Competing as a track athlete for the past eight years has heavily shaped both the way I navigate the space around me and way others regard me. Coming from a public California high school of more than 2,700 students, participating in athletics as either a competitor or spectator was a communal activity. People showed up at games and community members made the drive to support their classmates, friends, and loved ones in competition. Athletes on campus were not only committed to being students and high academic achievers, but also to their teams, winning accolades for their high school, and sacrificing more than 15 hours a week for their team. Several-hour car rides to meets, long and difficult practices...

Quicken Loans Arena erupted last Wednesday as LeBron James sank a game-winning, buzzer-beating three-pointer over the outstretched arm of Indiana’s Thaddeus Young to give the Cleveland Cavaliers a 3–2 lead going into Game 6 of the series. After chest-bumping Cedi Osman and receiving embraces from his other teammates, James jumped onto the scoring table and pounded his chest as he looked into the sea of Cavs fans. Even if the Toronto Raptors eliminate my hometown team in this upcoming series, I’m grateful that one day I’ll be able to tell my kids I watched the greatest player to ever grace the NBA hardwood and was blessed with celebratory moments like this. As the end of the NBA season looms, James will have t...

Editor’s Note: This article contains mentions of mental illness and suicide. Shooting hoops in the driveway and kicking around a soccer ball in the backyard as a kid, I never thought that being an athlete at a high level could be so taxing. My sports heroes had glamorous lifestyles, driving expensive cars and gracing the covers of Sports Illustrated. It never occurred to me that the biggest and strongest opponent that many collegiate and professional athletes ever face is mental illness. According to Daniel Eisenberg, an associate professor of health management and policy at the University of Michigan, 33 percent of college students experience symptoms of mental illness. Although 30 percent of those students get help, ...

A couple hundred of college football’s most talented players travel to Indianapolis each offseason to dazzle scouts and spectators with their athleticism and skills at the NFL Scouting Combine. This year, future franchise quarterbacks Sam Darnold and Josh Rosen, former Heisman winners Baker Mayfield and Lamar Jackson, and Penn State standout Saquon Barkley — recently touted as the best running back prospect since Adrian Peterson — all impressed, but none of them were the focus of attention. Instead, University of Central Florida linebacker Shaquem Griffin dominated the headlines. The 6-foot-1-inch, 227-pound 22-year-old, who was a late invite to the combine, ran the 40-yard dash in 4.38 seconds Sunday, the bes...