Shareef O'Neal, the son of Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal, has signed with the NBA G League Ignite team. 

After playing for the Los Angeles Lakers during Summer League, The Athletic reported that O'Neal had put pen to paper on a six-figure contract. 

The 22-year-old, who was not picked in the 2022 NBA Draft, confirmed the news by tweeting: "Vegas, let's do it! Thank you Ignite!" 

O'Neal averaged 4.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 10.9 minutes per game in his six Summer League appearances. 

The Ignite team was established in 2020 to help elite NBA prospects develop their game without going to college. 

O'Neal was diagnosed with a right anomalous coronary artery and underwent open heart surgery in December 2018 while at UCLA. 

Former world number 17 Cristian Garin was beaten 6-4 7-5 by Federico Coria in the first round of the Austrian Open in Kitzbuhel, while Matteo Berrettini and defending champion Casper Ruud withdrew from the tournament.

2017 runner-up Joao Sousa cruised past Vit Kopriva 6-1 7-5 and Jurij Rodionov set up a Round of 16 meeting with third seed Roberto Bautista Agut with a straight-sets victory over Hernan Casanova.

Dominic Thiem, who won the 2019 edition of the competition, will face Alexander Shevchenko tomorrow while Richard Gasquet will take on Sebastian Ofner.

2016 Croatia Open winner Fabio Fognini will not be regaining his title in Umag this year, after the seventh seed was knocked out by Colombian Daniel Galan in a 3-6 7-5 3-6 defeat.

Galan will play Giulio Zeppieri in the next round, who came from one set down to overcome world number 90 Pedro Cachin 3-6 6-1 6-4.

Fifth seed Alex Molcan plays his first game tomorrow against Duje Adjukovic, and sixth seed Daniel Altmaier will take on French 23-year-old Corentin Moutet.

After helping the Los Angeles Rams win Super Bowl LVI in February, Aaron Donald reportedly considered walking away from football at the top of his game. 

He, obviously, ended up not retiring, with the Rams ultimately restructuring his contract to give him a record payday in early June. 

But from the time the Rams raised the Lombardi Trophy to the time Donald agreed to the massive raise, coach Sean McVay says his ongoing conversations with the future Hall of Famer were crucial in getting a deal done. 

"My dialogue with Aaron throughout the process I thought was key to be able to feel good about it but also understand what needed to get done to have him come back and lead the way for us," McVay said on Monday. 

Donald’s restructured deal guarantees him $95million over the next three years, making him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history. 

The hefty price is justified, however, given he’s widely considered one of the best defensive players in NFL history. 

A Super Bowl championship was the last major accomplishment left to achieve for the 31-year-old Donald, who has three Defensive Player of the Year Awards and seven consecutive First Team All-Pro selections on his resume. 

So McVay understood why Donald wanted to take some time to evaluate his career after playing a vital role in the Rams’ Super Bowl victory over the Cincinnati Bengals with a pair of sacks against Joe Burrow. 

"When you reach (and win the Super Bowl), when he had been working so hard to try to get to that goal, there's an exhale," McVay said. "I think you want to be able to let the dust settle, figure out what's important. What can we do to accommodate that? If you still want to be able to play football."

Donald still has the passion to play and McVay credits their conversations as a big reason why one of the most feared defensive players ever will be suiting up for the Rams in their quest to repeat as Super Bowl champions. 

"(Donald and I) had great dialogue throughout the course of the offseason," McVay said. "I think like anything else, it's such a long process when you're able to play 21 games and if you include the pre-season, you're talking about 24 games last year. So many emotions."

The players' union has rejected Major League Baseball's proposal to instil a draft for international players, keeping the current qualifying-offer system in place through the end of 2026.

The MLBPA issued its decision about eight hours before the midnight EDT deadline Monday.

A prospective international draft became a point of contention during last offseason's lockout and was delayed as a part of the March 10 settlement between the league and players. 

While an international draft could have stimulated the free agent market for certain veteran players, most internationals favoured keeping the current system, which allows teams to sign foreign players from a designated pool of money and pay with draft-pick compensation.

