CGTN Sports Talk

The Cleveland Cavaliers have assembled a very competitive as well as promising squad with the arrival of Donovan Mitchell. He will join Darius Garland to make an All-Star back-court pair with Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley dominating the paint. More importantly, all of the four have at least three years left of their current contracts with the Cavaliers, not to mention that Garland and Mobley are i...

Premier League clubs have spent around 2.237 billion euros (about $2.238 million) during the summer transfer window, almost the same as the total number (2.297 billion euros, about $2.298 billion) of all clubs in La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1. Chelsea contributed 278.99 million euros (about $279.13 million) to that number, more than any other Premier League club. Most of their investmen...

Though basketball has been known as a "big man's game," point guards, who are usually the smallest guys on the court, began to play the same important, or even more significant role since the late 2010s. CGTN has picked six young orchestrators who are still under their rookie contracts and have been selected for either the All-NBA Teams, All-Star Game or All-Rookie Teams: Ja Morant of the Memphis...

Luka Doncic led the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Western Conference Finals in the final year of his rookie contract. 15 years ago, LeBron James led the Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA Finals in the fourth year of his rookie deal in 2007. The two are very different in terms of athleticism and defense, among other things, but both Doncic and James were carrying most of the offensive duties, which were...

Three star players will meet the clubs they departed from during the summer transfer window in the group stage of the 2022-23 UEFA Champions League. What awaits Robert Lewandowski at the Allianz Arena after he left Bayern Munich on very unpleasant terms to join Barcelona? Do Manchester City know better than Borussia Dortmund how to use Erling Haaland after spending £51.2 million (about $60.6 milli...

Liverpool and Manchester United, which have been long-time rivals in the Premier League, both had a frustrating start in the 2022-23 season with no wins in the first two games. United broke that awkward situation first by defeating Liverpool 2-1 at home on Monday, but that didn't hide the fact that the "Red Devils" lost to two mediocre teams. Liverpool already trailed Manchester City by five point...

The Denver Nuggets will have two star players, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr., back for the 2022-23 season. Murray missed the whole 2022-21 campaign during which Porter Jr. only played nine games, both because of injuries. Murray was able to score 50+ points in multiple games in one playoff series when he was healthy. Porter Jr. is a 2.08-meter-tall athletic forward who can drain 2.8 triples...

The Boston Celtics brought in Malcolm Brogdon and Danilo Gallinari during the offseason after losing to the Golden State Warriors 4-2 in the NBA Finals last season. Brogdon is a solid defender and a trustworthy orchestrator, the lack of which partly cost the Celtics the Finals. Gallinari, though 34 already and went through a lot of injuries in his career, can still provide efficient firepower off...

Every time LeBron James is up for a contract extension, he grabs tremendous attention from both media and fans. The fact that he is turning 38 years old in four months, and the Lakers are in a difficult situation, doesn't change this. The biggest deal the Lakers can offer will be a two-year, $97.1 million contract, and they have no reason to hesitate to either offer or ink it if James nods his hea...

More and more NBA teams are willing to put more first-round draft picks in trade packages for star players in recent years. Less than 10 years ago, most of them preferred to save the picks, which equaled future hopes of drafting their own stars, for their own use and traded players. The league has presented and implemented various rules to keep super teams from being assembled, including the salar...

Bill Russell, one of the greatest legends in NBA history, passed way in peace on July 31, at the age of 88 years old. Having played 13 seasons in the league, he led the Boston Celtics to the NBA Finals 12 times and won 11 titles, including eight in a row. The NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award was named after him, and he was the one delivering the trophy on most occasions. Russell was a five-ti...

The Phoenix Suns and their starting center, Deandre Ayton, put an end to their yearlong contract extension soap opera after the franchise decided to match the four-year, $133 million deal offered to Ayton by the Indiana Pacers. The Suns managed to save money because they avoided giving Ayton a five-year, $173 million contract. However, they will have to deal with his frustration at least for the f...

James Harden displayed a clear will to fight for an NBA Championship ring by taking a $14-million pay cut when he agreed to a new two-year, $68.6 million extension with the Philadelphia 76ers. His sacrifice enabled the team to sign P.J. Tucker, a tough defender, and Danuel House, an energetic wing option. Meanwhile, the 76ers acquired De'Anthony Melton, a sharp dagger off the bench, via trade with...

