It’s the two-time reigning MVP who is trying to finish off a record setting season with a second straight title, against a two-time champion who is tantalisingly close to finally ending Cleveland’s 52-year title drought.

Mike Quirke gives his view of the lax protection given to some of the GAA’s top stars.

It might have only lasted 13 seconds but the reaction to Conor McGregor brutally knocking out José Aldo went around the world for hours.

A young player from New Orleans, Odell Beckham Jr, stole the show on Sunday night with a three-fingered catch that will intrigue for years to come

One of the signposts welcoming traffic to Brooklyn from Queens calls on those who pass by to “Believe the Hype”, paraphrasing that classic Public Enemy hip-hop track.

NBA basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal has revealed he is set to retire.

THE makers of the Power Balance bracelet worn by footballer David Beckham have admitted there is no evidence that the wildly popular wristbands boost sporting prowess.

THIS COLUMN doesn’t share that much with William Goldman, the acclaimed screenwriter responsible for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President’s Men and the Princess Bride.

TIGER WOODS last night withdrew from his own Chevron World Challenge tournament due to begin at the Sherwood Country Club in the Thousand Oaks suburb of Los Angeles on Thursday.

New York: Twitter has trained people to compress their thoughts into 140 characters and given a public stage to dissidents in Iran and voluble stars like Shaquille O’Neal.

Kobe Bryant admitted “a big old monkey” was off his back after winning his fourth NBA championship with the Los Angeles Lakers, his first without the help of former team-mate Shaquille O’Neal.

TWEET ON, brother.

LOS ANGELES Lakers guard Kobe Bryant rates reaching this year’s NBA Finals among his greatest achievements.

Millions tuned in to watch the NFL football Super Bowl, the most-viewed programme all year on American television. Indianapolis beat Chicago in a rainy championship match in Miami that featured a halftime performance by Prince.

BECKHAM’S move to Los Angeles Galaxy is expected to net him £128m (€193m) over the course of a five-year contract which will catapult him high into the top 10 of the world’s richest sportsmen.

With his Shaq-like dimensions and fearsome features, Nikolay Valuev — history’s tallest heavyweight champ — intimidates foes and titillates fans, but can Don King’s colossus fight? L. Jon Wertheim reports.

TIGER WOODS is close to sealing a deal on a very large birthday present on Jupiter Island in Florida.

PROFESSIONAL basketball player Shaquille O’Neal is a Miami Beach reserve police officer.

Professional basketball player Shaquille O’Neal is now a Miami Beach reserve police officer.

Oprah Winfrey is the world’s most powerful celebrity, according to a list compiled by business magazine Forbes.

OPRAH WINFREY is the world’s most powerful celebrity, according to a list compiled by business magazine Forbes.

Defending champions Detroit will are going back to the NBA finals due to Shaquille O’Neal and the Miami Heat could not hold onto a lead in the final minutes.

Clint Eastwood, Muhammad Ali and Robin Williams were among stars whose old shoes raised thousands of dollars for orphans, a charity said today.

Actor Jack Nicholson apparently got swept up in a basketball play-off drama between the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Lakers, stepping on to the court and screaming at a referee during a Western Conference game.

A ‘‘rich list’’ of under forties in the US published today features some of the biggest names in showbusiness.

Superman is to be stripped of his blue tights and red cape and banned from flying in a new television series, it was revealed today.