegedly employed.
"Don't get me wrong, he (Combs) did terrible things, but he just didn't come up with those stuff and those ideas on his own," Knight said. "I don't feel that they should take Puffy and lock him up and throw away the key. I think he can do so much good right now, him telling the truth about the industry," Knight said. "When you can pick and choose who to put on the fire pit, it’s not fair."
Combs should tell "the whole truth, nothing but the truth so help him god. That way, everybody would – history won’t keep repeating itself," Knight said. "It’s a long list of people in the industry that's unhappy because of the things they were being put through. And that’s the sad part about it."
Knight said he sympathizes with Combs' position.
"I feel that people in Puffy’s life, going on his journey growing up, they failed him," Knight said.
"Do I think he made some mistakes? I think he repeats what he’s seen. He repeats what he learnt," Knight said.
"First thing I would tell Puffy is this – I’m not going through what he’s going through for his freak-offs. But I’ve been there sitting in those cells. And I know he feels that he don’t have a friend in the world," Knight said. Of all those once in his glamorous orbit, "none have been to court. None of them have been a help. So I'm quite sure he’s in a lonely place right now," Knight said.
Combs' family has remained by his side, some even sitting in on trial proceedings; Knight noted that cannot be easy for his kids especially.
"If there's a situation where he can do some time, but not a lot of time, go knock it out. Don't keep torturing yourself," Knight said. "Once he get where he going, to a real prison, he’ll be able to, you know, have a step closer to freedom."
Knight suggested that, perhaps, Combs should plead out. (Knight himself pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to prison in 2018.) Combs declined a plea deal on the eve of trial last month.
"I think they should work out a deal with Puffy," Knight said.
Though Combs and Knight are usually portrayed by the media and law enforcement as having been rivals, Knight said he saw it differently.
"I wouldn't quite say we was rivals, because to say we rivals that means we had to be really really bad enemies," Knight said.
"I do feel that he cared about the music industry. I think he do love the industry, and he did a great job with his artists, I do an incredible job with my artists," Knight said, detailing a long history of competition as hip-hop went from being a street sound to a billion-dollar business. "I say it all the time, Puffy is known for making hit singles, like one song to go crazy. I'm known for making hit albums. Puffy can take an artist and make great music with them. I can take an artist and make them a superstar."
The alleged grudge between Combs and Knight was a focus of early testimony in Combs’ trial. Combs' former personal assistant, David James, said that, one night in 2008, he spotted Knight and his entourage eating at Mel's Drive-in diner in Hollywood, and said Combs, upon hearing that, wanted to go confront Knight and the rival group.
Knight responded to that testimony this way:
"If there's anything suggesting that I was doing anything illegal, I'm gonna say, definitely not," Knight said chuckling. "I'm'a put it to you like this -- I'm quite sure I remember some of that."
"Anybody that know me — from 2 o'clock in the morning or 3 o'clock in the morning, to almost 6 o'clock in the morning, I'm always at Mel's with six or seven [pretty women] enjoying myself. Until I finally was in a relationship with someone," Knight said. "I'm a real West Coast man, and I have different stuff that I like to eat, but Mel's was one of my places, because, Mel's was open 24 hours, you know?"
If Combs did insist on returning to the diner to confront Knight, as James testified, Knight said perhaps it's because "he's got to show power."
Of the competition between the two record-label bosses, Knight said he was told Combs would listen to Death Row music.
"I was surprised about that," Knight said, making a reference to the late Death Row rap star Tupac Shakur. "He'd put on Death Row music, he'd put on Tupac, they'd go to the boat in the marina, the yacht, whatever it was, and get the Death Row music going again.”
"I hope he wasn't jealous of me, 'cause if he was jealous of me, that means he was liking me too much, loving me too much," Knight said.
"I don't put myself in his head – or no one else’s head – because the man is on trial fighting for his life," Knight said.
ABC News' Peter Charalambous and Kaitlyn Morris contributed to this report.
