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NFL

Brady, Shiffrin, LeBron to vie for ESPY awards

When it comes to winning the ESPY award for best male or female athlete, a championship helps but the hardware is not necessarily required.

Jose Altuve of the World Series champion Houston Astros and Alex Ovechkin of the Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals are both nominees for the award. But so are New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and Houston Rockets guard James Harden.

Brady, a three-time ESPYS best male athlete nominee, lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII. Harden, who is a first-time nominee along with Altuve and Ovechkin, extended the champion Golden State Warriors to seven games before being eliminated in the Western Conference finals.

Olympic skier Mikaela Shiffrin will contend for the ESPY for best female athlete for a second time. Her competition includes three first-time nominees — Sylvia Fowles of the WNBA champion Minnesota Lynx, Olympic snowboarder Chloe Kim and soccer player Julie Ertz.

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The ESPYS, which honor the past year’s top sports achievements and moments, will be hosted by newly retired race car driver Danica Patrick when the show airs July 18 from Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.

The Warriors’ Kevin Durant, who won last year, again received a nod for best championship performance. He goes against Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles, World Series MVP George Springer and Villanova Wildcats guard Donte DiVincenzo, who was the most outstanding player of the men’s Final Four.

Brady also is nominated for record-breaking performance, along with tennis star Roger Federer, New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge and Diana Taurasi of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury.

Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James earned his 14th consecutive nomination for best NBA player and will be going for his third straight trophy. He is up against Harden, Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and Anthony Davis of the Pelicans.

The nominees for breakthrough athlete are Ben Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers, Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell, New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara and tennis player Sloane Stephens.

Winners of most categories will be determined by online fan voting that ends before the show airs.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Soccer

Ryan Giggs: Bale is a Wales legend

London – Ryan Giggs hailed Gareth Bale as the greatest Welsh player he has seen after the Real Madrid star inspired his club’s Champions League final victory over Liverpool.

Bale came off the bench to score twice in the second half of Real’s 3-1 win in Kiev on Saturday.

The Wales forward bagged his first with an overhead kick already being ranked as the greatest goal ever scored in a Champions League final.

That put Madrid 2-1 up and Bale wrapped up his club’s third successive Champions League title when his powerful long-range effort was spilled into the net by Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius.

The 28-year-old now has four Champions League winners’ medal from five seasons in Spain, equalling the British record of former Liverpool defender Phil Neal.

Wales manager Giggs had been regarded as the finest product of his country, but the former Manchester United winger says that honour arguably belongs to Bale now.

“He’s the greatest Welsh player I’ve seen,” Giggs said.

“Obviously I didn’t see John Charles play and many others around that time.

“But great players turn up at the right moments and make the difference, and he’s done it twice now in Champions League finals.

“And to win four, to go to Real Madrid, and be so successful, he’s got to be the best.”

Former Tottenham star Bale said after the final that he would have to consider his future with Real after spending much of the season on the bench.

But Giggs said: “I’ve always maintained he looks happy at Real Madrid.

“It’s a great club and a successful one. It’s Gareth’s choice.

“He’s made the difference in a Champions League final — whether that has any bearing, I don’t know.”

NFL

How Kirk Cousins' Vikings education will continue during break

EAGAN, Minn. — After a whirlwind three months that required Kirk Cousins to move his family across the country, learn a new offense and develop relationships with new coaches and teammates after signing a three-year, $84 million contract in free agency, the Minnesota Vikings quarterback can finally exhale.

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• How Cousins’ Vikings education will continue

All of the changes that Cousins experienced came with the territory — moving on to the next chapter of his career after six years with the Washington Redskins. That didn’t mean the transition would always appear seamless.

Cousins felt the spring offseason was “a bit like drinking through a fire hose,” given the amount of new information he had to process and execute in expedited fashion. At the forefront of learning a scheme designed around his strengths, Cousins’ first few months in the Twin Cities centered on building continuity with his offensive line and skill players.

Cementing that connection is a drawn-out process that takes longer to perfect than several weeks of OTAs and minicamp. Finding a common ground between the way his receivers like to run routes and the way Cousins has executed throws to his offensive weapons in the past was where it all started when the quarterback invited Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs down to Atlanta for an impromptu throwing session in early April. Those conversations continued to evolve during the spring as Cousins was able to expand upon that chemistry in full practices and leave feeling all parties were on the same page.

