In 1989, USC had a depth chart of a dozen linebackers. Five have died, each before age 50.

Just before his first NBA game, an 18-year-old LeBron James was asked about the pressure of controlling the combined fortunes of a city, major corporations, and the league. “I can handle it,” he said.

When a Black lineman from Colorado State went knocking on doors in a white neighborhood, he found himself at the dangerous intersection of a national racial reckoning and a world of internet-conspiracy fanaticism.

More than 40 years ago, pioneering author Jim Fixx’s best-selling book brought jogging to the masses, espousing its physical and emotional benefits. Now, those themes resonate more than ever with a homebound society.

His savvy on a longboard earned him trophies. His burglary of the Natural History museum in New York earned him headlines. And his brutality on a Florida boat 50-odd years ago earned him a lifetime in prison. Now: What does penance get you?

How Barcelona became the most successful—and most beloved—club in soccer.

Skiing in the shadow of Mount Everest.

Ex-Ivy Leaguer and NFL-er Jeff Hatch spent years telling audiences of his triumph over opioid addiction, to great acclaim. Then as the rehab center he worked at drew national attention, a tortuous backstory of cops, dealers and deception came to light.

Carried away by love—for risk and for each other—two of the world’s best freedivers went to the limits of their sport. Only one came back.

The curious rise and spectacular crash of the Alliance of American Football, a new league that went under in just eight weeks.

The former NBA player is forever linked to the murder of his girlfriend.

At age 17, Bonnie Richardson won the Texas state track team championship all by herself. Then she did it again.

A profile of a previously unknown rookie pitcher for the Mets who dropped out of Harvard, made a spiritual quest to Tibet, and somewhere along the line figured out how to throw a baseball much, much faster than anyone else on Earth.

On the start of the high school football season in Odessa, Texas. An adaptation published alongside the release of Bissinger’s 1990 book of the same name, which led to the movie and the show.

The inspiring life and mysterious death of NBA player Bison Dele.

Eighteen years ago, NFL wide receiver Rae Carruth conspired to kill the woman carrying his child. The woman, Cherica Adams, died. The child, Chancellor Lee Adams, did not.

How prison changed the former pro scout.

The life and death of the racehorse Secretariat.

Five years after they leave the league, 60 percent of NBA players have nothing left. In the NFL, it’s closer to 80 percent after just two years. On the economics of professional sports.

How a rugby legend came out.

The complicated life and death of Hideki Irabu, a pitcher who was supposed to become a Yankee legend and found heartache instead.

Donald Trump’s relationship with golf has never been more complicated.

The prison life of O.J. Simpson.

In 1993, his rookie season, more than 1,700 boys were named after Shaquille O’Neal. Now they’ve grown up.

On being—and playing for—Lady Vols basketball coach Pat Summitt.