"Players made clear from the outset that any international draft must meaningfully improve the status quo for those players and not unfairly discriminate between those players and domestic entrants," the MLBPA said in a statement announcing its decision.

"Our draft proposals – unprecedented in MLBPA history – sought to establish minimum guarantees in player signings, roster spots, infrastructure investments, playing opportunities, scouting opportunities, as well as enforcement measures to combat corruption.

"We also made proposals to compensate international signees more fairly and in line with other amateurs, and to ensure that all prospects have access to an educational and player development safety net."

The current system, which ties international signing bonus pool money as a penalty to the free agent qualifying offer, has led to a stagnation in the free agent market for older free agents.

"We are disappointed the MLBPA chose the status quo over transitioning to an international draft that would have guaranteed future international players larger signing bonuses and better educational opportunities, while enhancing transparency to best address the root causes of corruption in the current system," MLB said in a statement.

MLB's final proposal would have set a limit of $191 million allotted to a potential draft in 2024, while the players' last offer was for $260million. 

New Juventus signing Paul Pogba has suffered a knee injury and will not be part of the team that travels to Dallas to take on Barcelona in a friendly on Tuesday.

The France international recently returned to the club where he previously spent four years between 2012 and 2016, winning four Serie A titles in that period.

But it now appears that Pogba will be spending time on the sidelines, after Juventus released a statement updating fans on the status of the 29-year-old.

The statement on the club's official website said: "Following complaining of pain in his right knee, Paul Pogba underwent radiological examinations that revealed a lesion of the lateral meniscus.

"In the next few hours he will undergo a specialist orthopedic consultation.

"Therefore, in order to continue treatment, he is not taking part in the trip to Dallas."

Pogba's previous spell with the Bianconeri came to an end when Manchester United paid a then-world-record fee of £89.3million (€105m) to take the midfielder back to Old Trafford, where he had spent time as a youngster.

However, after an ultimately underwhelming six-year spell in Manchester, Pogba rejoined Juventus following the expiration of his United contract.

Karim Benzema appeared to allay fears that he suffered an injury during Real Madrid training on Monday. 

France international Benzema twice required treatment on his ankle following a challenge from Vinicius Tobias ahead of Tuesday's friendly against Club America in San Francisco. 

The 34-year-old, who only returned to training on Wednesday and missed the Clasico defeat to Barcelona in Las Vegas on Saturday, was able to complete the session but it still led to doubts about his fitness. 

Benzema seemed to ease any concerns supporters may have been developing by tweeting: "See you tom[orrow]..." 

Ferland Mendy is reportedly set to miss the game against America while Dani Carvajal did not train with the team as he continues to recover from an ankle problem. 

Madrid wrap up their tour of the United States against Juventus at the Rose Bowl on Saturday. 

Ukraine great Andriy Shevchenko has thanked the Polish people for their support during the war against Russia, hailing sports stars Iga Swiatek and Robert Lewandowski for their efforts.

An ambassador for Laureus Sport for Good, Shevchenko surprised children who had fled the war with a visit to a school in Warsaw.

The world has rallied around Ukraine following Russia's invasion, with sporting stars and celebrities using their platform to raise awareness of the situation in the country.

On Saturday, WTA world number one Swiatek organised a charity tennis match, where Shevchenko was a special guest, while Lewandowski has been vocal in his support – and will wear a Barcelona shirt featuring the UNHCR logo, the United Nations' main agency for refugees, this season.

Following his appearance in Warsaw, Shevchenko thanked Poland as a nation for taking in a flood of refugees from their European neighbours.

"I want to thank you, [the] Polish people, for being very kind to my country. For hosting us here. For providing all the needs," he said, as per Laureus Sport for Good.

"Thank you so much for your support. Also, I want to thank Iga Swiatek and Robert Lewandowski for taking a big part in initiatives helping my country to raise the funds and support against the war in Ukraine."

Shevchenko also praised compatriot Oleksandr Zinchenko for speaking out against the war, something numerous Ukrainian athletes have done.

"Like many, everyone Ukrainian, his reaction against the war, he stood up and then he spoke loud," he added of Zinchenko, who last week signed for Arsenal from Premier League champions Manchester City.