The top three selections of the 2022 NBA Draft, Paolo Banchero, Chet Holmgren and Jabari Smith Jr., made their appearances in the NBA Summer League, both making highlights and showing shortcomings. Banchero displayed great ability to launch offense by himself in the Orlando Magic. By exploiting his solid skills, size, power and athleticism, he can drop good numbers in his rookie season. Holmgren w...

Manchester City reached the 2021-22 UEFA Champions League semifinals after a very physical 0-0 against Atletico Madrid at Wanda Metropolitano on Wednesday. Nine yellow cards and one red one were given, and Kevin de Bruyne, Phil Foden and Kyle Walker of City were injured. Chelsea came close to reversing the situation when Timo Werner made it 3-0 for the team at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night. How...

The Premier League "title decider" between Liverpool and Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday night was finished 2-2. City are still one point ahead of Liverpool, and both have seven more games to play. Liverpool's schedule seems harder because they will play against Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, but City tripped over weak opponents before. Actually, one of the reasons Liverp...

The 2021-22 NBA regular season came to an end on Sunday. The league will take more time to announce the squads for the three All-NBA Teams and two All-Defensive Teams. Li Xiang, the host for this show and his basketball guest Matthew Watson have given their own selections for the above five teams. There are some common elements and some differences, depending on their understanding of the top play...

Liverpool, Real Madrid and Manchester City are in a very advantageous position after defeating their opponents in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals on Tuesday and Wednesday. Benfica hardly put up enough resistance in their 3-1 loss to Liverpool at Estadio da Luz on Tuesday. Karim Benzema scored his second straight hat trick in the Champions League to help Real leave Stamford...

It has been a while since the Phoenix Suns, and Memphis Grizzlies led the NBA Western Conference. The two teams will for sure finish the 2021-22 regular season as the top 2. The Suns are one win away from setting a new franchise record of victories in the regular season. The Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets are likely to finish as third, fourth and fifth in the conference...

This is what we know about the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, which will take place from November 21 to December 18:A total of 29 teams have qualified for the tournament. Italy, which won the World Cup in 2006, are not one of them. The last time Canada attended the World Cup happened in 1986.The rest of the three teams will come from Wales, Scotland, Ukraine, Australia, United Arabic Emirates, Peru...

The 2021-22 NBA regular season is only seven to eight games away from ending, but things remain unclear in the Eastern Conference. The top 2 teams, Boston Celtics and Miami Heat share the same record, while the following Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers are only half a game away. What's even more surprising is that some of the above four teams may prefer to rank third instead of first or sec...

Daniel Riolo's recent report about Neymar attending Paris Saint-Germain's team practice drunk again has drawn a lot of questions about the Brazilian striker's professionalism. It's Neymar's fifth season with PSG in what was the world's most expensive transfer at 222 million euros (about $243.9 million), but his most valuable honors were all achieved with Barcelona. Moreover, Neymar's stats continu...

In his third season in the NBA, 22-year-old Ja Morant has led the Memphis Grizzlies to No. 2 in the Western Conference, over the Golden State Warriors, Utah Jazz, Denver Nuggets and Dallas Mavericks. With remarkable athleticism, Morant can easily make new posters by charging the rim or completing extreme double pumps. However, as a born orchestrator, Morant knows how to run the game in a reasonabl...

Benfica, Chelsea, Villarreal and Atletico Madrid reached the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals after two days of competitions on Tuesday and Thursday. Benfica beat Ajax 1-0 on the road after 22-year-old Darwin Nunez scored his 26th goal of the season. Chelsea had a solid 2-1 win over Lille OSC, continuing their title-defending journey with a very unpredictable future of the franchise. Atletico M...

The Philadelphia 76ers have won six of the seven games in which James Harden played for the team, including five straight wins in a row. During that winning streak, Harden picked back his superstar performance, averaging 24.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 12.4 assists. Rarely could any player perform so well immediately after joining a new team that has a totally different playstyle from his previous...