The 10 national sports moments that defined 2025

The year in sports was a scandalous one, from the varied drama of college football’s coaching ranks to a stunning NBA trade to controversy that opened up questions about the integrity of the games we love. But amid all that, we saw transcendent performances from the likes of A’ja Wilson, Shohei Ohtani and Rory McIlroy.

Before we head into the new year, here are my 10 moments that defined sports in 2025.

The end of an era in Kansas City

The most dominant NFL team of the past decade had a rough 2025, getting routed in February’s Super Bowl before having the worst season of the Patrick Mahomes era. Whether the Chiefs’ awful Week 15, in which Mahomes tore his ACL and they were eliminated from playoff contention, is the inglorious finale of a dynasty or merely a page turn remains unclear.

A’ja Wilson reaches the mountaintop

With seismic tension between players and the league gurgling beneath the surface, A’ja Wilson cut through fuzzy uncertainty in the WNBA to stake her claim as the greatest of all time. She became the first player in the league to win four MVP awards and weeks later led the Las Vegas Aces to a decisive third championship in four years.

The NBA and MLB’s integrity takes a hit

The NBA faced two major scandals this fall, first over whether the Los Angeles Clippers circumvented the salary cap by paying Kawhi Leonard for a no-show job and again when current and former NBA stars were arrested amid a federal investigation of illegal sports betting and rigged poker games. Baseball had its own gambling scandal involving two Cleveland Guardians pitchers who allegedly took bribes to rig pitches.

The college football coaching carousel spins on

Drama among college football’s coaching ranks ran the gamut this year, from Sherrone Moore’s serious situation at Michigan to the Lane Kiffin circus at Mississippi. Somewhere in between, Penn State fired James Franklin despite his $49 million buyout, and we all spent way too much time thinking about Bill Belichick’s romantic relationship during his disastrous debut season. What a sport.

WNBA players send a message

The WNBA season was a tumultuous one, with officiating issues and injuries dominating the discourse. But the players wrenched much of that attention away when they made a strong, simple statement of unity at the All-Star Game in Indianapolis: “Pay Us What You Owe Us.” Those T-shirts could be a watershed moment in the negotiations between the league and the players union.

Luka Doncic is a Laker

It’s rare that pundits correctly contextualize something immediately, but the Los Angeles Lakers’ unexpected trade for Luka Doncic — and the decision-making that eventually cost former Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison his job — was rightly deemed the biggest heist in NBA history as soon as it happened.

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner craft a masterpiece

Just because a match lasts five sets doesn’t mean it’s high quality, and it can be difficult to tell if the time spent is going to be worth it in the end. But Carlos Alcaraz’s dramatic comeback to win the French Open men’s final from two sets down against his greatest rival, Jannik Sinner — the longest French Open final ever at 5 hours 29 minutes — was an instant classic.

USA-Canada captures two nations

The U.S.-Canada rivalry that dominated the fresh-feeling 4 Nations Face-Off put hockey smack in the center of the national discourse — on both sides of the border — in a way it hadn’t been in years. That was thanks in part to the political tensions between the United States and Canada at the time, but it was also a testament to the quality of the rivalry.

Shohei Ohtani plays a game for the ages

In a thrilling MLB postseason, Shohei Ohtani managed once again to stand out as the sport’s biggest star. The 31-year-old played what will go down as the greatest individual performance by a major leaguer in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers when he pitched six-plus scoreless innings for the Los Angeles Dodgers and struck out 10 — and also hit three home runs.

Rory McIlroy triumphs at the Masters

Rory McIlroy sinking to his knees in triumph at Augusta — finally — encapsulated all that’s great about watching sports. The Northern Irishman grew from boy wonder into one of golf’s veteran leaders in the public eye, bearing his soul plenty along the way. His vulnerability after conquering his demons at the Masters was one of the most moving moments of the year.