"He expressed his view, he's expressed his very hard feelings against the war for Ukraine, because he loves Ukraine, he loves people. 

"And we did a lot of activities together, we've been involved in a few fundraisers. I know he's a very generous person and he did a lot for Ukrainian people."

Ansu Fati is confident he can return to his previous heights after an injury-plagued couple of seasons for Barcelona. 

Fati burst onto the scene as a 16-year-old in 2019, becoming the second-youngest player to feature for Barca in LaLiga and the third-youngest to find the back of the net in Spain's top flight. 

He set records as the youngest goalscorer in the Champions League, for Spain and in El Clasico – though his international record has since been surpassed by Gavi. 

Fati sat out almost a year with a serious knee injury sustained in November 2020 and hamstring problems limited him to just 15 appearances in all competitions last season. 

However, he is confident he will eventually be the player he was before his torrid time with injuries. 

"I'm working to achieve it and I have no doubt that with work and sacrifice I will achieve it," Fati told TV3. "Right now I'm not 100 per cent, but I'm very close. 

"It's normal that when you come back from an injury you play very cautiously. But that's only the first minutes of the first game, then you forget it. Right now, I'm playing without fear. 

"I know where I've come from and everything I've done to be here. I never thought about quitting. I'm very young, and I have my whole future ahead of me." 

Fati will face increased competition for game time following the arrivals of Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha at Camp Nou, but he feels such competition can help restore Barca to their former glories. 

"We are building a very good team, very competitive. The new signings will give us a lot throughout the season. They are great players who will help us," said Fati. 

"We have a very powerful forward line and a lot of competition. It's very good for the team and the players that we can't relax. We know that if we don't work hard, we're not going to play because someone else can take out place. This is good because it will always keep us on edge. 

"This is a team that wants to win titles. We know that in recent years we've only won the Copa del Rey and that cannot be enough at Barca." 

After spending much of his offseason recovering from a right elbow injury, veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford resumed throwing as the Los Angeles Rams opened training camp on Sunday.  

"It feels good to get out there," Stafford said. "Definitely knocking some rust off and feeling it again. It's good to get out there and stress it a little bit and see how it reacts."

Stafford, who helped lead the Rams to a Super Bowl title last season, has rested his arm since February and received an anti-inflammatory injection in his elbow. 

Stafford and head coach Sean McVay have said that the 14th-year quarterback will have to ease back into a full workload after taking so much time off. 

"It's an interesting thing trying to have a little bit of governor on there, and at the same time, just trying to be as smart as I can," Stafford said. "It's a process. Just going to have to sit there and work through it, trust it. We'll figure it out as we go."

McVay told reporters that while Stafford is on a pitch count, it didn’t come into play in Sunday’s camp-opening session. 

"[Stafford] was a full participant today," McVay said. "Like him having as much experience as he does, we will continue to build him up.

"We're aware of what that pitch count is, but it didn't restrict him from being able to do anything today."

Acquired last offseason from the Detroit Lions, Stafford was a key reason why the Rams got over the hump to win their first Super Bowl since the 1999 season. 

Stafford tied a career high last season with 41 touchdown passes and registered a 102.9 passer rating, starting all 17 games. 

He added nine more touchdown passes during the Rams’ postseason run, including six to Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp. 

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have appeared to have found their replacement for the retired Rob Gronkowski, signing tight end Kyle Rudolph to a one-year contract on Monday.

The deal is reportedly worth $2million and Rudolph can earn an additional $1.5million in incentives.

Gronkowski retired for the second time in his career last month despite having the chance to play another season with Tom Brady, who announced his retirement on Feb. 1 before changing his mind March 13 and returning to Tampa Bay.

In Rudolph, the Buccaneers land a tight end who had 26 catches for 257 yards and one touchdown last season for the New York Giants.

That was Rudolph’s only year with New York after spending his first 10 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, who selected him with the 11th pick of the second round (43rd overall) in the 2011 NFL Draft.

Rudolph earned two Pro Bowl selections while playing for Minnesota, including being named the MVP of the game in 2012 after having five catches for 122 yards and a touchdown.

