Kansas City Chiefs’ quarterback #15 Patrick Mahomes holds the trophy after winning Super Bowl LVIII against the San Francisco 49ers at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, February 11, 2024. (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
(LAS VEGAS, NV) –The Kansas City Chiefs scored a comeback 25-22 overtime victory against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, February 11, and became the first team to win back-to-back NFL championships in 20 years.
The game — one of the longest in NFL history — ended regulation play in a tie, forcing overtime. After the 49ers’ Jake Moody kicked a 27-yard field goal to put San Francisco ahead, the Chief’s Mecole Hardman caught a 3-yard pass from quarterback Patrick Mahomes to clinch the walk-off victory.
After a slow first half, Mahomes bounced back, completing 34 of 46 passes for 333 yards with two touchdowns and ran for 66 yards rushing. He was named Super Bowl MVP for the third time.
Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce finished with 93 yards on nine receptions.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Thursday’s sports events:
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Detroit 128 Portland 122 (OT)
Golden State 131, Indiana 109
Orlando 127, San Antonio 111
Dallas 122, New York 108
Minnesota 129, Milwaukee 105
Chicago 118, Memphis 110
Phoenix 129, Utah 115
Cleveland 118, Brooklyn 95
Denver 114, LA Lakers 106
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Philadelphia 4, Winnipeg 1
Boston 4, Vancouver 0
Florida 4, Washington 2
Calgary 5, New Jersey 3
Carolina 5, Colorado 2
NY Islanders 6, Tampa Bay 2
Vegas 3, Arizona 2
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Arizona 105, Utah 99
UAB 76, FAU 73
(NEW YORK) — Two-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson has been a dominant force, both on the basketball court and in the arenas of social justice and mental health.
The Olympic gold medalist has published a new memoir, Dear Black Girls: How to Be True to You, where she shares a deeply personal collection of stories from her own experiences growing up in South Carolina and navigating the world of professional basketball as a Black woman.
Wilson spoke with ABC News’ Linsey Davis about her life experience and advice for others on ABC News Live.
ABC NEWS LIVE: Congratulations first off on writing the book, and I’m curious because you had written an essay back in 2020 with the same name, “Dear Black Girls.” What made you decide you wanted to expand it to a book?
A’JA WILSON: Well, I actually wrote two [essays], “Dear Black Girls,” before the [2020 WNBA COVID] bubble and then “Dear Black Women” after the bubble. And it was like I kind of had a revolution, like in the bubble. I had time to really dive into myself. And then that’s when I got so much great traction from it. And I was just like, “You know what? We can form this into a bigger story because I have more to tell.”
ABC NEWS LIVE: Throughout the book, you talk about being a double minority, being Black and being a woman. I want to quote you here. You say, “The truth is we’re a double minority is like the world is constantly reminding us you’re a girl. Oh, and you’re a Black girl.” Tell me about how this intersectionality of gender and race has impacted you.
WILSON: It’s impacted my whole way of life, honestly. When someone [is] talking about the basketball, it’s just like, “OK, yeah, your sport is not a sport because you’re a woman.”
But then, on top of that, we don’t get looked at as much or viewed as much because we are Black women and we may not look as the marketable type or people may not want to see us. And it’s hard, but I think the beautiful thing that I found within it is just using my personality, making people understand that I’m human and I’m real, [and] that I go through things.
Yes, you see me in a uniform. Yes, you can see the banners, the trophies and the rings. But behind all that, I’m a human. I’m a young Black girl [who’s] trying to navigate this world that’s not the nicest. And understanding that I can still be successful in my field and level and whoever I want to love and have fun from there.
ABC NEWS LIVE: It’s become really kind of like a political hot rod in this country as far as is America a racist country [and] has it ever been? And you share a story of a fourth-grade sleepover. Share that with our viewers.
WILSON: Yes. So I was in the fourth grade, and one of my friends who I thought was really my close friend, was having a birthday party, and she was just like, “Yeah, you can come, but you can’t stay inside the house. You have to stay outside. Because my dad doesn’t like Black people.”
And that right there struck my core because I was a young Black girl in a private school, and I just thought everybody was friends. I thought we were all equal, and we were all fair. And that’s when I kind of realized, as I grew up, my parents had to have that conversation with me that you’re not really liked all the time, but you don’t need to change who you are and who you want to become.
