Suns' Haywood Highsmith looks to return from surgery this season
Haywood Highsmith didn’t sign with the Phoenix Suns to sit out the rest of the 2025-26 season.
The 6-foot-5 forward looks to return to action after having surgery last August to repair a meniscal tear in his right knee from training in his hometown of Baltimore. He has yet to play a game this season.
“I'm here to play basketball at the end of the day,” Highsmith said Feb. 20. “That's what I want to do. So we'll figure out when that happens and go from there. I'm going to continue to put the work in and control what I can control and just go from there."
Highsmith signed with the Suns as a free agent earlier this month. At the time of his surgery, Highsmith was expected to miss eight-to-10 weeks.
“We're excited to have him,” Suns coach Jordan Ott said Feb. 19. “Right now, he just continues to go through more testing with our group. Similar to everyone else, when they come into our group, we'll have a plan. Get him back out there.”
"Appreciate the Suns giving me an opportunity."
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) February 20, 2026
Haywood Highsmith joined Phoenix as a free agent.
On optimism to play this season as he hasn't played this season following offseason knee surgery: "I'm here to play basketball at the end of the day. That's what I want to do. So… pic.twitter.com/t5sveSLrLL
The Suns (32-24) have 26 more games remaining in the regular season as they begin a four-game homestand Feb. 21 against the Orlando Magic (29-25).
“I appreciate the Suns giving me an opportunity,” Highsmith said. “Got here right after (NBA All-Star break) earlier this week. Met the staff, met everybody. Just getting acquainted, getting acclimated with everybody. Trying to get right to work, do whatever it takes to get back on the court as quickly as possible. Working with the training staff and the coaches and figuring out what the plan is.”
Highsmith last played April 28, 2025, in the first round of the NBA playoffs for the Miami Heat against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Ott was an assistant with the Cavs, who swept the Heat. Highsmith scored 17 points in Game 2 of the series, hitting 5-of-6 from 3 in a 121-112 loss for the Heat.
That was the closest game of the series, with Highsmith being a major reason.
Now Ott looks to coach him.
“He wants to play,” Ott added. “Hasn't played all year. We want to get him back out there, but we want him to be right.”
The 29-year-old Highsmith can guard multiple positions. He brings strength, physicality, offensive rebounding and the ability to knock down corner 3s to Phoenix.
Jordan Ott on Haywood Highsmith (right knee injury management) possibly playing this season: "We're excited to have him. Right now he just continues to go through more testing with our group. Similar to everyone else, when they come into our group, we'll have a plan. Get him back… pic.twitter.com/lhsGWU8ufK
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) February 20, 2026
“That fits right in with me,” said Highsmith, a career 37.4% 3-point shooter. “Just guarding the ball, picking up full court, being tough, making it difficult and just being that tough, gritty defender and making it hard for opposing teams.”
Highsmith earned the nickname “Locksmith” for his defensive prowess from his four seasons with Miami (2021-25).
“They kind of brought it out of me,” Highsmith said. “They also got my body right. When I first got into the NBA with (Philadelphia 76ers) and G League and all that, my body wasn't fully how it should be.”
Undrafted, Highsmith played college ball at Wheeling University, an NCAA Division II school in West Virginia.
“The Heat got me in great shape, gave me the tools as far as the schemes and going a lot of reps in games, playoffs,” Highsmith later said. “That got me more comfortable as well. The Heat really pushed it out of me and from there, I just kind of took over it, owned it and I love it.”
Highsmith has been doing individual workouts with the Suns staff and testing the knee.
“Doing a lot of strength tests,” Highsmith said. “Movement, change direction. I don't think it's really been challenged. Just trying to get the hang of it. Get back into it. I haven't done some of these movements in a minute. It's getting better each rep, each time I'm doing it. Just trying to get more comfortable with it.”
Suns forward Haywood Highsmith on time with Miami Heat: "The first really NBA team to give me an opportunity. I learned a lot there defensively, work wise, how to approach every day, to be a pro."
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) February 20, 2026
On testing the knee: "Doing a lot of strength tests. Movement, change direction.… pic.twitter.com/v2kadb2K23
Highsmith passed one major mental and physical test with a dunk in a morning workout before the Suns played the San Antonio Spurs in Austin.