Rudolph has appeared in 156 regular-season games, hauling in 479 passes for 4,745 yards and 49 TDs.

Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior has underlined his partnership with Karim Benzema as an important part of his team's success last season.

The two were vital to Los Blancos as they won LaLiga and became European champions once again, with Vinicius scoring the winner to beat Liverpool to earn the club's 14th Champions League.

Benzema scored 44 goals in the 2021-22 campaign, second only to Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski (50), who has now joined Real Madrid's fierce rivals Barcelona.

Vinicius was keen to emphasise the importance of his relationship with the France international, telling UEFA Media: "It's always important to have influence in games and Karim always tells me to be brave.

"You have to shoot to score or pass to assist. If not, keep the ball.

"Our connection has been very good and we have been able to win many games together."

In LaLiga last season Benzema and Vinicius combined for 66 goal involvements, with the latter contributing to 21 more goals than he had in the previous campaign.

Benzema's goal involvements in the league won his team 29 points, more than any other player in Europe's top five leagues while he scored 0.98 goals per game, better than any other season in his career.

Since he made his top-flight debut, Benzema's goal tally has been bettered by only five other players, with some calling for him to win his first ever Ballon d'Or after only Kylian Mbappe (60) had more goal involvements than him (59) in Europe's top five leagues last season.

Benzema and Vinicius were part of some remarkable Champions League comebacks in their run to lifting the trophy, namely against Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City.

And the 22-year-old believes the determination and never-say-die attitude is inherent to Real Madrid.

"It's the DNA of this club and of this shirt and it always shows up in big games," he added.

"Some games become an emotional roller coaster. We have players who know how to approach Champions League games."

Third seed Elise Mertens suffered a first-round exit at the Prague Open, while Caroline Garcia dispatched of Misaki Doi in the Poland Open. 

Mertens, who reached the fourth round at Wimbledon at the start of July, succumbed to a 6-3 2-6 6-2 defeat to Magda Linette – her first loss to the Pole after three straight-set victories in their previous encounters. 

The Belgian got just 52 per cent of her first serves in and won 38.5 per cent of points behind her second serve while only converting one of the five break points she earned. 

Sixth seed Alison Van Uytvanck retired in the first set of her match against Dalila Jakupovic, while eighth seed Marie Bouzkova overcame Sinja Kraus 6-2 7-6 (7-2). 

In Warsaw, fifth seed Garcia by no means had it easy in a 7-5 6-4 success over Doi. 

The Frenchwoman committed eight double faults and only got 55 per cent of her first serves in, but by saving six of the eight break points she faced she was able to get the job done in straight sets. 

Polish wildcard Maja Chwalinska was a 7-5 6-2 victor over qualifier Rebeka Masarova in only her second Tour-level tournament. 

Lewis Hamilton has backed Max Verstappen to ease towards another Formula One world championship after the Red Bull driver extended his advantage with victory in France.

The defending champion came in ahead of Hamilton and his Mercedes team-mate George Russell, capitalising on Charles Leclerc's error that saw him crash out while holding the lead in the race.

That marked the third time in 2022 that Leclerc's Ferrari has retired from the lead and leaves the Monegasque driver 63 points adrift with just one race remaining before F1's mid-season break.

Leclerc took responsibility for his latest setback and Hamilton offered his condolences to the 24-year-old by admitting he was "gutted" by his departure at the Circuit Paul Ricard.

Though he's urging Ferrari to keep up the fight, he admitted that he does not see any alternative outcome to Verstappen successfully defending his crown.

"It's been great to see the pace of Ferrari this year. I'm gutted for Charles, who's been doing a great job, as has Carlos [Sainz]," he told reporters.

"It's not easy though, having that pace and that performance and maintaining it.

"It's a tough job and I feel for the whole team because I know what that can feel like. But they're a great team, and they'll continue to keep their heads down.

"[There's] massive gaps, obviously pretty huge so that's pretty smooth sailing in that space [for Verstappen] generally.

"But a lot can still go wrong up ahead so I would just advise them to just continue to push."