And I kind of took that story, [which] kind of struck my core for a while, and, as I got older, it didn’t get easier. But I just understood more of like understanding who I am and how I want people to view me, and I continue to do that to plant seeds for the next generation.
ABC NEWS LIVE: There was a part in the book that really struck me where you talk about “life had never been so good, and I had never felt so anxious and so afraid. Everyone always talks about the fear of failure, but the thing I never hear anyone talk about is the fear of success.” Explain what that means for people who have never felt that.
WILSON: Yes…We’re human. We’re always just fear of rejection, [and] fear of failure. And it’s just this feeling that we’re getting like, “Oh, I don’t want to do it.” But then I’m like, when it’s actually success, sometimes success can open up a whole other level for people to come into. And it’s kind of hard to be out there and be vulnerable and allow people into your life to nitpick it and judge you on different things, and that comes with success.
You come underneath that spotlight where people have no choice but to pay attention to you, and that’s hard and it’s hard to hide from it, as well. And I think that’s why I was so open with my mental health, because I needed people to know I’m human.
ABC NEWS LIVE: What would you like for young readers, perhaps even particularly young Black girls, to take away from this book?
WILSON: Ooh, I would just tell them, just feel the feelings. I think sometimes we carry a lot on our shoulders. We’re swept underneath the rug. We feel like we have to put on a mask every single time we wake up. But some days we don’t need to do that and understand that it’s OK to feel not OK. It’s OK to have days where you’re just like, “I don’t feel like A’ja.” “I don’t want to do this,” and know that you’re still OK every step of the way and give yourself some grace.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Wednesday’s sports events:
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
New Orleans 117, LA Clippers 106
Toronto 123, Charlotte 117
Cleveland 114, Washington 106
Boston 125, Atlanta 117
Miami 116, San Antonio 104
Golden State 127, Philadelphia 104
Detroit 133, Sacramento 120
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Minnesota 2, Chicago 1
NY Rangers 3, Tampa Bay 1
Toronto 5, Dallas 4
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Tuesday’s sports events:
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Phoenix 114, Milwaukee 106
Indiana 132, Houston 129
New York 123, Memphis 113
Miami 121, Orlando 95
Dallas 119, Brooklyn 107
Chicago 129, Minnesota 123 (OT)
Utah 124, Oklahoma City 117
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Vegas 3, Edmonton 1
Vancouver 3, Carolina 2
Philadelphia 2, Florida 1
Pittsburgh 3, Winnipeg 0
Montreal 5, Washington 2
Calgary 4, Boston 1
Dallas 2, Buffalo 1
New Jersey 5, Colorado 3
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
San Diego St. 77, Air Force 64
UConn 71, Butler 62
Clemson 80, North Carolina 76
Houston 79, Oklahoma St. 63
Baylor 79, Texas Tech 73
Iowa St. 70, Texas 65
South Carolina 68, Mississippi 65
Kentucky 109, Vanderbilt 77
Dayton 94, Saint Joseph’s 79
Oklahoma 82, BYU 66
Nevada 77, Utah St. 63
New Mexico 91, Wyoming 73
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Monday’s sports events:
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
LA Lakers 124, Charlotte 118
Cleveland 136, Sacramento 110
Dallas 118, Philadelphia 102
Golden State 109, Brooklyn 98
LA Clippers 149, Atlanta 144
New Orleans 138, Toronto 100
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
NY Rangers 2, Colorado 1 (OT)
NY Islanders 3, Toronto 2
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Kansas St. 75, Kansas 70
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Sunday’s sports events:
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Orlando 111, Detroit 99
Phoenix 140, Washington 112
Boston 131, Memphis 91
Indiana 115, Charlotte 99
LA Clippers 103, Miami 95
Minnesota 111, Houston 90
Oklahoma City 135, Toronto 127 (2OT)
Utah 123, Milwaukee 108
Denver 112, Portland 103
(NEW YORK) — New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium will host the final match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, marking the end of a tournament that will span three countries and will see a total of 104 matches, FIFA announced Sunday.
The tournament will be hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.