“I had a couple (of dunks),” Highsmith said. “It feels good to be able to dunk again. Coming off a knee injury and have that mental confidence. It's always the aspect of coming off an injury the mental side and the physical side. Getting back to dunking is great for my mental and overall, I'm just blessed to be able to dunk again.”
Highsmith underwent surgery after averaging a career-high 6.5 points in 74 games (42 starts) in his fourth and final season with the Heat in 2024-25.
Miami traded Highsmith to the Brooklyn Nets, who later waived him before the Feb. 5 trade deadline.
Highsmith didn’t play a single game for the Nets, who are in full rebuilding mode.
He’s looking to return to the court in Phoenix as he’s joined a team that’s seventh in the West and is competing for a playoff spot.
“The journey I’ve had has been up and down,” Highsmith said. “I’ve just stayed with it, try to work my hardest, control what I can control and God has blessed me to play in the NBA however many years I’ve been here.”
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Suns' Haywood Highsmith looks to return from surgery this season
Tage Thompson injury update: USA forward misses third period vs Slovakia
Forward Tage Thompson scored another power play goal for the U.S. men's hockey team but wasn't able to finish Friday's game because of a lower body injury.
Thompson, a Buffalo Sabres standout, sat out the third period of the USA's 6-2 win against Slovakia, but the team said that was done as a precaution.
NBC replays showed that he was slashed and cross-checked earlier in the game.
"We held him out for precautionary reasons more than anything," USA coach Mike Sullivan said after the game. "We held him out for a lower body injury. So, we'll see how he recovers, but I would anticipate him being ready for game time."
He's the second player in the upcoming USA-Canada gold medal game who is dealing with an injury. Team Canada captain Sidney Crosby missed Friday's semifinal against Finland with a lower body injury. His status for Sunday isn't known at the moment.
Tage Thompson injury update
Sullivan believes that Thompson will be ready for the gold medal game. That game is Sunday at 2:10 p.m. in Milan (8:10 a.m. ET), so he has more than a day to recover.
Tage Thompson stats
Thompson wasn't named for the 4 Nations Face-Off, though he was a potential injury replacement. He got the call this time because of his size, speed and stickhandling ability. He also scored the winning goal as the USA won gold at the 2025 world championships.
Thompson has three goals and an assist at the Olympics. He scored a power play goal on Friday with a one-timer from the left faceoff circle. He also had an assist on Dylan Larkin's opening goal.
Contributing: Cydney Henderson in Milan
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tage Thompson injury update: USA forward held out of third period
German Soccer Team Refuses to Tour in U.S. Because of ICE Shootings: 'Does Not Fit Our with Values'
Philipp von Ditfurth/picture alliance via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- A German soccer team pulls out of a trip to the U.S. following the fatal shootings of two American citizens by federal agents
- A spokesperson for Werder Bremen said the civil injustices did not align with their values
- Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti were both shot and killed in Minneapolis in January by federal agents
German soccer team Werder Bremen will no longer be visiting the U.S. after sharing its disapproval for recent ICE shootings in Minnesota.
In a statement released by a team spokesperson, the organization said it will not continue with a previously planned trip to Minneapolis, stating that civil unrest following the fatal shootings of two American citizens by federal agents, Reuters reported Friday, Feb. 20.
"It is correct that we cancelled a planned trip to Minnesota in the United States. There were sporting, economic and political reasons for this," a Werder Bremen spokesperson told the outlet.
Carmen Jaspersen/picture alliance via Getty
Werder Bremen was scheduled to play matches in Minnesota and Detroit in May, but will no longer be doing so.
"Playing in a city where there is unrest and people have been shot does not fit with our values. Furthermore, it was unclear to us which players would be able to enter the USA at all due to the stricter entry requirements," the statement continued.
Renee Nicole Good was killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent on Jan. 7, 2026, just days after ICE launched large-scale raids in Minneapolis.
The 37-year-old mother of three had recently moved to Minneapolis and was returning from dropping her 6-year-old child off at school with her partner just before the deadly encounter.
Roughly two weeks later, Alex Pretti was shot and killed by U.S. Border Patrol officers in Minneapolis on Jan. 24.
Pretti was 37 years old and an ICU nurse. The Department of Homeland Security claimed that the shooting occurred because Pretti was "armed" and "violently resisted," though witness footage showed he was holding a phone, not a gun.
Another witness detailed the moments before gunfire erupted, insisting one of the federal agents “shoved” a woman to the ground, and the ICU nurse went to help before they were pepper-sprayed.
Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty
“[Pretti] put his hands above his head and the agent sprayed him again and pushed him. Then [Pretti] tried to help up the woman the ICE agent had shoved to the ground. The ICE agents just kept spraying," the witness claimed.
She later added, “It didn't look like he was trying to resist, just trying to help the woman up. I didn't see him with a gun.”
On Jan. 27, President Donald Trump said during an interview with Fox News' Will Cain that both shootings were "terrible," but that Good's death made him feel "even worse" because her parents are "Trump fans."
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On Jan. 20, Trump addressed Good's death as he joined White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt for her daily briefing, saying that ICE is "gonna make mistakes sometimes."
In an interview with Fox News that same day, Trump said that he would "de-escalate" immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis, but clarified that the move was not a "pullback."
"I don't think it's a pullback," he continued. "It's a little bit of a change. We're going to de-escalate a little bit."
Read the original article on People
Real Salt Lake ready for ‘first test’ of 2026 season in Vancouver
Real Salt Lake kicks off the 2026 regular season against the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday.
Head coach Pablo Mastroeni told reporters this week that this season opener in Vancouver, which he described as “not an easy place to play,” will set the tone for the rest of the season.
“The thought is if we get a good result there, I think it springboards us into a good start to the season,” he said.
That’s because of what the team learned from last season, Mastroeni said.
“There’ll be challenges about that, but I feel like the experiences that we had last year should really present themselves heavily in the forefront as to how to manage games, what it takes to win and then just bringing in these new guys and being excited about what we can potentially be as a team.”
Defender Justen Glad feels that the team is ready for the regular season to begin, he told reporters.
“I think the team’s in a good spot. Every game is a test so that will be our first test, and we’re all looking forward to it,” he said.
Glad added that finishing preseason and “getting on to the real thing” is exciting for players.
“It’s what we wait for. It’s what we train for every week is to get to the actual games,” he said.
Real is coming off a 12-17-5 season. The club finished ninth in the Western conference and clinched a playoff spot, but it ultimately lost to the Portland Timbers in the Wild Card match.
Real Salt Lake has made the playoffs in 18 of the last 21 years, but president of soccer operations Jason Kreis has higher expectations for the club in 2026, he told the Deseret News in January.
“The success level has been good to get us to a place where we’re competing for a championship by making the playoffs. But we will push forward and make a clear objective that the team does better than just make the playoffs this year. We really think we ought to be making the next rounds,” he said.
How RSL hopes to improve in 2026
In 2025, Real scored 35 goals — its lowest season total since the shortened 2020 season’s 23 — a 44% decrease from the prior season’s 63.
Mastroeni is aware of the team’s need to increase that number this season, and as a result, the team has focused on playing more vertically.
“That doesn’t mean kicking the ball down the field,” he said. “It means having more runners that run beyond the ball so that when we do have the ball in the wide areas, we have more numbers in the box, and so that’s been a big focus in preseason.”
Mastroeni noted the three goals RSL scored in its preseason finale against LA Galaxy, a 3-3 draw.
“It’s starting to look really good, and (Zavier) Gozo playing in a relatively new position out wide as a wingback has scored the last couple games as well,” he said.
“He looks really bright, so I’m really optimistic about this group and what we’re going to be capable of doing this year.”
Mastroeni was later asked about how his young star Gozo can grow in his second season.
“I think it’s really about capitalizing on the chances in front of goal,” Mastroeni said. “I think he got himself into really good spots because of his speed, and now it’s about technique and timing to finish those chances. And like I said, the last two games, he’s notched goals. Really, really good goals.”
Mastroeni added: “I think this is a player that has a trajectory that is unbelievable, given where he started last year and where he’s at today and the level of confidence he’s playing with. I’m just so happy for him.”
Mastroeni also spoke about Diego Luna, who became a rising star with the national team last year, and where he can improve this season. One such area is Luna’s leadership.
“I think he realizes the impact of how he can impact the team, both with the ball but also emotionally, and we saw that this last weekend against L.A.,” Mastroeni said.
“He was really bright. He was really positive, and the guys really fed off his energy. And so, I think this year, it’s more of a continuing to progress, obviously from a football perspective, but also from a leadership perspective.”
Real Salt Lake plays Vancouver Whitecaps FC in its first game of the season Saturday at 5:30 p.m. MT.