“It’s a process of saying, ‘Hey, this is the way I’ve done if for six years. You’ve done it a different way for five years. Let’s try to talk about why you’ve had success, why I’ve had success. Let’s find some middle ground, let’s decide whether I’m going to learn your way, you’re going to learn my way,'” Cousins said. “That’s the process I’m talking about. Every route, every concept, really we could talk about each individual one. The best part of the whole thing is you know you have a chance when the communication is as healthy as it is.

“[Thielen is] receptive to listening; I can understand what he’s getting at. It’s the same with Stef. That’s where when I say I’m really excited about the locker room and the players I work with, it’s moments like that, where I feel really good about the communication, that they’re hearing you and you’re hearing them.”

During the six weeks until the Vikings report back for training camp at the end of July, Cousins will work to perfect the balance between relaxing and staying mentally prepared. Though he doesn’t have any concrete plans in place to work with his receivers in the summer, he will dedicate his efforts to the areas of the offense he didn’t grasp the first time around.

“I think the more important level of communication will be between me and the coaches, talking about some philosophy things and how I want plays to be designed,” Cousins said. “I’ll have my iPad with me as I go home, and I’ll spend time every day going back.

“All the stuff I didn’t catch, go back through and see that I had starred this, I had checkmarked this as something to go back to when we had time rather than take time when we were so busy.”

“I’m going to go back, I’ll make a list,” he continued, “probably get on the phone with [offensive coordinator] Coach [John] DeFilippo or [quarterbacks] Coach [Kevin] Stefanski and email and just go through it all to get each question answered over the summer.”

Because he feels like he’s “a little behind the eight ball,” Cousins’ summer plans include ample time in the playbook each day to prevent losing the knowledge and muscle memory he has built up in a short amount of time. But if there’s anything his first six years in the NFL have taught him, it’s the importance of pushing back at this time of year to prevent burnout.

“Last year, we got to like Week 2 and because of how much I was grinding all camp and even in the summer, I felt like we were in Week 12,” Cousins said. “I couldn’t believe that we were only in Week 2 because I had treated July and August like it was game day.”

A change of scenery is part of that plan. Cousins is scheduled to be in his hometown of Holland, Michigan, for his two-day youth football camp June 29-30. Last year, Cousins broke ground on a beach house on Lake Michigan that he told MLive.com he was looking “forward to it being a family gathering spot for many years.” The backdrop of the water and serene western Michigan beaches might provide the perfect space for Cousins to unwind at points over the next two months while poring over the concepts he hopes will have him ready to go when training camp arrives.

“Just keep stacking a brick up every day and believe that by the end of August or early September we’ll be where we need to be,” he said.

Soccer

Juventus move 'perfect' for Lazio's Milinkovic-Savic, says his father

Serbia midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic would thrive at Juventus and could even contend for a Ballon d’Or at the club. At least, that’s what his father thinks.

The 23-year-old has been tipped by many to leave Lazio this summer to join a veritable giant of European football on the back of his titanic displays for the Rome-based club.

He’s been linked with teams such as Manchester United, but his father believes there’s only one immediate destination that could see him fulfill his potential.

“(He would be) great there (at Juventus), and I’ve told him this many times,” Nikola Milinkovic told Tuttosport as translated by ESPN. “They would be the perfect club for my son. In Turin, at a prestigious club like the Bianconeri, who have won many titles and have been dominating for years, he would have the opportunity to grow and improve to reach his full maturity.

“After three years with Lazio, Sergej knows perfectly the Italian league and he’s settled in really well. With players of the highest level, such as (Paulo) Dybala, Douglas Costa, and Co., he could win the Scudetto, the Coppa Italia, and make a big contribution towards winning the Champions League – why not?

“Juve always go very far in this competitions and, if they were to win the most prestigious cup of them all, Sergej could even aim for the Ballon d’Or. Only if you play at one of the big clubs in football can you be among the candidates for the Ballon d’Or.”

Milinkov-Savic is one of Serie A’s hottest prospects after his most successful season to date at Lazio. The central midfielder scored 12 goals in 35 league games, which tripled his previous single-season high.

He played all 90 minutes on Sunday as Serbia beat Costa Rica 1-0 in its World Cup opener.

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Soccer