A suspect was booked on a range of charges after allegedly carrying out an "act of terrorism" on a pedestrian mall in Boulder, Colorado, on Sunday afternoon, using what police are describing as a "makeshift flamethrower" against a crowd of pro-Israel demonstrators.
Eight people were hospitalized with burns, Boulder Police said in an update Sunday night. The victims' ages ranged from 52 to 88, and they were all taken to local hospitals, police said.
One victim was in critical condition, police said.
The suspect, identified by the FBI as 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman, was allegedly heard yelling "Free Palestine" while using a "makeshift flamethrower" and throwing an incendiary device at the crowd, according to Special Agent in Charge Mark Michalek.
Soliman was taken into custody without incident and transferred to a hospital where he was examined, police said.
Soliman is being held on $10,000,000 bond, according to the Boulder County Jail, which listed a range of felony charges against him, including use of an incendiary device.
FBI Director Kash Patel said officials were investigating the incident as a "targeted terror attack." The FBI believes the attack was "ideologically motivated violence," according to "early information, the evidence and witness accounts," Deputy Director Dan Bongino added.
The attack in Boulder comes at a time of heightened violence, including high-profile incidents against the Jewish community.
The pro-Israel demonstration was a Run for Their Lives walk, aiming to raise awareness about the remaining hostages in Gaza. The organization hosts global run and walk events, "calling for the immediate release of the hostages held by Hamas," according to its website.
Leo Terrell, head of the antisemitism task force at the Justice Department, said that an "incendiary device" was thrown at participants in the walk.
"This was not an isolated incident," Terrell continued. "This antisemitic terrorist attack is part of a horrific and escalating wave of violence targeting Jews and their supporters simply for being Jewish or standing up for Jewish lives," he said.
The attack happened on the eve of a Jewish holiday, Shavuot, "making it all the more chilling and cruel," Terrell said.
A spokesperson for the organization, Miri Kornfeld, said in a statement to ABC News said a man who was leading the walk described the scene as "the floor burning beneath them."
All upcoming Run for Their Lives events have been canceled until further notice, Kornfeld said, who was not at the walk in Boulder.
President Donald Trump has been briefed on the "targeted terror attack," a senior White House official told ABC News.
"Hate-filled acts of any kind are unacceptable. While details emerge, the state works with local and federal law enforcement to support this investigation," Colorado Gov. Jared Polis wrote on X, describing the incident as a "heinous act of terror."
Boulder Police, while calling the attack a "tragedy" and "unacceptable," initially stopped short of calling the incident terrorism and did not want to speculate on the suspect's move, according to Chief Stephen Redfearn.
The incident occurred just before 1:30 p.m. on Sunday at the intersection of 13th Street and Pearl Street.
Police responded to reports of a man with a weapon and that people were being set on fire.
When they arrived, there were multiple victims at the scene with injuries consistent with burns, police said. Police said four of the victims were taken to Boulder Community Hospital and two others were airlifted to a burn unit in Aurora. Apart from the victim with serious injuries, the others were believed to be more minor, Redfearn said.
Last month, two Israeli Embassy staffers were shot and killed in Washington, D.C. in what was labeled as an "act of terror."
The shooting sparked outrage and has been condemned as an "unspeakable" act of antisemitism after officials said the suspect, who is in custody, shouted "free, free Palestine" following the shooting.
In April, the residence of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish, was targeted by an arsonist who allegedly made two Molotov cocktails from Heineken bottles he had at home and threw them inside the governor’s mansion after breaking a window with a hammer, according to court documents.
The attack happened after the governor had posted about celebrating Passover with his family.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
TYLER – According to our news partner KETK, a woman was arrested after attempting to steal a wig from a corpse at a funeral home in Tyler. The funeral director notified the Tyler Police Department on May 23 that Tonya Boyd had gone into the preparation room and had removed the wig from a body, according to a Smith County arrest affidavit. Officials spoke with the funeral director on May 28, who stated that Boyd had been at the funeral home earlier in the day before the incident and was asked to leave. Later that day, Boyd returned to the funeral home, and employees witnessed her exiting the building with a wig in hand but did not realize it belonged to one of their clients.
