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If there’s one athlete that consistently gets a mention in the TDA Sport intro its LeBron James. So, it only feels right to talk about him in the first week of the year.

Over the weekend, the 40-year-old superstar, who now plays for the Los Angeles Lakers, recorded his 563rd 30-point game. He surpassed the previous record for the most 30-plus scorelines from an individual player — held by none other than Michael Jordan.

Another fun fact I learnt about LeBron today: last October he cracked the Top 100 players in the world for the NFL’s video game, Madden.

What can’t he do?

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Stat of the day

23
The number of goals ice hockey player Alex Ovechkin must score to break the NHL scoring record of 894 goals, held by Wayne Gretzky. The 39-year-old Russian, who plays for the Washington Capitals, began the season 42 goals short of a record that once seemed insurmountable. Nicknamed “The Great One”, Gretzky is considered the greatest hockey player ever, and is credited with the saying:  “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”

Quote of the day

"At the start of the match, because I have never played a top-50 player before, I was, like, a bit wary of how good she was, so I wasn't quite sure. But as the match went on I was like, 'I have got this — if I really play well, I have got a chance.’”
16-year-old Australian tennis player Emerson Jones after beating China’s Wang Xinyu, who is ranked 37 in the world, at the Adelaide International on Monday. It marks the first time Jones, who finished last year as the world’s top-ranked junior, has beaten a senior player inside the world’s top 50.

Random fact of the day

In 2014, the African country of Togo was represented at the Winter Olympics for the first time. One member of the two-person team was skier Alessia Afi Dipol, an 18-year-old from Italy who became a Togo citizen before the Games, after having visited the country once. She said at the time: "My father has a factory of sport clothes in Togo and we took the opportunity to represent this country".

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In case you missed it…

🏅 Basketballer Magic Johnson and soccer player Lionel Messi were among the 19 people awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by U.S. President Joe Biden on the weekend. Johnson won the NBA’s MVP award three times and claimed five NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers during his decorated career. After being diagnosed with HIV in the 1990s, Johnson became an outspoken activist. Messi, who plays for the American club Inter Miami, was recognised for his achievements as a soccer player and support of healthcare and education programs for children through his foundation. 

🏏 South Africa’s men’s cricket side beat Pakistan in the second of a two-Test series to complete a dominant 2-0 series victory. The win means South Africa finished as the leading side in the World Test Championship standings and is confirmed to play Australia, the world’s number-one ranked side, in the final. The last time South Africa lost a series was to Australia in January 2023. The final of the World Test Championship will be played at Lord’s in England and begin on June 11.

⛳ The world’s number one golfer Scottie Scheffler has pulled out of another PGA Tour tournament after he injured his hand helping prepare Christmas dinner. The 28-year-old American announced on Instagram that he would be missing the American Express tournament, which runs later this month in La Quinta, California, because he needed “more time to heal”. Scheffler, who won nine titles last year, is hoping to make his return at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am on 30 January.

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Nick Kyrgios to return to Australia’s Davis Cup team for first time since 2019

Nick Kyrgios has been named in Australia’s Davis Cup team by captain Lleyton Hewitt following a five-year hiatus from the competition.

Kyrgios’ return to the Davis Cup

Kyrgios’ naming in Australia’s Davis Cup team, alongside Alex de Minaur, Jordan Thompson, and Thanasi Kokkinakis, comes as a surprise given that the 29-year-old has previously expressed disinterest in the tournament. Now, as part of a comeback to professional tennis following recurring wrist and knee injuries, the 2022 Wimbledon finalist will join Australia’s team when they take on Sweden in a qualifying match at the end of the month. Kyrgios played a total of 11 Davis Cup matches for Australia between 2013 and 2019.

Australian Open Qualifying

In the Australian Open Qualifying tournament, Aussie teenager Taylah Preston won her first-round match against Germany’s Mona Barthel – who has a career-high ranking of 23. Destanee Aiava, Maddison Inglis, Arina Rodionova, Astra Sharma, Kimberly Birrell, and Priscilla Hon are also among the Aussies to win in the first round of women’s singles qualifying. In the men’s singles, Dane Sweeny is the only Australian to have won their first qualifier while 16-year-old Cruz Hewitt and former world number 17 Bernard Tomic both lost.

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The NFL Playoffs are set - here’s what you need to know

The 2024/25 NFL season is officially reaching its pointy end, with 14 of the 32 teams in the competition having secured a spot in the playoffs which begin on Sunday (AEDT).

How do the NFL Playoffs work?

14 teams have advanced past the regular season and into the NFL playoffs. There are two conferences in the NFL: the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). The teams compete within these conferences until the Super Bowl, where the winner of the AFC plays the winner of the NFC.

The leading team in both conferences after the regular season - the Kansas City Chiefs (AFC) and the Detroit Lions(NFC) - will both automatically advance past the first round. The remaining 12 teams are left to battle it out this weekend for a spot in the Divisional Round.

The Divisional Round will be followed by the Championship Round to determine the AFC and NFC title holders for the season. Then, the winners of the Championship Round will meet in Super Bowl LIX. The 59th edition of the championship game will feature a half-time show headlined by rapper Kendrick Lamar.

Wild Card Round

The Wild Card Round will see six matchups this weekend. In the AFC, the Buffalo Bills (2) take on the Denver Broncos (7), the Baltimore Ravens (3) play the Pittsburgh Steelers (6), and the Houston Texans (4) are up against the Los Angeles Chargers (5). In the NFC, the Philadelphia Eagles (2) will play the Green Bay Packers (7), the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3) play the Washington Commanders (6), and the Los Angeles Rams (4) will do battle against the Minnesota Vikings (5).

Favourites

After finishing atop their respective conferences, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Detroit Lions will begin their post-season campaigns in the Divisional Round, and are the two favourites to go all the way.

The Chiefs, led by superstars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, are seeking to become the first team in the history of the NFL to win three straight Super Bowls. They will play the winner of the Chargers and Texans.

The Lions are led by veteran quarterback Jared Goff and became the NFC’s number-one seed for the first time in their history. The Detroit-based team is seeking its first-ever Super Bowl appearance and victory, but first they’ll have to beat the winner of the Vikings and the Rams.

NFL MVP award

In the final rounds of the regular season, the race for the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award has heated up between Buffalo Bills’ quarterback Josh Allen and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.

Allen is the frontrunner for the award, after leading the underrated Bills to a fifth consecutive division title in the AFC East.

Jackson, already a two-time MVP , has had an outstanding year, becoming the first player ever to surpass 4,000 passing yards and 800 rushing yards in a single season.

The winner of the award will be announced the day before the Super Bowl.

A message from Deakin University

What mothers really need at sport events

This study examines the distinction between "family-friendly" and "mother-friendly" sport stadium experiences. While mothers appreciate facilities like breastfeeding rooms, they find stadium layouts and policies often hinder their ability to balance caregiving and fandom.

Key findings include a preference for flexible spaces that allow mothers to care for children without missing the game.

The commentary suggests more accessible, open spaces and fewer restrictions on caregiving items. It urges sport organisations to create environments that better integrate mothering with fandom.

This journal article was co-written by Deakin professor, Kim Toffoletti.

Looking back…

Looking forward… (All times are AEDT)

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