Author: Mike Freeman, USA TODAY

Pelé was a hero to the world and the best soccer player of all time. He was also something else: an inspiration to Black soccer players in America.

Brittney Griner is the biggest sports story of the year and she also represents a continuing problem: the pay disparity between WNBA and NBA players.

Franco Harris’ remarkable play is perhaps greatest in NFL history. But as we remember his life, we shouldn’t forget just how great a player he was.

There are many heroes in the story of Brittney Griner coming home. Few bigger than Griner’s wife, Cherelle. Her relentlessness helped free Brittney.

Brittney Griner has started her nine-year prison sentence at a penal colony in Mordovia. We shouldn’t forget her as she disappears into that hellhole.

The Jewish community is under attack. Right now, we need strong voices condemning antisemitism, but LeBron James and Amazon have dropped the ball.

The Indianapolis Colts hired former player Jeff Saturday as interim head coach. In doing so, the team passed over far more qualified Black candidates.

There is a strain of antisemitism that runs through the Black community. We’ve seen it from Black athletes like Kyrie Irving, and it has to stop.

In the end, this ugly Kanye story is about one thing: hate. It’s also about how a Black man, of all people, should know better than to traffic in it.