9:38 PM ET Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James‘ attempt to trademark the term “Taco Tuesday” has been denied. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Wednesday refused the application filed by James’ company LBJ Trademarks, explaining that “Taco Tuesday” is “a commonplace term.” “The applied-for mark is a commonplace term, message, or expression widely

3:29 PM ET Associated Press LOS ANGELES — Twenty-eight counterfeit NBA championship rings have been seized by federal authorities at Los Angeles International Airport. U.S. Customs and Border Protection says Wednesday that the rings were in a wooden box shipped from China with a final destination in Arizona. Investigators suspect the intent was to sell

11:10 AM ET Associated Press SHANGHAI — Patty Mills scored 24 points and Australia moved into the World Cup semifinals with an 82-70 victory over the Czech Republic on Wednesday night. Chris Goulding scored 14 and Andrew Bogut added 10 for Australia, which will meet Spain in Friday’s semifinals. France and Argentina will play in

12:02 AM ET DONGGUAN, China — Jayson Tatum took part in Team USA’s shootaround and has been upgraded to a game-time decision ahead of Wednesday’s World Cup quarterfinal against France (7 a.m. ET, ESPN2), coach Gregg Popovich said. Tatum has missed the past three games after rolling an ankle against Turkey last week. He has

5:41 PM ET Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer took one step closer to building a new arena for the team by investing $100 million in the city of Inglewood. Ballmer’s $100 million community benefits plan was negotiated with city officials from Inglewood as part of their arena development agreement and is set to be

11:15 AM ET Kevin Durant doesn’t like to live in the past, perhaps because he’s all too aware of what lingers there. Memories of Oklahoma City evoke bitterness. His departure from the Golden State Warriors has been a clean cut. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, which was published in the WSJ magazine

4:34 PM ET The NBA won’t allow players to wear “ninja-style headwear” this season. Several players — including the Miami Heat‘s Jimmy Butler, the New Orleans Pelicans‘ Jrue Holiday, the LA Clippers‘ Montrezl Harrell, the Minnesota Timberwolves‘ Karl-Anthony Towns and the Brooklyn Nets‘ Jarrett Allen — regularly wore the headgear a season ago. The NBA

11:30 AM ET Associated Press SHENZHEN, China — The first mission for the U.S. is complete: The Americans are going to the Tokyo Olympics. And now the World Cup quarterfinals are the next task. Kemba Walker and Myles Turner each scored 16 points, and the Americans earned a top seed for the quarterfinals by beating

11:25 AM ET Associated Press SHENZHEN, China — Jayson Tatum was able to return to practice with the U.S. men’s basketball team Monday, less than a week after he sprained his left ankle. He did not play Monday night when the U.S. (5-0) closed out World Cup second-round play with an 89-73 win over Brazil.

12:25 AM ET SHENZHEN, China — Jayson Tatum returned to Team USA practice after an ankle injury but will miss a third consecutive World Cup game Monday when the team faces Brazil (8:30 a.m. ET, ESPN+). Kemba Walker missed Monday’s shootaround with illness but was listed as probable to play in the final second-round game.