Padres RF FERNANDO TATIS JR.’s attorney MAURICE MITTS argued before Judge JUDY BAE on Friday morning that the court should “vacate an arbitration order requiring him to pay almost” $4M to the Big League Advance Fund. However, Bae confirmed her tentative ruling that denied Tatis’ bid. The case revolves around a 2017 contract Tatís signed with Big League Advance when he was an 18-year-old living in the Dominican Republic. In it, he agreed to a $2M upfront payment from BLA “in exchange for 10% of his annual professional baseball earnings for 25 years if he reached the major leagues.” The Padres signed Tatís to a 14-year contract worth $340M in 2021, leaving him on the hook for $34M owed to the BLA Fund. However, he “stopped making payments to BLA in 2024.” In his complaint, filed in June 2025, he said that he was “rushed through the BLA contract as a youth with limited financial sophistication.” But Bae said that his challenge “was made too late.” Mitts will “most likely appeal Bae’s ruling” (COURTHOUSE NEWS SERVICE, 5/22).
SPURS UP: Turquoise, pink and orange words mount an “exhibit of books immediately noticeable” when patrons walk into San Antonio’s Central Library, the bright red building in downtown for its “Read Like Wemby” campaign. Just to the right of the library’s circulation desk, where people can “sign up for a library card and check out books,” are some of Spurs C VICTOR WEMBANYAMA’s favorite books. Librarian CATE PRAZAK created two reading lists for the campaign, which launched on May 14 (THE ATHLETIC, 5/25). During the Spurs’ Game 4 103-82 win over the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals, four nuns known as the SALESIAN SISTERS were sitting courtside in Spurs jerseys. The sisters were “shown on the jumbotron giving a pregame blessing” to Spurs C LUKE KORNET. He said they are “gonna fly them to OKC.” The four nuns are part of the San Antonio chapter of the Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco (YAHOO SPORTS, 5/25).
NAMES: Heat C BAM ADEBAYO was honored Friday night with the NBA’s Social Justice Champion award. Adebayo will receive the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Trophy, and the NBA will make a $100,000 charitable donation on his behalf. The other finalists for the award this season were Spurs F HARRISON BARNES, Celtics G JAYLEN BROWN, Pistons F TOBIAS HARRIS and Cavaliers F LARRY NANCE JR. (AP, 5/22)….Raiders QB FERNANDO MENDOZA walked at the Univ. of Cal Berkley’s Haas School of Business graduation ceremony on Saturday at the Greek Theater (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 5/24)....Basketball HOFer MICHAEL JORDAN headlined a group of stars that “paid tribute” to Premier League club Manchester City outgoing manager PEP GUARDIOLA during his farewell party on Monday. Jordan gave a surprise video message that occurred on a night in which Bundesliga club Bayern Munich coach VINCENT KOMPANY also made an appearance at the Co-Op Live arena, as did Premier League club Everton MF JACK GREALISH. PGA Tour player TOMMY FLEETWOOD also paid tribute to Guardiola (ESPN.com, 5/26)....Canada Prime Minister MARK CARNEY may have been the first Canadian to “ever hoist the FIFA World Cup trophy” as he welcomed FIFA President GIANNI INFANTINO to Ottawa on Sunday (CP, 5/24).