The opening match will be on June 11, 2026, at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, FIFA said. The famed stadium will be the first to host three World Cups.
The World Cup will also see an expansion of teams, with 48 nations represented, up from 32.
The United States’ group stage matches will be spread throughout the West Coast, with Los Angeles and Seattle to see the Americans take the pitch.
Other U.S. cities hosting matches include Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Boston and Philadelphia.
The World Cup final in New Jersey will be held on July 19, 2026.
(NEW YORK) — Often lost in the bright shine of athletic celebrity stardom are the deep human pains that can weigh on Black athletes in particular.
Only one in three Black Americans with mental health illnesses obtain treatment, according to multiple studies including research from Psychiatric Services published in the National Library of Medicine and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
ABC News’ Good Morning America co-anchor Michael Strahan talked with a group of Black athletes about their experiences and struggles with mental health in the realm of professional competitive sports.
“I’m learning how to live a new life in this new pain– in this journey of grief that’s like a rollercoaster,” said Jets defensive lineman Solomon Thomas, who said his mental health struggle began after his sister died by suicide in 2018.
Thomas said he grew up with the mentality that he should tough out emotional adversity.
“After my sister died, I had all these emotions and feelings I had never felt before. Like, deep depression, deep guilt,” said Thomas.
Thomas said it wasn’t until San Francisco 49ers General Manager John Lynch offered him resources for mental health that he decided to go to seek therapy.
Olympian track and field athlete Anna Cockrell said she found herself in a less traditional struggle in her third year of college.
“A lot of the typical depression symptoms that you hear about just didn’t apply to me,” said Cockrell. “I was doing all the things you’re supposed to do and still felt terrible.”
Cockrell said it was her college coach, Caryl Smith Gilbert, who recognized something was wrong and facilitated her starting therapy.
Three-time NBA All-Star Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns said his mental health struggles began after his mother among several other family members died from COVID-19.
“In a way, the world was silent,” said Towns. “I got to a point where I had to start realizing I was deteriorating.”
Towns said it was a member of his team’s medical staff whom he ultimately looked to for help.
“I felt very comfortable in having those tough conversations with someone that was familiar to me,” said Towns.
Stigma, price of access, and shame can all act as barriers to mental health treatment and access.
Cockrell said that therapy was helpful in a time of crisis, but she found it most useful to do it consistently, so she was able to diagnose the problem. She also said she had to assuage her parents’ concerns that her mental health struggle was their fault.
“I think at first, my parents, they just didn’t quite understand. Like, I think there was a lot of struggle for them of thinking, “What did we do wrong? Did we make a mistake?” And having to reassure them,” she said.
Strahan said he noticed the entrance of a “new era” of mental health that may be unfamiliar to older generations. According to a 2013 study from the American Psychological Association, only 5% of the psychology workforce was Black and Strahan noted this could be a contributing factor to lagging participation in mental health treatment.
Thomas said his mom was supportive of his therapy, something he was initially reluctant towards. He said therapy helped him answer questions like “What does my brain patterns revert to when I get anxious or when I get sad, and how do I break that?”
Thomas said he now encourages similarly struggling teammates to seek professional help despite pushback.
“When you’re stuck in that cycle, you feel so empty. You feel so alone. You feel like you’re the only one going through it to a point where you even feel like you’re crazy, and– and you’re not. You’re human,” said Thomas.
Towns said he thinks the biggest misconception in the Black community around mental health is the “weakness in showing vulnerability.”
He identified the issue as a generational battle, saying the perseverance of the Black community in its fight for equal rights can make showing weakness difficult.
“We refuse to allow anything to ruin what we built,” he said.
Cockrell said she decided to be vocal about her mental health struggle in order to speak specifically to Black women’s experiences.
“You don’t have to take everything on. Your pain, your experience, your voice, your struggles, your success, they all matter,” is Cockrell’s primary message to Black women.
Strahan concluded by asking the group why it’s important to have these conversations about mental health in the Black community.
“There are so many people out there struggling,” said Thomas.
He said if those people could see they are not alone, “These conversations can save these lives.”
“I look at this conversation as a celebration,” said Strahan. “A celebration of being free enough, confident enough, strong enough, supported enough to share how you truly feel to the world.”
