The Sports Report: LeBron James discovers the Fountain of Youth?

Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.

From Dan Woike: The last image of LeBron James on the court with the Lakers for public consumption was him gritting his way through a foot injury, playing nearly all 48 minutes in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals despite being clearly limited.

Sure, he could still bully his ways to his spots — his strength mostly unmatched among the players at his position. But when he’d go to press the gas pedal all the way down, the sports car acceleration was gone. The electric athleticism was dimmed. And with it, some of his “wow” factor disappeared.

But for the people inside the gym during the Lakers’ first two days of training camp, that version of James is a memory. The reality they’re dealing with now is one where the 38-year-old James is back to defying time with his speed and explosiveness.

“He’s 100% healthy,” Darvin Ham declared. “He looks fine. He looks like third- or fourth-year LeBron.”

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CHARGERS

From Jeff Miller: After struggling to find his way with the Chargers, J.C. Jackson will get a fresh start in a familiar place.

The veteran cornerback is headed back to New England after the Chargers and Patriots agreed Wednesday morning on a trade.

The Chargers dealt Jackson and a 2025 seventh-round pick to the Patriots for a 2025 sixth-rounder, according to a person familiar with the details but not authorized to speak publicly.

Jackson’s time with the Chargers was marked by injury, inconsistent play and legal issues off the field.

He joined the Chargers in March 2022 as a free agent, signing a five-year contract that guarantees him $40 million and is worth up to $82.5 million. At the time, the addition was celebrated as significant.

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RAMS

From Gary Klein: Cooper Kupp was scheduled to be listed as limited on the Rams’ injury report Wednesday, but coach Sean McVay channeled “Anchorman” when discussing the star receiver’s return from injured reserve.

“It says limited: he’s not going to be limited,” McVay said during a news conference before practice. “I mean so that just read as like Ron Burgundy just reading off the damn injury report.”

Kupp has been sidelined for four games because of a hamstring injury he suffered during training camp. By returning to practice, the Rams have a 21-day window to activate him to the roster.

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DODGERS

From Bill Plaschke: They are fighting their tattered rotation, their untested bullpen, their shallow lineup.

Clayton Kershaw is too old. Bobby Miller is too young. Evan Phillips is too green. Mookie Betts is too soft. Will Smith is too tired. James Outman is too young.

They are fighting their lousy October history, the flameouts, the implosions, the fact that they haven’t won a full-season title in 35 years.

The San Diego Padres punked them, the Atlanta Braves rolled them, the Washington Nationals stunned them, the baseball world laughed at them.

Entering the 2023 postseason, the Dodgers are fighting against the same sorts of perceptions that have saddled them since they began the 1988 postseason as heavy underdogs.

Remember how that ended? Vin Scully once said it, and these Dodgers are about to relive it.

In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible is about to happen again.

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On the outs? Dodgers have shown they’re never out of an inning

DODGERS’ NLDS SCHEDULE

Game 1: at Dodgers, Saturday
Game 2: at Dodgers, Monday
Game 3: at Arizona, Wednesday
*Game 4: at Arizona, Thursday
*Game 5: at Dodgers, Saturday

All games will be on TBS. Start times have not been announced, but if the TBS website is to believed, it looks like the games will start at either 5:30 p.m. or 5.

*-if necessary

THE WILD-CARD SERIES

If you want to keep track of all the wild-card series, here’s how. They are best-of-three, with the higher seed hosting every game:

Arizona at Milwaukee (winner plays Dodgers)

Game 1: Arizona 6, Milwaukee 3 (box score)
Game 2: Arizona 5, Milwaukee 2 (box score)

Miami at Philadelphia (winner plays Atlanta)

Game 1: Philadelphia 4, Miami 1 (box score)
Game 2: Philadelphia 7, Miami 1 (box score)

Texas at Tampa Bay (winner plays Baltimore)

Game 1: Texas 4, Tampa Bay 0 (box score)
Game 2: Texas 7, Tampa Bay 1 (box score)

Toronto at Minnesota (winner plays Houston)

Game 1: Minnesota 3, Toronto 1 (box score)
Game 2: Minnesota 2, Toronto 0 (box score)

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ALDS
Best-of-five
All times Pacific

