Regardless of which team wins the NBA Finals, Anderson Varejao is going to be happy because he's guaranteed to receive his first NBA ring.
The 6-11 big man spent 11 full seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers before being dealt to the Portland Trail Blazers on Feb. 18 in a three-team deal that involved the Magic, which sent Channing Frye to the Cavs.
The Blazers unloaded a second-round pick to get a first-round pick and Varejao, who was immediately released. Golden State picked him up four days later.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Varejao is the first player to play for both Finals teams in the same season.
After playing 31 games with the Cavaliers, Varejao averaged just 8½ minutes over 22 regular-season games with the Warriors and has seen less floor time in the playoffs. He scored two points Monday night in Golden State's Game 7 Western Conference Finals victory over the Thunder.
LPGA showdown
All it took was three weeks for the LPGA Tour to have a battle for the top.
Lydia Ko has an enormous cushion atop the women's world rankings and likely will stay there for some time. But Ariya Jutanugarn now has an LPGA Tour-best three victories (Ko has won twice), and her third consecutive victory Sunday in Michigan moved her within about $120,000 of Ko on the money list.
Consider how the landscape would appear if the ANA Inspiration had turned out differently.
Jutanugarn had a two-shot lead with three holes to play in the first major of the year. She made bogey on the final three holes, hooking her tee shot on the par-5 18th into the water. Ko laid up on the 18th and made birdie to win.
Ko has won the past two majors. Jutanugarn has won the past three tournaments. Next week is the KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Wash.
"I badly want to win my first major," Jutanugarn said.
The Mile High
The demise of Sports Authority has reignited a fight in Colorado over the future of the Denver Broncos' stadium, a place long tied to the city's identity.
It's been over a decade since the team's first home was demolished, but its Mile High name has lived on, in smaller letters, on its sleek, modern successor after a failed grass-roots campaign to stop corporate sponsorship. First it was Invesco Field at Mile High. After the mutual funds company faltered, Sports Authority stepped in and bought out the stadium naming rights contract, keeping the legendary name attached.
Now that it's fallen on hard times of its own, Sports Authority hopes to sell off its naming rights.
Donna Yost, a 21-year season ticket holder who drives 3½ hours east from Glenwood Springs to cheer on the Broncos, sees the Mile High name as something that celebrates the uniqueness of Colorado and the competitiveness of the Broncos, since they're used to playing in thinner air.
Yost, a bookkeeper and triathlete, remembers seeing Rod Smith get his first reception as a pro at Mile High Stadium and not being able to hear herself at a Monday night game against the Oakland Raiders. After Sports Authority took over the naming rights at the new stadium built next to it, she was so irked it put up lights in its trademark red color that she boycotted the store.
"This is Broncos stadium, come on. You shouldn't have Kansas City Chief colors on there," she said.
Sports quiz
Mile High Stadium in Denver was originally built for this team.
Sports answer
The Denver Bears, a baseball team that in 1948 was a member of the Western League.
Sports on 06/01/2016