According to the affidavit, the witness stated that he knew Boyd and that she had a problem with drugs. It was also reported that Boyd had been involved in several criminal activities around the funeral home in the past. The director reported that he had purchased a new wig to replace the stolen one and the family had been notified. Following the investigation, Boyd was charged with theft of property from a human corpse.
After a record-breaking Memorial Day weekend, Lilo & Stitch and Mission: Impossible -- The Final Reckoning retained the top two spots at the box office this past weekend, with both setting new milestones in overall earnings.
Disney's live-action remake of the beloved animated classic grossed another $63 million, which according to Variety brings its worldwide total to $610 million. That makes it the second-biggest movie of 2025, following A Minecraft Movie, which has taken in $947 million worldwide.
Meanwhile, Mission: Impossible -- The Final Reckoning -- supposedly the last outing for Tom Cruise's superspy Ethan Hunt -- earned $27.3 million, good enough for #2 this weekend, and bringing its worldwide total to $350 million, Variety reports. The vampire thriller Sinners also topped the $350 million mark worldwide this weekend; it's currently at #6 on the box office tally.
As for new entries, Karate Kid: Legends debuts at #3 with $21 million, as per Box Office Mojo. The film is set three years after the end of the TV series Cobra Kai, itself a spinoff of the original Karate Kid films. The horror thriller Bring Her Back debuts at #5 with $7.1 million.
In at #10 is j-hope Tour 'Hope on the Stage' in Japan: Live Viewing, a live movie theater broadcast of a May 31 concert in Japan by j-hope, a member of K-pop superstar group BTS.
Here are the top 10 films at the box office:
1. Lilo & Stitch -- $63 million 2. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning -- $27.3 million 3. Karate Kid: Legends -- $21 million 4. Final Destination: Bloodlines -- $10.8 million 5. Bring Her Back -- $7.1 million 6. Sinners -- $5.2 million 7. Thunderbolts* -- $4.8 million 8. Friendship -- $2.6 million 9. The Last Rodeo -- $2.1 million 10. j-hope Tour 'Hope On the Stage' in Japan: Live Viewing -- $939,173
GUN BARREL CITY – According to our news partner KETK, the Gun Barrel City Police Department is currently searching for a man that led Henderson County law enforcement on a search to Eustace overnight. Gun Barrel City PD said officers were doing a traffic stop in the 100 block of Trailwind Street in Gun Barrel City on Saturday at around 9:36 p.m. when a man ran from the vehicle.
According to a post from Gun Barrel City PD, the man was identified as Terrence Marshawn Carter, a Black man from Henderson. Officials said Carter has a active patrol violation from the Texas Pardon and Parole Board. Gun Barrel City PD and other agencies searched the area and K9 Aygo was able to track Carter into a creek near the 1000 block of East Main Street, Gun Barrel City PD said. Aygo was unable to track any further at that point.
Then at around 3 a.m. on Sunday, officials said a Henderson County Sheriff’s Office deputy found Carter on Highway 175E but he ran again. The K9 was called out to search for him again but during their search the sheriff’s office was called out to a gas station at 206 Highway 175 in Eustace where a person was seen trying to enter semi-trucks. Continue reading Gun Barrel City Police searching for man
CROCKETT – The City of Crockett city administrator John Angerstein, State Rep. Cody Harris and State Rep. Trent Ashby have all expressed their opposition to a new permit application for wells in Anderson County according to our news partner KETK.
Redtown Ranch Holdings LLC in Anderson County has submitted a groundwater production permit application for 21 high-capacity groundwater wells that he said could extract 10 billion gallons of water a year from the Carrizo and Wilcox aquifers. Angerstein said the permit application also lists 11 more wells in Houston County that could drain another 5 billion gallons of water a year but aren’t covered by the Neches and Trinity Valleys Groundwater Conservation District (NTVGCD) like the 21 proposed wells in Anderson County.