Texas vs. Baltimore
Saturday at Baltimore, 10 a.m., Fox/FS1
Sunday at Baltimore, TBA, Fox/FS1
Tuesday at Texas, TBA, Fox/FS1
*Wednesday at Texas, TBA, Fox/FS1
*Friday at Baltimore, TBA, Fox/FS1

Minnesota vs. Houston
Saturday at Houston, TBA, Fox/FS1
Sunday at Houston, TBA, Fox/FS1
Tuesday at Minnesota, TBA/ Fox/FS1
*Wednesday at Minnesota, TBA, Fox/FS1
*Friday at Houston, TBA, Fox/FS1

NLDS
Best-of-five
All times Pacific

Philadelphia vs. Atlanta
Saturday at Atlanta, TBA, TBS
Monday at Atlanta, TBA, TBS
Wednesday at Philadelphia, TBA, TBS
*Thursday at Philadelphia, TBA, TBS
*Saturday at Atlanta, TBA, TBS

*-if necessary

UCLA BASKETBALL

From Ben Bolch: Aday Mara commands superlatives.

Tallest player, biggest baby face, best passer …

Best passer?

It’s looking that way. If UCLA’s 7-foot-3 freshman isn’t the most skilled player moving the ball on this season’s team, he’s certainly in the conversation.

That’s just part of the unique blend of talents the Spanish sensation has displayed in a handful of practices since arriving on campus last month.

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LAFC

Denis Bouanga scored three times in a first-half barrage to take the Major League Soccer goals lead, and LAFC clinched a playoff spot with a 5-1 victory over Minnesota United on Wednesday night.

Bouanga ended LAFC’s four-match, 372-minute scoreless streak in the fourth minute of its regular-season home finale. He added two more goals before the halftime whistle, and the defending MLS Cup champions cruised through the second half to move into third place in the Western Conference.

Filip Krastev added his first MLS goal for LAFC in the second half. LAFC is unbeaten in its last seven matches against Minnesota.

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GALAXY

Cristian Roldan scored in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time and the Seattle Sounders clinched a spot in the postseason and snapped a four-match winless streak at home with a 2-1 victory over the Galaxy on Wednesday night.

Seattle (13-9-10) runs its unbeaten streak against LA (8-12-11) to 11 with a 7-0-4 mark. It is the longest unbeaten run by an opponent in the Galaxy’s storied history. LA’s only win in the last 17 matches was at home in 2018. The club’s last win in Seattle was 1-0 in 2016.

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GYMNASTICS

Simone Biles and her teammates were far from perfect, and yet nothing could stand in the way of a victory that set a record for both the U.S. women’s team and the greatest gymnast in history.

The U.S. women earned a record seventh consecutive team title at the gymnastics world championships on Wednesday night. For Biles, it was also her 33rd major championship medal — across the worlds and Olympics — to make her the most decorated female gymnast ever.

And it’s fitting that it came in Antwerp, the Belgian port city where Biles came to international prominence 10 years ago by winning her first world title in 2013.

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THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1900 — Britain’s Harry Vardon wins the U.S. Open golf title, beating J.H. Taylor with a 313 total at the Chicago Golf Club.

1985 — Eddie Robinson becomes college football’s winningest coach as Grambling beats Prairie View A&M 27-7. It’s Robinson’s 324th victory, one more than Paul “Bear” Bryant had before he retired from Alabama after the 1982 season.

1991 — Fresno State ties an NCAA record for most points in a quarter, with 49 in the second period as it pounds New Mexico 94-17. Fresno State’s Derek Mahoney ties an NCAA record with 13 extra points.

1994 — The NBA shortens the 3-point distance to 22 feet.

2001 — Barry Bonds sets a new mark for home runs in a season, hitting Nos. 71 and 72, but San Francisco is eliminated from the playoffs with an 11-10 loss to the Dodgers.

2001 — The Mariners win their 115th game of the year to become the winningest team in American League history, passing the record the Yankees set three years earlier.

2004 — 7-time All-Star and 6-time NBA Champion forward Scottie Pippen announces his retirement from the NBA and the Chicago Bulls.

2014 — Brian Hoyer’s 6-yard touchdown pass to Travis Benjamin with 1:09 left rallies the Cleveland Browns from a 25-point deficit to beat the Tennessee Titans 29-28. It’s the largest comeback in league history by a road team.

—Compiled by the Associated Press